Gods and their games

As it turns out, the princesses are total assholes. The moment we arrived at their castle they had guards immediately confiscate my weapons and vest. To add insult to injury their highnesses threw me into a dungeon cell to boot. Sitting here I have still yet to find a reason to do so. They have my balls in a vice with this stupid circle on my chest.

Speaking of which if it wasn't the key to putting me in unbearable pain it would be a pretty cool looking tattoo. Seeing as it isn't... the circle just sucks at the moment. Letting a sigh escape I look around the cell I'm in. The only thing in here seems to be a pile of hay. Not totally sure what they expect me to do with it. Since they're ponies do they expect me to eat it? No that doesn't make any sense; it's probably supposed to be makeshift bedding. How kind of my captors to provide such exquisite accommodations. Although, the strangely solid shadows in the corner are slightly off putting. Wait, shadows aren't solid and they don't move like that.

Staring at the shifting mass the moon princess begins to step out of it. Of course she would have freaky shadow magic, I mean why not? After she is completely through the shadows snap back to a more normal placement. This whole time she never took her eyes off of me. In all honesty that was just a little weird. Reminded me of some socially awkward high schooler.

“Step beside me creature, I will be taking you to the night guard practice fields.” She said with authority.

I raised an eyebrow as I stood. “Planning on using me as a training dummy? I was hoping for a little more gratitude for killing that Minotaur.”

“Not quite, we need to assess how you do in unarmed combat.”

“I'll come along but no promises as to how well I'll do.”

Her horn gave off a light blue aura; shadows pooled beneath us as we started to sink. I started to panic a little bit and Luna seemed to take notice.

“Stand still and relax creature, this will take us directly there.” She showed a slight smile when I calmed down.

“Here I thought you were a mighty warrior, yet you seem only like a scared pup.”

“I have yet to make a single claim to be mighty or a warrior.” She fixed me with a neutral gaze as we sank the rest of the way through the portal. The black void that greeted us was odd to say the least. There was no light nor sound. It felt as if my other senses were dulled too. In a moments notice we popped up on the training field.

There were a few vampire ponies milling about. Most were waiting in a large group by a sparring circle. A small stone wall surrounded the entire ring that was around a foot high. Probably just marking the outside boundaries. Princess Luna trotted towards the group and I followed closely behind.

When we stood before the collected vampire ponies Luna adopted the regal tone she seemed to use while in command. “My thestral subjects, this is Grim. He is the warrior my sister and I summoned for the battle with the Minotaur. As you can see he is currently disarmed; I need three volunteers to step forward to engage him in hoof to hoof combat.”

“Hold up three on one? That hardly seems fair.” In all honesty I've only been in a few fist fights my entire life. Being outnumbered did not sit well with me.

“If my suspicions about your magic are correct then you are right. It will not be a fair fight for them.”

I felt a scowl spread across my face, “You know that isn't what I meant.”

There was the faintest glimmer of a smirk on her muzzle. “I can assure you I haven't a clue what you are talking about. Now get in the ring, it looks like your opponents are ready.”

I looked to the ring and sure enough there were three thestrals huddled in a group, probably discussing strategy. At least they weren't vampires like I had originally thought, that's probably a plus.

As I stepped into the ring all three of them turned to face me and dropped low in fighting stances. With a heavy sigh I took one as well. Without any real training in the area all I knew was be ready to punch at all times and have a solid stance.

The team of three rushed me. One of them taking to the air as the other two came at me from the sides. I tried my best not to panic and be ready to dodge. When the group started to close in I rushed the middle and the flying thesral shot towards me with his hooves outstretched. At the last possible moment I slid under him, barely missing a hoof to the skull. When I was completely under him I kicked up with both legs and landed a hit square in the chest.

The bat pony let out a gasp as he tumbled head over heal, it sounded like something had cracked. The other two that were on my sides turned and charged with renewed vigor. I waited for them to close in. I had thought they were just charging to tackle me down, instead they planted their fore hooves in the dirt. The forward momentum and pivot point spun each around. The left pony bucked low while the other bucked high.

