Chapters Chapter 2: The Battle is to the Strong
For Farseer Anrain, clairvoyance was a very powerful ability.
The knowledge that could change the outcome of the future is one that could be used to save the world, or also doom it. With every vision he got he would put them to good use, in most cases he was able to alter the timeline for the better, some cases not so much.
Right now he concentrating, his meditation would allow him to receive new strands of possible events that would transpire
"This requires, inner peace of mind, total silence aaannnnd"
Anrain's patience paid off as the clairvoyance began to take effect.
"Ah yes now lets just what's coming next.....wait what!?"
The images that flashed through his mind made his heart skip a beat, not to mention that it was all vague. Among the things he saw was images of a shadowy figure standing over a fallen Princess Celestia, a burning Cloudsdale, Chaos Cultists scheming, a large green and black titan standing with a lion and a bat, two humans with distinctive marks on their hands, and finally somewhere in Equestria the very ground was quaking and crumbling.
All the while, someone whispered something.
"A sunrise dark shall cast fall upon the kingdom, and time will rust. While the planet turns from gold to gray, and gray to black. And he shall stand alone while not alone. A dark star, unstopped and unstoppable. The sun herself shall scream, the child of the creator shall rise, his gaze revealing the legacy of her Majesty the Queen. Order shall take form and call its power. And once Vale stands above the rest, will Equestria know fear."
Once it was all over, Anrain had to collect himself.
"This, what did I just see?"
The deer was unsure of what to make of his vision, but one thing was clear, something was about to happen in Equestria and they needed to be warned immediately.
"Lets just hope I am not too late"
10 Minutes Earlier.
The Black Knight had not had this much of a good fight in a long time.
"Lifetimes to be more exact"
After taking out a few foes he found himself facing six ponies each wielding identical ranged weapons, what made them distinct was the fire burning at their ends.
"On three, one....three!"
The Bearers of Flames fired their Sun Spitters in scary simulation, each one hitting their mark.
The Corporal Firestorm, the commander of the six mentally smirked.
"No way he could have survived that"
However as the smoke cleared, his pride was quickly replaced with fear.
Standing there without so much as a scratch was the monster they had been sent to kill.
The armored creature then let out a roar before charging at them.
The Black Knight snatched the closest Bearer and leaped into the air ripped his Sun Spitter from him and then deposited him through the nearest window.
Once he landed back on the ground the other ponies were surprised to see what he held in his hand.
Before Firestorm could shout out any command the Black Knight in quick succession gunned the remaining five down with the stolen weapon, all the while reloading and chambering each shot in less that a second.
Taking a liking to the weapon he had acquired the Knight proceeded to enter the castle.
In his final moments Firestorm could only ponder just how that thing was able to use that weapon so quickly.
"And why did it look so different when it was holding it......."
Flash Sentry joined the guard for a reason.
To get close to Princess Sunset Shimmer.
Although, he did have other ones, but that was a main.
When he joined he knew just he was getting into, as a guard of the land he put his life on the line everyday to defend Equestria and his Princess from evil.
But even though he knew all this, he never expected to be in one of these situations.
"Sir Private First Class Flash Sentry reporting for duty!"
The corporal only needed to give him one look to see that the situation was serious.
"Private get to the back with the others and cover our rear!"
Looking around flash saw various armored ponies with spears and all aimed at a door leading into another hallway.
"Sir if I may ask what is going on? Who is attacking us"
"We don't know so just get back in line!"
"But-"
"NOW!"
Getting behind everyone, Flash held his spear as he began to hear something bang on the other side of the door.
A few Knights and an Inquisitor reinforced the doors with there magic, which helped greatly as the banging became less powerful to the point when it eventually stopped altogether.
At this point Flash was beginning to calm down and stopped sweating.
"It's all good, it would take something with an alicorns power to break through that barrier, no way that thing can get into this room!"
As if karma had something against Flash, the ground beneath him and few other guards gave way and he fell through to the lower floor.
Despite the pain, Flash managed to pull himself up just in time to see a humanoid metal figure jump through the newly made hole in the ceiling.
"Unless they come through the first floor"
Upstairs the guards and knights had already began to engaged the intruder.
The Black Knight blocked and parried any swing that was aimed at him, a brave guard tried to charge at him from behind only to get a metal boot to the face and went flying through a wall. Two Pegasi charged at him from above, only for their wings to be grabbed out of the air and were slammed into each other.
Eventually all that remained where four Knights and an inquisitor who was already charging up a powerful spell.
Two knights immediately charged forward at the same time, spears leveled at their target. The Black Knight then nimbly slipped through the spears just as he grabbed one a discarded weapon and threw it at one of the Knights, only for it to not leave so much as a dent.
"Hmmm, it seems their armor is tougher than it appears, I will have to switch up my strategy"
Discarding his enchantment, the epic spirit summoned Arondight and readied himself for the two Knights to come charging at him again.
Sidestepping, he cleaved one of the knights in half lengthwise, and followed up by immediately beheading the other one as it made a charge to defend his fallen brother in arms.
The Inquisitor was partially stunned as he saw this beast kill two veteran hundred year old knights by easily cutting through their armor as if they were wood.
"Just what is this monster?! And what kind of sword does it wield?"
Regaining his composure and focus, the Inquisitor fired a fire spell that hit the beast head on.
"That was sunburst a spell created by Princess Celestia herself, it can melt even an immortals armor!"
However, the Inquisitors confidence faded away as he soon as he heard footsteps in the fire.
And the black beast slowly stepped out of the fire, slowly absorbing it as it seeped through the eyeholes in its helmet.
"W-what are you?"
The two remaining Knights charged only to be curb stomped as the monster grabbed the left one by the throat and ran his sword through him, the right one was slashed across the chest and had a spear thriven through the open wound, piercing vital organs.
"What are YOU!?"
The Black Knight then grabbed the Inquisitor by the scruff of his robe, and brought him to eye level.
"I am the bone of my sword"
Suddenly, the helmet of the beast was wearing began to crack down through the middle, both halves falling towards the ground.
And what laid beneath, made the Inquisitor utter a blood curdling scream.
Bloodletter was used to the smell of blood, usually a day didn't go by when its aroma hit his nostrils.
He had killed many in the name of Princess Celestia, and he would kill many more, spilling blood was his duty and hobby. He and his team were one of the best Equestria had to offer in terms of defense.
But right now the blood he saw was not that of his enemies, but it belonged to his fellow comrades guards and knights in arms. Bodies littered the courtyard and lead a trail deep into the castle.
"Whoever did this-"
The Captain of the Blood Knights drew his sword.
"You just incurred my wrath!"
Coming out into another open area the Black Knight was met with a blinding flash.
When it faded he could see dozens of guards and knights standing on various high places, from towers to walkways.
And in all cases, they each were manning launchers that were filled with spears, arrows, swords and anything else large and pointy.
Shining Armor, who oversaw the entire division wasted no time giving the order.
"FIRE!"
Two sets of launchers fired their contents with such a force they literally caused explosions on impact.
The forces of Celestia waited for the smoke to clear, only to see that the monster was still standing.
"Sweet Celestia! Just what is this thing!?" A knight exclaimed.
"How did dodge those weapons?" Another guard said.
*a few seconds ago*
Time seemed to slow down for Black Knight as he leaned his head to side as a sword flew right past it, in an instant he turned around and causally caught it before it hit the ground and used it to immediately deflect the second on coming spear, the force of which caused an explosion which knocked away the other projectiles.
Shining Armor overcame his shock and put on a scowl.
"Units 3 through 4 give it everything you've got!"
Almost at once several more launchers opened fired and rained metal upon their target.
This time the Knight caught two weapons in his hand the which caused him to be pushed back several feet, that fact that he dug his heels into the cement left two long indents in the ground.
Reacting again he used said weapons to deflect the three other spears before throwing them back at their owners, destroying the launchers and sending their operators flying against the walls.
Shining flinched as he saw three launcher positions go up in smoke, but never lost his focus he once again eyed the monster.
"All units, open fire! Do not let up until that thing is no longer standing!"
The launchers fired once again in a ferocity that could be compared to a mini gun.
But it still was not enough.
The Black Knight continually caught and block each spear and sword that was thrown at him, in a few cases discarding his weapons by impaling them into the ground whenever they became dull.
Growing impatient, he once again threw the next spear he caught at a launcher, destroying it. He repeated this several times until only the balcony which Shining Armor stood from remained.
But before he could attack again, he saw something fire from said balcony, this time a red lance etched with ancient writing that caused it to crackle with magic.
This time the Knight proceed to slam two spears into the lance just inches before it hit him.
Shining Armor held his breath as he waited for the smoke to clear, all the while worried like never before.
"That was a Gae bolg. a lance that is said to be enchanted to never miss its target. Their is no way that thing did not hit it and not leave a mark."
The Field Marshal soon got his answer.
Two spinning swords emerged from the smoke and struck the tower which Shining and his remaining guards stood in, he didn't even have to jump or teleport out as it crumbled to the ground taking him and everyone with it.
The Black Knight walked out of the smoke, the Gae Bolg lodged in his shoulder.
The spirit given form surveyed the destruction before then proceeding to rip out the lance from his body, the wound left by it already beginning to heal.
Princess Celestia looked through her mirror as she surveyed the destruction and death this monster left in its wake.
It pained badly to see her loyal Knights and Guards die, but she was even more concerned as to how this thing was able to single handedly defeat them. Granted many of them put up a good fight, but this beast still did not show signs of slowing down as it tore its way through the castle, its destination unclear.
"Just what are you looking for?"
Pulling up a holo 3D map of the castle, currently he was in the eastern wing, and seemed to have no interest in going to the throne room.
"The only things of worth in that area are the treasury and....wait...is it heading towards the-"
Celestia's eyes widened as she realized just what this thing wanted.
Outside the Energy Gem storage vaults
The Black Knight reeked the smell of blood, and given the last platoon of guards it had dealt with, plus the manner he dealt them with, it was understandable.
But at last he had reached his destination.
What laid on the other side of a large set of heavy metal doors was a great source of power, one that his master required for his plan. He had gone through much trouble just to get here.
But just as he was about to "open" it, a voice spoke out.
"If you think your going to get in there, you're wasting your time."
He turned around to see a large Earth pony with thick dark red armor covered a good part of him. He wore a helmet that sprouted metallic bull horns on either side, spikes ran down his armor’s middle while the fur on his skin was as red as the blood that stained the castle.
"That vault is sealed with Celestia's magic, only she can open it. So unless you go and ask her to open it(which I highly doubt given the fact you gave a good portion of her forces a trashing) you won't be getting inside."
The Black Knight then stepped away from the door and closed the gap between him and this pony, stopping only a few feet in front of him.
"I don't know who you are and I could care less, you have killed good ponies today, some of them being Blood Knights under my command!"
The Black Knight gave no response.
"Now given that fact you alone massacred the protectors of this castle you must think of me as a nuisance"
Bloodletter took out a bottle he had been saving for an occasion like this, tearing the cap of he drank the entire contents before smashing it on the ground.
"But you have never face someone like me!"
Bloodletter then charged at his foe, the sounds of his battle cry was heard throughout the castle.
"So you have an idea as to where this monster is heading?" Fervent asked.
Celestia nodded. "Yes, its destination appears to be the Energy Gem vaults."
Chief's eyes widened at this. "The Gem vaults, but won't it need your magic to unlock it?"
"Indeed, but I do not intend to take any chances with this creature, for all we know it may have a way of getting in there that does not require me"
The Energy Gem vaults stored energized stones that could be used to amplify a magic users power, the better the craftsman the better the gems. Even some gods had created gems for Princess Celestia as gifts, said gems were kept in that very vault.
So it was understandable why Celestia didn't think about what could happen it something evil got its hands on it.
"Well either way, despite how this thing infiltrated the castle, it won't be able to take on all three of us" Fervent said curtly.
"Fervent, you will go at help aid the wounded, Chief go gather the chaos magi. I will face this beast alone"
Both ponies stopped in their tracks and looked at each other, then back at Celestia.
"What!?" They both said.
"This creature came into my castle and hurt my little ponies. As such this is personal matter" The Princess turned to look at them. "Their are other matters need your attention"
Fervent just stood there in disbelief. "But Princess"
"That is an order!"
Celestia then continued down the hallway, leaving two very conflicted ponies.
The battle between Bloodletter and the Black Knight had only been going on for the span of a minute.
But in the short amount of time, both combatants had fought to the point that they were starting to show signs of fatigue.
Bloodletter was breathing heavily, while this beast was certainly able to dish out and take the punishment, it was clear that with every hit it took, it got a little slower.
"Must be from all the damage it took when it rampaged through the castle. Heh, guess those that fell did do a number on it"
If Bloodletter could read its mind, his assumption would have been partially verified.
"My mana reserves are low, and there aren't any weapons around for me to use. Their is always Arondight, but using it would sacrifice my enchantment."
The two knights faced each other, each one waiting for the other to make a move.
"But, if I can land a solid blow hard enough to destroy his heart, it will be enough to kill him"
Drawing in a large portion of his mana reserves, the Black Knight enabled his invisible air technique, sending him towards Bloodletter at blinding speed, almost appearing as it he was levitating.
Bloodletter almost had not time to react.
"Dear Celestia how fast is he!?"
The Black Knight delivered a swift kick to his front undercarriage, where a ponies heart was located.
The wind was literally knocked out of Bloodletter as he was sent flying into the wall, and creating a good size crater in it.
His body fell to the ground, still and unmoving.
The Knight waited a good few seconds before concluding that his foe was deceased.
Turning around in silence, he walked back towards the vault doors.
Only for a sword to erupt out of his right shoulder.
"GAAHH!"
This pain was soon followed up by something pinning him down and further driving the sword through him.
Cranking his head as much as he could, the Knight turned to see Bloodletter, very much alive and moving.
"He has healing abilities that can repair a shattered heart?"
"Heh, you thought I was done monster, think again!"
It was at times like these that the Captain of the Blood Knights thanked Celestia for his ability to drink blood, which due to his status as a Blood Knight gave him increased strength and healing powers that would normally kill him.
However its was only because before the battle that he had drank dragon's blood that he survived his heart bursting, which in turn exhausted the blood he had drank.
"Which is why I need to finish this now"
Raising his hoof, Bloodletter called upon his super strength and prepare to smash the monsters skull flat.
"It's over beast"
But before he could perform the deed, he was caught off guard by a voice that came from it.
"You're right, it is"
In a miraculous display of strength, the Black Knight pushed Bloodletter off his back and immediately caught him in his neck in hands before he could recover.
"I do not have time to try and kill you again, I am taxed as it is"
If Bloodletter could make a response, it would have been obscured by his throat being squeezed.
"So I will just have to 'displace' you for now"
Once again calling upon his invisible air, the Black Knight drew his hand back, allowed to the wind in the room to circulate to a high pressure.
And promptly threw Bloodletter through the roof of the ceiling.
Twilight hummed in her room as she juggled a few objects with her magic, pondering what to do in order to kill her boardome.
"Huh, I wish Bloody was here, he knows how to show me a good time~"
As if on cue, a large and heavy object came crashing through her roof and making the chaos mage jump in surprise. Recovering from the shock, Twilight slowly walking over to the point of impact, curious as to what had landed in her room.
Her curiosity turned to glee as she saw a beaten and unconscious Bloodletter.
Looking through the hole in the ceiling, Twilight thanked whatever god that had answered prayers.
Finally alone, the Black Knight finally could get what he came for.
Standing in front of the vault doors, he sense the magical seal that the pony had told him.
However it didn't concern him at all.
The thing about being a epic spirit given from, was that he was still in a sense, not a completely solid being. As such, he could still take spirit form and phase through walls like a ghost.
"This Princess probably expected the kind of thief who would breach this vault to be solid and not spiritual. As spirits cannot carry anything through walls."
Dematerializing into particles, the Black Knight easily slipped through the doors and the magical barrier, and came out on the other side.
"And effect"
Later...
Princess Celestia looked around the room as she beheld clear signs of a battle that had taken place. But the strange thing was that while blood did stain the area, but no bodies could be seen, and the vault doors showed no signs of a breach.
That didn't mean that the magical sensor alarms were not going off inside of the vault.
"It is clearly inside the vault, and if I'm correct it must be stealing the gems for whatever purpose it intends to use them for."
However, despite the circumstances, Celestia knew whatever ability it used it get in, for it to leave the vault with the gems it would have to go through the doors, and face her.
"And since the magical seal is still in effect, that option is not available to him." Celestia smirked at this.
Witch melted away when the vault doors exploded outwards.
The Princess shielded her eyes from the debris.
"Unless he uses one of the gems to blow away both the seal and the door"
When the smoke cleared Princess Celestia locked eyes on the one who had caused so much destruction today.
Wheeling out at cart, Celestia could see that inside were several pillow sized gems, some of which were created by Hephaestus himself.
"Those gems were a gift. He is NOT leaving with them."
Eyes glowing, and the temperature in the room rising to a melting point, Celestia rose into the air as she prepared to deal with this monster.
"You! Who have caused so much death and destruction on this night, I give you one last chance to stand down and turn yourself in. Non compliance will result in your complete and utter annihilation"
The Black Knight could only stare as stared down the Goddess of the Sun, his body never showing any signs of worry or fear.
Celestia looked as this beast mealy walked in front of the cart, and continued to stare at her.
"So that is your choice then, very well"
The solar alicorn charged at her foe.
"SO BE IT!"
At near light speed, the Princess of Equestria was a microsecond from impaling her target.
Only for something to stop her in her tracks and hold her still.
Immediately feeling her powers shut down almost at once, the alicorn found that she could not move at all. Craning her neck as much as she could, she saw that several golden chains where restraining her, preventing her from escaping or attacking in any way. And whenever she tried to move, the chains only grew tighter.
"How is this possible!?"
Earlier.
"In the event that you encounter Princess Celestia or any other god or goddess in your endeavours, make use of these"
The Entity then manifested a golden ball of light which traveled into the Black Knights body.
"What I just gave you were the Enkidu Chains of Heaven. These golden links will are enchanted to restrain and nullify the powers of any divine or godly being, the more divine they are, the harder the chains will hold. They will hold them for as long as you want, but be aware that the only limit is that they will not work well on mortals"
Celestia could only look as this black abomination walked towards her, stopping only a few inches from her face.
The solar alicorn glared at him as she was at his complete mercy.
"Will this thing kill me like the others, just so I won't be a problem? It would be the most logical solution, and given what is has displayed I would not be surprised if it did have something that could kill a god"
A sword manifested in its hand, and then slowly raised it over her head.
Some few deathy seconds passed, and then it spoke.
"Know this Princess, on this day, you were beaten. And everyone of you subjects shall know that"
The Black Knight then swung the butt of his sword down on her forehead, knocking the lights out of her.
Much Later...
The Entity took the gems his servant had brought into himself, his body feeding off of their energy as they began to replenish his health and power.
"You have done well for you first task"
"It was not to much trouble, most of the time"
"I thought so, you may rest, there are still many more challenges ahead. While these gems have restored a portion of my power, it is not nearly enough to free me"
"Then I shall continue to serve you master, until you are able to walk again."
And with that the Black Knight returned to spirit form.
Once again alone with his thoughts, the Entity once again let out a mental sigh.
"I wonder what I have started"
Canterlot Royal hospital wing.
Fervent could still not believe what he was seeing, it defied all logic, it surpassed all reason, it was something that shouldn't happen. That couldn't happen!
But here he was, in a hospital room.
Standing at the bedside of an injured and unresponsive Princess Celestia.
The doctors had told him that she only received a blow to the head, and that is was nothing that wouldn't heal over time.
But that didn't matter to him, nothing mattered to him at the moment.
What mattered to him was the the hertic monster that had put his goddess in such a sorry state.
"I will avenge you my Princess" He said outloud. "No matter how long it takes or what I have to do I will make the beast who did this to you not only pay, but also suffer."
Fervent then walked to the door and continued speaking his thoughts.
"Hear me monster, I will find you , if I have to waddle through Tartarus itself, that I would travel the the ends of the multiverse and back I will find you and I will make you suffer. I will execute you even if it's the last thing I do."
Author's Note
Thank you all for sticking around for the second chapter!
Trust me this story will have some interesting turns, and all its mysteries will be revealed in time.
Leave a like and comment! They help alot.
Smokey Mountains
Daring Do wandered through the temple corridors of an ancient ruin. She did her best to maneuver her way through to the center, wondering why it had taken her this long to finally decide to visit.
The reason why she had never came here before was not because she did not have the resources and acquaintances to do so, but because she didn't find what laid within to be of priority. It was probably on the bottom half list of places she tried to visit. On a whim she decided to got to this place anyway.
The explorer had to go through a few more booby traps before she came to the room which contained what she was looking for. Resting on a pedestal was a rectangular brown plate. It bore no inscriptions to the naked eye, but Daring knew that every relic held a secret.
The Pegasus smiled as she got closer to her prize. According to her informant, this place was rumored to be built by humans long ago, but no one could say for sure as the architecture of this place did not bare any signs that it was built by Romans.
Daring reached the pedestal and carefully removed the plate and replaced it with a premade replica that would fool that trap into thinking it was still there(and mostly because the last time she tried using sand trick, she had to escape a rolling boulder). Looking over the relic, Daring began to ponder for a moment.
"Wonder who made you? And why did they leave you behind?"
Deciding to observe the plate later, Daring put it in her bag and then started to walk out of the room.
However, the Pegasus suddenly heard footsteps. Heavy footsteps. Reacting quickly, she hid in the darkness of the ceiling and waited. A few moments passed by and nothing came through the door, a few more and the walking stopped. Daring waited patiently for something to come through her door, but nothing happened. The sound of footsteps then came back, but this time it sounded like they were walking away, they became softer and softer until she could hear no more.
Daring waited a good full minute before letting out a sigh.
Then all of a sudden an invisible force grabbed her by the neck and slammed her to the floor.
Daring was dazed for a moment bore for her vision cleared, and once it did, she wish it hadn't
The figure that held her was a humanoid in dark armor. A red glow coming from the eyes of its helmet.
"No, nonononono!" the Pegasus's mind raced "Of all the people in the world, why this thing!" Daring knew all too well who she was at there mercy of. While Equestria was still trying to identify what attacked Princess Celestia, it took one description and a witnesses drawing to identify that this guy was the Black Knight of myth. A old mare's tale meant to scare foals into behaving.
