Darkness Risesby LakieLegionChaptersAn Ancient MonarchAn Old FriendFirewood and RainbowsAn Ancient MonarchDaring Do had just finished exploring an old castle, looking like it had dated back to before the Royal Sisters, inside she found many things, ancient crumbling statues of bipedal creatures, odd campfires with equally odd swords embedded into them, even a tall tower topped by what looked like an arena with a decrepit being that looked like a Golem, an old and rusted shield with what seemed to be a mirror nestled by it's side. And now, she stood in the final room she had yet to explore, a large room at the end of a large chasm, a long stone path being the only way through to the room, before her stood a large stone shape, much like a kiln, across another chasm, this one much smaller than the last. In the corners of the room stood many large stone Golems, sitting stationary but as she stepped closer to the large stone kiln, a loud grinding noise sounded, what seemed to be a pair of stone doors leading into the stone kiln were now opening. The sound of stone grinding against stone caused the bipedal individual sitting upon the throne made of stone to stir. A sound long forgotten causing the True Monarch to rise and remember. He sat inside the Kiln of the First Flame, he remembered now, after so long of simply sitting there, he had forgotten, but now it came back to him. Defeating the four whom guarded the Souls of Lords. Finding the hollowed husk of King Vendrick. Journeying to the past to defeat the King of Giants and obtaining the Giant's Kinship. journeying forth to challenge the Throne Watcher and Defender, Benhart of Jugo and the reunited head and body of Vengarl by his side. He shook his head, he could remember almost all of it, but what he could not remember, was his name, lost amongst his memory, he retrieved his helm from the floor in front of him, the grim visage of a skull at the front of it. Once it was firmly upon his head once more, he put his hood back over the top of it. Standing for the first time in ages was easier than he thought it would be, he brushed the dust from his chest. A hard leather curiass and a pair of metal gauntlets adorned his torso and hands. The bottom of the tunic ended just short of his knees, a cape flapping with every movement. Upon his feet sat a pair of heavily armored greaves, the overlapping plates not hindering movement in the slightest. He retrieved his Greatshield from beside him, it had stood against the throne for many a year, and dust had settled upon it too. It was an intricately designed shield, which had been pried from the dead hands of one of the guardians of the Ancient Dragon. Beside it sat his reward for claiming the throne, the Scythe of Want, pried from Nashanrda's hands after he had slain her for trying to stop him from claiming his destiny. And lastly, he retrieved his Sunset Staff and his Alonne Greatbow from the other side of the throne, firmly attaching them to his back beside one another. Upon his hip still sat his Idol Chime, claimed from the sinner, Licia of Lindelt, whom he brought to justice for scamming the gullible out of their souls and stealing a pair of miracles from Lindelt. Once more fully armed, the True Monarch strode up to the now open doors of the Kiln and stepped outside his stone castle for the first time in millennia. Daring Do looked on in wonder as while the stone doors opened, the stone Golems strode towards each other, coming up and huddling together, creating a bridge between the now fully open stone kiln, and the rest of the room. From inside the kiln strode a frightening creature, it's face little more than bone and obscured by a dark hood attached to a long black cloak going down it's back, in it's hands were a frightening pair of tools. One was a large intricate shield, easily three quarters the creature's height, in the other, was a large Scythe, seemingly made from the bones of the fallen. Daring could also make out what seemed to be a dark bell attached to it's hip and a long staff, pieces of dark wood orbiting a white crystal in the top, attached to it's back beside a giant bow and a quiver filled with what seemed to be small javelins. The frightening creature, that almost seemed to be Death incarnate, slowly strode across the bridge of Golems, it's unblinking gaze never leaving her own astonished face, it came to a stop in front of Daring before kneeling down. Now at eye level, Daring was horrified, this deathly creature was even more scary up close. It placed the large scythe upon the ground and moved it's hand to her face, gently making her move her head around as it examined her. "What have we here?" came the raspy voice of the creature, it looked at Daring for a minute longer before standing once more, it's imposing height dwarfing Princess Celestia herself, it placed a hand upon it's chin in thought. "Seems to be some sort of Equine species, interesting, I have dwelled down here long enough for horses to evolve into a seemingly different species, Lords! it even has wings! astounding!" rasped the creature once more, before it went into a thoughtful stance once more. "Oh dear, listen to my voice! gah! so long without hydration has veritably turned my throat into a desert!" it exclaimed before reaching into a pouch at it's side. It retrieved a small phial of a dark red goop from inside before inspecting it. "Rouge Water! ah, am I glad I kept at the very least one of these" once it had unstoppered the glass phial it grabbed it's face and pulled the grim visage off, Daring almost gasped once she saw the rotting face underneath. Small bushes of what seemed to be brown hair sat upon the creature's chin, as if it had once had a beard, but had slowly fallen out as the flesh underneath rotted away. It raised the phial to it's rotting lips and drank the contents, it groaned in satisfaction is it felt hydration it it's throat once more. "Much better" it said, it's voice no longer a grating rasp, now carrying a deep undertone. Daring still held her breath, as she did not want the creature to think her a threat. she watched as it replaced the phial in it's pouch before taking a small dark object out in it's stead, the object appeared to be an effigy of some sort. Daring watched as the creature brought the effigy to it's left breast, bowing it's head as it crushed the small and fragile object in it's glove, a burst of energy came from the crushed effigy and coalesced into the creature. Daring looked on in astonishment as what seemed to be years of green, rotted flesh gave way to new, peach colored skin, the patches of hair once more joined by more of their brethren, creating a chin framing beard. The True Monarch stretched in glee as the power of the Human Effigy took place, once more restoring his Humanity. His sight once more fell upon the curious creature, it simply stood there. Either it was frightened, astonished or downright stupid, he doubted the last one however, as it seemed to be wearing clothing, as well as having an oddly intricate brand upon each of it's flanks. "I wonder... is it intelligent? um, greetings, little winged horse. can, can you talk? or am I simply talking to myself once more?" he said, fumbling, he had never spoken to something he never thought would be able to talk, or, at the very least, been the one to talk first, shudders went up his spine as he remembered the Rat King. "Wha-what are you?" came the stuttering reply from the little equine, the True Monarch stroked his chin once more. "Interesting, sentient equines" he muttered to himself before addressing the equine. "Greetings! I am the True Monarch, I am an Undead, but I was once Human. now tell me, does the Sun hang in the air as it used to? does it cycle once more?" came his eccentric reply, gulping, the equine simply nodded, once it did, the True Monarch burst into happy laughter. "Glorious! it cycles once more! praise the Sun!" he exclaimed before striking a pose, as if he was yawning or holding the sun in his hands, the equine looked surprised at the gesture before speaking once more. "Hang on, what do you mean by 'True Monarch'? the Princesses have ruled Equestria