Pony Souls

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Awaken
Chapter 2 - The Nameless Alicorn
Chapter 3 - Two Sisters Castle
Chapter 4 - Everfree ruins
Chapter 5 - The Sorceress
Chapter 6 - The Everfree
Chapter 7 - Timberwolf Pack
Prologue

Chapter 1 - Awaken

She watch as her eyes opened for the first time in years. The faint smell of dirt all around her as she felt the ground for the first time in years. It was a strange feeling, being woken up after being dead for five centuries. Her eyes slowly adjusting back to the world of the living, seeing the top of her coffin. She must have indeed died like she had expected.

She tried to remember how she died, but she couldn’t think of it. It wasn’t just that, she couldn’t remember anything. Who she was, where she was born, what she was, it was all a blur. She felt the ruffle of wings along her side, and looked to see the body of an Equine in front of her. So she was a Pegasus? It seemed like it.

She felt claustrophobic in the tight coffin around her, it was so small. The little space she had she couldn't even notice. It was to small for her, and it was so dark. The only thing that showed was the light of the moon through a small crack in the coffin. She knew she should be six feet under, but yet the glow of the moon shown through her.

Eager to leave she kicked the coffin with her hooves. It flew open and her nose caught the whiff of the cool night air. It may have been night, but the moon was the first light she had seen in years. She was blinded by it, as it hit her face. She almost had mistaken it for the sun, but it was to dark around her to be.

She sat up from her spot in the ground, and with her adjusted eyes looked at her body. Her mane fell down in front of her, being pink with many strands of white going down it. Her coat was a rusty yellow color, it was obvious that she hadn’t aged well. How old even was she? Fifty? Did her kind even live that long?

“Well what do you know,” She looked around for the owner of the voice, seeing the shadow of a unicorn in the moonlight. His voice was rather young for what his age showed. “Yet another Risen awoken from the sleep of death,”

“Risen?” She asked the pony, find her voice to be very soft and pleasant. “Is that my name?”

“Only if you wish to bare it,” The pony said, his voice monotone and low. “Now could you do me a favor and get out of that coffin. Your saving me the task of digging another, and I can guarantee you won’t be sleeping again,”

Risen, as she decided to call herself, did as she was told. She stepped out of the grave with wobbly hooves and watched as the unicorn picked up a pony. He carried over to her coffin and placed him inside, closing the doors of the coffin, and walked away. Risen was confused at the unicorns actions.

“Aren’t you going to bury them,” She asks in confusion.

“Why bother,” The unicorn responds. “Knowing that Alicorn she’ll awaken him just like she has every other pony in this graveyard,” Risen noticed how unhappily he said that. This Alicorn must really disrupt his work if he was to speak so badly about one. “Would you please get out of my graveyard,” He suddenly shouted at her angrily, throwing what looked like a sword. “You wanna survive you won’t be doing it here. Just take the thing and kill some of those Timberwolves around here,”

Not wishing to stay anyways, Risen took the sword in her mouth and trotted past the grave digging unicorn. The wrinkles on his face showed serious signs of aging. He was clearly older than her, and was probably nearing his last legs. She wanted to ask so many questions to him, but considering how he reacted to her in the first place it may not have been a good idea. Instead she simply trotted past him into the dark woods around her.

“Where should I go?” She looked back at the unicorn.

“I don’t care as long as it’s not here,” He said to her. “Oh, and if you ever get the urge to kill yourself, remember that you can’t,”

She was about to talk about what he meant, but realize she had already pushed it by asking him a question to begin with. Instead she walked down the lonesome path of trees and brush into the endless night. She felt something about the forest discomfort her. She had been here before, in this same exact setting.

The sway of the trees seemed scared her, constantly making her think they were going to fall. The brush rustled in the wind around as if there was something on the other side of it. In truth, Risen had no idea whether something was about to jump her, fall on her, or sneak up from behind. The clicking noise made by her hooves unsettling her in her environment.

She could swear something was following her, but it was impossible with how hard the wind was blowing. She knew it was more than just the wind, it was never just the wind. She stopped in her tracks to try and hear even the faintest sound of whatever was following her. She readied her sword in her mouth as she heard an off beat rustle in a nearby bush.

She didn’t show too much about the fact she had heard it, giving the pursuer a false sense of security. The only signal she really gave was a tightened grip on the sword and slight twitch in her ear to try and catch nearby movement. A very small thud hit the ground behind a bush, but the movement of a bush amongst the dying wind is what really gave it away.

She didn’t see it, but Risen sure heard the sound of a beast leaping out from a nearby bush. Quickly she swung her sword around in a circle as she saw the beast, a quadruped figure made of wood, just a couple inches away from her. She just managed to breach the wooden neck, breaking a piece of it off. She watched as the figure, one of those Timberwolves the unicorn had mentioned, land in front of her.

It quickly launched itself back at Risen, who dodged to the side prepared. As the Timberwolf regained its footing she swung her sword wildly at it, chunks of wood flying all over the place as she did. When she had finished, she found herself breathing hard from the amount of slashing she had just done. She slowly walked away from the Timberwolf, hopping it was dead.

She found a few seconds later she was wrong. Here the sound of wood moving along the ground, she looked back behind her to see what the noise was. Her eyes looked in horror as the Timberwolf easily put itself back together. All the parts she had slashed off coming back to it’s body and glueing itself back together. She couldn’t defeat this thing, not when it could do this.

Instead of trying to fight it more, she decided to run. She knew that staying to fight would be useless, and that it would kill her in a matter of time. While it was still piecing itself back together, she darted in the other direction. She didn’t bother to look back, hoping to get as far away from the creature as possible.

Risen stopped after a short while, finding herself in a clearing. She would have been happy to get away from the Timberwolf, but instead she felt terrified as she saw even more sleeping around her. Her heart was racing as she slowly made her way through the clearing, being careful to not disturbed any of the Timberwolves.

It felt like it took an hour to get across the clearing. Each time she heard a something move she would freeze in place. She only moved when she was sure nothing had awoken. She must have done this a dozen times by the time she managed to cross. As soon as she exited through the brush on the other side she let out a sigh of relief.

Then she looked up at the gigantic building that suddenly stood in front of her. She somehow felt this place would be safe, she didn’t know why but it did. She slowly walked up to the castles doors and looked behind herself to make sure she wasn’t followed. As she realized everything was safe, she opened the giant doors to the castle and stepped inside.

Author's Note

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Chapter 2 - The Nameless Alicorn

As Risen opened the door to the castle she was left speechless at the grand design of the entrance hall. The marble, while clearly over a thousand years old, still held strong. A grand staircase stood in front of her as she looked around. She wondered who it may have belonged to, or who it does belong to.

She was caught off guard as the door closed almost by itself. Risen ran back to the door, knowing something was wrong. As she reached, an eerie fog suddenly fell over certain areas of the field around her. It blocked her from opening the door, as well as going into any of the rooms around her. Even the stairs were closed off by the strange fog.

She heard the slight sound of hooves hitting the ground above her, and look to the top of the stairs. While at first she only heard the noise, a pony soon showed itself at the top of the stairs. She wasn’t a Pegasus like her, but she wasn’t a Unicorn either. She was both at the same time, having both the wings of a Pegasi and the horn of a Unicorn. This must have been the Alicorn that grave digger had mentioned.

