Defense of a New World

It was a little past noon Twilight and her friends were waiting for Barb to show up with Venrus at the train station. Twilight was getting nervous because the next train to Canterlot would be here in ten minutes and they had yet to show. She turned to the stairs when she heard them coming. They were talking about starting her magic school training so she could learn some spells for self defense or get her a weapon. Twilight grew very concerned when she saw him, decked head to toe in some strange armor with a huge scimitar and some weird looking stick that seamed to be made of black scales. Over all he looked like a warrior ready for battle but what unnerved her most was the evil she felt from that strange stick.

"Is it really necessary for you to have all of that?" Twilight asked.

"Aye it is. I never leave anywhere without my gear. Never hurts to be prepared." Venrus said as he patted the swords pummel.

"I don't think they'll let ya take yer sword with ya on the train partner." Applejack stated looking a bit cross.

"Well den tell me where Canterlot is and I'll get dere my own way." he looked to her as he folded his arms.

Before anything else could be said the train blew its whistle as it pulled into the station. Quite a few ponies got off the train and were given quite the start upon seeing Venrus. Some even rushed back into the train at the sight of him. Venrus then went to the ticket counter bought a ticket then gave it to the teller and asked about an empty car. Barb and the others followed him into the empty car and took there seats.

Barb took the seat acrossed from him while the others sat around him, watching carefully. About thirty minutes into the trip Twilight watched in awe as he stuck his hand into a fog and pulled out a crystal cube.

"What is that?" Twilight asked drawing the attention of her friends.

" Oh, dis?" He let go of it but instead of falling to the ground it hovered there. "Dis is a beats cube. It lets me store music and play it later."

"Oh my, that is beautiful darling. How does it work? I've never seen a crystal like that before and I know my gems." Rarity said looking over the seat from behind him.

"It's called melody crystal. If ya play music ya own near da cube it records it as a wave in da crystal. When ya turn da crystal on light runs from da center out. When it hits da wave ya want to play da light coming from da center makes da wave vibrate and plays da music stored in da wave." Venrus reached forward tapping the crystal with a claw and a brilliant light shown from within. He then began to move his claw around and the light kept on changing till he stopped and tapped it again. All of a sudden this sad but beautiful song began to play.

"Ya that song was okay don't you got something with edge?" Rainbow said sitting down next to Venrus.

"Edge? Ya I can do edge." he then began to move his claw on the crystal again till he tapped it.

After about forty minutes of playing songs that the girls requested the light in the cube died. Twilight watched as he put it away into that strange fog but instead of just his hand coming out he pulled a bottle. He pulled the quark and took a big drink before he realized they were staring. "What? Do ya want some cause I got more."

"No Venrus I think they are more concerned with what it is you are doing." Barb smirked at them.

"It's just a simple storage spell." He looked out the window. "Ya see wear I'm from everyone..."

"You mean everypony." Twilight corrected.

"No I mean everyone, dere are more den just ponies living here isn't dere? Saying everypony when dere are more den just ponies living near ya is racist." He scratched his ear before looking at her.

"Oh I never looked at it like that. We were just brought up like that its only been here recently that other races have started to move into Equestria." Twilight gave a sheepish smile.

"I see, well dat's a bit of useful news. So how long do dese train rides normally take to get to..... Canterlot was it?"

"Not much longer. you can see the base of the mountain now so I would say another half hour."

"Must be quite da sight I wager." Venrus smirked.

"Oh it is darling, I mean if you look up through the window you can see Canterlot sitting on the mountain side shining in the sun." Rarity pointed out the window.

Venrus gave a sigh "Oh if only. I will have to take yer word for it."

"Well there is no need for that you can just look for yourself dear." Rarity tipped his head.

Venrus clenched his fist and was about to speak up but Barb placed her hand on his. "Rarity that's enough! Venrus cant see it, he's blind."

All the girls gasped but Rainbow. She grabbed one of the apples Applejack had brought for the ride and threw it at him. Venrus quickly shot his hand up and grabbed the apple before it hit him. "Oh ya if he's blind how can he do that!" She yelled pointing a finger at him.

"Because I don't see like ya do. I'm sure yer unicorn friends can tell ya dat." He smirked at her.

"What are you talking about I don't know how you see." Twilight looked at him questionably.

"I am afraid I don't know either darling." Rarity shrugged.

"Well den let me show ya." Venrus then clapped his hands together and a small orb formed. "Spell Gift." A ball flew to each girl and was connected to the one in his hand by a small thread. "Mana Sight." All of a sudden the air around them shimmered like a rainbow.

"It's so beautiful." Rarity gasped.