for over a thousand years!" the equine exclaimed, taking a stance that seemed as if it was trying to be intimidating, the True Monarch laughed a jolly laugh. "My little equine! I rose to the True Throne a long, long time ago. many kingdoms must have risen and fallen on the ruins of the kingdom I claimed, why, even Drangleic itself rose to glory on the ruins of Olaphis, Venn and Lordran" the True Monarch explained before striding towards the exit, he turned around when he noticed that the equine had not yet followed him. "Well? are you coming or not? Personally I am bored to undeath with dark caverns! pun intended!" he called back, once he noticed the small equine turn to follow him he continued along his path, but stopped for a moment. he looked at the ground, he saw the remnants of summon signs beside the doors. The True Monarch knelt at one, the fading scrawls reading the name of a friend of his, he closed his eyes in silent prayer before speaking. "Rest in peace Benhart of Jugo, a fine ally and friend you made" he whispered before looking at the other fading sign, a small smile crossed his face as he read the name. "Rest Vengarl, I hope you found your peace once more, I thank you for your help at the end" the True Monarch said softly, he then retrieved two items from his pack. One was a helm in the shape of a snarling lion, the other was a large greatsword, a bright blue metal made the blade shine brilliantly. he placed the helm upon Vengarl's sign and drove the sword into the stone beside Benhart's. "who were they? Benhart and Vengarl?" came a voice from his side, the True Monarch turned and saw the equine, he sighed, remembering the two whom had given him their help at the end. "Benhart was a warrior from Jugo, a desert city. That sword had been passed down in his family from generations, legends said that only a true warrior could wield it to it's full potential. He was outraged and saddened when he found that it was a fake when I inherited the original, forged from the soul of an ancient Dragon whom had betrayed his kind" the True Monarch lowered his head. "After the final fight, in which he helped me become the True Monarch, he gave me his sword, saying that he did not wish to wield a lie any longer, in reply, I gave him the true blade and we left it there as I took the throne" he sighed once more as he looked at Vengarl's helm. "Vengarl is a different story, he was a mercenary from the land of Forossa. long ago when the first king of Drangleic was on the throne, he fell in battle, his head removed from his body. however, he woke the next day, a head fallen by the wayside. over years, he grew to enjoy the silence of the forest his head rested in, however, he had visions of his body, it rampaged without him. Eventually I met his head, we spoke for a while and he let me take his helm, still sitting upon his head." the True Monarch sighed once more. "I happened upon his body later on, rampaging through an empty room, I stopped it's rampage, and then I reunited Vengarl's head with his body, he thanked me and offered me his help if I ever needed it" a solemn look took over the Monarch's face as he looked away from the remnants of his two good friend's signs, he continued walking towards the rest of the castle in solemn silence. That is, until he stopped again after realizing something. "Oh hey! you never told me your name! usually people tell me their name when we start talking" he said, turning around to look at the equine, it put a hoof to it's face at the sheer idiocy shown by one whom called himself a monarch. "My name is Daring Do, I'm an explorer and archaeologist, I found this place while exploring an ancient cave system in the Everfree Forest" Daring said, taking off the hat on his head, or at least, the True Monarch thought he was male, what with the masculine voice. "Well then my good man! let us march onwards in Jolly Cooperation! hah ha!" the True Monarch exclaimed, pointing his finger in the direction out of the castle, Daring face-hooved once more with a sigh before grumbling out the words 'Mare, not Man', the True Monarch turned to her with a 'hm?'. "You are female? at least, thats what mare meant last I checked, odd, you sound too masculine" he stated before continuing on his way, Daring grumbling all the way from behind him as he marched with glee, wishing to see the glorious sun once more. Author's Note Hello! another story by me! Okay, for anyone wondering what is happening with other stories I have posted in the past. First, Monster Hunter P is still on Hiatus, I'm trying to come up with a good enough chapter after mutilating Flash, blarg it is hard writing this kind of sadness when you live life as it comes and have never had anyone close to me die or hurt this bad Secondly, I have deleted When life gives you Dragons, because Zeus never got back to me with my question of what needed to be changed to make it Canon. Now that that is out of the way, here are links to the pieces of armor and gear the True Monarch uses, which are all exactly what I use in Dark Souls 2 NG+ (except the Aurous Gauntlets, those are hard to get in the visible version I make-do with the Drangleic ones instead) and yes, this is actually functional Fashion Souls stuff, I hate using armor pieces that don't match my gear in games. Dark Mask Llewellyn Chest Visible Aurous Gauntlets (bottom of page) Drangleic Leggings Scythe of Want Drakekeeper's Greatshield Sunset Staff Idol's Chime Alonne Greatbow An Old FriendAuthor's Note And here it is! the second chapter of Darkness Rises! In this we talk of old legends, reminisce about old friends, and encounter a most peculiar individual from our Monarch's past Praise the sun my friends! \o/ An Old Friend "Astounding! after so long a mountain sprung up on top of the castle! My word! it must have been a million years at the least!" echoed the surprised voice of the True Monarch as he stepped into the large cave encompassing the remains of Drangleic Castle, beside him, Daring Do trotted along, wearing a modified mining lamp on her pith helmet, the pegasus rolled her eyes at the man. "I doubt it, nopony could have survived that long in a sealed stone kiln" she said, not even mentioning that the castle would be little more than dust in the wind by that point, or long pilfered by tomb robbers or Diamond Dogs. "This castle sat upon a cliff! Plus, I am Undead! We do not require sustenance or even rest. Admittedly though, I am surprised I lasted that long without becoming a slavering mindless Hollow. I guess I always knew I would be needed again one day, what for, however, I do not know" stated the undead Monarch, continuing to stride down the path sway from the castle. Daring barely believed the eccentric being, but she continued to follow him, he looked like he knew the way out, but she doubted it, however, this changed when they arrived at the shrine she had recognized as the main landmark telling them they were almost out. "The Shrine of Winter... looks like it stayed open after I opened it, ah well, no time to reminisce! I must see my sun once more! Oh if only I could be so grossly incandescent!" exclaimed the True Monarch, once more taking his yawning pose, Daring was curious as to what it meant. "What does that pose mean? the yawning one? you've done it twice when referring to the sun" the pegasus asked her erratic companion, whom simply laughed heartily before speaking. "That is a sign of the Heirs of Sunlight, we praise the sun, as it was given to us by our lord Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, whom peeled apart the scales of the ancient dragons with his piercing bolts of sunlight itself, the story of Gwyn was... is... lost to most, but the Heirs handed it down, generation by generation" the True Monarch explained, a small frown sullying his jolly demeanor. "It is said that Gwyn desired nothing more than to keep his Age of Light going, and to do so he sacrificed himself, he sacrificed the immortal soul of a Lord to prevent the Dark from rising. He failed however, his soul burned down to Cinders, and he raged on until an undead finally put the lord to rest. But much like myself, it is