Altemore

Everypony felt it.

A faint pulse.

A wave of telepathic magic pulsing through the city of Canterlot.

But nopony noticed.

It was tiny, a small nagging in the heads of all living beings.

It flowed through the streets and buildings, unhindered by solid structures.

The source was a single pony, a dark brown earthpony in a dusty brown cloak.

He stood perfectly still in an alley, eyes closed as he searched.

He searched for her, the only thing he had ever cared about.

He was looking for the only one who had ever cared for him.

He remembered her fondly.

He remembered disobeying orders.

He remembered watching over her.

Now he was searching, because he had lost her.

He had lost the only thing he had ever loved.

He stopped his telepathic search and opened his eyes, their golden irises flashing brightly in the darkness of the alley.

He slowly trotted from his spot in the shadows and stepped out onto one of the many grey stone brick pathways in the city of Canterlot. His hooves tapping softly in comparison to the liveliness of the ponies that surrounded him.

"I'll find you, I promise..." He thought to himself, glancing down the street both ways before exiting the alley and continuing his slow trot through the bustling Equestrian Capital.

Unfortunately, this was Equestria, home to the most magically-advanced beings on the planet.

"Sister... Did you feel that?" One of the Alicorns stated, looking to her sister to confirm her senses.

The rippling tide of telepathic magic ceased suddenly.

"Yes I did, Luna, and I think we may have to go out for awhile..." Celestia frowned grimly "Whatever it is, it's magic is too strong and too dangerous to be ignored."

Celestia reached out over her city, encompassing everything in her own form of telepathic field, she scanned everything, searching for anything out of place. Then suddenly she got something... There, near the middle of Canterlot was an entity using some form of changeling magic.

Something powerful was hiding amounts her ponies.

And when her ponies were in danger, Celestia took no chances...

The dark pony continued to stalk the streets for awhile before turning down another alley. He quickly closed his eyes and raised his head, again sending out waves of magic, probing the minds of nearby ponies for the one name he was desperately searching for.

Suddenly someone was behind him, "Excuse me sir? Who are you? And why are you in an alley?" A small voice inquired

The earth-pony's ears twitched and his eyes opened. He turned to face his tiny interrogator.

It was a small white unicorn filly with a smooth but thick pink mane and tail. She seemed innocent enough, but her eyes seemed out of place. As Altemore stared his breath momentarily got caught in his throat, almost panicking before regaining control of his emotions. This was not a normal filly, not with power like that.

He simply stared at her, tilting his head in a confused but fascinated way. Then he heard something above him and reached out with his consciousness. He was being cornered.

Then he was gone.

A whoosh and a bust of golden flame flooded the alley as the Earth-pony rapidly changed into a phoenix and shot upwards.

"Luna!" The filly shouted, looking up above to see her sister nod and begin to pursue the mysterious entity. She lit up her horn and reverted from a filly to her normal size. Another spell summoned a gleaming set of battle armor and a long golden lance.

Spreading her wings she shot up out of the alley and cast her gaze around, scanning the horizon for the flashes of magical energy clashed against the bright blue of the sky above.

The goddess of the sun thrusted her powerful wings and shot forwards, her form seeming to disappear entirely and if it weren't for the sonic boom of the sound barrier being utterly shattered, nopony would have noticed.

Luna grit her teeth as she swung two of her shadow blades at her target. Only to miss completely as he suddenly rolled out of the way or teleported to a new position. Shortly after catching up to it, the mysterious being had shifted into a form that Luna could not identify. It was serpentine in shape, but had long ears and feathery wings, the most logical answer she could think of would be that it was simply second draconequus that had wandered into Canterlot.

"What in my mothers name ARE you?!" She yelled at the seemingly untouchable being. She summoned more blades and continuously whirled them in her target's direction, rage seething in her chest as she yet again failed to make a mark.

"Stop! You must listen to-!" The being shouted into her mind telepathically before Luna threw up a mental shield and shut out its voice, she would not fall for mind control.

Altemore, meanwhile, gathered his magic and changed his shape in an instant, surprising the alicorn when she suddenly found herself facing a large, fully developed fire-drake. He followed her now minuscule figure with his golden eyes as he tried to subdue her long enough to talk.

He swung his three foot talons at Luna, trying to snatch her from the sky. She swooped and rolled through the air, dodging his swipes easily in her smaller and more agile form.

Before long Luna began to sense her sister closing rapidly. She only had to last for a few more seconds...

The Princess of the night suddenly darted away from her opponent, seeming to retreat away from the dragon.

For a moment Altemore thought he had won... "Ok, now that you are finished, please, you must..."

