The Lost Worlds

Chapter 1: Bars, Blood and gods.

“...The greatest sin that all of ponykind is guilty of, including myself, is believing that WE control the cosmos, and we can pervert it however we want…”

-Translated from: The Journals of Star Swirl the Bearded, Vol. 8

{ฯΩฯ}

King Helm Lunar sat upon the hilltop, overlooking the battlefield. He raised his hoof and quickly brought it down, causing the Lunardite Army to charge forward towards the charging army of Applekoto. As his army clashed with the opposition, he noticed a green armored, Hoshidan-style samurai charge forward with the Darksaber in hoof and a familiar blond mane, slicing through some of his soldiers with ease. After cutting down two more soldiers, the samurai turned towards the king.

“Lunardite general. You face the Daimyo of Applekoto, Applejack! I challenge you to single combat!”

The king's eyes turned to steel as he said, “...I accept your challenge. But, what you face is not a Lunardite general, but the king of Lunardom himself!”

Applejack snarled and got into the stance that Ryoma taught her, “you changed, Helm. You are now nothing more than a power-hungry fool.”

King Helm Lunar slowly pulled out his two-hooved sword, the blade known as Helheim, reforged from the parts of Moonsorrow and infused with Nohrian black magics. This fearsome black bladed weapon glowed a faint green as the king said, “ you have no hope of winning.”

Applejack charged, and so did the king. Both rulers were cutting down enemy soldiers that were in their way. When the two clashed blades, the metallic sound of steel rang throughout the battle field as Lunardites and Applekotojin fought along the sides of the Ghastly Gorge.

{Ω¤Ω}

Aether Aegis trotted through the Cloudsdale forums, taking a quick look over the stalls and vendors of food and drink.

He spotted the stallion he was looking for. The stallion was an old friend of his named Cloud Shine.

The stallion saw him and trotted towards him, saying, “well, if it isn't Twitter shit himself, the proud descendant. How are you doing today?”

Aether let a small chuckle escape his mouth, “I swear, if the other delegates in Canterlot saw you talking like that, they would throw you out of the embassy.”

“Ah, to Tartarus with them! They're a bunch of pampered dickheads if you ask me. Say, let's not talk in the open. You want to talk at the Thunderhead?”

“Sounds good to me.”

The two began to head towards the Thunderhead, a bar that has a reputation for attracting unsavoury ponies. Only Pegasi with death wishes or secret businesses, or looking to get lucky go there for drink.

The entered the notorious Thunderhead, taking a good look at the Pegasi with questionable backgrounds. Near the fireplace, a band of bards played their instruments, weaving notes into beautiful songs.

The two friends went up to the bar counter and ordered some Thundershot, a drink that combined lemon, lime, and crushed red pepper, (since they both knew they needed to be sober later on, with the legal age as low as twelve!)

They picked a table in the back corner of the bar and began talking, ignoring the glares of the bar’s patrons.

“How is your sister doing?” Aether asked.

“Minerva? She's doing fine. She took a vacation in Lunardom. Why she did is beyond me.”

With a smile, Aether said, “I bet she's turning heads in Lunardom, betcha some stallions already tried to get a one night stand with her.”

Cloud Shine laughed, “If you weren't my friend, i'd sock you in the snout and then rip your balls off, but I don't think that i'll win the fight anyway. Plus, Minerva is smarter than that. Remember the time when a Wonderbolt tried a to use a dirty pick up line on her, and she went around him and bucked him in his gonads?”

Both stallions burst out laughing and pounding the table with their hooves. Tears threatened to escape their eyes as Aether said in between fits of laughter, “and-and you remember *chuckle* when she then dragged him outside and literally curb-stomped him? And she broke his teeth and jaw?! Put the bastard in the hospital!”

To other ponies, this would not strike them as hilarious, but these two thought it was downright funny. Their laughter reached an even higher level when Cloud started to imitate a toothless Wonderbolt, causing even more laughter that was not only from those two, but some stallions and even the bards thought it was funny.

Eventually, the laughter died down and Aether said, “Alright, alright. Time to get down to business.”

“That's a kill-joy. Alright, what do you need to know?”

“Has my militia papers been accepted?” Aether asked.

Cloud shrugged as he downed his Thundershot, then motioned to the bartender that he wanted another one. He then turned to Aether and said, “the papers have been accepted and the ratification of the papers is happening now.”

Aether nodded, “good. It's all going accordingly to plan.”

The bartender gave Cloud Shine another Thundershot and went back to the bar counter.

Cloud Shine asked, “Aether, may I ask why you want to bring back the hoplites of old?”

Aether looked at his drink, “because, I believe that all Pegasi need to be able to hold off an attack from anypony. Hoplites had impenetrable defences and a history of winning every battle they fought in.”

Cloud snorted, “yeah, every battle, except The Battle of Galloping Gorge, where Unicorn mages roasted them alive inside their own armor. Not a single Hoplite survived that battle, save the ones that didn't fight that day, which were five hundred that would end up making a last stand and eventually get annihilated.”

