The Lord of Void

“That is all there is too it” I say to my niece

“Thank you Auntie!” She exclaims happily “I don’t know what I would do without you!”

“You would have figured it out in your own time. I am sure of that” I say as I smile down at her.

“Are you going back to see him again?” She asks, her smile morphing to a worried look

“Yes”

“What… What do you honestly think of him?”

I sigh “It is simply too early to tell right now Cadence.”

I turn to one of the guards.

“Please have Mr. Frost brought in for questioning”

He salutes and walks away. I turn to another guard.

“Please inform my sister, Twilight Sparkle, and Ms. Inkwell to meet me down there”

“Yes, Princess” He responds before leaving

I head down to the dungeons and enter, wait for him to be brought in.

A few minutes later he enters, gives me a slight bow of his head and sits down.

Well that’s progress from yesterday at least I think to myself

“So Celestia, where were we?” he asks neutrally.

“You had just awoken and one of your creatures had found a village” I respond neutrally

“Ah, yes. My first encounter, and fight, with those six.” He responds as if fondly regarding a treasured memory.

“Well, after I had awoken -” He began

I wandered through the forest for about an hour. As well as encountering more of those imps. Thankfully there were only one or two and no huge gathering like the first group. I learned more about that shield, apparently it was Akabane’s Bloody Shield. I also found that I seem to also have gained Akabane’s speed. I assume it was some kind of flash step ability, well, that’s what I’m now calling it. It takes a bit of stamina to do, especially if I chain multiple flash steps. Although it is quickly becoming easier.

I finally saw the village that my darklings had found. It looked very medieval, appearing to be made entirely of wood, at least from this distance.

‘Master’ Said my new friend

‘What do you have for me?’ I ask

‘Like you said we went in, making sure not to be seen, and the village seems to be nothing more than a small town with no real strategic value beyond the population itself. That’s really about all there is to this place.’ He responds

‘Hmm, what about guards and defenses?’ I ask

‘Minimal and nonexistent’

I raise my eyebrow at that

Strange. This close to the forest and no defenses and minimal guards? Either the guards are very good at their jobs or these guys are dangerously naive. Or the monsters don't ever leave the forest. But why wouldn’t they? Hmm, something to experiment with later. Or just ask the townspeople

‘OK, I want you all to stay out, you guys look terrifying and I would like to make a good first impression’ I respond as I begin to leave the forest.

As I entered the village I noticed that there indeed seem to be no defenses in place, despite the fact that, if my experiences were accurate, there were a lot of monsters in the forest. I enter the town with no problems, however I still did not see anyone. I can hear voices toward the right so head that way.

I couldn’t help but notice that in addition to there being no practical defences, It seems that I was correct on my first impression of the village, it looks to have not progressed past the medieval era. One or two story houses, made of wood, some kind of hay, and I think I saw one made of gingerbread in the distance. I pray that that last one was just designed to look like that, and not made of actual gingerbread. Though with everything I have seen so far I would not be very surprised if it was.

While I was walking through an apparently deserted section of the village I could not shake the feeling of familiarity. Like I have seen it before, that I should know this place. I decide to push that thought to the back of my mind for the time being. There will be time to more fully explore this place later.

As I entered what I assumed to be a market I finally got a look at the people living here. Needless to say it was NOT what I was expecting.

AT ALL

They looked human, walked on two legs, had arms and hands, a torso,and a head. That is where the human similarities ended and the horse similarities started. They had muzzles, longer ears, slightly bigger eyes, hooves instead of actual feet and a coat instead of skin. Said coat was also not the blacks, browns, and whites of a normal horse. They were colorful, with every color palette I could think of. Basically they looked like humanoid horses. Very colorful humanoid horses.

The only thing running through my head at that moment?

Why didn’t I search that darkling's memories for what they looked like before coming?

While I was making these observations said horses also began to observe me. Apparently they saw me much more menacing than I found them as they began to collectively lose their minds. Said mind loss pulling me from my own thoughts.

“MONSTER!” a few of them screamed at the top of their lungs.

Well that’s a bit harsh

I was not having the best of days. First I had been forced to get up two hours earlier than I planned. This was not actually a problem as I simply devoted the extra time to my studies. It was just a little while ago that Pinkie came over and said there was a big important meeting at Rarity’s and asked me to get Fluttershy, then ask Fluttershy to get Dash.

While I enjoy the peace and tranquility of Ponyville, sometimes it can become rather hectic. Thankfully this did not seem to be the case today so my shortcut through the market to get to Fluttershy’s cottage was rather uneventful. However it seemed going through the market was a good idea as I ran into her.

“Fluttershy!” I called happily

“Oh, good morning Twilight.” she responded meekly

“Pinkie said there is an important meeting at Rarity’s and asked me to tell you and ask you to get Dash.”

“Oh, sure. I was about to do some grocery shopping but if it’s important I can do it later” she responded

“Grea-” I began before being interrupted by a scream

“MONSTER!”

Both Fluttershy and I turned towards the source of the scream and then we both found ourselves shocked into stillness with our mouths agape.

Standing there, in the middle of the market, in its terrifying glory, was a monster.

Once those few began to scream and run it was like a domino effect. Some looked at me and began running and screaming while the rest seemed to just run, peer pressure and all that I guess.

However there were two that were not running and screaming, a purple one and a yellow one, they just sort of stood stock still and stared at me with wide eyes and open mouths. I also noticed that the yellow one seems to have a pair of wings on her back. Just by looking at them I could tell they were way too small to actually allow flight. The purple one seemed to have a small purple nub poking out of her hair.

A horn? A unicorn and a pegasus?

I looked around and noticed that the once busy market is now barren save the three of us.

I decided that I have had enough excitement for now.

“Fuck this, I’m out” I deadpan

I turn on my heel and begin leaving the way I came. However it seems that fate had other plans. Thanks to all the fights I have been in recently, I had gotten used to that hostility sensor thing and wow was it tingling right now. I could feel a lot of hostility was coming right at me.

It was coming at me too fast for me to react fully, and on instinct I made a rushed shield to guard. I knew that without the proper trigger, it would be significantly weaker, but I had no time.

I turned just in time to see a cyan pegasus, with hair the colors of the rainbow, moments away from crashing through my shield. I looked into her fiery eyes just as -

*WHAM*

*CRASH*

*THUNK*

• as she was repelled by my shitty shield. If those two lumps on her chest were any indication of gender at least.

Now, I fully expected for my shield to be shattered, doing nothing but lessening the damage I was about to receive, but to my surprise not only did it hold, it caused the attacker to hit the ground so hard they actually bounced. I could even see a small depression where she landed first before bouncing and coming to rest, completely KOed.

I just looked at her, though before I could dwell on what a stupid plan that was and why she thought it was a good one, I could hear some raised voices, and the clinking of armored boots on cobblestone.

No doubt the guards, who were trying to find out what was going on. I also realized that standing over an unconscious woman was going to do me no favors. Said woman now with a black eye no less, and some bruises.

Wonderful

I also had no desire to deal with them. So I decided to just leave. Maybe come back in a day or two and try to explain what happen when everyone calmed down a bit.

I just could not deal with this today.

I began to simply walk back into the forest.

I however could not shake the nagging feeling that I should recognize not only the pegasus that attacked me but also those other two who were in the market. Something was very familiar about them but I could not place it. Once more I shoved it to the back of my mind.