The Alicorn’s mane and tail seemed to flow by itself, being a dark shade of blue, the edges of her mane were purple. It sparkled like the night sky as it flowed almost hypnotically in front of Risen. Her face showed the look of royalty and an unknown element to it. Her coat was an even darker shade of blue then her mane. Around her neck her coat formed what Risen could only describe as a bib with a moon like pattern on it.

“So thou has awakened,” The Alicorn said, her voice showing signs of elegance, but was yet just as haunting as the night around her. “Does thou wish to bring peace to Equestria,”

“What?” Risen asked not entirely sure what the Alicorn meant. “What do you mean by bring peace?”

The Alicorn let out a small sigh, she had not expected this response. “If the Risen standing in front of me doesn’t know what I mean,” The Alicorn jumped over the fog before continuing. “Then show me you have the understanding to fight,”

Without a warning the Alicorn summoned a spear from out of thin air, holding it as it formed in her magical grasp. Risen had no idea what was going on before the Alicorn launched toward her, causing her to hurryingly dodge out of the way. Her single dodge wasn’t enough though as the Alicorn seemed to predict her movement, swing the spear in the direction Risen had dodged. Risen found herself on the wrong end of the spear, dealing a nasty blow to her shoulder and grazing her neck slightly.

“Does thou wish to live?” The Alicorn said. “If so grab your weapon and face me in combat.”

Suddenly Risen realized why the grave keeper had given her the sword. This was a test to see how strong she was. She was suppose to prove herself to this nameless Alicorn that she could fight and survive. Knowing this she once again tightened the grip on the sword in her mouth and held what she thought was a battle position.

The Alicorn smiled as she saw this, but soon changed the expression to a more suitable one as she launched herself into the air. Risen waited to see where the Alicorn planned to land, which she knew would be right on top of her, and waited for the Alicorn to come down to the ground. After a second the Alicorn pointed the spear at the ground and made her way downward, the blow aiming straight for her stomach.

Knowing that the Alicorn couldn’t change her movement at the time (she was a Pegasus after all) Risen rolled to the side just a moment before her opponent reached the ground. The spear managed to going into a hole in the century old marble, causing it to get stuck as she landed on the ground.

Risen saw the chance to attack, and took it. Dashing back towards where the Alicorn was she swung her spear into the alicorns skin, but for some reason no blood was coming out of the Alicorn. Not only that, it didn’t seem like she was even flinching from the attacks she was causing. After about six swings she found that she might have gotten a little to greedy, she was out of breath and the weight of her weapon was slowing her down.

Only a few seconds after Risen had finished attacking did the Alicorn manage to remove her sword from the crack in the marble. Seeing the tired Pegasi she swung her spear at Risen who caught the full force of the blow. She fell to the ground a few feet away from where she once stood, a trail of blood leading to her current location. The blow was a fierce one, and it had definitely made her think before using all her energy to attack. It was obvious she was going to have to play defense, wait for an opening and then attack.

Getting back up Risen saw her opponent quickly closing the gap between themselves. The Alicorn was once again charging her with her spear, Risen knew what was coming this time. As the spear came within an inch of her face she side stepped it, watching as the Alicorn played the same motion as last time. The spear once again came from the direction she dodged to, but this time managed to roll under it.

Seeing that the spear was now a good distance away from her, she went in for a few more strikes. She got two slashes in, one to the leg and one across the chest, before stepping back. She was just in time as the spear was actually ready to strike her from the back. It just missed Risens ears, her eyes wide in terror at how close it had come to piercing her skull.

For a test, this felt all too real. It was like this Alicorn was trying to kill her, and while in most cases that wouldn’t be that bad. The fact that she was bleeding told her otherwise. The Alicorn was testing her yet was also killing her at the same time. What kind of a test was this?

Risen was so deep in thought she didn’t realize that the Alicorn was preparing another attack. She watched as the ponies spear pierced through her belly, staring in utter disbelief at what just happened. Blood continued to drip onto the ground as the Alicorn rose the spear high into the air and flung her straight across the room.

The pain was close to unbearable as she hit the floor holding her hooves over over her stomach. She knew she was going to die, she could clearly tell from the blood she was spilling. Risen closed her eyes as she realized something, she had only woken up over an hour ago and was already going to die again.

Then something dropped on the floor from in front of her. Chained to the end of her sword she noticed a bottle of pink liquid lying on the ground. A word popped into Risens head as she looked at it: Love Elixir. She had no idea what it meant, but something in her head told her to drink it.

She fumbled the bottle around in her hooves as she tried to get it towards her with one hoof, the other still holding onto her wound. After a little bit she managed to get it close enough to drink. Taking a risk she removed her hoof from wound in an attempt to open it. She watch as Alicorn watched her, she knew she wasn’t dead, but she was going to any second. If she was going to die again, might as well go out with something to drink.

A couple of seconds later and she managed to undo the top, quickly afterward drinking up the bottle in a single gulp. Whatever this Love Elixir stuff is was really sweet, something she found that she liked. It wasn’t just that, she felt strength returning to her and found herself able to stand up. She staggeringly got back up to her feet and gripped the sword once again in her mouth. While she hadn’t fully realized it, the wound across her stomach had been healed.

“So the Risen still has fight in it,” the Alicorn said out loud to herself.

Risen didn’t respond, taking an offensive with her new vigor and stamina. She charged forward at the Alicorn who seemed to realize she wouldn’t be getting a response. The Alicorn took a defensive stance as Risen charged at her, seeing the flaw of her charge. She blocked the sword as it was thrusted at her, Risen quickly realizing the position she had gotten into.

Risen quickly dodge to the left, and not a moment too soon as the Alicorn’s spear slammed into the ground. She took two quickly slashes at her opponent before quickly jumping back out of the spears reach. She didn’t know how she was suppose to take her opponent down when they weren’t even bleeding. What was going on.

She watched as the Alicorn once again jumped into the air. She knew what to expect and waited for her opponent to drop down. She cautiously stepped around in a circle as she waited for her opponent to make her move. After a few seconds the Alicorn made her way down only for Risen to dodge out of the way. The fierce blow ended up piercing the ground and she once again was stuck.

Hoping to end it here, Risen made her way to the back of the Alicorn preparing to jump. As her hooves left the ground she dropped the sword out of her mouth and clinched it in her fore hooves. With precision accuracy she drop the sword straight through the skin of the Alicorn and watched as her fell to the ground under her before turning into mist.

Soul Rested

Author's Note

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Chapter 3 - Two Sisters Castle

“Well done young risen,” Risen look behind her to see the Alicorn somehow still alive, speaking to her. “Thou shouldn’t worry about thy life. I still live and breath as the moon shall as well,”

“How?” Risen said to her shocked. “I stabbed you straight through the heart, how are you still alive?”

“Your opponent was merely an illusion of me with less than a quarter of my real power,” The Alicorn said. “No risen merely kills the princess of the night, it would be a disgrace to not just to me but to this castle,”

“The Princess of the Night?” The shock on Risen’s face refused to go away at the sound of this.