Caught by surprise I only had a moment to roll to my right. The late reaction cost me a buck to my shoulder. I corkscrewed throught the air, landing with a thud on the ground. There was no way these ponies would best me. The pain in my shoulder kept me focused on the task at hand. I got up and turned to see they were almost upon me again. The thesrals didn't seem to be expecting another charge from me after the last blow, so that's exactly what I did.

Closing the distance to the leftmost pony first she tried the same pivot trick. I pushed myself towards her spinning legs and grabbed them as they were pulled back. The next step was planed firmly in the ground as I spun with the pony in tow. She let out a yelp when I released her at the other thestral. The two slammed together and tumbled back. Now I was never one to fight fair, kicking someone while they were down was totally acceptable in my eyes, so that's exactly what I did. Sprinting over I caught the female thestal in the jaw. The other looked on in disbelief for a moment too long and I delivered a knockout blow to him as well.

Looking down at the two I noticed something rather odd... I felt absolutely no remorse for beating them into the ground. I never even knew them before now and they were only following orders. So why did it feel so right? The few times I've fought the assholes undoubtedly deserved their fate. These two, didn't do anything wrong. I was stirred from my mental questioning by a low 'hmph' to my side. Looking I saw the night princess standing there. She had a mischievous glint in her eyes that didn't quite sit well with me.

“I guess these three were not enough to confirm my suspicions. Seems like I need to take a more, drastic approach.” She paused to address the group of thestrals giving me hate filled glares.

“Captain Wolfsbane, would you mind a little sparring match with our guest. He seems to need a bigger push than a normal soldier can provide.”

A mare stepped out of the crowd. At first glance she seemed to look the same as all of the rest... until you took a closer look. The other soldiers had cat like eyes, probably to help see in the dark. Her eyes, were intimidating to say the least. They looked normal with two exceptions; one, they were the deepest shade of crimson I had ever seen. The second was they looked dead, like the eyes belonged on a corpse. Then there were the fangs, the others had a pair where a normal humans canines would be. Instead, her whole mouth was filled to the brim with the razor sharp teeth. All of these things pointed to one conclusion, this was an actual vampire pony. All of the other soldiers were a poor imitation, made to look menacing while she WAS menacing. With no doubt the worst part is I am about to fight her. Fuck me with a hot iron poker.

“It is a pleasure to meet the one who bested the Minotaur champion. I'm honored, really.”

Her tone was icy, probably because I literally kicked her troops while they were down. That or being a walking corpse just made your voice that way, maybe both. I dropped back into my stance and stared her down.

“Lets just get this over with I'm already sick of today.”

She burst into a wide smile, showing off her imposing maw in all of its morbid glory. “Eager are you? Then I am oh so sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Suddenly she was in the air and almost on top of me. Sidestepping just in the nick of time saved me from her hind hooves landing a blow. In a flash she landed and immediately rushed with her fore hooves instead. The resulting hit knocked all the wind out of my lungs and probably broke the majority of my ribs. I flew back, skidded, and struck the wall. All of the soldiers were in hysterics, laughing at my weakness, my pain. Fucking pricks thinking they're so high and mighty. Well I'll show them how weak they are. How insignificant their captain is and when I find out how to break free of this god forsaken circle their ruler as well. All I need to do is stand up and keep fighting, that's right. Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.

I could feel my heart pumping as I stood, the blood searing through my veins. Locking eyes with Wolfsbane I saw something odd. She was giving me the most quizzical look before exploding in mirth. Her laugh sounded like a poor imitation of a banshees wails. When she opened her eyes to look at me they were pitch black, and her smile seemed to split her face in two.

“So that's it! You have blood magic! That is why the princess has kept you here. I'm sure she wouldn't mind letting me have a taste! Even just a little!”

While her giddiness was slightly unsettling I took a moment to look at myself. All of my veins were glowing red, with my heart shining like a beacon through my chest. My ribs seemed to have mended themselves as well. Looking back at the captain shadows were swirling around her. Tendrils emerged from the ground and started to hold me in place. I struggled for a moment to no avail.

