Death Dealer

Power of the Helmet

Dawn began to break over the horizon casting slivers of light into the library. Twilight was reviewing the notes she had taken all night as Gath consumed his promised wine skins. Twilight still could not believe how much he managed to down in one sitting. Any normal person would have died from alcohol poisoning, but Gath simply powered on through all of the spirits Twilight had, and had even wanted more. Twilight was more than willing to supply his demand until she had run out however, because the drink seemed to loosen his tongue a bit.

Twilight had gotten pages of notes from him, most of it history that no book would hold being as old as it was, some she suspected predated Celestia's rule. Twilight looked over to the slumbering form of Gath, He had gone into a fitful slumber just an hour ago. He had simply slumped back into the couch in the middle of mumbling an answer, and his head lolled to the side. Twilight briefly wondered if he had even slept the night before or if he had actually kept watch over her all night. That notion sent a shiver down her spine, she did not like being helpless and around him she felt as if she was just along for the ride.

Twilight stood up slowly and rubbed her eyes to try and fend off the sleep that tried to claim her, bags now hung heavily under her eyes and her hair was a mess from a long night without sleep. Twilight walked over to the guestroom door, and procured a pillow and a blanket. As she came back into the main area of the library, she noticed that Gath had fallen over and lay down on the couch, his legs hanging off the side in what looked like a somewhat uncomfortable position.

Twilight sent out tendrils of her magic to grab his feet and put them on the couch, but when they touched him they were unable to budge him. Twilight cocked her head to the side at this, and tried again with more magical energy, but to no avail.

"What the..." Twilight mumbled as she walked over to where Gath lay on the couch. Struggling with his weight, Twilight finally moved his legs onto the couch. She then looked at the helmet, he had not taken it off since she met him, and he refused to say anything about it. Twilight let a hand fall on the helmet as she studied the strange material. It did not look like steel, and had no marks upon it unlike the rest of his armor. Twilight lifted the helmet off Gath's head with ease and set it upon his chest. His hand subconsciously moved to grab the helmet, and held it tight to him.

"That is very important to you isn't it..." Twilight whispered as she gazed at the handsome face of Gath only slightly obscured by the locks of long black hair that now fell over his body. Why the man hid his face she did not know, but he must have his reasons.

"Funny, he looks so peaceful without that thing on..." Twilight said as she headed off to her own bedroom. Reaching her bed, she did not even bother to remove her clothes or bury herself in the covers, instead opting to flop on top of it and fall immediately asleep.

Trixie was not the kind of sorceress to give up from just one defeat. Her goal was simple, outmatch Twilight Sparkle. This goal led her to train fiercely in the arcane arts, a year had she spent honing her skills with a new master. Sure some of the spells may have bordered slightly on the dark arts, but the pale blue haired girl was determined. She would show the world her might now, starting with Ponyville.

Trixie's purple cloak waved in the breeze and the stars emblazoned upon it caught the sun as she strode back into the familiar town. Her heeled boots and her staff clicked as she walked upon the cobblestone road, and more than a few young men turned their gaze towards her tight fitting blue leather pants and black laced halter top. Trixie strove to capture attention, and she did just that with her flashy clothing.

Behind the sorceress strode the tall and muscular Gilda, whose height and build rivaled even Big Macintosh. Gilda was from the northern Griffon Tribe, whose people were hardier, and had larger wings than the other tribes of wing bearing humans. The Griffon Tribe often bragged that their wings were the closest in power to the princess gods who were of a tribe known as Alicorn, possessing both the largest wings and most potent magics.

Gilda was all that kept the young men gawking at Trixie from rushing to the light blue haired sorceress with proposals of marriage. Gilda intimidated where Trixie enticed. She had short white hair in back, and her bangs spiked forward the white turning gradually purple as it reached the tips. Gilda wore a leather fliers jacket with the sleeves ripped off over top of a white tank top that showed her well toned belly.Gilda had thick brown leather gloves that went all the way up her forearms and were fingerless. Her khaki paints bagged low on her waist, were ripped ,and were tucked under her knee high brown leather combat boots. She gave off an equal air of attractive and predator, with an attitude that turned away all but the most sturdy of men.

Gilda was following Trixie because when they had first met on the road, they had found out they had an equal disliking for Ponyville, mainly a few of its inhabitants. While Trixie wanted revenge on Sparkle, Gilda wanted it on Pinkie. Both of the traveling ladies figured why not help each other with revenge since they were both foiled in the past. Gilda also had plans to try and visit a certain rainbow haired girl who was once her close friend, in hopes of mending the bond after the one who broke it was gone.

