Chapter IX: A Storm Without Rain

Known for their ability to crawl on water, and more infamously known for their curse, Basilisks are often found in swamps or the unclean sewers of a town or city. Their most prominent feature are the two false bulbous eyes that stick out of their forehead. These eyes do not provide any benefit to the creature, other than intimidation. Their true eyes are located just above their toothy maw.

Wherever they stay, a tinted yellow fog secretes from their body. Not only does this obscure them and their attacks, but also their true weapon: the pertification curse. From their maw, they breathe a deeper yellow fog which curses anyone who stands within it. After a few seconds without any protection against curses, a creature will be turned to stone: petrified.

This effect can be cancelled and even reversed by a purging stone, an uncommon artifact that has the ability not to directly stop cursing effects, but to absorb them. These artifacts were and are commonly used by non-magical and low-magical, by nature, peoples.

It is best when fighting or encountering this creature to not keep a medium distance away from it. They have the ability to jump such distances and attack you. Rather one should avoid it if possible, but if conflict is unavoidable, it is recommended to keep as close as possible as their cone of attack will be tight and not spread around you.

When encountering a group of these creatures, do not allow yourself to be cornered as this allows them to surround you and engulf you in their curse. The best strategy is to have them on one side of you as to keep them all in view.

• Monsters and Magics: Misconceptions and Facts by Pontiff Sulyvahn

An orange earth pony rested in a booth, his coat orange, his mane a dark grey. Rusty Anvil was stirred awake, his head resting on a table as he was sitting down in a booth, to his right was a blurry barkeep. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves taking in the rest of the bar, no longer were the sounds of conversation filling up the room, the clinking of drinks, or the music of bards. Other than him and the barkeep, the place was empty. “Huh… what? Where is everyone?” his tone groggy from his long slumber.

The stallion set a glass of water down on the table. He was a tall and old stallion, his gruff voice commanded the empty room,”Well, they left. It’s about closing time, can’t keep this place open twenty-four-seven.”

“Wait, already?!” and after downing his drink he quickly stood up and approached the stallion who was now wiping down the bar.

“Well, it’s four in the morning. A pony’s got to get their sleep, even if they work this late.”

“Can’t I get a room upstairs?” Rusty began searching through the saddlebags he had hidden under his cloak.

“Take your hooves outta’ there,” he leaned over to give Rusty a hard pat on the shoulder. “I don’t want to waste your time with that, but we’re already full. And, when I say full, I mean full,” the stallion put a hard emphasis on his last word as he went back to wiping.

“But- but, like you said, it’s four in the morning! Surely, you can make a quick exception,” It was Rusty’s turn to lean over the bar to the barkeep’s dismay.

“Get yer’ hooves off! I’m cleaning!” Rusty was waved off by the barkeep who began to clean the part where Rusty had his hooves on. “I really mean that we are at full capacity, sonny. I can’t do a thing. You’ll have to find some other place to stay.”

Rusty’s head deflated at the news, he stepped away from the bar after thanking the barkeep, and made his way outside. The alley he had sought to find was still obscured in fog, The whole place is probably still fogged up. I better get some place to stay fast!

The orange stallion began to hug the walls of the alley, barely able to make out anything in the thick fog as he walked along. The sounds of his hoofsteps hitting the wet ground beneath him echoed throughout the alley way. Finally, after reaching the end of it, the graffiti he had searched for was resting on the wall above him, he looked over the corner of the building he leaned against. Nothing, but more fog. Not a single light post could be seen illuminating the street.

With his hoof touching the wall, he turned the corner and continued to walk further into the slums. He dragged it against the wall so as to not get lost in the fog, he could feel each brick as they were separated by mortar. A few times he’d feel the wood of a door and check to see if it belonged to an inn. So far, no luck. Most of them had been boarded up buildings rather than actual doors.

His movement came to a quick stop as the croak of a frog could be heard echoing across. He uselessly swiveled his head around as he attempted to locate the source in the dense fog. His back against the wall he used for safety, he dragged himself across it looking for any building he could enter. With each step of his heavy hoofsteps he splashed water onto his cloak.