As the knight lifted her up into the air, the Daring knew that their was literally no way out of this. Anything that could take down the Princess Celestia was sure to show her the same mercy it has shown her guards.
"Well Velvet, looks like you can now keep Flare all to yourself." she closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.
But instead, she felt a hand go into her bag and pull something out.
The hand around her neck opened and she dropped to the floor. After coughing and taking some deep breaths, she opened her eyes to see the knight standing over her with the plate in its hand.
The knight looked at Daring, the plate and back to Daring again.
The explorer looked at the armored being, noticing how she couldn't making out anything about this guy. It was as if everything about it was concealed.
Before she could say or do anything, the knight then bolted from where it was, running into and through a wall, then another on, and another one, and another...
Once the noise of smashing walls stopped, Daring looked to see sunlight pouring into the ruins as several holes made conveniently connected the outside to the center of the ruin.
Gilgamesh was.....a complex individual. For someone who is humanity's oldest hero, he held himself to high esteem and never considered anyone's opinions and only valued himself and his many treasures.
So it would go without saying that he also had little respect for the gods of the world he was currently in. Despite the many divine beings roaming this kingdom that was called Equestria that would destroy anyone who crossed them, it was to reverse when it came to the King of Heroes.
The (former)ruler of Uruk walked through the Canterlot shopping district wearing his signature golden underwear and open black jacket(minus a shirt) in the daylight of Celestia's sun. The rays gleamed off him as the nearby residents noticed him and were drawing gazes upon the king.
Normally, Gilgamesh would ask those with curious eyes who gave them permission to look upon him, because while he considered everyone else beneath him, akin to mongrel dogs, he saw horses as even more inferior and dumb.
However, the insistence of his master stayed his hand. As much as he did not like being told what to do by anyone, he acknowledged the wisdom in not drawing the ire of the goddess that ruled this city for entertaining himself.
While his master was busy with his machinations, the King of Heroes was taking some personal time to himself. He had decided to see just how the mongrels of this country lived their lives.
"Spread the light of Princess Celestia! Our benevolent goddess who loves and watches over us all!"
Gilgamesh turned to the noise to see a unicorn mare dressed in a blue robe and had held a staff while wearing a sun necklace. She was accompanied by two other ponies in similar attire.
"Our great ruler was viciously attacked by a monstrous fiend. She needs your support by spreading her word and showing how we will not waver in the face of adversity!"
"Ah, this day may be amusing after all."
The heroic spirit walked up to the trio of ponies, who took notice of his presence.
"Greetings human! Have you come to hear about the wise words of Celestia from her blessed priestess?"
"Actually I have come to inquire about your ruler." Gilgamesh said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Oh so you are not around here? You must be if you have never known about the greatness of Princess Celestia."
"You could say that."
One of the other priestess stepped forward, "Well what do you wish to know?"
"I ask, if this Celestia is undisputedly your ruler, then why does she not identify herself as a queen?"
All three ponies looked like they were just slapped in the face, and at the same time, every other pony who heard him say the the word “Queen” stopped what they were doing at looked at Gilgamesh with a similar expression.
The main priestess regained her composure and put on her friendly smile(although it was clear what he said had an effect on her).
"Well good sir, you see the last queen we had was a bloodthirsty tyrant who was so vile and repulsive, she essentially made the name queen and even kings to be very resented, so that's why ponies here to not identify as a queens and kings. It is heresy to call Princess Celestia a queen."
"So because of the actions of one, you cast aside the names king and queen as insults and heresy?"
"Yes."
A silence fell upon the area as the priestess (and the crowd that had assembled) waited for Gilgamesh's response.
"You are wrong."
Everyone gasped.
"A King and Queen are the highest authority in the land. To identify as something lesser shows how you cannot truly grasp the concept of ruling."
At this point the Priestess right eye was twitching, "Excuse me, good sir I'm not making any accusations here, but are you implying that our Princess Celestia, our immortal goddess and leader, is unfit to rule?"
Gilgamesh's face betrayed no emotions to her voices hint of instability.
"Well, if you think about it, anyone who could be brought down by a lowly mongrel such as the one who attacked your so called Princess-"
The priestess gripped her staff tighter.
"-is someone lacks the capability of being one."
The entire area went silent the second Gilgamesh finished his sentence, at which point the priestess look on her face was absolute fury.
"Who the hell does this human think he is insulting our princess like that! Forget the who, he's a dead man!"
"Y-you, you dare speak such blasphemy about our glorious Princess Celestia!? I shall see you burn for your blasphemy!"
As uproar of agreement came from the crowd, the priestess staff glowed with heat as she prepared to strike the heretic.
But before she could, she felt something fly past her ear and impale itself in the ground next to her.
Looking down she saw a decorated sword with almost the entirety of its blade in the ground, the amount of force needed to put it that deep was scary. Looking up she saw a rippling golden portal rip next to the human's head and his hand was in a position as if he had just made a gesture.
"While I normally respond to threats with death, and considering you just raised your hand at a king," Gilgamesh spoke as the mare took a step back as she saw another sword poke its hilt out of the portal. "I will allow you to live since you gave me some modicum of entertainment."
With a wave of his hand, the portal disappeared and the sword that was in the ground vanished in a golden light.
Gilgamesh then turned his head as if to adjust the crowd.
"You mongrels, be grateful for this mare right here. She is the reason I have decided not to level your city today."
Once he was done speaking, everyone watched as he too disappeared in a shine of golden particles.
Baron Insight looked up from the object he was studying as he heard a knock on the door. Once he got up and opened it, he found a mare in a cloak standing there.
"Ah it's you."
The mare made her way inside and once Baron closed the door, he locked it and looked outside the window.
"Is somebody following you, cause you look like you're in a rush."
The mare took of the hood to reveal a tan Pegasus.
"Nope," Daring Do began. "But I did need to speak with you about something important.
Once the two sat down and Daring explained her story, Baron was left rubbing his chin.
"Well, this is intriguing."
"Yeah, I thought I was a goner but it just let me go and took the relic with it."
"Yes, well let's see if we can make sense of this. Do you have any idea what that relic was?"
"Not really. Rumor has it that it contains the power of the earth but can only be properly used by a creature of the earth."
"Is that all?"
"Other than the fact that the place I found it in was built by humans, I don't know."
"Ah, so it was a Roman relic?"
"No, the place didn't look very Roman like. It looked more ancient than that. Plus, the Romans never got that far in Equestria to build that place and no one would notice."
Baron's face then became even more interested. "Not of Roman build, you say?"
"Yeah, Daring nodded. “That's what I was told, but nothing other than that."
The middle aged stallion got up from his seat, "Come with me."
Daring followed him to his study office where she saw him rummage through his desk.
"There are only a few ponies in the world who believe this myth." Baron then pulled out a key from a hidden compartment in his drawer. "And even fewer who have some pieces of evidence."
The two then went downstairs to a basement then was full of old papers and chests. Going to a bookshelf, Baron removed a book and pressed a hidden button behind it. Some gears and hidden mechanisms were heard before a section of the wall moved away to reveal a box. Taking it out the box, Baron set it down before opening it with the key. Inside was a number of papers and drawings.
He handed a paper to Daring while saying, "Tell me how much do you know about the reign of Queen Majesty?"
Daring narrowed her eyes at the mention of her name. "Only that she was the most hated pony in Equestria. How she subjugated and attacked anything that didn't fit into her perfect world."
"Do you recall her invasion of the Folkland islands?"
"Yes, she Invaded and conquered them and is the reason we still have tensions with the Romans today."
"Indeed, but do you ever wonder why she never wiped them out."
"Its because she didn't see them as a threat, right?"
"Exactly," Baron then held up another drawing "Or so many would believe."
Daring looked out the paper. It seemed to be a drawing of a group of humans as well as some strange looking creatures.
"The Romans say they are from another world, having migrated here thousands of years ago. But they weren't the only ones."
Now it was Daring's turn to be intrigued. "What do you mean?"
"Well the story goes like this, a group of humans one day mysteriously appeared on this world. Like the Romans and yet at the same time not like them, they claimed to be colonists from another world, and they were seeking to stake their flag on this land and expand their Kingdom. But Queen Majesty did not like this, another species just coming and settling her land like they owned the place, and she did what she did best."
"Conversion."
"Well not really. For some reason, the effects of the conversion potion did not work on this group of humans, which only fueled Majesty's hatred of them."
"Wow, I heard that no one was immune to the effects of the potion."
"They were. So instead of converting them, she just killed them all. But she did not destroy what they made."
"Why?"
"The humans brought something with them, something that would help her strike down the gods and let her rule the world."
"What was it?"
Baron looked her dead in the eye, "Eternium"
Daring's heart nearly stopped, "Eternium!?"
"Yes, the impossible metal that is capable to slaying gods and goddess now matter their power, origin, importance, or role. A metal so deadly that it won't just kill someone, it will end them. No revive, regeneration or resurrection. Your soul will simply go to whatever afterlife it deserves and stay there. The metal embodies the truth that we all have to die sometime."
Daring was trying to process all this, but found the mind to speak again, "These humans seriously had that stuff!?"
"My dear Daring, where do you think we first heard about it? Those humans were the reason gods started whispering about it in their nightmares."
"W-Wow, this is just...Eternium? That stuff is so rare it's virtually nonexistent. I hear that whenever somebody claims that they found the stuff, they get a visit from the gods, and are never heard from again."
"Can you blame them? This stuff can be used as a weapon to wage war against divine beings. Imagine what would happen if some Nightmare Cultist or Chaos Wacko got their hooves on that stuff. I'm pretty sure Princess Celestia would be six feet under. That's why they want to destroy every piece that they find."
"Well, even though this is all mind blowing, what does this have to do with the Black Knight? How is he connected to all this?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but I do have a theory."
"Which is?"
"Before your encounter with our dark friend in those ruins, I read in the newspaper that the Olympian Crystal was stolen from the Los Pegasus Museum of History, and according to security crystal footage. The Black Knight was the thief."
"Wait, the Olympian Crystal? Wasn’t that thing just a dud?"
"Yes, and no. Remember that it was said to be made by human heretics, key word Human ."
Daring soon understood the connection, "Dear sweet Celestia."
"Now we both know that the crystal itself is dud, but nopony said anything about the distinct metal band it was encased in."
"Which means...that thing now has the power to slay the gods."
"Indeed, and considering what it did to Celestia..." The stallion shivered, “I don’t really want to think about it.”
"And then it stole that plate. That can't be a coincidence."
"Yes, Daring. Whatever this thing is it knows something about that ancient human civilization. And from the looks of it, it seems it is trying to gather everything related to it."
"Yeah, but one thing still doesn't make sense. Why would it steal a ton of power gems, what does it need that for?"
"Don't know."
"Well, we can't keep this to ourselves. We need to tell Princess Celestia."
"Already on it."
Berserker walked into the room of the Entity and held out the plate that he was sent to get.
"Master, I have retrieved the relic that you asked."
"Ah yes, thank you." The Entity took it and then put it in a vault along with the piece of Eternium.
"There are only a few more relics left on this world to recover and we shall be ready to go home."
"Am I to assume that the power gems are working?"
"Yes, I have regained enough strength that my power is starting to regenerate on my own. I will have enough energy to open a breach and deal with any resistance we may encounter."
"Master, if I may ask a question."
"Go ahead."
"How is it that you became trapped down here? If you are truly what you say you are, then surely nothing save an army of gods could bring you down."
"And that Berserker is where you correct."
"Pardon?"
"When I brought the humans to this planet they didn't exactly get along with the natives as well as I hoped, not to mention that the Eternium I brought with me did not sit well with the gods of this world. To know that such a metal could slay them all, and that I had brought so much with me."
"What happened?"
"The former ruler of this land, Queen Majesty I believe her name was, she rallied the other more fearful gods at that time into attacking me. Of course I easily saw through her deception. She planned to use the Eternium to kill the gods herself once they were weakened from their battle with me. Explaining this to my attackers would do no good. I was the immediate threat to them. Now left with little options, I hid myself away down here, creating a seal that would mask my presence from the world and putting myself into a deep slumber while I healed my wounds. But as you can see, I built my hiding place a little too well."
"You trapped yourself, in your own haste."
"That is why I need you Beserker, you are the only one who can free me and find these relics that we can't leave behind. I don't trust these natives to not use them against us should they seek revenge for my actions in the past, and present."
The next day
Sunset and Spike walked off the train and into the town that they had set off to.
Spike looked around the place, the village looking like a generic version of Ponyville, "So this is the place, huh? Shion Village. Looks better in the description."
"Yes, if there is anyplace that can tell us more about the Black Knight, this place certainly fits the bill."
"Well let's not stay here for too long."
"Yeah, Yeah, I read all about how their are some Discordian Cultists seen in the area. We'll be fine."
"Are you sure? I heard ponies saying they saw a Destructicorn and a few Smashers with them."
"I'll be sure to tell them that I took on a freaking dragon when I see them."
"Okay, just saying."
As they began to walk through town Sunset noticed a human who walked passed them. He wore armor and had a smile on his face that gave off an odd sensation.
"Sunset, you okay?"
"Yeah, its just, was that guy staring at us?"
"What guy?"
"The human, the one with the-" Sunset looked back but when she did, the human was nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile on a clifftop overlooking the villages, a very unusual looking pony stood. Its body was split into two colors down the middle as well as its head, or rather heads, each sporting a single eye.
"She has arrived," The two heads said telepathically.
Then, another pony walked up next to them. His primary colors were black and red, and sported a horn and wings, the markings of an Alicorn.
"So you both are sure, Princess Sunset Shimmer is down there?"
"Yes"
"Good, it's about time you two stopped arguing for once and predicted something we can work with."
A bunch of other "ponies" soon came into view, some of them wearing ragged and mismatched clothes while others came jumping on pogo sticks. Others ponies included those whose lower half had been replaced with a unicycle and their front limbs traded for sharp blades and scythes, the rest looked like they were undead or had been mutilated. In the air where flying serpents with wings and birds who were growing needles out of there own bodies.
"General Mismatch, the Fates have confirmed it. Princess Sunset Shimmer has arrived."
Another figure them walked passed him. Floating by his side was an eight pointed mirror with a smile on its face that would make any normal pony go insane. His master was somepony who had a goat's head, four limbs that looked nothing like the other, and a dragon's tail.
"Good, once we kill her and her dragon brother, we will have dealt a great blow to Princess Celestia, and be one step closer to bringing about the return of our one true lord and master of Chaos!"
A cry of approval came from the assembled army of Discord’s followers.
Princess Celestia walked to her throne room with Fervent and Chief walking by her side.
"So," Celestia asked Fervent. "Where are we on finding the Black Knight?"
"Unfortunately your highness, next to nowhere. Our best scholars have come with up with nothing that we know already from the myths and stories."
"Still, you can't blame them, who would have thought that the Black Knight was actually real!?" Chief said intriguingly.
"I think we should be less concerned with its confirmed existence and more adept about ending said existence." Fervent said with an annoyed voice.
"Wow, someone's a killjoy."
Fervent almost wanted to go over there and strangle the Chaos cultist. "Listen here you immature dolt! Princess Celestia herself was attacked and humiliated in her own castle, we should not rest until that thing is rotting in Tartarus. It will not escape justice!"
"Fervent that's enough." Despite the calm manner in which Celestia said that sentence it had the effect of a shout, which in turn made Fervent a bit guilty the he had upset his princess.
Celestia let out a mental sigh. While Chief and Fervent did argue a lot, it was mostly Fervent who started the argument, which was why she spent more time trying to reel him in.
"We shall find the Knight and it will answer for its crimes."
The trio opened the throne room doors and walked inside, "But only until we work with a calm clear mind can we solve the issue the before us."
"Are you sure about that?" A voice said.
All three pair ponies looked up(in great shock) to see the owner of the voice, who just so happened to be sitting in Princess Celestia's throne .
The perpetrator was a blonde haired human with red eyes and adorned in golden armor. Despite the fact that he was sitting in someone else's throne, some would argue that it suited him greatly.
"Cause it seems you mongrels can't even solve the the issue of your dynamic."
Author's Note
I feel like a High Inquisitor is about the be very triggered..
Chapter 6: Spirits of Heroes
9:00 AM
Fervent was a calm pony. He kept a cool headed mind no matter the situation. If it was dealing with heretics or praising Celestia's name he did it in a mature and respectful manner. At least that what he lead himself to believe.
However, he was also considered one of, if not Celestia's most loyal and faithful subject and follower. If Celestia was sitting on her throne and commanded him to commit suicide right on the spot, who's to say he wouldn't do it.
But in this situation, it was not Princess Celestia sitting in her own throne.
Despite what he himself believed, everyone who was not an Inquisitor saw Fervent as somepony who more or less would be triggered by anything that offended or insulted his one and only goddess. Somepony who truly embodied his name "Fervent".
So when ponies spoke of what happened that day, they would say that something inside him just snapped.
Princess Celestia, Chief and Fervent where currently experiencing different levels of shock. Celestia was surprised that a human got in here and sat on her throne with no one noticing. Chief was wondering just how this human was acting so casual in this situation considering, and Fervent....had his jaw on the floor for a few seconds, before his face and mind became numb with rage.
Before the other two could say anything, they turned to the sound of Fervent growling like a dog with rabies.
"You......YOU DARE!?!?!?"
The human just looked at him with little to no regard, as if he wasn't worth his time.
"I know I said you were all mongrels a moment ago, but this one looks like he may have some in his lineage."
"YOU! HUMAN! I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I DON'T CARE! BY THE POWER INVESTED IN ME BY THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS GODDESS PRINCESS CELESTIA. I FERVENT, HIGH INQUISITOR OF THE CELESTIAL HOLY INQUISITION, SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH!"
The unicorn pulled out his sword and charged as spell.
"DIE!"
For someone old enough to have a granddaughter, Fervent closed that gap between him and the Golden armored human in less than 2 seconds. His sword might have made contact with him....if Celestia had not stopped him with her magic.
He was teleported back to her and was understandably very confused at what his ruler had done.
"Wha? Your majesty-"
"Fervent! I understand your actions, but now is hardly the time."
Fervent would not question his goddesses decisions at a time like this, or ever really...that being said....
"But he is-"
"We are all aware of what he is doing, but I would first like to know why before we proceed any further."
Fervent opened his mouth again, but decided it would be wiser to not get on her bad side. Reluctantly, the unicorn sheathed his sword.
"Thank you," Celestia then turned her eyes to the person sitting on her throne. Her look of annoyance then became one of seriousness.
"While I apologize for my little ponies behavior, I have to agree with him on this. Who are you and what are you doing sitting on my throne?" While Princess Celestia was still indeed a humble and caring pony, that didn't mean she liked being undermined. Especially since she got her butt handed to her no sweat by some monster, the sight of seeing someone else besides her(and maybe Sunset and Spike) sitting on her throne did not help.
"Ah yes, I was about to get to that before I was so rudely interrupted by your dog right here."
Fervent started growling again.
"But as for who I am, please sit and bask in my magnificent glory."
The human got up from the throne and folded his arms in a proud display of self centeredness.
"I am Gilgamesh, King of Babylonia and King of Heroes. I am a heroic spirit of the Archer Class."
Berserker stood in front of the large slab that covered the entrance to a long hidden and forgotten cave. Unlike the other retrievals he had done for his master, this one may be the most important one of them all.
He remembered the talk he had with his master before he got here.
"Wait, you mean it's here?"
"Yes, Berserker. The Infinity Blade is here."
"How?"
"It was entrusted to me after the Master of Fire passed away. I have been its caretaker ever since. Waiting until someone came that I deemed worthy of using its power."
"And you hid it away with all the other artifacts?"
"Actually this one was an exception. I told one of my colonist caretakers to hide it in the Canterlot Mines. After all, the Equestrians wouldn't think to look for it in their own capital ."
"Hiding in plain sight. Smart ."
Coming out of the memory, Berserker moved the giant slab out of the way. However before he went in, he stopped and turned around to see if anyone was watching him.
"Hmmm, cost is clear."
Closing the slab behind him, the knight ventured into the closed off cave.
But no sooner after the slab was put back in place, a purple unicorn emerged from where she was hiding. The twisted smile on her face not radiating one of kind intent.
"Oh ho ho, I found you my little victim. Why don't we go say hello Froggy?"
A large from(large enough for someone to ride) hopped beside Twilight Sparkle, only letting out a large "ribbit".
9:06 AM
"Babylonia?" Celestia said in confusion.
"Impossible," Chief began "Babylon doesn't have a human King and it never has."
"You are correct," Gilgamesh said "The Babylon of this world is an inferior imitation of the one I ruled. The Babylonia of my homeworld of Earth was a kingdom ruled by the greatest of kings, me."
Celestia narrowed her eyes, but then immediately raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, your world of Earth?"
"Don't worry about that. You will understand once I explain."
"Explain?"
"Yes, but do not think that me diverging information to you is a sign of allegiance or respect. I merely wish to see how you handle what I am about to tell you."
Celestia stepped forward, beckoning Chief and Fervent to step back.
"Gilgamesh was it? I have lived to see nations rise and fall. I have diplomats with the most unruly of leaders and radicals. I assure you I can handle whatever you wish to tell me. So long as this conversation remains a peaceful one."
"Your highness, are you actually considering talking to this offender."
"Yes, Fervent. Even those who clearly have no respect for me are not exempt from simple talk."
"So long as they are behind bars," Fervent mumbled to himself.
"Very well," Gilgamesh said. "First things first, I come from a world dominated entirely by humans, and last I checked the population was somewhere around 5 billion."
Almost immediately after the words left his mouth, the eyes of all three ponies became to the size of saucers. Even Princess Celestia was caught off guard.
"Wait...what!?"
"To be fair, it is also home another race of magical monster creatures, but are not intelligent enough to be sapient, so we mostly use them for our benefit. But that's a story for another time."
"Wait," Chief spoke up. "We have all heard the claims about how the Romans come from another world filled with humans. Is it possible that-"
"No, I know what about to say so let me be clear on this. The Romans of this planet do not and have not connection to my Earth. While Rome does exist on my world and is similar to yours, it is merely just another version so to speak."
