Journey of a Darkened Soul

Chapters

Open the Doors of Want
The Bearer and The Firekeeper, regaining what was once lost.
A Sovereign found, Royalty meets an ancient being
Visions of The Beginning, The Sovereign Rises.
From Ruins to a City, The Bearer's journey begins once more

Open the Doors of Want

Equestria. The land of Harmony and Equality and ruled by a race of humans. The two rulers, Celestia and Luna, have been guiding the land into prosperity for over four millennia.

But then, tragedy struck: Princess Luna, ruler of the Night had grown jealous of her sister. The citizens worshipped her sister’s sun more than her beautiful night and had twisted Luna into a hateful mockery of her past self, before she went to Celestia and confronted her.

The sisters fought under the light of the Eclipse. Celestia was on the verge of losing before using the seven ancient stones dubbed the Elements of Harmony, though through the usage of the Elements she banished her sister to the moon for a thousand years.

People throughout the land had seen that their harmony had broken so easily, many were left questioning their ruler while others continued on with their lives.

Celestia knew her harmony was flawed but she had much hope that her kingdom would not fall like the one of old, Drangleic.

Before Equestria, before Griffonia, and before the kingdom of Minat was Drangleic, ruled by the King Vendrick.

At the dawn of Drangleic, the great King Vendrick built the kingdom on the souls of the four great ones. With the help of his elder brother Aldia, Vendrick made Drangleic into a prosperous and powerful nation. Vendrick was eventually approached by Nashandra, who claimed to be a visitor from a far-away land. Nashandra warned Vendrick of the looming threat of the Giants, and convinced him to invade their lands before they could strike at him. Vendrick did so, and used the knowledge that he gained from the captive Giants who were brought back to his kingdom to manipulate souls on an unprecedented level, allowing him to create the Golems, which he would use to further develop his kingdom.

Vendrick took Nashandra as his queen, and side-by-side they ushered in an era of peace.

The peace was soon broken however by the arrival the Giants, who had come to avenge their captive and now dead brethren. The Giants laid siege to Drangleic in a war that would last for generations, but they would finally be defeated when an unknown hero defeated the Giant Lord. The Giants retreated, crossing the sea to return home, but the damage was already done, and Drangleic was reduced to ruins.

To make matters worse, the undead curse began breaking out. Vendrick and Aldia dedicated themselves to attempting to solve the curse. As a delaying measure to buy them more time, Vendrick tasked the Flexile Sentry with taking the undead to a far away land. The pair made great strides in understanding the nature of the undead, but were ultimately unable to find a cure. Eventually, the two brothers fell out, and Aldia was exiled to a mansion in the east, wherein he would continue his own grim research.

Vendrick eventually found out the truth about his queen; that she was a child of the Father of the Abyss, and that she had been manipulating him all along. Broken, and now inflicted with the curse himself, Vendrick took his loyal right hand Velstadt, the Royal Aegis, and a contingent of knights and left to begin his exile in the Undead Crypt. Before doing so, he put certain safeguards into place to ensure that Nashandra would never claim the Throne of Want, denying her the First Flame and the Great Soul.

Vendrick eventually hollowed in the crypt, as the once great Drangleic continued to decay.

To this day, Celestia and her recently returned sister both hope the same thing will not happen to their lands.

Both sisters knew the legend of the Bearer of the Curse whom travelled throughout Drangleic for a purpose. He traversed through the Shaded Ruins, explored the Iron Keep and found what he was looking for in the Throne of Want.

The bodies of both the Throne Watcher and Throne Defender fell to the ground, dead and defeated before their souls were given away to their assailant.

The Bearer of The Curse.

Sheathing his Drangleic Sword, the Bearer opened his palm as the souls accumulated onto his hand. He then put away both souls before moving closer towards his objective.

Darkness surrounded the Bearer before he was pushed away with extreme force. Landing on the stone floor he grunted from the pain before looking up.

What greeted him was a thing of nightmares. Wielding a large scythe, Nashandra stood there looking down at the Bearer as he weakly stood up.

“Brave Undead, you have proven yourself to me. Now, be one, with the Dark…” The Dark Queen said before cursing the Bearer, taking his Humanity and reducing him into his cursed form of an Undead.

This did not stop the Bearer as he took hold of his blade and stood ready for one final battle that will determine his fate. The Dark Queen had casted a cursed barrier around herself while the Bearer took this opportunity to throw a Fire orb at the Dark Queen.

Angered, the Queen swung her scythe to the left but missed as the Bearer of The Curse rolled away from her attack. Losing sight of the Bearer, the Queen turned around and found the Bearer holding a Dragonslayer Greatbow with a Great Arrow. Letting go of the arrow, it fired towards the Queen, staggering her and breaking her barrier.

The Bearer of The Curse dropped his Great bow before breaking into a full sprint with his sword in hand. He lunged towards the Queen, impaling his blade into her arm before pulling it back out and pushing himself off the Queen.

The Queen had quickly swung her scythe once more, this time impaling the Bearer before absorbing more of his life force and further hollowing him. The effects were immediate, hair fell off the Bearer and his eyes were now white as the heavens.

Using his sword as a blunt object, the Bearer had started hitting the large scythe with the hilt of his sword before finally with one last hit, the scythe’s blade broke off and dropped onto the floor.

On the verge of Death, The Bearer ran to safe distance before drinking the last of his Estus flask. Nashandra saw this and used the now broken scythe to try and prevent him from healing, but it was too late, The Bearer was now fully healed and had dodged her attack.

The Queen spun around only to meet with another Great Arrow embedding itself in her, causing her to stagger backwards closer to the edge of the arena.

She looked at the Bearer as he took out another Great arrow and pulled back the string. The Arrow was then covered in shadows before being fired at her, this arrow pierced through whatever armor Nashandra wore for the Great Arrow was imbued with a Hex.

That did it, she was dead and fell off the arena and onto the floor filled with golems. The Bearer walked towards the edge in time to see The former Queen’s body dissolve into dust before the Bearer opened his hand again, receiving her soul.

After putting away the soul, the Bearer looked towards the tomb across the large gap before the earth beneath him shook. He looked around for the source before looking down at the rock Golems.

They were waking up and walking towards each other before colliding with themselves to form a path towards the tomb that contained the Throne. The Bearer walked across the golems.

You, who link the fire, you, who bear the curse…
Once the fire is linked, souls will flourish anew, and all of this will play out again.
It is your choice…To embrace, or renounce this…
Great Sovereign, take your throne.
What lies ahead, only you can see.

The doors opened, shaking the earth as well and revealed the Throne of Want. The Bearer walked up to it before claiming it as his and sat down.

He then placed his sword on the left side of the Throne and his shield on the right side before looking straight ahead. The doors were closing, leaving the Bearer to his fate as the new lord until another comes to take his place.

With the last bit of light shut out by the door, The Bearer then closed his eyes and began to rest. He now sat on the Throne, waiting for another to claim it and free him of his curse.

“Rainbow, I'm not so sure about this anymore.” A lavender colored unicorn mare said. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, protege of Princess Celestia and Element of Magic.

“Come on, what's wrong with a little adventure through some creepy old castle?” Her friend replied. Rainbow Dash was her name, Equestria’s best flier and future Wonderbolt. She wore cyan blue tank top and black skinny jeans.

“Well for starters, the statues came to life and almost killed us, we split up from the rest of the girls and we are completely lost.” Twilight explained in anger, earning a raspberry from her rainbow haired friend. Twilight was wearing her usual ‘librarian outfit’ as her friends called it. It consisted of lavender blouse and tie along with a long skirt.

