Chapter 1: Blood of the night
It was the middle of the night and the hunt was fully fledged. Sir Lagnus the Raven, the newest helper to the hunters, sat in the wheelchair that once belonged to dear old Gehrman. Lagnus had achieved many things such as defeating Ludwig the Holy Blade and inheriting the Legendary Holy Moonlight Sword, slaying Vicar Amelia and killing countless adversarial hunters. Lagnus now helps all the new hunters that come through the hunter’s dream, although he has a favorite hunter that visits him often and talks with him; the hunter is named Aligarus. Aligarus was about twenty years of age and was slim and fairly well built. He often wore the charred garb, boots and gloves Lagnus had gave him when he was having difficult times. Lagnus wished he could hunt with Aligarus, but that was not within his power due to the Moon Presence’s magic. But there was one other hunter Lagnus taught when he was young and full of potential. Her name was Castiella. Castiella was a woman he met on his first night of the hunt. Castiella was very entwined with the arcane forces and possessed powers Lagnus didn’t even think could exist. They both met in the Hunter’s Nightmare where they together fought through and journeyed into the depths of the nightmare to kill the host and eventually the nightmare itself, freeing those who were trapped in the horrible fabrication of reality. However, Lagnus’s glory days were long gone and life became dull. Lagnus helps the hunters that come for aid and offers them advice and what items he can offer to at least feel like he isn’t completely useless.
One day however he was at the base of the Great like how Gehrman once was when they had their battle. Lagnus had a nagging feeling his time was soon to be up at his young age as he had only served as a helper of the hunters for a decade now. As Lagnus stared at the flowers in the field while they moved softly in the breeze he heard footsteps approaching him.
Lagnus looked up to see Aligarus standing at his side, “Young hunter the night is near its end. But I assume you’re here to kill the Moon Presence? I sought the same thing once, but lacked the strength to do so. However you must pass one last test before fighting it,” Lagnus says as he stood up, picking up the Moonlight Greatsword.
Aligarus shook his head, “No Lagnus, I won’t fight you. I may have killed countless innocents who were driven mad by beast blood or are vilebloods but I refuse to slay you,” Aligarus says as Lagnus got up, wearing the knight garb, boots, and gloves with the hunters top hat adorning his head.
Lagnus adjusted his circular glasses and exhaled, “Then maybe the knowledge of myself being one of the last Vilebloods will motivate you enough to kill me,” Lagnus said as he quickly back stepped, swinging the sword around in multiple ways before taking a strong fighting stance
“Tonight Lagnus the Ravin joins the hunt…” Lagnus said speaking some of his last words for tonight was the night he dies.
Lagnus dashes forward while thrusting his sword towards Aligarus. Aligarus back stepped, just barely dodging the attack and used his saw cleaver to strike Lagnus a few times before dashing to his side. Lagnus turned to face Aligarus and slashed rapidly leaving a large gash on Aligarus’s left arm.
Aligarus used one of his many blood vials to heal swiftly before backing up and dashing to Lagnus’ side. Lagnus was old and regrettably slower than Aligarus who was much younger and more limber than Lagnus. However this didn’t mean Lagnus was slow to respond. Lagnus was fast for his age, more so than any other man or woman could dream to be.
Lagnus dodged an attack Aligarus threw at him. Lagnus quickly struck back, hitting Aligarus and knocking him onto his back. Lagnus backed up a few feet and waited for his opponent to get up. Most hunters would take the chance to wail on their opponent when they were down, but Lagnus, having honor and mercy for Aligarus, let him get up.
As Aligarus stood up and healed once more Lagnus activated the Holy Moonlight Greatsword’s magic aura, making it glow a greenish blue turquoise color. Lagnus slashed in a wide arc, sending a wave of explosive moonlight towards Aligarus.
Luckily, Aligarus dashed to his right, avoiding the wave of deadly magic that exploded on the wall next to him. Aligarus bolted forward before landing a barrage of attacks on Lagnus, making him bleed heavily and eventually knocking him to the ground.
Lagnus breathed hard, slowly getting up as his body slightly morphed into his beast form, “Lagnus please, I beg you to quit this fighting. I don’t want to kill you,” Aligarus said, pleading with Lagnus, but Aligarus’s words fell on deaf ears because soon after Lagnus transformed into a four armed humanoid hellhound/dragon beast.
Lagnus was now triple the height of Aligarus as his black fur and scales shined under the moonlight. Lagnus let out a ear splitting roar before charging forward again. Lagnus was like a rabid starving wolf as he lashed out at Aligarus mercilessly.
The blood dripping from his mouth, the feral look in his eye, and the smell of reeking rotted flesh emanated from Lagnus as Aligarus dashed left and right to avoid the endless series of attacks that came for him.
Lagnus eventually tired himself out and fell to his knees panting, letting Aligarus strike Lagnus and deal substantial amounts of damage. Aligarus wailed on Lagnus, slashing blow after blow. Lagnus knew he had lost and now he stood up for one last push, but it was not to be for Aligarus laid one last mighty blow on Lagnus, defeating him.
As he fell to the ground he could faintly see Aligarus facing down the Moon Presence. As the beast took him into its vile embrace it was blown back by an explosion of light. Lagnus smirked, “Good luck young hunter,” Lagnus thought in his head as he closed his eyes as, his body faded and disappeared.
Lagnus heard the blowing of wind and the rustling of leaves as he laid in a soft patch of grass. He heard the sound of birds tweeting and singing various songs. Such a thing he hasn’t had the pleasure of hearing in a long, long time. Lagnus groaned and flexed his fingers a bit before standing up as the sun shined in his face, the golden light blinding him for a few seconds.
As his vision cleared Lagnus saw he was in a clearing surrounded by what seemed to be a menacing forest. Lagnus again blinked as he again saw the colorful world he was in. It was beautiful and made his heart melt. Never had his eyes been graced with such beauty. But something felt off; Lagnus felt more alive, his body filled with energy and life. Lagnus felt at least thirty years younger than he thought he was. It was a wonderful feeling and one that he had so longingly missed for all these long violent years of his life.