Celestia then let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, I can't imagine what the Romans would do if they find out about this, or how the Troodons would react if they heard this news(poor things might get a heart attack)."
"But enough about my world, I assume you would like to know about that mad dog Berserker."
Now all three ponies were confused, "Berserker?" They all said.
"Oh of course, you don't know. I am referring to the Black Knight."
Celestia's tensed up, "You know about him?"
"Yes, you see that mad dog is what is known as a Heroic Spirit. There are several types of heroic spirits, but the most common are as follows: Saber, Rider, Lancer, Archer, Caster, Berserker, and Assassin. And like I said before the Black Knight that is giving you trouble is of the Berserker class."
All three ponies looked at each other, then Fervent scoffed. "A Heroic Spirit? I don't know what land hails that a monster like that as a hero but he is not one here."
"Of course, but his reason for being a Berserker stems from that fact that he qualifies for one. All Heroic Spirit are the souls of dead heroes from the past, present and even possible futures. That Black Knight can be summoned under a different class like the Saber. But fate dictated that he manifest in this world as such."
"I see, and you said you are of the Archer class?" Celestia asked, "Where is your bow?"
Gilgamesh simply held up his hand and a multitude of small portals appeared all around him. Out of which came a variety of swords, spears and all other kinds of weapons, all of them pointing at the Equines.
"I have collected everything of value from my world. All of it is stored in my treasure vault which I can access anytime I wish. I can use these many weapons and launched them as projectiles."
Gilgamesh pulled a sword out of the Gate of Babylon and held it, "Care for a demonstration?"
"..No thank you."
The portals disappeared.
"But, if you could please answer a question for me."
"I will allow it, speak."
"If you and this, Berserker are both Heroic Spirits, then how are here? You say you are dead, but I can tell that body of yours is tangible enough to be solid."
"Magic. That and I require a human magi to anchor me to this world. It is the mage who summons me and provides me with mana so that I may retain a physical form."
"And I assume this human mage is somewhere?"
"Yes, but attending to his own machinations at the moment."
Fervent was thinking to himself, then a light went off in his head.
"Wait, so if you require a human to anchor you to this world, then that must mean that this Berserker you speak of must have one as well."
Celestia caught on to what Fervent was getting at, "Gilgamesh, what happens if a Heroic Spirit was cut off from his master?"
"If the magus was killed or say unable to supply his servant spirit with mana, then that spirit would eventually fade away and return to the Throne of Heroes, the place where heroic spirits go until they can be summoned again."
"Princess Celestia," Chief said "If we can find this human who is tied to the Black Knight, we can-"
"Kill him," Fervent interrupted. "And then it will be easier to find and destroy that accursed Knight."
"Kill him?" Chief retorted.
"Yes, this human is clearly in league with the Black Knight and shall share the same punishment as him."
"We don't know that Fervent," Celestia said. "This human may be an unwilling accomplice in the Black Knights plans."
"Actually,” Gilgamesh spoke up. “The human is the master whereas the Spirit is the servant, that is usually how these contracts work between mages and spirits."
"You see,” Fervent grinned. “The human is guilty."
"Whatever happened with innocent until proven guilty?" Chief shot back.
"Gentlecolts!” Celestia exclaimed. "Are you really going to start this again?"
Both Chief and Fervent shut their mouths.
"Oh that reminds me,” Gilgamesh said. “One last thing I have to tell you."
Gilgamesh's look of seriousness turned into one of amusement.
"I do not ask this of you, but I more or less encourage you. Do not interfere with what the Black Knight is trying to accomplish."
Celestia once again was stunned for a moment, then her face became one of a scowl. "What do you mean? Not to interfere?"
"I knew it!” Fervent gestured at Gilgamesh. “He is in league with it!"
"No, do not think that I would ally with a lowly beast such as that mad dog.” Gilgamesh shot back. “But nevertheless, what he is trying to accomplish is important to the rescuing and bringing home of one of Earth's mightiest and most important beings. And since the Earth is my garden I can't allow you to get in the way of keeping my garden from being more well protected."
"Are you threatening me King Gilgamesh?” Celestia spoke calmly but with a slight edge to her voice. “Because no matter how high or glorious you think you are, you are in my Kingdom and in my castle. Your arrogance is nothing new to me, even if it is more egotistical than those that I have encountered I will not stop. This spirit has killed my little ponies and he will take no more from us. So either help us or stay out of our way."
"Actually you majesty, since he knows just what this thing wants and will not tell us, he is guilty of obstruction of justice and has committed a crime against the throne, which may I remind you he sat on." At this point, Fervent was once again charging up another spell.
"Hmm, as if you mongrels would be able to hold me."
"You think we can't? Celestia has defeated gods. You are but a ghost."
"You're right. I am a ghost, which means I can do this."
Almost immediately, Gilgamesh's body began to disappear in a golden sparkle of light.
"No!" Fervent fired the spell that he had been holding, but it missed....and blew up a good chunk of Celestia's throne.
But even as Fervent stood there with his jaw on the ground, they could all hear Gilgamesh's voice in the air.
"One last thing. Don't attempt to seek revenge against me and Berserker by coming to my world. For yours may be a planet of gods, but mine is one known for being well equipped to fight them and destroy them, ah hahaha."
Soon the room was silent, with all three ponies at a lost for words.
"Princess, your throne forgive me I so sor-"
"It's fine, Fervent." Celestia then lit her horn up as the pieces of her throne were put back together. "Just call in the Field Marshals and generals. Now that we know what we are up against, they need to be prepared."
11:30 AM
Sunset kicked a rock as she and Spike walked out of the library. The unicorn was more disappointed than anything.
"Well, that was a dead end." Spike said.
Sunset just grumbled.
"Come on, sis. Look on the bright side."
"What bright side?"
"Since we learned nothing by coming here, maybe we can actually listen to mom and leave this be."
The unicorn looked at her dragon brother with a sneer, "Are you saying we should let mom's attacker roam free? That borders on heresy, Spike."
"But then wouldn't it be considered heresy by going against mom's wishes to stay out of this situation." Spike's sarcasm was met with a fireball to the face. "Hmm, toasty."
"You know, sometimes I wish you weren't fireproof."
*Gasp* "But then how would I rescue beautiful mares from burning buildings!? How would I swim in lava so that I may wash myself before a date. How would I-"
Sunset then got up in Spike's face. Her emerald eyes glaring into his.
"Oh I'm pretty sure you would figure something out, brother." Sunset's tone of voice was somewhere between caring and villainous.
The two then continued walking through the town. However, when they turned a corner, they bumped into someone.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Sunset said.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Please forgive me miss."
Rubbing her forehead, Sunset then got a good look at who they had just bumped into. He was a human with blue eyes and tanish hair. He wore ornate armor that gave off the impression that he was someone important in whatever group of knights he could be apart of.
"Wait, you are Princess Sunset Shimmer and Prince Spike! A thousand apologies your highness, I should have taken better care in my walk." the human that gave the duo a short bow.
Sunset was a little taken back at his manners. She hadn't met many humans and the majority she knew about were the Romans as well as the Equestria based humans in the Northern islands. Despite that she did not expect him to display so polite and kind manners.
"W-well, just watch where you're going next time."
"I will. Is there anything I can do to compensate for your troubles, your highness?"
"I, well, no. That won't be required."
"Actually," Spike spoke up "There is one thing you might be able to help us with."
"And what would that be?" The human asked.
"Do you know anything about the Black Knight and his history with this town?"
"Spike!" Sunset shouted.
"What, he offered." Spike retorted.
"And just what are the odds that he knows about-"
"The Black Knight? You mean Lancelot?" The human asked.
Both royal siblings immediately turned to the human. "What did you say?"
"The true name of the Black Knight you seek, he is called Lancelot of the Lake."
Sunset and Spike were stunned for a moment, not expecting this turn of events.
"How do you-"
"CHAOS CULTISTS!"
And they would only continue to keep turning.
The screams of various ponies went by as villagers kept running past Sunset and Spike.
"What?! Are you kidding me!?" Sunset let out another groan as the typical effects that came with it being a Tuesday began to manifest.
The Princess stopped a pony who was pushing a cart of radishes.,"You there! What's going why is everyone running?"
"The weather ponies spotted an army of Chaos Cultist coming from the west! The guard plans to hold them off until the village is evacuated."
"Ugh, okay human before I go tell me everything you know about-"
Sunset turned to where the human was, only to find he was no longer there.
"Hey! Where'd he go!?"
"Must have left when everyone started running," Spike stated
What! No, he was our only lead! We've gotta find him."
"Well, judging from the armor and the large sword he was carrying, he must have been a knight of some renown. So my best guess is that he went to go fight those Chaos Cultists."
Sunset's eyes widened. Then she immediately teleported herself and Spike to the west outskirts of the town.
Both children of Celestia were a little taken back when they saw the size of the army.
The entire army spanned an entire kilometer. They had everything from Trotting Dead to Scyclers and Sunset could even spot a Quetzalcoatl.
"I don't get it. Why are there so many!?" Spike said out loud.
"Me. They here because of me."
"Huh?"
"They must have a Fate with them that predicted that I was coming."
"Wow. I heard those things almost never get things right with how much the future changes."
"Well it matters not. They picked the wrong day to try to kill me."
Spike looked in disbelief as she saw Sunset start to walk down to the battle, "Hold on! Where do you think you're going!?"
"To dispose of these Chaos lunatics. What does it look like I'm doing!?"
"That's an entire army! You're just one unicorn, I don't care if you took on a dragon. That's too many enemies and too many variables to think of when taking them all on. Also remember you went on full dragon mode last time and there is no dragon around here with enough fire to boost you."
As soon as the words left Spike's mouth, he realized the irony of what he just said and the smirk in Sunset's eyes said it all.
"Oh no, nononono. I don't know what you have been drinking but we both know I don't have that kind of fire in me."
"Oh Spike, it isn't what I'll be drinking, but rather what you'll be drinking."
"What!?"
"Remember in that bar in Canterlot? When you swallowed that red stuff that almost made you burn down an entire city block?"
"......You didn't."
"Well, ever since Ragnok attacked Ponyville, I kept some around in case of emergency, and as luck would have it-"
Sunset reached into her bag with her magic and pulled out several bottles that made Spike take a few steps back.
"I believe this counts as an emergency."
11:35 AM
General Mismatch looked with satisfaction as the last guard was crushed beneath a Smashers mace. Now they could find who they came here for.
"The last of Celestia's sun stained fools is dead, go! Bring me the head of her pathetic child!"
Then there was a flash, followed by a snarky voice.
"Oh don't worry," Sunset responded. "Let me come to you."
The Chosen of Discord was a little surprised to see their prey just appear before them. Sunset's face betrayed no fear. Spike however looked a little nervous.
"Good, at least one of them knows to fear Discord."
"Princess Sunset Shimmer," Mismatch said with venom in his voice. "How lovely of you to join us today. We were just about to discus how you were going to die."
"Oh what a coincidence. I was talking about something similar with Spike here. Only we were talking about how you were all going to die."
Mismatch narrowed his eyes, then he burst out in laughter, which was mimicked by the entire army.
"What she say?"
"She said she's gonna kill us."
"Who said what?"
"Something about squirrels?"
"I love squirrels! Is it lunch time already!?"
Mismatch came down from his laughing fit and regained his composure.
"You may be a Princess, but do really think you can take us all on? Do you not see how vastly outnumbered you are!?"
"I see some guys who would vastly enjoy watching me burn you to cinders."
Sunset only turned to her brother.
"Spike."
The dragon grimly held up the bottle that was in his hand. He became embarrassed as he remembered the last time he drank a shot of this stuff.
"Hey, what's the strongest thing you got here?"
The bartender looked up from under the sink and looked at the dragon with a smile on his face.
"We got a lot of strong stuff here, scales. Applejack's Daniel or Apploosa Death by Fire."
"Oh, what's that?" Spike pointed at the "Death by Fire"
"Just the kind of stuff only the gods themselves drink. It ranks 2.5 million on the Scoville Scale. Rumors say that Princess Celestia, Apollo and Lady Amaterasu blessed this stuff with the essence of the sun, which explains why its so hot."
"Wow, is it even legal to sell that stuff in a place like this?"
"Hell if I know. The guy who I brought this stuff from said he was gonna use it to commit suicide."
"Well, I'm the son of Celestia and a dragon. So I'm pretty sure I can handle it!"
The pony pulled out a shot glass and filled it halfway.
"Here you go kid, bottoms up."
"I hope so." Spike then promptly took the glass and drank the whole thing in one gulp.
5 minutes later...
"Sorry mom."
Celestia and Spike stood outside Sapphire Lane as Sunset and various fire blood mages went to work putting out the flames that had engulfed the entire street by eating it.
"It's fine Spike, you didn't know how that stuff would affect you. Also I am partially to blame for this."
"Huh?"
"I should never have made that bet with Apollo and Amaterasu..."
"What!?"
"Nothing."
11:40 AM
"If a shot of this stuff could make me burn down an entire street, I wonder what a whole bottle could do to an army."
*Sigh* Well, bottoms up." Spike twisted the cap of the bottle as he began to drink the whole thing.
Sunset smiled as Spike had his "drink" then turned back to the army.
"While I normally reserve no mercy for the likes of Discords ilk, since I know what's in store for the lot of you, I will give you 10 seconds to turn your tails and run before I rain Tartarus down on your heads. That seems fair doesn't it."
"Ha! We are gonna tear you into little pieces and tear those pieces into even more little pieces!"
A cry of approval came from the army as Sunset turned to see Spike licking the tip of the bottle, indicating that he had drank it all.
She turned back to the army, "Well, I'm waiting."
Mismatch's face then became one of a scowl as he gritted his teeth. The pseudo Draconequus could only be insulted to a point.
"TEAR THEM APART!"
The army changed pass him as all of the cultist prepared to swing their weapons and get a piece of Sunset.
Sunset looked back at Spike, whose cheeks were now red and swollen. His face was sweating and he looked as if he was doing everything in his power to hold back what was inside him.
"Alright Spike, let it loose!"
The second the dragon opened his mouth, a torrent of flames washed over the first wave of cultist. Their bodies were immediately incinerated upon contact, everything from weapons armor and down to the bone. The grass itself was nothing but soot. It would take years, possibly even decades before anything would grow there again.
Sunset then stepped into the flames, the fire having no effect on her was she reveled in the heat that it provided. She looked back at Spike one last time. He was panting as he tried to catch his breath.
"Good job, brother. I can take it from here."
Spike with his head still facing the ground gave her a thumbs up.
Sunset opened her mouth as she began eating all the flames around her. Once she consumed it all, her body began to change. Her tail became reptilian, thick armor covered her being and she was also much larger that before with sturdy muscles lining her form. Her hooves were long and claw like when the transformation was done, Sunset stood before the enemy with a wicked grin on her face.
"I gave you all 10 extra seconds to live, but you all squandered it. My generosity gone to waste."
The Chaos army backed up in absolute fear.
"But I am still feeling generous today, so I'll make your death's quick and painless. How's that sound?"
The second wave took one step back, only to be incinerated by one breath from her mouth.
"Well, better get started."
Sunset jumped right into the middle of the army. She swiped her tail and eliminated a legion of trotting dead. Another breath of flames took out a squad of Masochists. Sunset wanted to kill the easiest first, saved the strongest and therefore the best for last. More fun that way.
11:45 AM
Mismatch stood from a distance as he watched Sunset demolish the cannon fodder of his army. Just as the Fates predicted. The smile on his face having never left as the battle started.
"Is the spell ready?"
"Yes," the Fates said. "She will make her way over to the Smashers where she will step and activate it.
"Goooood," Mismatch licked his lips in anticipation.
11:50 AM
Sunset cut down two Smashers as they attempted to swing at her in vain. Their bodies burning away to nothing. She eyed the last one who stood still and did nothing. She watched as it laid down his weapon, as if he was accepting his fate.
"Aww, I like it when they fight back. Oh well."
Sunset swiftly moved and impaled her horn through his chest. The Smasher burning away from the inside out.
Then all of a sudden, Sunset began to feel her power being painfully drained from her body. She looked down and her heart stopped.
She was standing on a magic circle. One designed to drain unicorns of her powers. It was a recently invented spell that she heard was used on Twilight Sparkle. She didn't know exactly how she got out of it or how she lasted long enough to free herself. Inquisitor Trixie's changeling said she had some help but it was unconfirmed who and if.
"This is bad. I could get out of this if I had the time, but I don't think they'll give me anything."
"Like that Princess?" Sunset turned to see the chosen Draconequus walk up to her. "We made this spell just for you." Mismatch walked around he as the spell continued to drain her. The dragon features she had acquired disappearing with every second. "It works when a unicorn activates their magic. The more they have flowing through them the more it drains them.”
Sunset looked up at the general with righteous fury in her eyes.
"And all that power? Guess where it goes?"
The unicorn the looked in horror as magic lines began to trace along the ground. They then formed another circle around Mismatch as he began to glow with power.
"Well I think you can guess."
The chaos army soon began to form up around the two of them, laughter rang from their mouths as the circle disappeared and Sunset dropped to the ground, her dragon form now completely gone.
"Now, I'm pretty sure that circle didn't drain you completely. But whatever power you have left is no match for me and the rest of us."
Sunset looked around, she did not like her odds, she had betted her entire win on that transformation. But now she only had her mind and smarts to help her now.
"I could teleport, but I wouldn't get far. Spike still has another bottle of 'Death by Fire' but they won't fall for that trick a second time. Not to mention the fact that this S.O.G. has my power now, I'm have little options here."
"Fates," Mismatch said as the two headed pony walked up to his side. "Tell me, what does the future say?"
The eyes of the Fates glowed as they spoke in unison.
"Sunset Shimmer will die. She will die a painful death."
A drop of sweat dripped from Sunset's forehead.
"You will be hailed as a hero by the followers of Discord, and be instrumental in his release!"
Mismatch smiled, then lifted up his arm as it twisted into some kind of barbaric weapon. He prepared to strike.
"Wait!" The right head cried out. "I see something! Something else!"
"Oh what now!? I am about to claim a great victory for us! What could possible stop this!?"
"I see, a human, clad in armor."
Sunset's eyes widened.
"Nonsense!" The left head exclaimed "Why would a human come to her aid? You are seeing an unlikely scenario."
"No it is true. We must-.....oh no."
"Oh no? What do you mean-" The left head never got to finish its sentence, as an invisible force removed its head from it's shoulders.
"LEFTY!"
The invisible force then soon began to cut and slice the surrounding cultists, causing those behind them to back away. General Mismatch jumped away as the air before him was cut.
Sunset looked around. Then saw the air in front of her shimmer for a second. Then in its place stood a human with blue eyes and tannish hair. In his hands was a large sword that radiated with power, one that was familiar.
"You!"
The human turned to the Princess. A friendly smile on his face.
"Hello Princess, are you alright?"
"I, wha-. Where did you come from!?"
"I was helping to evacuate the village. I'm sorry I couldn't join you sooner."
"Uh, well, fine I suppose I can forgive you for that, this time."
"Thank you your highness, now-" The human faced the army. "I must ask you a very important question."
"What is it?"
"How high can you self levitate yourself?"
"Umm...What?"
"Self Levitation, I have been in your world long enough to know you unicorns can do it all the time."
"I can levitate high enough...wait what do you mean 'been in your world long enough'?"
"Princess, please, it is for you own safety that you not be on the ground when I do this, believe me."
Sunset opened her mouth again, but the tone and seriousness of his voice made her shut it.
"Alright, I'll do it."
Sunset's horn lit up and she began to float a good ten feet in the air.
"But whatever you're gonna do, please do it quickly. I'm still drained from that magic circle."
"Hmm, with pleasure." The human then held up sword as he faced down the army.
11:59 AM
General Mismatch looked at the human with mixture of anger and suspicion. The loss of the Fates meant they no longer had any foresight to what he was about to do next.
"Attempting to sacrifice yourself for her. How noble and foolish of you."
The Draconequus eyes glowed with power again.
"Go ahead, human. Now that I know that you can turn yourself invisible, I will just have to use the Quetzalcoatl to sniff you out."
Mismatch motioned for the winged serpent to come forwards, flames coming out of its nostrils.
The human lowered his sword, but his face never turned into one of fear.
"I have faced many a foe during my lifetime. You my look and act a little different from other monsters I have slain before, but you are still monsters all the same."
Said sword began to glow with a radiance similar to the sun.
"Since you are going against an avatar of the Sun and her daughter, allow me, a Knight of the Sun to face you!"
Both the General Mismatch and were taken back at this revelation.
"Wait," Sunset thought to herself. "This human is a Sun Knight!?"
12:00 PM
The human held up his sword and then threw it up above him.
"My holy sword is the embodiment of the sun. Under the king's command, I will burn all on the surface to the ground."
Once the sword reached a certain height, it let out a blinding flash. Once it was gone, Sunset was flabbergasted at what she saw.
There, hovering not far above her, was a miniature Sun . Her Fire Blood magic was recharging a great deal to confirm that it was no mere imitation.
"The blade of this holy sword is a copy of the sun itself."
A magic circle in the shape of a sun like symbol appeared beneath the human as he held his hand in the air.
"Holy sword of the stars, swing once again!"
A solid ray of light shined down from the small star, which when the human gripped in his hand, the sun shrank until it transformed into a very long blade that he held in his hand.
"Excalibur Galatine!!”
Then, with one mightily swipe, the human swept away the entire army with a horizontal slash of solar flame in his hand. The blade extended several kilometers as nothing caught in its range was spared. The Cultists, the Needle Hawks, the Destructicorns, the Candigos, even the sole Chaos Mirror and Quetzalcoatl let out dying screams as the sun blessed fire pierced their forms and were silent forever.
Sunset floated down as she slowly walked up to where the human was, she could faintly hear Spike calling out to her in the distance, but was to distracted by the sight she saw.
The entire army of Cultist were now nothing but a field of smoking corpses. She could only make out the hooves of the various ponies, the severed head of the Quetzalcoatl, and the still moving form of General Mismatch.....wait what.
The Chosen of Discord, struggled to get up. His body was burned beyond all hope of saving. The wounds he sustained from that strike were fatal. The only reason he stilled drew breath was due to the power he had absorbed from Sunset earlier.