With each feeling of wood against his body he attempted to gain access only to find no answer from the otherside. The croaks were growing louder as he traveled down the one street that made up the entirety of the slums. A large gasp escaped his mouth as he felt cold metal drag across his right side. He stopped to cover his mouth, he was now between a dumpster and the wall. He listened for what felt like eternity. The croaks had multiplied in number as they got closer to where he was.

Wet slaps echoed across the walls of the street. Rusty’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks as these sounds quickly moved past him. It sounded as if there were dozens of the creatures in the fog. Minutes passed after the sounds fully passed him, he breathed a soft sigh of relief when he could no longer hear them. Now was the time to get out of here, he thought. He shuffled back from where he encountered the dumpster and back onto the street. He galloped as hard as he could away from the sounds that were once following him. He was going to get out of there he thought as he began to see what looked like a light post with two bulbs that seemed to shine. Reaching the light post he leaned on it taking a quick breath. He felt the droplets fall from the sky onto his shoulder, The rain might help in clearing the fog. His relief then began to grow in confusion as he realized the droplets were seeping through his cloak. They were warm.

He looked up to find the two bulbs of the lightpost were just a hoof length away. Two pupils were staring at him. Fear had paralyzed him in place as all he could do was stare at the eyes before him. No, not paralyzed, he couldn’t move at all. He looked down at his hooves, up to his knees they were grey and heavy as he tried to lift them up. He looked back up to see that the eyes were just inches away, the salamander-like head now visible. The stiffness he was feeling was rising up to his torso as he struggled to move. As he did so, he saw the creature’s mouth widen, a grin from ear to ear adorned its face.

Rusty’s thoughts were enveloped by fear, was he going to die? So many thoughts began to race through his head at the situation he was in, thought after thought. As the stiffness he felt reached his neck, his thoughts began to slow, his vision becoming greyed. This was it. He tried to scream for help, but he couldn’t produce anything.

~*~

Raime was further up ahead of us as we ran through the thick fog using his massive square shield, a scutum if I recall, as a battering ram. There were dozens of these creatures, basilisks, Pontiff had called them, all around us. From this population size, the Slums must have been having this infestation fester for months, maybe even years.

My thoughts on the situation had to be put on hold though as I heard Pontiff speak, “Ms. Twilight, we need to inform the princesses and Artorias of the situation here. The amount of basilisks that have nested here is alarming to say the least, and who knows if there are more running around in the sewers.”

My breathing was rapid as we raced through the unseen, “Yes, the princesses should know what to do.”

“Well I feel that the solution is quite obvious Ms. Twilight, the eradication of these creatures is the simplest, of course. Jokes aside, we must get out of here. Raime and I could handle maybe a few dozens, but I fear that the situation is much more dire below ground. My miracle will only last us a few more minutes.”

“Only a few minutes!” We had already been traveling through the Slums for a good hour before the creatures appeared. Running, we might get out in about thirty minutes if we’re lucky, and from my calculations it has been only ten!

“I’m afraid my strengths lie in sorcery and pyromancy, not so much miracles. Artorias always did the miracle stuff.”

“Ah’ hate to cut in on yer’ guys’ conversation, but how long is a few minutes? Cause I’m seeing a bunch of eyeballs all around us,” Applejack had worry written all over her face as I too began to notice that there were even more basilisks lurking in the fog.

I could hear the splatter of these creatures hitting Raime’s shield as he acted like the locomotive of a train in motion, every so often Pontiff would also take one of his swords and swipe into the fog. A screech piercing my ears as he killed them. What in the name of Celestia is going on?!

Fear. It was all I could feel as we ran as hard as we could. We needed to get out of here as fast as possible. Afterall, even Sulyvahn himself said he could only handle a few dozen! What was this? A few hundred?

My fear became terror as I saw a dark form appear from the fog over Raime’s head. It's form enlarging as it gets closer and closer. I could make out the bulbous eyes that seemed to dominate their foreheads. It’s mouth opened and even darker vapor seemed to rush out of it. I halted. Time was moving in slow motion as I could feel it’s breath envelope around. I could feel the curse flow over me, I felt so stiff.

