Death Dealer

Rise of Darkness

The cave they were in was cold and damp, dimly lit by Chrysalis' green magefire lamps. Chrysalis sat upon a throne made of bones watching as the mad mage vigorously dug into a bowl of stew the witch had prepared before she left to free him. Chrysalis knew that Discord would need to recover his strength fast, and the food would help more than anything. She raised her eyebrow however as Discord conjured a glass of chocolate milk out of thin air and washed down his meal, not with the milk mind you, but with the glass itself. He then let the milk fall to the ground where it promptly shattered like glass.

"I see you have regained some strength..." Chrysalis said with a small smile. Discord merely smacked his lips relishing the taste still left in his mouth.

"Now, I believe we have some planning to do. Both of us have been defeated by Celestia's forces before, what do you propose we do about that?" The witch offered in hopes of keeping Discords attention.

Discord's eyes focused into pinpricks as he locked eyes with Chrysalis, his eyes halting their jaunt through the rainbow and stopping on the color red. Red gaze locked with green, and Chrysalis could not help but feel unnerved and wonder if it was the right decision to put her faith into this madman.

"I propose we neutralize any and all threats before they know I have escaped..." Discord said in his moment of lucidity.

"Threats such as the elements?" Chrysalis asked sitting up in her throne, eager to keep Discord on track.

"They will not be a problem, but if the princesses band together, they will still be able to take me down. Then it is a matter of time until you fall as well. W need something to help us stop that from happening." Discord said, a rare stern look on his face. Though he found such planning as boring and dull, he hated being trapped in stone or bound in one of Celestia's magic binding cells even more.

"Don't worry about the Elements? Are they not what defeated you twice already?" Chrysalis said with a smug grin as she taunted the mad mage for falling for the same trick twice.

"Why would I worry about these?" Discord said, pulling a gem encrusted box from behind his back and handed it to the witch. As she opened the box, the Elements of Harmony illuminated the cave with their glory. Chrysalis only grinned malevolently at the sight of Celestia's fail safe being in her possession.

"Now, about facing the princesses... You seem to be on the 'in' when it comes to secret magical knowledge, know anything that will help?" The mad mage said, starting to lose his focus. Discord's eyes returned to drifting through all the colors of the rainbow, and his eyes dilated as he looked around the cave once more.

"I may know of one such object that will aid us, Celestia has it though..." Chrysalis said, baiting Discord's attention back to her by not finishing her answer. The mad mage focused slightly more on the witch, still somewhat aloof.

"The horned helmet." Chrysalis purred. Discord's eyes immediately snapped back to full attention on Chrysalis their shade stuck on a glowing amber.

"You know where it is?" Discord said in wonder, "I searched for where it was hidden for years..."

"Celestia was the one who hid it, she knows where it is. All we need do is hold one of her precious little citizens ransom, and she will tell us where it lies." Chrysalis smiled triumphantly, with the Elements in her possession the rest of her plan was now easy. The mad mage had proven his use to Chrysalis already, and he would no doubt come in handy when they executed the next part of her plan.

"Who do you propose? She will not give up such info for just any regular person. Are you thinking one of the Elements?" Discord inquired, fully interested in this planning that would bring him closer to what he had sought, and what had driven him mad.

"We strike where the heart is weakest of course... We are going for her family, her niece to be precise..." Chrysalis said relishing the look on Discord's face as he shared her smile.

Twilight Sparkle lifted herself off the ground dusted her blouse off and looked at the sky, it was just shortly after dawn. She had left near sunset, this meant she was out for quite a while. The image of those red eyes still burned in her memory. She looked again at the name in the book, it looked so strange. She had never heard of a name like this before, perhaps it was simply an old dialect?

"Um, Twilight? Are you okay?" Fluttershy said the concern still showing on her face. It was not safe near the forest, and her friend had been there all night apparently.

"Huh? Yeah i'm fine Fluttershy, just had a bit of a scare back there..." Twilight said, finally noticing her friend's concern, and glancing back into the forest. She was not going back in there anytime soon.

"Oh, what scared you? If you don'y mind that is..." Fluttershy tried to inquire to help console her friend.

"Well, when I was in there I was attacked by some timber wolves and I couldn't use my magic." Twilight started to explain, a look of defeat on her face as she knew what was about to come.

"What?!" Fluttershy nearly yelled, "Are you sure you're okay? did you get hurt?"

