A Warlord's Justice

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: Ascension
Chapter 2: Cinders
Chapter 3: Roaring Iron
Chapter 4: Questions - Part 1
Chapter 5: Questions - Part 2
Chapter 6: Questions - Part 3
Chapter 7: City by the (Celestial) Sea
Chapter 8: High Seas
Chapter 9: Falcon's Rest

Prologue

One month. One month trapped in fetid darkness with nought but the barred slit for a window and burning torch past the bars to illuminate this place. I can only tell how many days have past by counting, each and every day, the thin blade of light that cuts through the window in the morning, ending the night.

I sit slouched against the cruel stone wall, the iron band latched to my ankle connecting via chain to the very same wall. The ragged "shirt" (more of a short tunic) is loose and thin, barely keeping the heat of my body from being sapped away by the dungeon. A couple splotches of dry blood spot the area of the cloth at my neck, evidence of the time that had passed since my last interrogation.

Every so often, a guard will wander down the corridor outside my cell, will look in at my face before turning back forwards. Even after being here for some time, these creatures are still taken aback by me.

My captors are small horses. At least, that is what they resemble. They are nothing like the ones of my world. Their proportions are off and their size is puny. And I have no memory of horses glaring at me from my world.

They've questioned me repeatedly, and have alluded to me coming here on purpose as some sort of scout for an invasion. I told them that I didn't even know I would go to another world all together, let alone this one in particular. But they weren't satisfied that I wasn't an enemy. They even got their captain down to question me, who was the worst. Thanks to him, I have more bruises and cuts than I started here with.

You wouldn't think such cutesy creatures could do much damage, but those hooves are like fists. The dull aches left in my arm and leg are a testament to that.

He demanded to know who I was, and I just said that "my name is Richard, I don't know why I'm here", but he kept asking what rank I was in whatever invading army was coming. I kept telling him I wasn't even in the army, but he just smacked my face and repeated the question. But I could never answer.

I only remember waking up in this cell, so I must have appeared in this world unconscious. So I have no idea how they could have seen a sleeping person without any weapons or armour as such a major threat.

I can tell how they look at me when they walk by my cell, that they have no intention of letting me walk free. I haven't broken any law that could ever deserve a life sentence, but my mind sometimes wanders to what if they intend for the life sentence to be replaced by a worse punishment.

Suddenly, the sound of hooves on stone echoes down the corridor. Just from the hardness of the steps, you can tell someone stern is approaching. Leaving my head hanging down, my knees up and my arms wrapped around them, I hear the lock for my cell open with a "click".

A shadow casts across my eyes, and my vision becomes darker. Lifting my dull blue eyes upwards, I stare with no expression at the captain. He looks down at me, pale blue eyes glaring icily into my lifeless blue. He stands over me, chest pushed out, his four hooves held on the ground firmly. A mane of light and dark blue stripes hangs over his brow as he looks down on me.

A red coat of sorts obscures the fur on the front half of his body, a brown belt keeping it stiff on his waist. Some sort of white harness on his chest embroiled with a pink star, the same from the tattoo on his flank. Such an outfit would look whimsical in another situation, but in the dim light of a dungeon it looks more outlandish.

"Because I'm a fair guy-" His lips part into a dark smirk as he says "fair" and my wounds ache as evidence of past "fairness". "- I'm going to give you one more chance to give up the information of your superiors". He finishes, seeming to loom over me more.

My lips stay sealed, unable to give the answers he wants. After a moment of silence from me, his smirk turns to a snarl as he lifts his hoof to bring it down on my once more. My head snaps to the side as his hoof connects to my cheek, making spittle fly of my lips and onto the stone, my vision blurred for a moment. Mouth open and blood dripping from a cut in my cheek, I look back up at the abuser. His snarl as twisted back into a smirk as he revels in my torment, lifting his hoof back up to deliver another.

"Sir." Speaks a monotone voice from outside the cell. Halting the strike, the captain turns around to face the newly-appeared guard. He wears the typical golden armour that they all seem to wear, with the plain white fur visible beneath the plates.

"Yes?" Asks the captain impatiently, seemingly wanting to return to the beating he wanted to give me.

"The ceremony is ready to begin." The guard finishes, before saluting and wandering off somewhere. The captain sighs with disappointment, walking forwards slightly before turning his head menacingly to me.

"You can wait here until after the wedding, and we can begin disposing of you." He says almost in a whisper, but purposefully loud enough for me to hear. He turns his head back around and makes to leave entirely.

A voice rings out in the darkness of the cell. A hoarse sound more akin to the sound of gravel rolling over hard ground. The traces of seeping from my cracked lips like a faint wind in a graveyard. The words would scar time, and seal the fates of many, without me knowing.

"It may not be in this life..." I say, voice a ghostly whisper. The captain turns with a slightly puzzled expression. He looks to ask what I said, but I continue before he can. "...but no matter what, I will have my revenge. You will all pay for what you've done." I finish, head finally hanging down as a feeling similar to my soul being sapped away by my own words takes over.

Silence reigns over the dungeon as he processes my words, before he finally breaks into laughter. He looks at me, ragged and beaten, and cannot fathom what vengeance I could carry out in such a sorry state. Turning around, he continues his exit without a word spoken. His horn lights up with a pale blue glow, and the lock is replaced on the wooden cell door.

Left in silence, I can only question my words. I had nothing left to lose by saying them. What would be different had he reacted angrily? The only scenario I can imagine is that he would probably have had me die sooner. But why keep my mouth shut just to live for another hour or two in fear of the coming end? No, I would rather it be over and done with. A month of suffering has already been endured.

I bring my dirtied hands together, and give silent prayer for a peaceful departure from this hellish place.

Author's Note

This story's beginning was inspired mainly by the start of "Not What I had Expected" (https://www.fimfiction.net/story/155432/not-what-i-had-expected) by Frosthowl (https://www.fimfiction.net/user/94056/Frosthowl) A new chapter hasn't been released in years, unfortunately.

Regardless, the starting point is really the only piece inspired by another writer's work. I intend to have my own timeline of events following this point.

Thank you for reading.

Chapter 1: Ascension

And now I wait for my coming execution. From what I can tell, they will finish the wedding ceremony before disposing of me. My dirtied hands tighten into fists in the darkness of my cell, eyes set in silent glare at the ground. After little thinking, I've decided to attack when the captain returns. Just wait against the wall so they approach, as he will most likely want to get one last abuse in before getting rid of me. Then, I will make sure to do as much damage as I can, as fast as I can. Even if I don't manage anything fatal, like breaking their neck, I hope that I do enough damage so they don't forget me.

I sigh, mist appearing at my mouth from the chilled air. I let my ears listen to the sound of wind filtering through the slit in the wall acting as a window. The dampness of the wall behind me sinks into the rags covering my torso and legs, making them stick to my pale skin.

Out of nerves, I rub the slight facial hair I've grown over the time spent locked away.

They must be having a huge party upstairs. Every so often, I hear deep rumbling, and the sounds of hooves running on hard floor. Then, I see a guard rush down the corridor beyond the metal bars of my cell, breathing heavily in exertion.

"Changelings have overrun the lower city, we need everypony to push them back!" He yells out before disappearing back down the corridor, the two guards sat at a table in a dent in the stone wall listening in alarm.

As the two guards go to stand up, the sound of an explosion rings my ears as dust and small rocks erupt into the air from the right. With me being in the cell at the farthest end of the corridor, I see the guards stand up with spears drawn as black shapes rocket from the newly-made opening.

The sound of combat fills my ears as the black shapes begin throwing themselves at the spear-wielding guards, green blood splattering out when a spear found its way into the abdomen of one of the invaders. Screeching it falls down and its dead eyes look into mine as the cracked black exoskeleton continues to ooze a lime-coloured gore.

They are insect-like in appearance, but share the same horse-inspired shape yet with similarly odd proportions. Their wings beat rapidly and lifeless blue eyes glare with little expression. One of them receives a blow by the shaft of a guard's spear, sending it stumbling into a spear rack. But because of the enclosed space, the spears tip over and one slides into my cell.

A guard looks over with alarm before having his attention taken by the advancing invaders. With an eyebrow raised, I reach out a dirtied hand and grasp the metal point of the spear gently, as to not cut myself. Before swiftly dragging the rest of the weapon to my person.

Blocking out the sounds of yelling and spears swinging, I begin driving the spear into the chain locking my ankle to the wall. Over and over, the spear point is brought down until finally the aged and rusty iron splinters on one link. Crawling away from the wall, finally free, I use my hands to push myself up into kneeling position.

I hear one guard shout to retreat, and their fleeing hoof-steps on stone inform me of their departure. With no guards left, and hopefully the invaders following them, I can begin my escape from this place. Finally standing up on shaking legs, leaning on the spear to support myself, I shuffle over to the cell door.

Bringing the spearhead down, over and over, on the damp-ridden wood of the door, I weaken it. Cracks start to appear in the wet and flaking wood, splinters and dust erupting from its surface. The spearhead chips on its point, but I keep bringing the hard steel down without hesitation.

With a resounding "crack", a splintered hole sends dust and splinters into the air, making me drop the spear to cover my face. As the sounds of wood hitting the ground dies down, I uncover my eyes and begin using the spear to press down on the wood below the gap. Eventually, the wood gives and the gap is spread wider.

Crawling my way through the hole in the door, splinters jabbing flesh not covered by the tunic, I fall onto the hard stone of the corridor's floor. Standing back up, feeling the freezing stone underfoot, I move over to the table the guards had abandoned. Looking it over, I see an untouched bowl of soup and bread, evidence of them not having time to eat before the attack began.

Quickly slurping the soup down and nearly forcing the bread down my throat, I gorge myself on the food I had been typically deprived of during my imprisonment. My aching stomach satisfied, I begin to look around.

"Where'd they put my stuff?" I ask, since I know for sure that I came wearing my own clothes. They kept asking whether the clothes I had on were some sort of military uniform. I'd rather wear something decent than this tunic made from some sort of sack.

Seeing another dip in the stone wall, a wooden crate seated on the ground within it, I shuffle over to it. Pulling back the bolt holding it shut, I pull out my old clothes. Hurrying, I tear off the tunic and replace my old clothing back onto my shivering body, rubbing the dust off them as I go.

Once dressed, I look myself over to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I now wear a light brown t-shirt with rough denim trousers of a deep blue colour. With plain white socks hidden by thick brown leather boots, I can finally walk these halls.

With heavy steps, I listen to the sounds of hooves galloping on the floor above as the invasion rages on. Stepping over the fallen, chitinous invaders, I keep my eyes glossing over the stone walls and wooden doors for some sign of an exit. Or at least some stairway to escape from this dungeon.

Suddenly, a gold and white form barrels out of a door to my side. I hit my back against the wall with a grunt as I push my hands out to shove away my assailant. Sliding off the wall and backing up, the form rights itself and turns, revealing itself to be a guard.

Bringing up my fists, I let the guard shake his head to dispel dizziness before he attempts to headbutt me. Swinging my body to the side, I grab around his neck and twist my body around so he loses his balance. With my grip still firmly on his throat, I shove him away and spin my foot in the air to collide with the side of his head, where is helmet doesn't cover. The leather of my shoe protects my foot from the edges of the helmet as it impacts with his head.

With a groan, he falls to the floor where I quickly jump onto his back. Spinning the dazed guard around, tearing the gold helmet from his skull, before I drive my fist over and over again into his cheek until he stops trying to swing back. With his chest still rising and falling rhythmically, proving he hadn't been finished off, I quickly back up onto my feet.

Breathing heavily, I look over to the now open door and look inside. I immediately see a fireplace and move over to the door. Halting myself outside the door, holding my breath, I listen for breathing within the room. After a tense minute of listening, I slowly shuffle into the room with my fists up ready.

Within, I see a similarly stone-walled room with a red and gold rug laying on the ground. Besides the aforementioned fireplace, only a wooden table and pair of chairs are left. But I notice, laying on the wall closely to the fireplace is a small axe, used for cutting logs for the fire.

Preferring anything to being unarmed, I hastily grab the handle of the axe, giving it a test swing before heading back out the room. The guard is still unconscious on the ground, so I grab them by their rear legs and drag them into the room. If it takes longer for the rest of the guards to notice the knocked-out guard, then they won't notice my absence as quickly.

With the axe's plain wooden handle firmly gripped, sharpened metal head glinting in torchlight, I keep on searching for an escape from this dungeon.

After a while of dead-ends and stairways, I finally reach a new corridor that lacks the plain stone and darkness I had known for so long. Here, the ground and walls is bright marble with red carpeting. Windows also inlay the walls, letting me see out at the carnage happening in the city. Buildings ablaze and swarms of the same insect-like invaders darting across the sky as magic and primitive projectiles aim for them.

"The hell is going on?" I ask out-loud to myself, letting my hand rest against the cooled window pane. Hearing muffled laughter coming from nearby, my head locks-on to a grander door across from me.

Eyes squinting into a frown, I twirl the axe in my hand and twist my head this way and that as I scan my surroundings carefully. I had thought to burst through the grand door to seek out the captain for some axe-delivered revenge. But with an invasion going on and no way to tell who is on the other side of the door, I let myself mull over my choices.

But as I look around, I find that the only doors are the one leading to the dungeon and the grander one. Sighing, I look at the door and wander towards it, axe handle level with my head as I ready to swing it down. Grabbing the handle, I tug against it but find it immovable.

"Locked." I exclaim, letting the handle leave my grasp.

Not one to be defeated by this, and with only this way to go in order to escape, I bring the axe down with a yell. The metal edge bites into the door's centre, but only leaves a small indent. Taking a step back, I swing harder at the same spot, wood chips flying off the impact zone as the axe head is buried deeper into the surface.

With a final roar of effort, the axe smashes through the wooden panel, my body almost falling forwards as I re-balance myself after the strike. With only a weakened wooden panel remaining, I continue hammering the axe against it before finally forcing my way through the gaping wound left from my attacks.

Stepping through the newly-made split in the door, my leather boots stand on the splinters I had created as my frantic eyes scan the hall around me. I'd apparently just made a very bad move.

Standing before me are rows of gaping mouths and startled eyes of many ponies, with a wider variety of colours than what the guards had from my imprisonment. More of the insect invaders are in this room as well, who all give their lifeless stare at me with teeth bared and heads lowered as they look up at me like wolves.

Grabbing the axe with both hands, I bring it level to my head again in a defensive guard. I hear more laughter, and turn my head slightly to look over at the source. Another bug stands on a slight rise at the end of the room, taller than the others with more distinct eyes. I grit my teeth at the annoying sound of the laugh.