As Lagnus took this all in the realization that he was dehydrated and needed water hit him. Lagnus quickly got up and looked around for a source of water. To his luck there was one about fifty yards to his left. Lagnus quickly dashed over there and got on his knees as he drank the surprisingly clean water. As Lagnus drank his fill and washed off his face he saw his reflection. He had no wrinkles, no grey hair, no moles, and no rotten teeth and he didn’t have his thick bushy beard, but he did have a normal sized spanish mustache and a bit of his chin beard that was thin and spiky as it would be after a shave. He was young again, this explained why he felt so refreshed when he woke up. Lagnus’ long black hair flowed a bit in a breeze. His circular glasses shined a bit as the sun hit them at just the right angle.
Lagnus yelped and backed up surprised and a bit scared at the sudden changes. As Lagnus rubbed his eyes he went back to the water to look at his reflection again. As he did he saw the same thing, a slim yet muscular man in his prime, about twenty five to thirty years of age. Lagnus sighed and rubbed his temples while standing up.
“Where am I exactly? This is obviously nowhere near Yharnam,” Lagnus said to himself as he scanned his surroundings again before seeing that there was some sort of structure in the distance about a mile or so off to the west.
“Maybe whoever lives there can help me,” Lagnus mumbled, hoping that he could be provided with food and the knowledge of where in the sam hell he was.
Lagnus walked in the cottage’s direction as he entered the thick brush leading to it. As he walked Lagnus heard the sound of a lion growling. Lagnus however wasn’t phased by this because he’d dealt with beasts that would make the lion look like a measly ant in comparison. As Lagnus found a wide dirt path he quickly got onto it. Not two seconds later after he did Lagnus found himself surrounded by three manticores, he had read about these beasts in a book before. They were all pretty big and to any common folk or inexperienced hunter this would make them drop a duce.
But Lagnus was, for one, not scared of them and two, they were attacking a much bigger beast that would scare the things off just by hearing his howl. As the manticores circled Lagnus growling, Lagnus scoffed at them before unwrapping a beast pellet and swallowing it. Seconds later Lagnus started to grow in size into his beast form. Two arms sprouted out of his sides as long black fur draped from his sides. His tail was long and bushy and he had six eyes, each of them blood red with slits for the black parts of his eyes. Lagnus’s teeth were like the blades of scythes and smoke rose out of his nose as he was now three times the size of these measly beasts.
The manticores, now heavily regretting their decision, tried to flee but only one managed to escape the grip of Lagnus’ claws, leaving a huge gash in its side in the process. As the other manticore disappeared Lagnus turned his attention to the two he had in his claws, slowly tightening his grip and crushing them to death, breaking bones and ripping flesh. The two poor beasts started coughing up blood and the contents of their stomachs as they were being slowly killed by Lagnus who had no remorse for these beasts.
Eventually Lagnus had decided they had suffered long enough and bit the head off of one of the beasts before mauling the other one. Lagnus dropped the bodies and shifted back to his normal form and sighed. Lagnus killed things far too easily, thus there was no thrill to the hunt anymore. Lagnus desired to face bigger and more powerful beasts that could match up to him. Like the dragons from the old legends. The dragons were described as mighty beasts whose strength matched their size.
Lagnus laid against a tree and closed his mind to just think for a bit and gather his thoughts before proceeding to the cottage he saw earlier.
Fluttershy and Twilight were outside on Fluttershy’s patio at one of her outdoor tables having tea and a few sandwiches. Twilight came over to help Fluttershy move a few things in her home and just organize it in general.
“Fluttershy these sandwiches are delicious!” Twilight said as she swallowed her food, smiling.
“Oh thank you, they weren’t hard to make really but a few spices and certain veggies help with adding flavor to the other bland ingredients,” Fluttershy said, smiling softly as she took a sip of her tea.
As the two talked about random things they heard an ear splitting howl that sounded like it came from a hound so tough and big that it would put Cerberus to shame. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at the Everfree forest as a wounded manticore limped out of the shade of the trees, heading towards Fluttershy for help. The manticore was bleeding heavily as it collapsed on its side. Fluttershy gasped and ran over to the nearly dead beast as it curled up and coughed blood.
As Fluttershy and Twilight got to its side Fluttershy gasped, seeing the huge wound on the manticore. “Twilight, get my medical supplies now!” Fluttershy ordered as she tried to use her ability to communicate with animals to find out what monster did this.
“Dear oh dear Mr. Manticore, who did this to you?” Fluttershy asked as the manticore made some sounds, doing the best it could to tell her what happened to him and his now dead brothers.
As Fluttershy received the horrifying news she paled physically and shivered, “O-oh my…” Fluttershy says as Twilight came over with multiple rolls of bandages and other medical supplies. As they patched the manticore up and carried it inside Fluttershy turned to Twilight as they stood in her living room, “Twilight, the monster that attacked the manticore slaughtered his brothers. He described it as a four armed wolf with six eyes and was about the size of a large dragon,” Fluttershy said as Twilight slowly started to scowl.
“We have to stop this thing before it comes to Ponyville,” Twilight said as Fluttershy looked up at her.
“But that’s not the weirdest part, he said this beast was a small ape like creature dressed in a fancy coat made out of leather and cloth, holding a greatsword that shined like the moon,” Fluttershy said as Twilight scoffed at this. How could a simple primate transform into such a beast of massive proportions?
“Well, stay here Fluttershy, I’ll go get the rest of the girls and have Spike notify the royal guard and Princess Celestia about this” Twilight said as she teleported away in a flash of light.
Lagnus was breathing slowly as he had several flashbacks from the past three decades of his hunting career. The advice of his previous mentor Gehrmen, the advice given to him by countless hunters, those who were murdered because he wasn’t there to protect them. So many innocent lives lost to the madness of the hunt. Anyone who had ever been close to him in Yharnam had either gone mad and vanished, or slaughtered by some other hunter or malformed beast.
Why was the world so cruel? Why did all these innocent people have to die? Why did it all happen? Was it fate? Or some cruel trick played by one of the Old Gods? Lagnus didn’t know, but for whatever reason it was, it was cruel and sadistic to cause so much pain to hundreds of thousands of people. All Lagnus knew is that he was going to utterly destroy whatever was responsible for the madness, the hunt, all the death and loss him and everyone else suffered. Lagnus sweared on his soul that he’d make things right and let all the Yharmanites know peace at last.