said that the Chosen Undead did not fight alone. He had a close ally by his side, the leader of the Warriors of Sunlight, Solaire of Astora" the True Monarch sighed once more, the two had continued to walk as he told the tale. "Many stories told in the Heirs say that when Gwyn fell, Solaire sacrificed his radiant soul to keep his beloved sun on high. The Dark disappeared once more, Hollows once again falling into myth and legend. That is, until the Dark rose once more" he said, Daring looked down to her hooves, wondering what it would be like if life was simply intertwined in a constant loop, fated to repeat. The True Monarch looked forwards, and he noticed something. They were at the exit. Light poured through an opening in the rocky wall, and the Monarch noticed a spot that caught his eye. He strode over to it, touching the weeds and grass that still stood after millennia. The place Benhart sat when he first encountered the desert warrior, he sighed once more before the walked towards the exit. As he stepped outside he saw that the architecture still stood, after so many years, a forgotten land, and yet, it drew wanderers directly to it. The one place he knew there would always be a friendly face, waiting to greet him back to town. Back to Majula. The True Monarch strode towards the small settlement that he had called 'Home' for a time. For Home is where the heart is, and his heart would always call him back here, to the few friends he had made during his travels. He looked down the path, along a crumbling wall, where, once, Melentia, the Merchant sat, hawking her wares, he would always come to her for essentials, such as lifegems. Just past the Merchant's usual perch, was the bonfire, where Shanalotte, the Emerald Herald sat most of the time. A dull ember still burned at the bottom of the Far Fire. The True Monarch strode up to it, and touched the enchanted blade. The flames of the bonfire came to life once more, trying to compete with the sun for superiority. Looking off to the left the True Monarch noticed a small shack, a large rock jutting out of the ground in front of it. This was the adopted home and forge of Lenigrast the Blacksmith and his daughter, Chloanne, whom he had reunited. A warm smile came to the Monarch's face in remembrance of Lenigrast, whom had unofficially adopted the role of 'father figure' to most of the younger members of the village. Past Lenigrast's shack were three more buildings, the one on the left was Maughlin the Armorer's shop. Maughlin was a bit of a bigot after he had gained quite a bit of business from himself, and he stopped going to the shop after a while. On the right was the house that Sweet Shalquoir lived in. The Cat was a curious individual, obviously the first thing was that she could speak, unlike other, more common felines. other than that, she seemed to be the most 'in the know' of all the residents of the place. She had explained many things to him, informing him of The Lost Sinner, The Rotten, The Old Iron King and the Duke's Dear Freja. And even afterwards, urging him to invade the memories of the long fallen so that he could take the throne. Looking towards the final building in the area, the True Monarch noticed something else that was odd. the hole that led into the Gutter, the same bottomless pit that Gilligan the Laddersmith sat beside, was filled in. Shrugging it off, he looked towards the last and largest building in the area, the Majula Mansion, inside of which was a large map showing Drangleic and many small flames that appeared when he had kindled various bonfires across the world. "what was this place?" Daring asked from beside him. The Monarch jumped slightly, he had forgotten the mare in his reminiscence. He looked at each of the buildings once more before speaking. "This... was Home. Or the closest thing to home vagabonds like myself and the other residents could have. We had become almost like a family before I took the throne, we had an almost typical family. The kindly grandmother, the intelligent great uncle, the insufferable brother, the gruff father figure... We had all become close over the years we lived here, even after years of death after death, it could not get any of us down" A shadow of a smile sat upon his face, and a small, salty drop landed on the ground, the Monarch lifted a hand to his face, his gauntlet coming back with drops of a clear, salty liquid upon it, Daring smiled softly. "Sounds like the one place you could always come back to, no matter what happened" the tan pegasus commented, the Monarch laughed softly. "To us, it was the only place any of us had any semblance of safety" he said before striding to the door of Shalquoir's house, but as he put his hand upon the door, he heard a familiar voice that he had not heard in a long time. "My my my, such a peculiar scent, and it has been such a long, loooong time since the last I smelt it. Hee Hee Hee." came the voice. Such a flirtatious voice for such an interesting being, the Monarch pushed the door open before striding in, his eyes almost instantly settled upon the form of an old friend, the fuzzy feline sat upon the table in the middle of the one roomed house, a playful smile upon her face. "Well well well, if it isn't the True Monarch, Hee Hee Hee, such a long time, hasn't it? Why, the only visitor I have had here in Majula since that nice white Pegacorn and her sister more than a thousand years ago, was an equine that I did not wish to talk to. Although, it seems like you brought her straight to me, Hee Hee Hee." giggled the overly flirtatious feline as she stood up from her sitting position. "Shalquoir? how is it that you are still here? not a bit different from the last time I saw you?" the Monarch asked, this prompted the feline to answer with her signature giggle. "Let us just say, that I have lived a very long time, and will live for even longer. Why, this is not even my true form, I adopt a different one each age, Hee Hee Hee" the cat giggled once more, before she looked at the Monarch, a serious look on her feline face. "You must make haste however, Monarch, as a Darkness is rising off in the horizon, and if I am not mistaken, you will be the only one able to stop it, Hee Hee Hee, run along now." she said, before pouncing off the table, towards a hole in the floor, before the True Monarch or Daring could do anything, the feline was gone, but Daring noticed something on the table, behind where the cat sat was a note, with a ring weighing it down. Daring let the Monarch know it's presence and the human strode over to read it. My Dear Monarch, Go to Canterlot and speak to Celestia. Give her this ring. She will know what it means. Yours always, Shalquoir. The True Monarch gripped the ring in his fingers, examining the design. It was simple, but also elaborate. Silver and gold intertwined with each other, and a stylized symbol of the sun, with a crescent moon in the middle. He replaced one of the rings upon his left hand with it, placing the Ring of Binding into his pouch. "So... what now?" Daring asked the Monarch, the human simply turned to face the equine once more, a smile upon his face he put his mask back upon his head before speaking. "Take me to your leader, Daring Do" Firewood and Rainbows"Um... what?" said Daring Do, dumbfounded by the blunt statement from the True Monarch. The undead warrior jovially laughed for a second before speaking again. "Ah, I have wanted to say that for a long time. Nut anyway, the note told me to talk to 'Princess Celestia', and as you said earlier, this kingdom is ruled by her and her sister." The Monarch explained to his unwilling companion as he looked off towards the Majula Monument. The first thing he noticed about that side of town, was that instead of a large cliff with the ocean at the bottom, a dark forest stretched away from the settlement, the Monument having the top half sliced cleanly off. The Monarch walked up to the monument acknowledging the sacrifices of everyone whom lost their lives fighting the giants. A faint smile crossed his face as he remembered one of those warriors, whom he met in the memories of the Giants. Captain Drummond, whose