"Y-you...you think you have accomplished anything!?"
Mismatch tried to stand, but fell as his legs gave out from under him. The muscles that held them up now dead from the burns.
"Even my own death will not stop the advancement of our cause. Discord will be free again and all upon this world will fall into chaos!!"
The Chosen let out one last maniacal laugh before collapsing. His body having given up the ghost.
It was at this point that Spike finally caught up to Sunset. He took a breather before also beholding the field of dead bodies.
"Woah, what happened here?"
Sunset slowly turned to the human before her. Her eyes never leaving him for one second.
"Who are you?"
The human looked at Sunset. His kind blue eyes going well together with his warm smile.
"Oh excuse me, where are my manners? I forgot to formally introduce myself."
The human planted his sword into the ground.
"I am Sir Gawain. I am a Knight of the Round Table who served under King Author."
Berserker made his way through the cave system as he had been doing for the past hour. Even though he was a being under Mad enhancement, he still had the patience to not get agitated from wandering around for to long.
"Still, would be nice to find this secret room by now."
Berserkers prayers were then answered as he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Once he reached it, he found himself in a large spacious room. Inside was a large spiral hill the twisted from top to bottom. Their was something shining at the top of the underground alter, something that Berserker had come to retrieve.
Not wanting to walk up the spiral walkway. The Knight then began a series of leaps that advanced him up one floor at a time.
Sunset and Spike stood there as Gawian finish giving an explanation of just who and what he was.
Sunset was done processing all this when she spoke again. "So let me recap. You are something called a Heroic Spirit, which is the soul of a great hero who has accomplished many great deeds in your former life."
"Yes,” Gawain nodded.
"Your class of spirit is the Saber class, one of the three great Knight classes."
"Yes."
"And you are also from another world called Earth where the dominant species are humans."
"Yes."
"But, then I have another question."
"Okay."
"How are you here? It would take nothing short of the gods to resurrect someone with full flesh and blood, and the best that my mom can do are Immortal Knights."
"Well, that's something that I can't really tell you. For the security of my world please understand. What I can tell you is that my form is maintained with a supply of mana from my master."
"Oh, well...but aside from all that, what was that thing you did! You just took out that entire army of Cultists in one swipe! It's as if that attack was meant for taking out armies."
"And you would be correct." Gawain held up his sword "This is Excalibur Galantine, my Noble Phantasm. A spirits Noble Phantasm is the crystallization of their greatest legend. For me it is this sword that I wielded in life. A blade whose hilt contains a pseudo sun."
Sunset now knowing just what was in his hand, recognized the power that came off it. Indeed this sword and its wielder used the power of the sun, almost in a way some would only dream of.
"Umm Sunset," Spike said "Aren't you going to ask him what you said earlier."
"Oh right, I forgot. You said you knew who that Black Knight was. Lance something?"
"Lancelot, his name is Sir Lancelot of the Lake."
"Yes, who is he and how do you know him."
"Well that is the thing, Princess. Lancelot was a former Knight of Round Table like me. He was once my brother in arms."
Sunset and Spike looked at each other in shock and back to Gawain.
"What!?" They both said.
"Indeed. You see, Lancelot was not always that Berserker Spirit you see now. Once he was a just knight, caring for justice, honoring women, and loathing evil."
"Well he certainly fell from grace," Sunset said snarkily
"Indeed," Gawain's face then turned into one of some sadness "And I am partially to blame for that."
"Huh?"
"It's not a tale I like to remember, but long story short, Lancelot had an affair with my King’s Queen. And when word got out, the King forgave Lancelot but the Queen was to be put to death. When Lancelot tried to free her...he killed my brother and sister who were guarding her at the time."
Sunset and Spike's face began to reflect the humans sadness. Sunset remembered just how worried she was of losing Spike during the Attack of Nightmare Moon, and how she tried to take better care of him afterwards.
"I loathed him after that. So much that when civil war tore my kingdom apart, I rejected his help. And because of that their was no one there to help the us when the Knight of Treachery killed me and fatally wounded my king. Thus bringing about the end of Britain."
"Wow." Sunset absorbed all this information like a sponge. It was like a medieval romance legend that actually existed. Not that they didn't in this world, but they were rare and mostly fairy tales.
"And so when Lancelot became a heroic spirit, the madness that had gripped his mind as a result of his shame and sin allowed him to manifest as a Berserker. And now that madness has come to your world. Where he continues to fight, seeking the sole meeting that might appease his agony."
Spike thought for a moment. "But wait, that still doesn't explain why he is here. Why he attacked this village in the past and attacked mom. If what you say is true, then spirits like you can only exist on Earth."
"Yeah," Sunset said. "And from what you told us, you aren't just in a different world. You and him are in a whole other universe apparently."
"Actually a whole Multiverse and a Megaverse to be exact."
"What?"
"It's hard to explain."
"Alright, never mind. At any rate, do you know what he is doing? What Lancelot is after and who is the master that keeps him in this world?"
"Yes."
"....Well can you tell us."
"I'm sorry, but I cannot."
"What!? Why?!"
"Believe me I do not agree with the actions Lancelot has taken in the name of his master, but it is not my place to oppose it. And if this is what must happen then I'm sorry, but the child of the creator must return home."
"Wait, What child? What creator?"
"Sorry Princess, but I've have said too much." Gawain's body then began to shimmer as he started to fade from view.
"No wait!"
"One final thing Princess, do not try to interfere with what's to come. I'd feel bad if something happened to you or your mother."
Sunset froze at that last sentence, but any chance she had to ask faded along with him.
"Sunset, what do you think he meant by that?"
The unicorn turned and looked at her brother. Her face a blend of confusion and some worry.
"I don't know, but we'd better tell mom about this."
Berserker reached up with his clawed gauntlets as he finally made it to the top. Pulling himself up, he looked upon the object of his quest.
Resting in a pedestal was a silver blade with a large decorated hole in its hilt. Said hole was tapered at four points on the exterior, further down to the tip were three holes of various size in one section and three more of a much smaller size closer to the end.
Walking up to it, he gripped his hand around the hilt and easily pulled the sword out from its resting place.
Berserker held the blade in his grasp, almost admiring it for a second.
"So, this is one of the legendary Infinity Weapons. I expected more."
Berserker then jumped down from the altar and to the bottom floor. Getting up as if it was nothing, he made his way to the exit.
"At last, the child of the creator will soon be free."
"So, you’re the guy who put Bloody in the hospital."
The heroic spirit stopped in his tracks as he heard a voice from the darkness of the cave. Then out stepped a purple unicorn mare. She had a tattoo of the Sun on her cheek and wore an attire that gave off the impression that she belonged to some sect or religious cult.
"I have to admit, no one has ever beaten Bloody in a battle before."
Berserker said nothing.
"So while I do congratulate you for being the very first person to defeat Bloody in a fight."
A flurry of party streamers and noisemakers flashed for a second.
"I'm sorry to say that you have to die right now." Twilight's appearance suddenly became more demonic and powerful, several spears and lances manifested around her as the look in her eyes became a mix of madness and glee. "So where would you like be impaled first? The heart or the scrotum?"
Equis, A long long time ago
Within the skies of Equestria, a portal appeared. Its appearance looked like a swirling hole of purple, pink, orange, and violet particles.
A large object came out of the portal and landed on the ground. As it rested its body, it looked over the area.
It had a smile crossed its face. It was satisfied with what he saw.
"Alright then, let's get to work."
Sunset sat next to her mother and Spike as she observed the sight before her. Her curious mind making sure it committed to memory what she saw.
After all, it's not everyday a group of gods got together.
Standing around the meeting table were 4 well known deities(excluding Celestia), from left to right they were: Amaterasu the Vulpan Sun goddess, Mahou Tanoshii a goddess of Magic(also the former's daughter), Bellona the Roman War goddess (and one of Celestia's generals), and surprisingly(or rather unsurprisingly) Cadence, the goddess of Love.
"Alright," Celestia began, "Now that everyone is here, I shall disclose the purpose of why I asked you all to come here."
"Oh, did you finally found a stallion. Is this about asking us what positions you want to know!?" Cadence asked hopefully.
Celestia unfortunately and unintentionally went red in the face. It didn't help that she became flabbergasted.
"Whu..what!?"
"Oh finally!" Amaterasu chimed in, "I was thinking about to back going to intimidate Daring Do, but now I can get more drama here."
"Whaaaaaa?" Sunset's mind derailed almost as fast as the meeting.
"NO! No," Celestia took a deep breath and composed herself, then put on her serious face. "This is the farthest thing from that. No, this is serious. Something that may concern the safety of the gods of this world."
"Oh calm down Tia," Amaterasu said "What could be so bad that it could pose a threat to us, aside from other malevolent gods?"
"Eternium"
The entire room went silent. "Oh, I guess that is bad."
"As most of you all know, Eternium was a metal that was rumored to be able to kill or severely gods. Some of us can testify to that others have only heard the stories. But what that has to due with this meeting is that it appears some unknown force is working against me(as usual), and their endgame involves the collection of Eternium."
Bellona tapped her spear in agreement. "She's not lying. I had just come back from checking up on the Troodons when I learned that an attacker had broken into the castle and killed some of my best soldiers."
"Not to mention he put Shiny in the hospital. I wish I could have paid him back personally." Cadence added.
"Thank you, Bellona." Celestia said, "Now, I shall explain what I know so far."
Princess Celestia explained her story as the other gods listened with intent, even including Spike and Sunset's trip to Shion. Once she finished all of them had more or less concerned looks on their faces.
"Hmmm, this is quite the situation." Amaterasu stated.
"Question," Mahou said "Where is this Eternium sword that the Black Knight, this Lancelot as Sunset stated, being kept now?"
"It's in an impenetrable vault that can only be opened by my magic."
"So, what do you need us for?"
"Well, even though the Black Knight is dead, I am sure that their are more of these "Heroic Spirits" still lingering in Equestria. That they will all come for the sword." Celestia suspected the one called Gilgamesh would try to take the blade, as he seemed to backing whatever plan that was set in motion.
Before she could continue, a guard burst into the room.
"Your majesty, its an emergency!"
"What!? What is it?"
"Its some of the fire beasts your highness! They've gone mad and are tearing the castle apart!"
Celestia's eyes went wide as she got up from the table, "I'll be right back.”
The solar alicorn followed the guard as he lead her to the foyer. When she got there, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Several of Celestia's Xiulcoatl and Fire Lizards were fighting with a contingent of guards. A Xiulcoatl swung its tail as it sent several guards flying into a wall. A couple of fire lizards jumped on the back of a Knight and tried to bite through the armor around the neck.
Celestia then focused as her horn lit up, she was preparing a spell that would emanate a calming effect that would hopefully placate the creatures. She then cast the spell as a wave of energy washed over the creatures and she waited for it to take effect.
But it didn't. They continued to fight and tear the place apart.
Deciding to take a more direct approach, she confronted one of the fire lizards and looked it in the eye.
"Char!" Calling it by the name she gave it, "That's enough! Bad boy!"
The lizard looked at her, and it didn't seem to recognize its master at all. It then began to crawl towards her as if she was prey.
"Char no!"
The lizard then leaped at her, only to be restrained by a magical binding that tied up its limbs together. She then fired several more spells that incapacitated the other creatures.
Sunset (who had followed her mother out of curiosity) came upon the scene just as the fight had seemingly ended.
"What happened here?" She said.
Celestia walked up to one of the Xiulcoatl as she looked it over, trying to diagnose what was wrong with it.
Amaterasu (who had also followed Celestia out of curiosity) appeared next to her. She then placed her hand(or paw) on its head and closed her eyes.
"Hmmm, so that's it." She then walked over to a fire lizard and did the same thing to it. "This one as well."
"What?" Celestia asked, "What is it?"
"These creatures have the same, or at least a similar magical aura that is normally found on familiars."
Celestia was surprised at this, "That can't be, I trained these beasts personally and did not use any magic at all to control them. Not to mention that no one can use them as familiars as they are completely loyal to me."
"That is true. However, the aura around these creatures and the way it's so ingrained into their minds....Celestia, these creatures have been the familiars to someone else long before you trained them."
Celestia was once again shock, but found herself doubting this claim.
"That can't be. I looked these creatures over before I trained them to see if they are someone else's familiars. I would have found that out a long time ago."
"Indeed, but one can suppress a familiars connection to its master so that it can't be detected during an initial scan. And the aura that is emanating from them shows that someone (their original master I assume) has taken direct control or as least given them an order that makes their connection more apparent now."
Celestia opened her mouth, but then closed it as the Vulpan deity made sense, but she had one more question, "How long? How long have they been familiars?"
"Judging by the residue left on them, I'd say somewhere close to a thousand years."
Celestia for the third time today was met with another surprised, so many in one hour.
"Wait a minute," Sunset said "You're telling me that someone has been spying on us through these things for the last thousand years? And even if that was the case, while Xiulcoatl are effectually ageless, Fire Lizards don't live for that long."
"Perhaps they have had some sort of longevity that their master gave them, or something else I don't know. But one thing is clear, this castle has been infiltrated and whoever put these spies here are now making their move."
"Okay, but one thing still eludes me. Why were they attacking the guard and going rampant? That's not an effective way to attack the capital of Equestria if you're making it so apparent. If they were trying to kill mom, it would be futile as it would take more than a few fire reptiles to do that. It's almost as if someone was just using them as a distractio-"
The three females at almost the same time put two and two together.
"Celestia, where is that vault you mentioned?"
The three of them all rushed down the hallways until they came to an open set of doors and two guards knocked out on the ground. Once inside the room, they found the doors to an impenetrable vault wide open for all to see.
"Impossible." Celestia said.
"Maybe, someone somehow teleported inside and walked out." Sunset theorized.
"No, I designed it so it can't be opened from inside or out without my magic. Which means someone or something unlocked it with my magic."
"Your Highness!" another guard walked in the room out of breath.
"Yes?"
"We have spotted the assailant. He was making his way out of the castle!"
"Wait, where!?"
"He looked like he was heading towards the cliffs"
Immediately Celestia teleported herself, Sunset and Amaterasu outside to the western part of the castle, just in time to see a shadowy figure rush past them.
"There!"
The group gave pursuit as the assailant jumped over walls and ran through bushes, all the while never shaking his pursuers as the finally came to the edge of Canterlot, overlooking a two mile tall drop.
"Spot right there!" Celestia said in a commanding voice. Whoever this was she needed him alive for questioning.
But when the figure turned around, the words were lost in her throat.
"No..."
The Black Knight face her and her companions, holding the sword in hand as he gave his emotionless stare.
"Wait, so that's the Black Knight?" Sunset said. "I thought you said he was dead."
"That's what I was told, apparently Shining Armor was fooled."
"Fooled or not he is clearly cornered." Amaterasu said. "Put your hands in the air come peacefully, unless." Flames started to form around her mouth. "You have any objections."
The spirit saw as various other guards started to form around the trio. Air infantry covered the skies in case her thought about jumping over them.
The Knight slowly raised his hands in the air.
Amaterasu smirked, "Heh, looks like this one knows when to give up.”
But the goddess soon found herself eating her words when the knight took a step back.
"No wait!"
The Knight fell of the edge before any of them could catch him in their magical grasp.
Sunset looked over the edge as the Knight plummeted to the ground, never trying to slow his descent or soften his landing in anyway.
Finally, she heard a soft thud and silence.
"Mom, can you-"
Celestia instantly teleported herself and the other two down to the bottom only to find a hole where the Knight had apparently landed. Sunset cast a wisp spell that went down said hole, which went down and down until she could not see it no more.
"Great, we will never find him down there!"
"We could send some scouts down there to try and pursue him," Amaterasu suggested "What do you think, Celestia?"
The fox deity turned to her friend only to find her with a grin on her face.
"What are you smiling about?"
Celestia let out a chuckle, "I knew someone would try and take the sword. It was only a matter of time. Which is why I cast a tracking spell on it to alert me to its whereabouts when it was stolen."
Now it was Sunset and Amaterasu's turn to be surprised.
"Wow, thats smart." Sunset spoke.
"Yes, now let us go and gather the guard as well as the others. It's time to put an end to this"
Daring Do, being who she was, had a way of getting into places that generally try to keep people out. However when it came to meeting Princess Celestia, the fact that they both knew each other means she didn't have to employ her usual methods of breaking and entering.
But after being refused entry to the castle due to a meeting of the gods,(which okay that was a good reason) she had to find other means of getting inside.
"The ventilation systems!?" Baron almost shouted saying. "You're making us go into through the most cliché way ever?"
"Well Insight, considering that your charming the female guards almost got us in a firing squad, I wouldn't trust any plan you have."
"Hey, I thought what was off the top of my head! Forgive a stallion for trying."
"Plus didn't you say that you were "already on it" when I said we needed to tell Princess Celestia about this?"
"That too was a heat of the moment thing. Sorry it's just I wish I could be heroic and important, like the central protagonist of a story."
"Baron, I write stories. And let me tell you, if this was a Daring Do book, it would be a spin-off or something written by another author, because its tone and writing style would not resemble my work!"
"What?"
"Nothing, just spouting nonsense. Ignore me."
"Okay....so where are we going exactly?"
"The throne room, and if I remember correctly, it should be right through this vent!"
Daring and Baron tumbled out of the ventilation shaft, that bodies falling out in the most ungraceful fashion.
When Daring lifted her head up, she was facing the tip end of a spear.
"Ahh horseshoes."
Bellona inched her spear closer to the Pegasus's eye.
"Before I have a "word" with the guards who seem to be poor at security, allow my spear to have a "word" with you intruder!"
"Wait no!"
Daring looked to see a pink alicorn fly in between her and the Roman War Goddess.
"She's my mother."
Daring thanked her lucky stars that her daughter was a bonafide Princess and goddess of Equestria, which made her wonder why didn't use that card to get into the castle.
"Oh right, cause these guards don't bother to memorize or care for the names or appearances of the relatives of the gods."
Elsewhere, a certain Sunset Shimmer sneezed.
"She is your mother Cadence? You swear on this?"
"Swear on my father's head."
"Very well. But that does not explain why she broke in here like a thief in the night, or who is this stallion that is with her."
"I'm sure she has a good explanation, right mom?"
"As a matter of fact I do, but also need Princess Celestia to hear this. Where is she?"
"She went to go deal with a matter of beast control," Stated Bellona. "But I'm sure she'll be back any-"
One flash later, and one Celestia, Sunset and Amaterasu appeared in the room.
"Second now."
Celestia was the first to notice that new guests. "Miss Daring Do, what a surprise."
"Good afternoon Princess Celestia, Lady Amaterasu."
"Miss Daring."
However it was Sunsets reaction that caught everyone's attention.
D-d-d-d-d-d-daring Do? Daring Do is here!?"
"Oh, I forgot I never told you." Celestia said nervously "Well, surprise?"
"Daring. Here. This is. Oh My. Wow." Sunset then promptly fainted.
"Oh, Is she gonna be okay?"
Spike went up and took her pulse.
"Yeah, she's fine I'd give her a few minutes though."
"Okay, keep her safe Spike. Now Daring, what reasons do you have for sneaking into my castle? I am in the middle of something important."
"I'm sure you are Princess, but what we know concerns the Black Knight and what his true objectives are."
Celestia and almost everyone else reacted with surprise to this. After all, it was unexpected that Daring Do would come to them with vital information at this time. But then again Daring had a knack for uncovering secrets.
"Speak, and quickly."
"I think that the Black Knight is not just gathering random items, but that they are connected in a certain way."
"How, is Eternium, a wagon full of power gems, and an Olympian Crystal related to each other?" Bellona asked.
"It's not just those things. I was exploring some ruins and the I encountered the Knight there and he stole a relic from that place."
"What is so special about a dusty old relic? Other than the time they are?"
"That relic, along with the Olympian Crystal, both belonged to an ancient human colony that once existed in Equestria. And I'm not talking about the Romans"
"What?" Celestia said "What do you mean?"
"Your highness,” Daring spoke. “There was another colony of humans that came from another world, one which brought the Eternium to this universe in the first place."
The room went silent at this revelation, but then Celestia spoke up again.
"Wait, this wouldn't happen to be during the reign of Queen Majesty?"
"The very same one."
"But, I was told of how the old gods faced a giant that supposedly guarded Eternium brought here. I never heard of any human colony."
There was a gasp in the room, and all eyes followed its origin to a certain fox deity.
"Amaterasu?"
She was not listening, but instead whispering something to herself.
"A colony of humans, a towering giant, Eternium weapons...I think I know what's happening."
"What are you talking about?"
Amaterasu looked at Celestia with a grim expression. "I know what the Black Knights master is."
"Who is he?"
"Someone we cannot allow to rise again."
It's not everyday you see the armies of Equestria mobilize against a threat to their country...almost everyday. But after Amaterasu was done explaining just what they were up against, Celestia and Bellona wasted no expenses mobilizing the entire Equestrian army. It which now marched westward of Canterlot, to the valley beneath the skies of Cloudsdale.
The vanguard, lead by Celestia and the other gods, continued to march forward until they reached a certain spot in the field.
"Why have we stopped?" Bellona asked
"Cause this is where the tracker ends." Celestia said "But there appears to be nothing disturbed here."
"That thing has had a thousand years to stay concealed and undetected." Amaterasu stated "I find it surprising that no one started digging around here and came across it."
Celestia had to agree with her, after she told them just what was buried underneath her country for far longer than she ruled it almost baffled her. However now was not the time to be dumbfounded, they had a job to do.
"Whelp, I guess we should start digging then." Mahou said.
"Hmm, you're going to dig like dogs? You really are mongrels."
Everyone froze a an invisible voice met there ears, one which Celestia remembered vividly.
"But then again you are a fox, so that may already be a trait of your canine blood.
A golden shimmer of particles formed together to make a shape, and from that shape came a golden armored human with matching hair and ruby red eyes.
"Gilgamesh." Celestia said.
"As, Princess, I believe I warned you about interfering with events that you should not stick your muzzle in."
"And I believe I told you that this is my kingdom and that I will not allow anymore of my little ponies to come to harm. Plus now that I know who this Knight really serves, I must face it before it can rise again."
"Hmmm, so you would stand against me." Gilgamesh sighed. "Shame, would have preferred not to dirty my hands with your blood. The work of cleaning is reserved for a vassal."