Lagnus sighed and opened his eyes, slowly getting up. He needed to find civilization and a few people who were willing to fight for his cause.
Twilight and her friends were in Fluttershy’s back yard as Twilight told them what was happening, “Do you all understand what we are dealing with? We are the first line of defence for the ponies of Ponyville” Twilight says as the AJ, and Dash cracked their necks seeming like they’re ready to kill.
As they all turned and marched into the forest they slowly followed the trail of blood to where the manticores were killed. As they got closer their nostrils burned with the smell of rotting entrails and blood. Soon they came to the two bodies, one of them was horrifically mauled while the other was headless. Both bodies showed clear signs of being crushed in some way with multiple broken ribs and other bones.
Pinkie Pie and Rarity almost barfed as Fluttershy fainted. Rarity and Pinkie tried to hold their lunch down as AJ, Dash, and Twilight weren’t as phased by this brutal scene. But as focused as the others were, Twilight had a nagging feeling that something or someone was watching them.
Lagnus watched the six horse like creatures, hidden in the dark and cover of the brush as they gaped at the carnage he left behind. Lagnus pondered if he should make contact with the ponies as they had spoken a bit among themselves. Lagnus wanted to make contact so badly. He had a thirst to talk to civilized beings no matter what they looked like. Years upon years of violence had made him long for peace badly. Lagnus sighed and went against his gut feeling telling him not to make contact with them,
Lagnus stood up, sheathing his greatsword and got his threaded cane out and put his top hat on before walking out in front of them. As Lagnus walked out in front of them two of the ponies made a squeaking sound and backed up as the other four stood strong. Lagnus faced them and cleared his throat, “Greetings,” he said, doing a gesture that was nicknamed ‘respect’. “My name is Lagnus the Raven, or as some know me, the Left hand of Death,” Lagnus said as he looked up at them again.
The yellow pegasus who had been unconscious lifted her head, waking up. She looked at Lagnus before gasping, “That’s him… That’s the beast the manticore described to me,” she said as the others immediately take an offensive stance and started attacking him.
Lagnus raised his eyebrow, but before he could react he was hit in the stomach with a large blast of some foreign arcane magic. Lagnus flew back a few yards and hit a tree. Lagnus slowly got up, spitting some of his blood out before using a bloodvile on himself, “Well I tried to be civilized but you all won’t listen. I don’t want to hurt you, please stand down,” Lagnus said as the damage and amount of blood he had lost started to trigger his beast transformation, looking more wolf like now.
However they didn’t listen as the orange pony with the weird foreign hat used a rope and tied his arms to his waist as the prismatic pegasus flew towards him. Lagnus sighed, gritting his teeth and started to transform as fur and scales sprouted out of his skin and he felt his second set of arms shooting out below his original two. This allowed Lagnus to rip the rope to shreds as he leaped up into the air ten to fifteen feet, avoiding the pegasus who then rammed herself head first into the tree he was pinned up against not five seconds ago.
Lagnus snarled again as he grew in size, eventually finishing his transformation. He roared, making the others cover their ears, but the shy yellow pony wasn’t phased and looked quite pissed before flying up to Lagnus’s face and staring him in the eyes, making him feel like she was piercing his soul.
“Listen here mister! You should feel ashamed of yourself for killing these poor manticores! You’re so much stronger you big bully! You better stand down right now or so help me I’ll make you regret being born!” She said, hissing as Lagnus shook his head, hissing and barking a bit as he was trying to talk but only came out as sounds a dog would make.
‘No! What is this arcane magic?! Stop it hurts!’ Lagnus says in his animal language that somehow the butter yellow pegasus understood. The pegasus stared at him more, her gaze intensifying so much that Lagnus held his head and roared in pain, collapsing on the ground with his eyes shut as her stare made his ears ring and his brain hurt.
As she kept Lagnus down he heard a spell being charged up he opened his eyes and saw the winged unicorn casting a spell before firing it at him, making him black out.
Lagnus awoke, opening his eyes and being blinded by a white light. He got up and rubbed his eyes, his vision slowly clearing. He still had his cloths on but his body felt lighter. Lagnus felt around for one of his weapons and found that his greatsword was nowhere to be found. Lagnus’s vision finally completely cleared and saw that he was in a barred cell. He was on a bed and noticed that there was a table and chair with some paper and quills with some ink on the desk.
Lagnus groaned, getting up and looking around as he was in a wooden room with a bunch of technology in it. As he looked around the room he saw all his weapons and spare objects he carried around, plus the purple winged unicorn again. Beside her was a small duel colored lizard. Lagnus got out of the straw bed, making a bit of noise for the winged unicorn to look at him.
“Ah, he’s awake,” She said in an excited yet somewhat hostile tone. Lagnus looked at her, his vision still adjusting.
“Where did you take me?” Lagnus asked, holding his head as he had a splitting headache from the stare that crippled him hours before.
“You are in the basement of my home. I’m keeping you here until Princess Celestia comes and can detain you properly. But in the meantime let’s get to know each other hmm?” the lavender mare said as she pulled over a chair with a clipboard and quill before sitting down, “Who are you and why did you maul the manticores?” she asked as Lagnus’ vision cleared.
“I am Lagnus the Raven. I’m a hunter of beasts and slayer of evil. Those manticores tried to attack me first so I simply defended. They didn’t look like they were gonna leave me alive,” Lagnus said as the mare wrote down notes quickly, almost as if she was scribbling on the paper. “What’s your name miss?” Lagnus asked, expecting an honest answer before he told her anything else.
“I am Princess Twilight Sparkle and this here is my friend and helper Spike,” Twilight responded as the small dragon waved shyly. Lagnus raised his eyebrow and waved back as he took off his hat and parted his black hair, and smoothing out his small beard as well. “Now what exactly are you? You seem to be a sort of primate and a beast like those werewolves from the legends of old times,” Twilight states, making Lagnus laugh heartily.
“Werewolf? You think I’m a measly werewolf? No miss Twilight, you are far, far off. I am much deadlier than some flea ridden werewolf. I am a Darkbeast, unlike most Darkbeasts I don’t emit electricity from my hide I am what some may call a Hellhound or demonic beast. I am one of the select few whose beast blood turns me into a horrible deformed nightmare of a monster,” Lagnus answers, chuckling at her statement. How could she even compare him to a werewolf? He was three to four times larger, he had four arms, six burning red eyes that glowed, and on top of all of that he could spit fire!