"More unexpected guests?!" She exclaims whilst laughing, before turning to the right with a gasp.

I also look, and my eyes lock onto the captain. My teeth grit harder, almost painfully so, as my legs seem to work on their own. My vision narrows until all I can see is him, my boots moving across the ground as my axe raises. I go to run at him, but suddenly a pink sphere engulfs him with another pony-like shape inside.

With a roar, a blast of pink detonates and hits me. The light is nearly blinding, but I see through squinting eyes the insect invaders getting blasted more harshly, and being sent through glass and beyond. My skin tingles and burns at the light, making me worry that what had hit me was a fiery attack of some sort. But as the light fades, I stumble a few steps back and slouch into a wall, holding my axe with one hand as the other holds the wall behind me.

I feel nauseous after the blast, but soon right myself by pushing off the wall with axe in hand. With the attention of the crowd now off the leader of whatever invasion forced had just blew out the building, all they can look at is my axe-wielding, unwashed form.

The captain himself turns and looks at me, a look of surprise gracing his features before hardening. He turns to me, as the pink pony of similar size looks between me and him with confusion. My final words ring out within his mind.

"...but no matter what, I will have my revenge.

"Seize him!" He shouts, tinges of panic lacing his voice.

The guards struggle out of some sort of dissipating green ooze before grabbing spears and pointing them at me. But because of the short shafts the spearheads are attached to, the threat of my axe swinging at them is enough to keep them back. I shimmy against the wall with my axe held high.

The exit, a grand set of double doors at the far end of the hall is already guarded by a swarm of gold-armoured ponies rushing in. As I feel my bare neck press against cool glass, I quickly glance back and see the stained panels behind me. I quickly twist my head back and swipe my axe to make the spear-wielding guards step back.

If I stay, I'm captured. I can't escape through the door, as they will grab me long before then. I see the captain's horn begin to light up blue, signalling the start of a spell. I've been here long enough to acknowledge the magical capability that comes with the horns on some pony skulls.

What they don't anticipate, is my resolve. Back in my cell, I made my peace. Losing my life to end this madness of capture is perfectly acceptable by now. With a roar, I swing the axe wide and shatter the glass window behind me. Rather than dying at the hooves of these demons, I'd rather let gravity do the dirty work. Throwing myself in the same breath as the swing, I hear gasps as I launch through the shattered glass.

Falling...

The sound of air rushing past my ears greets me for just a moment before the resounding eruption of water rings out as I sink deep into a pond of water. The freezing cold liquid hits me, and I gasp just before going under. Gritting my teeth, I open my eyes in the clear blue and begin swimming up.

Gasping for air, I tread water as I swing my head this way and that. I scan around myself, finding I had fallen into a garden's pond. I stare up at the broken window, and a voice in the back of my mind screams for me to run. Adrenaline pumping hard, I throw myself through the water as I splash frantically, grabbing the bank and barrelling away.

Boots smash into the ground over and over as I run. I look back to make sure no one is following me, and I see none of the bright colours that are present on the ponies. Turning back my head, I focus on putting as much distance between me and the army of guards that will soon come for me.

Maybe I can survive long enough to escape.

Author's Note

Hopefully this was good enough for those of you viewing. It has been a while since I've written, I guess.

Thanks for reading.

Chapter 2: Cinders

It didn't take long for the search to begin.

A pack of guards hurry past, golden armour glinting in the midday sun as it clanks, their gold-encrusted legs a flurry of movement. I stand with muscles tense and breath short, axe gripped firmly in a whitening fist as my back presses harshly against the marble wall.

The street outside the alley is hectic, a scene of fire and debris. A shop has its window smashed from rocks kicked up by magical bolts striking the road during the initial invasion. A wagon, laid on its side like a wounded animal, has its wooden form engulfed in fire.

With winged ponies darting in squads, like larger and more intimidating flocks of birds, the gravity of the situation meets me head-on. My legs feel weak at the revelation, bending as my back slides down the wall limply.

"I have no chance getting out. Maybe I could just get a guard to hear what their captain did to me, and have me freed as compensation?" I ask mindlessly, whispering to myself.

I hear more coming hoofsteps and duck behind some discarded cardboard boxes, keeping breaths quiet. A pair of guards casually walk into view, one coming to a halt at the entrance of the alley to peer in. His companion, a shorter mare, comes to stand besides him as well. She looks at him with a smirk.

"Didn't think you of all ponies would put so much effort into finding this thing. Why don't you let it be some other guard's problem?" She asks

I duck my head behind the cardboard barrier as the stallion guard's eyes once again scan the shadowed alleyway, his eyes squinting as he tries to spot anything close to the description the guards were given.

With the invasion happening earlier in the day, he'd been running around and using his unicorn magic to the point of exhaustion. And he was in no mood to go in an alley where he couldn't see, and some alien could jump him whilst he's tired. It was better to find it in the open, and have his partner chase it down whilst he delivered the killing blow.

Sighing, he shakes his head as he turns back to his expectant partner. I peer my eyes around my wall of dirtied cardboard as they continue their hushed exchange.

"Haven't you heard that 'Prince Shining Armour' has got a reward out for this thing?" He asks flatly to the mare beside him, making her give a confused expression, tilting her head at the guard.

"Really?" She asks. "A big pile of bits for some hairless monkey? How are we meant to drag something taller than us back to the palace?" She finishes. The guard besides her grunts.

"We're not dragging ALL of it back." He says mysteriously. His partner's confused expression deepens.

"Huh? What do you mean?" She questions, curiosity thick in her features. My own curiosity mixes with coming dread, as I anticipate the next words.

I see him start walking away as his mare companion starts into a light trot to catch up with him. Coming out from behind the cardboard, I shuffle my back against the wall before peering around the brick wall to continue listening. My eyes immediately lock onto their moving forms, ears open.

"Shining only needs the head. Confirmed kill, or something. The royalty have confirmed it." He answers quietly, his companion beginning to chatter to him about how much the bounty it.

I don't really hear the rest of the conversation, even though it takes a moment before they vanish around a corner. My eyes just stare forwards, blankly, at the wall across the alley. My heart races as my blood runs cold. My fears were confirmed, and my hopes die with that.

I'm far too close to the palace to stay here long, they'll have more disciplined guards searching high and low in the area. I can't go back to the palace with nothing but an axe and hope to get to this captain-turned-prince without dozens of guards swarming me. As I see it, my only option is down. To the lower city, where they must have an exit. It wouldn't make sense not to have one. But this world itself doesn't make much sense anyway, but I want some hope left in my heart.

If surviving today and getting to the captain cannot both be accomplished, then I will just come back. No way can I let my treatment at these ponies' hooves go unpunished. A month of false imprisonment whilst some captain treats me like a punching bag when I can't defend myself? I will not die with them getting to continue their lives as normal, like it never happened.

I have a promise to fulfil.

Bracing myself for any hardships, I push my back off the wall and start to properly escape. I won't hide and wait for some guard's greed to motivate my murder. Scanning the darkened alley for some alternate route, I see that the alleyway ends with a chain link fence.

Feeling blessed by this opportunity, I make sure to keep my back against the dry bricks of the alleyway wall, and shuffle myself sideways towards the back of the alley. At least here, where light struggles to reach, I would be able to hide in case someone came into the alley. Not that I plan to stay long.

The fence is old. Rusted and gaping with holes in some spots. Thankfully, they hadn't anticipated someone my size trying to get over it, and so I reach a hand up to give leverage. I then pull myself over the fence and land in a squatting position, keeping low as I glance to see I've infiltrated some house courtyard.

With only minimal sound from the leather soles of my boots scraping the stone tiles, I awkwardly walk with my knees bent and head to a metal garden gate at the front of the courtyard. The lights are off inside, so I hope that this means whatever residents had abandoned during the invasion, and will be coming back once I've left the property.

Grabbing the flaking metal gate's handle, orange splashes of rust across most of the metal, I push on the latch and simply push it open with my shoe. It gives a deathly croak as rusted joints move against each other. I pay no mind as I see the destruction before me.

What was once a marketplace is now engulfed by a great fire that peers at me with its fiery glare from across a demolished shopfront. Like a bombsite, I can see entire roofs caved in from the force of aerial magic strikes. Tiles dot the ground, having once been shrapnel from an earlier battle.

I raise my axe to be ready for combat, looking at the sky and to the sides for guards. But as I scan my surroundings, I notice something crucial.

No exits.

The only way out here, besides going back, would be on the other side of the debris pile. But I can't see anything over it, so I could be walking into a trap. They must have guards where the alley was, so its only a matter of time before they head the way I went, or find some clue that I was in that alley. Sighing, I ready my axe and use my left arm to climb up the brick and tile mess.

At this point, I wish I had gloves on. The shattered rock isn't as sharp as glass, so I'm not cut, but the feeling off edged stone is not pleasant on bare skin. But I have a task to do. Pushing through the discomfort, I eventually pull myself to the top of the pile, but I have little time at the peak before rolling down and landing in a squat at the base of the rubble mountain.

Right in front of a trio of guards.

They noticed the sounds of me clambering over the rubble on the other side, and their suspicions were confirmed when I came sliding down. But with me before them, the officer smirks at her companions before lowering her head in an aggressive stance.

Looking at the group, I notice that the unicorn officer and her two winged helpers aren't calling for aid. Perhaps the bounty has made the guards competitive and less cooperative in my killing? Regardless, I doubt the great flame billowing smoke will allow any of the winged ponies flying by to see us. Good thing the wind is blowing the gases into the sky rather than around me.

I think of the bounty, the readiness of the guards, and I'm met with the realisation that they will not let me leave this courtyard with a head on my shoulders. The two winged guards, wearing the base golden armour of the grunts, start to hover with their white-feathered wings beating fast. They use their now free forelegs to better control their spears, pointing their wicked steel tips towards me.

I see the officer take a few, bold steps towards me. With silver armour lavishly engraved with a phoenix on the breastplate and unknown symbols on the rest, her fur's colour is hidden completely by the fully-encompassing exoskeleton of metal. She wears the same style helmet as her companions, but the metal is a silver and not a gold, with the crest being a blood red instead of the deep blue.

Her smirk grows as her horn lights up and she turns to her sheath strapped with leather to her side, grabbing at a short sword housed within in a magical teal aura. Her opposite side having a pouch inlaid with the red "plus" symbol for first aid. These are thinking creatures, like humans for god's sake! I can't just kill them.

"Look..." I say, backing up against the rubble behind me with my axe shaking in the mix of fear and adrenaline coursing through my veins. The officer stops, and her stone-faced companions stare at me blankly. "No one has to die, right? Just let me go and forget you saw me. Please?" I finish, breathing growing faster as panic sets in.

The officer releases her magical hold from her sword's handle as she laughs hysterically, although her companions just look slightly unnerved by her. Tears line her eyes as she jabs a hoof towards at me.

"For an alien to have beaten one of our sergeants half to death when he first invaded our city, you're rather pathetic!" She growls, grabbing her sword's handle firmly in a teal glow. Yanking it free, she levels its point towards me. I flex my hold on the axe handle, readying it up.

Beat a sergeant? First thing? What lies has this guard been told? I was unconscious when I first appeared, so no way could I have even fought a trainee, let alone a fully trained sergeant.

"It's me... or them..." I say shakily to myself, legs feeling like coiled springs and skin crawling.

The officer screams out as she charges easily bringing the sword up high before swinging it down in an arc. I use the top of the axe to bat away the strikes, but they just keep coming and coming. No way will I be able to hold out for long, and one slip up will mean an easy hit from her blade.

So, as her blade once again wildly swings, I use the "bearded" bottom point of the axe head as a hook, grabbing the sword by its edge. Her crazed grin washes away and her squinting eyes open in surprise as her blade is grappled. In the same split-second, I glance the sword to the side as the momentum of her arcane swings make it go wide, leaving her open.

When my axe is free from its prisoner, I swiftly deliver a hard jab with the bottom of its wooden handle to the area on top of her helmet not covering her head, the gap for her horn. With a hard smack into the bony protrusion, she screeches out horrifically before the magic around her sword's handle dissipates. With her unarmed, I use my bare left hand to deliver a solid punch to the front of her helmet, in the huge gap their guard helmets share. Who thought having such an exposed area was a good thing?

She crumples to the ground, wheezing as her throat closes up from the force. She won't die, but she won't be an immediate threat. I hear two rough battle-cries from the guards, them rushing towards me with spears level to me.

Grunting, I roll to the side as they close in. They narrowly avoid lancing their own officer by altering their path at the last moment, sending them rolling on the ground and hitting into the pile of rubble. Getting up from the ground first, I see one is dazed with a smudge of blood on a bit of debris as one guard struggles to stand with a forehead speckled with crimson.

Seeing the other guard alive and still a threat, I ready my axe as they lower their stance like a bull ready to charge. Hopefully my bipedal anatomy will give me much better mobility over the quadrupedal one. Charging much like a bull at a bull fight, the stallion rushes forth as best they can with only three hooves, the fourth holding the spear towards me.

Gold-armoured hooves pound the stone ground as he speeds towards me, giving me but a moment to step to the side and swing my axe towards the back of his head. With my own cry of force, the world slows down as my axe head goes closer and closer to the metal armour covering the back of his neck. I see the steel head puncture through the softer gold. I see the blood droplets fly out and I hear the crunch of metal and bone.

And I see his limp body crumple to the floor, motionless.

My own eyes widen as I watch. The sickening feeling of the axe penetrating the metal and losing all resistance as fur, flesh and bone cave in to the steel fury.

The world continues turning forwards as normal, and I am left staring at my bloodied axe. Sticky droplets run down the steel from splotches, slowly dripping off of the axe head. Little clumps of white fur stuck to the edge with blood make my stomach twist and the feeling of nausea overpowers my senses.

With an beastly shout of disdain, the once-staggered guard swings his spear like drunk man with bat, knocking my hand's fingers painfully and letting my axe fall to the ground. The distant pain, diluted in a pool of adrenaline and shock, knocks me out of my frozen state as I block a return swing with both of my palms.

As my face scrunches in pain from the sharp impact, my fingers lock around the spear shaft as I use my upper-body strength to drag the stallion onto his stomach, his lack of balance sending him to the floor. I flip the shaft and point the tip towards the back of his neck, but I stop before actually delivering the killing blow. This is just long enough for the dazed captain to swing her magically-held sword at me, severing the shaft in two.