“Yes,” The Alicorn answered, “While thy name hast been lost to me my cause and purpose remains,” A frown grew upon her face as she looked up at a hole in the castles ceiling, looking at the moon. “Alas thou, what use is a princess of the Night if said night refuses to fade,”

Risen followed the Princess of the Nights gaze upward as she continued to speak. “It has been like this for five centuries. Thy sister refuses to raise the sun, the war staining her soul. She needs resting, such does the other two Alicorn princesses,” Her gaze shifted from the moon to Risen as she continued to speak. “Follow me, we shall head to the center of this great castle,”

Drawing her attention to the Princess of the Night, Risen followed the strange pony up the steps that had separated them and into a side door. Through the door stood a large clearing in the middle of the castle, a few others ponies sharing the space with her. In the middle stood an old lamp post, unlit only to Risen’s eyes. The princess lead her to the lamp post and stopped.

“Touch the lamp post,” The princess requested of the Risen. “Once touched thou shall be given a way back here whenever thou needs. Not only that, but whenever death may come of you, thou should awaken at the last lamp you rested at,”

Doing as the princess said, Risen placed a hoof on the top of the lamp post. As her hoof made contact, the lamp post suddenly burst into a blinding light. After the light died down, she looked at the lamp post to see it had been mysteriously lit by her touch. She sat down next to it, feeling strangely refreshed and watched as the empty bottle on the end of her sword filled up with the same strange liquid as before.

“Doesn’t thou know the power of the Love Elixir?” The princess asked seeing the confusion in Risens face. When the undead pony nodded to her, she let out a long sigh. “It is understandable, not many ponies know of the healing property of love. The idea was founded by our enemy during the war, they were known as Changelings. Love gave them strength, and in the early days of the war they had won off of the love shared by our kind. When we princesses found out, we used it against them, and learned that ponies to can be healed greatly by the emotion,”

“So why was it filled when I sat down at the lamp post just now?” She asked curious.

“While it is merely a theory yet to be proven,” The Princess of the Night began “We believe the lamp post gather the love of ponies who once walked these halls, they are the one who placed them here. That is not important however, what’s important is the fact that you have risen from the grave to help put to peace three troubled mines in Equestria,”

“The other princesses right?” Risen asked, remember what The Princess of the Night had said before fighting her.

“Correct,” The Princess said. “This land has been plagued with the suffering of innocence, something that has been hard one this one's mind for many years. The three princesses have had their souls darkened by that dreadful war and are hurting just as much as their citizens. Everytime I try and can’t bring myself to try and harm them, and such I ask of you dear risen, please give these princesses the peace they deserve,”

Hearing just how desperate the princess was, and thinking of what could be happening to those living in the kingdoms, Risen gave her reply. “Yes,” She said confident. “I would be willing to give peace to the princesses if it was what you wish,”

The Princess of the Night gave a smile of greatfulness as she heard those words. “We thank you,” She said dipping her head at Risen. “The facilities of this castle are open to you, if thou ever feels the need to get stronger just bring me souls in exchange. When thou feels ready to leave head the door at the end of the room,”

Risen nodded her head as the Alicorn Princess walked over to a corner of the room and sat down. She looked around the room, there was currently four other ponies besides her in the room from what she could tell. One was working at what seemed like an old blacksmithing station, one was sitting on the stairs to the right of her, and another in a chair asleep close to the door the Princess had mentioned. She decided to first visit the armor covered pony sitting next to her.

As she approached him, he looked up at her. “So you to have been awoken from death’s sleep,” His voice was deep and muffled by the iron visor hiding his face. “Sorry to hear it, and if you think I’m going to help you on your journey you are mistaken. Heh, I had that same look of confidence when I first accepted that princess’ request. Of course getting to those princesses is no easy feat,”

“What she said about dieing is true you know. I’ve been hit so many times I’m surprised I’m holding together. Whatever it is about the Lamp post keeps us from dieing no matter how hard we want to. Trust me, I already tried killing myself and it doesn’t work. Our only hope of sleeping again is to put the princesses to the blade,”

“Are you saying no one has managed to do it?” Risen asked in shock.

“Not a single pony has been able to kill the princesses,” The armored pony said in a sad voice “much less get to them. Once you exit through that door and get out of the Everfree you will find yourself in the outskirts of Ponyville. Once your there all you need to do is kill the three best guards in Twilights army and a dragon. Not that any risen I know has been able to defeat them. However, I think that might change,”

“Why is that?” Risen asked curiously.

“I’ve heard stories of the elements of harmony,” The armor clad pony explained “how five of them was slain by a traitor named Starlight Glimmer. However, you remind me of one of them, and if Twilight was to see you she might let you in. I doubt it will work, but still worth a shot. Not like we have many more options,”

The armor clad pony let a short and depressing laugh as he turned away. Risen realized she wasn’t going to get any more out of him, and walked away and toward an orange Earth Pony mare with a blond mane working at the blacksmith station. As she approached she got a small smile from the pony.

“Well I’ll be,” The Earth pony said in a country accent. “Haven’t seen a new face in these halls in a long time. Nice ta meetcha partner. The name's Applejack,”

“I’m Risen,” The undead pony replied. “At least that’s the name I’ve chosen, even if it’s more a title then a name. I don’t remember my own,”

“That happens to most of you Risen folks,” Applejack explained to her “I’m a Risen myself but I was lucky enough to remember my name. I’ve seen my fair share of adventure in the three centuries I’ve been awake but have given up myself on trying to kill princess Twilight. Somehow I just can’t bring myself to do it anymore,”

“Three centuries!” Risen jumped back a little surprised. “You’ve been alive for that long and no one has killed the princesses?”

“Nopony has even seen any of the princesses,” Appejack said nonchalantly “Been that way for five thousand years. Aye say that I might have been the last risen to ever see her. Aye wanted to kill her, but something just makes my stop from doing it. I’m not sure why but I just can’t,” Getting that thought out of her head, Applejack looked at the blade she was sharpening in her hooves. “Well Risen, you will need good arms if you are going to even think of battling the princesses. If ya bring me enough souls I’m willing to upgrade any weapon you have. Also, if you find these little cracked bottles on your journey, the ones we risens carry that Love Elixir stuff in, bring it to me and I’ll fix it in a jiffy,”

“Thanks Applejack,” Risen said with a smile on her face. “I’ll be back with those souls of yours,”

She couldn’t understand why Applejack looked so familiar, but she felt comfortable around the Earth Pony. It was like a reminder that she really wasn’t alone on this. She had support in her endeavor to put the princesses to rest. They both wanted the same thing, and they were going to try all they could to do it.

She headed over to the door and watched as the a hooded unicorn mare made her way over to her. Risen stopped in her track as the pony approached her. The hooded unicorn stopping only a few inches from Risen, who calmed down as she realized they had stopped their approach. The unicorn lifted the hood of her face to reveal that she had an aqua coat, mane, and tail with a small bit of white going down the middle of her mane.

“That was an amazing battle!” She suddenly yelled out of nowhere. “I was sure the princess was going to win against you but then you drink that love thingy and… it was just incredible,”

“Um, thanks,” Risen said, rubbing her hoof against the back of her head. “It was nothing really,”

“It’s still amazing,” The aqua unicorn said, starting to evade Risens personal space. “You beat her in ONE TRY! I don’t see a lot of risens that can do that. Sure you would have lost if you didn’t heal but still amazing,” Suddenly realizing how she was acting, the aqua unicorn backed away a little bit. “Sorry about that, the names Lyra, I run a bit of a shop here in the castle. I’m a risen to, but I prefer treasure hunting and item collecting to killing creatures. That doesn’t mean I’ve never killed a pony just not as many as most others, and I love treasure. If you ever need anything like weather magic or maybe some things to enchant your weapon come see me okay,”

Risen nodded in responce as Lyra put the hood back on and walked over to the lamp post. She waved goodbye to Risen before touching the lamp post and vanishing from view. Not knowing what had just happened, Risen pushed it to the back of her mind and made her way over to the doors.