greaves he now wore, in remembrance of the proud warrior, whom had lost both his father and grandfather to the war against the giants, whom had also worn said armor. "Well, if I'm going to take you to Canterlot, we're gonna have to go through the Everfree Forest to reach Ponyville, which has the nearest train station for miles" Daring said as she walked up to the Monarch. "Are you ready to go, or do you want to stay here for a while longer?" the Monarch smiled at the pegasus' worry for him, they had only known each other for an hour at most, and she was already being incredibly kind to him. "Let us be off, there is nothing more for me here. I may return in time, but that will be to live the rest of time in peace" the Monarch said with a small nod to his companion, whom smiled softly before leading the way through the dark forest. The unlikely duo trekked through the forest, talking of their pasts, getting to know each other as they traveled. However, a rustling in the bushes caught the Monarch's attention. As he turned he noticed piercing golden eyes in the shadows around them. "Daring, not to startle you or anything, but I believe that we have company" the Monarch said, slowly, making sure not to make any sudden movements. His pegasus companion looked around them as well, quickly noticing the golden dots all around them. "Timberwolves" she whispered as she crouched low to the ground, in a combat stance. The True Monarch placed his Scythe upon his back and retrieved his Sunset Staff from it's perch beside his Greatbow. The True Monarch knew what spell he was going to cast almost instantly. Charging forward a few steps towards the golden eyes he mumbled out the incantation. Almost instantly, a writhing mass of darkness coalesced around the tip of the staff, forming a blade of pure darkness. He swung the ready spell horizontally, the darkness slicing through trees and wooden wolves alike. Once the swing was ended, a wave of darkness erupted from the air where it slashed, flying forwards ten feet, slicing even more trees. The True Monarch smirked at the now revealed corpses of his foes, before they started to twitch with movement. His eyes widened as he noticed a dismembered head at his feet snarl before recreating it's body out of the scattered debris. He rolled backwards before springing back to his feet beside Daring. "Never have I faced such foes, most everything I have fought before now has stayed down after defeat. Barring skeletons of course, the nasty creations of necromancy they are." The Monarch said, quickly replacing his staff upon his back. Daring quickly looked around, seeing no means of escape. "We can't run, they have us surrounded. Do you have anything that uses fire by chance?" the pegasus said, looking around at the wolves slowly circling them, the True Monarch chuckled slightly. "Fire you say? Yes... Yes, that will do nicely" he said menacingly before he reached into his pouch, grasping a white bound hilt. Slowly the blade came into view, it was a large, thick and curved blade, the color of the metal was a dark ash grey, the polar opposite of the pure white cloth wrapping around the hilt, flames danced along the cold, metal blade. "This blade, the Murakumo, is fortified with a stone known as the Firedrake Stone, a unique variant of titanite imbued with fire" the Monarch stated menacingly as he took it in both hands, letting his shield fall to the ground. And then he danced. The dark blade of the sword swung skillfully through the air, dismembering Timberwolves here and there, the fire enchantment igniting the remains of the wooden abominations. Quickly, there were no wolves left, only the smoldering firewood that was once limbs, bodies and heads. The boiling sap that was once flowing through the bodies of the wolves slowly slid off the hot blade of the Murakumo. With a flick of the blade, the sap flew off of the immense sword, and with slow and precise movements he replaced it into his pouch, blade first. "H-how did you do that? That pouch is tiny compared to that sword!" Daring exclaimed, the Monarch chuckled once more as he picked his shield back up off the floor. "It has what is known as a 'Bottomless Box' inside it, said box literally has no bottom and one can retrieve anything they put in there with nary a thought, I have many blades and armor inside" the Monarch explained before waving a hand in the air. "'Tis complicated magic and even I do not know how it is done." Daring looked down at the mention of 'complicated magic', she knew of a unicorn in Ponyville who would jump through hoops to get a chance to study such a thing, she blanched at the thought of said Princess of Friendship getting her hooves on the Monarch. "Well, we can't be too much further from Ponyville, admittedly, the mountain isn't too far in, so we should reach the outside pretty soon if we are quick" Daring said, quickly cantering down the path they were headed, the True Monarch quickly jogged after her. The pair finally emerged from the dark forest, thankfully they had not encountered any other creatures on their way out. The bright sun shone at it's apex, high in the sky, and the True Monarch quickly noticed it. He fell to his knees at the sight of the glorious sun. "It... It is beautiful... I have not seen it in such splendor in a long time, oh... It is so grossly incandescent" he said, almost in a whisper, before standing once more, he turned to his companion before speaking again. "Daring, let us make haste to this 'train station', I wish to arrive at Canterlot post haste" the Monarch said, Daring nodded before the pair headed towards the small town not too far away, Daring silently hoped that they could reach the train station and get on a train before any of the Elements of Harmony could spot them, little did she know, they would not have the luxury of evading any of the six. She noticed almost instantly a polychromatic blur racing towards them already and she cursed silently, realizing that she should not have even thought that, simply because some evil deity could make sure things happened for comedic relief. (Crap! She's onto me! Okay... Okay... Mind wipe!) Daring shook her head, wondering what she was thinking about. She then noticed Rainbow Dash was not slowing down as she approached the pair, the tan pegasus' eyes widened as she realized what was happening. The True Monarch noticed this as well, and raised his shield to intercept the rainbow projectile, and with a metallic 'thump' the rainbow maned pony slammed face first into the large lump of intricate metal. "Are... you okay?" the True Monarch asked the cyan pegasus, whom slowly slid off the face of his shield. A single hoof raised off the ground where she was sprawled over the ground before she spoke. "Yeah... Gimme a sec..." she moaned into the dirt. After a minute, she sprung onto her hooves, crouching down into a combat ready stance before she spoke again. "This creature followed you out of the Everfree Daring!" exclaimed the new pegasus, Daring simply facehooved while the True Monarch simply laughed a jolly laugh again. "Hah! Hooooooo, man, never been called 'creature' before. Seriously though, you don't wanna mess with me, colorful. I doubt your princess would like it if I had to kill one of her subjects in self defense before I could talk to her" he said, Rainbow Dash blinked dumbfoundedly at the Monarch, her jaw dropping to the ground, the undead warrior simply waved before speaking. "Hi! I'm the True Monarch! great to meet you!" Author's Note HUZZAH! there is now more, I was on a bit of a roll, so I got this out pretty quickly if I do say so myself. Now then, the Murakumo used in this chapter is the special one that was available for a time after the Sunken Crown DLC came out. And again, here is a list of things this character has equipped, but this time it is attuned spells Dark Orb (1 attunement) Hex, Staff Dark Weapon (1 attunement) Hex, Staff Recollection (1 attunement) Hex, Staff Dark Greatsword (2 attunement) Hex, Staff Soothing Sunlight (2 attunement) Miracle, Chime Sunlight Spear (2 attunement Miracle, Chime equaling 9 slots in total, three of which are from the Southern Ritual Band(which is the +2 version)