"Okay what in sam hell is goin on. This just ain't natural." Applejack grabbed the arm rest.

"Well it is for me. Ya see dis is my mana or magical force. I push it out into da air around me and use da skill I just used on ya to see it but I have to use another to help it. Ya see Mana Sight and Mana Sense let me see da world around me even though I am blind. My mana coats everything it touches. Mana Sense makes me more sensitive to it. Mana Sight shows me what my mana touches, but its all in black and white. I can see no colors, I never know if it's day or night and I can only see as for as I can push my mana."

"Can I ask how you lost your sight?" Twilight asked.

"No I am sorry it's not something I like to talk about." He looked to her.

"Well then can we see your eyes?" All the girls gasped and looked to Pinkie "What? I've never seen blind eyes before."

"It's fine. I may not like to talk about how it happened but it did. Besides my eyes are very different from normal blind creatures." Venrus slowly pulled back his hood to show that his bone mask was held in place by a bone plate that ran from the top of the mask to the back of his head. He slid the whole thing off and slowly opened his eyes. All the girls gasped as they looked upon his black souless eyes. You could not see anything. no iris or pupil, just black. He then put everything back on as they started to ascend the mountains side.

The rest of the trip was taken in silence and once they reached the stations they got off drawing looks to Venrus. Their attention was drawn to a squad of approaching guards. "Princess Twilight we are to escort you and your guest to the gardens where your brother and the Princesses are waiting. Please follow us." They turned and began to walk away.

Venrus listened to Twilight and Rarity as they took turns going on about the things they passed in the city as they followed the guards. So far the only things that caught his eye was the doughnut shop and some clothes and jewelry stores. Soon they came up to a very impressive castle that glittered in the light. Venrus noticed the looks he was getting from the guards as they went through the gates and a aura of danger. He pushed his mana further out around him and then he saw it, the closer they got to the gardens the more guards he spotted and all of them were looking at him. He even saw some that were trying to hide from him.

Soon they rounded a corner and Venrus got quite the shock when he saw the magical auras the other two princesses were giving off. From what he new from Barb all the princesses were alicorns, yet the aura he saw around Twilight was nothing like these two. Lost in his thought he didn't even notice the girls had stopped walking. He looked back to see them holding Barb back and then it happened, all the guards rushed him.

They had him surrounded spears leveled for a killing blow should he try to make a move. He gripped his sword tightly "What is da meaning of dis?"

Shining Armor stepped forward "You are under arrest for the use of illegal magic. Drop your weapons and stand down or we will use force to detain you."

Venrus snarled at him drawing his sword "Not on yer life pup. I ain't done a thing wrong and if ya attack me I will defend myself."

Shining drew his own sword an boy was it a sword. The entire blade was made from blue crystal and had golden ruins imbedded into it. "Don't lie to me dog. Princess Twilight saw the necromancy that you said you use often."

"Necromancy is a common magic and is used by many I know. I'm friends with a Lich for moons sake." Venrus then turned to Twilight "Dis is yer doing, why? I've been nothing but friendly and even showed yer sister what she truly is. I've been helping her with her magic." He then looked to Barb "Did ya know of dis?"

Barb was trying her hardest to get free but Applejack and Rainbow were too much for her. "No I swear Venrus I had no idea this was going to happen. You've done so much for me I would never betray you like this."

"Enough of this take him!" Shining barked to the guards.

The guards that had him surrounded with spears rushed him but he jumped over them at the last possible chance "Spectral Blade." He swung his sword down at the spears as they connected and several rainbow hewed slashes ripped through the air destroying the spears. As he landed he kicked all the spear heads into the air stretching out his arms "Aura Burst." A shell of black and red energy expanded off of him launching the spears at the guard. Those that some were quick enough to dodge the spear heads but those that weren't got hit in dangerous places. All but a few were put onto there back when they got hit by the energy shell.

Venrus then flipped his blade into a reverse grip and crouched low to the ground till he was resting on his three remaining limbs, sword held over his back. "I'll say dis one last time. I have done nothing wrong, continue to attack me and I may end up killing some of ya. Very few of ya here have da power or skill to challenge me. Terror Form." He growled at them.

Some of the guards were shacking in their armor and did their best to stand their ground. The one they were supposed to detain was strong and now just looking at him was terrifying. Some how dark energies began to seep out of him, casting him in a dark glow to the point he blended together into a dark beast. Only the purple glow from his armor shown through. As he growled at them they no longer saw a sentient being but a beast from the very pits of Tartarus waiting to steal their very souls.