“Hey, in my defence, the Princess never said anything about living Statues or that there were guards that would attack us.” Rainbow defended herself and she wasn't wrong. The Princess of the Sun had sent Twilight and her friends to the ancient castle Drangleic in search of a powerful artifact, The Staff of Wisdom.

“Ugh, how hard is it to find a stupid stick!?” Rainbow shouted through the halls of the castle before both girls rounded a corner before taking a right. Both girls stopped as they saw a large door that was slightly ajar.

“Come on, we need to find the rest of the girls.” Twilight said as she saw her friends face. Rainbow was considered to be an adventurous spirit, always finding the opportunity for adventures.

“Hold on, I want to see what's on the other...side?” Said Rainbow as she trailed off after seeing what laid behind the large doors.

A large cavern lit with torches and a path towards another area of the Castle. Rainbow wanted to see more of the place and walked in the room.

“Dash. Dash, come on, we can't waste our time here.” Twilight said to the athletic woman.

“Twi, we were sent to a castle to look for a magic stick inside a giant castle near Manehatten, which of course mean that the castle is off limits to the public for reasons we already know, I'll do whatever the hell I want.” Dash said before walking down the large pathway. Twilight groaned in annoyance before following her friend.

As they walked towards the other side, Twilight had noticed the torches changing colors from normal fiery orange to a spectral blue.

Once they walked up the steps, the first thing they saw was writing on the floor. Twilight is and always will be the studious type of girl and knew what the message said.

“The one who seeks the throne shall forever bear the Curse that struck the land. Hollowed, they will be. Cursed to know what they've done.” Twilight read out, hoping that Dash had been listening.

“Twi, I think I found it!” Twilight heard her friend yell as she looked through the doorway, seeing Rainbow Dash standing in the middle of a large room. A staff stood beside her, embedded into the floor.

Twilight quickly walked up to the staff before taking a closer look at it.

‘This can't be right. This looks like an actual stick.’ Twilight thought as she tried to sense its magical properties but to no avail.

“Let me guess, it's actually a stick.” Rainbow’s voice brought Twilight out of her thoughts.

“I don't get it, if what the Princess described was true then this is it but-”

“But it's a stick.” Rainbow finished her friends sentence, earning a nod from the woman in front of her. With groan, Rainbow took hold of the staff before trying to pull it out of the stone floor.

She gasped for air before trying to catch her breath then tried again but to the same result and dropped onto the floor, exhausted and sweaty. Twilight stared at her friend before looking at the staff and taking a firm hold of it.

She knew she wasn't going to be able to pull it out but it was still worth a try. With all her strength, Twilight pulled and the staff came out of the floor with ease.

Just as this happened, Twilight was soon greeted with thousands of voices, talking, yelling, screaming at her. Twilight covered her ears in hopes that she could block out the voices but to no avail as the voices only gotten louder. She dropped onto her knees as the scene around her changed.

Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. A lone figure walked into the large room. A man in armor, scars donned his face and he held a sword ready to fight.

Twilight turned to follow the gaze of the man and her gaze met with two very tall individuals. One was a large man clad in Heavy Royal armor and a large great sword and shield while his companion was tall, slim woman that held a small shield and sword. Unlike her companion, she wore no armor and wore a set of pure white robes.

The three figures soon vanished like dust, resulting in a large headache for the poor librarian that was clutching her head in extreme pain.

“Make it stop, please!” She begged for the one who was doing this to her to stop, wanting the pain to go away and to go back to her friends, forever leaving this castle.

A firm smack greeted the librarian’s cheek. Recoiling in pain and blinking a few times, she saw the worried face of Rainbow Dash above her.

“Geez Twi, all you did was pull the dumb stick out and you have a panic attack.” Dash said. Twilight was relieved to see her again after what had just happened.

“What even happened anyway, I saw you fall before you started to mumbling in gibberish.” Dash said to her. Twilight on the other hand had turned to look at the last thing she saw in her visions.

A large ash covered dome with a pair of large double stone doors. She stood up before finally being aware of the stinging sensation on her cheek and glaring at Dash for the slap.

Turning to look at the dome, she started walking towards it, feeling that she should open those doors. Rainbow, seeing her friend walking towards a set of large menacing doors, tried to talk her out of it but her words went unheard.

Placing her hands on the doors, the only thing she was greeted with was darkness.

For countless millennia, a lone man had sat on the throne and for countless millennia, he waited for another to claim it and continue the cycle. His once cream colored skin, now rotten grin and fallen chunks. His once blue eyes were now white and never blinking.

He no longer breathed and rested on his throne. Sword to his left and shield to his right. Silence was the only thing he could experience, the darkness was with him.

His armor, once shining from the light of sun, now covered under a layer of dust. His once toned and muscular body was now pile of bones with skin.

Then, he heard it. The doors, they open once more and light of the outside shone his eyes. He moved slightly, making the cobwebs that had accumulated on him fall off as well as the dust and grime.

The doors slid open, pushing the dust away as it did and letting air inside the dome. The Undead Man looked at the door and expected to see an Undead in armor, sword in hand and ready to take the throne but what he saw was a young woman, a human and another behind her.

The woman's gaze met his and he stood up, taking his sword and shield. No one dared to break the silence, the woman only stared in shock at the Undead man in armor.

The Bearer, seeing as she isn't like him, gave a bow before walking passed her, wanting to see the sun again before withering away.

Author's Note

Here's something I came up with just by playing the game Dark Souls 2 (PRAISE THE SUN!)

Editor: CommanderWolffe

Like if you enjoyed and leave a comment on why you enjoyed it.

The Bearer and The Firekeeper, regaining what was once lost.

Memories of his previous journey still lingering in his mind, The Bearer looked upon a large tree with a door in the stump. Visions of the Old Firekeepers flashed through the Bearer’s eyes.

The Bonfire had brought him here, he needed to be here and he knew this. Walking up to the door and placing a hand on the knob, he tried to open it.

The Bearer tried again, then again once more before finally slamming the door open with his shoulder (hurting himself in the process) before his eyes adjusted to the dark.

He saw dust rising up from the floors, rotten wooden tables and chairs, a broken staircase, and an unlit fireplace. In each chair sat the remains of The Firekeepers, unmoved for ages and covered in cobweb.

Taking a step inside, making the floor creak. Step by step, the Bearer walked closer and closer to the Firekeepers before stopping halfway.

Looking at Strowen, Morrel and Griant, The Bearer narrowed his eyes as their laughter echoed through the room as their remains were slowly blown away by a gust of wind. The Bearer followed the ashes with his gaze until the gust of wind carried their ashes out the door and a cloaked woman was standing at door way.

“I see that our wait was not in vain, the true sovereign has returned.” The woman said with a bow to the Bearer. The Bearer returned the bow in respect. The woman straightened back up before speaking.

“Many before me have awaited for your return, to ensure the safety of this kingdom so it does not take the path Drangleic had.” The woman said as she walked up to a rotten wood chair before waving her hand, reversing the rot and made the chair good as new. She sat on the chair and looked at the Bearer, letting The Bearer see her eyes.

“I see you noticed, though do not let that fact fool you. I can hear anything and sense things one cannot.” The woman said as she waved her hand again at another chair, reversing the rot from the chair as well.

“Please, sit. I have much to tell you and I'm sure you'll have questions by the end.” The woman said with a smile never leaving her lips. The Bearer nodded and sat on the chair, placing his sword and shield beside him as he did so.