"First we hit Sparkle since she is the one that can actually fight back, eliminating the largest threat." Trixie said, smiling over her shoulder to her traveling companion. Gilda merely nodded and turned her attention to glaring at a young man who was approaching Trixie. The man noticing the glare promptly turned on his heels and walked the other way.

"The men around here are wimps... And everyone is so lame." Growled Gilda.

"Why don't you try basking in their admiration for once instead of always scaring them away?" Trixie laughed at the mood Gilda was giving off.

"If they don't have the balls to approach me like this, they probably don't even have a pecker worth my time." Gilda said jokingly with a grin. Trixie pitched in her own laugh at the antics of Gilda, the winged girl sure did like her jokes and pranks.

"Besides, I've been here before too you know. Only man worth my time in this damn town is a big blonde farmer. Too bad he was such good friends with that bitch Pinkie, I could have lived with a man like him. Strong, silent, hard working, but alas I guess I will have to keep looking for my worthy man." Gilda said with a look of pride on her face.

"Gilda dear, you are as big as most men of your own tribe. Heck, you are almost as big as Mac if I remember him right. You might need to stop looking for a man that can sweep you off your feet. You probably wont find many men fitting that description, even less that are single..." Trixie said with a look of exasperation on her face, Gilda could be so picky when it came to certain things.

The pair stopped as they came upon the great hollowed out tree that served as a library. The two shared glances, and Gilda began to pound on the door.

Gath was awoken by the sound of banging on the door. The first thing he noticed as he woke, was the absence of the death gods weight form his shoulders. His brown eyes bolted open as he looked to his chest and stared into the empty sockets of the horned helmet. Someone had removed it in his slumber, and that required something he did not expect to find so soon. A pure and innocent heart.

Gath stood up as the blanket fell from him, where had that come from? No matter, Gath needed to find who had taken the helmet off him so that if he needed to don it again he knew where to have it removed. Gath tied the helmet to the side of his belt with a strip of leather, opposite of his axe holster. The helmet securely fastened to his side, Gath wrenched his axe out of the wall, put it in its holster, and went to inspect who had come to the library before its keeper opened it.

Gath opened the door and slipped outside, closing it behind him. As he turned from the door he noticed two young ladies before him. One definitely had the smell of a sorceress about her, the other was only a little shorter than he, though not near his build. Gath held a dark look on his face, unhappy about being woken up from his first restful sleep in over a millennia, and looked between the two girls, meeting both their surprised gazes.

"Oh my..." Said Trixie as she took in the massive man before her.

Gilda held her tongue, not trusting it as she felt the blush creep up on her face as she took in the tall muscular man, trying her hardest to close her dropped jaw.

Trixie looked at her stunned companion then back to Gath, "Perhaps you would not mind telling us if Sparkle is home, or are you watching the library for her?"

Trixie highly doubted he would be watching over the library, she just needed to get a conversation going to snap Gilda out of her state of being smitten by the pale man.

"You do not talk like you are a friend of hers." Grunted Gath with his deep voice as his hand rested on the head of his bearded axe. This gesture was not wasted on Trixie, but only seemed to woo Gilda even more. Trixie suspected if he did anything more manly Gilda would start drooling over him.

One thing Trixie had learned in her training however, was that the big ones were usually very susceptible to magic. Without warning Trixie launched a fireball at Gath, the roaring black flame licking his arm as he blocked with his left, and reached with his right. Trixie though surprised at his lack of pain and the minimal damage her spell seemed to do, managed to leap back and ready another spell. Trixie would need to use more power on this one, he barely had minor second degree burns where the fireball impacted his arm, only causing a few blisters.

Gath's frown turned into a scowl, he did not want to mess with magic. Magic had proven his downfall in the past, and only the helmet saved him from it when he faced his most powerful adversaries. The helmet would sustain him through otherwise mortal injuries, grant him eternal youth, fend off poison, and made him immune to magic. But the cost was that he could not remove it, and if it were not for his power of will would be the death god's puppet. Gath looked at his burned arm, and the glowing hands of the sorceress before him charging her spell.

Gath took the helmet from his side and slid it back onto his head. As he opened them his eyes glowed red, and he watched the magical missile streak towards his chest, and fizzle on contact with his skin. Gath then strode over to a horrified Trixie and grabbed her by the throat, not tight enough to break her neck but to choke and make his point.

"If you so much as tap into your mana pool around me again I will not show mercy a second time. And leave Twilight alone, she is under my protection." Gath said in a commanding tone.

Trixie hastily nodded at this, thankful for the mercy she was shone, her knees trembled and she sunk to the ground as Gath released his grip on her. Gilda on the other hand, began to drool over Gath.