But soon, the complete opposite feeling flowed through me. The feeling of flight and terror as Sulyvahn threw me further than I could ever hope to teleport. He yelled, “Both of you, go! We shall slow them down.”

It was then that I noticed Applejack as we both tumbled across the cobblestone. I tried to scurry up onto my hooves, and with Applejack’s help we were back to running in seconds.

“How much further ya’ think?”

“I’d say just a few more minutes until we’re out of here. If I could then I would teleport us,” I could feel the magic of Sulyvahn fading away. Even the faint yellow glow around Applejack started to fade in and out of existence. But it was the home stretch now, the fog seemed to have been thinning out as we continued to push forward.

“There, Twi! Ah’ think ah’ can see the gates,” I could see AJ take on her classic form as she tucked her head down and under her hat. But a moment later, in a blur, she was no longer running just ahead of me.
“AJ!” I yelled as I slowed to a stop to look around.
“Go, Twi!” I could hear her, but I couldn’t see her. This damn fog!

With a heavy sigh I turned around. What?! Where is it? The gate, it was right there. There was nothing but more fog all around me. In my moment of panic I lost sight of it and the fog seemed to have capitalized on it.

I stood alone in the middle of the street, not a single sound but the sound of my breathing. I was close. I had to be. If I could just figure which direction the exit was, I could just run. My ears flicked to the left as I heard the slapping of webbed feet hit the ground, they were close. Knowing they were close, I mustered as much magic as possible into my horn. The light didn’t seem to illuminate much I noted, the fog seemed to be reflecting it right back.

It was risky, as more footsteps could be heard approaching me. Soft croaks became louder and louder. I looked around, their huge eyes could be seen through the fog. Just a few more seconds, just a few more. Their silhouette’s all jumped up in the air from the ground, my instinct overpowered me as I winced and closed my eyes in fear.

~*~

In the courtroom of the castle, the tea break was coming to an end. The small gathering grew to four members as two new individuals joined and one of the original gatherers left for a nap. The break was a relaxing departure from the stresses of the day, as each member could finally ease their mind for a brief moment and not worry about a thing. But each knew, in the back of their heads, such a calm was always followed by a storm.

“Thank you Fulttershy, it was wonderful of you to join us,” Princess Celestia took the final piece of cake into her mouth, her face gleaming at the delicious taste.

“Oh, no. Thank you for having me,” Fluttershy was sitting at the table a large grey and furry creature behind her which gave a small howl.

Artorias looked disapprovingly at his lifelong companion, “You too, Sif. Now, hush. We get it. You’re bored,” Artorias said as he looked over to Celestia’s teapot which was full of red tea. “Also, you gonna finish that?” he said pointing.

“No, you can have it,” Celestia’s food joy simply became that of surprise as Artorias grabbed the pot, lifted the cap off, and drank straight out of it. He would have finished it all if the sound of a loud pop disrupted him, causing him to spit-take over his armor and table.Celestia laughed at the sight of the now aromatic knight.

“Go ahead, laugh it up,” he said as he patted himself down with a napkin. “What the hell was that?”

Artorias was answered by his wolf who gave a quick quiet bark in the direction of the popping sound. In the middle of the court room stood Twilight. The mare’s head scrunched into her torso, two of her legs raised up in a wince, and her eyes closed with a look of terror everywhere else. “Twilight!” Fluttershy yelled.

Twilight’s eyes flickered open at the voice of her friend. She looked around the room in a hurry to find the sound of Fluttershy who quickly walked up to her. With the yellow mare in sight, Twilight ran up and gave Fluttershy a tight hug. Tears flowed from her eyes as she embraced her friend who reciprocated in kind.

The sight of her pupil crying was not a sight Celestia saw often, worry washed over her as she thought about the causes of such strife. The pure and raw magical energy that burst forth from Twilight was equivalent to that of her mishap when she was a filly. With all options weighed, she looked over to Artorias who seemed just as worried. Well if either of the other two did anything, at least I know he isn’t involved.