She look at the gigantic doors that stood in front of her, opening them alone seemed like a daunting task. As soon as she opened that door she was by herself, a feeling that didn’t satisfy her. However, at this point her needs weren’t the concern, it was the needs of others around her. She shook away the thought of turning back and put a hoof onto the door.

“Young risen,” She looked to see The Princess of the Night speaking to her. “Once thou triumphs over the once delightful Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle, place this in the balcony,” A flag with the moon on its banner suddenly appeared strapped to her back. “It is a signal that the Princess is no more, and more importantly that the land is free. Show it and I will arrive to send you to your next place,”

Risen nodded her head and turned back to the door in front of her. With one last sigh she placed her front hooves on the door and pushed. With all her strength she pushed the door as it slowly opened to the world around her. As the doors came out of her reach she stepped onto the ground and looked up at the forest in front of her.

The journey had now truly begun...

Author's Note

Like, comment, and follow to show your love for this story and my others. Also, a reminder that you can request boss music from bloodbourne and dark souls to use in this. With that, I will see you all later.

Chapter 4 - Everfree ruins

Risen looked around at the ruined room in front of her. This seemed to once be part of the castle that the princess had lived in. Whatever happened, the place was overgrown with forest and most of the upper floor seemed to be gone by the looks of it. No doubt other things would have taken up residence by how old it looked. It brought a feeling of dread into Risens heart, seeing what had become of what was once probably a beautiful castle.

She walked through the room studying everything with a watchful eye. She didn’t feel safe like she did in the actual castle. The place held a feeling of fear and was somehow disturbing to her. That being said, there was nothing in the room and she was thankful to avoid another fight after the one she had just been through.

She walked through the room as the ambiance of the forest in front of her seemed like the only company she had. Her sword was firmly grasped in her teeth, ready for whatever came after her. She walked up to the wall that separated her from one the rest of the forest, it was to big and sturdy for her to climb or knock over. She would have to go around it. Her attention turned to the two sets of stairs that was to her left and right. Seemed to lead to doors at opposite ends of the castle. No doubt one of these ways had an exit.

Risen first made a turn to the left and walk up the stairs on that side of the room. They weren’t in as good of shape as the stairs on the other side, but they were still useable. When she got to the top she was greeted by a door that had been knocked to the ground and was rooting from the years since it must have been last replaced. As she entered the room she was greeted by a destroyed upper floor, looking down to see that the entire room bellowed her had been destroyed as well.

She was about to turn around until she saw a skeleton next to her. At first she didn’t see anything remarkable about it, but then she saw the shield it was carrying. With a closer look, she realized that it was a Pegasus designed shield, meant to fit on a the wing for use. Risen knew that this was her best choice for armor right now, and took it willingly. As is firmly fell into place on her wing, she felt somewhat weighed down by it. It was heavier than her, but at the moment it was all she had for defense. If it was heavy, that was fine as long as it did the job.

She walked out of the room, nothing else useful in it and no way to get to the bottom floor without majorly hurting herself. She walked down the stairs, being careful not to fall down with how heavy the shield was on her wing. She made her way up to the left side of the room and walked through the door that was halfway falling off the hitch. She pushed it open only for it to fall to the ground in front of her without any effort.

As she walked into the room she found herself standing in a hallway with a small break in the wall leading outside. Grateful to find a way to the outside world, she took off down the hall. As she approached it, she was unaware of the creature that was in the doorway to the right of the hole. As she reached it, she was caught off guard by the creature and was bitten in the leg. As she fell to the floor she looked behind her saw another Timberwolf, this one smaller than the one she had fought earlier. In fact it was about her size.

She shook it off of her leg and looked at the weird creature as it snarled at her. She took a defensive stance as it launched itself at her, blocking with her new shield as it did. As it hit the end of her shield, she fell backwards a bit, the weight of the shield knocking her to the ground for a second. Getting back up on her hooves she looked to the creature to see that it was charging at her. Dodging to the side the Timberwolf crashed into the wall of the castle, stunning it for just long enough for Risen to strike it down with the vicious swings of her sword.

She watched for a second as a strange white mist came up and dove into her body. The word souls came to her mind as this happened, this must have been what Applejack, Lyra, and The Princess of the Night had been talking about earlier. As the souls entered her, she felt somewhat comforted by the warmth of them, as creepy as it sounded. Of course that warmth soon faded away as the souls adjusted themselves in her body.

Turning away from the now dead Timberwolf she walked to through the hole in the wall that lead outside of the castle. While it did lead her outside, there was no way of her getting down without jumping and shattering at least two of her knees on impact. She knew she wasn’t getting down that way, but searched the platform she was currently on for anything of interest. Sadly, there was nothing, her ears flattened as she realized the false hope that she had been given.

Heading back into the castle she looked down the hallway that she was currently located in. The only door she hadn’t gone through was at the very end of it, to the left of her at the moment. It was the only way she currently had and it was her best hope of getting out of the castle. She walked to the end of the room and was meet with a rather… Unwelcoming sight.

To her right was some stairs leading downstairs onto the ground floor of the castle. On the floor below her she saw probably three Timberwolves, all awake And wandering around her. This was just perfect, she would have to go down there because it was the only way to get to the castle's ground floor for what she knew and her hooves would easily attracted attentions. That was clearly the one downfall to having hooves, anything could hear you coming no matter how quiet you tried to be.

Trying the best she could Risen slowly made her way over the small group of Timberwolves below her. The ever present sound of her hooves reminded just how quickly this could go wrong. She stood over the group from the second level of the castle. Risen patiently waited for two of the other Timberwolves to either separate or to turn their back to another. No way she could hit all three and if this was going to work perfectly she would need a little time to recover. Those creatures seeing her slaughter another one of them would only make it worse.

Finally, after what felt like an hour two of the Timberwolves headed back down the hallway underneath Risen and out of view. Taking this chance she jumped from her position high up and land straight on the other Timberwolf. Doing just like she had with the princesses illusion earlier she took her sword and drilled it through the creature. Once again she felt the warm feeling of souls entering her body, confirming to her that it was dead.

Before she had time to pull her sword fully out the other two Timberwolves were on her. One of them managed to catch ahold of her neck as Risen and her sword was both pulled away from the Timberwolves dead body. As she tried to squirm free from the creature's grasp she felt as the creatures canines sunk deeper into her skin. After what felt like an eternity she somehow managed to shake the creature of off her.

Quickly she dodged out of the way of one of the Timberwolves coming towards her, the pain in her neck feeling unbearable. She wanted to reach for the love Elixir she had, but yet another attack came from the Timberwolves and she was forced to once again dodge. Trying to bare the pain she swung her sword at one of the Timberwolves, hitting it straight in the neck. As she finished her strike she almost fell to the ground in pain at the amount of blood that was pouring out of her body.