Holding the two halves in either hand, I block a second strike from her blade by letting the sword's edge bite ferociously into the solid wood of the end without the steel point. I then use the other spear half like a club, swinging it in a wide arc to bludgeon the side of her helmet, the shock waves of the impact going through the metal shell and into her skull.

She once again crumples to the floor, clutching her head as another harsh attack was sent to her cranium. The pain in her horn must have reignited, as she doesn't attempt to pick up the sword again.

Distracted, I didn't notice the guard I could have finished stand onto his back legs to shove his whole body weight into me, making me crumble to the ground with spear halves in hand. Hitting the back of my skull on the hard ground, my teeth clench as I hiss in pain. He takes no notice, as he climbs on top of me and starts pushing both hooves on my throat.

Choking, my eyes start to tear up as I wheeze and cough through a closed airway. Corners of my sight growing darker, my eyes lock onto the exposed throat of the guard and instinctively thrust the spear point into the opening.

The affect is immediate, and his hooves leave my throat entirely as he stumbles back. But not before heavy dollops of red gore splash onto my face and neck. Scurrying backwards as I clutch my neck with an empty hand, I realise the spear point used to be held in the same hand now holding my throat.

The guard stumbles around with gaping wound in his neck, clean white fur rapidly staining crimson as the spear's point remains lodged in their flesh. After a moment, the stallion's eyes fully roll back into his skull as he stares lifelessly before flopping to the side twitching.

At this point, the officer stands shakily as she sees the carnage around her. The butchering I caused. I'm left like her, stood on shaken legs with eyes just glossing over the splatters and nose wrinkling from the metallic smell. I can only imagine how I look, doused in the blood of her comrades with droplets of my own tears edging my eyelids.

I barely even register the crackling of the fire nearby, or the smoke billowing into the sky. Not the golden roofs of the palace towers far in the distance. Just the red around me. Without feeling, I recover my axe and raise it back into a fighting stance. Like a spectator in my own body, I watch as this monster continues to fight against his final prey. A monster not like the ponies and their unjust fury towards me.

A monster acting on instinct is what I see, watching my own body almost act without me telling it to.

I see the fear in her eyes, that cocky look born of number superiority dwindling around her. But facing the bloodied demon before her, she braces herself by baring her teeth and blade at me. I do the same, spinning my somewhat puny axe and using my free hand to give a "come hither" gesture.

Taunted by the slayer of her companions, she screams and runs towards me. But her hooves slid slightly on the bloodied pool formed by the pair of downed guards, making her balance fail and her magic aura to weaken as surprise took over. My body only registered her sword going wide the moment before she slipped, meaning I had started to swing the axe head for her neck opening before she slid.

The world once again starts to slow down to a crawl, as I see her eyes widen up and the officer sees the last thing she wants in the path of a swung axe. With a mighty "crack", like the sound of thick glass being shattered, the world returns to its normal speed as the officer shrieks a horrific and pain-induced sound that leaves me covering my ears protectively.

It continues on, weakening like a dying flame. I open my squinted eyes and see her a good distance from me, crawling away. Furious, I catch up quickly with her and flip the unicorn onto her back. Tears stain her eyes as her pupils remain pinpricks. A tiny drizzle of blood leaks from her fresh wound and to the tip of her snout. Then I see what damage I had caused.

A bony stump now resides on her skull, with jagged edges and a brown-looking substance inside. My axe had completely demolished her horn.

I raise my axe in the air, ready to down the starter of all this. But all the macho chemicals racing through my body dwindle as I look in her eyes. She's defenceless and weak, tear-filled eyes and soft fur.

"I can't do it..." I say, turning from her.

Before I can even manage to take a step away from the downed pony, I feel a sharp pain in my calf. Diving to the floor, I see the unicorn trying to stand whilst holding her sword in her jaws this time. Pain and fury in her heart, fur now matted in tears, she takes shaky steps towards me. I scramble to my feet and limp slightly at the cut in my skin.

Still holding the axe, I let her attempt one last swing of her sword. But because of the pain and poor stance, she simply crumbles onto her stomach. When she falls, she grunts and her teeth release the sword. It falls to the floor with a metallic "ring", sliding out of her reach.

I approach soundlessly, looking down at her with my face emotionless. I'd just crippled this attacker. I can walk away from this. She doesn't have to die. She turns around and lies on her back, chest harness of metal rising and falling with her breathing.

But she could have listened to me. No one had to die.

She made me a killer.

I roar out as I swing the axe wide and lodge it into her face. The edge easily penetrates a couple inches deep into her skull, and her eyes retain a blank stare, mouth lolled open with blood now thickly matting her features. I breath heavily, the sight and smell of the blood making me feel ill. I grunt as I stumble back, the axe head coming loose to follow me with a wet "slurp".

I quickly roll up the jeans of my right leg, revealing the cut in my calf. It isn't deep, and has already stopped bleeding. But the pain and threat of infection remind me that I need to care for it. And I can't go to a doctor. Ruffling through the bag strapped on the officer's corpse, the one with the first aid symbol, I procure a deep green bottle of what seems like disinfectant and roll of bandages.

I know next to nothing about first aid, so I just dump out the disinfectant on the wound and hiss as the pain burns before quickly rolling bandage around the skin. Tying the bandage tightly to my calf, I roll down my jeans in an attempt to help keep the bandage tight to my leg.

Stepping away from the massacre around me, I turn and see an open street leading out of the marketplace. Taking a deep breath, I let it go as I start walking towards the exit.

I hope I find the city gate soon.

Author's Note

Would you believe me if I said this chapter was half of what I planned? I had to cut the planned chapter in half, but now I already have the full plan of the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3: Roaring Iron

Charred wood is all that remains of the many fires that had sprung up in the lower city, put out by the guards as they lay siege to their own capital. It seems that, when the insect invaders gained control of the palace, they had defended against reinforcements. Ponies had already started clearing away rubble here, but the street pavements still remain cracked and covered with small shards of debris.

But through the scars made on these many marble and brick buildings, their luxurious and prestigious souls still burn. Sure, the cracks and the dents have changed them, but you can still envision how they were. The roofs of watch towers golden and reflecting the sun in shimmers.

Such sights may have encapsulated my wonder, but I am in no mood for such. The weight of my bloodied axe is tiring my arm, but I barely consider it. It is the weight of my heart which tires my soul.

Why did it have to be like this? Looking on as the ponies rush past, guards carrying foals on their backs to their families, dishevelled but crying with relief. The laughing and the joking. The beautiful (if not damaged) city and the pleasant weather. It could have been a dream to be here. But I've known long enough that things like this are not for me.

Especially not after what I did.

Sighing, I turn away from the pleasantries and slouch back against an alley wall. Too many times today, have I hidden in these damp and dirt-ridden places. Like a coward. It's like I never even left the darkness of my palace cell.

My stomach growls as hunger returns. The intensity of the fight I had not long ago coming back to me. And with it, the face of a horrified officer before my axe bit into her. I shake my head, but the thought doesn't leave me be. Burnt into my eyes and stirring my insides with guilt. Tears grace the edges of my eyes, but I dash them away with a violent swipe of my hand.

I have no right to feign despair for my own actions. I am given some solace in the idea that I had no choice. If barely.

My legs stand as I lose myself in my thoughts, replaying the same scene over and over. I sub-consciously start to look around, with my mind still stuck in that fiery scene.

With distant eyes and shaken legs, I don't see myself wandering the alleys. I don't see the guards beyond my vision, scurrying around frantically as they shout to each other. All I hear is muffled buzzing, like a hive of bees threatened by a bear. But even in such a thoughtless state, the hand griping the axe never relaxes. Stuck in a state of constant readiness, wanting the axe to continue in its blood-lust.

By the time I come out of my zombie-like trance, I scan my surroundings with confusion. What's going on? My eyes are assaulted by colour, as a crowd of ponies rave at someone on a podium. Squatting further in the alley to hide behind some waste bins, I watch as a fox stalks rabbits whilst they socialise.

A snobby-looking mare with a monocle calls out from the crowd: "What's the hold up?! Someponies want to get out of this ruin until its fixed!". I stifle a laugh at her stereotypical appearance, but keep my voice down.

She had a point, however. Why was such a crowd built up? You'd think they would let their citizens flee the flames and rubble to somewhere else. A likely explanation would be that they don't want me slipping onto a train and stowing away. Hmmm...

That gives me an idea!

Besides a couple winged ponies (are they called pegasus?) hovering in the air, the majority of the guards are focused on keeping the pony horde from swarming the train. Loose security. This will make my plan easier.

Keeping to the semi-circle of houses built facing the train station, the crowd having their back to it, I use the alleyways between the buildings to skirt along the right side of the semi-circle. Once at the very end, I carefully yet shakily walk in a squat behind crates and barrels until I am behind the train itself. With the train station's only building forming a barrier from the ponies viewing me, I easily approach the train itself.

Now to board this line of iron boxes. I hear the flapping of wings, and know I cannot run for the front carriage before a winged pony spots me. Do they have a better name? I can't seem to remember if they do.

Grabbing a handle on the side of a carriage, I thank whatever deity is keeping me safe when the door pulls open. Jumping inside, I give thanks to the invaders. By the looks of it, the ponies had left this door unlocked as they ran from them. Them being caught in the middle of preparing things for storage makes sense given the crates.

In any case, I shut the steel door as quietly as possible to prevent detection. With my heart pounding in my chest, I don't hear anyone coming to investigate the door. Seeing an iron bar-lock on this side of the door, I clench my teeth and squint a little as I nervously and slowly pull the bar to lock the door in place.

Backing up, I look around and see that the glass windows will give me away immediately. So I duck, relaxing slightly once I realise the station itself will block the view into the windows. But I need to move.

My legs burn as I walk in a squat once more, shuffling awkwardly down the carriage's aisle of seats with my axe ready for surprise guards. What if they kept the ponies off the train because this was a trap, and they didn't want their snobbish royalty seeing me being skewered? My sweat graces my brow as the fist holding my axe clenches harder.

After minutes of painstakingly slow progress with my body shaking in anticipation of an attack, dashing swiftly in-between the connections of the carriages, I finally reach the first carriage.

The one that powers the train itself on coal and fire.

I take some time to scan my surroundings. Unlike the other carriages, that had insides decorated and painted to give a delightful appearance, this one was pure practicality. No paint here, just bare metal. The floor is ridged for extra grip to hooves, but works just as well with my boots. A pile of coal sits in the corner, with a lot of empty space around it covered in coal dust. Looks like storage wasn't the only thing that didn't get filled in time.

At least the amount looks serviceable. Guess trying to keep this sneaky will take too long. So instead of trying to hide and take a long time, I'll do the opposite.

Loud and fast!

Grabbing a short shovel, more of a long handled spade, I start scooping up and shoving the coal into the furnace. The sound isn't as loud as I first figured it'd be, but that won't be the case for long. I keep looking up with a sweated brow and out the windows of the driving section, watching for aerial attacks.

With barely any coal left, mostly because the pile itself was so small and the furnace being somewhat spacious, I throw the spade to the ground with a loud "clang!" as I swipe my axe back into my hand.

In a state of panic, I scan around and spot the tinder. Then a pack of matches, which seems out of place given the technology (or lack thereof) so far. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I swipe the matches and immediately strike the head against the side of the box, lighting a small flame in the engine room.

With no time to spare, I throw the tinder into the furnace with the coal before dropping the match onto the tinder. In a few moments, the furnace roars to life and I slam the metal door before the flames explode out at me too violently. With the engine turning and groaning, I can almost hear the startled gasps of the crowd. I try not to hear the guards shouting orders.

"Turn it off! Nopony's allowed to get on!" Shouts a distant guard, and my frown wets a little more as sweat collects.

I frantically scan my eyes over the controls of the train. But just like trying to decipher the controls of an alien ship, I have no clue which lever does what. With no prior knowledge on the complicated workings of such a mechanical marvel, I go for the age-old method of making stuff work.

Pull the biggest lever.

Yanking the polished wood handle of the metal rod, I drag it heavily towards my chest as the great steel wheels churn to life, the train slowly moving on the track. Yelling in triumph, I keep bringing the lever back until the resistance of the track to the wheels gives, the train pushing smoothly onward.

Suddenly, my shambling around in the engine room is spotted by a winged pony peeking through the windows. Alerted by my presence, he turns to the guards at the crowd and signals to them.

"The prisoner is in the engine carriage!" He yells out, the guards in the crowd immediately showing the same concerned expression as the winged pony that called to them.

"Open fire!" Yells a gruff voice from the crowd, another officer in the same get-up as the one I had finished off in the burning courtyard not too long ago.

Immediately, I throw myself to the ridged metal floor as the glass on the left side of the cart explodes in shards. Holding my hands on the back of my head to shield myself from the shrapnel, the flashes of multiple colours showing their magic was being used as missiles against the train. Rolling across the ground, I feel some comfort in the train's vibration as it continues to move forwards. Hopefully, I will soon be out of range of the magic users and their deadly bolts of colour.

I hear the stomping and slamming as ponies board the train, the heavy clanking telling me that they aren't the jaded nobles that had formed the horde at the train station.

They were wearing armour.

Knowing I'm about to get ganged up on, I would rather the train not get stopped before escaping this damned city. Looking to the brake lever thoughtfully, I grab the handle with an emotionless expression and keep pushing it down. The resistance had passed already when the brake was released, but now the lever creaks painfully. Sitting on top of the controls after finding a flat top to the metal slope of buttons and levers, I push both of my soles down on the lever until it finally screeches.

With a resounding clang, the lever snaps in two. You can feel the lack of resistance as the train barrels seemingly faster down the track, rocketing through the city and causing alarm as more guards see the runaway vehicle bypassing their checkpoints. I hear the guards that had boarded stumble from the shaking train, and my mind goes back to them.

Axe in hand, I exit the engine room and move into the storage carriage behind it. Here I find some seats and a table, but some food is packaged in the corner. Seems like a cart for the train operators/staff. To be safe, I go to the doors on both the left and right sides and close their bolt-locks from within. At least no one will get the jump on me from this cart.

Breathing heavily, I head to the next cart and close the door behind me. As I turn back, I yelp and duck. A blue magic bolt sings in the air before a mighty "clash" explodes from behind me as the wooden door shatters from the strike. Looking up, I see a pack of four guards. Their unicorn captain stands at the the front, lifting his head and its smoking horn. The three regular ponies lift their spears at me, golden armour glinting in the dim light pouring through the glass windows of the carriage.

Heart racing but remaining thoughtful, I tip over a pile of crates against the wall and they create a temporary shield from the unicorn's bolts. But I hear the wood creaking and burning as he angrily shoots in my general direction. With a barrier there, I jump through the gaping hole that once contained this carriage's door and onto the storage carriage I'd left.