The air around him suddenly rose from 80 to easily over 1000 degrees. So much that he began to feel it even through his dragon skin. The last thing he remembered before impact was seeing what looked like a ball of fire speeding towards him at supersonic speeds, a dark, pony-shaped silhouette sitting in the center.

The furious, flaming alicorn slammed into Altemore, knocking his large draconic form from the sky and spearing him on the lance in her possession. His vision began to fade as he fell, even as the gash in his side began to close, glowing gold with his magic.

He landed with an earth shattering thud, creating a long trench in the dirt before finally coming to a stop at the base of a large tree. He sighed in an exhausted manner, "Well, guess I'm back to square one." he thought to himself.

The gentle whoosh of wings and the thumps of hoofsteps on the soft grass notified Altemore that he had still been followed. He cracked open an eye to see the two ponies trotting towards him through the fresh rut in the earth. They both wore grim masks that were frozen with a kind of wise calmness that Altemore had only seen in the eyes of immortals.

Altemore groaned as he felt one of his bones shift and pop in his wings and one of his hind legs as they healed, fusing back together before the intense healing magic began closing the rest of the wounds. He allowed himself a tiny grunt of satisfaction when he saw the ponies stop and stare in confusion when he rolled over and pushed himself to his feet and recoiled a bit when his foreleg realigned itself and popped back into his shoulder.

"I will ask once more", the tall white one, whom Altemore recalled as the Solar Princess, Celestia, spoke as she took a step forward, "Who are you?" Each of her words radiated her power in a dangerous way. Altemore shifted cautiously on three legs, finding a small but not at all new obstacle in his way as he absentmindedly stretched his previously-dislocated shoulder.

Although he had survived the fall after being struck down, he had had to revert to his true form in order to heal correctly, and in his true form, he very simply lacked the biological parts he needed to speak. To make things even more complicated, the healing had drained him of energy, leaving him unable to shift into a species that could speak.

He breathed a deep sigh before turning around to face the tree behind him. The two goddesses had both shielded their minds, making telepathic communication impossible. So he simply extended one of his claws and scraped at the thick tree bark until he was able to strip a reasonably sized chunk off of the trunk. His two observers watched curiously as he scratched something into the wooden surface. Altemore then turned and pushed the bark in their direction.

"You... Can't speak?..." The darker one said after she finished reading the rough words that had been scratched onto the wood. Altemore recognized the description of Celestia's sister, Princess Luna, as she raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Altemore then sat down with a thump and nodded before he turned his head to begin preening the ruffled feathers of his wings.

The lunar goddess opened her mouth to speak but stopped as Altemore quickly raised a paw, "one moment please", he thought to himself. Blinking in calm amusement when she coughed uncomfortably as she sat down in her haunches once again to wait for him to finish.

Finishing his preening, Altemore returned his gaze to the pair of ponies before erupting into a golden glow. He drew in a breath and closed his eyes as he once again changed his form. The golden aura faded to reveal the dark brown earth pony he had turned into while in Canterlot, "I am sorry to have caused you any trouble, but I must return to the city", he grumbled in a deep voice, "My search was incomplete before I encountered you and I must return to finish what I started."

Altemore started forward to walk around them but was stopped when the two ponies teleported suddenly to block his path. "As the rulers and protectors of Equestria we command you to yield until our questions have been answered." Celestia stated, her calm voice laced with a cool, steely tone. Altemore realized that he was most likely not going to get away from this without complying... He could run away, but that would most likely only complicate things further.

The darker alicorn stepped forward, "Who are you? And what is this... Search?" She inquired. Her face was still calm, but her eyes silently dared Altemore to make a wrong move.

Altemore, being someone with a brain, decided not to irritate the one being that could probably drop a meteorite on him. He may have been practically immune to normal things like, bullets, blades, fire, as well as most poisons. But being obliterated like that Sombra guy was one of the few things he would most likely not recover from.

"I meant no harm, and again I apologize for trespassing. But I'm searching for...", Altemore glanced down at his pony hooves as he chose his next words carefully, "...Someone that I lost, someone very close to me...", he paused once again before lifting his golden eyes to the two alicorns in front of him newfound determination burning in his gaze, "I swore that I would always protect her and that is what I'm going to do."

The two sisters shared a glance before turning to face Altemore "Who... Who did you lose?", Celestia spoke, surprising Altemore when her voice lacked the cold undertone that he had heard so far. He glanced at Luna and saw her in much the same way, they looked honestly concerned. Or pitiful... One or the other.

Altemore narrowed his eyes as he looked from one to the other, looking for any signs of dishonesty on their faces. He swiftly and gently attempted to probe their minds again, still finding them shielded. "Why do you want to know? I am perfectly capable of handling this myself.", He said curtly, taking a defensive step back and lowering his head threateningly.

"I Will find Fluttershy."