“Allow me to introduce myself, I am Zecora of Everfree. As you might be able to tell, I am a Firekeeper, I inherit the title from my mother.” The woman known as Zecora started with an introduction. The Bearer listened to every word, intrigued by what she had to say.

“Now onto the matter at hand, you no longer stand on Drangleic. This is Equestria, a kingdom built over the ashes of Drangleic and what remains of the ancient kingdom are… special to say the least. The new inhabitants have tried building over this forest but as you can see…” Zecora said, gesturing their surroundings. “They have failed. Undead still roam these forests but tend to keep to themselves - not to mention the predators of the forest.”

The Bearer was glad to hear that this bridge between Limbo and the living still remains, though hearing that there are still monsters out in the forest slightly worried him.

“Do not worry, I have taken the liberty to cage in some of the most deadliest monsters in a Hex. Now, the land here is ruled by two princesses, Celestia, ruler of the day and raiser of the sun. Alongside her is Luna, ruler of the night and raiser of the moon. Their ability to control the Celestial bodies were given to them from birth and with such power brings a curse, immortality. Yes, these two are the Immortals of this world and are forced to live till the end of times.” Zecora continued, sensing the interest of The Bearer. The Bearer felt a bit of pity to the Immortals.

“Now, I'm sure you have some questions and I will be happy to answer them; but first,” Zecora stopped and swirled her hand in the air, causing little wooden twigs to grow out of the floors and formed a familiar item.

Once the shape was made, the twigs broke off from the floor and quickly changed color, afterwards Zecora picked the item up from the floor before placing it on the table.

“You will need this.” She said to The Bearer. The latter nodded and stood up from his seat before reaching over for the tiny wooden object. He looked at Zecora, who then gave The Bearer a nod. With that, he crushed the Effigy, releasing the mystical energy within its’ confines. The energy took the form of a white cloud and surrounded The Bearer.

Zecora smiled at this; while she hadn't expected his arrival, with him here, Equestria’s safety would increase immensely. With The Bearer guiding the Kingdom away from the path of Drangleic, Zecora could hardly contain herself.

The white cloud of energy dissipated without warning. What once stood there was The Bearer in old rusted Drangleic armor. Now stood The true form of The Bearer.

Donned in Faraam armor stood The Bearer of the Curse. He turned to look at Zecora then bowed.

“I thank you for helping me regaining what was once lost.” The voice of The Bearer was all Zecora heard. Within the voice she could sense power, courage and bravery.

The Bearer’s gaze landed on his sword. His rusty and dull Drangleic sword, it was only by luck that he managed to use it in that state.

He walked over to the sword before taking hold of the hilt and lifting it off the ground. Taking a hold of the scabbard on his belt, he then sheathed the sword inside before a bright yellow light shone from the scabbard itself.

“How long have I slumbered?” The Bearer asked, breaking the silence between both him and Zecora. The latter let out a hum.

“Are quite sure you want to know?” She asked The Bearer.

“I'm sure.” He answered with a nod.

“The answer is simple, no one knows and nothing can say exactly.” Zecora answered. This was enough for The Bearer to know how long he has been gone for.

“If it isn't too much to ask, may I get your name?” Zecora asked, turning her head slightly. The Bearer closed his eyes before sighing.

“I am Artyom, The Phantom Titan and Bearer of The Undead Curse.” The Bearer revealed his name. He placed the Tower Shield onto his back before looking at Zecora.

“And protector of the land.” He said. Zecora nodded with a chuckle.

“The Old Keepers were right about you.” Zecora said before standing up from her chair.

“I wish I could stay but I have a potion to brew. If you need anything, there is a town just outside of the forest.” Zecora said before walking out the open door before vanishing into the forest.

Artyom looked out the doorway as the sounds of birds chirping greeted his ears. It was morning and he had been awake through the entirety of the night.

With a silent sigh, Artyom headed out the door, leaving the old Keeper's home and walked into the forest.

The sound of an alarm greeted Twilight’s ears. With a tired groan and incoherent mumbles, Twilight tried - but failed - to shut off the alarm next to her. She fingered through the items on her nightstand before she felt the alarm and gave it a smack.

With the alarm now shut off, Twilight opened her eyes and sat up before letting out a yawn as she stretched her arms. She removed the blanket from herself and stood up from her bed.

She put on her slippers before walking passed her mirror. A quick glance and she looked at her reflection, seeing an indecently dressed Twilight. She wore a white tank top with the words Twilight Wins! that was two sizes bigger than her normal shirt size, reaching down to her thighs - enough to cover the fact that she wore only her midnight blue panties.

Her hair was a mess but that can be changed in only a second. However, that was not for now, as there was a more pressing issue. Twilight heard her stomach rumble, and with that she walked out of her room.

Walking down the stairs she saw her adopted little brother, Spike Nerroth, walking into the kitchen while wearing his apron. Twilight followed behind him before finally reaching the kitchen just as Spike flipped a pancake.

Next to the stove was his newly acquired tablet. Twilight couldn't help but smile, she gotten him that for his birthday two weeks prior and he hasn't stopped using it ever since.

“Morning, Spike.” Twilight said in a tired tone.

“Morning, Twi. I made your favourite, blueberry pancakes for breakfast.” Spike replied to his sister before grabbing a pancake with the spatula he held and placed it on the plate to his right. He then placed another pancake on top of the first one before giving the plate to Twilight.

“Here you go. Syrup’s already on the table.” Spike informed her before taking another plate from the cupboards. As Twilight sat down on the table, she could faintly hear a jingle. It consisted of the lyrics being ‘Hey, I'm Grump’ followed by ‘I‘m not so Grump’. There was more to hear, but without further concentration and the lack of food she was supposed to eat made it hard.

Cutting off a piece and picking it up with a fork, she began eating the pancakes while slowly enjoying their blueberry taste.

“So, you never told me what happened at the old castle near Manehattan.” Spike asked as he sat next to her. The day before, Twilight had arrived back home and Spike had asked what happened to which Twilight only walked to her room, ignoring the teens question.

“Why is it that you want to know?” Twilight asked. Spike took a mighty bite of his pancake, leaving a crescent shape bite mark. He then picked up the syrup and and poured some into his mouth before chewing. Twilight had always wondered how he does that but always chalked it off as being half human.

After a few chews and a large gulp, Spike turned to look at Twilight.

“Come on, this is the castle that's inaccessible to the public without permission from the princesses themselves. How can I NOT want to know!” Spike exclaimed with a toothy smile. Twilight smiled slightly, still affected from the morning grogginess.

“Alright but later, at lunch. The girls and I have a picnic in the fields.” Twilight said and with a rapid nod from her little brother, they resumed their morning routines.

For an immortal princess who has been through much in her life, it is quite difficult to get a good night's rest. Though Celestia does not show it, she hates mornings with a fiery passion and today was no different.

After many attempts of trying to get up, she was on the verge to just give up and fall back asleep but alas, that cannot happen. She must raise the sun at a specific time or she'll have to deal with panicking citizens.

After raising the sun, she made her way to the dining hall and saw her sister eating French toast. Celestia sat in her marked chair and ordered a simple order of eggs and bacon which was quickly given to her.

Today was her day off, no one is allowed to disturb her for petty issues and had planned a walk through the Forest of Everfree to visit her friend, Zecora.

Luna had tagged along, a day off is a rarity for the both of them and they like to spend it together. So they did and had gotten the guards to rest before leaving the castle.

After a quick teleportation spell and a blinding light, they arrived at the forest with only a slight headache. A long range teleportation spell could cause harm if not trained properly.