Princess Celestia and Luna knew Twilight would never lie to them and they could feel dark magic come from Venrus but he showed no signs of it. From what they knew all dark magic corrupts the user and drives them mad and some dark magics do worse. Necromancy rotted the flesh and twisted the soul slowly turning the user into an undead but there were no signs. Venrus himself even admitted to knowing a Lich the end result of using Necromancy. Twice now he had used magic they had not seen in a long time and what he said was true he was far stronger then all their guard. Shining Armor might stand a chance and there was no clue who would win a drawn out battle. The problem was no pony knew the extent of Venrus' power.

Before any orders could be given more of the guard drew their swords and rushed Venrus. "Blazing Furry Slash No.9" All of a sudden he was gone then flaming lines formed on the ground as guards were cut down left and right. One lost an arm, two lost a leg and the rest had either their back or chest cut open. All of them fell next to or inside the flaming line and at the end of a line he sat hand in the fire. From above one could see the flames were not random but made into a magic circle. "Rising Tempest, fusion magic Greater Flame Twister." a tornado formed above the flames pulling them up and around the fallen guard into a firry inferno.

If not for the fast acting of some unicorns using high level water spells those guards would have been killed. Healers rushed out to remove and tend to the injured. Mean while Venrus was being held at bay by pegasus archers but he was not shaken in the slightest. Venrus was calmly weaving between the arrows and those he could not dodge he struck away with his sword. "Smash: Thousand Needles." his sword glowed green and sent out a energy wave that smashed the arrows. Then it broke apart launching green energy needles at the pegasus but they easily avoided them.

The Princesses watched on as their guard tried, and failed, to deal with Venrus and were wondering if Shining Armor would ever step in and then they felt it. A great evil power was coming form Venrus and it was getting stronger. They watched as he back flipped away from some arrows and took the strange looking black stick from his shoulder and that's when they truly felt it. All that evil was coming from the stick flowing into Venrus and then going back into the stick. It felt like the monsters from the lowest levels of Tartarus.

"Eligos by our pact I command ya awaken!" Suddenly a green eye burst open from the center looking around wildly till it rested on the pegasus about to attack Venrus. A sickening cracking came from the stick and it grew till it was taller then Venrus himself. Then a black goo fell from the top point to the lower till it became a thin string and that's when it became clear this was a bow. Venrus then reached up and plucked out a hair from his head. Black energy began to fill it till it turned into a huge arrow. He loaded the arrow and drew it back while dancing through the fire from the pegasi "Dark Thorn Cage." He loosed the arrow toward the pegasi and it ripped through the air as if fired from a cannon, cracking the ground where he stood. The arrow looked as if it wouldn't hit any of them till it unfurled into dozens of black ribbons, before anything could be done most of the pegasi were caught in the ribbon like cage that surrounded them. The few that got out in time tried to get the others out but weather it was from the outside or in anypony that got too close to the ribbons was attacked by thorns.

"Eagle Eye Assault." The four Pegasus guards not caught by the cage were hit by a small light and it left a symbol where it hit them. "Magnum Accelerator." A sparkling blue circle formed in front of his bow where an arrow rested. "Elemental Barrage." When he loosed his arrow it shot off just like before leaving cracks where he stood from dodging the other guards attacks but this time was worse. Once the arrow hit the circle in front of his bow it created a sonic boom blowing him back a few feet and destroying the ground. The arrow then split into four all in different colors red, white, blue and yellow. Red and yellow missed but white and blue hit their targets. The white arrow on impact with the mark on the guards shoulder shot out air like a blade cutting her arm and wing off and the force of the impact sent her hurdling into the city.

The blue arrow knocked the guard into a tailspin but he quickly pulled out of it but all of a sudden he began to plummet out of the sky. The mark was on his hip and when the arrow hit him he though he was fine but now ice was quickly encasing his body. He was very high up before he started to fall and now with him being completely encased he shattered into dust on the ground. One thing that was truly shocking was that the red and yellow arrows were still chasing their targets. The female guard being chased by the red arrow flew just right causing the arrow to hit the castle wall. When it did it burst into a firry inferno. The guard being chased by the yellow arrow was not as lucky and when he was struck by it he was electrocuted and crashed into a tree.

All the while Venrus was on the ground dealing with the sword wielding guards. Venrus had masterfully dodged, parried or just taken the guards out. Most had deep wounds they could recover from but a few laid dead. Shining Armor had enough, the guards he trained were being beat back as if they were childern and as they fell his anger rose. With his sword in hand, he charged into the fray. Venrus turned blocking Shining's attack, their blades sparking as they clashed.

"You face me now monster." Shining looked to the guard "All of you back off tend to the wounded. He is mine!"