"Silence you arrogant fool!" Bellona said staking her spear into the ground. "You ego will not save you when I kill you in such a glorious fashion!"
Celestia was a little stunned at Bellona's words, but she be used to her violent nature by now. After all she is a Goddess of War.
"While I wouldn't exactly use Bellona's words, she does have a point, you are outnumbered Gilgamesh. And also clearly out powered in this match. Surrender now I will grant you leniency."
Gilgamesh gave Celestia a dirty look as if he just insulted him.
"Mongrel, you would dare order a King to surrender. To throw away the fight before it begins. Either you are foolishly brave, or courageously stupid!"
But before the King of Heroes could do anything, Cadence put herself between him and her aunt.
"Wait! Please. Gilgamesh, that's your name right?"
"Yes, although I did not give you permission to speak to me."
"Sue me, look if you have any love or kindness in your heart at all, then I ask that part of you, don't unleash this force upon our world. If the gods fall then chaos will reign, wars will rage and the planet will be no more. So ask you with kindness and peace, don't do this."
"....I'm sorry, and who are you suppose to be?"
"I am Princess Cadence, Goddess of Love and Beauty."
Gilgamesh uttered a snicker.
"What, what's so funny?"
"Well, when you said Beauty, I scoffed at the notion. You look something humans would just turn into glue."
"....What?"
"On Earth, horse and ponies are nothing more than simple animals. Cattle with no will or life of their own. You are the creatures who pull our carriages, we ride on your backs when we see fit. But once you have serve your purpose, your dead bodies are nothing more than material to be used to make adhesive.
It then suddenly became so quiet that one would hear a pin drop, even in the soft grass.
“What's the matter, does our worlds circle of life offend you-”
The King of Heroes was cut of as an insanely deadly blast of energy came from Cadence's horn. Fortunately for Gilgamesh he summoned a dozen shields from his treasury that blocked the attack.
Cadence stood there, and she looked like she was very pissed off.
"You @&$*%L#! You humans think you're so high and mighty don't you!? I know the Romans are terrible people are best, but you look like you could use some Celestial Holy Enlightenment!"
Cadence summoned a stylized bow and a quiver full of arrows.
"Prepare yourself Gilgamesh, you are about to face the might of the Equestrian Empire!"
"Ah so you are and archer top. Good, it's been awhile since I've had some fun."
Gilgamesh waved his arm.
"Goddesses of this world. I thank you for the glorious fight you are about to provide me with. So in gratitude, please accept this gift from someone as glorious as me. King of Heroes: A.U.O. Cast off!"
A white flash of light shined forth off of Gilgamesh, so much that even the present sun goddess had to shield their eyes.
"Steel yourselves!" Bellona shouted. "This could be anything!"
When the light died down and the 5 female deities could look again, despite Bellona's warning, they were not ready or expecting what they saw.
Standing there, in public, in front of four females and an army, was Gilgamesh, butt nude .
A golden shining light radiated from his private parts, obscuring it to a point. But for some reason, when they all looked upon it they could not help but steam from the redness of their faces.
"GAAHAAAHHH!!" Their was a scream that came from Mahou, but the other goddesses were the one only ones who kept their mouth shut, but still found blood dripping from their noses, Even Celestia had to sprung a leak.
Cadence somehow found the will to speak clearly.
"Why!? Why are you naked, you pervert!"
"Don't be embarrassed, your reaction is only natural."
"Wh-what!?"
"My body is more glorious than even the most beautiful gems on this or any world. A sight of supreme beauty. If you're a virgin, then this must be all the more better for you."
At that point Mahou gushed out half a pint of blood from her noses, but still found the will to remain conscious. Celestia had thankfully stuffed her nostrils with tissue, but they turned red very quickly.
"Go ahead, stare all you want. Become entranced by my glory and surrender yourself. It is futile to resist."
Celestia switched out tissue and summoned the will to compose herself at a time like this.
"E-e-enough of this foolishness, Gilgamesh! You wanted to fight us and now you want us to make fools of ourselves! I will not stand for such immature behavior."
"You're correct, Princess. While that was for you it also serves another purpose."
"What?" Don't tell me he can get us pregnant by just having us looking!? Family reunions would be so awkward.
"A distraction."
Celestia gasped, but it was too late, by the time she saw the weapon shooting out of the Gate of Babylon, it had already connected with the ground, causing a massive explosion.
The weapon was Vajra, a divine symbol of Indra, a deity in Vedic mythology. And its effects were apparent.
After the ringing stopped, and thankfully the blood dripping from her nose, Celestia got up and faced Gilgamesh again. Who thankfully had his armor on again.
Mother I pray for any soul that has to see and be enchanted by such a dangerous weapon again.
Gilgamesh waved his hand as the Gate of Babylon open a dozen holes, weapons at the ready to be fired.
"Now Princess Celestia, shall we begin?"
The Solar Alicorn, no longer in the mood for any more games, drew Night Slayer are raised it high into the air.
"Equestria. CHARGE!"
Lancelot walked into the room as the battle raged above him. The shaking of earth had loosened some dirt off the ceiling that dropped down on his armor.
He did not even seem to notice the shaking and rumblings, for his mind was focused on completing his final task, and once that was done...
"Master, I have returned."
The Entity looked upon his servant with content.
"Good, you have done well Berserker."
Lancelot held up the blade as his master took it. At the same time, he manifested that band that belonged to the Olympian Crystal.
"Now, let us make whole the past."
The Entity took the band, reshaping it into somebody sort of key, he then put said key into the open hilt of the Infinity Blade. The sword glowed with a blue light that gave it a kind of futuristic look, it shined for a second before dimming down.
"We now have everything. We can leave now."
"But what about the army above? I count 5 gods who stand in our way, and I believe you need little disturbance to create the spatial portal."
"Do not concern yourself. Gilgamesh will deal with them soon enough, hopefully."
At first when the battle started, Celestia while not underestimating Gilgamesh. She and her friends had clearly underestimated the depth of his treasury. The battle had been going on for 5 minutes now, and neither side was gaining ground. At first Gilgamesh's kept raining down his weapons on her army which had put them on the defensive. After she ordered the army to stand back for now, the five of them took him on personally. That went as well as expected.
Celestia and the other gods were currently engaged in an aerial dogfight. The King of Heroes had summoned some kind of flying ship that was clearly more than a match for the five of them, it was as if this thing seemed to fly at the speed of light. Every time one of them would get close, a weapon from his treasury would persuade them to linger back. Cadence and Mahou used their bows to fight vollies arrows which were also countered by anything that came out of the gate. It was frustrating, while the three of them were all archers, only one used “abnormal ammo”.
"Hah! Is this the best you got? I have had more intense fights with fakers!" Gilgamesh looked behind him to see the foxes and Bellona who had turned into alicorns to keep up with him. Why they chose to become horses, lesser beings was beyond him, but he did acknowledge the flight power the it lent them.
Why can they not just fly in their human forms? Does that power elude the so called gods?
But then the King of Heroes noticed something missing.
Wait, were is Celestia?
"Gilgamesh!"
The golden king, looked in shock to see that Celestia had teleported onto his craft.
"Allow me to show you just what a lower lifeform can do!" She fired a blast so powerful that the explosion not only destroyed the ship, but also sent her flying back. When she opened her eyes, she saw something that looked like the king fall from the sky only to slow down until it looked like he was levitating in mid air.
Getting to his level, she stared right at him.
"You can fly, or is this just another one of your "treasures" that grants you levitation?"
The King smiled which seem to be in response towards her second guess.
Figures.
"What now? You are vulnerable."
"A king is never vulnerable, nor is he without arms."
Another weapon was pulled out of his gate, it looked like a red spear with veins running up it as well as some sort of writing.
"Tell me Celestia, can you survive something that aims for the heart."
Celestia gasped, What, don't tell me that's!-
"Behold the Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death! Gae Bolg!"
The spear flew from his hands and flew at lighting speed at her. Celestia had to teleport herself, but still had to keep moving as the spear followed her. Always aiming for her heart.
How can this be!? Gae Bolg was a spear forge from the skull of Curruid, gifted to us by Odin! How does he have it? Did he steal it? Or, does his world posses the same characteristics as ours?
Celestia stopped as the spear still came for her.
Is his Earth, some sort of alternate Equss, or....the reverse?
The solar alicorn summon all her power to form a shield that met the Gae Bolg with its own might.
From what Odin told me, the only way to defeat this weapon is to meet it head on, and I know only one person who has that defense.
"Bellona!"
The war goddess appeared behind her.
"I am here Princess!"
"Shiten Ou Nanatsu no Enkan, now!"
"Yes your highness!"
Bellona placed her own have on Celestia's shied as soon as it began to break.
"I call upon the shield that deflected the great heroes of war! Rho Aias!"
A shield with several layers in the form of petals appeared to reinforce Celestia's shield. For a second it seemed to work, but one by one, the layers began to break and crack under the power of the spear.
"Impossible!" Bellona exclaimed "This spear is capable of piercing the shield of Aias himself!?"
Finally it reach the last barrier, which was the size of a dish plate and still cracking.
Their was a scream of determination that came from the mouths of the goddess, a final push, then a massive bright explosion of energy.
Gilgamesh floated down as the dust began to settle. Once it did, the 5 deities stood together once again.
"Impressive, you almost got us there boy." Bellona said.
"I'm not surprised, even a faker who could summon the Aias shield would be able to block that spear. It would be a shameful if a god could not suppose such replication."
"Like I said before,” Celestia spoke. “You are out powered here Gilgamesh. I will fight to the death for my little ponies. If your battle with me means the I have to die saving my kingdom so be it."
"I see, then allow me to grant you that request."
Celestia looked as Gilgamesh pulled another item from the gate. It looked like some kind of key, but what it opened she could only guess.
"I praise your efforts Celestia. You follow the path you believe in and stick to it."
He raised the key up as he turned it, as if he was unlocking something. Then all of a sudden, it released a large, labyrinth-like red pattern, seemingly crimson cuneiform lettering. It would probably be seen covering the sky from a great distance away. It then receded into a glowing small orb in his hand.
"You are a god, but I bet you have never seen the creation of the universe. Allow me to show you just what that looks like."
What Gilgamesh pulled out the orb looked something between a drill and a spear, an odd looking weapon indeed. But their was something about it that worried Celestia just by looking at it.
The elements amalgamate, coalesce, and bring forth the stars that weave all of creation."
Gilgamesh plunged the weapon into the ground, which began spinning and churning up a whirlwind of red energy.
"Awaken Ea! A stage worthy of your power has been made!"
A sudden blackness covered the area, no one could see or do anything.
But when the dark lifted, and looked upon what they saw, some of them wished that it hadn't.
Sunset groaned as she started to wake up.
"Hey there sleepy head." Spike said.
"Ugh Spike, what happened?"
"Oh uh, well you see were about to walk out the room when a guard opened the door so hard it knocked you out!"
"What! Where is he? He will burn for treason!"
"Um, I can't tell you that."
"Why not?"
"Cause... Fervent already shot him."
"Hmm, are you sure?"
More or less," Spike said. “Chief talked him out of a killing blow, but he still got it in the hoof.”
"Wait, where is mom and the others?"
"Oh, they went to go find the Black Knight."
"What?! Without me?!"
"Hey, it's fine they don't need us."
"I know that, but I still wanted to help."
"Oh come on Sunset, this is mom we are talking about. What's the worst that could happen?"
As if on cue a rumbling was felt throughout the area. It lasted for a few seconds, but was still concerning.
"What was that?" Sunset went to the balcony to look outside. That was when Spike heard her gasp.
"What, what is it?"
Spike walked outside to join his sister, and once he did, once he saw what he saw, his jaw dropped as well.
In the skies around Cloudsdale, above the valley that it overlooked, were three miniature spiral galaxies .
Each "galaxy" was stacked on top of the other, each one was twice as large as the galaxy above it. They swirled in opposite directions, beautiful yet terrifying at the same time.
"I hate Tuesdays."
Gilgamesh laughed at Celestia and the army stood in awe and terror at what they saw. They knew that what ever this was, it was meant not to kill them, but destroy them entirely.
Celestia could feel the awesome power of this thing. She guessed that if used properly, who knows what it could do.
"By the stars." she said.
The King of Heroes took Ea and lifted it above her head. The galaxies followed the weapon as they moved with its direction.
"My sword of Rupture is the Star of Creation that Split Heaven and Earth. Take this! Enuma Elish!"
A blast of whirling energy erupted from the "sword", its attack seemed unavoidable. Its power unrivaled. It had its target and there was no way to escape or way to block it.
Celestia in that moment, made one of the most important decisions of her life.
"Everyone to me!"
The four other goddess huddled together to her.
"We have one chance to pull this off. Do you trust me?"
The other goddess nodded.
"Good, now together!"
The five deities poured magic together, and a flash engulfed them and the entire army, just as the blast from Ea hit them.
And the explosion that followed looked like a hydrogen bomb going off, it was spectacular and terrifying. Something that this world had never seen before, and would never see again.
Gilgamesh tapped his foot as he waited for the dust to settle. His patience was thin as grew more irritated at the dirt still hanging in the air.
When he could see clearly, he was almost stunned to see what he saw.
Standing there, although with a few scratches, was Princess Celestia, as if that attack had only put a dent in her.
"Hmph, I admit, I expected some parlor trick to get you and your fellow gods out of Ea's Enuma Elish. But to use to teleport the entire army away. You truly do put your subjects first."
The alicorn still stared at him with a determined face, but said nothing.
“Not to mention that survive a blast from Ea is a feat of its own. I mean I was holding back, but that was enough to blow away an entire city."
"Gilgamesh, I’ll have you know I could blow away a city in a heartbeat."
“Hm, Fuhahahahahahaha! I see, you truly are a worthy opponent. Your were almost as fun to fight with as Enkidu, and he was the only other person I considered a friend and equal.”
Celestia was about to say something but stopped when she heard the word “friend”.
“Wait who?”
Gil put on a stern face.
Hmmm, did I strike a nerve?
“Who is Enkidu?”
“Hmmm. Very well, since you survived Ea, I shall grant you this one answer. But it is all you will get.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow.
“Enkidu was made by the so called “gods” of my world. Mind you it was only a title, the Original One did not want anyone passing her up so they were simply called “Divine Spirits”. But in a sense of irony instead of being the link to put me in line he became my one and only companion. But then one day the so called “gods” did not like that their creation defied them, and so did away with him as punishment for him and me.”
“So, is that why you don’t like me? Do I remind you of the ones who took away your only friend?”
If she had struck another nerve, then the King of Heroes did his best to not show it. He then turned his back on her and spoke.
"Feel free to fight me as many times as you please Princess of Equestria. In fact I invite you to come to my world whenever you please, as King of Heroes, I assure you that it will never be a boring place to visit."
The heroic spirit grinned then uttered one last laugh before he disappeared in a flash of golden light.
Celestia was almost at a lost for words. Then was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a familiar voice.
“Celly!”
The alicorn turned to see her fellow gods touch down next to her. All of them looking slightly better than her, slightly.
“What happened?” Amaterasu said “Where is the human?”
“Oh, he’s gone.”
“Wait, did you beat him,” Bellona said hopefully “Did you send that little $h@# into the sun for all eternity?”
“No, he just left. Said I was a worthy opponent and just vanished.”
Bellona had a blank face, then immediately became pissed.
“D-Doggone it! I would have castrated him before he would get away with any of this!”
“Ugh, just who did that guy think he was?” Cadence spat. “He is a good example of just why Kings are a bad idea. They care about no one but themselves.”
“I wouldn't say that Cadence.”
The pink alicorn of love looked at her aunt in confusion.
“What are you saying? He was a selfish self centered jerk! I bet he never even had any friends!”
"Well….actually--”
A sound reverberated throughout the surrounding area, almost something like a quake or thunder.
“Uh girls, what was that?” Mahou said.
Celestia was a bit concerned too, had the weapon done more damage than it appeared? Or was it something else….
“Oh no.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the other goddess soon got on the same page. They then remembered why they all came here in the first place.
The ground began to shake. From Ponyville to Canterlot, Equestrians felt the very earth move on some level of vibration, even some of the citizens of Cloudsdale looked down to see what was making that noise.
From the north, east and south the ground began to rise as if trying to reach the sky. Power surged through long disused veins as organs and vital systems began to work again. Energy pulses coursed through stone and dirt as the entire surrounding area from the Everfree to Canterlot felt something shift the ground.
The earth opened up as something gargantuan in size pushed up from below. Slowly a titanic form rose from underneath the dirt, rock and soil as they all fell of its form. It went higher into the sky as it got to its feet and stood up straight. Once all was said and done, a near two mile tall being stood in the middle of Equestria. Its orange eyes gazing at the horizon.
Vale, the Goliath of the Earth Element, had risen.
Chapter 9: Goliath's Return
Celestia was now having second thoughts about teleporting the army away.
The towering giant before them, from what she could estimate was somewhere around two miles high. Its head could be placed to Canterlot and every pony could get a good view of it.
Its colors were a mixture of primary brown and secondary tan, glowing green lines of light ran though its body and all met at a glowing yellow ring like symbol on its chest.
The giant stared into the distance for a moment, before it looked down upon the five goddess. Said goddesses started charging their attacks.
"Girls," Amaterasu began "Whatever you do, do not-"
The Goliath then ignored the five as the glowing lines on its body began to shine and hum with energy. It looked to the sky as space and time began to bend and split open, creating a portal. The hole itself was a swirling vortex of purple, pink, orange, and violet. Its size and power looked like it was meant to take something big, somewhere far far away.
While the goddesses were stunned for a moment due to the portals sudden appearance, Celestia squinted her eyes as she noticed something that was on the other side. It was a blue and green planet similar to Equis, although she couldn't tell its size, she did notice that it had two moons orbiting it.
Then before the goddesses could react, the giant started to shimmer with light and began to levitate. Then one second later, its shot through the portal in a beam of light. The portal then shortly closed behind it followed by a low thunder, and all was quite.
"Well, that happened." Mahou said.
"Wait, look over there!"
Celestia then gazed to where Bellona was pointing, a lone humanoid figure in the distance.
"Wait, is that?"
A quick teleport confirmed her suspicions.
The Black Knight stood there silently, its helmet forever concealing its face, but the shadowy aura around was gone. Aside from that she noticed something else, blue particles were being blown away from its person, like dust in the wind.
It didn't take a genius to realize that he was disappearing from this world, going back to whatever spiritual plane he came from.
The two stared at each other, never speaking, not even the other goddesses joined them.
Celestia could not take the silence anymore, she had to ask.
"Why?"
It uttered no response, only continued to stare as now more than %50 of its body had vanished.
But finally before it fade away for good she heard it wispier one last word.
"Sorry."
And then the Black Knight was gone.
Canterlot Castle
"Okay, so can someone explain to me what just happened out there?"
Sunset was understandable peeved that she didn't get to join her mom and the others in the battle, but considering what happened Celestia was thankful she hadn't. But the least they could do was tell her just what transpired.
"Well Sunset, we don't really know where to begin so your gonna have to be more specific." Amaterasu said.
"Oh, well then, what was that giant that came out of the ground? How did a two mile tall being stay under our radar for so long?"
"Well dear Sunset, that thing you just saw was called a Goliath. It is apparently a giant being that housed human colonists within its body that were brought from another world."
Sunset was surprised as this.
"Wow, you mean like a giant walking carrier?"
"In a sense."
"I see, wait "a Goliath!?" You mean there's more than one!?"
"Mooving on! It had came to Equestria long before you mother and aunt did. My brother was there when they first came and along with the humans, that Goliath had brought with it a strange group of elemental creatures."
"Elemental creatures?"
"Yes, although I forgot the name. What was it again? Something monster?"
"Anyway moving on, why were you all going to attack it? I mean you brought the whole army with ya."
"Well from what my brother told me these humans were on a conquest or colonizing campaign that was spanning many worlds. But some were uneasy about our planet, not only was it already inhabited, but our world at the time was not very inviting."
"Yeah, I don't see it being inviting at any time."
"But when he heard rumors about how some of the humans planned to appeal to their Goliath to take this world for themselves, my brother became more worried and suspicious of these humans. But what really alarmed him was the god killing metal that had brought with them."
"Eternium."
"It turns out that the Goliath's entire skeletal structure was comprised of the stuff, if given the chance, that thing could systematically destroy us all if given the chance. Well most of us anyway."
"So that whole thing about the gods attacking a giant like mom said..."
"It was really an ultimatum to get the humans to leave, they had even temporally allied themselves with Queen Majesty to help get the job done."
"Wow, to think the gods would be so desperate they would fight along side that monster."
"Ultimately the humans and their creatures disappeared, whether they scattered or were exterminated, no one clearly remembers. The Goliath as we now know hid itself underground and stayed there until it rose again today. I feared it would seek revenge, so that's why we went there with such a large force."
"But it really just wanted to leave."
"It appears so."
"I wouldn't be so sure."
Everyone in the room turned their eyes to Bellona, who had a skeptical look on her face.
"Bellona?" Celestia said.
"Ask yourself this, if you were an invading force, would you fight till the last solider? Or call in reinforcements?"
"Wait, you're not saying that-"
"I'm just putting it out there Princess. There is a whole world of those humans out there, not to mention how many of those Goliaths. Even though a millennia has passed, some people never let things go. So what I'm saying is, did it leave cause it didn't want to fight? Or just to call in the main force?"
The room was silent, everyone was more or less split on this theory. Humans were already a problem when it came to Romans, the humans of Equestria being an exception.
That being said, other than this brief encounter, what kind of planet did those other humans come from? Where they benevolent and peaceful? Or just as greedy and dangerous as the ones they knew.
For the rest of the day, Celestia would be thinking about the world she saw through that portal.
It had been three days since the Goliath rose from the underneath Equestria and departed for its home. Celestia had held a press conference where she explained the whole thing to the population so that no one would worry or be confused. While this had calmed down some ponies, other theorized that the giant was simply going to get reinforcements before its world's armies would return to conquer Equis. But eventually the drama died down and Equestria once again resumed its normal status quo of peace, happiness and occasional violence.