“Twilight,” Celestia leaned down to her student to give Twilight a hug. After a few moments of reassurance, she leaned back, “What happened? Why did you cast a long-range teleportation spell? And where are the others?”

Horror dawned across Twilight’s face, tears threatening to return as she stumbled back. She began to speak only for nothing to come out. Open and close, nothing seemed to come out but the faintest of breaths. Twilight’s face contorted in fear as she couldn’t seem to let the words escape her. It was then that Artorias knelt down.

“I hope you don’t believe that you lost your ability to speak,” he gave Twilight a few pats behind her neck. “You are simply under shock, I’m sure that whatever ordeal you had gone through was truly terrifying.”

An audible gulp from Twilight echoed throughout the court.

“Now, give deep breathes in. Five seconds in, eight seconds out. Got it?” Artorias gave the mare a thumbs up who nodded in return.

After a few moments of careful counting, the panic that enveloped Twilight grew less and less. No longer was there cold sweat keeping her cold, she could finally focus, “Basilisks. They are all over the slums.”

Panic was once again growing in the mare. Memories surged of Sulyvahn and Raime throwing her out of the action and Applejack being tossed back into the fog by one of those creatures. Celestia approached her student, it was her turn to try and calm the mare down as Artorias took a step back to be with his wolf.

“Twilight, listen. I need you to listen, carefully. I need you to breathe,” as Twilight looked towards her mentor she felt more at ease. Her muscles relaxed in the presence of her mentor. Seeing her student relax she asked, “What are these basilisks you speak of?”

“The- they’re like cockatrice, Princess. They’ve been turning poor ponies into stone! The whole of the slums are infested with them and the fog is everywhere!” Twilight’s breathing became frantic once more, but this time her eyes weren’t shrunk down to pinpricks. A paper bag appeared before her and she levitated it over her mouth.

“Guards!” Celestia ordered. Two guards came through the main doors of the courtroom, each stepping in time with one another and gave the princess a salute. “Have Twilight brought to her room along with Fluttershy, and have a royal physician see Twilight.”

The guards gave another salute and began to escort the two ponies to Twilight’s room all the while Fluttershy attempted to console her friend.

Looking once more over to Artorias and Sif, “I trust that you know what a basilisk is?”

“Yes Princess,” he said as he strapped on his helmet, and his tone became much more serious than earlier. “Please, if you could, take me to the best vantage point to see over the slums.”

The princess, the knight and the wolf quickly traveled the halls of the castle with Celestia in the lead. They had found themselves traveling up with a darker theme than that of the rest of it. These few minutes felt like hours as the knight and princess hurriedly deduced the best location to survey the slums.

Celestia and Artorias looked over the vast city of Canterlot, each district but the Slums making themselves known with their individual themes. “I see what you were saying Artorias, but where on Equus is the Slums?” Celestia’s worry could be heard as her voice gave a subtle quiver.

“They’re close by the mou- God damnit, that fucking room!” Artorias quickly stepped back from the balcony and out of the connected room. Before him were two thestrals who were guarding a pair of large walnut doors. He walked before them and up to the door where he was met with two crossing spears.

“Sir, you are not allo-” the guards' warnings were cut short as Artorias grabbed each spear in his way and bent them away from him. Looking on in horror, the guards watched as Artorias broke through the doors into the room.

“What in the name of Equus art thou doing?!” Princess Luna rose from her bed, a pink night cap adorned her head as she hugged a white, small, fluffy wolf plushie. She quickly rubbed her eyes, “Sir Artorias!”

Luna brought her hooves up thrice to rub the sleep from them, each time to check if Artorias was really there, “Why art thou trespassing upon our slumber!?” she exclaimed upon squeezing her plush in annoyance.

Artorias didn’t seem to pay her any mind, nor did Sif who followed behind. The two made their way over to the balcony doors which were covered by curtains. The knight quickly spread apart the curtains, Luna recoiling under the blankets from the light which was blinding her. With Artorias opening the doors, a cold wind introduced itself causing Luna to shudder.

Celestia quickly made her way over to her sister’s side, “I am so sorry, Lulu.”