Rainbow Dash was stretching herself out on a fluffy cloud, thanking the heavens that the Pegasus Tribe was blessed with the ability to walk on clouds, they made the greatest beds. As she rolled over and looked down to see where the cloud had lazily drifted to in the wind, she was above the park, and she noticed some familiar faces she did not expect to see. Rainbow's sharp eyes immediately noticed the visage of her once friend Gilda, and the ever so annoying Trixie. She then noticed that Gath was with them

Rainbow flew down leaving her signature multicolored trail behind her as she zipped through the air. She landed lightly next to Gath and glared at the two nearby girls. Gath looked down on her a surprised look in his glowing eyes. Whatever Gath was saying to them he stopped when Rainbow had landed to his left.

Gilda shot the intruder a menacing look, that softened into surprise as she recognized her rainbow haired friend. She then gave a meek smile that was most unlike her and rubbed the back of her head as if she was wanting to say something.

"I don't wanna hear it Gild, you were a real jerk to my friends last time and I don't care if they act dweeby to you." Rainbow said as she scowled. At this Gilda glanced over at Gath who simply nodded at her.

"I want to say sorry..." Gilda mumbled. Rainbow did a double take on this, glancing over to Gath, then back to Gilda. Her eyes finally settled on Trixie, who had a bruise starting to form around her neck. The bruise was in the shape of a massive hand.

Rainbow then understood, the two trouble makers must have attacked Gath for some reason or another, and he had disciplined them. If rather harshly, the two seemed to have had an attitude change for the better, Trixie was shutting up and Gilda was acting sincere.

"You will have to earn my trust back, and it wont be easy!" Rainbow said, trying to keep some of her pride as she accepted her old friend's apology, wishing with all her might Gilda would change for the better.

At this Gilda's face brightened and she looked at Gath with joy in her eyes. She stopped fiddling with her gloves and lept at the large man.

"It really worked, thank you!" Gilda had tried to force a bear hug upon Gath, but he held her back with a strong hand on her forehead. The look was almost comical as he struggled with one arm against the full force of the mighty woman and her wings that flapped to give her extra charging force.

Gath tired of the display of affection moved his arm to his left to redirect Gilda towards an unsuspecting Rainbow who was too busy laughing at the comical sight to notice what he had done. Gilda crashed into Rainbow and the two tumbled over each other, leaving a trail of feathers in their wake as they rolled.

Gath and Trixie then locked eyes, though Gath seemed to have won Gilda over this one still meant to cause trouble. Trixie dropped her gaze under his iron hard stare however, and looked at her own feet.

"Must I continue my story of how people treated each other back in my day? Do you need to hear more of that one man would do to another that gave him a disrespecting look? Or are you willing to go with what this strange time calls peace and make up with your nemesis?" Gath said in a firm but not threatening voice. Trixie only looked up with tears in her eyes, the story he told was horrible, the things he had done were monstrous. Trixie did not want to be near this man, least of all make him angry, so she did the only sensible thing. Trixie nodded, and turned towards the direction of the library, her shoulders slumped.

Rainbow and Gilda had untangled themselves and were floating in the air next to Gath as they watched Trixie trudge off. Rainbow whistled, she never thought anyone would make Trixie swallow her own pride. Rainbow looked once again to Gath, and as she looked him up and down sizing him up something startled her enough to make her wings stop beating and she fell to the ground with a hand covering her mouth.

"Gath, your arm!" Rainbow yelled as she beheld the blistered flesh of his left arm. How did she not notice this before she thought to herself. She was standing right next to it. Rainbow began to feel nauseous and she grabbed Gath's right hand as she took back to the air, and pulled him along with her.

"I'm fine, where are you taking me?" Gath said with a bothered look as he dug his heels in, refusing to be lead somewhere like a dog. Gilda floated behind him looking curiously at Dash.

"Your arm needs medical attention!" Dash yelled as she tried to pull harder, but to no avail as she could not budge the man who pulled against her. Gath tried to shake his arm free of her grasp, and only succeeded when he reached with his left burned arm and Dash recoiled from the sight of it.

"I'm fine, I have had much worse." Gath tried to assure her. Dash merely shook her head at the stubbornness he was showing. And people called her stubborn Dash thought to herself.

"I think it makes him look cool." Gilda smiled as she floated slightly closer to examine some of the faded scars on Gath's body. Some of them looked like they should have been fatal, this only made Gilda gawk like a fan girl.

"I'll heal up as soon as I get some food in me, I'm starving." Gath said as he patted his rumbling stomach. Gilda laughed at what she took as a joke.