In front of them was the home of Zecora, and hearing the owner's voice inside was all they needed to hear before walking inside. Once inside, Celestia saw Zecora in the middle of the room stirring the contents inside the cauldron.

“I didn't know I'd be getting visitors today.” Zecora said without looking up from the cauldron. Celestia couldn't help but smile.

“Can't a member of royalty visit her friend in the forest?” Celestia asked in a jestly manner. Luna rolled eyes.

“Good morning to you, Miss Zecora.” Luna greeted with a small bow. Zecora smiled before bowing back.

“I will be with you in a minute, I just need one last ingredient.” Zecora informed her two visitors before walking into her storage room. Both sisters waited patiently.

They’d felt it again, the powerful force from the day before. This time it was much closer than before.

“Did you..” Celestia asked without finishing the sentence.

“Yep. Should we be worried and go find out what it is?” Luna asked her elder sister. Celestia did not answer, instead she looked out the window, seeing a large flock of birds flying away from a certain part of the forest.

“I sense no evil, I'm sure that matter can wait until after we leave.” Celestia finally answered and with that both sisters sat on stools, waiting for Zecora to return.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed.

A Sovereign found, Royalty meets an ancient being

“And that's basically the gist of it.” The voice of the athletic Rainbow Dash greeted the librarian’s ears, snapping her out of her thoughts.

It was midday and as promised, Twilight had brought Spike along with her to the picnic for an explanation of what had occurred inside the ancient castle. So after they had finished setting up the picnic blanket on the grass and making sure they had enough food for all, Rainbow had began retelling the events.

“But what happened to the guy?” Spike asked. Rarity took the chance to answer.

“We don't know, it's almost as if he simply vanished.” The Fashionista said.

“But whatever he did before he left made one of those mammoth looking things help us.” The Farmer girl, Applejack added.

“Yeah, you should've seen the first one. It was all “You are trespassing there for you must die” but then the stranger came in with a rusted sword in hand and was all epic an-mph” The voice of the highly energetic baker, Pinkie Pie was cut off by Rainbow Dash clamping her lips shut. This got a laugh from the group.

“Still aren't any of you worried about the guy?” The young teen asked. “The guy was trapped behind a set of large stone doors for who knows how long and yet with what you all said, he walked out and fought something three times his size.” Spike added.

“I still think he's a zombie.” Rainbow muttered under her breath. Twilight lightly glared at her prismatic friend before looking at the young teen.

“To be honest, we hadn't thought about it.” Twilight answered, earning a few hums of agreement from the group.

“And that doesn't worry you in the slightest, like, at all?” Spike asked with arms crossed and a single brow raised. No answer was given to the young teen, earning a groan from the latter.

“Sometimes I wonder how you defeated Nightmare moon, Chrysalis and Sombra.” The Teen said as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“Hey!” Pinkie yelled with a pout, insulted by the teen. Spike on the other hand ignored her.

“Do the Princesses know?” Spike asked. The groups gazed quickly snapped towards Twilight, knowing that she was the only one that could come into contact with the Princesses. Though their answer was given in a form of a nervous chuckle.

“I might've forgotten to send her the staff as well as a report.” Twilight said with a nervous smile. Spike only stared with arms crossed.

The silence was soon broken by a loud rumble. Turning towards the source of the rumbling, Spike looked down at his stomach before looking at the girls with small blush of embarrassment.

“Now, I was led to believe there would be pie involved.” Spike said, earning a few chuckles. Applejack had promised one her grandmother’s famous pies for the picnic, the second reason Spike had tagged along.

“Yeah yeah, hold your horses.” Applejack said, placing her basket in the middle before revealing the pie in question.

“Dibs on first slice!” Both Spike and Rainbow Dash exclaimed. With a roll of her eyes, Applejack started slicing the pie in even slices.

Darkness, a thing he has been accustomed with for so long. Artyom had learned to embrace it long before he had ever taken the throne. But that darkness was one evil, evil that led into a realm of pure shadows.

Opening his eyes, Artyom saw the bright blue skies and the sun shining down onto him. He had stopped at a clearing to rest, he laid atop the grass and the sound of his own breathing greeted his ears.

Sitting up with groan and looking at his surroundings, Artyom had taken of the time of day.

“I must've been resting for only half of a single hour.” Artyom said to no one in particular. Standing up, Artyom had now felt how rested he was.

As he was fully straightened up, he took hold of the scabbard attached to his side. He nodded at himself before letting go. He closed his eyes once more before opening them. He faced towards the North, seeing the large city on the mountain.

‘A bit foolish to put a city on the side of the mountain.’ Artyom mentally noted. With his shield strapped to his back and scabbard securely strapped to his side, Artyom headed off.

As he walked through the dark forest, he took note of the animals as well as some he has never seen. For once he walked without the thought of being attacked though he kept his guard up just to be sure.

Artyom stopped in his tracks, he listened closely but nothing was heard. Artyom began his trek again.

Only an hour of trekking through the dark forest and Artyom had the exit already in sight. A faint cry for help greeted his ears, stopping him in his tracks once more before looking back into the forest.

Another cry for help, followed by a third one and judging by the voices, these were children in need of help. Artyom sprinted into action, heading towards the cries for help in a speed that would baffle athletes.

It wasn't long before found the source of the cries and Artyom saw what was the danger. It was a beast like no other. Having the tattered wings of a bat, the tail of a scorpion and the body of a lion, there stood a Manticore.

It seemed as though the beast was unable to take flight due to its tattered wings and whomever it was seeking had been hiding above on the tree in front of it.

The voices belonged to three little girls. One with orange hair, the second with bright red hair and finally one with light magenta colored hair. All three of them wore what could Artyom describe as uniforms.

Taking hold of the hilt of his blade, the scabbard shone a bright yellow light. The light gained the full attention of the beast and turned to look at Artyom.

It let out a roar, hoping to intimidate Artyom but to no avail. Without hesitation, Artyom charged at the beast with his hand grasping the hilt. The beast, in turn, charged as well.

As they closed in to exchange powerful blows to one another, Artyom unsheathed his blade before his struck. With a battle cry, Artyom thrusted the sword forward.

The effect was immediate by the sound of a pained and gurgled roar. Artyom looked at his blade, seeing it embedded deep into the beast's forehead.

The beast went limp onto the floor, dead by the hands of The Phantom Titan, Artyom. Pulling his sword from the beast, Artyom took notice of his choice of sword.

It wasn't the old rusted blade of Drangleic, it was the Black Knight Ultra Greatsword.

A large blade that was once wielded by knights who served a lord of light in a long forgotten age.

It shone from the light of the sun, the glimmer of the blade was by the blood of the beast. Sheathing his blade, the scabbard shone once more before a click was heard.

“That was awesome.” Artyom heard one of the three girls above. Looking towards the girls, Artyom saw them slowly climb down.

The purple haired child was the first to come down before running up to Artyom. She stopped and looked up at him.

The child seemed to be stunned by Artyom’s height, perhaps even the armor. Artyom raised a brow under his helmet.

“Something the matter, child?” Artyom asked. Through the corner of his eyes, Artyom could see the other two slowly climbing down the tall tree.

“No but what you just did was so cool!” The purple haired child exclaimed with glee, surprising Artyom.

‘How can a child be so excited after witnessing the killing of the Beast?’ Artyom thought before looking back at the child’s two friends.

“Are you three alright?” Artyom asked them. The red haired child answered with a nod as she and the magenta haired girl covered their mouths, feeling nauseous at the sight of the dead Manticore.

“You should head on back to your homes then. The forest is not fit for you three.” Artyom said to the three girls.