An Ancient MonarchDaring Do had just finished exploring an old castle, looking like it had dated back to before the Royal Sisters, inside she found many things, ancient crumbling statues of bipedal creatures, odd campfires with equally odd swords embedded into them, even a tall tower topped by what looked like an arena with a decrepit being that looked like a Golem, an old and rusted shield with what seemed to be a mirror nestled by it's side. And now, she stood in the final room she had yet to explore, a large room at the end of a large chasm, a long stone path being the only way through to the room, before her stood a large stone shape, much like a kiln, across another chasm, this one much smaller than the last. In the corners of the room stood many large stone Golems, sitting stationary but as she stepped closer to the large stone kiln, a loud grinding noise sounded, what seemed to be a pair of stone doors leading into the stone kiln were now opening. The sound of stone grinding against stone caused the bipedal individual sitting upon the throne made of stone to stir. A sound long forgotten causing the True Monarch to rise and remember. He sat inside the Kiln of the First Flame, he remembered now, after so long of simply sitting there, he had forgotten, but now it came back to him. Defeating the four whom guarded the Souls of Lords. Finding the hollowed husk of King Vendrick. Journeying to the past to defeat the King of Giants and obtaining the Giant's Kinship. journeying forth to challenge the Throne Watcher and Defender, Benhart of Jugo and the reunited head and body of Vengarl by his side. He shook his head, he could remember almost all of it, but what he could not remember, was his name, lost amongst his memory, he retrieved his helm from the floor in front of him, the grim visage of a skull at the front of it. Once it was firmly upon his head once more, he put his hood back over the top of it. Standing for the first time in ages was easier than he thought it would be, he brushed the dust from his chest. A hard leather curiass and a pair of metal gauntlets adorned his torso and hands. The bottom of the tunic ended just short of his knees, a cape flapping with every movement. Upon his feet sat a pair of heavily armored greaves, the overlapping plates not hindering movement in the slightest. He retrieved his Greatshield from beside him, it had stood against the throne for many a year, and dust had settled upon it too. It was an intricately designed shield, which had been pried from the dead hands of one of the guardians of the Ancient Dragon. Beside it sat his reward for claiming the throne, the Scythe of Want, pried from Nashanrda's hands after he had slain her for trying to stop him from claiming his destiny. And lastly, he retrieved his Sunset Staff and his Alonne Greatbow from the other side of the throne, firmly attaching them to his back beside one another. Upon his hip still sat his Idol Chime, claimed from the sinner, Licia of Lindelt, whom he brought to justice for scamming the gullible out of their souls and stealing a pair of miracles from Lindelt. Once more fully armed, the True Monarch strode up to the now open doors of the Kiln and stepped outside his stone castle for the first time in millennia. Daring Do looked on in wonder as while the stone doors opened, the stone Golems strode towards each other, coming up and huddling together, creating a bridge between the now fully open stone kiln, and the rest of the room. From inside the kiln strode a frightening creature, it's face little more than bone and obscured by a dark hood attached to a long black cloak going down it's back, in it's hands were a frightening pair of tools. One was a large intricate shield, easily three quarters the creature's height, in the other, was a large Scythe, seemingly made from the bones of the fallen. Daring could also make out what seemed to be a dark bell attached to it's hip and a long staff, pieces of dark wood orbiting a white crystal in the top, attached to it's back beside a giant bow and a quiver filled with what seemed to be small javelins. The frightening creature, that almost seemed to be Death incarnate, slowly strode across the bridge of Golems, it's unblinking gaze never leaving her own astonished face, it came to a stop in front of Daring before kneeling down. Now at eye level, Daring was horrified, this deathly creature was even more scary up close. It placed the large scythe upon the ground and moved it's hand to her face, gently making her move her head around as it examined her. "What have we here?" came the raspy voice of the creature, it looked at Daring for a minute longer before standing once more, it's imposing height dwarfing Princess Celestia herself, it placed a hand upon it's chin in thought. "Seems to be some sort of Equine species, interesting, I have dwelled down here long enough for horses to evolve into a seemingly different species, Lords! it even has wings! astounding!" rasped the creature once more, before it went into a thoughtful stance once more. "Oh dear, listen to my voice! gah! so long without hydration has veritably turned my throat into a desert!" it exclaimed before reaching into a pouch at it's side. It retrieved a small phial of a dark red goop from inside before inspecting it. "Rouge Water! ah, am I glad I kept at the very least one of these" once it had unstoppered the glass phial it grabbed it's face and pulled the grim visage off, Daring almost gasped once she saw the rotting face underneath. Small bushes of what seemed to be brown hair sat upon the creature's chin, as if it had once had a beard, but had slowly fallen out as the flesh underneath rotted away. It raised the phial to it's rotting lips and drank the contents, it groaned in satisfaction is it felt hydration it it's throat once more. "Much better" it said, it's voice no longer a grating rasp, now carrying a deep undertone. Daring still held her breath, as she did not want the creature to think her a threat. she watched as it replaced the phial in it's pouch before taking a small dark object out in it's stead, the object appeared to be an effigy of some sort. Daring watched as the creature brought the effigy to it's left breast, bowing it's head as it crushed the small and fragile object in it's glove, a burst of energy came from the crushed effigy and coalesced into the creature. Daring looked on in astonishment as what seemed to be years of green, rotted flesh gave way to new, peach colored skin, the patches of hair once more joined by more of their brethren, creating a chin framing beard. The True Monarch stretched in glee as the power of the Human Effigy took place, once more restoring his Humanity. His sight once more fell upon the curious creature, it simply stood there. Either it was frightened, astonished or downright stupid, he doubted the last one however, as it seemed to be wearing clothing, as well as having an oddly intricate brand upon each of it's flanks. "I wonder... is it intelligent? um, greetings, little winged horse. can, can you talk? or am I simply talking to myself once more?" he said, fumbling, he had never spoken to something he never thought would be able to talk, or, at the very least, been the one to talk first, shudders went up his spine as he remembered the Rat King. "Wha-what are you?" came the stuttering reply from the little equine, the True Monarch stroked his chin once more. "Interesting, sentient equines" he muttered to himself before addressing the equine. "Greetings! I am the True Monarch, I am an Undead, but I was once Human. now tell me, does the Sun hang in the air as it used to? does it cycle once more?" came his eccentric reply, gulping, the equine simply nodded, once it did, the True Monarch burst into happy laughter. "Glorious! it cycles once more! praise the Sun!" he exclaimed before striking a pose, as if he was yawning or holding the sun in his hands, the equine looked surprised at the gesture before speaking once more. "Hang on, what do you mean by 'True Monarch'? the Princesses have ruled Equestria for over a thousand years!" the equine