"Ooh, I think I have something for you." Gilda said as she procured from her satchel a dried hunk of travel ration jerky. Gath accepted the offering and tore into it.

"Thank you." Mumbled Gath in between bites. As he ate, Rainbow and Gilda noticed the burn fading from his arm. Jaws dropped and eyes bulged out at the sight of the regeneration. Gath noticed this and just tapped the side of his helmet, indicating it was its doing.

"Now that..." Gilda started.

"Was awesome..." Rainbow Dash finished.

The day had gone bye quickly, but Gath had work to do. Sharpening his axe with a river stone he found, Gath looked over his new home. He had managed to conceal the entrance to the den with the dirt and roots he had dug out from beneath the tree, now it looked like roots sticking out of the ground and only if you knew what root to pull would the hatch he created with a large hunk of tough bark reveal the entrance.

Tomorrow Gath would need to hunt some animals to create bedding, and he would have to buy some more tools so he could make some chests and shelves. Perhaps in time he could even make himself a nice fire pit and have a ventilation system so he would not be smoked out. The ever present fog of the forest would mask the smoke he was careful what wood to burn.

Gath was running low on coins however, he had used four already. One for Applejack, one for his axe, one for making what Twilight explained was a tab at the cafe, and one he gave for several large jugs from a fine lady named Berry Punch, he suspected he would be running her out of stock if every batch was as good as the one she had him sample. Regardless, this left him with only sixteen more gold pieces.

Problems piled up, and he did not have enough time in the day to fix all of them. He would be busy, and he liked that. A thousand years to think his past was a waste, the past was done, his allies and maybe even the few friends he once knew were dead and gone. He lived for the now, and he would not have it any other way. The sound of horses crashing through the forest drew Gath's attention.

The riders came into view, and circled the crouching man who continued to sharpen his axe. The five men all looked at each other and smiled, this wild man looked like he had a few coins in the sack that hung from his belt, they would eb able to afford drink at an inn tonight.

"Lookie what we got 'ere." Said one of them men as he made his horse canter around Gath. Gath just sharpened his axe, the sound of the metal grinding against stone set a few of the men on edge.

"Hand over yer coin purse, weapon, and clothes and just maybe, we won't gut ya like a fish." Smiled their leader.

Gath set down the river rock, and looked at his axe blade. He ran a thumb over the blade, and was rewarded with a thin red line appearing on it. Gath smiled at the now razor sharp blade, and he finally looked at the men. They shifted uneasily as they noticed the glowing red gaze he held them with.

Standing up to his full height, Gath pulled the axe up to rest on his shoulder. The riders slowly pulled their swords from their scabbards, the leader got his sword halfway out before his steed was cut from beneath him. One solid blow to the horse's front legs dropped the creature, and caused the rider to go flying. Gath whirled in place and lept, knocking another horse down by ramming it with his shoulder, sending another rider sprawling to the ground. Spinning and bringing the axe in an upwards arc he caught the third man under the jaw. The axe cleanly cut through bone and flesh, opening the man's face and skull cavity to the world. The fourth rider had pulled a bow and had nocked an arrow, He was met with the bearded axe landing in his chest with a loud crunch as it crushed and collapsed his ribs.

The fifth rider turned his horse to run away, but Gath leapt up and grabbed him from behind pulling him from the saddle. The man drew a dagger and plunged it into Gath's forearm. With a grunt of anger more than pain Gath grabbed the man by the head, and pivoted his body as he swung the man with all his force. A loud pop was heard as the head was pulled loose from the body that continued its path and rolled a ways. The second man Gath had knocked off his horse then jumped up on his back and tried to strangle him from behind. Gath grabbed his arm with his mighty grip and crushed his elbow, causing the stranglehold to loosen. Gath then took the man by his good arm and swung him around, causing his arm to dislocate, and finally tear from the force of the spin. The body of the man flew into a tree, and was impaled on a branch.

Gath panted heavily, he had not had a workout like this in a long time. He looked over to the leader who trembled not far away. The man was holding an axe he had drawn from his back. The sight gave pure joy to Gath, he had finally found one. In the leader's hands was Gath's favored weapon, an axe meant for two handed use with a large blade on it's head similar to the bearded axe but the haft was much longer, and allowed for more powerful swings.

Gath smiled triumphantly as he advanced on the man who was in the process of pissing himself. He now had whatever rations and tools they had, he had furs from their clothes and packs, and he had their small collection of coins. Things were looking up for Gath at long last.

As he advanced on the sniveling bandit, Gath's eyes burned the same crimson red as the blood that covered the forest floor. 'Just like old times' Gath thought with a wicked grin on his face.