Aether shook his head, “it will be different this time.”

Cloud gave him a doubtful look, “look, I know that your ancestors used hoplites in the past, but that was the past. Now, we tons of ways to take down the hoplites. I’m talking spells that will melt the armor off like a butter stick in a microwave.”

“Hoplites were the best soldiers, the triumph in the army of Commander Hurricane. He trusted those soldiers and they never lost when he was in charge. It was that stupid general that sent the hoplites in instead of making the smart decision and sending the light infantry first.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that they still lost.”

Aether looked down at his drink. He understood the dangers of magic towards his dream of rebuilding the hoplite army. Magic was an armored soldier’s worst nightmare.

“I’ll give it some thought.”

Cloud gave him a serious look, “magic is not your only issue. Some ponies in the Canterlot Embassy view your plan to rebuild a lost warrior culture as an immediate threat. Some of them tried to get the embassy council to appeal to Celestia and Luna to arrest you.”

Aether gritted his teeth, “why in Tartarus’s name would they do that?!”

“Think about it. You are a direct descendant of Commander Hurricane, a well known conqueror. His descendants go on to become the most feared and respected Pegasi in the history of Equis.Your bloodline, your ancestors, have made war and has sacked Canterlot five different times. Your pedigree is a sign of the power you can wield, so you are a threat. If you want to build an army, it is an automatic red flag and many ponies will view it as the birth of another Pegasi conquest. With Celestia and Luna trying to rebuild the Equestrian army after the War of the Serpents left it in shambles, it is only logical that others fear your plans.”

“Only paranoid pricks should fear my plan,” Aether said as he finished his drink.

He set down his glass and said, “what news about the major kingdoms.”

Cloud finished his drink and motioned with his hoof to the bartender for round three. Although the drink is not alcoholic in nature, all that red pepper will give him the shits latter on.

The bartender carried the tray with his mouth as he trotted over to their table. Cloud picked up his drink with his hoof and the bartender went back to the counter.

“Where do I begin… let’s start with the Forbidden Jungle. Featherfang has his hooves full with bandits trying to steal the empire’s surplus of gold. Other than that, Empress Lyra Heartstrings has given birth to Featherfang’s heir.”

“Really?” Aether asked.

“Indeed,” Cloud Shine answered, “she has given birth to a filly. They named her after the primordial goddess of dawn. So, her name is Aurora Stream. Have no idea why they gave her the “stream” part of her name.”

“Any idea what she looks like?”

Cloud shook his head, “not a clue. She is supposed to be brought over to Canterlot to show her to the royal sisters as an act of goodwill, but her appearance has been kept a secret because many radical pro-Equestrian groups that have yet to be destroyed will love to assassinate the heir to the empire.”

Aether chewed on that thought, then said, “what about Lunardom?”

“Because of their alliance with Nohr, they have rapidly grown in power over the past year. So much so, that they began flaunting their military’s strength. Yesterday, they engaged the army of Applekoto at the Ghastly Gorge, and they are still fighting them there. It’s a war zone down there.”

Aether then asked about Applekoto, to which, Cloud responded, “same thing with Lunardom, except, replace Nohr with Hoshido.”

Aether thought long and hard. He then said, “”let’s hope the war doesn’t spill onto Pegasi airspace and land, otherwise we are screwed.”

{ΩΩΩ}

Trixie hummed an incantation, calling a Bound Sword. She smiled as the ethereal sword appeared and hovered in the air. She grabbed it with her hoof and swung it around, getting a good feel for the magical blade.

Trixie had been studying the eldritch magics of Alduin’s world for so long that she barely even needed the entire incantation to cast a simple spell. She could call Bound weapons with a single thought and a simple gesture.

She was so close, but she still had that Dragon Priest in her way.

She needed to find somepony that had skills in the art of war, somepony that can help her pull Alduin into their world. If she can just do that...

Trixie dispelled the Bound sword and grabbed her translation journal. She made her way to the main chamber and faced the word wall.

She bit her lip in thought, then opened up her journal and began to write.

{#¤Ω}

Lurtz roared in pain as he felt a spearhead peirce his ribs, threatining to cut them in half.

He faced the Equestrian soldier, his uruk sword in hoof, and growled with pure hatred.

He slammed his hoof on the spear shaft, snapping it in two. He then pulled the spearhead out of his body and stabbed the soldier in the throat. He then swung his sword at the soldier that was choking on his own blood, and sliced the poor stallion in two horizontally.

The other soldiers still fired their arrows at Lurtz, but they were terrible shots, not even coming near Lurtz’s body. Lurtz took cover behind a tree and put his sword away and brought out his uruk composite bow, the weapon that killed the great warrior. He pulled a black colored arrow from his quiver and came out of cover and took aim. As soon as he saw the captain of the company of soldiers giving orders, he let the arrow fly. The arrow hit its mark with a resounding thud, and the captain flopped to the ground, a black uruk arrow that punched through his helmet and stuck in his head.