She could focus on the pain for long though as the one remaining Timberwolf bit her leg and tossed her across the room somehow. Forcing herself off the ground she looked at the Timberwolf as it charge at her aiming for her neck. All she could was look away in as the creature came toward her. She expected to be killed right there, but instead she heard a howl of pain come from the creature. Looking back, she realized that her sword had managed to pierce right through the Timberwolf because she turned her head. Painful shaking the dead creature off the sword she turned to the bottle of love elixir she had, quickly drank the entire thing.

She watched as the wounds in her body heal up magically, staring in wonder at the entire thing. The only injury that didn’t heal was the small bite mark from the first Timberwolf she encountered. Risen realized that it could only heal to certain amounts, meaning that she would have to be careful about using it in the future, especially since she only had one. Getting up she eyed what looked like a closed door at the end of the room. Running up to it she quickly opened the door and quickly stopped herself. While the rest of the room was in better shape there was a gigantic hole in front of her that covered the right side of the room.

Watching her step she made her way to the left side of the room as she noticed what looked like several skeletons in the pit. They were clearly many years old and from the looks of the armor they must have all been from the war. How many ponies died here? The question itched Risens mind as she walked away from the pit to another door in front of her. Looking in front of her she realized that she had made it to the front of the castle, with the gigantic doors knocked down in front of her. Looking outside she saw more ruins of other buildings that seemed to have been part of the question. Then she saw the knocked out bridge in the canyon at the edge of the forest clearing. Great, she would have to get over there some other way now.

Looking back to the center of the room she saw another lamp post in the middle unlit. Walking over to it she quickly touched it again as the oil inside it burst to life. She didn’t know why, but it still blinded her even after seeing how bright the last one was. That being said, it felt nice being near the campfire, and she was completely unaware of the fact the small bite on her hoof had completely disappeared as she stood near it.

After a couple of seconds she walked away, feeling renewed and alive. Seeing the lamp post gave her a feeling of comfort, something she was surprise about. At the same time, she liked it. She felt safe near it’s light compared everywhere else. It wasn’t something she fully understands, but she honestly didn’t care. All that mattered was she was somewhere that felt comfortable to her. That being said, she knew her presence wasn’t needed at any lamp posts.

As she walked out of the castle she felt the cold night wind against her coat. It felt wonderful, no matter how chilly it was in the end. Looking around she tried to find away to cross the gap that stood in front of her and the forest. Looking to her right she saw a hole in a tower connected to the castle. Deciding that was the best place to turn to Risen made her way over to the tower.

As she climbed inside she realized just how badly in shape it was compared to the other places. At least the inside of the castle looked mostly intact, this place was nothing short of a complete wreck. The entire second floor, save for a small ledge holding a bookshelf, had crashed down onto the first floor. Everything in the room was either smashed or buried under the immense pile of rubble. However, one thing manage to catch her eye.

What looked like a piece of light chain mail armor covered a skeleton. She slowly and cautiously took it off the skeleton it was on and examined it. While being bare naked in Equestria wasn’t bad, it didn’t help much in terms of defense and had almost gotten her killed back there with both The Princess of the Night and the Timberwolves. After a few seconds she managed to finally get it on. The metal felt cold and unnatural to her as she let it rest on her body. However, she wouldn’t let that keep her from wearing it.

As she stepped out of the tower she noticed that the only other place she could go was the right tower. In front of it was a small wall of marble that seemed to house training equipment for soldiers. Walking over to it she felt the eyes of something watching her, but she didn’t see anything moving besides herself. As she reached the small training yard she walked over to the open doors of the tower.

Only for them to be closed with magic before she was even able to step inside.

Author's Note

I'll just admit it now, this was a hard chapter to write. Most of the area's later on will at least have some things for me to write about but considering I already knew what areas, bosses, and other things I was going to use this was just hard to write. I will also admit however that I am really excited to write the next chapter. With that however, please like, comment, follow, and check out my other stories.

Chapter 5 - The Sorceress

Risen ran to the door and started banging hard on the door, but the magic on it refuse to fade away as she did. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath before hitting the door one last time. How was she going to cross the gap standing between her and the rest of the Everfree? She didn’t remember how to fly, and even then the shield was weighing her down to much to even think of that as a possibility.

She heard the sudden sound of hooves behind her, and looked to see what she had heard. Behind her was a pony with her entire body cloaked saved for a light purple horn and a slightly darker purple tail with two teal stripes going through it. She could see the breath of the pony in the cold night air, but couldn’t see her face. The cloak she wore covered her body from head to hoof. It was a dull brown that seemed to have been self woven.

“It seems you block my path,” The cloaked pony said with a really scratchy and old voice, her invisible eyes trained onto the fog that had once again mysteriously risen. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to kill you again. That being said, it doesn’t seem possible,”

She turned around to face Risen, and thanks to the faint light of the towers torch, Risen was able to catch a small glimpse of the ponies wrinkly old muzzle. She looked like she had been alive for ages, the fading color of her coat hair showed that. She looked like a sorceress more than anything else, from her age to the cloak and of course the fact she was a unicorn. Risen stepped back as she looked at the sorceress in front of her.

“Who are you?” She asked the pony, her hooves shaking at their intimidating presence.

“I won't matter will it,” The sorceress said in a rather harsh tone as she used magic to unbuckle an ax that had been invisible to Risen’s view. “You’ll be dead soon anyways, just like the way my ancestor wanted to keep you,”

That ax was all Risen needed to know what was about to happen. She watched as the sorceress slowly step towards her, ax guarding her from a strike. Once again gripping her sword she started moving away from the tower door and kept a watchful eye on the ax that the sorceress had. Risen didn’t feel as comfortable as she did when she was fighting the Alicorn, mostly due to how little space she had. She was contained to a rather small square surrounded by heavy marble and cluttered with rusted weapons and old training dummies.

Suddenly the sorceress swung the ax with full force at Risen, who barely managed to dodge out of the way of the strike. Looking back she saw her opponent ready to swing the ax straight down at her with heavy force. She rolled out of the way, once again barely dodging the attack. She finally got back up onto her feet as the sorceress breathed heavily. It seemed that even using magic drained your energy and no doubt the sorceresses age had cause her a lot of stamina to do just those to swings.

Taking advantage of her position, Risen rushed in with a leaping strike and let out a good slash. As she went for a second one she found that her opponent had disappeared in front of her. Without a moment to realize what just happened she felt the ax suddenly cut into her side. Falling down onto the ground from they blow, she looked at where she was hit to see that her armor had taken most of the hit for her.

“How rude,” She heard the sorceress mock, seeing her standing at the other end of their arena. “I thought someone like you would no better than to hit an old mare like me,”

Getting back up onto her feet she looked the sorceress in the eyes. “I’m sorry but aren’t you the one that attacked me first?” She asked hoping for an answer.

She didn’t get one, instead she was responded by the sorceress using her magic to hurl the ax towards her. Quickly moving out of the way, she kept an eye on the weapon as it stopped its motion exactly where she had just stood. Risen watched as it then changed its direction towards her, once again darting out of the way as it grazed the side of her mane. As she regain her balance she made a jump slash at the sorceress, hitting her in the face. Once again she teleported away as Risen went in for another strike.

The pattern was, overly predictable. Risen didn’t get exactly how this pony was planing to defeat her when the attacks were so predictable. Not just that but every time the sorceress went to attack she was left wide open. This couldn’t be another test, something deep inside Risen told her that this pony wanted to kill her. Just like how The Princess of the Night was being rather rough on her, this was feeling overwhelmingly easily, even with the constant teleportation.