Twilight raised her eyebrow as she took notes on this thing called a Darkbeast, “So tell me about the sword we found on your body. I’ve examined it and have seen nothing like it. The thing has more magical power than Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and myself combined. What is it and how did you obtain such a powerful weapon?” she asked, looking stern and yet fascinated.
Lagnus looked over at the Moonlight Greatsword that Twilight used her magic to hover over to her, “The Moonlight Greatsword… If I were to explain its full history it would take several hours, but I’ll sum it up for you,” Lagnus said as he reached for the sword and pulled it into the cell, making Twilight and Spike nervous, thinking Lagnus would attack them. He held the blade and looked into his turquoise crystalline blade.
“This blade came from a horrible traitor, a being so vile that he committed mass genocide against his own kind to gain what he did not have. No one quite knows the name of the traitor except for a select few. Those who wield the great blade can see its origin and all of its past. The traitor’s name was… Seath the Scaleless an albino dragon with no scales and a thirst for knowledge and immortality he wasn’t born with unlike his dragon brethren. Seath is the creator and grandfather of magic itself. This blade was formed when a warrior cut off his tail, and that action gave birth to the blade,” Lagnus said, taking a breath before continuing.
“This blade was most famously held in the hands of Ludwig the Holy Blade. He found the sword in some ruin with a rune. He took the blade and with it became immensely powerful. One cannot fathom the power the hunter wielded. But one day that power and the loss of everything drove him mad and turned him into a horrible beast. I happened to run into him one day while in a nightmare dimension full of hunters. We battled it out for hours before I slew the once great hunter. Then the blade was passed on to its current master… me, Lagnus the Ravin,” Lagnus said, finishing his lengthy yet shortened explanation of the blade.
Lagnus turned around to see Twilight staring at the blade in awe as she had written down his explanation in detail with a sketch of the blade as well. “O-oh my gosh,” she said as her friend and assistant Spike was also entranced in the story. They were so entranced that they failed to hear the knocking at their door.
Quickly Twilight snapped out of her haze and teleported to her front door to open it. In front of her was Princess Celestia and a handful of armed guards, along with the rest of the elements of harmony with their jeweled necklaces, “P-princess, I didn’t know you’d be here so quickly!” Twilight said, a bit startled.
“Well you made the letter seem pretty urgent and because of that and the monster you may have caught I decided to come quickly to see this beast,” Celestia said as Twilight let her and a few guards in, leading them downstairs where they saw Lagnus sitting in a chair.
As the guards made sure Lagnus wouldn’t be able to escape, Princess Celestia walked up to the cage as Lagnus lifted his eyes, looking at her. As the two stared at each other Celestia reeled back, recognizing him.
Lagnus smiled and got up, taking his hat off. “Long time no see Castiella my friend, or should I say Celestia. It’s nice to see you again,” Lagnus said as Twilight, her friends, and the guards looked surprised. Lagnus and Princess Celestia knew each other...
Author's Note
If you guys liked the chapter please leave a like if you favorited it or just wanna show that you want more of this. Simply leaving a like here really helps me strive harder to create a better story for you all.
Oh I can hear the sellout comments now just in the distance over the hill their yells of rage echoing through the field because of how butthurt they are... XP
But for now good hunters, let the good blood guide your way, and never forget...
Fear the Old Blood
Twilight, Spike, and all the guards stood still in shock with their jaws slacked as Lagnus addressed Princess Celestia as a common pony. Princess Celestia stood stunned for a moment to see her old hunting partner/mentor locked up in a cage like an animal.
Lagnus walked forward and reached out for his old friend, “I thought I’d never see you again dear Castiella” Lagnus says, smiling with pure unadulterated joy.
Princess Celestia snapped out of her daze and smiled, “Lagnus my friend, you know I don’t lie to those who are important to me,” Princess Celestia answers, making Lagnus chuckle and nod his head slightly.
“Oh how foolish of me to think that. I should know you well enough that you must have plucked some strings to reunite us together,” Lagnus says, smiling as Princess Celestia used her magic to unlock the door.
As she did this, the others gasped and the guards pointed their spears at Lagnus to which Princess Celestia glared at them and used her telekinesis to rip the weapons out of their grip and broke the spears in half, protecting her old friend from her overreacting guards.
“P-princess you know Lagnus? B-but how?” Twilight asks as Spike and the rest of the Elements of Harmony nodded in agreement, thinking the same thing.
“Well, let’s go upstairs and sit in the living room so Lagnus and I can explain. Also, guards, you are dismissed take the chariot back to Canterlot. I’ll teleport myself there,” Princess Celestia says as the guards nervously left, unsure if this was the right thing to do.
As the guards vacated the library and flew off, Princess Celestia went upstairs with Lagnus next to her. Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, AJ, Fluttershy, and Rarity followed cautiously. However, Pinkie was not surprisingly excited and cheerful as she usually was when new ponies came to town.
As they got upstairs, Princess Celestia had already set up the chairs and couches in a circle enough for each pony and person there. Princess Celestia and Lagnus sat next to each other as the rest took their seats and looked at Princess Celestia. “So how did you two meet?” Twilight asks as Lagnus chuckled.
“Well in my time we met around thirty years ago. But for dear Celestia, we met in the year 1200 AD for this world’s time period,” Lagnus says as Twilight’s jaw dropped.
“But that means you two met over eight hundred years ago! If by your world’s time standards you were around thirty you must be around one thousand six hundred years old here,” Twilight says, doing the math roughly since Lagnus appeared to be around seventy five to eighty years old.
“Well I wouldn’t say I’d be one thousand six hundred years old. By doing the math every twenty six and a half years for me is one centry for you. So since I was about eighty when I died at the hands of my last apprentice, I should be roughly around three hundred years old here,” Lagnus says as he took off his black top hat and fixed his hair a bit.
“Well anyways, let’s get to how I actually met Castiella here hmm?” he asks as Celestia giggled a bit at her old hunter name.
