From One Villain to Another

The small camp-fire lit up a the night as The Warden lay near it and began to poke some more wood into the flame, he put his hand over it causing some of the large chunks of wood to combust; making the fire shine like a beacon in the night.

"Well, that sure was eventful," he said to himself. He shot his head up and looked into the dark, he heard bickering of pony's as hoof-steps got closer to his fire. As two young unicorns walked towards the camp-fire, they were met by a crimson coloured unicorn sitting on a log. The Warden's pony form.

"Oh, hello there," one of the unicorns said.

"Hello, beautiful night isn't it?" The Warden complimented the night sky as he smiled at the duo.

"Indeed, we were just on the lookout for anything suspicious because of that massive shock-wave and the crater," the larger one of the two explained.

"At this late in the night?" The Warden asked in suspicion.

"Yes, we usually do this sort of thing anyway as are retired night guards so it's hard to break the routine," they chuckled. "Anyway, see you later!" The two waved as they walked off into the darkness.

The same routine repeated three times, a group of two or three guards wandering around the plains and running into The Warden's camp-fire. As a lone guard wandered into the camp-site, he let out a heavy sigh and stood up.

"Can I ask what you are doing, I have had three patrols come past my way and it is starting to bug me!" He shouted, the guard lifted his lantern and walked slowly towards him.

"Sorry about that, since Princess Twilight lives in Ponyville patrols are on the double".

"Princess Twilight?"

"Surely you know who that is!"

"Nope, don't come from around these parts so I'm not exactly up to date on news".

"Princess Twilight is the new princess who lives here in Ponyville. Can't miss her, purple coat, dark purple hair with a streak in it and is an alicorn".

"I see, looks like things have changed since my last visit a long time ago".

"Anyway, I got a patrol to do," the guard informed as he walked away.

"So, purple is a princess. I thought she looked different to the others," The Warden talked to himself. "I need a proper name to blend in with the populace". The Warden thought long and hard until. "How about, Crimson Flame!" Suddenly, he felt weak and his vision began to blur, his eyes glowed a bright red as he put out the fire. "I need food, who shall be my prey," he grinned. He saw the guard with the lantern a good distance away but that didn't stop him as he began to run towards him like a deprived predator. As he advanced on the guard, he began to get paranoid, looking left and right erratically.

"Who's there!" He shouted.

"Your fate," a deep voice said as it chuckled. Crimson walked out of the shadows as he charged up his horn. "Fresh prey," he grinned as a single fire beam hit the guard's heart. He dropped the lantern and attempted to buck him, but was too late as purple energy began to escape the guard and enter Crimson's mouth. The guard soon dropped dead as Crimson laughed.

"This is easier than I thought".

Morning

As Crimson woke up, he heard a large commotion coming from a distance. He looked up and saw several ponies crowded around a white tent. He walked towards the crowd and saw several guards standing in a statue-like form outside a border indicated with tape.

"Well, didn't take them long," he commented.

"If I could all ask you to stand aside please as we investigate this sudden event," A large stallion asked. He was wearing silver armour and held a spear in his right foreleg. As Crimson walked away, he was confronted by a mare wearing a black robe.

"Not bad, takes a long time to practice soul reaping spells," she complimented.

"Who are you?" Crimson asked.

"I represent a cult, your arrival has been anticipated, Warden," she grinned.

"So, a necromancer cult. Long time since one of you even dared to surface".

"Indeed, I know that you left Tartarus to be free, but you are weaker than you usually are as the lack of soul energy in Equestria. Correct?"

"You know a lot about me, are you one of my sirens?"

"My family have been with necromancy for thousands of years, we sacrificed souls to Wardens for what we desire and yet never expected one to stay with us".

"If you are necromancers, show me a summoning spell," Crimson challenged.

"No sweat," she powered up her horn to summon a creature with a ethereal skull covered in black mist.

"A seeker, not bad. OK I believe you".

"We want to make you more powerful, make you more powerful than any being that walked Equus!"

"Many have made that pact and have failed, what makes you think you can do it?"

"We have the collected knowledge of thousands of minds, even Starswirl the Bearded did not know what we know!"

"I am guessing you want to use that on me, to overthrow the current leaders and put me in charge?"

"Yes, we are fed up Celestia's tyranny".

"I only have visual feed on my Clairvoyance Orb, The most powerful being I know is sun butt".

"That is her, will you come with us to our abode?"

"I will, lead the way," Crimson agreed. The mare then put her hoof on Crimson and soon found themselves in a cave.

"Is this him?" A elder stallion asked, he walked up to Crimson and pointed at him.

"Yes, The Warden did agree to follow us as you said," the mare replied. Soon the elder bowed.

"My lord, please excuse our delayed welcoming. I am Scarred Curse, the elder of the Children of Tartarus".

"I don't mind," Crimson waved a hoof of dismissal.

"I do not mean to be disrespectful my lord, but I was expecting you to be less...Equine".

"Oh, this is just a disguise," he informed as black smoke enveloped Crimson. Revealing The Warden. "This is the true form of myself".

"I see, you wield Changeling magic?"

