//-------------------------------------------------------// The Legend of Bitterblack Isle -by Robin Of Loxley- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Introduction //-------------------------------------------------------// Introduction In the ruins of what looked to be a gigantic Royal Hall, a battle raged, a battle between a Demon and three Humans in varying armor, one dashed forward at the beast, jumping and latching onto it. The human pulled  out one long dagger and began to rapidly slash one point on this creature. Another human, a girl in a yellow dress of all things, used her Archstaff to call down powerful lightning strikes on the Demon. The first human was grabbed by the Demon, and thrown to the ground, "Renae!" she cried, before being enveloped in a large green sphere. Instantly all pain she felt was gone. She had eaten some Large Mushrooms and pulled out her Magick Bow and charged a purple Arrow and released it, bouncing from surface to surface, the Three Arrows struck the Demon repeatedly bouncing off of him to another surface and back again, Renae used her staff to set fire to the beast. From the onslaught the Demon fell to the ground, seemingly dead, suddenly, it rose from its fall, limbs and head hanging limply from its body. It flew to the center of the room.  The chest of the beast shifted to the appearance of a face and opened it's mouth and in a booming voice that echoed throughout the room, said "I am Daimon, leave ye pests, lest ye be cast off into oblivion! " each of the humans took a fighting stance, the mages charging spells. "then be cast off into the void!" yelled Daimon he lifted his hand and opened a gigantic portal with a dark blue, almost black, rim. It sucked our heroes through and closed, leaving Daimon to his own devices, he floated over to the back of the room, and sat on what remained of a large pillar, waiting for his next challenger In Equestria... "Morning in ponyville shimmers! morning in ponyville shines! And I know that absolute certain That everything will be certainly f-" CRASH! A certain Purple Alicorn  winced at the sudden loud noise and she turned around to see two creatures lying in a heap next to a broken desk, one appeared to be and adolescent Red Dragon and the other one was a human. They began to stir as she approached them, and they both awoke at once.  Upon seeing the Dragon the human dressed in full black jumped up and back the dragon did the same, (as much as a dragon can jump in surprise)  the human reached to her sides and pulled to long stick shaped blades as the dragon appeared calm and collected. "What are you doing here Grigori?" said the human in a threatening tone, "even I in my great wisdom, do not know, Arisen" stated Grigori. Grigori POV Darkness, what a strange thing it is, it can conceal oh so many dangers, but also holds somewhat of a serenity, pure silence mixed with a lack of any vision. this is where I find myself after death? oh well, yet more time to reflect on my life whilst I wait for something interesting to happen. wait, was that, yes, it was, Pain, My old friend. I open my eyes to The Arisen. this is clearly long after my death, yet I feel like I died mere moments ago.  yet more questions fill my mind but I Drive them back. I have more important matters at hand, er, Claw "What are you doing here Grigori?" stated The Arisen, well i don't know how I got here so I will answer with truth. "Even I, in my great wisdom, do not know, Arisen." It was then I noticed where i was, i was in a castle, made of, was that crystal? No matter I then notice what looks like a small horse, a Pony perhaps? no, it had wings and a horn, an Alicorn? I thought those had died out. "Maybe you should look around Arisen, there may yet be more to this than meets the eye." I stated, slowly, cautiously she looked around. Overly cautious, she was not like that when we last met. "Arisen, even as you have bested Me in battle, I propose a truce, that we may better understand where we are." Yes, I remember the battle well She truly worthy of the title Arisen... She Made an expression of deep thought whilst comeing up with an answer. "okay Grigori. seeing as i have no other choice i will agree to this truce." 'Clop Clop Clop! I herd the sound of marching hooves, marching quickly, and coming nearer. "Prepare yourself Arisen" I said, in warning, suddenly ten ponies, a mixture of unicorns and normal ponies burst through the large  crystal doors, they surrounded the alicorn and pointed their spears at us. The Arisen took out her magick bow, and began chargeing a golden arrow, then promptly pointed the bow skyward. "Stand Down!" yelled the Alicorn in a voice louder than i could ever have expected. "but Princess we-" "I Do Not Care! You Will Leave These Beings Alone! I Say It Again! Stand Down!" The Guards charged us, ignoring their Princess. The Arisen released her bow, ten golden arrows flew from it, striking each of the ponies once, stunning them, whilst they were stunned The arisen charged a silver rune. and with a flick of her dagger, let it fly, it struck  each of the ponies sending them flying, and when they landed, they were all but dead, for good measure i let off High Levin to mop up those who