Once again the ax swung magically at Risen in a downward strike. Easily she moved to the side and made her way back to the sorceress, not seeing the smirk the cloaked pony had on her face. Without warning the sorceress’ horn lit up and the aura turned into the shape of a great sword. Risen looked wide eyed, unable to roll in time as the attack cut easily into her armor. Risen was surprised at how real the attack was, and how much it hurt. She noticed that the magic easily cut into her chain mail and left a good sized wound on her stomach. She winced as she got up, not caring at all about the blood she was losing.

The sorceress was laughing at her, “You really think I would be killed that easily,” She managed through her laughter. “That armor won’t protect you that much,”

Risen put a hoof on the wound as it bleed, it didn’t seem to pierce any organs, but it had definitely left it’s mark. She wasn’t prepared for the magic spear that the sorceress had, and as a pegasi she had no way of countering it. This pony meant to kill her, and she wasn’t going to let that happen.

Risen gripped her sword even harder as she focused her gaze on the sorceress. The ax floated by the ponies side and she had a devilish grin on her face. Was she enjoying this? Risen didn’t want to know, and didn’t have time to think as the ax once again tossed itself at her. She dodged out of the way, wincing at the pain her wound gave her. The ax soared passed her and she quickly fumbled for her Elixir, drinking it all. The wound almost fully healed, with only a small scratch now visible to her. She was not going to be able to heal for the rest of this fight now that it was empty.

She waited for the ax as it whizzed past her, just barely missing her body as it made it’s way back to the sorceresses side. Risen ran toward her, this time noticing the glow emitting from her opponent’s horn and jumping forward as the mystical blade cut into the bottom of her hoof. She rolled as her body hit the ground and blocked an ax attack with her shield. The sorceress once again found herself out of breath and Risen took a jab at her throat, only for her damage to be stopped by metal that covered that area.

When she noticed the horn glow again, she got in idea. Just before her opponent was about to teleport away, Risen took her shield and whacked it against the sorceress’ face, stunning her long enough for Risen to shift to the unicorns side. She took a slash, finding a weak spot in the armor and hitting her opponent's flesh. The cloak ripped and Risen saw exactly where she had cut, blood already making it’s way to the wound.

As Risen connected her attack, her opponent started up another spell, her horn once again being wrapped in an aura in the shape of a sword. Turning her head the sorceress launched Risen into the air with an attack sending the pegasus flying away from her. Risen landed on the ground at the opposite side of their battlefield, getting up to feel another wound in her stomach. However, the cut wasn’t as deep as the one from earlier. The sorceress only used it to knock her away, not necessarily to damage her.

Getting up Risen once again charged forward to close in the gap between her and her opponent. The sorceress didn’t let her focus on the mystic sword go, slashing into the ground as Risen charged forward. Doing the best she can, Risen dodge the numerous attacks from her opponent, some just slightly hitting her. One of her hooves found itself on the receiving end of her attack and had been actually been sliced off, causing Risen to tumble forward. She didn’t spend long on the ground however as another attack came in not long after, quickly rolling to the side.

Her opponent collapsed, over exhausting herself with her attempts to stop Risen. Getting up, Risen charged straight forward sword ready as her opponent lied there on the ground. She felt mean fighting this way, but her opponent wouldn’t give her a chance once she woke up. With a single motion Risen jumped into the air, landing on her opponent's back as the sword pierced straight through her. The sorceress screamed in pain, eyes wide as she realized she had lost.

“You fool,” Risen looked at her as she spoke. “You will never… end the age… of the Alicorns rule,”

Soul rested

With that the sorceress disappeared, her soul finding a home in Risens body. This wasn’t like when she faced The Princess of the Night, the pony she fought wasn’t an illusion. She saw the blood that stained her sword, the blood that covered her armor, and the spot were part of her hoof had been sliced off. She just killed a pony, something that made her stomach turn in a way she couldn’t explain. It felt awful, but at the same time she knew it was necessary. That pony somehow was going to kill her, even with the lamp post lit back inside the castle. Most of all, she felt like she got revenge, revenge for something that had happened long ago to her.

Push the thought away she made her way up to the to the tower doors, blood silently dripping from the wounds she had gained in the battle. The seal that held the door shut was gone with the Sorceress, and she opened them with minimal pain to burden. The tower was in much better shape than the one on the other side of the castle yard, but most importantly there was a path for her. The stairs were actually stable compared to the state of the other towers, and the second floor was still standing above her. She made her way on up to the second floor, finding another lamp post inside of it. To the right she spotted an opening in the tower exterior, high above the ground that separated her from the rest of the forest.

After a short rest from the newly lit lamp post, which healed her wounds like the earlier one, she looked out the hole in the tower. Straight below her was the same crevasse that had kept her from the outside. Examining the distance she was from the ground, she came up with a plan. She stepped back to the end of the room, turning to the hole in the wall. She charged forward towards the opening, and jumped. She opened her wings, the armor and shield was to heavy to allow her to fly, but she was still able to glide. She crossed the crevasse and floated down onto the grass on the other side of the forest.

She was now truly in the Everfree forest...

Author's Note

Yet another chapter finished, I can't say how happy I am to see you all are enjoying this story. This thing has managed to get one hundred views in less time then any fanfic I have written! I feel like that by itself is a bit of a success. Anyways, please leave a like, comment, and follow if you wish. I'm always looking for feedback and would love it if you guys told me what boss music from soulsbourne you think would fit these bosses the most.

Chapter 6 - The Everfree

Risen landed on the soft grass in the Everfree forest, endless trees lined the edge of the clearing as she looked in front of her. It was dark against the never ending glow of the night. A chill ran down her spine as she looked into the darkness of the forest. Everything about that gave her feeling, something that said this place wasn’t right. It was like when she killed the sorceress, it felt like she was glimpsing into parts of her past life. It confused Risen, she wasn’t sure whether she should be happy or sad about what she had done.

To her right, Risen spotted a dirt path that had once lead to the castle. The bridge that had connect the two sides of the crevasse long since destroyed. Many parts of the path had been covered by grass, but was of course still slightly visible. It seemed weird for there to be a path out of this forest, or even for a castle to be here. She didn’t think about it that much. She had a way to go before she got to Ponyville, and this forest was most likely more dangerous than the castle.

Without further thought she made her way over to the road and followed it into the forest, nothing but the occasional chirping of crickets and the wind blowing through the trees. It was darker the normal, back in the castle light showed through the holes in the ceiling. Here that wasn’t the case. The trees completely blocked the moon leaving an even more unsettling feeling in Risen. She couldn’t see that far in front of her, and what she did was simply silhouettes of what was really there. She never even noticed that she had stepped off the path, heading into a much more dangerous part of the woods.

She didn’t realize that something was wrong until she came up to what seemed like a small swamp of sorts. She could smell the odor of the murky water, and it overwhelmed her nose. She tried her best to pinch her nose close, but gave up after using her hooves had proven unsuccessful at the task. She couldn’t describe just how bad it smelled, considering that any memory of something like this had long since disappeared. Still, she had a quest to take and it was important that she continued onward.