Keeping my feet firmly on the edge of the storage cart, I grab at the arm-thick iron rod that fits through the two iron connectors that hold these two carts together. I grunt as I pull it upwards with all my might, progress being slow. I heave, and the bolt sticks out more as it rattles loudly.

The crate barricade is slammed through by the enraged unicorn captain. I look up at the engraved gold plates that separate the captain's and a rookie's armour. Fancy, but not as fancy as officer gear. Seeing those bloodshot eyes and singed horn from exhaustive use of magic missiles, my muscles tense and yank the bolt free from the connectors.

The carriage's immediately begin to drift apart, the storage carriage I was hugging the door of putting distance between the next in line. The captain yells in alarm before jumping across the space between the carriages. He grabs tightly to the metal connector on my side, back legs kicking and trying to find a surface to hold on to.

I stand, looking up from the captain at the retreating carriage left idly on the track. The guards under the now disgraced-looking captain shout for him and make him turn to look at them wearily. They frantically point in his direction, making the captain's eyes widen and snap around to look up at me.

I smirk darkly down at him, his eyes locking onto how bloody my axe was. In the mere seconds he had to look at me entering the carriage he made an ambush in, he didn't get as close of a look. The danger dawns on him, his face contorting in horror. Like a deer seeing a tiger exploding out of a bush to crush its neck in powerful jaws.

I lift my leg up, his eyes looking between the boot's heavy leather sole and my face as it turns from a scowl to a look of righteous fury. These ponies kept standing over me for a month, and its time for some karma.

With a roar, I stomp down the boot onto a hoof that had latched onto the connector. The captain yowls in pain as his hoof lets go, his other foreleg straining with muscles flexed under the exertion. I give another heavy stomp, putting as much of my body weight down on the one leg as it collides with the top of his forelimb. He gives a muffled scream as he scrunches his face in pain, trying to keep a hold on the iron with his pained hoof.

He looks up at me, tears at the edges of his eyes as he scowls in anger. But I take sick enjoyment in the pain dealt to this creature, knowing he would be doing worse to me. He probably would have use the axe I have in hand.

But wanting to get this over and done with, I brace my back against the train's wall and lift my leg into the air for a final time. But the sole does not rest in the air over the captain, but goes behind me slightly. His expression goes to panic as he realises what is coming.

"This is your stop!" I yell out with manic glee.

As soon as the words leave my throat, the tip of my boot propels forwards and straight into the captain's unarmoured snout. A satisfying crack rings out as his snout's bone breaks under the force, sending him screaming in pain as he releases the train from his grip. I watch him painfully bounce around on the track as he's left behind, watching him try to stand as more guards arrive to help him.

Satisfied, and too out of reach for the guards to throw anything but menacing looks as they tend to the injured captain, I slam shut the carriage's door and kneel on the ground. I sigh happily, some of my inner tension loosening from getting my anger out on one of them.

They likely won't be able to send a train after this one, what with the extra carriage's of the one I commandeered blocking the rails I've taken. And from the lack of car I saw on the way down the city, they probably haven't invented anything faster than a train. So at least I can relax along the way.

Going back into the engine room, I look over the mess left by the windows being pummelled by magic projectiles. Opening a door on the side of the engine carriage, I casually brush the side of my boot across the ground to push the shards towards the open door. After a few minutes of slow progress, the last of the broken glass is kicked out of the engine, leaving a shard-less but still dirtied floor.

The train moves to the side as the rail turns a corner, letting me look out of the broken window and at the rapidly disappearing city.

Here, I can see the city in all its splendour. The golden towers glinting in the sunlight as the sun itself sits above the mountains the city hangs to. The white marble walls are much better looking from afar, away from the rubble-strewn streets and raging fires that I had to see up close.

"How could somewhere so beautiful cause me so much emotional baggage?" I say to no one, the train's deep rumbling being the only response I'm given.

Looking away from the mountainside city, I look back at the door to the only other carriage being carried down the rails. Remembering the contains that had been left inside, I wonder if a map of the track would be there. I'd like to know where I've set off to.

Author's Note

I'm sorry this took longer than usual to write, I've got some work I've had to do as well.

Hope this met your expectations and thanks for reading!

Chapter 4: Questions - Part 1

It isn't unusual to see Princess Celestia looking out a window at her domain. Who could blame her for doing so? Every morning she stands at her chambers' balcony and uses her magic to raise the sun at dawn and then set it to give the sky to her sister's night. Indeed, the rolling green hills and great mountains int he distance that are broken up by lakes and rivers are a sight that anyone would want to see.

But today, she wasn't watching the horizon or the hustle of her citizens as they went about their business in the city below. Her typically gentle magenta eyes were locked on the rapidly disappearing train that guards were firing their spells at. But as the train leaves Canterlot on its rails, she watches it thoughtfully. So lost in thought, that she doesn't notice the commotion happening only a few metres near her.

The current holder of the position as Captain of the Royal Guard, Prince Shining Armor, was not enjoying his moments as a newly-wed. His thoughts were still on him. The prisoner that had looked into his eyes with such bestial malice that he felt ancient instincts of being prey to some ravenous predator. And the fact the city had not long since been besieged by Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling army did nothing to make this day any brighter.

The true wedding was completed not long after the prisoner dived from the hall's stained glass window and into the gardens below. He was delighted, yes, that he could call the mare he loved his wife. But the goodness of today was somewhat minuscule in his opinion.

He hears the clopping of hoof regalia approaching him, and he turns to see his beloved wife coming to his side. His wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, looks at him with pink eyes filled with nothing but question. He sighs as he straightens himself up for a coming questioning over his behaviour.

"Shining, what was that all about?!" She yells out, making the others turn to look at them both. "That thing looked ready to take that axe and do who knows what to you!" She exclaims, pink furred body shaking.

"I've gotta few ideas on what it'd wanna do with that axe." Pipes up Applejack, Southern accent shining through as she tilts her trusty stetson hat up from her face.

"Hush, Applejack!" Responds Rarity, nudging a white hoof into her orange-furred friend. "The poor dear is already shaken up just by the thought! She doesn't need to hear the fine details." She finishes, looking back at the princess in question.

"He didn't look that tough!" Shouts Rainbow Dash, hovering in the air on blue feather wings, rainbow main and tail flickering in the air as she throws her hooves in punches at an invisible enemy.

Turning, Princess Celestia looks over the group. The crowd that came to celebrate the wedding had long since left, leaving only her, the Elements of Harmony, the newly weds and her sister, Princess Luna. The group notices her movement, and watch her with rapt attention. She sighs, elegantly bringing her body to face them.

"I want you all to follow me, please." She says, turning her body to face a hallway branching off from the hall they stand in, before her gold-clad hooves start to walk gracefully over the red carpet and polished marble floor.

She hears them begin to walk behind her, many hooves clopping against the hard surface beneath them. She looks dead ahead, seriousness a mask beneath the uncertainty she hides through years of experience. She mutters to herself that she didn't think this day would ever come. The group do not hear her.

Twilight Sparkle, the student of Princess Celestia herself and an avid reader of a variety of non-fiction literature, was at a loss. She searches through her memory for any reference to the creature she had seen not long ago, but nothing comes to mind. But having learnt already to accept help from her friends, she turns to the only pony amongst them with the most experience in animals. Her pegasus friend Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy?" She states, her yellow coated friend jumps from the sudden noise, turning her head to her friend with her pink mane swinging from the motion.

"Yes?" She responds, unnerved by the recent events of both being surrounded by changelings and then having a creature break down a wooden door with an axe, murder in its eyes.

"That creature back there... I was wondering if you've heard of something like that?" Finishes Twilight, raising an eyebrow at her friend as she walks.

"No, I don't think so. I've seen monkeys, but not ones like that." She says whilst walking, one hoof to her chin as she wonders.

"Do you think it likes parties still?" Asks Pinkie Pie, the bouncing pink mare travelling with the group.

She doesn't get a response as the group comes to a stop. Princess Celestia stands before a great door, a similar lock to what had sealed the Elements of Harmony before Discord, Spirit of Chaos, had once swiped them. But this one was different. For one, it was older. It didn't share the same colourfulness that the other had.

With a teal glow enveloping her marble-white horn, Celestia slots her magical protrusion into a circular hole in the centre of the door's surface. The glow seems to flow like liquid from four channels, each leading to the four corners of the door. Once reaching them, the group notices that thick crystals had been embedded in the metal and that the magical glow seems to flow into them before swirling within the glassy structure.

A great churning comes from within the door itself, making the group stand back in alarm. Princess Celestia does not take a step back from surprise, but simply stands to the side to give the group a clear view as the door opens. Or doors.

As the first door's foot-thick steel panels slide horizontally, a grinding sound begins as gears pull apart the next solid wall-like doors. On and on, the sounds of magical seals sputtering like steam as they deactivate and the horrible creaking of aged rust grinding on itself ring out.

With nothing left but a metre-long bronze door frame where the many doors once stood sealed, Celestia's hooves carry her into the chamber within. She disappears into the darkness, where not one light shines the way. The Elements and the newly wedded royals look at each other nervously before Celestia's horn lights up in the inky blackness. With a small flash at the tip of her horn, brass braziers hung by chain to hooks on the walls light up with magical flame.

With another flash of her horn, the dust visibly hanging in the air vanishes. Twilight notes the basic cleaning spell, which she's used many times when she couldn't find Spike, her dragon assistant, to clean up for her. The group then walk into the chamber with their solar ruler, except for Pinkie who hops inside as usual.

Luna walks besides her sister and nudges her slightly with her muzzle, getting her sister to come our of her staring at the central structure. She shakes her head to clear her thoughts, before smiling at her companion ruler.

Besides Twilight, who seems to be darting from one end of the other in childlike glee at the many ancient runes, the room leaves the group slightly disappointed. All those doors for a bare room and a table?

"The decor leaves something to be expected, if you don't mind me saying." Said Rarity whilst checking herself for any dust.

Twilight's horn lights up with its purple glow as she scans over the intricately carved runes on the otherwise bland stone walls. Deeply cut into the smoothed rock itself, the almost alien symbolism has shining gold inlaid into its recesses. And so her horn's light makes the metal shine from the wall as it reflects, Twilight giggling excitedly at the prospect of such forgotten magic. Why didn't she bring a notebook?!

The floor itself is much less impressive. Being of just smoothed out rock, seemingly dug into the mountainside that Canterlot was perched against, without the carefully attention that the walls were given. Princess Celestia, Twilight's mentor, smiles at her protege's eagerness to study such runes. She walks to the side of her student, and nudges her snout into her side. Twilight stops her excited babbling to look at her teacher questioningly, before said teacher gestures upwards.

Twilight gasps, and the others do as well as they look in the same direction. Not a gasp of fear, but pleasant surprise.

Great bronze struts caked in green patina stand perched at the top of the chamber, the many struts leading from the walls to a central bronze cage. No braziers were near the ceiling to reveal these struts, but they are shone upon anyway by a great crystal glowing a gentle blue.

Twilight takes a step back to better see into the cage, and at the pony-sized crystal held within. They had seen crystals before, but not ones so... imperfect looking. Gems are found in the ground with perfectly cut sides present. But this one looked to splinter at the top and bottom. Growing out from it, smaller spike-like crystalline structures add to the rough look they are given.

"I don't think I've ever heard of a crystal like this!" Exclaims Twilight, almost bouncing like Pinkie in excitement. Rarity walks beside her and rests a hoof on her back, halting her from hopping in place in glee.

"Neither have I, although it doesn't look to refined for my tastes." She says in a matter-of-fact way, hoof removing itself from her friends back once she gets her excitement under control. Princess Luna finally speaks up, obsidian-like regalia glistening wetly under the shine of the crystal and braziers.

"We wouldn't have expected you to." She starts, making the groups eyes turn to her. "Besides this one, the only other crystal of its kind was discovered in the Frozen North in what was once the Crystal Empire. Although that one was different and could actually be cut and shaped." She finishes, brushing a rogue dust spot from her necklace with an armoured hoof.

Celestia nods to her sister, agreeing with her statement. This only makes the questions in Twilight's mind grow and become wilder. Wasn't this crystal given a better appearance because it was never meant to be seen? The thought is strangely sad to her, as such a rare object should be cherished.

"This crystal, and the one that was found in the Frozen North, are known as Mystic Stones. As Luna said, they are much rarer than other crystals. Their origins are a mystery, and the running theory was that they are condensed raw magic." Explains Princess Celestia. Twilight cringes at her mentor's words.

"How can something have raw magic? All magic has to be focused or it will end up dangerously volatile!" She exclaims, shock mixed with scholarly glee.

"Miss Sparkle, these are different crystals to what constitute the "norm". The substance they are made from is volatile, but the structure holding that magic is different. In fact, the Crystal Heart that is made from the other Mystic Stone has a unique form to this one." Luna explains casually, walking to the central table as she turns to the group. Her sister silently watches the exchange, like everyone else.

"So what makes the Crystal Heart and the one in the cage so different?" Asks Twilight, although her mind is fixed on how the Crystal Heart, an object from myth, could be real. Luna points a hoof to the crystal within, making Twilight look back at the crystal.

"This crystal is unfocused, whereas the Crystal Heart isn't. The Crystal Ponies harnessed it into focusing purely on emotional magic, by carving it into a heart-shape. The crystal above isn't carved, and so does not focus itself on a single magic form." She explains, sighing as she sees Twilight's expectant expression.

Celestia giggles into a golden-armoured hoof as the group looks at her. She coughs slightly before lighting up her horn. A small orb of light breaks off from the tip to float towards the ceiling. Now, Twilight looks at the struts and cage ribs more carefully, gasping at even more runes carved into the brass itself.

"The crystal takes a long time to be cut and shaped. We were still examining it before..." She starts, but stops with a sad expression, looking to her sister. Luna had hung her head, but rises it to make a circle movement with a hoof.

Carry on.

"...before we had to move to Canterlot. It was easier and faster to simply make the crystal focus on spells we know rather than focus it on a magic school, and let it do as it pleases." Celestia finishes, a somewhat more sombre tone to her voice.

"With respect, Princess-" Starts Rainbow Dash, her scratchy voice catching the group of guard as they turn to the hovering blue pegasus. "What does any of that have to do with the 'thing'?" She finishes, head tilted questioningly.

Princess Celestia merely chuckles elegantly into a hoof once more, amused by her brashness. She turns from the pegasus and points to the circular stone in the centre of the room. Letting everyone look at the structure, she speaks.