“Um about that… you wouldn't mind taking us back to town, Manticores usually hunt in groups.” The purple haired girl said. Artyom turned towards the body before looking back at the girls.

“Alright, if it is to guarantee your safety then I will escort you three.” Artyom said with a nod. The purple haired girl pumped her fist as she quietly whispered yes.

“Where is the town located?” Artyom asked the three girls.

“It's North from where we are.” This time it was the magenta haired girl that answered. Artyom nodded and began to escort the children back to safety.

Both eyes were wide as dinner plates for the second time today. Celestia and Luna were merely conversing with their Shaman friend. Luna had only asked about a potion she had read in one of the many books in her personal study before feeling the strong magic once more.

Though their reactions towards the strong source of ancient magic were ones of worry and shock, Zecora's was more a chuckle and a smile.

“I see that you've felt it as well. His magic is from a time before your rule.” They heard Zecora speak. The latter stood up from her seat and walked towards the nearest window to look out of.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked, confused to what her friend had said while her sister was still looking of towards the distance.

“It’s the same magic that originated from Drangleic Castle.” Celestia quietly said to herself before looking towards Zecora.

“It is indeed.” Zecora said while Luna walked towards the front door.

“Then we must see if it poses a threat to our people.” Luna said in regal tone. Zecora frowned a little.

“I assure you that he is of no threat to anyone unless given a reason.” The Blind shaman said. Celestia joined her sister at the door before turning towards Zecora once more.

“It was a pleasant talking to you, Zecora but I'm afraid we must go.” Celestia said before she and her sister walked out, leaving Zecora to her own devices.

Once outside, both sisters disappeared in a flash with their destination set on Ponyville.

“Stop fighting, you two!” Twilight yelled, gaining the attention of both Spike and Rainbow Dash. Spike was being pinned to the floor with Rainbow Dash on top, both fighting for the last slice.

“Not until I get that slice!” Both of them yelled, pointing at the now empty plate. Spike was the first one to notice the lack of pie on the plate before Rainbow Dash.

They then heard the sound of chewing and turned towards Pinkie, who had a half eaten pie on her plate. The baker noticed the stares she was getting. Swallowing the bite of pie down, She then looked at the two fighters with a smirk.

“You snooze, you lose.” With that, Pinkie ate the last bit of pie. Both Spike and Rainbow Dash were at a loss for words. They pointless fighting was finally put to an end and Twilight's headache would be able to subside. Or so Twilight thought.

Blinded by a familiar light, Twilight yelped in surprise along with the rest of her friends… except for Pinkie, who calmly took a sip of her apple juice.

Once the light subsided, Twilight's eyes were wide. Just behind the pink haired baker stood both princesses, Celestia and Luna.

“P-princess!?” Twilight exclaimed in shock. Celestia looked down at her student with a smile.

“Excuse us for dropping in like this but the matter at hand is urgent.” The princess informed the group. Twilight tilted her head and opened her mouth to speak.

“We don't know exactly what is going on either, Miss Sparkle but we intend to find out.” Princess Luna informed her sister’s pupil before getting the chance to ask a question. Twilight kept her mouth shut.

“We will answer your questions later, right now we might have a new guest.” Celestia added to her sister's explanation.

Silence greeted the group once more. The silence was short lived as three familiar voices were heard coming from the forest.

“Hey! We're here!” The familiar tomboyish voice of Scootaloo exclaimed before the girl in question came running out of the bushes before panting in exhaustion.

“Scootaloo!?” Rainbow yelled, gaining the attention of the preteen. Without a second wasted, Rainbow Dash ran up to the preteen.

“What were you doing in the forest!?” The athlete yelled. Scootaloo scratched the back of her head as she nervously chuckled.

“Um…” Scootaloo stalled for some time to come up with an explanation but instead of giving her more time to think, it gave her companions time to arrive. Both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle walked out of the bushes, resulting in their respected sister's to yell out their names in surprised before scolding them.

“What made you think that going into the forest would be a good thing?” Rarity asked, glaring at her younger sibling. Applejack turned towards her sister.

“Are ya trying ta prove somethin’?” Applejack asked her little sister.

“Don't punish them, it was my idea of going into the forest to get a rare plant for our school project.” Scootaloo said, loud enough for all to hear. Both Applejack and Rarity asked their sisters to see if Scootaloo was telling the truth and she was.

“But are you hurt? The forest has some.of the most horrid predators known to all, especially this time of the year.” Fluttershy asked the three preteens.

“We ran into a manticore-” This earned a few gasps but Scootaloo paid no mind and continued. “But we had help and it was awesome, he took the manticore down without breaking a sweat!” She said with excitement. Both Royal sisters were now intrigued to hear what the preteen had to say.

“Really? Where is he then?” Twilight asked and not seconds after she did, another person came out of the forest. Hearing the sound of metal hitting the ground, Twilight, along with everyone else, looked upon the newcomer.

Donned in armor never before seen by anyone, the newcomer, whom Twilight noted that it was a man, carried a large shield on his back as well as a scabbard on his hip.

Twilight felt a sense of familiarity towards the man, as if she had seen him before. The armored man came to a sudden halt.

“That's him! He's the guy who saved us!” Scootaloo exclaimed with glee. The armored man’s gaze turned towards the three preteens and their sisters.

“Greetings to you all.” The man said with a voice that could give authority. “I see that I have done my job and shall be on my way.” He said, turning back towards the forest.

“Sir, would you mind coming with us? We are quite curious of you?” Luna asked, feeling the ancient magic coming from the man. The man halted in his tracks.

“Curious of me? How so?” The man asked. Celestia decided to tell the man why.

“You were awoken in Drangleic castle the day before. We want to know who you are, it is to make sure the safety of our kingdom.” Celestia said. The man turned to fully face the royal sisters.

“Then let us not waste time.” The man answered. Luna nodded before casting the spell of teleportation once more, this time with the help of her sister. Enveloped in a bright light, the man along with the royal sisters vanished in a flash, leaving the element bearers and their younger sisters confused to what Celestia had said.

Author's Note

Here, hope it's good.

If you liked it please leave a comment and a like as well.

Have a song as a gift for putting up with my laziness.

Visions of The Beginning, The Sovereign Rises.

“Is that all?” Artyom’s voice echoed through the large room. At the center of the room sat Artyom, as well as the royal sisters. Both sisters took turns in asking a series of questions ranging from his awakening to his travels around the kingdom of Drangleic.

It had been more than an hour since Artyom had agreed to go with them. He did not mind their mode of transportation as he has done the same in the past, but that didn't stop the sisters from apologizing.

“Just one more question.” Luna spoke before her sister took the lead.

“Why must you wear your helmet inside?” Celestia asked the man in armor. “I can assure you that there isn't anything that could cause us any harm in this room or any other room in the palace.”

“I don't doubt your words, your majesty.” Artyom spoke his answer. “But for why I wear this, you must know that Drangleic was land filled with treacherous paths and abominations. Taking my helmet off has never occurred to me in the slightest.” Artyom explained in a brief but detailed explanation.

“I understand but we are not in Drangleic. That kingdom fell long ago and the curse was lifted long after that. Equestria still stands tall after nearly three millennia.” Celestia replied to the Bearer. Silence greeted the group as Artyom took those words to consideration before placing both hands on either side of his helmet. With a deep sigh, Artyom took off the helmet and revealed what the man looks like under his helmet.

The first noticeable thing was his raven black hair, reaching onto his shoulders and clearly unkempt for who knows how long. How Artyom was able to use the helmet with such hair is a mystery. The second most notable feature was the long scar across his face. His right eye appeared to have to no iris, only pure white while his left eye was a crystal blue color.