survived. Suddenly thirty more apeared. but i found myself unable to move. and from what i could see. neither could the Arisen or the Guards. what was going on? I looked a my claw, and saw it was enveloped in a purple aura, as was The Arisen, And the guards. "Stand Down! All of you!" The aura disappeared and I found my self able to move again. I looked over to the Alicorn to see her softly crying over an orange Pegasus with a blue mane. The Arisen reached Into her back pack, and pulled out a Red Stone. She walked over to the grieving pony and gave her the Stone, before turning around and standing next to me. the rest of the guards walked over to their greiveing Princess and took off their Helmets in respect for their fallen comrades //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter I //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter I Grigori POV Seeing so many Ponies grieve, how many time have i seen faces akin to their's, it wounds my heart to see it, but Death is but another part of life. Arisen, Let us leave these ponies to grieve for their comrades. Uncomfortable as it was, being able to communicate telepathically was a rather nifty thing to be able to do. climb on my back Arisen. she obeyed. I Extended my wings, and pulled them down, Hard. I launched high into the air and through a large stained glass window, flying higher and higher, i found myself high above a rather small village, of similar size to Cassardis. I scanned the area surrounding the village, I saw a large city perched high on a mountain. but a much better place to go would have been the large forest just South of here. I flew towards it. before long I found myself being surrounded by Pegasi. Arisen, Hold on. I dived toward the earth many of the pegasi being left behind, however, One seemed to be a bit more... tenacious. "Where do you think your going bub?!" she said, very egotistical. "Not where I am going, where are you going?" "Huh?" she looked down, before promptly crashing into a tree. I pulled out of my dive, long before I hit anything. I landed not long after, deep in the forest in the ruins of a large castle. The arisen lept off my back as i folded my wings. "well, that's twice in a row iv'e ticked off the monarchy." stated the arisen. "And it will not be the last" I stated. "I don't know about you but I feel we should explore this place, hopefully there's a Riftstone nearby." "I agree Arisen. I will search outside the castle, you, inside" "Fine" I took to the skies, looking for a suitable place to hide from the Ponies. that is a sentence i never thought i would think. never the less i looked, and found a deep chasm, the caves would serve as hiding places. I wandered each cave, looking for one that was large enough for me and the Arisen. One cave after another, none large enough. I came upon one that had promise, I looked in, and i was amazed. Dragons are known for four things in Gransys. our Power, Wisdom, Terrifying Appearance, and Courage. and even I, the Wisest of DragonKin, was suprised by the crystal tree in front of me. Though it seemed, sad ,no that's not the right word, damaged, no, dark, that is the word I was looking for... I must tell the arisen of this cave, tis the perfect place to hide! Arisen POV Why is it that I always find myself in dark, creepy places? Honestly, half the time as Arisen is spent in dark places, and the other half is spent fighting terrifying creatures. I turn a corner, its getting dark, better light this place up... I pull out my Magick bow, and charge Magickal Radiance, I tell ya, that spell is a Creator send on Bitterblack isle. i fire it off and it lights the hallway, i go forth and find myself at a spiral staircase. I go down, the deeper I go the more I feel a strange presence, almost as if i'm being followed. death was similar, but He had a different feel to him, more terrifying, this is just creepy. I find myself at a door at the bottom of the staircase, it's locked, but it is rotting away. I pull out mt bow again, this time charging Explosive volley.  the five bolts get stuck in the door and i throw a rock at them, instantly the door explodes, revealing an epitaph. and i read it. As the darkness rises, As the light gives way, May all heed the Warning As Evil stalks its prey. As The Darkness descends, As Evil stalks its Prey, Look to the Heavens, There's a Light to guide the way. The Rising sun shall eventually set, A Newborn's life to Fade, From Sun To Moon, Moon to Sun... Give peaceful rest to The Living Dead. Creepy, Wait, That presence. It's back. and much stronger, CRACK! CRUNCH! RUMBLE! Crud, are those hooves? yup. are those horse heads, yup. are they wearing wooden masks? yup. well looks like I have a fight and a half ahead of me. "Arisen, I have found the perfect place to hide, though it lacks a Riftstone." "Okay Grigori, and I'm stuck underground fighting a hoard of the undead! that does not help me!" wait did I just, hold on, Living dead first. worry about telepathy later. A panel on the epitaph opened up, revealing a Riftstone, though the pattern was different. Instead of the standard vortex-type shape in the middle, There was a Five Sided Star shape, at each point of the Star there was a different