“Tia!” He is right there!” Luna peaked from under the sheets. “Please tell me that thou hast a good explanation for the sudden intrusion.”

“Matter of state security?” Celestia gave a sheepish smile to her sister who groaned and slunk into the bed.

Turning back to the balcony where Artorias now stood alone, she walked on over making sure to close the door behind her. “Did you really have to? And, where’s Sif?”

“He’s fetching a bow, and what did I do?”

“You mean bone? But more importantly, you seem to be so focused on the matter at hoof that you had no idea that you waltzed on through my sister’s bed chambers?”

Artorias turned his head to the alicorn, “No, I mean bow. And, bed chambers?”

“I see… And, yes. She will also surely seek repayment,” the two looked out near the base of the mountain. The sight was ghastly to say the least, plumes of fog could be seen erupting from the slums, a few more smaller cases could be seen in neighboring districts.

“Oh… That is really not good,” Artorias took off his helmet to massage his temples.

“What’s wrong? I see nothing but plumes of smoke.”

“Not smoke, fog,” he sighed. “Basilisks, secrete this vapor to hide themselves. And judging by how thick and massive it is, they've got to be a few hundred.”

“A few hundred?!” Celestia was not one to be surprised often, but for this one case her mouth was left agape.

“If we really want a chance at getting rid of them, we’ve got to thin out that fog,” Artorias felt a massive migraine coming. How the fuck are there so many?!

With her head tilted in thought, Celestia quickly came up with an idea. “I believe I can get some pegasi to devise a way to remove the fog.”

“Can they also shoot arrows?”

“Most certainly Artorias, they wouldn’t be much of guards if they couldn’t”

“Well that makes it all the easier.”

~*~

Canterlot was in a partial state of panic and confusion as the guards of the crowns marched through the streets. Their destination was easily telegraphed as corporals ordered and organized their subordinates toward the cause of alarm, the fog. The massive plume of fog erupting out from the Slums had caused several reports to be called, and with more smaller plumes sprouting in the neighboring districts action had to be called.

By the order of Princess Celestia even the Wonderbolts who were called from Cloudsdale were here to assist in the issue at hand. Their shadows racing over the city as they flew in formation to their designated positions at each of the plumes. Captain Spitfire looked down at the oddity that was the thick, yellow-tinted fog, it was unnatural. She called over to one of her subordinates, “Soarin, got any idea what the hell fog is doing in the middle of Canterlot?”

The light blue pegasus hovered closer to his captain, “I would say an odd weather request, but considering the fact that we were called on over… An attack, ma’am?” Soarin gave a shrug and a salute.

“Ha! An attack on Canterlot? Only an idiot would try that!”

“To be fair, ma’am. There was Discord just a few months ago…”

“Yeah, but from what I remember, isn’t he the ‘King of Chaos’ or something?”

Before Soarin could correct his officer in command, a blaring horn sounded throughout the city from the streets below and echoing off the mountainside. Several banners could be seen raised up depicting two alicorns circling the sun and moon. With the signal to start the operation a go, the Wonderbolts dove down to their respective plumes. The plan was in motion.

The pegasi began to create several huge vortexes in an attempt to pull the fog up from the streets. Their efforts produced slow results for the thick fog despite having done these kinds of maneuvers several times over. But their efforts seemed to have been working, slow they might have been, the fog began to collect inside these vortexes. The collected fog rose above the shingled roofs of houses, a thundercloud looking structure obscuring the mountain. With the cover of the fog receding into these vortexes, the basilisks fled further and further into what was left.

One basilisk in particular was slow going as it scurried across the streets and walls, its webbed, sticky feet providing ample support. Unlike many of its brethren, this one was caught far on the edge of the fog’s protection, and with it now receding quickly, the basilisk was exposed to the sun and pegasi. It wouldn’t reach the fog like some of the others.

The pegasus guard flying above the slums released his hoof from the string of the bow, an arrow that was once resting on the pegasus’s other hoof was gone in a fraction of a second. The arrow flew down, whizzing through the air as it gave off a faint whistle, and came to an abrupt stop as it found its new home in the skull of a basilisk.