“Lagnus, please, just call me Celestia. Castiella was my hunter name and I don’t hunt anymore,” Princess Celestia says, making Lagnus chuckle.
“Okay Celestia, you’re so picky,” Lagnus says as he cleared his throat and began to tell the story.
Lagnus walked down a pathway holding his hunter axe as he had just killed a group of drunken hunters and a few minor beasts. Lagnus was stuck in the nightmare and for the past few hours he had been trying to find a way out. But no matter where he went it came to a dead end. For some odd reason it felt as if he was forgetting where he had been, causing him to go in endless circles for hours and hours.
Lagnus decided to rest in a building he was close to. Lagnus opened the door and cleared out the room by smashing boxes and killing any enemy that would show itself. Lagnus sat down against a wall and lit his handheld lamp for a small source of light. Lagnus closed his eyes and rested, gathering his thoughts and wits.
The house Lagnus had chosen to rest in was like any small Yharnamites’ house would be. It had a few book shelves half stocked with books and few cobwebs in the far, hard to reach corners of the room. There was a table surrounded by four chairs, two on each side. On the table was a few dirty and dusty dishes and a burnt out candle stick made of cheap, easy to break metal, and there was a small makeshift bed made out of hay, rags, and torn blankets.
To any middle or upper class person this sight would be disgusting and depressing with the lack of light in the two room house. But to a hunter this was suitable. Most hunters lived on the streets or in abandoned buildings due to how much they were despised. But strangely, whenever the night of the hunt came, people would kiss hunter’s feet and beg them to help.
It was a sad and frustrating job, but no one else would do it. Lagnus let out an exhausted sigh while rubbing his temples. However, as he did Lagnus heard yelling: it didn’t sound like any normal hunter, in fact it sounded like a female citizen. Lagnus jumped to his feet and rushed to the source of the sound and found a fairly beautiful woman surrounded by two hunters and a few of their rabid dogs.
This woman had no weapons, but it seemed like she was using the arcane arts to protect herself. But Lagnus knew most arcane attacks wouldn’t phase normal hunters that much. Lagnus narrowed his eyes and got up onto a rooftop behind them and whistled loudly. As Lagnus whistled the two hunters and their dogs turned around, allowing Lagnus to jump off the building, smashing down onto three of the dogs that were close together, killing them.
One of the hunters attempted to attack with his beast cutter, but Lagnus shot the man in the gut as the hunter was reeling up to attack Lagnus. The shot itself downed the hunter as Lagnus dashed forward, countering the hunter by sticking his blade into him and ripping it out, tearing his lower ribcage and stomach open, ultimately killing the hunter. At this point the last dog was scared away and left the other hunter to fight Lagnus one on one. Lagnus extended his axe into its full form as the other hunter ran forward, shouting something about blood.
Lagnus dashed to the side and struck the hunter in the back. This allowed Lagnus to backstab the poor sod and paralyze the man from the waist down. Lagus then finished him off by using his axe to behead the man. Lagnus breathed heavily for a moment before looking up at the woman.
“Miss, are you alright?” Lagnus asked, looking at the woman with the multi colored hair as she looked like she was royalty of some sort.
“I think so,” the woman says as she stood up and wobbled a bit, brushing herself off. Lagnus checked if she had any wounds. She did have a few bruises and scrapes, but nothing major.
“What’s your name?” Lagnus asks as the woman gained her balance.
The woman thought a bit, rubbing her head, “My name is Castiella,” Celestia says, giving herself a fake name that sort of matched the place and era she seemed to be in
“Castiella hmm? It’s a good name, but how did someone like you end up in the Hunter’s Nightmare?” Lagnus asks, looking at her with his eyebrow raised.
“I’m not sure. I think I was trying to cast a new spell and it backfired, sending me here,” Celestia answers as Lagnus chuckled.
“Did you attend Byrgenweth and learn your magic there?” Lagnus asks as Celestia shook her head.
“N-no. I’m from somewhere else far far away from here,” Celestia says, looking around. Lagnus nodded in understanding as he looked through his pouch and got out a fairly powerful weapon for her. Lagnus pulled out his Reiterpallasch and handed the rapiereque weapon to her along with a simple hunter’s pistol.
“Here, take these. You’re going to need them out here. Arcane magic will not do much to most things here so you must rely on your blade and skill,” Lagnus says as Celestia took the two weapons, thanking Lagnus silently as she got a feel for them.
Celestia eventually tested out the weapon and it was perfect. She had lots of dexterity and skill with the weapon. Lagnus smiled and looked up as he got some hunter garbs out that he thought would fit, “Here, take these. This will be a sort of armor for you,” Lagnus says as Celestia put on the boots, then the coat, then the gloves, and finally the facemask and the feathered cap.
Lagnus and Celestia explored for a few more hours, killing beasts and hunters until they came upon an underground area with a lake of blood and bodies stacked up several feet. Lagnus and Celestia walked in carefully as a nearly dead person started speaking.
“Help. Help us... Help,” he pleaded as Lagnus looked forward mere seconds later Lagnus heard a booming like footstep. “An unsightly beast… Ludwig the Accursed comes. Have mercy on us! Have mercy!” the man says as Ludwig roared, its sheer volume splitting their ears.
Ludwig charged forward as Lagnus grabbed Celestia, holding her close before rolling out of the way, “Take cover, let me handle this!” Lagnus said, imbuing his axe with fire and dashing forward to land multiple blows on Ludwig, dodging the former hunter’s attacks. Lagnus and Ludwig battled it out as Lagnus landed at least a few dozen hits before being hit himself. As Lagnus and Ludwig circled each other, Ludwig screamed, jumping high into the air as Lagnus looked up to see Ludwig descending onto him.
With mere seconds to react, Lagnus rolled out of the way, but was still partially hit by the attack. Lagnus grunted, rolling to the side and unable to get up in time before Ludwig could kill him. Celestia saw this and narrowed her eyes quickly, casting a large fire spell, hitting Ludwig and sending the beast flying into the wall as Celestia used her magic to heal Lagnus and get him to his feet.
Ludwig got up and screamed again, shaking his head before attempting to ram into Lagnus and Celestia. Celestia snapped her fingers, teleporting the two to the other side of the room and charged up her magic again, shooting a massive fireball at Ludwig as he stood at the end of the room near to where he was when they had entered the room.