"The crystal is to power the runes that keep magic from affecting the object sealed in the stone there. It also powers the doors that keep none magic-users from walking in. We needed excessive security for the object within." She says with motherly patience, although smirking when she sees Twilight staring blankly at the rock.

Although the mood soon grows sombre, the group looking nervously at the two stone-faced royals as they nod to each other. Whatever they are keeping locked up, must be serious.

Princess Celestia's horn once again comes to life, shining with a yellow-tinted aura. Thin cracks circling the base of the table slowly start to glow with the same shine as her horn, before a loud "click" echoes in the small chamber. The side of the round table rumbles before panels open up. With the painful sound of rust scratching on metal, steel gears are forced through the gaps on metal rods, before the gears start to turn.

Great clouds of dust pour out of the machinery as it comes to life, making the group cough and wave a hoof in front of their faces. Suddenly, the top surface itself splits in half as machinery croaks, parting as the group gasps at the sudden sound whilst dust continues to flow from the top. The dust particles hang in the air, highlighted by the ambient light from the crystal and braziers.

With the harsh sound of rock scraping against rock, a pillar the thickness of a pony's leg rises solemnly from the centre of the table, through the cavity left by the splitting halves. Stone pillar is more square in its cross-section, and its four corners are made of thin bronze rods engraved with intricate symbols of a magical nature.

With the slowing of gears, the hidden machinery dies and silence once again hangs in the air. The group once again turns to Princess Celestia as her horn lights up, her expression firm as an ember-like ball floats from her horn's tip and to the crystal above.

Once the orb kisses the surface of the crystal, its glassy appearance glows a bright amber for a moment before dulling back to its earlier blue light. The other ponies follow the Princess' eyes as she looks back to the central pillar, as blue orbs of light travel up the engraved bronze before vanishing at the top.

For a moment, nothing happens and the Princess looks worriedly at the pillar. Her fear that the machinery had become broken from years of neglect are short, as the pillar begins to move. The top of it shines as cracks of blue light force appear on the top section of the pillar, before the four sides of the top surface split apart.

Blooming like a stone flower, the pillar opens up to deliver its contents. A tablet floats up into the air a few inches above the pillar's split top, gently rising and falling in a blue aura. Celestia holds a blank expression, but a certain tinge of apprehension graces her features for a moment. But neither she nor the ponies around her seem to notice.

"Pretty!" Yells Pinkie Pie, waltzing over to have closer look. The others do as well.

Coming closer, the details of the tablet are made more defined. The tablet itself has a somewhat thick border of a silver-like material with engravings of stars and constellations. In fact, the tablet itself is made from a stone-like material with a slight blue tint to the surface with many craters and imperfections that had been polished to form a level surface. And with an obsidian-like material inlaid into the tablet as unknown writing and symbolism, the tablet is given a mystic aura.

"The rock appears to have been from a meteor." States Luna, coming to stand at her sister's side as the others turn to her. "But I have no memory of ever allowing a meteor to hit Equestrian soil. Such an event would have risked a devastating impact that risked lives." She finishes, looking back at the tablet thoughtfully.

A novelty bit of information comes to the front of Twilight's mind, as she remembers reading about something perhaps relevant to this discussion. Not wanting to lose an opportunity to show her mentor her knowledge of various fields, she looks at both of the rulers.

"I heard the running theory is that the Badlands desert was formed by a meteor strike from a newspaper a while back. The shape of the desert on a map does resemble an impact crater. But that would mean a very big meteor hit, one perhaps as big as Canterlot!" She shouts, waiting expectantly for her mentor's input.

Celestia rubs her hoof to her chin in thought. As Celestia wonders to herself, sometimes muttering questions, Luna replaces her part in the conversation.

"We've had this tablet in our possession for a long time. Even back then, I remember it looking aged." She comments, eyes never leaving the tablet.

"But wouldn't that mean this artefact could be older than Equestria as a kingdom?" Celestia comes out of her thoughts and nods in response.

"That certainly seems to be the likely story, but I'm afraid it may always be a mystery. The story behind the tablet's creation is uncertain, and all we have are theory and speculation." Says Princess Celestia, receiving disappointed sighs from the group as the mystery remains unresolved.

"So how did you get it?" Asks Twilight, looking her mentor in the eyes questioningly. Celestia only sighs, turning her body fully towards the group of equines.

"It wasn't long after after taking the throne from Discord..."

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter isn't as exciting as the others (if you found those to be exciting). I've already planned out the next two chapters, so hopefully you won't need to wait as long for another update (if you're still interested that is).

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 5: Questions - Part 2

It was the end of another long day. The throne room had became colder as night approached, with only the dimming light of a sunset pouring faintly through the stained glass windows. The red carpet, with the joint symbol of moon and sun, had seen another day of ponies speaking concerns to their government.

Indeed, the day's court had came to an end. And soon, the co-rulers of the newly reunified nation could retire to their beds after a long day of listening to peasants and nobles alike. Princess Celestia sunk back into her golden throne, her sister doing the same into her deep blue one. Although the ruler of the night, Princess Luna, sunk into hers more. Although out of exasperation, rather than exhaustion in her sister's case.

Princess Celestia's warm smile grows, despite the tiredness in her eyes. With a satisfied sigh, she turns to one of the many royal guard's lining the side walls of the chamber, one at the far end of the room beside the door. Noticing her magenta eyes trailing onto him, the guard turns as a sign that she has his attention.

"That's all the time we have for court today, may you close the doors?" She asks in a motherly tone, the guard bowing in respect before closing in on the thick gold-bordered doorway.

"None of our citizens asked of us..." Laments Luna, eyes looking down as she sighs. Her sister's tone alerts Celestia, and her eyes leave the door to her companion ruler.

"They'll come tomorrow, don't you worry." She says with a kind smile, although Luna's disgruntled expression does not lessen. She mumbles under her breath to no one in particular.

"I'm sorry-" A gruff voice echoes, making the rulers look up and towards the source of the voice: the doorway. "-court has ended for today." The guard informs to some unseen traveller.

"I'm afraid that will not do." States a new voice, one slightly higher in pitch than the guard. But with a tint of silkiness, like a vendor trying to con someone out of a few bits. "I have other important business to take care of, and will not be able to come back for a very long time. I have to come today, don't you see?" Ends the voice, dripping with patronising venom.

"Another stubborn noble?" Wonders Celestia to herself. She sighs, her sister chuckling to herself. She sees that it'd be better to just have them talk about their petty issue so they don't have anything extra to complain about tomorrow. That'll work.

"Let them in, please. It sounds urgent." Says Celestia as she reverts to her carefully made motherly aesthetic. Although she did care for her citizens like her own children, the attitudes of some nobles were a source of constant headaches.

But this was no insufferable noble coming in to complain about the peasants not bowing low enough. Walking back into the throne room, the guard was followed by a cloaked figure. Stood much taller than the guard himself, the sister's can only watch nervously as such a figure crosses the room with an eerie grace.

The other guard's share the same nervousness that had befallen their rulers, eyes narrowing at the figure with their hooves holding their spear shafts more firmly, letting the tips droop slightly as if ready to lunge when needed. It was too thin to be a Minotaur, which were much more bulky. One of Discord's minions coming to take revenge on their master's jailers?

Nopony in the room could really tell how many legs the thing had. The dark cloak hangs all the way to the red carpet below it, obscuring their entire body from view. What is off-putting to the rulers however, is how smoothly the figure moves. Despite the lengthy attire, the being never trips or stumbles over it in movement. It almost seemed to slide across the carpet.

The hood of the cloak hangs low, much lower than what was practical. Yet each step was exceptionally calculated, like it was floating over the carpet itself. But how could it see where to go?

Despite the lack of vision the hood would offer, the being stops right between the two thrones, where their citizens were told to stand when addressing their rulers. However, favouritism for the solar ruler made it so the ponies would typically stand before Celestia's throne directly, rather than centrally as intended. This heightened the lunar ruler's isolation from her subjects, but this being seemed willing to address them both. Luna sits up further in her throne. Had a subject finally came to treat her equally to her sister?

Surprising both, the figure even bends forwards. Revealing their waistline in their bow, the ponies can now see the bipedal nature of this creature. This creature was obviously intelligent, but their physical differences to any known creature made them almost alien. Nervously, the two rulers look at each other before turning back to their visitor.

"Did you have something to inform us of?" Asks Celestia, shaking off her nerves to speak with a smile.

Luna, not wanting to make this being that had shown respect for her to want to leave, motions with her hooves and a frown to tell the guards to be at ease. They look at her nervously, bringing their spears to be straight up instead of pointing at the visitor. The tensed muscles of the gold-armoured stallions don't relax so easily, and the guards remain constantly alert.

Straightening the spine, the figure returns to its fully vertical stance. Their gaze seems to shift lazily from Celestia and to Luna, before finally going back to Celestia after scanning over the pair. The slowness of their movement does not help to dispel the growing tension within the hall.

"What I have seen has compelled me to stand before you." Finally speaks the figure, their voice a raspy male's voice. The guards look uneasily at the figure, Celestia trying to see inside the hood of their cloak. "I have came to deliver a warning of the path you take." Finishes the figure, arms crossing over their cloaked chest.

Luna forcefully stands from her blue-toned throne, looking down at the dark figure before them. Horn glowing in preparation for an attack, she stares down at the figure with pale blue eyes.

"Do you dare threaten this kingdom?!" She roars, glaring daggers at him with a piercing glare.

Silently, the figure brings their hands up in surrender, trying to calm the enraged ruler after hearing their outburst. The cloth of the cloak rustles slightly as it bends, their head turning beneath it to look at the seething lunar princess.

"Even if you do not heed the warnings I give you, I will not be the one to bring about the punishment you WILL receive for not doing so." States the figure sternly.

"Fine, give your warning and leave our sight." Snarls Luna lowly, sitting back down in her throne.

Silently, he nods before paled hands grip the front of his cloak. The guards tense up at the unexpected movement, thinking the warning would be spoken and he would just leave. Undoing the silver buttons, the figure parts the fabric and reaches a hand inside.

Celestia looks down at this figure, growing more uneasy as no light seemed to penetrate inside the cloak. Indeed, the almost-artificially darkness fully obscured their legs from view. It was like their body was entirely the cloak itself, but with hands appearing from the sleeves. At least those looked to be made from flesh and bone.

The hand finally reemerges, clasping around a stony tablet, outlined by a silver border. Casually, with little care for what he holds, he gives the tablet an underarm throw to Celestia. Effortlessly, Celestia grips the horn in the same golden aura as what surrounds her marble-white horn.

With it close to her eyes, she gives the tablet a close inspection. With obsidian inlaid into the very stone, images appear in the torchlight of the hall. Tilting the tablet with her magic, she lets the light from the flames and windows to illuminate the carving better.

A bipedal being of similar proportions to who stands before her. But here the figure is depicted without the mysterious grace that the one before her shows. The one on the tablet has fire at their back, as they lean over menacingly, axe in hand, over both the Equestrian rulers. But behind them stand six other young mares, with an alicorn and stallion standing with them. Their was no grace in the figure's appearance.

Their face contorted into what seems like a battle-cry, heaving the axe ready to...

Celestia shakes her head from such thoughts. Replacing her calm and collected expression, she levitates the tablet into Luna's blue magical aura. Floating the tablet to her face, she laughs in anger and bemusement. Her eyes scowl with a smile on her face, looking past the tablet and at the figure at the base of their joint thrones.

"Thou believed such a horrendous attempt to scare us would succeed?" She asks venomously, sarcasm almost dripping from her lips.

The figure reseals the silver buttons on the front of their cloak as she speaks, before lazily turning their eyes on the lunar ruler.

"Did I say my goal was to scare you?" Growls the figure, their own sarcasm almost being spat out. "Like I said before, this is a visual warning. Something harder to forget then just words." He finishes, crossing his robes arms over his chest.

Luna's aura levitates the tablet back to her sister, who in turn grabs the tablet. As her eyes gaze down at the carvings, she doesn't notice her sister stand up from her throne once more.

"Court is over!" Shouts Luna, looking at the guards before turning her eyes on the figure. "Guards, escort this creature from the castle grounds immediately." She finishes with a sinister glare, scowling as the figure turns to her from beneath the hood.

With golden plates glowing amber under torchlight, a guard moves with spear pointed at the figure as they threaten him into moving back in the direction of the hall's doorway. With their order to leave going unheeded, the guard angrily tries to lance this disobedient wretch.

Suddenly, a sound like a muffled whisper rings out before a clanking of wood echoes throughout the chamber. Looking down at their now lighter spear, the guard stumbles back as they see the end of their splintered shaft singed somewhat, the steel tip of the spear rolling across the tiled floor.

Gasping, the guard looks up from the shattered spear and back at the figure responsible. Stood calmly, the figure's right fist clenches around the long handle of a blade. Their pale fingers obscure some of the handle, but the faded grey leather and silver pommel remain visible. Lifting the blade up, the figure points the tip towards the guard's throat in a threat.

Stumbling away from the blade, the guard is given a close view of the deep groove running down the middle of the sword and the mixing pattern of different greys that form along it. The princesses and other guards come to their senses, the other guards rushing to point their spears to the figure with intimidation as their goal.

"Stop!" Shouts Celestia, finally finding her voice. "Do not remove him just yet." She finishes with a stern look that scans from the guards to her sister. The figure does not even tremble with the ring of spears pointed at their (presumed) throat area.

"There is a great magical essence within this object." She comments mindlessly, Luna looking at her sister with confusion, tilting her head at her.

"There is a storm coming for your people." The figure grumbles deeply. Luna's eyes snap from her sister to the surrounded figure. "I came of my own will, to deliver this warning." They state plainly.

"Tell us when this 'storm' is to come!" Demands Luna whilst perched atop her throne. An exasperated sigh emanates from the darkness cast by the hood.

"You must realise that the future is not set in stone?" Questions the figure to Luna, their hood lifting slightly to show their eyes. Luna shivers at the piercing white dots in the darkness.

Their glow seems to burn into her mind, as she struggles to find the words to give another snarky retort. Their "face" is but inky darkness, with only two glowing white dots shining from the black. Luna grows more uncomfortable as her mind compares their face to a night sky, devoid of all but two stars lighting the sky.

"What events follow today will not just determine your fate, but the fate of many others." Finishes the figure in a whisper, their eye contact with the lunar ruler never ceasing.

With her sister remaining silent, Celestia speaks up with her own question.