The sisters have seen many handsome men throughout their everlasting lives but Artyom surpasses them all and without even trying. Celestia could've sworn she felt her cheeks heat up and her heart beat.

“I don't remember the last time I have taken off my helmet.” Artyom spoke, breaking the silence between him and the sister's. His face was covered in thin layer of grime and with a wipe with his hand, Artyom became aware of it, but simply shook his head, knowing nothing he could do would clean it right then.

“I think it's time to put this meeting to a close. Artyom, I will show you to your quarters.” Said Celestia as she stood up from her seat. Luna simply vanished in a bright light.

“Very well.” Artyom replied with a simple nod and stood up before taking hold of his shield and scabbard. “Lead the way, your majesty.” Celestia nodded and led Artyom to one of the many guest rooms of the palace.

~Ω~

“And then he showed and took out the Manticore by himself. You should've seen it, it was awesome!” Exclaimed the ever enthusiastic Scootaloo.

It has been several hours since the princesses left with the unknown man that so kindly escorted the three children to their siblings. Now the group sat in the library, hearing what the girls had to say - and that included their situation at the forest.

“And he had this huuuge sword! It was even bigger than any sword I've seen!” Scootaloo said. Twilight was the only one who gave a questioning look at this statement but kept it to herself. “He and the Manticore charged towards each other but the guy was faster than the Manticore and stabber it between its eyes. It was brutal.” Scootaloo said without a hint of disgust while the group tried but failed to keep their disgust hidden.

“I think it's time to go home.” Rarity said after a brief moment of silence. “Let's go, Sweetie.” Hearing this, Sweetie Belle wasted no time in getting up and was already at the door. With a wave, Rarity gave her goodbyes before leaving the library.

The rest of the girls followed suit soon after. Rainbow Dash took Scootaloo and left without a word before Applejack did the same and left with Apple Bloom, leaving both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to accompany each other out the building.

“Well, today wasn't what I expected it to be.” Twilight muttered to herself as she shivered a bit. “Spike did you turn up the-” She stopped as she saw her young assistant sprawled over the guest couch. With a single snore from him, Twilight sighed before standing up and flicking her wrist, causing a lavender aura to envelope Spike before lifting him up.

“What am I going to with you?” Twilight asked no one in particular before going up the stairs, carrying Spike with her magic behind her. Once reaching Spike’s room, Twilight only opened the door before moving Spike inside and plopping him onto his own bed.

After making sure he wouldn't roll of the bed, Twilight closed the door before heading back downstairs. Once downstairs, Twilight began to think to herself.

She felt very tired all of a sudden and her body grew weak by the second. Her eyes became heavy to keep open and without any warning, her vision turned black.

With a sudden jolt, Twilight awoke in panic and sat up from whatever she was laying, to which she quickly assume was a bed of grass as the first thing she could see from her surroundings was an open field with a gazebo in the center. Wincing from a sudden ache of the head, Twilight placed a hand onto her forehead and quickly noticed the state of her arm.

Her arm took a golden ethereal form as so did her body. Fascination towards the state of her entire being was soon replaced with panic, fearing the worse for her. The loud thud of something or someone landing hard onto the surface took Twilight out of her panic state.

Looking towards the direction the sound originated from, Twilight could see that someone had appeared in the gazebo and laid on the floor with no movement whatsoever. Twilight walked closer to the downed form of a heavily clothed man, a sudden urge to get closer overtook her.

She stopped just mere inches away from the fallen man. Even with a much closer look, she saw no movement whatsoever. He was not breathing and this worried Twilight, hoping that this man would live.

Relief and surprise donned Twilight face as she saw the man place his hands firmly on the gazebo floor before pushing himself up with a grunt. As the man did this, Twilight only caught a brief glimpse of the man's cold dead pure white eyes.

The man now stood straight before walking down the gazebo and making his way down a small yet noticeable path through the thick grass. Twilight felt obligated to follow and she did.

Going through the rocky archway, the path they had walked led towards another grassy clearing. However, unlike the other, this one was littered with the skeletal remains of the unfortunate ones.

A shiver ran up Twilight’s spine at the sight as she continued to follow the unknown man. After walking through the skeleton littered field, they had rounded a corner and were both greeted by the sounds of rushing water.

Above the rushing water was an old rickety bridge, but despite its poor condition, the unknown man walked on the bridge without a care of the world. Twilight followed suit after a brief moment of thought.

Once the bridge was crossed, the sounds of laughter greeted both of them. Twilight stared at the large tree in both awe and curiosity but these feeling were soon gone as she felt odd.

Looking down at herself, she could see what was wrong. Her legs were slowly vanishing. Despite this fact, she felt no need to panic and only walked closer to the heavily clothed man as the latter opened a door on the side of a large tree. Quickly following behind as the door closed behind the man, Twilight slipped in between the closing gap.

Three elder women sat in the room in front of Twilight. One sat near the fireplace while the other two sat next to the table. Twilight had also noticed the middle-aged woman that appeared to be their housekeeper.

“An Undead has come to play. Heh heh…” The Elder Woman by the fire said without moving her gaze from the dancing flames. This was greeted with the laughter of the other two.

“They all end up here, all the ones like you.” Another said. Twilight knew these words were not directed towards herself but to the man she followed.

“You spoke to that kind old dear, didn't you?
Heh heh…” A third one said before cackling.

“You're finished.”

“You'll go Hollow.”

“Yes, you will become one of them.” These words sounded hurtful to Twilight even if they weren't directed towards her but the man stood tall and unmoving as heard the elders speak. “Hollows prey upon men, feast upon their souls.”

“This is the fate of the cursed. Heh heh heh…” The woman by the fire said with another cackle.

“All people come here for the same reason.” The woman at the side of the table said, never looking at the man. Twilight wondered what they spoke of.

“To break the curse.” Of course, Twilight didn't need to wait that long for an answer but this only left with another question.

‘What curse?’ Twilight thought

“You're no different, I should think?” Another woman said.

“Hmm… doesn't stand a chance.” Followed by another. Twilight found it difficult to know which elder spoke.

“Well, you never know!
Go through the door and trot along to the kingdom.” The woman by the fire said. “But remember, hold on to your souls.”

“They're all that keep you from going Hollow.” This time it was the woman on the end of the table who spoke to the man. The man simply took this as his queue to leave but as he passed the elder woman sitting near the burning fireplace, the latter’s hand quickly gripped onto the man's wrist.

“Oh, I'll fool you no longer…
You'll lose your souls…All of them. Over and over again.” The woman said, gripping onto the man's hand. The woman then gave the man a small effigy.

“You must go, on a journey without rest. Well…I suppose, if you find yourself at an impasse…” The woman said, her voice trailing into a few incoherent mumbles. “But if your will is yet unbroken, then you may return here.”

“To start again, with a clean slate…” The other elder by the table said before the woman next to her cackled.

“Hah hah hah…"

The hand that gripped the man's wrist let go and allowed the man to walk through the back door. Twilight followed closely behind. Once the door was opened, Twilight quickly walked out before the man closed the door behind him.

Now outside the small home, there was a sword embedded into a stone that surrounded by the skeletal remains of a man. The unknown man walked up to the sword before placing his hand on the hilt of the blade, causing the blade to be engulfed in flames.

Just as the flames lit, Twilight felt weak once again. Looking down she could see that her body was gone and only the ethereal form of her own head remain but like the moment before, she felt no need to panic and quickly sat by the fire along the man.