However telling everyone what happened came as a double edge sword. Once word of what happened started reaching the other nations, it was a mixed reaction to say the least. Troodon nearly went into a state of panic at the news of a world full of humans, Rome was rumored to be sending investigators and spies to Equestria to find our as much as they can about this planet called Earth, the Deer were claiming to be receiving prophetic visons about the second coming of this other world and what it would mean for the future of Equis.
Canterlot Castle, 1 Week Later
Fervent once again sat across from Chief as Princess Celestia dismissed another nobles request.
"Understand, I will not simply tear down the orphanage just to build another one of your hotels. You will just have to go somewhere else to expand your business."
The noble grumbled something underneath his breath, but turned around and left the throne room.
Fervent was half tempted to get off from his chair and "ask" just what he was murmuring, but found the willpower to keeping self restrained. This was surprising to him given what had transpired.
After he learned that that Black Knight had survived and had now less got away Scott free. Fervent was understandably upset that it had escaped justice. But that thing was worlds away now, and he would probably never see it again.
"Although if it does show its face around here again, I will have my satisfaction."
"Alright then, I suppose that's it for today, thank you Fervent, Chief, you may go home now."
"Alright see ya!" Chief hopped off his chair and walked to the door. But before he could open it, there was a knock.
Chief opened the door, but was not expecting the person on the other side.
"Princess Celestia."
"Anrain? To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
"That is something I should both show and tell you."
Fervent got back in seat as the deer walked in, whenever he showed up, things usually came after.
"Like Nightmare Moon returning ."
"Very well, what do you have to show us?"
Anrain rolled in a board, which had drawings of various figures that no one recognized.
"Along with these images I saw in a vison they were accompanied by a prophecy."
1 Minute later.
All three ponies were scratching their chins once Anrain was done explaining what he saw, this was news indeed.
"Anrain, how much of this vision do you think will come to pass?"
"Well Princess, with that giant that came out of the ground I'd say some of it has already come to pass."
"Even so, what do you make off all this?"
"I believe Princess what this means is, whatever world that Goliath and those humans came from, we defiantly have not seen the last of it."
Celestia looked to the board again, on it were drawings of: the Black Knight standing over her in the vault room, a city that looked like Couldsdale burning, Chaos Cultists looking over the village of Shion, a black and green titan standing alongside a lion with a sun motif and a bat with a moon motif, two humans, and the ground cracking and crumbling as the Goliath rose out of the ground. All the while repeating the prophecy Anrain had told them in her head.
"A sunrise dark shall cast fall upon the kingdom, and time will rust. While the planet turns from gold to gray, and gray to black. And he shall stand alone while not alone. A dark star, unstopped and unstoppable. The sun herself shall scream, the child of the creator shall rise, his gaze revealing the legacy of her Majesty the Queen. Order shall take form and call its power. And once Vale stands above the rest, will Equestria know fear."
A lone figure in a cloak overlooked Equestria from a hilltop, his aura of mystery was one that seem to permeate his very being.
"Master, is there something wrong?"
The cloaked figure didn't even turn to look at Gawain but still spoke.
"I was just making sure that these Equestrians wouldn't try anything."
Gilgamesh manifested next to the them and gave his usual arrogant laugh.
"Fuhahahaha, trust me Master, these mongrels would not have the time to try and invade our world unless the planet teleported to right next to it."
Gawain gave the archer a look.
"And what are the odds of that happening?"
Seeing as those two were about to banter again, the figure turned around and held up his hand.
"We are done here. Gawain, Gilgamesh, our contract is fulfilled, you may leave now."
A mark on the back of his hand glowed and part of it disappeared, and with it the two servants vanished from the world.
The figure then waved his hand as a portal appeared, and then he disappeared into it.
Now my children, you are the first of many, this world is young and its future inhabitants will rely on you to protect them, it is your duty and I hope that you do it well.
Brother, mother has told us that we shall be soon expecting more siblings soon
Oh! Will they be like us?
Not at all, she says their purpose is to maintain balance, ours is to protect and serve
I have proven the legend real! Our kingdoms stand united! Hear this! A new Golden Age has begun.
We shall spread throughout the realms, staking our marks on worlds beyond the breach!
I have tried to c_ll for moth_r, but the gods of this wor_d have sealed the breach, she cannot c_me for me. I am too weak to m_ke the journ_y home.
Sleep, I must sleep, my strength is spent and I must....sleep........sleep.
Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library
"And then the Olden Pony asked, ‘Who’s got my rusty horseshoe?"
The room became deathly silent as Lighting Dust rubbed her fore hooves together in a villainous manner...before immediately snapping one of them in Coco Pommel direction.
"YOU DO!"
Coco screamed as she fell back in a dramatic fashion.
The remaining ponies in the room(plus Spike), looked on as Coco got back up, her face now very red.
Lighting dust let out a cackling laugh as she reveled in her victory of scaring someone.
"That's not funny Dust!" Coco said
"Yeah, you're right....it's hilarious!"
Fiddlesticks rolled her eyes and was about to respond when she heard Sunset yawn.
"No offence Lighting, but if your attempt was to scared all of us...or one of us with a story we have heard a million times, then you will have to do better"
"Oh come one! That story will always scare ponies no matter how many times you've heard it" Lighting sounded offended as she finished her sentence, she was the one who had suggested they all had a sleepover at Sunset's place for the sole purpose of telling scary stories from Equestria's legends.
"Well, sorry o break it to you Lighting" Spike said as he got everyone's attention. "But the only stories that scare Sunset are the one's that actually have any real life credit to them"
"Oh? And just what kind of stories are that?"
Sunset then cracked a thin smile. "Well, since you asked Lighting, allow me to spin you a tale, on that some of you may know"
"Okay then, bring it!"
"Very well"
Sunset's horn lit up as the fire from the fireplace began to dance until it form an image, all ponies present stared as sunset manipulated the fire to help tell her story.
"Thousands of years ago, long before even Queen Majesty reigned there was a monster who even Discord himself feared, "The Black Knight", a walking suit of human armor that roamed the land, it carried no weapon, but wherever it went, death followed."
The fire shifted to form an image of suit of armor standing over a pile of dead bodies, all the while, faint screams could be heard.
"Now I know what some of you are thinking, 'how did it kill its victims if it carried no weapon?' well it may not have carried a weapon with it all the time, but that doesn't mean it could make uses of one. It killed ponies with almost anything it could grab, poles, forks, chairs, swords, spears, even a quill! A blinking quill!"
With every word, the scene in the fire changed to match Sunset's story Coco had to cover her eyes every time it showed the Black Knight killing its victims with the various things Sunset mentioned....even the quill.
Witnesses who lived to tell the tale described this walking monstrosity as a raging beast who could go berserk at any time, shadowed covered his body, hate seems to radiate of his body, and...the one time it took off its helmet....there was nothing but a flaming skull.
Almost everyone was shaking at this point, but Lighting Dust apparently was not frightened.
Apparently.....
"W-well, it is just a story right? Everybody knows it's just one of those tall tales to make little kids behave."
Sunset could only give Lighting a more evil smile.
"Oh but get this, when asked my mom about the legitimacy of this story, she tried to avoid it at first...but then told me about how now less than 400 years ago, she sent a platoon of Immortal Knights plus a Bearer of Flame to deal with a monster that had been terrorizing a town up north. But only one day after she sent them, the bearer of flame came back mortally wounded. And despite her best efforts to save him, the bearer died in her hooves, muttering one thing over and over......Black Knight"
Lighting was beginning to sweat, but was still not fully convinced "Oh yeah, and why should I believe that!?"
"Hehe, because the name of that town, was Shire"
At this everyone's eyes widened, in most history books one would find the story detailing the destruction of Shire and how the monster who destroyed it was never properly identified.
"And while its appearances throughout history do not have any proper placement, a unpopular rumor went around that the only time the knight appears is if it feels that a certain pony must be struck down from its perch...be they evil or good."
The fire dimmed as to signify how the story was coming to an end.
"And so beware if you ever try to reach for the stars, cause the Black Knight may just show up at one day, and he will come for you!"
Lighting Dust then felt something fall on her shoulder, and looked to see the gleam of metal a gauntlet.
"GAAAHHHH!"
The pegasus immediately shot up into the air and grasped the ceiling as best as she could.
But when she looked down, all she saw a laughing Spike wearing a metal glove.
Now it was Sunset's turn to break out in a laugh as an embarrassed Lighting Dust floated back down.
"And THAT, is how you tell a scary story"
Lighting quickly beat down her embarrassment to crack a small smile.
"Well, I gotta hand it to ya Sunset, you got me good"
"She got all of us good," Pizzle said. "I wouldn't have believed that part about Shire unless she says she heard it from Princess Celestia herself, but then again, it was all just a story"
But when Pizzle made eye contact with Sunset, she had a smirk that sent a message.
"Oh Pizzele, as the Element of Truth, I expected you to get it"
"Um...get what"
"The story I told was indeed was all rumor and tall tale with little to no credit, but that part about Shire was completely true, my mother did indeed tell that was what bhappened"
At this, Pizzle dropped a beat of sweat, because she now knew Sunset wasn't lying.
"But then again, we may never know the true identity of the monster of Shire, and what that dying Bearer of Flame could have meant anything"
After hearing that, the some of Sunset's friends nodded in agreement.
"And even if such a monster did exist, mom could handle it no problem, after the lot of us have faced worse"
Unknown Location, Underground
*Low hum*
"........"
*Low hum*
"........"
*Low hum*
"......."
My children, if you hear this call, then the time has come for you all to come home. Much has changed since you left, but the world once again needs you protection. Your mother misses you, please come home.
*Low hum*
"..........."
*Humming grows louder*
".............."
*Humming turns into heart beats*
"I...I....."
*Heartbeats increase*
"I am still here"
*Heartbeats stabilize*
"I still live?"
The entity tried to move its limbs
"I am stuck, but I live"
In the span of half a second, all the memories of what had happened came flooding back to it.
"Yes I remember. The breach. The Queen. The slumber"
The entity then tried opening its eyes, only to be met with dirt and rock.
"Ah yes, to escape from her, I had to hide here"
The Entity forget just how deep it had hid itself, but knew that it was trapped all the same.
But not helpless.
It reached with its feelings to get a sense of what the world was today
And was somewhat surprised as to what it had gathered.
The Queen was long dead and now a Princess had taken her place, Equestria was now a peaceful kingdom. Celestia, as she was called, was also apparently the elder sister of another alicorn named Luna, who was....displaced at the moment.
But despite that, this..Princess Celestia seemed like a good person and truly wished the best for her subjects.
"An ideal leader, hopefully my plans don't cause her to much trouble"
Despite this new Equestria being better than the one it formerly knew, it could not stay here.
"I do not have the sufficient power to escape this prison, nor the energy needed to return home."
The amount of energy need to escape and open a breach back to home was very significant . Reaching out again, it found several sources that all together would provide enough power to do all of those things, yet that didn't change the fact that it was still immobile.
"Yet, there is someone who is very capable of gathering those things for me, except..."
The Entity paused its thoughts, the servant who could complete these tasks for him, would obey it without question, but the methods in which it would do them was...questionable at best.
It could wait for help to come, assuming mother would send help, but considering who his brothers and sisters where, the amount of trouble would most likely be more consequential than anything its servant could do.
"The risks will be worth it...probably"
The Entity then began using its limited abilities to construct a crude summoning seal, and gathered what little energy it had left in order start the process......
High Inquisitor Fervent dedicated his life to one thing and one thing only.
The glory and continued rule of Princess Celestia, Goddess of Sun.
To him, anyone who didn't agree with her regime or favored the Moon and its night, was either a heretic or just ignorant of what Princess Celestia's grace and goodness could give them.
"And yet there are still ponies in this Kingdom that are capable of such opinions."
The High Inquisitor was walking through Canterlot Castle, on his way to the throne room to discuss judgement that involved the fate of some remaining Nightmare Cultists.
"Should have just put them down on the spot, the very fact that they opposed our Goddess is worthy of death alone!"
Then the thought of the Nightmare Cultists also happen to remind him of a certain prisoner who was kept in the most guarded part of the castle dungeons.
Nightmare Moon, or as Princess Celestia now calls her: Princess Luna, Goddess of the Moon and her younger sister.
Fervents personal thoughts and feelings towards the younger alicorn were summarily the same ones he held towards her followers.
Had it been not for Princess Celestia's strict and clear orders that no harm should befall "Princess Luna" lest they incur her wrath, Fervent would have vouched for her immediate execution for all the crimes her and her followers had committed against Equestria and her solar throne, sister to Princess Celestia or not her beloved Luna deserved to die the most.
"And yet, she still thinks she can be saved"
From what Princess Celestia had told him and him and Chief, she planned to reform Luna and reintegrate her into Equestria's ruling family as her equal, effectively making the "former" Nightmare Moon, the embodiment of all evil and darkness, the co-ruler of Equestria and his Princess as well.
The very thought was inconceivable.
And yet this was Princess Celestia's plan, and she had asked that day if their were any objections or grievances about this then they should speak now.
But as much as Fervent opposed Princess Celestia's plan, his loyalty and that fact that he never openly questioned her orders, he kept him quiet.
Coming down from his thoughts, Fervent realized he had arrived at the throne room doors.
"And yet, if she pulled me aside, in private, to only ask me my personal opinion about the whole affair."
The door opened and he walked in.
"I'm not sure I would hold anything back"
The Entity looked over the finished seal, satisfied with what it was.
"Alright then, let's do this"
Concentrating, the seal reacted to its summoner as it let out a low humming.
"Hear me spirit! If you heed my call and your will becomes my sword, then by my command, take form and walk this world."
The seal then began to glow blue as the summoning began to take effect.
"My power creates your body and your sword becomes my fate, If you yield yourself to my will and reason, then answer me! Unknown to death, nor known to life, come forth......my servant!"
The pattern then emitted a bright glow that filled the entire room, all the while one could feel mana being drawn towards its center.
And when the light faded, a metal clad figure stood in its place.
"I ask you." It began, the tone of his voice tipping between rage, and incomprehensive "Are you worthy to be my master?"
Once the figure looked around the room however, it realized it was the only person in it, yet it still sensed the presence of another.
"Where are you, I can tell you are nearby yet I cannot see you directly"
Then a looming and borderline ominous voice responded.
"I am here, or rather, I am everywhere"
"....Your answer is ambiguous, yet that matters not to me."
"I see"
"Nevertheless as per any Master and Servant that is forged, some sense of identity must be established"
"Agreed, I am what smaller beings might refer to as a divine child of a Deity, but more in the creation sense then the biological. You may refer to me as Master or Lord"
"These titles are satisfactory, as for my identity I am-"
"I know who you are"
"........"
"The greatest Knight of the table, the one who swore his loyalty to the wielder of the Sword of Promised Victory, and last but not least, the disgraced one who could not keep himself from loving the Queen. You are the Black Knight of Legend"
".....You are correct in your assessment, yet I cannot discern if that last part was blunt honesty, or edging towards insulting"
"Does it matter?"
"No, my sins I am well aware of and they are what give me my strength and berserk"
"I would not have it any other way, I summoned you of all Servants because of your skills and your abilities. But now that we have gotten all that out of the way, lets us discuss what you shall be doing"
The Black Knight looked up to the ceiling, as if he was eyeing his master.
"What will you have me do?"
Canterlot Throne Room
Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria and Goddess of the Sun.
Was not happy at the moment.
Her day had not started out that way, but after her routinely check up on her imprisoned sister she was no longer in a happy mood.
She would have thought that just like she had raised the Moon every single day, she would have gotten use to the sorrow and grief of doing this.
But each visit with her sister, every "talk" they had with each other, it never ended on a good note.
She tried almost everything to reconnect with her little sister, but each time Luna wanted nothing of it.
Someday Luna would go off in an insane rant that Celestia credited towards Luna's unstable state of mind, other days she would never speak a word and just pretended to be asleep, and on worse (and thankfully rare) occasions, Luna found a way to get under her skin, which always ended with Celestia leaving the dungeon in tears.
Today was unfortunately one of those days.
"Oh Luna, why do you keep doing this to me"
Looking around the throne room she could see Chief sitting in his throne, fumbling around with a Rubik's cube of all things. They were currently waiting for Fervent to arrive so that they may discuss the fate of the remaining Nightmare Cultists that were found in the Everfree by Sunset.
The thought of the Cultists once again brought her thoughts to their leader....
"It has been months since she came back, since she was purged of the Nightmare Moon attire, and yet I still cannot recognize her"
If this kept going on, then the possibility that Luna would spend the rest of Eternity in that cell became more apparent every single day.
Because deep in her heart, it was either life imprisonment, or the other option that she prayed to the heavens above that she would never have to chose.
"If I ever did that, I would never forgive myself...no, I would never live with myself cause if I did, I might just-"
The doors opening were what brought Princess Celestia out of her daydream, just in time to see Fervent arrive.
"I can think about that later, now it is the time for other matters.."
Outside Donut Joe's
Celestial Guard Bold Rush walked out of the Donut shop carrying a box of a baker's dozen heavily glazed chocolate.
The Guard was on his break, and was using it in the most enjoyable way possible( at least to him).
Setting the box down on an outside table, he carefully opened the lid and took out a still hot donut , it's chocolate cream gleaming in Celestia's sunlight.
He carefully popped it in his mouth and slowly chewed it while savoring the flavor and letting his taste buds go into a state of euphoria.
But before he could grab another one, he felt the wind in the local area start to swirl, and when he looked around he saw a small blue flame appear on the street which increased in size until it vanished.
And in its place stood a humanoid figure that was cladded in full armor, but its distinct features were obscured by a black aura that
The armored entity turned and gave Bold Rush a small stare, before breaking eye contact and started walking in the direction of Canterlot Castle.
As Bold rush put another fat donut into his mouth, only one thought went through his mind.
"Must be Monday"
"I'm just gonna be blunt here and say we should just hang them all as an example, not only are they guilty for aiding the Nightmare, but now they have the charges of attempted murder of your daughter, Princess Sunset Shimmer."
Chief let out a groan at the High Inquisitors predictable response. "Is the your answer to everything? Just death sentences? did it ever occurred to you that these ponies should be given a chance to atone for their sins, that they should be allowed to stop what they're doing?"
Fervent gave Chief a cold glare. "They could have stopped a long time ago, I have no sympathy for those who oppose our Goddess!"
"Some mares in the Priestess would disagree with that" Chief mumbled
"What was that!?"
"Gentlecolts!"
Fervent and Chief froze at the sound of Celestia's voice.
"If you two are done bickering, then can we please get back to the task at hand" The solar alicorn was not in the mood for this.
Nevertheless, Fervent continued, "But seriously, these ponies are guilty of crimes against the crown, practices of dark magic, not to mention they are followers of Nightmare Moon, and they tried to blow Canterlot off of its foundation!"
"They are still ponies"
"Have you seen the faces beneath the Shadowbolts masks? They stopped being ponies a long time ago"
As much as Celestia appreciated Fervents devotion to her, he still had ways to go in terms of forgiveness, especially towards those who offended her.
"No one is beyond saving Fervent, never forget that, we must always find it in ourselves to forgive our brother and sister ponies."
"Even heretics, even opposers to the crown?"
"Even if that person is your worst enemy or blood sibling, you must always cling onto hope that they can be saved.
Sensing the tone in his Princess's voice, Chief could already guess what was really going on.
"You tried reaching out to her again didn't you?"
Barely making eye contact, Celestia gave a slow nod.
"Permission to speak freely?"
"..Of course, speak your mind Chief"
"Thank you your highness"
The chaos leader took a deep breath.
"A trait most of us Chaos Cultist have is that we are diverse in everything we do, we break the monotony and we look for other ways to enjoy life. but at the same time we ask the questions no one answers, or rather the questions everyone keeps avoiding"
Celestia already knew where this was going, and she didn't like it.
"While I have nothing against trying to reform Princess Luna, I just can't see the current world accepting her much less forgiving her. Like it or not the Equestria of today, its citizens are for the most part leaning favor the Sun and the Day as opposed to the Moon and the Night, a part that is somewhat contributed by you"
"He's not wrong" Celestia thought to herself.
"Even if you did somehow manage to bring Luna's sanity back, the people would never accept her as their Princess, much less your equal. Despite all your teachings about forgiveness and mercy, not everyone is of the same mind. Why would they forgive someone who betrayed the country and fought against their patron for her own selfish reasons. Just I can imagine their reactions: "By what tortured logic did our Goddess conclude that letting an unrepentant evil tyrant off the hook represented anything other than an insult to the memory of those she killed?" "Seriously, can somepony explain to me how the war can end with the instigator being allowed to go about her business as if nothing happened? The twisted rituals! The soul harvests! The cities raided! Apparently all of them were just missteps—painful but necessary—on Luna's path to self-discovery!" They would say by putting her on the throne you're excusing her past behavior. They would try to make you see just how wrong this is. Forgiveness? Rehabilitation? Reintegration? No. Not her. Not now. Not ever."
The room became deathly silent before Chief began to finish his talk.
"So the real question Princess Celestia is not how you will change Luna back into the pony you once knew, but how you expect your loyal subjects to change into a people who will accept her?"
For the first time in a very long time, Princess Celestia did not have an immediate answer she could employ.
"I....I.."
THHOOOM!
The castle shook with a low rumble as an explosion rang throughout the area.
"What was that!?" Fervent exclaimed.
As if on que, a guard immediately burst through the doors of the throne room.
"Your highness! We are under attack"
Immediately getting up from her throne, Celestia made eye contact with the guard, who looked like he had just seen a ghost.
"By what?!"
"......You need to see for yourself"
The Knight stood in front of the entrance to the Castle courtyard, the sentries already having spotted him and asked him to identify himself.
But he ignored them, as he was thinking to himself.
"When a Servant is summoned into this world, they are brought up to speed on the current status quo, it allows us to understand the world we are in as to avoid confusion. But what the aether has told me(or from what I can understand), is that this land is ruled by a winged unicorn who claims to be a deity, I find that fact to be very ridiculous"
The knight clenched his fists
"Horses are meant to be ridden, not to rule"
The sound of rustling could be heard on the other side of the gates.
"Another sign of this is that the people of this Kingdom are unbalanced, they praise the Sun and the Day for is life and glory, but shun the Moon and the Night for its association with a dark tyrant"
The gates opened, revealing a contingent of Blood Knights, Guards, and Bearers of Flame. All of their weapons trained on him.