"These events..." She starts, the figure's sight leaving Luna's eyes to turn on the solar princess'. "...how do we know which to look out for?" She finishes. The figure sighs once more, but with an air of annoyance that offends the royals.

"If you truly deserve to rule this land, you will know how to respond to the coming events. If both of your hearts stay true, and you heed my words, you have nothing to fear. The tablet will remain just a bit of history." They state, eyes scanning between the alicorns.

As the princesses process their words, the figure gives a chuckle. Not a pleasant one, but one filled with an almost dark glee. Looking up at Celestia, revealing the white orbs beneath their hood, a menacing aura almost froths from the darkness.

"I won't lie to you, but I have no faith that you will avoid your doom." The royals scowl at the figure's disdain-ridden words. "Your ponies... they are foolish and weak." He states hood turning to his sides as he mockingly lifts his hands to gesture at the spears pointed at him, the princesses noticing the shafts trembling with their owners' fury.

"How dare you speak of my subjects in such a way!" Roars Celestia, startling all but the figure. Even Luna, prone to outbursts, was taken aback by her typically reserved sister's rage. The dark figure's posture does not falter.

"But am I wrong?" He asks, arms crossing over his chest once more. Celestia is taken aback by his words, rage never dying but confusion settling over her features. He must be, her ponies are loyal and all the races came together in harmony.

His eyes leave the fuming Celestia and turn on Luna, who is startled to see him staring at her once her eyes turned from her sister. Looking into her eyes, he continues. "Perhaps what proves my words, is that they don't appreciate what they have." He says in almost a whisper, but Luna's ear twitches at the words as her eyes turn away from the figure.

How could he have know?

The figure finally turns from the uncomfortable princess and to Celestia. Clapping his hands together, he startles Luna into looking at him and Celestia into jumping in her seat. He rubs his palms together as if finished with a difficult task, letting his arms hang limply from his shoulders.

"That's all the time I can spare, I'm afraid." He speaks with a sigh, but Luna looks away from him as a little white orb seems to float near the ceiling. Curious, she watches as more seem to float from the walls and towards the figure.

"Sister!" She shouts, startling Celestia into looking at the floating orbs in alarm. The guards notice, and back away from the cloaked bring as more orbs seem to float around him. As the final one sinks into the fabric of his cloak, a great flash of white blinds everyone in the room momentarily. Rubbing their eyes, they find the being gone and only faint wisps of white flowing from where he stood before fading away.

Jumping to action, Luna recognises the use of a teleportation spell. Even though traces of magic were left at the sight of the teleport, unlike anything unicorns leave behind, the magic is familiar enough. A being bringing a threat, and using powerful magic?

"Search for him!" She shouts, guards looking over at her hastily. "He couldn't have gotten far!" She finishes, the guards nodding with their helmets clanking as they take off through the hall's main doorway and out into the castle grounds.

Luna looks away from the retreating guards at the same time as her sister, and both rulers look at each other with poorly masked unease.

Author's Note

This chapter took far to long to release, I'm sorry. Usually, I hate prophecy in stories as a plot device. But I felt like this one didn't really impact the story that much. The prophecy is not used to spoil events and such, but just to give a sort of explanation (of minor details).

Thanks for reading (I hope the story isn't too bad so far)!

Chapter 6: Questions - Part 3

Crossing over a millennia with a sigh, Celestia's mind returns to the present as her golden hoof armour traces the stone's engravings. Remembering she isn't alone in the vault, she turns her eyes onto the crowd stood behind her.

"It wasn't until after my sister succumb to the spirit of Nightmare Moon, and I was confronted with the reality of my sister's situation, did I remember about the being's warning." Celestia admits, walking towards the group with the tablet remaining in the golden aura of her levitation spell.

"He knew Luna was being ignored by the ponies at the time?" Twilight asks her mentor, the alicorn giving a silent nod in response.

"I was ignorant of my sister's plight." Celestia says solemnly, looking over to her sister's silent gaze. "Had I treated my sister's concerns seriously, perhaps this could have been avoided." She finishes, tearing her eyes from Luna's to look back at the tablet before her.

"Maybe he didn't want Luna to become Nightmare Moon?" Questions Twilight, sitting down on the stone ground with a hoof to her chin. "If the words you remember are correct, then it sounds like he was trying to warn you about Luna's treatment." She finishes, causing the group to murmur in agreement and questions.

"Perhaps, yet his motives will forever escape us. They are yet to return." Suddenly speaks Luna, startling the others with her slightly harsh tone.

"Recently, me and Luna have been thinking over this warning. As far as we can tell, the creature shown on this tablet would only appear if we did not meet whatever requirements the figure wanted." Celestia tells, letting her hoof trace the engraving of the bipedal beast.

Although the conditions were never stated.

"Is that why we were asked to imprison that beast?" Speaks up Shining Armor from the group, the group turning to look at him as he sweats nervously.

"Shining?" Asks Cadance, looking at her husband curiously.

"Princess Celestia ordered the guard to apprehend a creature that had appeared in the market square. The princess said that it had started to attack the nobles browsing in the market, before a lone guard had knocked it out. So when we arrived, it was unconscious." Explains Shining, turning from the princess and to his wife.

Cadence looks back at the royals, and Celestia nods in confirmation. But Cadence had a question that left her feeling uneasy, almost to where she didn't want to hear the answer.

"Why did the creature look so set on killing my husband?" She whispers, remembering the look it gave Shining with a shudder. It didn't even look at the other guards that had been trapped in the Changeling's slime.

Shining Armor's brow sweats, and his heart stops. If she knew what he'd done...

Before he could mumble a reply nervously, Celestia walks firmly to stand before Cadence. The group looks nervously at each other and the much taller alicorn stood before the shorter pink one.

"I personally took your husband aside and asked him to interrogate the creature. I tasked him with finding out the motives it had for appearing and any other relevant information of an invasion force." She says flatly. "But the creature refused to answer the questions. We're not sure it can even talk, as it was only ever silent in its cell." Celestia finishes with the flatness of her voice never ceasing.

Applejack, watching the princess as she speaks, starts to feel uncomfortable. She shakes her head slightly to free herself from just a passing thought.

"Except one day, a guard had to report to Shining Armor about something. He called him by his rank: captain. The creature's entire demeanour switched." Celestia says, her eyes moving over to the captain in question. He wipes the sweat from his forehead with a hoof.

"It went feral. Jumping around whilst leashed by chains, it attempted to scratch and bite at the captain. Shining Armor had to stumble back or have the creature tear into him." Finishes the white alicorn, magenta eyes turning back to Cadence's shocked ones.

There was that feeling again. Applejack started to sweat a little as the thought came back. It must have been all the stress of being away from the farm and the invasion.

"When I heard the report, I figured the creature was some sort of pet. Similar to a familiar. Sent here to kill the ponies in high-ranks to weaken us for an invasion." Adds Luna, finally coming to stand beside Celestia. "It didn't seem to show any higher intelligence." She says, noticing an uncomfortable Applejack with a raised eyebrow.

Turning away from the farmer, she looks back at Cadence as the alicorn in question opens her mouth to ask more.

"This tablet isn't carved on just the one side." Luna states, gesturing a silver-armoured hoof at the object. The group looks back at the levitating stonework, as Celestia turns it over in her golden aura.

With the same quality as the already inspected side, the effort put into engraving the back was immense. With almost magical precision, the stone had been scraped out to give an image of the many known races that the ponies had met. Except here, the races each bared weapons and teeth at a single pony cowering on the "ground". With the braziers burning, the lighting makes the horror etched on the pony's face almost lifelike.

"It has been at least a millennia since this image has cursed pony eyes." Growls Luna, startling the group. "This image was abhorrent, so I personally cast it into the river running outside of the castle." She finishes with a scowl. But not one directed at the group, but at the tablet itself.

Twilight visualises in her mind where this river was, and then she realises that the river could possibly be the ravine outside of the Everfree castle. But then why is it a ravine now and not a river? Her question goes unanswered as she listens intently to the millennia old tale.

"By the next month, however, the damned thing was found. A pony that had gone fishing had somehow netted it." She sighs, light blue eyes turning to her sister. Noticing her sister's gaze, Celestia turns away from the levitating tablet and to the group stood before her.

"When the pony that found the tablet saw the side we see now, they were obviously shaken. They took it to their village, and that's where the trouble began." Tells Celestia, going back to the old days of her rule. "The ponies of old saw it as a threat by an unknown kingdom. And when these natives started to walk Equestrian soil, armed citizens forced them from their villages. Things sometimes turned violent." Celestia speaks, a hint of shame in her tone.

The ponies in the group are shocked to hear about this, and figured their ancestors had lived as harmonious lives as they had under the sisters. But thinking back to Zecora, they at least feel a hint of what perhaps their ancestors did. But Zecora was feared for where she had came from: the Everfree Forest, not just because she wasn't a pony.

"Looking back, it makes sense to think this was where the stigma against creatures that weren't ponies began. The pony herd-mentality did not help slow this ideology." Admits Celestia with a sigh, walking away from Cadence to address the whole group.

"It took years of damage control with the foreign nations to prevent attacks on Equestria. I did my best to convince my ponies that the foreign arrivals meant no harm. It was too late, as whispers of that same stigma still creep in even today." She says, head lowering slightly before Luna's hoof rests on her sister's back. They look at each other knowingly whilst smiling faintly. Celestia had always felt failure for the past sins of her citizens.

"My old frie... ex-friend Gilda used to get in trouble for little things at Flight Camp." Speaks Rainbow Dash with her scratch voice, making the groups eyes look at the fiery soul hovering in the air. "The teachers never spoke up when the others called her names. It was only me who stood up for her." Finishes the blue pegasus.

"I'm sorry." Starts Luna, eyes cast downwards. "Maybe had I not thrown away the cursed thing, her mistreatment may have been avoided." She apologises, finding the stone floor very interesting.

"Thankfully, being royalty meant the ponies didn't dare to question giving the tablet back to us. We assured them nothing would befall the nation. We ended up sealing the tablet away in the bowels of the castle basement." Luna states, eyes looking up from the ground and to the group.

"But when I left that castle to rot, I took the tablet with me. And under my orders, the architects built this vault. I then sealed this tablet within, never to be seen by pony eyes." Celestia adds, gesturing with a hoof to the vault they stand in.

"The pony who found the tablet in the river, how could they have done so? The tablet would have had to float up to go in their net by mistake, right?" Asks Twilight suspiciously.

"Hence the many enchantments. We figured that the being that gave us the tablet wanted to punish us for casting it away. So the vault was enchanted to combat outside magic, to prevent the being freeing it to be used against us once again." Answers Celestia, gesturing her hoof once more to the glowing engravings of mystic symbols.

A sudden thunder of armoured hooves on marble echoes down the hallway beyond the vault doorway, making the group turn around to face the opening. Rushing around the doorway is the typical guard pony, decked out in golden plates but with visible sweat dripping across the exposed fur between the plates. He starts to speak, but stutters and coughs from the extensive sprinting.

"What's the trouble, guard?" Demands Shining Armor, entering his typical firm stance whilst addressing guards.

"The missing patrol has been found, sir!" Shouts the guard, raising a foreleg into a salute.

"Officer Iron Horn's squad?" Asks Shining, knowing the squad led by the well-known officer had not been heard since the guard had been ordered to find the creature as it attempted an escape.

The guard, letting his foreleg drop from its salute, nods silently. The mares behind Shining start to feel uneasy, concern running through their hearts. Shining Armor simply watches the ground in response, not looking up for a tense moment. In the silence, his voice returns to him.

"They're dead, aren't they?" He finally asks, the ponies behind him gasping as the guard solemnly nods.

"Take me to them." Shining whispers, just loud enough for the guard to hear. His voice is low yet firm, the guard nodding under the captain's piercing gaze as he turns and starts to walk. The captain follows the nervous guard with firm, solid steps, his fury at the damned prisoner seeping from his body.

Reluctantly, the group of mares start to follow him also.

Author's Note

Two chapters in one day? Hope I'm not annoying anyone with spam uploads. But at last, this section is over. Looking at the word counts for each of the three parts, you can see why it would be too long as a single chapter.

Lets get back to the action, and less of this tedious exposition. That's why we're here, right?

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 7: City by the (Celestial) Sea

Darkness had fallen on this land. Marching through dense grass that reaches my knees, the wet earth sucks on my leather boots as I trudge through the unbroken path. With axe held in my arm pit, I am able to grab food with one hand whilst the other holds the leather bag it was contained in.

With only a minimal amount of fuel on board, the train had soon dragged itself to a stop some distance from the city. I therefore had to abandon the thing if I was to put any distance between me and the authorities. At least the carriage I kept being pulled by the engine had contained some supplies, likely what the workers fuelling the engine would have eaten on a journey.

With a leather satchel hung from a belt over my shoulder, I place the small food bag into a compartment of the satchel. Digging into its main contents, I pull out something else I scavenged: a map. Arguably the most important thing I could have snatched before bailing. Unrolling the thin parchment, my eyes switch between watching the uneven ground and the detailed layout of settlements and trails.

As I walk, ever slight sound makes me stop and look around at my surroundings. The fact I'm marching through hilly plains, with no trees for cover, makes me anxious that my pursuers will have an easy time spotting me. My eyes, though barely able to make sense of the poorly illuminated fields of grass, keep trying to pierce the dark veil for golden armour.

It would make sense that they would send guards down the rail on another train perhaps, where they'd find my abandoned one and know to look for me.

"I must be getting paranoid." I think to myself as I return to my scrambling through the wilderness.

I remember the train having to go through a tunnel that ran through a mountain. I was so anxious of an ambush at the other end that I had sat with my back against the engine cart's wall with my axe ready in both hands. Apparently, the map shows that I had gone past a place called "Hollow Shades". And the image meant to represent the place looked too ominous for me.

But looking over the map as I walk, I can see the only populated area is a place called "Manehatten". From the looks of it on the map, it's only connected to the mainland via a bridge. That bridge is the only way to the city, so how am I meant to slip in undetected? Also, why does the name seem so familiar? I can't seem to remember why it sounds so familiar.

My walking comes to a stop as I think.

My home... friends... my last name? My hand grips my forehead as my body trembles in shock, unable to process what is going on. I can't remember?! It's like I can feel the traces of the past telling me that this world isn't mine, but otherwise it's like this land is the only one I have breathed in. I know how to read, I know how to speak, but is the language from my world or this one? Have I been speaking this world's language the whole time?

Is my name even mine, or have I taken it from some forgotten memory?