Her eyes grew increasingly difficult to keep open as the flames flickered. Just as she closed her eyes, the man took hold of the tattered hood that covered his face. Her eyes closed, the last thing she heard was the man taking his hood off before the roar of the flames.

Her eyes opened to the bright light of the morning sun and the sounds of people chatting outside. Twilight scanned her surroundings and found that she was back in her own home.

“It must've been a dream.” Twilight sighed as she sat up with a groan. “Why did I sleep on the floor?” She asked herself as she stretched her arms before beginning to stand up.

After dusting herself off, she took one glance at ground she slept on and found a puddle of drool. With a groan, she went to clean the mess up with a mop she had picked up from her kitchen.

‘What was that dream?’ She wondered as she began to mop up the puddle. “Maybe it wasn't a dream, a vision maybe?” She said out loud.

“What's a vision?” The voice of her adopted baby brother said as the teen in question walked into the main room. “And what's with the mop?”

“I just… spilled some water.” She lied before putting the mop away. “You know how I am in the mornings.” She said with an awkward smile.

“Right, what about the vision you said?” Spike asked with a questioning lock.

“It's nothing.” Twilight answered, this earned a frown from the younger sibling before Twilight once again. “Don't you have to help Rarity with something?” This gained a wide eyed look from Spike before he looked at the clocked beside him.

“I'm late!” Spike exclaimed before running upstairs and only minutes later he ran back down in different clothes. Without a word, he ran out through the door in breakneck speed that caused the people outside to look at the running teen.

With a sigh of relief, Twilight used her magic to close the door properly before turning to look at the kitchen. She sighed out loud.

“Whatever it was can wait, I'm hungry.” She said as entered the kitchen and opened her fridge. “Now, what can I make without burning the place down.”

~Ω~

Artyom had spent many a days traveling through the ruins of the once proud kingdom of Drangleic, without rest. Sleeping was another thing Artyom had avoided doing throughout his travels.

Waking up to sounds of blowing wind, Artyom could feel the softness of the bed that brought comfort to the man. Opening his eyes, he was greeted with the rays of sunshine that entered the room. Sitting up, Artyom looked over to where the wind was blowing and found the balcony door completely open.

Artyom stood up from the bed with a grunt before simply walking towards the balcony, passing by his discarded armor on the floor. He took hold of the door handle before gently closing the door. With a click, the door shut and left the room in silence.

Artyom scanned the room, spotting the full body mirror in between two dressers. With a sense of curiosity, Artyom walked in front of the mirror and took a look at his reflection for the first time in many years.

Scars riddled his entire body, from large scars that crossed through the entirety of his chest, to small scratched over his arms and legs. One scar though stood out from the rest, at the center of his chest was a circular scar. He never knew how he had managed to get such a scar. Shaking his head, Artyom let out a sigh as he looked over towards the door that led to a bathroom.

With what Celestia had told Artyom, one of the modern day utilities known as a shower could help clean the dirt off him. It was then that Artyom decided to enter the bathroom. If what he knew carried onto the modern day, clothing was not meant to be bathed with and it was with that though that Artyom had stripped of his only remaining clothing.

After stepping into the shower, Artyom utilized the knowledge Celestia had taught him and turned the shower handle at quarter away from the hot setting. The effect was the warm rushing water greeting Artyom's body.

With a sigh of pure relief, he felt himself relax from the warm water and began to bathe after many years.

Author's Note

Finally got this done. Hope you enjoyed.

Edited by CommanderWolffe

From Ruins to a City, The Bearer's journey begins once more

The Bearer of The Curse was free, this much he knew but for what purpose. He has waited many years on the throne, slowly Hollowing as time went on, still he waited for another Undead to rise up and take the throne from him, a battle and his death but yet, it never came.

The Young Maiden that had opened the doors only watched him as he used the Aged Feather, taking him to the last Bonfire he rested at.

Only minutes after returning to the Bonfire, he left and headed towards the main hall with the intent of seeing the skies once more.

His sword and shield were placed on his back as he walked by a row of statues. He was near but yet his goal felt further away and turning right on a corner, he saw four young women holding the large door behind them shut with all their might.

He waited for a few minutes before the doors were smashed open, revealing a Primal Guard was to blame for this. The four women were thrown back from the blast and landed near The Bearer’s feet.

Then the tanned woman wearing an unusual hat slowly looked up until her face showed fear as she saw the eyes of The Bearer. He grunted, unable to speak and walked over the fallen maidens as he drew his sword and shield.

His sword, Greatsword of Drummond, Royal Army Captain held in his right hand as he held his Tower shield on his left. The Primal Guard dashed towards him before swinging its tusk at The Bearer but the latter dodged out of the way before grunting from exhaustion, his old frail body was hindering his fighting.

He stood up and charged at the Primal Guard before lunging at it, dropping his shield to have a more desirable effect and to his satisfaction, the sword pierced through the large guard's armor.

The beast roared in pain before slamming its back against the wall, effectively beating the man on its back but the man did not falter from his grip.

Having no choice but to end this quickly, The Bearer had casted a fire coating spell onto his blade and the effects were almost immediate.

The Primal Guard thrashed and bashed its back against the wall while his insides were being scorched. The Bearer was in pain and worse, dying slowly but he had taken more stronger and deadlier foes before.

He could hear the four young maidens yell and scream at the Primal Guard as they threw miscellaneous objects at the beast. He shook his head before increasing the intensity of the spell, creating a torrent of flames from within the beast. With one last roar, fire blasted through every orifice before the beast exploded from the fire.

The explosion sent The Bearer to wall behind him, smacking it before falling onto the floor. He heard multiple footsteps nearing him.

“Sir, are you alright?” He could barely hear one of them, the voice was as soft as an Angel’s touch. He tried to get up but in his condition, it only brought more pain.

He tried again, this time getting back up to his feet. The voices of the four women were blocked from his ears as his goal was now in sight and the light of the sun was shining bright.

He moved passed the women as they kept telling him to stay so they could help him, he was beyond being helped. As he rested his hands on the large doors, he saw the rings he wore on each of his fingers.

On his left hand, he wore the Third Dragon Ring, The Ring of Life, Chloranthy Ring and the Sun Seal.

On his right hand were, The Silvercat Ring, The Ring of Steel Protection, The Dispelling Ring and The Red Tearstone Ring. He wore these rings for battles long forgotten and never took them off for even a second.

The doors he touched now shone blue as they opened and revealed the remaining Primal Knight but The Bearer did not want to fight and took out a ring he knew would help with this situation.

The King’s Ring.

He held above his head, high enough for the Primal Guard to see and lowered its weapon before kneeling at its ruler.

Just as the Primal Guard kneeled, so did the Royal Swordsmen behind it. Signaling them to leave him be, they went back to their post except for the Primal Guard whom was ordered to protect the four Maidens inside via a mental link with the Ring.

The Beast walked past The Bearer and headed back inside to follow the order of his king. The doors closed just as the Primal Guard walked inside and with that The Bearer walked out of the shadow casted by the castle and onto the bridge leading to the mainland.

He stopped as he felt it, the light of the sun touched his dead skin. He turned to look towards the sun before praising it.

Twilight had been trying to come up with any possible theories of the man he saw and why he looked dead.

‘Could he have been trapped inside without food or water? No then he’d actually be dead.’ She thought as both Twilight and Rainbow walked back the way they came with the staff in hand.

“Twi, stop doing that.” Dash’s brought her back out of her thoughts a second time. Twilight looked towards her friend.

“Stop what?” Twilight asked. Rainbow only stared at her with a bemused look before answering.