The spell downed Ludwig as he fell to the ground, the sword on his back flipping in the air several times before landing in the ground. The sword was glowing it’s turquoise glow as it shimmered and shined, emitting a high pitched sound. Ludwig opened his eyes to see his beloved Moonlight Greatsword shining beside him.
“Ahh, you were at my side all along!” Ludwig stood up, picking up his sword. He held it high in the air, “My true mentor! My guiding moonlight!” Ludwig says as he faced Lagnus and Celestia as he held the blade in front of the left half of his face, making the other side much more visible.
Lagnus stepped backwards seeing the blade that Ludwig possessed. He thought it was a mere legend, but here it is. The most powerful sword in existence right before him. Ludwig was going to fight them with the legendary Holy Moonlight Greatsword.
Celestia however wasn’t phased as she held her weapon tightly and ran forward, dodging each swing Ludwig performed. Celestia struck Ludwig multiple times with fury and malice as Lagnus decided to join in as he extended his axe and let out his battle cry, charging forward and bringing his gargantuan axe blade down on Ludwig.
Ludwig was now dealing with one powerful hunter and a pissed off sorceress at the same time. He had to divide his attention between the two and try to fight them both without taking damage. But it was impossible, Lagnus’ speed and strength was overwhelming while Celestia’s strong magic was near crippling. Ludwig knew he was going to lose, but he wouldn’t go down peacefully. Ludwig stuck his sword into the ground as it glowed intensely and grunted, pushing it in and blowing the two away from his body.
Lagnus got up and started dashing around Ludwig in a clockwise fashion as Celestia continuously fired skin melting fire balls at Ludwig. Ludwig lifted his sword in the air, sending out a small shockwave, knocking Lagnus down and damaging him slightly. Ludwig then turned to Celestia and brought his sword down, sending an absolutely massive wave of raw magic at her as it rose out of the ground like a lava geyser.
Celestia, unmoved by this, conjured up a shield and blocked the attack, her hair being blown back by the wind rapidly as she gritted her teeth. As the wave subsided, Lagnus continued to strike Ludwig’s legs as Ludwig felt his last bits of life leaving him. Celestia then lifted up her hand, revealing it to be surrounded by golden lightning as Ludwig was kneeling and breathing hard, looking at the person who was to defeat him. Ludwig simply closed his eyes, accepting his defeat as Celestia shot the lightning bolt through his chest, making his body explode. Ludwig’s head sat in a corner as Lagnus walked up to him.
“Good hunter of the church, are my hunters as honorable as I hoped?” Ludwig asks, breathing slowly somehow.
Lagnus deeply felt bad about the state Ludwig was in and didn’t have the heart to tell him that his efforts were all for nothing, “Yes Ludwig, they were that and so much more,” Lagnus says, lying as Ludwig gave a sigh of relief.
“Ah good. Now I can finally rest… Even in the darkest of nights I still see… the moonlight,” Ludwig says before resting and closing his eyes as he had dropped his sword for its next truly worthy successor, Lagnus.
Lagnus picked up the blade and stared at it. Lagnus dropped his axe, abandoning it for the Holy Moonlight Greatsword. Lagnus turned around, holding the blade to face Celestia, “Well we still have a long way to go Castiella, shall we go through this together and end the suffering of everyone trapped here?” Lagnus asks and Celestia nods.
“You’re damn right we will,” Celestia said as Lagnus held out his hand. The two shook hands, forming one of the most legendary hunter partnerships known. With the agreement the two went forward with their new allegiance formed and proceeded through the nightmare.
“So that’s how we met,” Celestia says, finishing explaining her part as Lagnus chuckled.
Rainbow Dash seemed jealous of their adventure that had just started. She didn’t want to admit it, but it was better than most Daring Do books. Lagnus looked at the others as Pinkie spoke up, “So what you’re saying Mr. Lagnus… Is that you andtheprincesswentonasuperawesomeadventureandslewgreatbeaststoreturnPrincessCelestiatoEquestria?!” Pinkie says, smashing her words together and talking so fast that Lagnus couldn’t understand half of what she said.
“Um. Yes?” Lagnus answered as Pinkie took in a huge breath, seemingly levitating off her seat.
“SOOOOO COOOOOL!” Pinkie shouts before landing back on the cushioned chair with a poof.
Lagnus looked at Pinkie, confused as everyone else laughed, “I don’t get it, what’s so funny?” Lagnus asks as everyone giggled.
Everyone stopped giggling as Princess Celestia leaned over to Twilight and whispered something to her, making her smile and agree. Lagnus read her lips as she said, “Yes I think we should do that, he might like it,” Twilight says as she told everyone and had them take Lagnus around town while Celestia, Pinkie, and Twilight stayed there to prepare something for tonight.
AJ, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash came over. Rarity cleared her throat, “How about we show you around town Lagnus my dear?” Rarity says as Lagnus shrugged, not to curious as to what they were up to.
“Well uh, alright, where are we going?” Lagnus asks as Rarity nudged him along.
“Oh, we’re going to my boutique first. I have to see what style of cloths you wear. It’s absolutely stunning!” Rarity said as she admired the royal attire of the Cainhurst Knights and all its fancy and expensive glory.
Lagnus walked along as Rarity lead him and the others to her both her home and shop. As Lagnus walked through Ponyville, Rainbow Dash asked Lagnus dozens of questions about his time as a hunter and his most awesome adventures.
“So Lagnus, who was the toughest enemy you’ve ever fought?” Rainbow Dash asks as Lagnus tapped his chin, thinking since he had faced and slain so many enemies.
“Well Ms. Dash, I’d have to say my toughest battle was with my apprentice Aligarus. The reason he is my choice is because never had I been beaten, or in his case, killed by another hunter. See, before I came here Aligarus and I had a fight that lasted for what seemed like hours before he ended up killing me. Then some time later I appeared here,” Lagnus explained as Dash thought about what he just said.
Their conversation was cut short by Rarity pulling Lagnus into her shop and placing him on her modeling stage. Rarity levitated over her measuring tape and started to measure Lagnus’ height, waistline, arm length, leg length, and so on. Eventually, she finished measuring him and smiled.