As she stepped in the water, she held back the urge to gag at the unsettling squish of the mud underneath her hooves. Thankfully, her hoof hadn’t gotten stuck in the mud, as it was just solid enough to not feel like glue. She slowly waded through the marshy water, taking slow steps just in case the mud sucked up one of her hooves. She had no idea what kind of creatures laid in this forest, and was glad she hadn’t met any yet. After about five minutes she finally reach a small little rise of land in the middle of the water, and the sound of movement catching her ears.

Before she knew what it was, something bit her back left hoof, and she howled in pain. Looking back, she saw a rockadile pulling her slowly into the water. Her reactions took hold as she grabbed her sword and started swinging it at the creature, only to see her attempts end up as useless. The scales of the creature were too thick for the sword, and every attempt to slice its throat ending in a clink as the scales and sword hit. As the Risen’s injured hoof hit the water, she changed her target, aiming at the creatures eye.

With all her force, she thrusted her head forward, sword held tight, and managed to successfully blind the creatures left eye. The rockadile opened its mouth, as it winced in pain from the strike, giving Risen just a enough time to crawl out of the creatures reach. She couldn’t fight it, not unless she found something that could possibly break the reptile’s scales. Of course, given the current condition of her leg, she knew she couldn’t out run the Rockadile. She tried to grab her elixir, but her enemy was faster. Before she could grab the potion, the Rockadile bit down on the same leg he had before. The pain drew Risen’s attention away from her potion, as the Rockadile quickly began dragging her backwards. That’s when a figure came out from the distance.

At first, she thought it was an enemy, before recognizing the teal fur of the unicorn’s muzzle under it. The unicorn rushed forward, seeing the on-going commission, pulling out a large weapon. Before Risen could get a good look at the weapon, the unicorns cloak flew off, revealing Lyra underneath it. Lyra charged forward, jumping over Risen and landing on the Rockadile, the large weapon held in her magic slicing right into the creature's stomach. It fell to the ground, it’s soul entering the unicorn’s body.

“You have to be more cautious,” Lyra told Risen as the pegasus sipped the love elixir. “It’s only going to be harder farther down the road, and ponies won’t be there to save you inside of Ponyville. The lamp posts may revive you, but the souls of those you have slain will escape. Souls give us power, and we need that power to take down the alicorns.”

Risen didn’t respond, simply watching as Lyra used the large weapon to cut the leather off of the Rockadile. Now that she had time to think, she could see that the unicorn’s weapon was a giant sword with strings in the middle of the blade. Looking from the blade to the Rockadile, Risen was curious as to what Lyra was doing. The blade easily cut through the monster's skin, and as Lyra looked back, she could see the look of confusion on Risen’s face.

“That skin of rockadile, while not the most comfy of stuff, makes for good protection,” She explained. “Applejack could probably make this into a fine shield or some heavy armor. Given only an earth pony would probably be able to use it, but with the risen out there trying to retake Equestria it might come in hand.”

“Huh, interesting,” Risen said. “Thanks for saving me, but I have a duty to fulfill. Maybe we will might again.”

“Before you go, I want you to have something,” Lyra said, reaching into a saddlebag. She pulled out strange looking item, the same color that the souls had when they entered her body but in the shape of a amulet. “It’s called the soul amulet, you can use it to call other ponies who have risen from the grave. Of course, sometimes those ponies aren’t so friendly, so be careful about using it.”

“Thanks,” Risen said, with a smiling. “I must be going Lyra, but I wish you the best of luck.”

Lyra smiled back. “I wish you the same. Let the Princess of the Night guide you to victory.”

With that, Risen made her way farther into the Everfree, now checking more cautiously for anything that might attack her. She looked at her sword, the previous encounter still on her mind. Her sword had done nothing to that creature, and it became clear through that she would need more than just this weapon to guide her to victory. She would have to use a lamp post to get back to the castle. She remembered what Applejack had told her, and the broken bottle that the sorcerous had dropped on defeat. Risen couldn’t help but slightly confused on how Applejack was going to get more Love Elixir for her.

A few minutes after leaving Lyra, Risen spotted a light in the distance. It wasn’t a lamp post, as the was yellow instead of the faint white glow one of the lamp posts gave off upon touching them. She trudge through the swamp, slowly making her way to whatever light it was she saw in the distance. The forest was uncomfortable silent, and she watched everything with alertness. She could hear the howl of something in the distance, which she recognized as the howl of a Timberwolf.

As she reached dry land, Risen tried to get as much of the mud on her body off as possible. After most of the dirt was off her body, she started towards the light that no longer seemed so far away. She galloped in the direction of the light hoping for a pony to be at the location. She looked around her, making sure nothing was watching her. As the light came within just a few feet from her, she suddenly felt the warmth of safety. Pushing one more bush out of her way, she looked at the source.

What she saw a small hut with a lamp post in front of it. There was light inside of said hut with the silhouette of someone inside looking at Risen. The silhouette disappeared not long after Risen saw it, and decided to light the lamp post first before investigating. Like the other lamp posts it burst to life at the touch, and when the light faded the sound of a door creaking open filled her ears. She turned around to be greeted by a zebra.

“Ah, another Risen passing by,” The zebra said. “Haven’t see your kind, let alone a newly risen, come this far.”

“How do you know what I am?” Risen asked.

“Your kind have happened to visit hear before, but it was a many years ago,” The zebra respond as she approached the lamp post. “My ancestors were shamans, and I have been named after the first to accompany this lonesome place. I am Zecora, though not the one known by the memory of your Princess of the Night,” Zecora sat down next to the lamp post. “Tell me newly risen, does thou wish to venture forward into ponyville?”

“It is my plan,” Risen answered, sitting down next to Zecora. “Why do you ask?”

“In the past, my ancestors have refused to help in what they deemed ‘cruel acts on the misfortunate’,” Zecora explained. “How, I feel different than they do. Poisons, potions, and many other things are a trade of mine. I also happen to keep talismans, written spells usable to earth ponies and pegasi.”

As Zecora told of what she could do, Risen thought about the dangers ahead. She had no idea what could be ahead of her, but that armored pony back in the palace mentioned challenges outside the forest. She would need the help of others, even if she must fight alone. Those willing to give things in aid were exactly what she needed.

“Your help would be greatly appreciated Zecora,” Risen responded, nodding.

“Than I shall make my way to the Palace of the Two Sisters, where I shall store my goods,” Zecora told Risen with a smile. “You must bring souls in return. Nothing is free and I have uses for them even if not undead,” She rose to her hooves and started walking away, only turning her head to say. “I wish you safe travels, wherever the may be.”

When Zecora vanished into the forest, Risen rose from the ground. She wished to not be idle, knowing she had a destination. As she past by the small hut that belonged to Zecora, she could see the clearing of trees far in the distance. She was getting close. The outskirts of Ponyville were in sight by this point. She picked up her pace for some time, heading for the treeline…

… all until she heard the familiar howl of something in the distance. What worried her, however, is that there was more than just one.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long, and that it was so short for how long it took. I really didn't know what to do with the Everfree considering that it wasn't overly plot relevant other then being the way to outer ponyville. Still, I hope you all enjoyed it.

Please like, comment, and follow to show feedback for this story and others. No telling when the next chapter will be up, but I have no plans on quitting this story. In that case I'll see you all sometime in the future.