“Over thinking. You've been been over thinking about that guy we saw, you know, the zombie.” Rainbow said. Twilight groaned once more at her friend’s claim as the doors came to view.

“I've told you before, Zombies don't exist.” Twilight said. Rainbow took this offensively.

“Come on! You saw how he looked, his skin, his walk, that guy was a zombie! What else has pure white eyes!?” Dash shouted.

“Zecora, remember. The blind Shaman that lives in the forest near Ponyville.” Twilight stated, unaffected by the shouting.

“Right.” Dash said, realizing her mistake. “But that doesn't change the fact that he is an actual zombie. What if he eats other people, start a zombie plague and doom the entire world!?” Dash said with as much exaggeration as one might think. Twilight shook her head before walking ahead.

Dash grumbled a bit before trying to catch up. While the rainbow haired friend walked beside Twilight, they started to hear familiar voices. Their friends.

Quickly running up the steps and running through the large doors, they saw the girls riding what appeared to be a large elephant like beast that stood upright and was clad head to toe in armor.

At first glance Twilight and Dash through they were in trouble before seeing their energetic friend hanging from one of the beast’s tusks.

“Girls!” Twilight yelled with a smile, seeing their friends okay. The group of four waved at the two before being picked up by the Primal Guard.

“Should I ask?” Twilight asked as she sat atop the left shoulder with her farmer friend, Applejack.

She wore an orange jacket and underneath was a white tanktop and a pair of worn out jeans. Her choice in footwear were pair of cowgirl boots. Because of the young woman’s life style, she always had a tan from being too long out in the sun.

Twilight didn't have that sort of problem, though being a shut in for almost the entirety of her childhood doesn't help but her skin doesn't get tanned so easily. An oddity yes, her cream colored skin can be difficult to have a sun burn or even a tan but she manages.

“Don't. Another one attacked us but some guy came in and..killed it, then this one showed up and started protecting us from some statues.” Applejack explained as she rubbed her temples in stress. The waited for the Giant beast to stop and let them go but what they did not expect was for it to take them to the main entrance.

The doors were locked and there were no handles but the Giant beast placed its hand on the door before it opened, letting the six girls free from the horrid castle.

They got off the Giant and walked out while Pinkie Pie waved it goodbye.

As the group walked down the bridge back to the mainland, the first thing that came to the mind of each of them was home and how badly they needed sleep.

The City of Canterlot, the crowning jewel of Equestria and home to the two immortal rulers, Celestia and Luna. Sisters by blood and spirit. Both had the skin of angels but in this case, Luna was the one with pale white skin while her older sister was busy getting a suntan.

They had taken this time off to enjoy their new pool before Twilight and her friends come back. Luna was floating on the water, enjoying the cool sensation it gave her but stood in attention as both sisters felt something awaken, something ancient and powerful like nothing they've ever felt before.

Celestia looked at her sister as she had immediately gotten out of the water.

“I'm sure you felt it as well.” Celestia said as she sat up from her lounging chair. Luna nodded and looked towards the direction it came from, seeing Drangleic castle in the distance.

“It came from the ancient castle, do you think the girls are alright?” Luna asked her older sibling as they both were dressed in their royal attire in a bright flash. Luna wore a midnight blue dress that matched her hair. Her night sky colored hair wasn't styled in anyway, saying that it was a stupid to do to one's hair and always kept it down.

Celestia, liking her sisters ideal, did the same. Her dress was as white as the clouds and sla few jewels were placed into a regalia she wore. The gem she took pride was on her necklace, legend has it that this gem will light the one for her. It was a Magenta colored Gem.

It's childish to think that a gem can help find true love but one can dream and Celestia dreams, hopes and prays that it would work.

But back to the matter at hand,Celestia and Luna headed towards the map room. This isn't a typical map room, this room held the maps of all Drangleic.

As they entered the room and locked the door behind them, they looked down onto the floor as they both casted the Key spell that switched Equestria’s map along with the floor of the room and revealed a large stone carved map of Drangleic.

They both set their gazes at the Map, seeing a small flame lit on the location of Drangleic Castle.

This proved that what they felt came from their but all they could do now is hope that whatever it was that has awoken would not threaten the lives of Equestria’s citizens.

Things Betwixt, a forest filled with unknown magic and creatures of nightmares but it was also where the Bearer began his journey and it also where The Bearer was heading.

Though the world changed, he knew where to go. He must walk through the Shaded Ruins but instead of finding the ruins, he found a city. This did not halt his trek and he continued through the city known as Manehattan.

The sounds of horns was heard behind him with the occasional shouting for him to move out of the way. The Bearer looked back and saw a metal carriage like no other. It had rubber wheels instead of wood and no horses were pulling it but questions for another time.

“Move out of the way, fuckwad!” A man said as his head poked out of the side of the vehicle. Another series of horns while the Bearer kept walking.

Then the man made the mistake of trying frighten The Bearer by driving closer, almost as if he intended to run him over but only managed to bump into The Bearer.

The Bearer snapped his gaze back to the metal carriage as the owner of the carriage repeated the same action but was halted by The Bearer.

He placed a hand on the hood before stopping the carriage from moving forward. The owner of the carriage tried to move forward, wanting to ram him for wasting his time but then the man noticed something odd, his car was being lifted up from the front.

The Bearer took hold of the bottom front of the Metal Carriage before flipping backwards onto its back, earning panicked screams from the people around him.

“What the hell was that!?”

“Did you see that!?”

“That's not physically possible!”

Ignoring the comments from the citizens, The Bearer of the Curse continued down the black road beneath him. The tall sky scrapers were now replaced with houses and small family stores.

He continued without halting and with haste as he saw the sun setting. He knew the Shaded ruins by memory and knowing that he needed to pass a forest had also helped him realize that he had left the Ruins now turned City.

The Sun was now gone, revealing the beautiful night sky. The moon soon rose up and lighted The Bearers path through the dark forest.

For what felt like hours, The Bearer began to feel the effects of the Hollowing take its toll again, further degrading the green skin causing a few chunks to fall off, revealing the bone underneath.

The Bearer was on his knees, hands keeping him off the ground as he vomited a strange black liquid he knew well. Wiping the liquid from his face, he stood up and continued his trek as his body was near its end.

He was near, he could feel the flame nearby. Speeding up, he felt the flame getting closer and closer before he found it.

The Bonfire of the Shaded Forest. The Bearer sat near the dying flame before placing his hand atop the hilt of the burnt blade before it erupted. He lowered his hand back down before sitting on the ground, resting his tired old bones while the howling of the forest continued.

Not wanting to stay hollow, he whispered the warp chant to the flame of the Bonfire before the fire emitted a large fog of smoke.

It covered the Bearer’s entire body before it vanished, taking him along as well.

Deep in the forest of the Everfree was a large tree stump home belonging to the Shaman of the forest, Zecora. Little is known about the mysterious woman but the fact of her blindness doesn't halt her potion brewing or meditations.

She has lived in the forest for almost four years and not once has she been homesick, reason being that six residents of the nearby town made living in the country much more enjoyable and energetic.

Though she had the occasional visitor asking for help, she had sensed the arrival of a long awaited being. She nodded in silence before making her way towards the door of her home and opening it.

She focused her hearing, waiting for anything to make a sound. Then she heard the sounds of flame in the distance and with a smile, she walked towards the source of the sound.

Author's Note

This is still unedited but decided to post it. I hope you're enjoying the read as much as I enjoy writing it.

Please like if you're enjoying the read, it helps me keep myself motivated to continue.