“What kind of outfit would you desire dearie?” Rarity asks as Lagnus was a bit weirded out by her sudden actions. Lagnus thought a bit about his style and how he’d wish to look intimidating yet still heroic in some ways. Lagnus thought of how the Healing Church garbs and outfits were designed and how the Old Hunters would dress along with other types of armor out there. He decided to mix the categories together and make them into one intimidating and heroic outfit.
Lagnus went over to a piece of paper, sketching out the trench coat and its designs, the waist cloth torn and ragged to give it that grim reaper like feel while the bottom of his coat that would be near his feet was the same way, but had a symbol on it that belonged to all hunters. His hat was designed much like the Old hunter’s hats were, except the hat was obsidian black along with the grey face mask and the cap had several raven feathers in it like Lady Maria’s or Old Hunter Henryk’s was. The gloves were lightly armored with a layer of blackish grey leatheresque cloth over them. His pants and boots were designed similarly to his outfit and made to be aerodynamic and very resistant so he could hunt better.
Once Lagnus finished his designs, he showed Rarity the picture as she put on her slightly tacky red old woman glasses. She examined the details and design Lagnus put into the outfit, making it look extremely expensive and yet the outfit would look decades old.
“Well I can definitely make this, but the light armored body suit underneath would have to be made by an extremely skilled blacksmith and enchanted by Celestia or even Twilight herself. But I’m sure I can work this out. I’ll have the outfit ready by tonight,” Rarity proclaims proudly.
Lagnus raised his eyebrow, doubting she could make an outfit like that in less than a day. Regular hunter outfits take five days to make, at the least this outfit would have to take months or years to make. Lagnus doubted she could do this, but nonetheless it wouldn’t hurt to let her try.
Lagnus thanked Rarity as she pushed everyone out, saying she needed peace and quiet to work effectively. As Lagnus and the others stood outside Pinkie jumped in the air excited, “Oooh! Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner! I have LOTS of things to show you Laggy!” Pinkie says, jumping up and down like someone who just smoked five pounds of meth and took several doses of speed.
Pinkie grabs Lagnus by the arm and literally drags him to her home and workplace faster than Rainbow Dash would ever hope to fly. Pinkie was like a pink blur speeding through town, kicking up seven to eight foot walls of dust and dirt behind her as she ran to Sugarcube Corner in mere seconds when she was all the way across town.
Pinkie stopped mid run in front of the shop doors and sent Lagnus flying into a nearby wall. Lagnus fell to his knees, holding his head as he was about to throw up all of his meals from the past few days.
Lagnus slowly got up, holding his head, “Ms. Pinkie Pie, never… Ever! Do that do me again!” Lagnus hissed, walking over while holding his gut.
“Oh okay Laggy,” Pinkie says, doing her signature giggle snort. Pinkie signalled for Lagnus to follow as she entered her workplace happily.
Mrs. Cake was at the counter when she heard the doorbell ring as Pinkie walked in, “Oh my Pinkie, you seem happy. Who did you bring here toda…” Mrs. Cake went dead silent when she saw a six and a half foot man walk into her shop with a greatsword that glowed a turquoise green color behind Pinkie, followed by AJ, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.
Mrs. Cake stared at the human in front of her, “O-oh Pinkie, who is this... lovely guest you brought in today?” Mrs. Cake says, clearly shaken by Lagnus’ presence.
“Oh this is Lagnus, he’s a hunter of beasts!” Pinkie says as Lagnus stared at Mrs. Cake emotionlessly before doing some kind of bow where he put his left arm out with his palm facing outwards, his fingers curled slightly as he leaned back, bending his right knee a bit before returning to stand like a normal person.
As Pinkie started to blab on about how Lagnus was new and how they met him, mentioning the manticores and extremely violent details, Mrs. Cake gulped. Soon, Pinkie finished her story. Mrs. Cake sighed, “S-so Mr. Lagnus, what would you like?” she asked as Lagnus examined the menu, most of it being composed of food he couldn’t eat because of the flowers, hay, and other things they used.
“I guess I’ll have an ice cream if that’s what you people call it,” Lagnus says, not knowing what in the sam hell ice cream was. Mrs. Cake nodded and got out of the room as fast as she could as AJ, Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie sat at a table, telling Lagnus to sit with them.
Lagnus sat down and looked at Pinkie, AJ, and Dash as they talked. He stared off into space, blocking out all sound for a few minutes before he felt a tug on his jacket. Lagnus snapped out of his daze and looked over at Fluttershy, who was looking down at her hooves.
“Umm Lagnus, I wanted to kinda see what type of animal you are exactly. When we visit my house, can I see your smaller beast form?” Fluttershy asks meekly, not making eye contact with Lagnus.
“Uuuh sure I guess,” Lagnus says, a bit weirded out by the question. As Lagnus looked forward again, their meals had arrived and Lagnus had a bowl of chocolate and vanilla ice cream in front of him. Lagnus picked up his spoon and took a small portion of the frozen treat into his spoon. Lagnus put the spoon into his mouth and his eyes widened as the taste of this food was incredible! It was like nothing he had ever experienced. Lagnus then quickly downed the bowl of ice cream, not knowing that it would give him terrible brain freeze because of it.
Once Lagnus finished and laid back, a sudden massive and very painful headache hit him like a truck. Lagnus held his head and groaned as the other girls laughed a bit at Lagnus’ brainfreeze experience.
“Ya okay there buddy?” AJ asks as Lagnus grunted in frustration in response. This made the girls giggle again and they eventually finished their food, paying for it and walked out of Sugarcube Corner while Fluttershy led them to her cottage. The walk was about ten to fifteen minutes and had a fairly beautiful path leading to it. It was decorated by flowers, tall grass, beautifully grown oak and birch trees, and plenty of birds singing all sorts of songs as they walked past.
Eventually they reached Fluttershy’s home and she lead them around the back into her porch where she let everyone sit in chairs as she had Lagnus shift into his smaller beast form. Instead of being absolutely massive like he was before, Lagnus shifted into a four armed and six eyed wolf that was the size of a great dane or a large timber wolf. Lagnus stood on all fours as his sleek jet black fur shined a bit in the sunlight. Fluttershy went to get her medical supplies and came back with them in a handbag.