Fluttershy started hovering in the air with her canary yellow wings as she looked at Twilight from every angle to make sure her friend was not hurt. Timber wolves were very dangerous, and one bite could easily turn a wound septic if not treated and cleaned. Many travelers before had died soon after reaching town because they did not find medical care in time.

"Fluttershy I'm fine, someone saved me I think. He was in the old castle when I was attacked, and he scared them off." Twilight said, not willing to admit to her friend that she had also been in a dungeon at the time, lest she scare the timid girl even more than she had. Talking to the pink haired girl did give Twilight time to think clearly as she calmed down a bit. The man had saved her after all, otherwise she would not be here right now.

"Oh, he sounds nice then." Fluttershy said with a smile. Whenever someone else showed kindheartedness, the element of kindness always got a warm and fuzzy feeling. "What did he look like?"

"Well... He was really tall, he was taller than Big Mac, and was really muscular too. He was wearing armor, and his helmet covered his face. His eyes glowed red from behind them too." Twilight said, remembering the daunting figure the saw in the torchlight.

"Never mind, he sounds scary." Fluttershy said nervously. Both girls then shared a laugh at the joke Fluttershy had made.

"Well I need to write a letter to Celestia, so I will catch up with you later Fluttershy." Twilight said to her winged friend.

"Okay Twilight, by the way Rarity wanted me to ask you if you were up to a trip to the spa after lunch today." Fluttershy said with a smile on her face, she loved going to the spa, especially with friends.

"That sounds great I'll be there." Twilight smiled as she answered, a trip to the spa was exactly what she needed after the night she had been through. All she needed to do was send the letter to the princess, then she could unwind all she wanted. She had her book with names that would bring the ancient tales she sought out of Celestia, and she was safe from the forest. Things were looking up for Twilight and she planned on celebrating.

Fluttershy waved as she flew off to tend to her animals, she still had a lot of work to do before noon came around. Her yellow sundress drifted in the breeze as she glided a few feet off the ground towards her cabin. Twilight waved after her with a smile, and began walking back into Ponyville. The sound of a twig snapping caused Twilight to come to a halt. She turned suddenly, her navy blue hair with its pink and purple stripe whipping the air as she spun.

In the tree line, Twilight could make out a shadowy figure with two glowing red eyes turn back into the forest and walk away. He had been sitting right there in the trees, watching over her and making sure she was safe. Why would he do this? Twilight wanted answers, but she was still afraid of the forest. Her knees began to tremble as she remembered the wolves back in the forest. The shadowy figure was starting to blend in with the other shadows of the forest, Twilight needed to decide now.

Twilight fell to her knees as she gave up the notion of following him. She was tired and hungry, plus Spike was no doubt worried sick about her. Rubbing her eyes to try to relieve her drowsiness, Twilight then looked back up and could no longer see the man. With defeat hanging over her now, instead of the accomplishment she felt before, Twilight headed home for a quick nap and something to eat.

Gath trekked back into the forest, his heavy plated boots crushing the forest growth in his path. Taking a deep breath he stretched, the chain mail armor he wore rattled a he moved his pale white limbs, loosening them up from his night of watching over the young blue haired maiden. Gath was not usually one to lend a helping hand, preferring to stay away from civilization. But there was something about that girl, something that provoked him to finally leave his cell.

After he had lost all that he cared for all those years ago, he had let the sun princess capture him. He had cared not for running from those who hunted his power any longer and had sought a place to hide from the troubles of the world. Men such as he were not meant to live forever, but this accursed helmet held him prisoner as much as Celestia had. Though the god inside no longer whispered in his ear, it tormented him with it's power.

That girl however gave him hope, for he realized the world had forgotten him. She saw him, and only feared for her life. She showed no signs of recognition to him, and that meant he could roam the land again free of those who would hunt him. Gath smiled under his helmet as he thought of his freedom.

Coming to a halt from his trek, the large barbarian came to a sudden realization. He was unarmed, and while the helmet had granted him with the strength of the god within it's metal, only a fool would go on unarmed. It took Gath less than a second to decide on what had to be done. He took a deep breath and turned back towards the town he was heading away from, surely it had a blacksmith, or a shop that would sell some weaponry. Perhaps even a place where he could find some food.

Gath then went to test his theory on whether or not the land had forgotten the scar he had inflicted upon it those thousands of years before.