A sudden chill dashes down my spine, but no breeze had blown on this slightly warm night. Twisting my whole body around, yanking the axe from my armpit and holding its handle with trembling fingers. Adrenaline forces its way through my veins as my eyes scan this way and that.

My axe, nearly completely blunt from exhaustive use, is still readied for an ambush. I'll just have to bring the axe down harder. For two agonising minutes, my breathing is all I can hear before slight breezes whisper across the grass. I'm alone, stood sweating in the darkness.

My ears hear no breathing or shuffling through the grass, and I can't just stay here to risk the guards catching up to me. Exhaling strongly, I straighten my posture and lower my axe. Laughing a little to myself, I chastise my paranoia. Peering thoughtlessly into the darkness, I smile.

"Those two stars look pretty close. Must be a constellation." I say to the darkness around me as I turn.

Still nervous, I leave the axe held tight as I turn around and walk slightly faster. My boots continue to get tugged at by the mud they step in, my hands swiping the tall grass out of my way. Still trying to remember anything of my life before this nightmare, I start hitting my own skull in frustration.

Did those damn ponies wipe my memory or something whilst I slept? If so, I think I've got a heavy bit of steel on a stick that will help make them nothing but a memory. Still fuming, I grab a leather flask from the satchel and angrily suck down the slightly-cool water. With only slight weight dashing inside of the contained when shook, I know that I'll need to refill it soon.

My legs burn as I breath heavily, the hill I'm traversing being so damned steep. But finally, I reach the summit of this grassy slope, giving me a clear view of my surroundings. My first view of the city takes me breath away.

Great steel and glass pillars rise up to the sky like grey plants, with the many lights from within each building casting their shine into the darkness of the night. A great brass horse's head perches at the summit of the largest of towers, peering over the city itself as the moon casts a glistening aura across its metal surface. A copper statue of a robed pony holding a torch sits isolated on an island lit by only a handful of lanterns, but through age the poorly illuminated structure looks almost a green.

Despite the moon hanging high in the sky, citizens still remained in the streets. Although I can only see them as hordes of pastel colours, as I am much too far away to discern individual ponies. Carriages of varying shades of paint also run through the streets, large enough to still be visible even from this great distance.

Shaking myself out of the mesmerising state the sight leaves me in, I look down the hill to its grassy base. At the base of the hill, I see the typical cobblestone road you'd expect from a medieval-styled land. Although the contrast from the advanced city and the primitive nature of what I'd seen thus far is great, I don't let myself get lost in thought.

Now is the time for action. Scanning my eyes up from the road, I see a "roadblock" set up near the city. Although it does not seem nearly as well guarded as you'd expect, with only a pair of armoured guards keeping security. Carrying lanterns in the night, they are easily spotted as their golden armour casts the light almost blindingly. A small purple tent is set up next to them, and another light from within casts a sleeping pony's shadow against the fabric.

As a carriage draws in, a guard flags it down with a hoof. Its wooden wheels halt their turning, and a guard walks over to inspect it. The other remains at a wooden desk sat next to the tent, looking over papers. I yawn, covering my mouth with a hand to prevent them hearing. After moving for so long, and wasting away so much energy with adrenaline, I'll be lucky to get into the city without passing out.

Obviously, a subtle method of getting past is needed. No charging in and whacking everything in the area with a blunt axe, unfortunately. Guess I have to do things the hard way.

Crouching low to the ground, my calves flex painfully from the constant squatting, I start to shuffle slowly down the hill's steep slope. Keeping my steps agonisingly slow, I finally reach the base and remain low to the ground. Thankfully, the tall grass obscures my body in this position, giving me a protective veil of green.

Stalking in the long grass, I stare through the green blades at the guard. He looks tired, I think at least it seems that way, as he lazily looks underneath the cart. The lantern casts light over me as he turns to the other guard at the desk, making me duck down and out of sight. I can't keep moving with this guard so close.

Shuffling my legs backwards, I go prone as I wait for the inspection to end. Sighing from impatience, I lazily turn away from the roadside inspection and out onto the sea beside the city. Gently, large ships seem to drift out of the city and off into the empty sea. Curious, I right myself a little and continue thoughtfully gazing at the wooden vessels.

I'd hoped a city by the sea would have ships, and looks like I was right to assume this would be the case. I'm a wanted man here, and staying in this country would be foolish. They even have a roadblock for me specifically. They mean business. Thankfully, it looks like I can take a permanent cruise.

"Shame I forgot my suitcase..." I whisper weakly to myself, smiling despite the awful joke. Mouth returning to a frown, I watch as the carriage finally finishes its inspection, and can now move into the city itself.

As the inspecting guard stands with a yawn, he turns back and faces the one on the desk to wave his hoof in an "all clear" gesture. Crawling forwards, I roll underneath the carriage and bite the wooden handle of the axe. With both hands free, I grab at any available surface and tuck my legs up, pressing my body forcefully against the wood.

The steel-reinforced wheels turn with a creak, the carriage lurching forwards and into a decent speed. The clopping of hooves begins anew as the driver instructs the ponies pulling the wooden vehicle to hurry. It seems they are in as much of a rush to get into the city as I am.

My teeth clench hard against the wood, my grip almost being lost when the taste and stench of dried blood seem to seep into my lips. But I refuse to drop the only weapon I have, my arms and legs flexing and tensing as they struggle to hold onto the carriage's vibrating underbelly.

As the carriage's wheels start to move on concrete and steel, my eyes shut tightly as my limbs ache from the constant vibration. I must have gotten onto the bridge, and I hold back a groan as I remember just how long the bridge looked from a distance.

By the time I get into the first street of the city, the bridge leading into it, my muscles ache yet still clench agonisingly. Tears brim at the edges of my closed eyelids, but I refuse to lose my grip. When I finally open my eyes to scan my surroundings, all I see is a wave of multicoloured legs on either side of the carriage. Grunting just low enough to be drowned out by the grinding of wood on tarmac, I wait for an opportunity to bail this cart.

"Stop! Thief!" I hear a snobbish voice say, turning my head to the noise. Apparently, the blue legs on my left had stopped and began trembling. Golden armour on hooves dart past the left side of the carriage, and I watch as the blue legs also disappear from sight.

Now or never, I guess. Seeing the crowd to have not continued flowing down the left side of the carriage, I take a leap of faith and roll out from beneath the wagon and onto the street itself.

I hear shocked gasps all around me and a guard's typical commanding voice demanding me to halt, but I pay them no attention as my body stumbles to its feet and starts to dash forwards. With the sounds of hooves thundering towards me, my legs burn as they sprint into an alleyway.

Diving over some crates with guard in pursuit, I moan in the shadows as I feel my stomach ache from the landing. Turning back and seeing a unicorn guard still chasing me. Dragging myself up, I keep running with my chest burning from the effort.

I look over my shoulder at the guard's slightly tilted head as they point their horn at me like a lance. Looking back, I slam into a chain-link fence, hitting the back of my head on the stone floor. Pulling on the chains to support myself, I rub the back of my head as I notice the axe I'd dropped.

The guard had long since stopped sprinting, and seemed to be prowling forwards like a predator. A dangerous glint in their eye and a wicked smile give me all the motivation I need to swipe the axe. But tiredness had already sapped away at my energy, and I can't stay here when other guards can be heard storming down the alleys towards us.

Looking back at the fence for just a moment, I can see that the fence is not too high. I should be able to climb this, but the pony won't. Grabbing a free hand against the fence, I point the axe's blunted steel head towards the pony threateningly. The unicorn only laughs as they lower themselves, horn glowing with an amber aura.

But their horn soon loses its aura with amber sparks spitting from it, their concentration lost. They growl at some forgotten fact, as their grin returns in full force as another amber aura encases my axe. Grunting, my body seems to get pulled towards the unicorn as my hand refuses to leave the axe's handle, my arm pulling the fence and making it flex slightly.

The force pulling the axe towards the unicorn grows ever stronger, beads of sweat becoming visible on the pony's furred forehead. My weakened arms can't continue this fight for long, but losing the axe would mean losing my only protection from this crazed guard!

A sinister plan comes to mind, as I grin wickedly. I begin to pull as hard as I can on the axe, making my grin weaken as my face scrunches with the effort, sweat gracing my own forehead. I feel the magic levitating my axe towards the guard grow impossibly strong, leaving my arm numb under the strain.

I let go of the axe with a smile.

Round and round, the axe spins in the air towards the now startled guard. They try to turn away, but the axe, more of a brown and grey blur with the speed, sends them flying back with its impact and into a pile of cardboard boxes. Even from this far, I can see the axe had embedded itself in the side of their skull. The axe's handle standing like a wooden monolith, and only their leg twitches in the darkness.

I go to retrieve the axe, the coming patrol is getting too loud (and therefore to close) for comfort. I can't hope to face an entire patrol on a near-empty stomach whilst sleep deprived. Sighing in annoyance, I start climbing the fence but at the top I end up sliding off. Luckily, on the side without guards coming to investigate.

Except I hadn't noticed the fence was meant to keep ponies from slipping down an incline and into another alley a few foot down. So I end up falling that distance, and more, with my only bit of fortune meaning I land on a pile of cardboard and metal cans.

With my mind cloudy and sight going dark, my head flops back onto the discarded boxes as sleep finally takes me. My last sight being the night sky hovering over the city.

Author's Note

Got to have that faint/black out, otherwise it doesn't count as an authentic HiE story, right? This chapter didn't take long to plan out, but it did take too long writing. Sorry if that has disappointed anyone still reading.

Thanks for keeping with this for this long!

Chapter 8: High Seas

With dried lips and a dull ache in the back of my skull, I'm brought out of my surprise nap by a noise in the alleyway I had fallen into. Using my elbows to prop myself up, I squint in pain as I look around with blurred vision for the source of the noise. In a daze, I turn my head to the side and see a rat pop out from inside some black bags of waste, dumped into the alleyway.

For a moment, the rat looks at me whilst standing on hind legs, before scurrying into the waste and out of sight. Shifting around on the boxes that cushioned by fall, I shakily stand. Rubbing my hand on the back of my head, I find the palm used void of any blood. Sighing in relief, I brace myself against a wall as my stomach grumbles loudly, making me hold my stomach as it aches.

All this running and fighting would be fine, had I been getting regular meals. But the adrenaline that's been consistently pumping through my blood must have dulled the pain of hunger, leaving my body drained and aching. And with an ache in my arms, I have no doubts that I've gone and pulled a few muscles.

Looking up beyond the outcroppings of roofs, I see the pale blue sky of the day has returned. And with the sun more-or-less centred in the sky, I can tell that I'd been asleep for a few hours. It's already midday, and no one found me? The incompetence is astounding, but welcome.

It's like they don't deal with this often. I hope that's the case.

Coming back to reality, I push myself off the wall and start walking. I don't know how to get there, but I know I came for the ships docked in the harbour. With any luck, there is where I'll find my ticket out of this nightmare. The smell of damp bricks is suddenly overwhelmed by the sweet smell of cooked food down the alley.

Curious, I let my nose lead me to an open window of some small bakery. I hear the shouting of orders being placed from within, and I duck down beneath the window. With a thud from above, I slide out and see a pie had been deposited in the open window. Standing up, I see that whoever had left the pie had also left the room.

I immediately reach my hands out to grab it, but stop. Isn't this stealing? My arms go slightly limp, as I watch through the window, listening to the sounds in the next room. My stomach rumbles in protest, but I do not cease my contemplation.

I've killed these creatures outright, why should I care? But these were just normal working ponies, right? I'd fought against guards who had no thought other than my death, murder motivated through greed, but never have I harmed, even indirectly, these noncombatants.

I go to leave, but a sudden shout from within the establishment makes me stop.

"Good day, officer! Would you like the cherry pie I just made? Guard's discount, of course!" Shouts a mare from within, the female voice distinct.

I immediately swipe the pie and bail.

Half an hour of walking aimlessly through shadowed alleys, and the pie has finally vanished into my stomach. Licking my lips of the cherry filling, I wipe my hands on my jeans whilst scanning for some sign to at least show directions to the harbour.

After another corner, I spot a wooden signpost erected in the street. Strolling over, I read the arrow-shaped wood pointing down another corner, with the words "Harbour" scratched into the wood plank itself. Shrugging my shoulders, I turn my body and head down the directed alley.

It isn't long before I find myself before a harbour. From a vantage point above the harbour, I scan my eyes down across the many wooden vessels left bobbing in the short waves, crates being loaded and unloaded. Through the scurry of activity, my eyes find a loud dispute.

Now, I've grown accustomed to the garish colours of pony fur, so seeing them no longer surprises me. If anything, I just feel a strange unease at their sight. But down from my perch, I see three griffins yelling incoherently to some guards. Their gold armour is unmissable under the unrelenting sunlight, shining a deep amber.

Seeing as this is my first time seeing a real, living griffin, I am understandably curious. Looking to my side, I see a set of stone steps leading down from the vantage point to another outcropping, with another set of steps to the ships. Thinking the second vantage point would be closer, making it easier to listen, I head down only the first set of stairs.

Now, I can definitely hear their debate.

"I'm sorry, but you will have to board your ship and leave the harbour." Repeats a guard, hints of annoyance beneath that stoic facade they're known for. A griffin, wearing a thick fur jacket over their grey fur with a black captain's hat on her skull, scowls in the face of the guard.

"Why don't you ask that pony ship to make way?" She, in a distinctly female voice, responds in a growl, gesturing to a large delivery vessel. The guard doesn't even look that concerned by her fury.

"They've only just arrived, and need more time to unload. You're almost done." He responds flatly, staring her down. "We've got a cruise ship of our citizens coming back to the harbour, and your ship is taking up the room that boat needs." He finishes gesturing to, what I assume, is the griffins' boat.

"No way is that pony boat not started unloading, their putting boxes back in!" She shouts, furiously jabbing a talon at the boat's crew loading it up with new boxes. The guard shakes himself from being startled, now glaring at the griffin.

"You have an hour, captain, to leave the dock." He says, turning to the guards on either side of him that nod in unison. Then, they turn and walk off whist discussing some other discretion in the dock.

The griffins start grumbling to each other, and the captain walks off with them to the crew waiting with their crates. The captain relays the debate, leaving the crew angrily snorting and grabbing the boxes with more force than necessary. One by one they start hauling up the wooden containers via a crane, where another griffin grabs the crates and deposits them through a hatch on the deck and into the bowels of the wood vessel.

I watch thoughtfully as the mythological beasts work away at their task. A plan comes to mind, and I hurry to execute it. As I walk down the final set of steps, making sure to move as quietly as possible, anxious by how exposed this leaves me. I finally get onto the stone floor of the harbour, walking over the wet rocks towards a crate missing its lid. If I can only squeeze inside, I can get put inside their ship and be on my way out of this place.