Something occurred to me in that brief panic, I had magic now. That thought calmed me for a moment. Then I focused on the new feeling flowing through me. I had no clue what to do when I found it, my impulse was to push it out of my body. In doing so I released a burst of pressure all around me and the tendrils dissipated. Wolfsbane was still on the other side of the ring and was all the more giddy at my escape.

“Oh I just love it when they have the courage to fight back. It makes the taste all the more rewarding.”

Apparently ready for her snack she took to the air, I noticed that this time I could see her much more clearly than before. Feeling the power coursing through me I took off in a dead sprint, intending to meet her head on. As we neared one another she opened her maw impossibly wide, ready to take a chunk out of me. I jumped when I got close enough, the extra strength pushing me over Wolfsbane. She realized what was happening a second too late as my foot slammed down on top of her head. When I landed her head was partially buried. Shadow tendrils were whipping to and fro as the furious captain pulled her head free. She glared at me with what can only be described as undiluted rage.

“I will suck the marrow from your bones pest!”

Wolfsbane looked ready to rip me in half when she abruptly stopped. The shadow tendrils all wrapped around the furious pony. She struggled against them with little results before stopping. Princess Luna casually strolled over to her and fixed a gaze at the fuming captain.

“I've seen all that I wanted to see. I need you to calm down and resume your regular duties captain.”

The mare deflated at the command but nonetheless nodded in agreement. The shadows that bound her all faded along with the spell. Luna turned to me and started to trot towards the palace.

“Come along Grim, we have much to discuss.”

I cast a quick glance at the downtrodden captain, “Wolfsbane.”

She stopped and turned towards me. Her disapproving glare reverted back to crimson as she attempted to stare a hole through me. “When I get a better handle on my magic we should have another match. It got my blood pumping in all the right ways.”

I saw a fraction of a smirk come across her muzzle before she trotted off. I hurried to catch up to Luna. “You do realize that she would have killed you if I didn't intervene?”

I let out a bark of a laugh and glanced over at her. “I am fully aware of that. It doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the fight itself. If I were more powerful then we could fight on even ground. Now that does raise the question, how did you stop her with such little effort?”

The princess let out a light hearted chuckle at that. “Did you think that I was weak?”

“Well you did summon me to fight for you so I kind of assumed.”

“You know what they say about assuming don't you?” A coy grin stayed on her muzzle as I gave her a deadpan stare.

“Well to answer your question, I and my sister are the only two alicorns in existence. We are both masters of magic in our own domains as well as immensely powerful. Our enemies do not know the full extent of our power. This keeps most in check, for this reason we could not have fought in front of the Minotaur general without losing one of our greatest defenses.”

“So what I'm hearing is I now serve an immortal god-ruler of the most powerful country on the planet.”

“We are not immortal, only ageless. We are still flesh and blood like other ponies.”

“Is that how your subjects view you then?”

The princess cast her head down to let out a sigh as we entered the stone castle. “Sadly they do not. They view us as godesses, divine rulers to be worshiped. The only company we have is each other.” We walked through the halls as the with a defening silence hanging in the air. Luna stopped as she entered into a room. Looking around it was a library full of dusty tomes. Some of which seemed to have not been touched in decades.

“This is where we part for the evening Grim. I want you to read over the material we have concerning blood magic and runes. This will hopefully give you some insight on your abilities. It may even help you discover your specific style of magic.”

She turned to leave me alone with all the books when something wormed its way into my mind. “Just a moment please.”

She turned with a slight frown on her face. “What is it? I need to attend to my royal duties.”

I took a few steps forward and wrapped my arms around her neck. She tensed for a moment and I had the impression that I made a grave mistake. After a moment she realized it was a hug and didn't know what to think of it. After awkwardly standing there for a second she wrapped a leg around my back.

“I won't pretend to know exactly how you feel Luna. I will say with the utmost certainty that you can call me a friend. Sometimes that's all we really need to feel better, a friend.”

I let go and gave her a genuine smile. “Best get to studying then, have a good night Luna.”

Her features had softened and it donned on me how gentle her smile was. It expressed joy like it belonged on a long lost friend.

“I wish you a good night as well.”