Even more pegasi were firing arrows from the sky, teams strafing over the districts in turns. It was a massacre of the basilisks. Even more guards rushed through the now open streets, stabbing any stragglers or downed basilisks with swords and spears.

Major Shining Armor, the shield bearer, led his squadron through the streets of the Slums. There weren’t many other squads in front of them as the others were checking alleys and abandoned houses. Their formation was tight, each guard covering every possible angle of attack as they made quick work of the leftovers.

Marching on through, several statues could be now seen of ponies. Each statue had looks of horror, many of them in poses that saw them running away from something. In the middle of the cobblestone road, Shining Armor saw a stone mare on the ground wearing a cowboy hat. Sheesh, didn’t go down without a fight I see.

The squad moved cautiously and when an alley would come up they’d stop and check their corners. As they went deeper into the Slums, and as they approached a swirling mass of fog they stopped. The number of basilisks had dropped significantly, most of them having scurried deep into obscurity, “Alright, guys!” The squadron halted for their major who turned around to face them, “It doesn’t seem like there are much more of these basilisks around here, we’ll wait for the Wonderbolts to finish pulling the fog up. Afterwards-”

“Sir, watch out!” One of the ponies yelled out as they dove in, knocking Shining out of the way of a mass of dark fog.

Shining Armor, getting up and out of his stupor, looked on at the fate of his soldier. The fog dissipated in the wind, revealing the form of a guard pony with an outstretched hoof. The guards, alongside Shining, stepped back from the fog where several pairs of orbs looked at them from the fog. The motion to retreat was signaled with a hoof gesture from Shining, but as they turned around even more fog could be seen pouring out from the gutters.

Fog was pouring out of the doors and windows of abandoned buildings. The bodies of basilisks crawled on the walls, their mouths plastered with ear-to-ear smiles. Shining turned back to look at the mass of fog full of basilisks, and on cue, the basilisks jumped out from hiding with their maws open. Shining instinctively brought a shield up around the group and several thunks resonated across it as the bodies bounced off. A small look of relief washed over Shining’s face as he protected himself and his squad.

The creatures didn’t seem distracted by this, instead they continued to exhale more curse from their toothy maws. The black fog, pooled outside of Shining’s barrier, and ever so slowly penetrated with small wisps of dark vapor. The group huddled together in an attempt to get themselves further away from the vapor all around them. Come on you dang birds! We really need some help!

Shining’s request was answered not by the sound of flapping wings, but by a loud, earthshaking explosion which was followed by a beam of light on the opposite side. As the dust settled they saw a massive spear-like object penetrating the ground. All around it were street rubble and the remains of several basilisks which were flung about. Some even splattered and stuck against the walls. On the opposite side, the street was slightly molten red. Smoke rose from the ground, vaporized and molten remains of basilisk’s were all that was left. Shining looked at the direction from which the spear had come from, the Castle.

Standing on the balcony of Luna’s bedchambers stood Artorias and Celestia. In his left hand he held upright a massive iron bow taller than him with an end resting in the balcony itself. In his other hand he held a massive spear-like arrow, and on his left, resting against the frame of the door, were a few more arrows. Celestia stood next to Artorias, her horn glowing with bridled, magical energy. The look on her face was fierce as she protected her civilians.

“I could easily make quick work of these basilisks, as you call them, from up close,” Celestia shot another beam from her horn, undoubtedly vaporizing a few more basilisks.

“We both know that Princess,” Artorias loaded another arrow and aimed. “But I would hate to use your own petrified self as your memorial.” He let loose his grip. The arrow was gone in an instant, the steel wire that had launched it oscillated for a few seconds before coming to rest, and a few moments later a loud blast could be heard as the arrow broke the sound barrier. “Would you say that’s poetic or mobid?”

Celestia rolled her eyes at the question, Why is he trying to have a conversation while we are in the middle of a district wide extermination. She held back her instinctive thoughts, “Regardless of the answer, Sir Artorias, what idea do you have for after this surface endeavor? And what of the petrified ponies?”