"And yet, there is something to admire about this Celestia, to enforce a rule for 1,000 years of peace and do it well no less, is something to be admired"
The Black Knight summoned within its hand his sword, a blade called "Arondight".
"I can't wait to burn it all down"
Author's Note
The Shimmerverse just got darker.....
Chapter 3: The Stay/Night After
To say that Equestria was in a perpetual state of fear and chaos was not just an understatement.
It was an insult.
When news got out that Canterlot Castle had been breached by a armored monster and Princess Celestia attacked, everypony essential lost it.
Inquisitors were in a state of paranoia, giving suspicious glances to anyone they suspected of heresy or ill intent, Priestess where praying more often than they usually did and the guard force in every settlement in Equestria was doubling their rounds and patrols.
And no one who didn't live in Equestria could blame them.
The avenge outsider knew that Princess Celestia was a God to her little ponies, someone who had nurtured and protected them for over a millennia, everything they had was because of her, so when you hear that your deity, the person you worship and devote yourself to is attacked and incapacitated, plus the fact that the offender is still loose.
Wouldn't you be scared stainless?
Shining Armor had never been to a hospital before.
At least not under these circumstances.
As his mind began to catch up to him, he began to recall the reason why his nostrils now detected that distinctive clean hospital smell.
He remembered the castle being invaded, how he and his fellow guards tried to stop an unknown armored assailant from invading the castle. He also remembered just how well his attempt went.
The Field Marshal groaned as he tried to open his eyes and get up, despite every pain in his body telling him not to.
He was about to falter in his struggle, until he felt another presence in the room.
"Waky waky BBBFF!"
Shining didn't know whether to smile or frown as he opened his eyes to see his floating chaotic sister above him, their muzzles just inches from each other.
"Feeling better?!"
"Twilight, must you float above me like that?"
"But, if I don't above you, then who will watch over that BBBFF head of yours?"
Shining let out a small chuckle. "Well I can't argue with that logic."
"Exactly! Why would anybody argue with chaos!"
"Dunno" Although I keep trying "So, how bad did they find me?"
"Well, the nurses say you didn't break anything important, but then again a tower did collapse on you so there is that. Other than those several dislocated joints and a fractured rib cage, I'd say you're fine."
The Field Marshal could only deadpan at his sibling. "How is that in any way fine!?"
"Hey, I said you didn't break anything important."
"...And just what do you classify as important?"
"Well, your nose for that matter, after all you can't smell chaos coming without that, plus your tail in still attached to your body and I won't be able to cuddle it if it weren't, and then there is the fallopian tube which you need to-"
"Twilight! I don't have a fallopian tube."
"....Oh right, you're not a chaos magi."
"No its-.....never mind."
"Okide dokie! So I guess you all wide awake now right?"
"*sigh* Yeah, I guess."
"Goodie! Cause that means you get to tell me!"
"Tell you what?"
Before Twilight could answer she put one a certain smile, and not just any old crazy smile, it was a smile that if she ever flashed then you know someone was gonna be either in a world of chaos, or dead as a doorknob.
The floating unicorn grabbed her brother's cheeks and stared right into his eyes, and in a slow calm voice asked.
"Do you like black, or red licorice?"
"Ummm, what?"
"Black or red licorice, which is your favorite?"
"Uh, red....why?"
"Oh you know" Twilight said in the most innocent voice. "So know what to use when I strangle the guy who put you in here."
Celestia woke up with a start, getting her bearings the Sun Goddess realized she was in a bed, and most likely in a hospital.
The solar alicorn however was still reeling from the effects of the dream she woke up from. She didn't remember all of it, but she did vividly remember the part before she woke up, it involved her, Luna, and something truly heartbreaking...
The Princess decided for the best if she just pushed it to the darkest recess of her mind, she didn't want to think about it.
The opening of her door interrupted her thoughts as she saw a nurse walk in, only to stop when she realized that her patient was awake.
"Oh, Princess Celestia! Umm, how are you feeling?"
Celestia could only smile at her subjects initial reaction. "I am feeling better, thank you for asking."
"Ah yes, so the doctors say you only suffered a concussive blow to the head, it was hard, but nothing time and healing magic couldn't fix."
"Alright, that's good." Celestia's smile faded when her thoughts drifted to another related subject.
"Nurse."
"Yes?"
"Do you know, how many were injured or died during the attack on the castle?"
"I um, I don't know."
"I do."
Both mares turned to the doorway to see High Inquisitor Fervent standing there.
"Oh Fervent, you're here."
"I am always here for you your majesty."
Sensing this was going to be a private conversation, the nurse left the room, while the Inquisitor walked up to his Princess and bowed.
"So, how many?"
Fervent’s face was a mixture of a scowl and respect. "31 Guards and 13 Knights injured or in critical condition, 32 Guards, 5 bearers of Flame, 2 Knights, and 1 Inquisitor are now among the dead."
"And...the intruder?
The Inquisitor then made a real scowl. "It got away, unfortunately, taking with it a significant sum of power gems, some of which were made by Hephaestus"
Celestia then dropped her head back on her pillow at this news. "Do we at least have any idea as to what it was?"
"All witness is could say was that it was someone, or something running around in an armored suit. If anybody had to guess a species it would most likely be human considering the body shape."
"Well, whatever the case this thing was bold enough to break into the castle, steal something right from my vaults, and incapacitate and attack me to a degree. Something like this has never ever happened before."
"And it will never happen again, your highness."
Before the conversation could continue, a loud and familiar voice rang out.
"Where is she, I need to see her!"
"Princess please! She is still recovering from the incident, she needs to rest"
"What she needs is me!"
The door swung open to reveal the frustrated but worried face of Sunset Shimmer.
"Mom!"
Celestia was surprised for a moment before smiling at her daughter.
"Sunset, you're he-"
The alicorn was cut off as she found herself in a bear hug with her adoptive daughter.
"I'm so glad you are alright!"
"Princess Sunset! Princess Celestia does not need you to on top of her right now!"
Without even looking, the fire blood mage gave a retort.
"Quiet Fervent, I have half a mind to assume that she wouldn't even be here if your Inquisitors did there jobs!"
"What was-"
"Fervent, it's okay, a little family love never hurt anyone." Celestia spoke up.
"Thank you mother." Sunset smiled.
"And Sunset, I expect you to treat Fervent and his Inquisitors with respect, they may enforce my word but it is ultimately up to the guards and Knights to see to my well being."
"I- Yes mother"
"Good, now tell me how you are?"
Sensing he was no longer needed, Fervent begrudgingly left the room.
"Well was worried sick for one thing! When I heard what happened I had half a mind to teleport hop all the way here!"
"And why didn't you?"
"....Because Spike pointed out that he would have to take to long way, plus it would be to exhausting to teleport me and him."
"Of course, but speaking of which where is Spike?"
As if on cue, Celestia's question was answered by an out of breath teenage dragon walking into the room.
"S-sorry, long run from the train station to here."
"It's not your fault Spike, come here and give your mother a hug."
The three of them shared a moment in each other's arms, but Sunset broke the silence.
"So, where is the walking roast that did this to you?"
"Umm, what?"
"Oh just the person who trashed the Castle and put you in here," Sunsets countenance darkened "Cause when I find him I will burn him so hard that their won't be any ashes left!"
"How do you know it's a guy?" Spike pointed out.
"Well what do you expect me to call it Spike?"
"Sunset" Celestia said "Look at me."
"Yes?"
"I appreciate your concern, and know that this villain will be brought to justice, but I must ask that you and Spike stay out of this."
"What! Why?"
"Sunset, this creature bested the my forces, it bested me. It... it had some kind of chains that negated my powers and left me at its mercy, the only reason I'm alive is because it apparently only left me alive as a warning"
Both Spike and Sunset nearly took a step back at this news, the only other time their mother was restrained was during the night Nightmare Moon came back, and even then she got out of that trap easily. To hear that she was completely helpless when facing that monster....
"I will not allow you to put yourself in danger just to avenge me Sunset, I cannot guarantee that thing will show the same mercy to you as it did me"
"But-"
"Sunset please, you and Spike are not to try and find this creature."
Sunset just stood there for a few seconds, unable to find a response.
"Sunset."
"Yes mom, I'll stay out of it."
After a while the doctors came back to relive Princess Celestia with a clean bill of health, due to her healing powers as a goddess, she need not stay in the hospital for long, soon the family left the building to a royal escort waiting outside.
When Celestia got into her carriage, she spoke to Sunset and Spike again.
"I must return to the castle to deal with the aftermath of this attack, meanwhile I trust you two to go back to Ponyville and leave this situation to me"
"Yes mom." They both said.
Satisfied with their answer, Celestia gave them warm smile and the carriage pulled away.
Sunset and Spike just stood there smiling and waving innocently, but as soon as he was certain she was out of sight, Spike spoke up.
"You have no intention of staying out of this do you."
Sunset only looked at her brother with the most convincing grin she could give him.
"Oh Spike, mother said that you and I are not to find this creature, and that's exactly what I intend to do"
Spike could only raise an eyebrow.
"Key words being you and I "
*facepalm*
The Entity looked through the eyes of one of its "extensions" as it took in the land that Equestria had become.
Before going to sleep, it had left behind various familiars that disguised themselves as local wildlife, when it awoke, the collective history that they had observed for centuries was fed to it, bringing the Entity up to speed with what the world had become.
One such familiar had concealed itself as what the natives called a “Fire Serpent” that coincidently was taken in and "tamed" by Princess Celestia as a beast to attack her enemies. It was because of this particular familiar that it learned the existence and location of the Power Gem Vault in the castle( apparently Celestia was talking about it to somepony, and the familiar just so happened to be in the same room).
When the Entity sent the Black Knight to retrieve the Power Gems, it was not only to get them, but also have some alone time to sort and take in over 1,000 years worth of history and information. When all was said and done, it now knew enough lore and information to rival the Canterlot Archives, it even knew some things that the Archives probably didn't have.
With this information in hand, it now had a proper plan to find enough power to free itself, while at the same time retrieve some things that had been scattered throughout the land.
"Servant!"
The Black Knight manifested into the room, standing at attention.
"Yes master?"
"I have another assignment for you, one which involves the retrieval of some items I displaced."
"Of course, what is it that you want found?"
"You recall the chain I gave you for your raid on the Castle of the Sun Princess correct?"
"Yes"
"Well when I came to this world I also brought with me several other "Anti-Divine" Weapons, one of which is an Olympian Crystal"
"I see, and what exactly is this Crystal?"
"It is a weapon created for the purpose of killing Gods, specifically those belonging to the Olympian council"
"Ah, pardon my curiosity, but for what reason would you need a weapon of that caliber?"
"That is a story for another time, why?"
"Nothing, it's just I recall meeting the one they called Hercules sometime during the Grail W-....never mind."
"Very well, I shall now give you the location of where the crystal is being kept."
Hilltop overlooking Ponyville
It was common knowledge that most Equestrians did not trust Nighttime, or rather is patron deity that was associated with it. No that no one could blame them.
But if one could look past all that, they could appreciate the beauty and calming effect the still sky and stars gave off.
Very few seemed to acknowledge the fact that the Moon and the Night where just as important when it came to the lives of everyone on this planet as the Sun and Day, although those very few kept quite out of fear to Inquisition would take that acknowledgment as comparing Celestia's glorious day to Nightmares "evil" Night.
The Night, however also provided opportunities for events and activities that could be very hard to pull of during the daytime.
One such being was taking advantage of the Night’s shroud by being able to look over the town of Ponyville without being able to be seen by some of its still active residents.
The being in question was adorned in shining golden armor, he had golden hair that stood up in comparison to a blaze, but the most notable thing about him was his blood red crimson eyes which spoke volumes of his ego.
"So, this is world I have been summoned to....it is certainly more colorful then when I last came here"
A rabbit walked up beside the human, seemingly unable to notice that he was there.
"Well, let us just see if this "Equestria" and it's gods will provide with me with at least some form of entertainment."
Author's Note
"Mongrel"
Chapter 4: Fact and Fiction
Gods were a recurring theme in Equestria. Given that the kingdom was ruled by one(formerly two), it comes to no surprise that many revere, fear and envy them. Those that would envy them try to find ways of bringing them down in any way they see fit. The radical would go so far as to just kill them outright. Nevertheless, such things were easier said than done, finding a means of slaying a god be it conventional or non-conventional.
However most people that do know where find a means of killing a god would usually go out of their way to conceal or destroy said means to protect their deities.
Most of the time....
Los Pegasus 10 minutes to 9
Hard Pike strolled through the hallways of the Los Pegasus Museum of history as he mentally counted down the seconds until his shift was over. Granted that did seem to make time tick slower than it should, but he found no other way to keep himself busy.
It's not that he didn't find the displays in the museum to be uninteresting. It’s just if he stayed in one place for too long, he would not be doing his job. As such, that would increase the likelihood of someone breaking and entering without his knowledge to make off with some of the valuables that were kept here.
Continuing his patrol, he once again found himself in the Olympian section; an exhibit that is currently touring the country in order to showcase the various myths and legends about the Greek gods, as well as a few items said to have ties with them.
While doing his job was a top priority to him, he would allow himself a momentary rest once in awhile so that he would look around and see anything that could grab his attention.
He soon found his eyes laying a glass box in a corner that housed a peculiar item. Walking up to it he read the inscription on the plaque.
The Olympian Crystal
Discovered and recovered by an anonymous adventurer, this Crystal is said to have been created by human heretics who desired the downfall of the Olympian Greek and Roman Gods. However studies have concluded that the crystal does not possess that power to kill gods but instead is capable of storing large amounts of magical energy akins that of a power gem. When we questioned the Olympians however, they stated that they were aware of the existence of this item, could not confirm nor deny the crystals alleged god killing power.
The guard thought for a moment. He had recently heard about how an unknown saboteur had attacked Canterlot and made of with a large amount of power gems and at the same time seemingly defeating Princess Celestia in battle. That fact that this relic was apparently able to act as a power gem in a sense made him wonder. What if...
The Hard Pike shook his head at the thought. The odds of that monster breaking into this museum to steal this crystal was not likely. After all, who was to say it even knew about it.
Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Hard Pike went back to his patrol.
However, no sooner than when the guard left the room, a shadowy figure in dark armor shimmered into existence.
When Hard Pike would come back into the room later on, he would fail to notice that the Crystal he examined earlier was now gone...
Spike walked through the door of the Ponyville library as he let out a sad sigh.
"Well plenty more fish in the sea Spike" he said to himself.
His latest attempt to court a mare had gone awry when her coltfriend(whom she was apparently cheating on) came to confront her. The situation that followed was one straight out of a drama sitcom. Needless to say, Spike removed himself from the equation as it was clear that this was between them and did not want to meddle with such affairs.
The dragon set his stuff down before going upstairs and knocking on the bedroom door.
"Sunset, i'm home!"
No response came from within.
"Sunset, you in there?"
"I'm busy go away."
"Aww don't be like that. What could you possibly be busy with?"
"Nothing of importance."
"If it's nothing important then why are you telling me to go away?"
"Just...cause."
"...You know what? I'm coming in."
Spike opening the door and expected to be met with a fireball to the face. Except what he found was a pile of books on the floor and Sunset having her face in one.
Walking towards her, he picked up one of the books and examined the tile, "Old Equestrian Myth and Folklore: Legendary Version".
"Does Mom have you studying for a history test or something?"
"No."
"Are you bored?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Like I said it's not important and furthermore none of your business."
Sunset however was caught off guard when he snatched the book from her and read the title out loud, "Monsters and Beasts: Phantasm Edition."
The book was levitated out of Spike's grasp with his sister shooting him a glare.
"Aren't these books from the Canterlot Royal Archives, cause I don't think this library carries the hard to find special edition books by Gorge Lukas."
"Alright, fine I took them before when we were in Canterlot so I could learn what I could about this thing that attacked mom!"
"Ahhhh, why didn't you just say so?"
"Because I know you will tell her in order to stop me from getting into any danger."
Spike stood there for a moment before smiling and pulling his sister into a hug.
"W-what?" she said as he pulled away.
"Sunset, if our encounter with Ginger Snaps has taught me anything, it’s that I can't stop you if you set your mind to it."
"Oh, I see."
"Besides, we have faced a dark ancient goddess and you personally took on a Dragon and fought a Balrog."
"Yes, although I don't like to brag," Sunset said pridefully.
Spike rolled his eyes, "Okay so what have you learn so far?
"Well, next to nothing really. None of the books I read say anything that would describe what attacked mom."
"Okay, but what do we know already?"
"According to the Inquisition, the suspect in question had a shadowy appearance to it, but they could clearly see that it was wearing armor and had a biped appearance. So it may have been a human or minotaur at the least."
"Okay, what about its abilities, weapons and magic?"
"It just used whatever it got its hands on, and somehow used them to the best of their ability, as if it had held all those weapons before."
"So what we are looking for is a walking suit of human armor that can basically use any weapon it touches."
The two stood there for a moment before their eyes widened as they came to the same conclusion.
"Wait," Sunset began "You don't think it's-"
"I'm pretty sure it is a no brainer."
"But seriously, the Black Knight!? That's just a myth, a tall tale meant to scare foals into sleeping."
"Sunset, I think you of all ponies should know by know, since when is anything in this world a old mare's tale?"
This did not bode well, the Black Knight was already an imposing figure in stories. If what rumors about the thing were to be fact then they had much more to worry about.
"But wait, there's just one question."
"What?"
"If this thing is real and by proxy should be credited with the destruction of Shion Village, then why isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"The official report says that its destruction was credited to a attack by a group of well trained bandits, but if that thing really did destroy Shion why would mom try to cover it up?"
"Cover up?"
"Remember when I told that story to everyone during the sleepover, about how the guard sent Bearers of Flame of retake Shion?"
"Yeah, but I thought you made that part up about that Bearer of Flame dying in mom's hooves."
"I didn't mom told me about it once, but said it was just a rumor."
"So where are you going with this?"
"Spike, what exactly is mom not telling us?"
Luna sat in her cell as she had only her thoughts to keep her occupied. Although said thoughts contained plans of revenge and escape, as well as various ways see could torment her sister for this humiliating punishment.
She would rather be dead than be a captive of her sister. Her defeat was just another accomplishment that those sun loving subjects would praise and sing about for ages to come.
"When I get out of here, that only thing coming out of their mouths will be screams of mercy. Not that they will get any," she chuckled to herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the doors to her cell open. The lunar alicorn let out a sigh and kept her head down as she remembered that it was that time of the week again.
"She has probably brought something this time to try and persuade some feelings of friendship from me. A toy from our past or maybe a piece of food that she knows I crave."
She sensed a large figure walked in front of her and for the sake of getting this over with, looked up.
Standing there in the light was Princess Celestia holding a large piece of devil's food chocolate cake.
"I knew it."
"Hello Luna, how are you today?" Celestia said in the most innocent voice and smile.
The younger alicorn just gave her sister the usual glare she gave whenever they had these "talks".
"I brought chocolate, your favorite."
Luna still didn't open her mouth.
Moving on, Celestia set down the cake in front of her sister, sat down on a pillow that she teleported inside.
"Have you come to chastise me this time sister? Or maybe give me that talk on me accepting you friendship?"
Surprisingly, Celestia's face turned neutral as she looked to the side and let out a sigh.
"No, we’re not talking about friendship or forgiveness today."
For the first time in months, Luna was caught off guard by what Celestia said.
"Today I thought we would take about somethings else."
The younger alicorn narrowed her eyes at Celestia. On one hoof, that was some ulterior motive to what she was about say to her, but decided to entertain her sister just this once.
"Well, what do you want?"
Celestia smiled as she saw that Luna was probably going to be reasonable this time.
"You may not know this, but last week, the castle was attacked by an intruder who tore its way through the guard and despite my attempts to stop it, made off with a sack full of power gems, the goods one mind you."
A smile flashed on Luna's face for a moment before once again giving Celestia a cold stare.
"And why would you tell me this?"
"Because I think we, or mostly you know the identity intruder who did this."
A scroll flashed into front of Luna, which unrolled to reveal and artist's drawing of what looked like a human knight in shadows.
It took a moment, but Luna soon knew what she was looking at.
"The Black Knight? So that deadly spirit is more than legend."
"Yes, I didn't recognize it at first when I saw it, but after the monster put me in the hospital, it did not take long for me to put two and two together."
Celestia stopped when she Luna start the chuckle. Said chuckle turned into full on laughter as Luna cried tears of "joy".
"Sweet mother above! After all those battles, all those trials and tribulations, the mighty Princess Celestia in defeated in battle not by some dragons or abominus monster, a spirit long thought to be a fairy tail meant to scare foals to sleep!"
Celestia did nothing to stop or interrupt Luna's moment. If anything, it was because she hadn't seen a smile on that face, or heard that infectious laughter in a long time.
"But even so, why would you come to me with this information. Wouldn't one of your many scholars know more about such a thing?"
"Actually, I came to you because you may know more about the Black Knight more than anybody else."
At this, Luna's girn once again became a frown. "Oh, how so?"
"Well, one of the many rumors surrounding the Knight was that he was trained by 'Nightmare Moon' herself, so I decided to go ask Nightmare Moon about her most powerful servant."
Luna's frown became even more cold, "And you thought that cake would make me tell you the weakness or the ambitions of the 'my most powerful servant'?"
Celestia only gave her sister a look that seemed to border between hope and something else...
"No"
The solar alicorn expected this answer, but was cut off before she could respond.
"No, the reason I will not tell you about the Black Knight is not because I will sell out my loyal subject, but for the simple reason that it is not one of my followers, nor has it ever been."
It was Celestia's turn to be surprised, as she blinked in confusion.
"Think sister, if had I such a powerful spirit under my command, I would have had it break me out of this cell instead of stealing a few worthless stones. So no, I know no more about the Black Knight than you do."
Celestia opened her mouth but then closed it. She knew Luna would not lie about such things, her only motive was to see her fall and to rule Equestria with eternal night.
‘That thing had the chance to kill me but it didn't, her follows would have jumped at the chance to finish me off unless Luna herself told them not to. Besides, I'm pretty sure she she wants to do it herself.’
The solar alicorn stood up and teleported the pillow away.