exclaimed, taking a stance that seemed as if it was trying to be intimidating, the True Monarch laughed a jolly laugh. "My little equine! I rose to the True Throne a long, long time ago. many kingdoms must have risen and fallen on the ruins of the kingdom I claimed, why, even Drangleic itself rose to glory on the ruins of Olaphis, Venn and Lordran" the True Monarch explained before striding towards the exit, he turned around when he noticed that the equine had not yet followed him. "Well? are you coming or not? Personally I am bored to undeath with dark caverns! pun intended!" he called back, once he noticed the small equine turn to follow him he continued along his path, but stopped for a moment. he looked at the ground, he saw the remnants of summon signs beside the doors. The True Monarch knelt at one, the fading scrawls reading the name of a friend of his, he closed his eyes in silent prayer before speaking. "Rest in peace Benhart of Jugo, a fine ally and friend you made" he whispered before looking at the other fading sign, a small smile crossed his face as he read the name. "Rest Vengarl, I hope you found your peace once more, I thank you for your help at the end" the True Monarch said softly, he then retrieved two items from his pack. One was a helm in the shape of a snarling lion, the other was a large greatsword, a bright blue metal made the blade shine brilliantly. he placed the helm upon Vengarl's sign and drove the sword into the stone beside Benhart's. "who were they? Benhart and Vengarl?" came a voice from his side, the True Monarch turned and saw the equine, he sighed, remembering the two whom had given him their help at the end. "Benhart was a warrior from Jugo, a desert city. That sword had been passed down in his family from generations, legends said that only a true warrior could wield it to it's full potential. He was outraged and saddened when he found that it was a fake when I inherited the original, forged from the soul of an ancient Dragon whom had betrayed his kind" the True Monarch lowered his head. "After the final fight, in which he helped me become the True Monarch, he gave me his sword, saying that he did not wish to wield a lie any longer, in reply, I gave him the true blade and we left it there as I took the throne" he sighed once more as he looked at Vengarl's helm. "Vengarl is a different story, he was a mercenary from the land of Forossa. long ago when the first king of Drangleic was on the throne, he fell in battle, his head removed from his body. however, he woke the next day, a head fallen by the wayside. over years, he grew to enjoy the silence of the forest his head rested in, however, he had visions of his body, it rampaged without him. Eventually I met his head, we spoke for a while and he let me take his helm, still sitting upon his head." the True Monarch sighed once more. "I happened upon his body later on, rampaging through an empty room, I stopped it's rampage, and then I reunited Vengarl's head with his body, he thanked me and offered me his help if I ever needed it" a solemn look took over the Monarch's face as he looked away from the remnants of his two good friend's signs, he continued walking towards the rest of the castle in solemn silence. That is, until he stopped again after realizing something. "Oh hey! you never told me your name! usually people tell me their name when we start talking" he said, turning around to look at the equine, it put a hoof to it's face at the sheer idiocy shown by one whom called himself a monarch. "My name is Daring Do, I'm an explorer and archaeologist, I found this place while exploring an ancient cave system in the Everfree Forest" Daring said, taking off the hat on his head, or at least, the True Monarch thought he was male, what with the masculine voice. "Well then my good man! let us march onwards in Jolly Cooperation! hah ha!" the True Monarch exclaimed, pointing his finger in the direction out of the castle, Daring face-hooved once more with a sigh before grumbling out the words 'Mare, not Man', the True Monarch turned to her with a 'hm?'. "You are female? at least, thats what mare meant last I checked, odd, you sound too masculine" he stated before continuing on his way, Daring grumbling all the way from behind him as he marched with glee, wishing to see the glorious sun once more. Author's Note Hello! another story by me! Okay, for anyone wondering what is happening with other stories I have posted in the past. First, Monster Hunter P is still on Hiatus, I'm trying to come up with a good enough chapter after mutilating Flash, blarg it is hard writing this kind of sadness when you live life as it comes and have never had anyone close to me die or hurt this bad Secondly, I have deleted When life gives you Dragons, because Zeus never got back to me with my question of what needed to be changed to make it Canon. Now that that is out of the way, here are links to the pieces of armor and gear the True Monarch uses, which are all exactly what I use in Dark Souls 2 NG+ (except the Aurous Gauntlets, those are hard to get in the visible version I make-do with the Drangleic ones instead) and yes, this is actually functional Fashion Souls stuff, I hate using armor pieces that don't match my gear in games. Dark Mask Llewellyn Chest Visible Aurous Gauntlets (bottom of page) Drangleic Leggings Scythe of Want Drakekeeper's Greatshield Sunset Staff Idol's Chime Alonne Greatbow
An Old FriendAuthor's Note And here it is! the second chapter of Darkness Rises! In this we talk of old legends, reminisce about old friends, and encounter a most peculiar individual from our Monarch's past Praise the sun my friends! \o/ An Old Friend "Astounding! after so long a mountain sprung up on top of the castle! My word! it must have been a million years at the least!" echoed the surprised voice of the True Monarch as he stepped into the large cave encompassing the remains of Drangleic Castle, beside him, Daring Do trotted along, wearing a modified mining lamp on her pith helmet, the pegasus rolled her eyes at the man. "I doubt it, nopony could have survived that long in a sealed stone kiln" she said, not even mentioning that the castle would be little more than dust in the wind by that point, or long pilfered by tomb robbers or Diamond Dogs. "This castle sat upon a cliff! Plus, I am Undead! We do not require sustenance or even rest. Admittedly though, I am surprised I lasted that long without becoming a slavering mindless Hollow. I guess I always knew I would be needed again one day, what for, however, I do not know" stated the undead Monarch, continuing to stride down the path sway from the castle. Daring barely believed the eccentric being, but she continued to follow him, he looked like he knew the way out, but she doubted it, however, this changed when they arrived at the shrine she had recognized as the main landmark telling them they were almost out. "The Shrine of Winter... looks like it stayed open after I opened it, ah well, no time to reminisce! I must see my sun once more! Oh if only I could be so grossly incandescent!" exclaimed the True Monarch, once more taking his yawning pose, Daring was curious as to what it meant. "What does that pose mean? the yawning one? you've done it twice when referring to the sun" the pegasus asked her erratic companion, whom simply laughed heartily before speaking. "That is a sign of the Heirs of Sunlight, we praise the sun, as it was given to us by our lord Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, whom peeled apart the scales of the ancient dragons with his piercing bolts of sunlight itself, the story of Gwyn was... is... lost to most, but the Heirs handed it down, generation by generation" the True Monarch explained, a small frown sullying his jolly demeanor. "It is said that Gwyn desired nothing more than to keep his Age of Light going, and to do so he sacrificed himself, he sacrificed the immortal soul of a Lord to prevent the Dark from rising. He failed however, his soul burned down to Cinders, and he raged on until an undead finally put the lord to rest. But much like myself, it is said that the Chosen Undead did not fight