She walked over to Lagnus as he stared at her while she got a syringe to take a blood sample. Lagnus sat still through the whole thing, letting her draw some of his beast blood. Lagnus looked over at Dash who was looking at Lagnus like he was the most badass thing since the Wonderbolts. As Fluttershy finished drawing blood, Lagnus shook off his coat like a dog would if it was wet. Lagnus looked at Fluttershy as she examined his body structure and how it worked.
Of course it was very similar to a wolf’s anatomy aside from the extra pair of arms and that his four forepaws were large furry hands, along with his six eyes that were colored a deep crimson that glowed faintly. Other than that, Lagnus was pretty much like a wolf in body and build. Fluttershy pulled out a stethoscope and listened to Lagnus’ heart beat slowly and steadily.
Fluttershy eventually put her supplies on the table and sighed a bit, “Well you are built like and your body functions like most wolves despite the extra arms, the hands, and six eyes. but other then that you’re normal and abnormally healthy,” Fluttershy says as Lagnus stared at her, blinking a few times before standing up on his hind legs and shifting back into his human form.
The fur from Lagnus’ body retracted into his skin like his other set of arms did. Lagnus’ legs shifted and became human again as his claws retracted too, followed by his muscles, ligaments, and organs shifting as his bones cracked and shrank and grew and he returned back to normal.
Lagnus was wearing his hunter garb as he had been before and stretched a bit as the four other eyes on his head were covered by his skin and flesh mending itself together. The whole process was disgusting and incredibly painful, but Lagnus didn’t bat an eyelid or scream like most would.
Dash and AJ got up as Fluttershy said she’d stay home and prep for whatever was going on this evening. They finally went to AJ’s farm as AJ showed Lagnus the trees and what she did on a day to day basis ever since she was a filly. AJ showed Lagnus how she kicked the trees and smiled, “See only earth ponies such as myself have enough strength to kick these trees hard enough to get these apples down into the baskets here,” AJ says, crossing her left fore hoof over the right and smiled cockily.
“Ms. AJ, I doubt only earth ponies can do something like that. I’m sure other ponies such as pegasi and unicorns can do this with enough training. I’m pretty sure I could do this,” Lagnus says, looking at AJ who scoffed.
“Oh yeah, well show me. Kick this tree hard enough to shake the apples off,” AJ says, challenging Lagnus as Dash looked on, wanting to participate in this.
“Hey, I bet I could beat both of you!” Dash says, going to a tree beside AJ as Lagnus stood to AJ’s right.
“Whatever Dash, Imma whoop both your asses,” AJ says with her thick south western accent. AJ went first, kicking her tree, making it wobble hard and shaking almost all the apples off the tree she striked.
Dash watched and rolled her eyes, “Pfft! I can totally beat that,” Dash says, kicking the tree behind her and shaking off about a quarter of the apples. AJ and Lagnus laughed a bit at Dash’s weak example of apple farming, making her face glow red with anger. “Alright Lagnus, since you think you're all that, how about you kick the tree!” Dash says, angry and frustrated, her face about as red as Big Mac’s fur.
Lagnus shrugged and shifted into his smaller beast form and reeled back his wolf like leg, looking back at the tree before looking forward again. Lagnus grunted and kicked the tree as hard as he could, mere seconds after he heard wood cracking and splitting in half and soon after that the sound of a tree crashing to the ground. Lagnus shifted back to his human form and looked back as AJ and Dash’s jaws had hit the ground.
Lagnus had kicked the tree so hard that he kicked the tree out of the ground, snapping several roots and branches while knocking it over. “Well then, I guess I win,” Lagnus says, laughing heartily as AJ and Dash shook their heads as Lagnus went over to pick up the small tree and pushing it back up so it stood upright and used some of his arcane magic to help mend the wood and roots of the tree.
“W-well remind me not to get kicked in the gut by you Lagnus,” AJ says, chuckling as Dash was still speechless by Lagnus’s demonstration of his sheer strength. AJ looked up at the sun, seeing it was setting, “Well dang time flies when you’re having fun doesn’t it?” she asks as she patted Lagnus on the back, “How about we head back to Twilight’s place and see what they’re up to?” AJ says as she nudged Lagnus down the path towards Ponyville.
“Um sure I guess, let’s go,” Lagnus says, walking forward as Dash and AJ lead him to Twilight’s house. As they walked, AJ and Dash talked to each other about some kind of party, but Lagnus only heard one or two words. Not that he was super curious about it, but Lagnus wasn’t nosey unless he had a good reason to be.
Rainbow Dash looked over at Lagnus and spoke her mind, “Hey Lagnus, do you have any family?” Dash asks as Lagnus’ eyes narrowed slightly.
Lagnus sighed and looked down, “Yes, I had a wife and son, but my wife was mauled by a beast and my son ran off at the age of twenty five to god knows where, I’d assume he went out to find me. The next morning I came back to the disemboweled corpse of my wife. This was over twenty years ago…” Lagnus says as Dash swallowed a bit, thinking she had pissed Lagnus off.
“I-I’m so sorry Lagnus,” Dash responds as Lagnus quickly silenced her.
“Don’t worry about it, that was in the past. It’s best to leave things there,” he responds with the words of many wise old men and women he had met when he was young.
Dash looked down and went silent, not really wanting to pester him anymore with her billions of questions.
Eventually, fifteen minutes later, the trio arrived at Twilight’s house and AJ opened the door for Lagnus. It was pitch black inside and Lagnus raised his eyebrow, getting his small lantern out to provide some light. As Lagnus walked in the lights flicked on and he heard multiple voices shout, “SURPRISE!” making Lagnus jump a bit as he saw the rest of the Elements of Harmony, three fillies, Celestia, and some other blue alicorn by her side. Lagnus only had one thought and one thought only, “What in Gods name is this?” Lagnus asks, staring wide eyed at the bright colors and gifts on the table along with countless sweets and drinks.
Author's Note
Well the editing should go faster now since I figured out how to correct things by just clicking a check mark on it. I can learn guys! I should give myself a dog treat. 
Anyways I hope you all liked the new chapter and I hope it didn't seem too fast paced or choppy. So give me feedback if you can ideas and help from you all is always appreciated and as always young hunters. Fear the Old Blood...