Lurtz then continued to rain Tartarus on the remaining soldiers, killing soldiers, laughing and roaring as he did so.

Soon, nearly all the soldiers were dead. Only two out of the twenty soldier group survived, and that was because they ran off to live and warn.

Lurtz slung his bow on his back, went back down on all four blood-drenched hooves, and began going around the bodies of the fallen to retrieve his arrows.

He was next to body number seventeen when he saw body number eighteen move. He growled and trotted over to eighteen.

Turns out, eighteen survived being shot through his throat, the arrow somehow missed all the major arteries and the windpipe, which was next to impossible.

Eighteen saw Lurtz coming for him, and tried to get up and flee. However, Lurtz simply tackled him to the ground. He held his hoof to eighteen’s throat, just below the protruding arrow, and growled. His eyes seemed to be scanning the soldier’s soul.

“You-you... monster! Celestia… will have your...head,” the soldier choked out.

“Who is this Celestia? You pitiful soldiers speak of her so highly. Maybe I want to pay her a ‘visit’.” Lurtz said, his mouth forming into a sadistic grin.

The soldier spat on Lurtz, saying, “go to Tartarus!”

Lurtz roared and took the arrow that was lodged in the soldier’s throat and tore it out. While eighteen’s throat started gushing like a waterfall, Lurtz rose on his two hind legs and grabbed the soldier’s head hair. Lurtz then roared as he punched at the neck wound, causing his hoof to punch straight through the soldier's neck, ripping through the windpipe, the esophagus and the spine. His hoof came out the other side of the neck.

Eighteen’s throat gurgled and he fell, twitching and blood pooling.

Lurtz picked up the arrow that was in eighteen’s throat and said, “not as good as man-flesh, but definitely better than maggot bread.” He got back on all fours and bit down on one of the legs of eighteen and began to drag the corpse back to his campsite.

In fact, his campsite was the reason he just killed so many soldiers. You see, his campsite was an ancient ruin that was vastly overgrown with moss and vines, that was also occupied by outlaws. He killed the outlaws before the soldiers came to kill them, causing the soldiers to think that he was an outlaw himself.

Lurtz put the body next to the fire in his campsite, and began to field dress it. He spent a good ten minutes slicing off some chunks of meat. He then fashioned a spit, and put some meat on it and began to slow roast it.

Then the bushes of roses that surrounded the overgrown ruins and the campsite began to rattle. He quickly sniffed the air, for a uruk hai can detect others with their crazy good sense of smell. He smelled nothing, causing him to pay no attention and he continued his sick barbeque.

Then, the blood on the ground from the dressed body began to glow, the wind picked up a little as a warm breeze and the sounds of battle could be heard faintly on the wind.

Lurtz did not notice this until he was halfway done with his stallion steak. He narrowed his eyes as he listened to the sounds of the war-wind and observed the glowing blood.

Lurtz slowly drew his uruk hai sword and was debating whether to get the fuck out of there, or wait.

The blood began to rise and take on a pony-like shape. The figure stood there, and Lurtz growled.

Then, the blood slid down the figure, revealing a dark green stallion… with a deer’s skull instead of a normal pony head. It also wore a bear pelt like a cape, with the bear claws still attached to the cape.

The deer skull stallion slowly opened its jaws, its tongue still in the skull, and a voice that was barely a whisper, it reached out to Lurtz.

“Lurtz…”

Lurtz could feel the power, the malice that raidiated off of the spectre. Lurtz yelled, “what in Saurons name are you?!”

The jaws stayed opened, and didn’t move as the spectre spoke, “I am...the forgotten...hunter, the betrayed protector,... the… entombed god. I am Cernunnos… the god of the hunt, the forests, and...war. Also known as Herne... the hun...ter.”

The stallion rose on its hind legs and said, “your acts of brutality and war has awakened me from my long slumb...er. I need you… to restore my body.”

Lurtz bared his teeth, “and why would I do that?”

“Because,... I need to… reclaim my domain. My forests. I...need to hunt… the wielder of...Apocalypse. He destroyed...my body. I need to… quench the… bloodlust of… bat...tle.”

Cernunnos raised both front legs, causing the rose bushes to part and Lurtz saw a stone altar, with carved runes and a carved likeness of Cernunnos on the side.

The spectre of the god pointed at Lurtz, “I need you to… sacrifice… a pony with no...wings...or horn...on this altar. I can use their...life… to bring...my physical body b...ack. Do this, and I...will...reward you.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you won’t get...the reward, power...that will allow you to...ta...ke revenge on the one who killed...you,” the god said.

With that, the spectre vanished.

Lurtz was stuck alone with the fire crackling. He took another bite of his ponywitch and began to think on how to hunt down the two escaped soldiers.