alone. He had a close ally by his side, the leader of the Warriors of Sunlight, Solaire of Astora" the True Monarch sighed once more, the two had continued to walk as he told the tale. "Many stories told in the Heirs say that when Gwyn fell, Solaire sacrificed his radiant soul to keep his beloved sun on high. The Dark disappeared once more, Hollows once again falling into myth and legend. That is, until the Dark rose once more" he said, Daring looked down to her hooves, wondering what it would be like if life was simply intertwined in a constant loop, fated to repeat. The True Monarch looked forwards, and he noticed something. They were at the exit. Light poured through an opening in the rocky wall, and the Monarch noticed a spot that caught his eye. He strode over to it, touching the weeds and grass that still stood after millennia. The place Benhart sat when he first encountered the desert warrior, he sighed once more before the walked towards the exit. As he stepped outside he saw that the architecture still stood, after so many years, a forgotten land, and yet, it drew wanderers directly to it. The one place he knew there would always be a friendly face, waiting to greet him back to town. Back to Majula. The True Monarch strode towards the small settlement that he had called 'Home' for a time. For Home is where the heart is, and his heart would always call him back here, to the few friends he had made during his travels. He looked down the path, along a crumbling wall, where, once, Melentia, the Merchant sat, hawking her wares, he would always come to her for essentials, such as lifegems. Just past the Merchant's usual perch, was the bonfire, where Shanalotte, the Emerald Herald sat most of the time. A dull ember still burned at the bottom of the Far Fire. The True Monarch strode up to it, and touched the enchanted blade. The flames of the bonfire came to life once more, trying to compete with the sun for superiority. Looking off to the left the True Monarch noticed a small shack, a large rock jutting out of the ground in front of it. This was the adopted home and forge of Lenigrast the Blacksmith and his daughter, Chloanne, whom he had reunited. A warm smile came to the Monarch's face in remembrance of Lenigrast, whom had unofficially adopted the role of 'father figure' to most of the younger members of the village. Past Lenigrast's shack were three more buildings, the one on the left was Maughlin the Armorer's shop. Maughlin was a bit of a bigot after he had gained quite a bit of business from himself, and he stopped going to the shop after a while. On the right was the house that Sweet Shalquoir lived in. The Cat was a curious individual, obviously the first thing was that she could speak, unlike other, more common felines. other than that, she seemed to be the most 'in the know' of all the residents of the place. She had explained many things to him, informing him of The Lost Sinner, The Rotten, The Old Iron King and the Duke's Dear Freja. And even afterwards, urging him to invade the memories of the long fallen so that he could take the throne. Looking towards the final building in the area, the True Monarch noticed something else that was odd. the hole that led into the Gutter, the same bottomless pit that Gilligan the Laddersmith sat beside, was filled in. Shrugging it off, he looked towards the last and largest building in the area, the Majula Mansion, inside of which was a large map showing Drangleic and many small flames that appeared when he had kindled various bonfires across the world. "what was this place?" Daring asked from beside him. The Monarch jumped slightly, he had forgotten the mare in his reminiscence. He looked at each of the buildings once more before speaking. "This... was Home. Or the closest thing to home vagabonds like myself and the other residents could have. We had become almost like a family before I took the throne, we had an almost typical family. The kindly grandmother, the intelligent great uncle, the insufferable brother, the gruff father figure... We had all become close over the years we lived here, even after years of death after death, it could not get any of us down" A shadow of a smile sat upon his face, and a small, salty drop landed on the ground, the Monarch lifted a hand to his face, his gauntlet coming back with drops of a clear, salty liquid upon it, Daring smiled softly. "Sounds like the one place you could always come back to, no matter what happened" the tan pegasus commented, the Monarch laughed softly. "To us, it was the only place any of us had any semblance of safety" he said before striding to the door of Shalquoir's house, but as he put his hand upon the door, he heard a familiar voice that he had not heard in a long time. "My my my, such a peculiar scent, and it has been such a long, loooong time since the last I smelt it. Hee Hee Hee." came the voice. Such a flirtatious voice for such an interesting being, the Monarch pushed the door open before striding in, his eyes almost instantly settled upon the form of an old friend, the fuzzy feline sat upon the table in the middle of the one roomed house, a playful smile upon her face. "Well well well, if it isn't the True Monarch, Hee Hee Hee, such a long time, hasn't it? Why, the only visitor I have had here in Majula since that nice white Pegacorn and her sister more than a thousand years ago, was an equine that I did not wish to talk to. Although, it seems like you brought her straight to me, Hee Hee Hee." giggled the overly flirtatious feline as she stood up from her sitting position. "Shalquoir? how is it that you are still here? not a bit different from the last time I saw you?" the Monarch asked, this prompted the feline to answer with her signature giggle. "Let us just say, that I have lived a very long time, and will live for even longer. Why, this is not even my true form, I adopt a different one each age, Hee Hee Hee" the cat giggled once more, before she looked at the Monarch, a serious look on her feline face. "You must make haste however, Monarch, as a Darkness is rising off in the horizon, and if I am not mistaken, you will be the only one able to stop it, Hee Hee Hee, run along now." she said, before pouncing off the table, towards a hole in the floor, before the True Monarch or Daring could do anything, the feline was gone, but Daring noticed something on the table, behind where the cat sat was a note, with a ring weighing it down. Daring let the Monarch know it's presence and the human strode over to read it. My Dear Monarch, Go to Canterlot and speak to Celestia. Give her this ring. She will know what it means. Yours always, Shalquoir. The True Monarch gripped the ring in his fingers, examining the design. It was simple, but also elaborate. Silver and gold intertwined with each other, and a stylized symbol of the sun, with a crescent moon in the middle. He replaced one of the rings upon his left hand with it, placing the Ring of Binding into his pouch. "So... what now?" Daring asked the Monarch, the human simply turned to face the equine once more, a smile upon his face he put his mask back upon his head before speaking. "Take me to your leader, Daring Do"