"No, Changelings wield Tartarus magic," I corrected. "I believe you are helping me to grow strong to help defeat Salad Tier?"

"Celestia my lord. This tyrannical princess puts a ban on the path to ascension, she thinks that it can end Equestria once and for all!"

"That's because it will". The Warden chuckled. "Dark magic is transferring energies from Tartarus to Equestria, to think that it has no dangerous effect on this world is pure stupidity".

"So, will you help us achieve our goal, my lord?"

"I could, but how much is this future worth to you?"

"I see, how does two souls sound?" The elder grinned as two mares were pushed into the light.

"Hmm, you know exactly what I want but that payment is too low for the continuous service," I rejected the deal. The elder rubbed his chin.

"I see, we know of an artefact that is a direct link to Tartarus' energy," the elder hovered a page in a book with a picture of a fountain on it. "This is the Fountain of Souls, apparently it is being taken to the forbidden gallery tomorrow so we need a plan".

"I have one plan. Disguise, kill and take".

"You don't understand my lord, the entire place is warded by Celestia's magic! Only guards can get in" The Warden just grinned.

"It's a good thing I have a plan that takes that into account too".

The Next Day, Canterlot

Several ponies were crowded around a gigantic wooden board and loud chatter filled the atmosphere.

"So, let me get this straight. All of the current victims have massive burn marks around the chest area?" A guard wearing silver armour recalled.

"Yes sir, this is more than just a simple animal attack. This is murder," a young stallion confirmed as he looked at the several pictures of dead ponies. All with severe burns around the chest.

"Of course, the forensics teams are picking up something different to unicorn magic however. Care to explain that?"

"Who said anything about unicorns? I think that it is linked to that massive shock-wave two days ago".

"Are you considering that this is some sort of invasion?"

"Might not be, possibly some sort of inter-dimensional being we do not know. All I am saying is that alert the Princesses, they may have some leads as well".

"Watch your tongue! The royals are not tools," the large stallion turned onto the young, thin, weak one.

"Of course, no offence but it would be worth at least seeing if they have anything that can clear the shroud in this case," the young stallion turned away and walked off into an office.

"Weakling," the large stallion scoffed as he walked outside.

Crimson began to trail the stallion as he walked towards the castle, he began to advance and soon turned into an alley. The large stallion turned and drew his sword towards him.

"What do you want creep!" He shouted as he walked towards Crimson.

"Oh, I am so sorry if it seemed like I was following you. I was trying to give this to you," he handed a letter to him. The stallion snatched it and opened it, a purple gas released from the letter and he soon collapsed. "Sweet dreams, Captain". The body soon dissipated away as soon as another guard walked into the alley.

"Hey! What's going on here?" The guard pointed his sphere towards Crimson.

"Nothing, isn't that correct? Perhaps I should visit sometime, I mean that new deposit on those locks must make that little house secure? Good protection for your foals," Crimson grinned as walked slowly towards the guard, who's spear was shaking.

"Who are you?" The guard asked in fear.

"Someone who is doing nothing, isn't that correct?"

"Y...yes," the guard gulped as he slowly backed away into the streets. Crimson picked up a pendant around his neck.

"Works like a charm," he smiled as he walked back into the streets.

"I see you liked my little contraption," a voice said in his head.

"I do indeed, this makes intimidation of weak minded mortals easier on so many levels," Crimson smiled to himself as information from other civilians began to flood towards him. "Mary Sue's do not exist, everypony has skeletons in their closet and this opens the door to that closet".

"Well, I heard that they are going to enchant guards with new magical encryptions so it may not be so easy this time".

"Fun while it lasted, but I still have access to the civilians".

"Now we are going to the lower levels of Canterlot Castle, the fountain of souls is being delivered there so try and intercept it".

"Will do".

Crimson walked up to a set of old stone stairs leading down to a concealed alley. After walking for a few minutes, he saw several ponies guarding a crate which was standing near a small, steel gate.

"Bingo. Now, let's get in close," he muttered to himself. Suddenly a guard walked past him and looked at the path behind. Crimson powered up his horn and fired a beam of fire at him and absorbed the energy coming from his body. He picked up the armour and his helmet and put it on. "Fits like a glove".

After disposing of the body, Crimson walked towards the wooden crate and ran his hoof over it.

"Careful, thing might go off. No idea what this thing does but it's safe to get it inside, once the watch-pony gets off his flank and opens the damn gate!" A young guard cursed under his breath as he waited. "One heck of a first job eh".

"Eeyup, so where did this thing come from?" Crimson asked, trying to maintain a southern american accent.

"Well, I hear that some creepy fella in robes tried to cast some magic on it in a cave nearby. Some weirdo necromancy cult or something like that".

"OK I have had enough with this accent, I am just going to take this off your hooves," Crimson smiled as he stabbed a spear into the young stallion's chest. "Shh, if you don't talk I may just spare you".

"Buck you to Tartarus!" The guard groaned.

"Been there, done that," Crimson commented as he ran through the guard with the spear. He lifted off the crate panel and saw piles of sawdust. "What! You have got to be joking me!" He picked up a piece of paper that had Better luck next time wrote on it. "I won't need luck, now that the gate will be opened. I will force my way through!"