"Thank you for this talk Luna. Have a nice day."
Celestia was almost out of the cell before Luna called out to her.
"By the the way sister, before you go I have one question."
Celestia paused at the door.
"How many of your beloved foolish subjects died in vain protecting a few rocks?"
The Princess only remained silent for a moment, before continuing out the door.
"Enjoy the cake, Luna."
The Black Knight walked through the corridors of the cave system as he once again entered his masters chambers.
"I see you have returned, more quickly than I expected," the voice of the entity rang throughout the room.
"I waste no time in the service of my master."
The Knight held out the Crystal as the entity took it in its telekinetik grasp.
"Although if I may ask, what exactly makes this ‘Olympian Crystal’ so deadly to immortals? I examined the stones contents but they can only store energy, not weaponize it."
The Entity paused for a moment before speaking.
"...You are right, the crystal itself does not pose any threat to the gods of this world."
The Knight watched as the metal band around the crystal was slipped off. The ancient inscriptions on it glowing for a moment when it did.
"The metal peice however, that is where its true power lies."
The Knight only looked on in mild curiosity.
"Tell me servent, have you ever heard of the metal called Eternium?"
Even beneath his helmet, the Entity could tell he had elicited a reaction when he said that word.
"Yes, master....I have."
"Ah, then I don't need to explain to you how this metal is exclusive to the world we both came from, how it is capable of severing immortal ties no matter what universe or dimension that god or godly being comes from."
"No master, I know full well what that mineral is capable of."
The Entity could tell that the mention of Eternium had struck a cord in the mind of his servant. It looked like he was becoming infuriated at something.
"Or someone, given who he really is."
"If you require nothing else master, I shall take my leave."
"Actually, there is one thing."
"What?"
"I feel like that in light of your successful execution of your recent tasks, I feel like I should treat you with more respect. Something more than just a servant who does my bidding."
"Master, I am a spirit summoned into this world by you will. It is because of your mana that I take form here and by contract between the summoner and the spirit I shall be your familiar, your tool to do with as you please, I have no will of my own."
"True, but I do not intend to just call you servant for the remainder of this pact. So tell me knight, what more appropriate name shall I refer to you?"
The knight didn't need a moment before he made gave his answer.
"Berserker. You may call me Berserker."
View Online
Chapter 7: The Lawful Mad and the Chaotic Mad
A biomechanical being once said this, "You haven't truly lived until you have seen the world through the eyes of madness."
When you think of a person who for a better term is mentally insane, the first thing that may come to mind is someone in a straight jacket, who is laughing maniacally or spouting gibberish that makes no sense. And you would be right.
But just like how some words can have different definitions, there are other ways of defining insanity.
The Berserker class of Heroic Spirits are mad warriors and spirits of rage. Individuals who for the most part have lost almost all traces of their sanity in exchange for great power. The Cult of Chaos and the Cult of Discord (Or Discordian Cult for clarity) both include members who have questionable logic and even more questionable minds. But for the most part few of them would have members whose insanity can match the description of the Berserker class.
Currently two individuals were about to fight: Twilight Sparkle, apprentice of Nonsense and arguably the most powerful Chaos Sorcerer under Celestia's sun. And Sir Lancelot of the Lake, a Knight of the Round Table who served under King Arthur and esteemed as the greatest Knight to serve his king.
Twilight would fall under the description of "Chaotic Mad", someone who's insanity can be described as weird logic, questionable ideas and dialogue, and tendency to do crazy things. Lancelot's insanity stems from his greatest failure in life, being unable to save his king, so he fell into despair and escape through madness. Thus, when he became a Heroic Spirit, he met the qualifications to be summoned as a Berserker, and his alignment is called "Lawful Mad".
And now we shall see which one can best the other.
Inquisitor Trixie felt like she shouldn’t be surprised when she learned that once again Twilight wasn’t in her room again. The last time this happened it was paramount that they found her due to the wandering Discordian Cultists that were in Canterlot at the time, but Twilight had taken care of them herself. That being said she liked knowing where Twilight was so that she couldn’t get into anything that they may be cleaning up for a week.
“Trixie, you're getting frustrated again.”
It was times like these that she cursed Dot’s ability to sense emotions. The changeling had been trying to reign in her more unhinged traits, such as speaking in third person, but she did not need him to point out the obvious things.
“Of course I am frustrated! As if the attack on the castle and Princess Celestia wasn’t enough, a human somehow managed to get into the throne room and sit on Celestia’s throne!”
Dot knew what she was talking about. Just this morning, High Inquisitor Fervent informed the Inquisition of how a human in golden armor sat on Celestia's throne and told her off. Needless to say, an order was issued to find and bring this human to justice for his disrespect. Surprisingly, Fervent made it clear that he wanted him alive.
“Probably so he can kill him himself,” Dot thought.
“We need to find Twilight so we have all our assets should something happen. With all these events going on, I want to be ready for whatever comes next.”
“Trixie, what are you getting at?”
“Trixie is just saying, a human knight attacks the Princess and steals some powerful gems. Another human shows up in the throne room and from what High Inquisitor Fervent said, he told us to “Not interfere with what is coming”. If that isn’t a sign to some big endgame I don’t know what is.”
Now that Dot thought about it, Trixie did have a point. Evil forces and plans of world ending events were basically a normal thing in Equestria. That being said what could be about to happen was still up in the air.
“Well, I’ll say this. Whatever happens, we'll be ready for it!”
As if on cue, a explosion erupted from the ground beneath them and something came up from under the ground.
Trixie and Dot were only a few feet from the blast but Trixie put up a shield on instinct. Clearing away the dust with her magic, she couldn’t have guessed what she saw next.
A dark humanoid figure clad in dark armor stood with an peculiar looking sword on his back and another in his hands. The aura that emanated from him was one that felt like it was trying hiding its owner, so that no one would be about to gauge just what it was or how powerful.
However, it didn’t take Trixie long enough to realize that this was the so called “Black Knight” that everyone was talking about.
Another figure shot out of the hole and started down at the Knight. With several spears floating around in her telekinetic grasp, Twilight Sparkle looked at the Knight as a Predator would look at it’s prey.
“Impressive, I didn’t think you would survive that.” Twilight said.
A Few Minutes earlier.
Berserker would fight anyone, any day, due to the parameters of his class he could face most foes head on without any concern for his safety or others.
That being said, even with his Mad Enchantment, some semblance of his sanity that his master allowed to him told Berserker about how this situation was not going his way.
The unicorn in question was unique to say in terms of the opponents he had faced. From figures like the infamous “Bluebeard” AKA Gilles de Rais to the Pharaoh Ramesses II AKA Ozymandias of Egypt.
But this unicorn was fighting with a style that was keeping him on the defensive, not being able to go in for any attacks. She would throw several spears at him at once, but if he tried to grab them they would not become one of his Noble Phantasms as they would fly out of his hands before the his “Knight of Owner” could take effect.
He could not wield both the Infinity Blade and Arondight at the same time as holding his sword would cancel out his skill and not be able to use the Blade effectively. Plus the force this unicorn threw her spears would soon knock one of his weapons out of his hands.
“Wow, I guess when you fought Bloody you could match him well because your both well...Berserkers I guess.”
The Black Knight made no comment if he had one.
“But when you're fighting someone like me, it's not the same is it? You have to keep up with all my attacks.”
Twilight floated down to the ground and stayed her spears.
“Shame, I kind of wished you would give me a more fun challenge. Oh well.”
Twilight charged her spears with energy.
“I guess the satisfaction of getting payback for hurting BBBFF and Bloody will have to do.”
One of the Spears began shaking.
“Bye Bye.”
The Spear flew like a bullet at Berserker. While he managed to narrowly dodge it, but couldn’t have predicted it exploding behind him. This sent him flying a few feet, but he managed to get back up before the second was sent at him.
“I am at a disadvantage in a confined space. I cannot go into spirit form while holding the Infinity Blade. This unicorn will most likely try to stop any attempt of me trying to escape.”
Twilight grinned gleefully as she prepared to fire another spear.
“But-” Berserkers eyes looked upward to the ceiling. “If I can get her to make an exit for me...”
The chaos mage threw another spear as the Black Knight jumped onto the spiral structure that was in the center of the room.
“Trying to climb so you have a height advantage over me? That won’t work.”
The Knight continued to climb until he reached the top.
“But I will hoof it to you. The way you jumped shows you did not skip leg day, but neither did I!”
Twilight then removed both her hind legs and taped them to two of her spears with scotch tape and a little string. Aiming at her prey she aligned Berserker in her crosshairs and let them fly.
Berserker sheathed Arondight and waited for the spears to reach them. Ever the nimble one, he caught both spears in his hands and threw them up at the ceiling, creating a hole that led to the upper floor.
“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight them proceeded to launch her remaining spears as Berserker jumped into the newly made exit. Knowing full well that there was little room to dodge the incoming projectiles.
Present.
To think you would survive four explosions is neat, but if you think that being out here in the open is gonna help you it's only spelled your doom.
Looking behind Berserker, Twilight made eye connect with Trixie.
“Trixie.”
The Inquisitor regained her composure and came out of her slight shock.
“Twilight!?”
“Shouldn’t you be calling the rest of the guard by now?”
“Oh right!” Taking out a communication crystal, Trixie spoke into it.
“Attention all forces of Princess Celestia! The Black Knight has surfaced in Canterlot's upper districts, converge on my position! I repeat! The Black Knight has surfaced in the upper districts!”
“Good, now all I have to do is keep you occupied.”
Berserker took a battle stance, apparently not caring about the inevitable reinforcements.
“Now then,” Twilight aimed her spears at the Knight again. “Let's continue.”
The Entity watched through a familiar as the forces of the Sun Princess began to close in on the area Berserker was fighting the Chaos wielder. For the first time he saw that his Servant was in a tight spot.
“I could use a command seal to summon him back here, but that would leave the blade behind. And if it is brought to Celestia, she will put two and two together and realize what is going on.”
The unicorn Berserker was fighting, the Entity had done his research on. The most powerful chaos mage in Celestia’s ranks, with enough power to rival a Caster class servant or a demigod. Berserker has no flashy noble phantasms or skills he could use to gain an advantage. Essentially Berserker was less powerful and less equipped to keep up with her for long.
“I could use all my command seals to make him fight beyond his limits, but it won’t matter if that army shows up, they will wear him down before he kills them all.”
The army would soon descend upon Berserker. He had to make a decision now...
Berserker did a spin jump as he avoided two spears which sliced a lamppost from its place, dispelling Arondight. He picked up the poll and began using it as a weapon.
This proved to be effective as the poles length allowed him to keep the spears a more favorable distance from him. Yet it didn't allow him to land a solid blow on Twilight. The sorcerer threw another limb at him which exploded. Anticipating this, he took cover beneath the smoke and threw the pole straight at Twilight. The floating pony slightly dodged it, but not before it managed to graze her cheek.
“You almost scratched off my Sun tattoo. I'm gonna turn your intestines into jumping rope!”
Twilight spun her blades fast in a circular fashion. They almost looked like a giant buzz saw with the way she was using them. Drawing Arondight again, Berserker was once again pushed to the defensive as the spears kept banging off of the sword. Feeling like he was about to be forced again into a corner, the servant decided to try one more attempt to attacking.
The Knight swung his sword into the oncoming spears, holding them all for a second before grabbing them all and holding them in place.
“Hey! Those are mine!”
Twilight yanked the spears from Berserkers grasp, but before she could attack again. Using his quick speed, Berserker lunged at and grabbed Twilight by the neck, pinning her down to the ground.
“Heh, that was your last mistake.”
When the words left her mouth, several spears erupted from Berserkers chest, blood seeping from the wounds and dripping onto Twilight. The chaos mage could feel the grip loosen on her neck and the raging light coming from the eyes of the helmet go dim until they went out.
“Heh, got em.”
But before Twilight could Teleport out, she felt something grasp her horn, interrupting her spell. To her utter surprise, the glow in Berserkers eyes flared to life again, along with the grip on her neck tightening the noose.
“Wha...how...the?!”?
She tried to control the spears again so she could start stabbing his other body parts, but his grip on her horn prevented her from using her magic, she tried calling out to Trixie but his hand around her neck blocked her words.
For a rare moment in her chaotic life, Twilight was scared.
“Ack, help.”
Her vision soon became blurry.
“HEY!”
Berserker narrowly avoided a sword coming down on his neck as he jumped back, releasing his grip on Twilight. Now standing next to her was a white unicorn with a blue mane and tail, he looked at Beserker with murderous intent.
“I should be saying that I am going to kill you for putting even a finger on my sister,” Shining Armor said. “But that's a given!”
The servant soon saw that all round him, in the streets and in the air, ponies in celestial armor stood and flew with their weapons pointed at him. They looked like they would attack if he so much as blinked.
“You got nowhere to run, and don’t think that disappearing will work because our priestesses have put of a shield over the area that prevents teleportation.”
Berserker stood their for a moment. His face betraying no emotions. Not even when Twilight recalled her spears and letting more blood leak for his wounds.
“Guards, on my mark, put this monstrosity out of its misery.”
The forces of Celestia readied their weapons, and charged their spells all with the intent to kill.
“Ready, NOW!”
In a split second, several spells and muskets fired at their target, creating a large explosion that blanketed the area with smoke.
When the dust settled, all that was left was a large crater.
Shining Armor walked up to the hole in the ground, expecting to see what remained of one of Equestria’s most infamous recent threats. Instead all he found was a peculiar looking sword, as well as a few shards of armor that were slowly fading away into sparkling dust.
“Is he dead, Field Marshal?” Trixie asked.
Shining faced the Inquisitor with a peculiar look on his face. Then he pulled out a communication crystal.
“Shining Armor to all Sun Priestesses. Have their been any breaches in the barrier?”
“No sir, we have detected no attempts of teleportation that the shield stopped.”
“Well, I believe you have your answer Inquisitor Trixie. The Black Knight is no more.”
“So, this is all that was left?” Celestia asked.
The Sun Goddess held in her magical grasp the sword Shining Armor had recovered.
“Other than a few tiny pieces of armor. I would have saved them but they disappeared shortly after.” the Field Marshal grimaced.
“Given that the Black Knight was nothing more than a dark spirit, I would a assume that it would have faded back to whatever ethereal realm it came from.”
“I hope that realm is Tartarus. It deserves it for what it did to you and Twilight.”
“Anyway, you are dismissed Field Marshal. You have served Equestria well.”
“I live to serve you your majesty,” Shining Armor bowed, then left the throne room.
“Whelp I guess that settles that,” Chief said “No more Black Knight, no more troubles.”
“Not true,” Fervent spoke up. “That golden human, Gilgamesh was his name? He is still out there, and most also answer for the crime of disrespecting our glorious goddess.”
“Well, I’m not sure. From the way he talked he sounded as if he wasn’t gonna bother us again unless we interfered with something.”
As Fervent started to bicker once again, Celestia was deep in thought as she studied the sword.
“It seems it was trying to make off with this thing, but why?”
Bringing the sword closer, Celestia put a hoof on it, out of curiosity more than anything.
As soon as she did, she felt her a deadly aura emanate from it as if it was trying to take her life. For whatever reason, she traced the edge of the blade along her arm to see what would happen.
Drawing it back, Celestia winced from the pain. But at the same time, there was something awfully familiar about that pain, something, she had not felt since...
“Oh mother of me.”
Both Fervent and Chief stopped their argument once they saw the look on Celestia’s face.
“Princess, is something the matter?”
“I’m sorry Fervent, but I think I now know what is happening.”
“What do you mean?” Chief said “The guard killed the Black Knight. It's over.”
“On the contrary, the Black Knight may be only a prelude to what's to come.”
“What do you mean?”
A knock came from the door, before it flew open and in came one Sunset Shimmer and one Spike.
“Mom!”
“Sunset! Spike! What are you-”
“I’m sorry you majesty,” The guard standing outside the door said. “She insisted that she had to see you, and may have threatened to set me on fire if I didn’t.”
Celestia sighed, “It's fine. Sunset, what is it? We are in the middle of something important.”
“So is what I have to say mother. I know who and what the Black Knight is!”
Celestia’s eyes widened, before they began to narrow.
“And pray tell, how did you know of this?”
“I uh....may have or may not have, gone against you “advice” and did my own “investigating” about the Black Knight.”
Celestia’s expression remained neutral, before it turned into a small smile.
“Well, I should have known nothing would stop you from taking things into your own hooves, Sunset.”
The unicorn almost flashed a bit of embarrassment.
“Unfortunately, I’m afraid you're a little late to tell me this.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“The Black Knight is dead, destroyed not long ago by the guard.”
“Aww, come on.” Spike said, “You're telling me I drank that whole bottle of Death by Fire for nothing!?”
Celestia’s eyes narrowed again, “What?”
“Uh nothing,” Sunset said nervously “But seriously, he’s dead?”
“Yes, all that remained was this sword he was carrying.”
“So it's all over?”
“Actually Princess Sunset, your mother was just about to tell us something before you and your brother just burst in here.”
“Fervent, it's alright.”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“Sunset, Spike, sit down. It's time I told you all something that the gods face during the reign of Queen Majesty, something that they agreed never to speak of again.”
The Entity closed the wounds that Berserker had on his chest. He had already stabilized his spirit core before healing him and replenishing his mana.
“That was close. If I hadn’t used a command seal to get you out of there, you would have been back in the Throne of Heroes by now.”
Berserker grumbled something.
“I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“They have the Infinity Blade master. Now the other gods will soon know that you are still alive.”
“Do not worry my servant. For I have some good news.”
“What?”
“I have at last regained my full power. The gems have done their work in helping me rapidly restore my energy. I can now break free of this earthly prison and take us home.”
“But what about the Blade? We cannot leave it with them.”
“Don’t not fret. We shall try once more to retrieve it before we go.”
“But Celestia’s allies will surely have it well guarded, and even if I get it, they will most likely send pursuers after me.”
“My familiars tell me that Celestia believes you to be dead. They will not be expecting you when you show up, even so I will provide a distraction so that you can get it easier. As for your potential pursuers, I believe someone else will take care of that...”
Sunset, Spike, Fervent and Chief sat at Celestia’s throne as the goddess began to tell a story she was sworn to keep secret.
“This is something that has never been recorded in any of Equestria’s history books, because the deities involved agreed never to speak of it again should some evil force use this power to defy the gods.”
Using her magic Celestia cast an image spell that displayed a peculiar scene.
“Long ago, the gods of this land were told of a great power that could destroy them all. This power would forever be known in myth and legend as Eternium, the steel that severs immortal ties.”
The ponies(and dragon) in the room all dropped their jaws. They had all heard of Eternium, but it was nothing more than a myth to scare the gods.
“Yes my ponies, Eternium is real. So to prevent this power from being used to destroy them, the gods came together to claim and if possible destroy this power before it could be used to destroy them.”
The image shifted to show the gods battling what appeared to be some kind of giant, but it was too blurry to clearly make out its features.
“They say that a giant stood in their way, but that they eventually defeated it and was never seen again. However they were never able to recover any of the Eternium it supposedly guarded.”
The imaged then faded away. But Celestia was not done.
“Shortly after, Queen Majesty would be overthrown. As all this took place during her war campaign against Rome as to ponify the human race.”
“But wait,” Sunset said. “If they never found the Eternium, then how do we know it exists?”
“Because Sunset,” Celestia held up the sword that was recovered. “This blade is made from Eternium.”
The group gave a collective shock again, then Fervent spoke up.
“Your majesty, are you sure about that?”
“Yes, cause I have encountered this stuff before, some 800 years ago during the final hunting of Nightmare Forces. It turns out they somehow got enough of the stuff to make an arrow that struck me in the side. I survived and had my mages observe the arrowhead, but it wasn’t until I showed it to Amaterasu that she identified it as Eternium.”
“But then, how does the Black Knight factor into all of this?” Spike asked.
“Well, Gilgamesh said that something was about to happen. I can only suspect that this sword is essential whatever it is.”
“Yeah, wait who’s Gilgamesh?”
“I’ll explain later, right now I have a few letters to write.”
Lighting Dust slept on a cloud, taking her “Well Deserved” nap.
She woke up and stretched her limbs. Her eyes still drowsy and ears still waking up as well. She looked to the North as she took in the large plain the separated Ponyville from Canterlot mountain.
*Low rumbling*
“Wow. What was that?”
*Low grumbling*
“Oh, it's me. Guess I better go find some grub.”
But as Lighting Dust flew away, she failed to notice that a few cracks had appeared in the ground...
Author's Note
The Climax is near...
Vale flew unbound like a beam of light through the boundary of the universe that was cataloged as "Shimmer 214.8 Epsilon". Once he passed that border he found himself in the void of what was commonly known as the "Pony Multiverse", flying even further he broke the boundaries of multiverse and found himself in the overall "Megaverse" that compassed the Pony Multiverse and its neighboring multiverses.
Further the giant traveled, until it broke the limits of the Megaverse and found himself in the Omniverse . The great expanse that encompassed every reality imaginable on its plane of existence, a frontier that no one, not even an immortal could even begin to fully explore not matter how long they lived.
Vale did not stop, further he went as he approached the border of another Megaverse. Unlike the one he left, he was met with no resistance as a hole opened in the Megaverse's Quantum membrane. Once inside he stopped "flying" and instead began to "Freefall" as he approached another Multiverse, again it opened up for him as if welcoming him home.
Inside he was once again among a familiar sea of universes the he had not seen in a millennia(relatively speaking). He approach a very familiar looking universe as a portal open up for him, beckoning the Goliath to come through.
Finally he was home in his own universe, the Goliath smiled as he approached a familiar blue and green planet, one with two distinct moons. He broke through the atmosphere of the planet as he began to slow his decent, the clouds concealing his presence from the inhabitances below.
Vale flew just a little bit longer as something came into view: a floating island in the middle of the sky, its beauty and craftsmanship defying all reason and explanation. Slowing down even further the two mile tall being touched down onto he surface of the island, his journey having come to an end.
There was a flash of light as something, or someone appeared in front of Vale. His smile grew wider as he recognized the small being in front of him.
She was a little over 3 meters high, she was an equine like being, her color was primary with some gray and gold accents.
"Mother I am home."
Arceus smiled, "Welcome home, Vale."