Firewood and Rainbows"Um... what?" said Daring Do, dumbfounded by the blunt statement from the True Monarch. The undead warrior jovially laughed for a second before speaking again. "Ah, I have wanted to say that for a long time. Nut anyway, the note told me to talk to 'Princess Celestia', and as you said earlier, this kingdom is ruled by her and her sister." The Monarch explained to his unwilling companion as he looked off towards the Majula Monument. The first thing he noticed about that side of town, was that instead of a large cliff with the ocean at the bottom, a dark forest stretched away from the settlement, the Monument having the top half sliced cleanly off. The Monarch walked up to the monument acknowledging the sacrifices of everyone whom lost their lives fighting the giants. A faint smile crossed his face as he remembered one of those warriors, whom he met in the memories of the Giants. Captain Drummond, whose greaves he now wore, in remembrance of the proud warrior, whom had lost both his father and grandfather to the war against the giants, whom had also worn said armor. "Well, if I'm going to take you to Canterlot, we're gonna have to go through the Everfree Forest to reach Ponyville, which has the nearest train station for miles" Daring said as she walked up to the Monarch. "Are you ready to go, or do you want to stay here for a while longer?" the Monarch smiled at the pegasus' worry for him, they had only known each other for an hour at most, and she was already being incredibly kind to him. "Let us be off, there is nothing more for me here. I may return in time, but that will be to live the rest of time in peace" the Monarch said with a small nod to his companion, whom smiled softly before leading the way through the dark forest. The unlikely duo trekked through the forest, talking of their pasts, getting to know each other as they traveled. However, a rustling in the bushes caught the Monarch's attention. As he turned he noticed piercing golden eyes in the shadows around them. "Daring, not to startle you or anything, but I believe that we have company" the Monarch said, slowly, making sure not to make any sudden movements. His pegasus companion looked around them as well, quickly noticing the golden dots all around them. "Timberwolves" she whispered as she crouched low to the ground, in a combat stance. The True Monarch placed his Scythe upon his back and retrieved his Sunset Staff from it's perch beside his Greatbow. The True Monarch knew what spell he was going to cast almost instantly. Charging forward a few steps towards the golden eyes he mumbled out the incantation. Almost instantly, a writhing mass of darkness coalesced around the tip of the staff, forming a blade of pure darkness. He swung the ready spell horizontally, the darkness slicing through trees and wooden wolves alike. Once the swing was ended, a wave of darkness erupted from the air where it slashed, flying forwards ten feet, slicing even more trees. The True Monarch smirked at the now revealed corpses of his foes, before they started to twitch with movement. His eyes widened as he noticed a dismembered head at his feet snarl before recreating it's body out of the scattered debris. He rolled backwards before springing back to his feet beside Daring. "Never have I faced such foes, most everything I have fought before now has stayed down after defeat. Barring skeletons of course, the nasty creations of necromancy they are." The Monarch said, quickly replacing his staff upon his back. Daring quickly looked around, seeing no means of escape. "We can't run, they have us surrounded. Do you have anything that uses fire by chance?" the pegasus said, looking around at the wolves slowly circling them, the True Monarch chuckled slightly. "Fire you say? Yes... Yes, that will do nicely" he said menacingly before he reached into his pouch, grasping a white bound hilt. Slowly the blade came into view, it was a large, thick and curved blade, the color of the metal was a dark ash grey, the polar opposite of the pure white cloth wrapping around the hilt, flames danced along the cold, metal blade. "This blade, the Murakumo, is fortified with a stone known as the Firedrake Stone, a unique variant of titanite imbued with fire" the Monarch stated menacingly as he took it in both hands, letting his shield fall to the ground. And then he danced. The dark blade of the sword swung skillfully through the air, dismembering Timberwolves here and there, the fire enchantment igniting the remains of the wooden abominations. Quickly, there were no wolves left, only the smoldering firewood that was once limbs, bodies and heads. The boiling sap that was once flowing through the bodies of the wolves slowly slid off the hot blade of the Murakumo. With a flick of the blade, the sap flew off of the immense sword, and with slow and precise movements he replaced it into his pouch, blade first. "H-how did you do that? That pouch is tiny compared to that sword!" Daring exclaimed, the Monarch chuckled once more as he picked his shield back up off the floor. "It has what is known as a 'Bottomless Box' inside it, said box literally has no bottom and one can retrieve anything they put in there with nary a thought, I have many blades and armor inside" the Monarch explained before waving a hand in the air. "'Tis complicated magic and even I do not know how it is done." Daring looked down at the mention of 'complicated magic', she knew of a unicorn in Ponyville who would jump through hoops to get a chance to study such a thing, she blanched at the thought of said Princess of Friendship getting her hooves on the Monarch. "Well, we can't be too much further from Ponyville, admittedly, the mountain isn't too far in, so we should reach the outside pretty soon if we are quick" Daring said, quickly cantering down the path they were headed, the True Monarch quickly jogged after her. The pair finally emerged from the dark forest, thankfully they had not encountered any other creatures on their way out. The bright sun shone at it's apex, high in the sky, and the True Monarch quickly noticed it. He fell to his knees at the sight of the glorious sun. "It... It is beautiful... I have not seen it in such splendor in a long time, oh... It is so grossly incandescent" he said, almost in a whisper, before standing once more, he turned to his companion before speaking again. "Daring, let us make haste to this 'train station', I wish to arrive at Canterlot post haste" the Monarch said, Daring nodded before the pair headed towards the small town not too far away, Daring silently hoped that they could reach the train station and get on a train before any of the Elements of Harmony could spot them, little did she know, they would not have the luxury of evading any of the six. She noticed almost instantly a polychromatic blur racing towards them already and she cursed silently, realizing that she should not have even thought that, simply because some evil deity could make sure things happened for comedic relief. (Crap! She's onto me! Okay... Okay... Mind wipe!) Daring shook her head, wondering what she was thinking about. She then noticed Rainbow Dash was not slowing down as she approached the pair, the tan pegasus' eyes widened as she realized what was happening. The True Monarch noticed this as well, and raised his shield to intercept the rainbow projectile, and with a metallic 'thump' the rainbow maned pony slammed face first into the large lump of intricate metal. "Are... you okay?" the True Monarch asked the cyan pegasus, whom slowly slid off the face of his shield. A single hoof raised off the ground where she was sprawled over the ground before she spoke. "Yeah... Gimme a sec..." she moaned into the dirt. After a minute, she sprung onto her hooves, crouching down into a combat ready stance before she spoke again. "This creature followed you out of the Everfree Daring!" exclaimed the new pegasus, Daring simply facehooved while the True Monarch simply laughed a jolly laugh again. "Hah! Hooooooo, man, never been called 'creature' before. Seriously though, you don't wanna mess with me, colorful. I doubt your princess would like it if I had to kill one of her subjects in self defense before I could talk to her" he said, Rainbow Dash blinked dumbfoundedly at the Monarch, her jaw dropping to the ground, the undead warrior simply waved before speaking. "Hi! I'm the True Monarch! great to meet you!" Author's Note HUZZAH! there is now more, I was on a bit of a roll, so I got this out pretty quickly if I do say so myself. Now then, the Murakumo used in this chapter is the special one that was available for a time after the Sunken Crown DLC came out. And again, here is a list of things this character has equipped, but this time it is attuned spells Dark Orb (1 attunement) Hex, Staff Dark Weapon (1 attunement) Hex, Staff Recollection (1 attunement) Hex, Staff Dark Greatsword (2 attunement) Hex, Staff Soothing Sunlight (2 attunement) Miracle, Chime Sunlight Spear (2 attunement Miracle, Chime equaling 9 slots in total, three of which are from the Southern Ritual Band(which is the +2 version)