“I’d like to set fire to the sewers,” another arrow launched from his bow, “but having the explosions tear Canterlot apart from underneath seems like a bad idea. We’d have to send in several small squads to take care of them.” He paused as he grabbed another arrow, “Sorry, one moment.”

Setting aside his bow, Artorias raised the final arrow up into the air, and with his other hand, he carried a small, white, cloth talisman. He whispered a heroic tale of a long forgotten sun god, and from the sky the universe answered. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sun overhead, its energy coursed through the arrow.

Celestia stepped back from the show, the sound of thunder following right after reverberated off the mountain. What?! Lightning from the sun!

A faint knock from the doors behind them sounded, and Luna in her sleeping gown and hat stepped through, “Though, We do not care which of thee had called forth the rolling of thunder and the light of electricity, We are trying to have a nice slumber!” Bags hung from her eyes as she sleepily glared at the two.

“I am so sorry, Lulu,” Celestia tilted her head down towards her sister in guilt.

Luna gave a sigh, “Please, make it quick…”

“Just one more,” Artorias spoke as he loaded his final arrow onto his bow.

The two alicorns looked on in awe as the knight assumed proper form with his massive bow and arrow. His left foot rested just behind the bows end that stuck into the balcony, his right foot in line with his body. He kept his bow arm steady and straight as he pulled the arrow back on the wire. The steel groaned as tension built up in it.

The strong breeze from this altitude gave a soft howl, and the crackling sung from the arrow as lightning danced across it. Artorias pulled a deep breath in as he listened to the wind. Seconds passed as he stood there, waiting.

Without warning, Artorias exhaled as the wind stopped for a few moments. He shifted his aim a few degrees to the right and let the arrow loose. A shutter resonated throughout the castle, cracks could be seen forming where the bow rested. Lightning hung in the air forming a trail as it followed the massive arrow. The path that the arrow had taken wasn’t straight as it took an all too large, crescent turn from the balcony to the Slums. The arrow shrunk in the air, it’s distance growing more and more.

Just as soon as the Wonderbolts finished clearing out the fog, the arrow struck at the epicenter of it. Basilisks were thrown from the huge blasts, as those who were not caught on it looked on. Suddenly, from the sky, a bolt shot down from the sun and onto the arrow. Small bolts of energy darted and bounced across the surface, each finding a basilisk to fry. Without rest, in the surrounding area, more bolts of lightning shot down in a thunderous show. The radius of strikes grew for a few yards, and came to an abrupt stop.

The last few echoes resounded as the two alicorns and humans looked on, “Like I was saying, for the second issue, I’m going to need Suly.”

Artorias gave the balcony rail a quick pat with his hand which crumbled apart, “Ah… Shit.”

Luna coughed for the attention of Artorias, “Well, seeing as thy issue has been handled, We shall be using thy canine companion as a body pillow. The wolf seems to have already found that Our bed is comfy, and We shall use him as he seems incredibly soft.”

The lunar princess gave the two a telekinetic push from the balcony to inside. From inside, the two saw that a large fluff ball of a wolf was sleeping on Luna’s bed. The two were given another push as the doors of the bedchambers opened as they stumbled out.

Regaining their posture Celestia called to one of the guards, “Have Major Shining Armor return to the castle with the rest of his squad.”

The guard gave a quick salute and ran off down the hallway to retrieve the major as soon as possible. Artorias leaned over to the princess, “Is this about his wedding as well as his promotion?”

“Yes, I would hate to use his petrified self as a memorial,” a light giggle escaped her. “Now, let us prepare for the inevitable political aftermath.”

Artorias gave a quick bow and followed alongside.

Author's Note

I just seem to be pumping these things out! Just another lovely chapter by your's truly. Theatrics aside, thanks for reading another chapter. It's a blast getting back into writing, and seeing those views makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time, y'know? As per my usual, please comment and like, maybe even favorite or track. I always appreciate positive, constructive responses!

Edit: Woah, woah, woah! Sorry, had to give a quick edit cause I just saw something while perusing the front page. I don't know how, I don't know if I'm just stupid and there's an easy access thing on the front page to my story, but if anyone sees my story on the front page being featured, do tell me I am not making things up.