symbol, an Apple, A lightning Bolt, A Butterfly, A strange Egg-Shaped object and a Diamond. oh well, any Riftstone is as good as the last. I touched it and Three beings appeared,  Renae, my faithful Pawn. Rokkurin, the Gentle Giant, he has saved my life on more than one occasion. And finally, Mariam, I met her in the Rift, she is an inexperianced Pawn, though is more than willing to obey any of my commands without hesatation. "RENAE!" I yelled, she knew exactly what i wanted. suddenly, my weapon began to glow a blinding white, as did Rokkurin's and Mariam's. "TO ARMS!" yelled Rokkurin, before running headfirst into battle, and beheading a great many undead. Miriam began charging High Fulmination, and Renae began charging Grand Anodyne to heal everyone and kill the undead. time for a massacre. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 A purple Alicorn sat in a desk, or more accurately, a table she was using as a desk since her actual desk was destroyed. Hundreds of papers littered the table, and in the middle of it all was a small, red, glowing Stone. or more accurately, the three pieces of it. The Alicorn groaned, "What is that inscription?!" she yelled, since the Dragon had destroyed her window, she had devoted her time to that Stone the Human gave her,  on each piece there was an inscription. Postquam mortem halitus - novus vita indu - autem exanimis corpus "what could it mean?!" this language was like nothing she had ever seen, through much research she had pinned down a few words. 'Postquam' meaning 'after' and 'vita' meaning 'life'. but the rest were gibberish. she had run  numerous magical scans on the Stone, it had magic in it, but not the same magic of Equestria. it was alien, to say the least. Suddenly she felt a large wave of magic energy coming from the Everfree forest, with magic frequencies similar to teleportation spells. "Twilight?" said a voice, her faithful assisstant, Spike. "There was a flash of light in the Library, now there's a strange  book on one of the reading tables in there." he said. Twilight was perplexed, the Stone, The Human, now a Book? what could it all mean? She went downstairs and traced a path she knew well, the path to the Library, when she wasn't doing her princess duties, or spending time with her friends, she was in the Library. often doing research on the newest topic of Magical theory. Upon reaching the Library, she saw the book. or rather, heard the book. a million voices were whispering in her head, quiet enough that she couldn't understand them, but loud enough that she could hear them clearly. undetered, she trotted toward the Book. there was no name on the cover, and it radiated strange Magic. upon opening the book, she found strange symbols, but they were symbols she recognized "Yes!" she yelled rejoicing the chance to get a grip on what was going on. It was written in Ancient Unicornian, a language often used in spells. However, only the first page was decipherable, it read: In Ancient Times there was a legend of and Island, an Island that only a chosen few could see or touch. on this Isle there was rumored to be treasure beyond imagination. Many left to the isle for want of the treasure. few returned. saying the Isle was a hoax to lead ponies out to sea, never to be seen again. even now, rumors of a great isle persist. oft rumored to be off the easern coast. the isle is also rumored to have a way to raise the dead, strange Stones with the insription: *Postquam mortem halitus - novus vita indu - autem exanimis corpus...*** The rest was gibberish. none the less she new what the stone was for and how to use it... "Twilight? Are you okay?" She turned around, a Strange look (https://mlpforums.com/uploads/monthly_02_2014/post-24229-0-10779000-1391583788.png) on her face. "oF C0arSe Sp1K3, 3vEry th1n6 1S f1N3..." Later That day "Twilight! You're NOT Fine! let me off this Table!" In the dungeon of her Castle, Twilight had strapped Spike to a metal table, and the body of Flash Sentry to another. "sP1k3, Y0u w1ll B3 f1N3, CaLm d0wN." not listening to his Sister figure, continued to struggle. Twilight raised a scalpel and walked toward the dead Pegasus, makeing a sloppy incision above his Ribcage. "y0U s33 sP1k3? I'll  g1V3 Y0u WhAT Y0u A11wAys3 wAnT3d, t0 B3 a P0nY!" she laughed in an evil manner, a sadistic smile plastered on her face. Taking a saw, she sloppily cut out the top of the pegasus' ribcage. she ripped out his heart and walked over to the table, placing the heart on it, she opened that cursed book and read more and more of those mad scribbles. she burned a series of scribbles into the ground with her magic, in a shape he recognized as a Ritual Circle (http://deredeck.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/fire-circle-final.png). placeing flash's heart on one of the three outer circles she placed the stone in the center she tuned to the book again, '"F1Rst, bL00D 0f tH3 iN0c3nT," she said walking toward Spike, she cut his claw and collected his blood in a flask, putting said flask in the second circle. "s3c0nD, H3aRt 0F tH3 V1cT1m." she said looking at the heart. "tH1rD, h0Rn 0f Th3 M0sT MaG1C" she said, breaking off the top of her horn. placing it in the last circle. "NO!"