Chapter 7 - Timberwolf Pack

The scampering of wooden paws filled the air around Risen, running through the bushes around her. She couldn’t track a single on with the amount there was, which she didn’t want to make an estimate of. She took out her blade as she listened, waiting for the first one to strike her. Suddenly a snarl came from behind her as a Timberwolf lunged towards her. She barely dodged the attack, and as quickly as she could swung at the creature. All she ended up hitting was air, a mistake that left wide open as another wolf jumped behind her.

It bit her neck, attempting to tear a hole in it only to get kicked off by Risen. Staggering back to her feet, Risen breathed heavily as she looked before her. It was than that a lower, more sinister growl came from the bushes. Slowly emerging from the shadows was a much bigger Timberwolf, easily twice Risen’s size. It’s eyes pierced into her empty body with a hunger more feral than any of the wolves. The three wolves proceeded to circle Risen, who watched each one as carefully as she could. If one stuck her again, than they all will follow in seconds. She wasn’t injured from the bite, but it put enough worry in her to be cautious.

After several seconds, one of the wolves finally took a chance from behind. Risen realized it in an instant as the Timberwolf proceeded to crouched and lunge. It was more than enough time for her to dodge the attack, looking back to the other small wolf as it did the same. Her sword and shield were ready this time, and as the wolf came within distance of her neck she hit it with the side of her shield. The Timberwolf rolled backwards from impact, and Risen readied herself to finish it only for the bigger of the three to bash her to the ground. She got onto her hooves as quickly as she could, just managing to see one of the smaller ones rush at her.

This time she used the wolves lunge against them. Readying her sword, she ducked as the wolf went over her and tipped the blade just enough to pierce the creatures wooden skull. The blade cut through the Timberwolves body cleanly, slicing it in half by the time it feel to the floor. She could here the other smaller wolf whimper in fear, receive a growl from the bigger one. It was that moment Risen realised what the bigger Timberwolf must have been. It was the alpha of a pack, most likely the same one she had seen when she first awoken.

She was caught off guard as said alpha wolf bit down into her left shoulder, a yelp of pain coming from Risen as it surged through her body. The giant Timberwolf lifted her effortlessly off the ground, blood dripping from the wound. Risen’s pain only worsened as the beast shook her around the air effortlessly, disorienting her. Finally, the timber wolf threw her against a tree, a violent snap in playing in her ears. Risen fell to the ground seconds later, her sword inches away from her. She could hear the sound of paws against the grass, slowly coming towards her.

Looking to the place her sword had landed, she saw the love elixir. Knowing it was her only hoping staying alive, Risen crawled as quickly as she could towards the blade. After only two seconds she stopped as the grass brushed against the area her shoulder was bitten. A risky glance ahead told showed that the smaller Timberwolf was picking up speed, and the alpha watching not far behind. See this, Risen picked up her pace, trying to hold in the pain she was currently feeling. The distance between her and the smaller Timberwolf closed rapidly as both continued to quicken their paces till they were almost on top of each other.

The pony and wolf looked eyes as there muzzles came within distance of touching each other, neither moving. Both knew what might happen if the other acted, and that neither had the upper hand. Risen, still bleeding, looked to the blade right underneath the Timberwolf with a longing to have it in her possession again. Of course she also knew that grabbing the sword would give the Timberwolf a perfect view of her neck, where no armor laid. Risen lifted her right hoof into the air as the Timberwolf opened it’s mouth. Not long after those small movements were made, both Risen and the Timberwolf burst into action.

The next few seconds seemed to fly by, but Risen could specifically remember lunging forward and grabbing her sword. As that happened the Timberwolf went for her neck, missing only by a few centimeters thanks to how quickly Risen moved. In response, Risen lifted her sword straight into the air, cutting through the lower body of her attacker. As the Timberwolf fell to the ground, Risen took the opportunity to use her Elixir to heal herself.

That didn’t give her much time to react as the alpha charged her. Risen quickly rolled to the side, barely escaping the jaws that had almost ended her life moments ago. The timberwolf turned around before it hit a nearby tree, growling at her in feral anger. It lunged at her, but she was more than ready for the action as she jumped under it’s massive body. The wolf couldn’t see her looking around before sniffing the air. By that point, Risen already knew what to do.

Without shame or wound to her dignity, Risen took her blade and craved a gash into the timberwolves’ flank. The alpha howled in pain, the beast attempting to kick the Risen away from her. It failed, and in order to keep it from moving any more the pony sliced cleanly through the the wolf’s wooden hind legs. It fell to the ground, it’s anger turned to fear as it attempted escape Risen’s sword. That, however, was stopped when Risen jumped onto it’s back and thrusted the sword into the wooden spine.

Then, as strange as it seemed, the battle was over. It was quick, but horribly painful for both the pony and timberwolves around her. It didn’t come back to life like she expected it to, and neither did the other ones around her. Risen decided to see what she had just hit, and started carving into the dead timberwolves body. It took a while, but she finally found something, something she recognized all to well: a heart.

Something in the back of her mind told her this was unnatural. Timberwolves didn’t have hearts, as they didn’t need blood due to being made of wood. For a heart to be placed inside the creature, it made Risen curious. She looked around, noticing that no lamp post had appeared after the battle.

“Perhaps the Princess of the Night knows something about this,” She said to herself, starting to make her way back to the lamp near Zecora’s hut.

Now that she thought of it, the heart wasn’t the only thing she wanted to know about.

Author's Note

So... it’s been a while and-

Oh who am I kidding this is something VERY long overdue. I’ve wanted to get back to this story but just... haven’t for some reason. However, with me putting Danganronpa V.E. on hold I figured that there would be no better time to get back to buisness then now.

Anyways, next episode we are returning to the castle for the first time and I just wanted to know, any special weapons you maybe want to see Risen use in the future? Dark Souls has so many different weapons that it would be a shame to just use a sword the entire time. Your choice, have fun with it.

Prologue

Yes indeed.

It was called Equestria, a beautiful land filled with hope and love. Through the ages, no evil was able to defeat it. From the dark pits of tartarus, to the strange chaos dimension, no evil would seem to stand a chance. It was a shining beacon to the wonderful world around.

But like all lights, it shall fade. Darkness consumed the world in the form of war, and the hope and love vanished. The hearts of ponykind was stained in hate and anger, even corrupting its three princesses. Soon, the land of Equestria was no more. Only a land drenched in darkness remained.

The three princesses turned against each other and against there own morals, proving to be just as affected as others. Princess Twilight shut herself in her castle, her faithful dragon and loyal guards imprisoned the fair citizens of her kingdom. Cadence turned into a mad mare, torturing anyone who would dare defy her. Celestia, the most powerful of all three of them, corrupted in war, would never raise the sun again and shut herself away.

Yet the light still burned in one soul who gave up her title and name. The nameless Alicorn sought refuge in an old castle in the dangerous Everfree. She watched as the Risen, those disturbed by the calling of a loved one, came up from the grave. She knew that when the throne was clear of these three poor princesses, a new ruler would be able to lead Equestria out of the darkness.

This is how it’s been for five centuries, and this is how it may finally end...

Author's Note

After renting Dark Souls 3 from red box for two days, I actually felt the need to make a story like this. I haven't seen many crossover stories in the fandom from Dark Souls and decided that now is the time to do it. So here we go again, prepare for a story like none I've ever writin before.