I grab onto the edge of the box, readying myself to squeeze into the container before a firm grip lands on my shoulder. Startled I go to turn but the grip holds me as I'm dragged away. Before I can even swing my fists, I'm dropped to the ground in a more shadowed are of the dock.

"Captain!" I hear the voice over my shoulder shout, making me cringe. I face forwards and see the black hat atop a curious-looking griffin, staring down and scanning me with purple eyes.

"What have you grabbed?" She asks with a tilt of her furred head. The griffin tries to shake me up and down, but my weight is too heavy and so they just shuffle my kneeling form around in their grip.

"The prisoner that the guards are looking for! The one with the bounty!" He shouts excitedly, if the deep voice is proof of their gender. The captain's eyes turn to the crew member and squint.

"You think they'd actually give griffins that many bits?" She asks with a hint of sarcasm in her tone, making the crew member seem a little regretful for dragging me over. I shake off the talon from my shoulder and stand up.

Shaking slightly at being around things with pointed beaks and sharp talons (and without an axe), I watch the captain look at me thoughtfully, head tilted and eyes scanning me up and down. Her features seem to darken as her beak twists to a malicious smirk, making sweat drip down my forehead as I pale.

"Take him into the ship. Don't let any of the guards see you." She says, turning around and walking off to direct more of the crew. I turn to the griffin at my side, their white chest tuft contrasting with their brown fur and feathers. With blue eyes, he gestures towards an open crate.

I watch as the griffin scoops out the contents, a few metal helmets, and deposits them into another crate before gesturing with an open talon at the vacant container. When he sees my apprehensive expression, he grunts in annoyance.

"You seemed pretty fine jumping into one of these boxes when I found you." He growls, gesturing to the box more firmly. I grumble as I fold my legs and arms as I squeeze into the box, hearing my own breaths as the box is closed on top.

If the minutes of shaking and now gentle rocking are anything to go by, I'll assume I'm finally in the cargo hold of this ship. I hear shouts for a bit, and then the ship starts to move steadily. The shaking makes me slightly sick, but I refuse to throw up in such a tight space. The sounds of gentle waves lapping against the hull echoes through the cargo hold, giving me hope that I may have finally gotten out of that country.

But the sounds of paws and talons on wooden floor greets my ears louder than the waves, and the crate begins to ascend up some stairs roughly until I'm tipped out of the crate and onto the deck. Rubbing the back of my head, I scowl at the crew member who packed me and stand up.

I immediately tense up, surrounded by at least a dozen griffins. They at least don't look aggressive, scanning me up and down with blatant curiosity. But my fists still clench by my sides, ready to at least swing at them if I get attacked. The captain comes to my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulder that startles me.

"This is that prisoner the guards were making a fuss over!" She shouts to the confused crew, but her grin at them wavers as she notices their confusion only grow.

"Why didn't we give it in for the bounty!?" Shouts a curious voice from the back of the crowd, making my fists clench harder. I can't trust these things not to give me back.

"Because, you feather-brain, those jerks wouldn't give us a single bit of that bounty!" She yells, the crew shouting out against the guards' treatment. Even if they didn't understand the story behind the bounty, they knew enough about ponies to know they wouldn't give the payment willingly.

"So why are we taking him again?" Asks the sailor that packed me into the crate, turning to the captain at my side. She only grins at him and then the crowd.

"Because... now they'll never get him! None of those damned guards will touch the bounty now!" She laughs, the crowd laughing along to their captain at the ponies' misfortune, with me left shuffling my feet awkwardly at all the attention.

I shake off the leg from my shoulder, scowling at the captain. She only looks surprised by the action, blinking a few times before tilting her head. I've had enough with being a pawn in these cat-birds' game.

"And where are you taking me?" I ask flatly, fists still clenched and ready. She smirks, although less malicious than I anticipated.

"To griffin lands." She answers quietly. "The bounty isn't in effect there." She finishes, looking back at her crew as I cross my arms.

She then walks off, clawed talons "clicking" against the wooden floor as she directs the crew to start sailing. They all grumble as they go back to their tasks, some disappearing under the deck to sort crates. Left alone on board the ship, I can at least guess they don't expect me to be a problem.

Looking at myself, I can see why a mythological killing machine wouldn't suspect a thing. Without an axe in my hand, I'm defenceless and my hands would be no match to their claws.

Looking into the sky as some gulls came to circle the ship, I can only give silent thanks that I finally managed to get out of the nightmare that had entrapped me for over a month.

The inside of the captain's office was warmly lit against the night beyond the glass panes, lining one of its walls. A thick mahogany desk sat at the far end of the room, opposite to the wooden door reinforced by steel. A red carpet lines the floor, obscuring most of the wood below.

Sitting in her tall chair behind the desk, the captain lets her hat sit on top of the wooden desk before her. Beside her hat sits an open bag, the size of a man's head and made of a dark leather. Through the open top, hundreds of glistening gold coins sit whilst reflecting the candle light from the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On the floor, sat against the wall, sits four more bulging bags but with their tops sealed shut with white string.

Staring ahead of her, the captain's eyes turned upwards slightly, she watches with hidden caution. She finally finds her voice, but nerves still cause her feathers to rustle and fur to stick out.

"How did you know the prisoner would be at the harbour?" She asks quietly, voice barely a whisper. But despite the low volume, the listener hears her clearly. After a moment of quiet, the one sharing her quarters answers her question.

"Just a hunch." The deep, raspy voice croaks out. Their pale hand turns over one of the golden bits from the bag, looking down with two pale dots within their dark cloak.

The captain sighs at their lack of detail, looking out of the window at the full moon hanging in the sky. When she finally turns back to the figure, she finds him staring straight at her. She jumps in her seat, heart thumping in surprise. The figure doesn't even move, bit still in hand.

"Why did this-" She gestures an open talon at the bag on the desk and pile against the wall. "-have to be so much more than that stupid bounty?" She asks finally, looking back from the pile and into the shadow cast by the figure's hood.

"Just to insure that our deal would be more profitable." He says flatly, the captain still nervously hunched in her chair. Every instinct inside her mind telling her to fly out the window. But looking at the figure's relaxed stance and slow movement makes the captain feel at ease slightly, despite the creepy look he has. He obviously wouldn't have gone through what he has to then kill her randomly.

Seemingly finished with their coin inspection, the figure hovers their clenched fist over the open bag of bits. With fluid motion, their fingers part and allow the golden circle to flip around in the air in its free-fall. As the captain watches the coin slither across the rest of the bits in its landing, she listens to the sound of rustling as the coins settle once more.

Looking up from the bag, she finds her office empty of the figure. She stands from her chair, looking this way and that, but cannot spot the elusive being. Sighing in relief, she slides back into her chair as her eyes feel drawn to the bag. The coin that the figure dropped continues to slither down, until she notices how the coin's surface contrasts to the rest.

Of course, bits weren't solid gold. They just had a gold plating on a copper body. She'd seen bits that were minted long ago, with their copper showing through with its slightly green patina.

Why was this one so rusted and dirty, to the point where no gold showed through?

Author's Note

This chapter took way longer than it needed to write. I need to stop being so lazy before I lose readers.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 9: Falcon's Rest

Propping myself up on my elbows whilst my body lays across the furred sleeping bag, I rub the sleep from my eyes as my ears register the faint sound of seagulls outside the window. Sitting up with a grunt, I cross my legs as my hand rubs the back of my neck. Not the best sleep I've had, but it beats how it was in the prison cell. My body stops moving.

The memories resurface, of me taking life after life. The pain of imprisonment still stinging. My fists clench as I recite over to myself that it was me or them. But I feel almost disgusted by myself when the thought enters my mind that they deserved to die for what they did to me.

Burying the hurt, I focus on the room around me. The sparsely furnished storage room came to be my resting place when I insisted on sleeping out of sight from the crew of the vessel. They agreed with a shrug, and here I am. I don't know how long I've been sat on this itchy bed, but my legs have started to feel dull and numb.

Stumbling as I stand, I feel the bruises and cuts once masked by adrenaline as I ran for my freedom and survival. The cut on my leg, although no longer bleeding into my improvised bandage, still burns with acute agony. Limping away from my sleeping bag, I grab the wooden window frame and look back at the reflection of myself cast on the vast ocean outside.

A depressing sight is what awaits me. Darkened rings beneath my eyes are so noticeable that they are easily visible against the blue waves, face dotted with small cuts I didn't notice being made and a split lip.

The sound of a door creaking open behind me makes my vision snap away from my reflection and to the griffin stood in the opening. The captain stares back at me with a questioning look as I slowly twist my body around to lean back against the window.

Wearing a fur cloak and carrying another on her back, she walks further into the room on padded paws and clawed talons. She seats herself down on the floor whilst retrieving the cloak from her back, presenting it to me with a talon.

"It's cold out, you'll want this." She says shaking the cloak a little as she speaks. Biting my lip through the aches, I manage to approach close enough to her to grab the cloak with a quick thanks, throwing it over my shoulders and tightening the clasp to keep it on my person.

"Where are we?" I ask, the question burning in my mind since I saw the sea outside the window.

"Griffin territory." The captain replies, gesturing a claw to the door. "We're at a dock, and unless you want to go back to your equine friends, we have to get you off here." She finishes, gesturing more forcefully at the door.

This reeks of a trap, but I can hardly refuse to leave the ship. Sighing, I head towards the door as she rushes to walk in front of me. Closing the thick wooden door behind me, I turn and follow the captain out the hallway and into the daylight outside. A gust of chilly air bites into me as I step into the outside, my hands pulling the cloak closer to my skin.

My eyes scan from the sea to one side, across the deck. and to the other as a village comes into view. Even from here, I can see griffins walking down muddy streets to a marketplace where the garish colors of ponies can be seen mixed into the crowd of brown, white and black fur. I feel immediate apprehension.

Sensing my discomfort at seeing the equine travelers, the captain points at a fur-lined hood on the top of my cloak, making me pull it over my head in understanding. Keeping a low profile will be difficult, but I'll take any chance at making it easier.

As the captain quickly speaks to a crew member, the same one that bundled me into a crate back in pony territory, I follow her down the plank of wood acting as a step off the ship. Keeping close to her, I keep my head angled down with my eyes continuously glancing for threats. Without anything to defend myself besides my own fists, I feel utterly helpless.

Great, snow-capped mountains loom almost ominously in the clouded skies in the distance, a sea of trees flowing down from the bottoms of the mountains all the way to the village outskirts, where the forest makes way for golden fields of wheat.

Suddenly, the captain twists around and drags me into an alleyway. Startled and panicked, I grab her shoulders as she pins me to the wall, but she raises a single claw from her talon to her lips in a "shush" gesture. She backs away as she peers around the corner of the small stone buildings that made up the alleyway. Their straw roofs dripping little drops of moisture onto my forehead as my heart beats rapidly.

Turning back to me, she gets close to my ear.

"Solar guards." She whispers, making me raise my eyebrow at her. She notices my confusion, giving a huff. "Ponies wearing gold armor?" She elaborates, making my mouth make an "oh" of understanding as I grow anxious. Pushing me further down the alley, we find ourselves onto a more empty street.

Following her closely, we follow the alleys between the shacks and huts that made up the village, until the streets turned to open field and trodden dirt of pathways. The captain turns to me as we come to stand side by side, my eyes looking down at her from my taller height.

"I have to get back to the ship soon, we need to sail elsewhere. There's a village nearby, you'll be safe there." She says, walking further down the path as I just stood watching her. Noticing only one set of steps on the earth, she turns her head to look back at me.

"Are you sure?" I say lowly, eyes not meeting hers. I hear her say "yes", making me look up as she continues to walk ahead, my legs moving to follow her.

Soon enough, the openness of the field's pathway changes to a forest trail as we leave the port behind. It must still be early in the day, as the orange light shines more to the side then above as it bathes the forest in its dim light. The air is crisp yet the cold is not as biting as it is within the forest, the vegetation weakening the forceful gusts of the sea.

The sound of leather on dirt as I walk is somewhat soothing, as it lightly splashes. Early morning rain must have come and gone, and the scent of sodden earth calms me with its familiarity. I sigh in momentary relaxation, my breath faintly hanging in the air like ghostly clouds.

"Thank you." I state plainly, eyes still glancing across the woodland beyond the trail. The griffin ahead of me is startled by my sudden raspy voice, turning her head to look back at me as she walks.

"For what?" Asks the captain in confusion, our eyes making contact as I turn to her.

"For getting me away from them." I almost spit "them" as I speak, no specification needed between us. She knows exactly who I mean, the thought of them making anger bubble within me. She goes silent after a whispered thanks, the air returning to stillness. Although, for me, there is no awkwardness. All that needed to be said has already been spoken.

I slip back into reveling in the serenity of the morning atmosphere before I am startled out of it by my companion informing me that we've arrived. Looking away from her to the front of the path makes my breath stop momentarily at the sight before us.

A steep slope of piled stone as tall as me is topped by a line of logs standing with chopped points like the teeth of a wooden lower jaw, the wall of stone and wood leading from either side to a gate. The gate is much taller than me, made of a wood log frame with stones piled within. And above the gate, a platform of wood topped by a tiled roof. My breath stops as the sight is like I've traveled backwards in time. The strangeness of the sight is what startles me, but I shake my head and continue following the captain.

After what I've seen... after what I've done... a gate shouldn't make me pause.

The great iron hinges squeal as the planks forming the doors themselves open up like a blooming flower, another griffin appearing from within. He stands within the gateway, seemingly torn between pulling the gate closed and approaching.

This griffin is noticeably taller than the captain but also older. Pieces of leather are stitched almost haphazardly into armor on his person. His hair is more gray and wispy, almost like strands of smoke flowing with the winds. His eyes seem duller as he scans me up and down before turning to the captain inquisitively.

"This is..." Starts the captain, who sheepishly looks at me as she forgets asking my name.

"Richard." I finish roughly. The old guard just watches the exchange thoughtfully.

"I wanted to see if he could live with you guys. You have a soft spot for trodden on folk, yes?" The captains asks, the guard looking between me and her before shrugging his shoulders a bit.

"Not like we'd turn away a new face if you're with them. We'll trust you didn't bring a wrong one." He says before walking closer to me and holding a talon out. He's hardly that much smaller than me, so I easily reach a hand out and shake his talon with a smile. "Come on, then. Let's get you settled." He says smiling toothily back at me as I follow.

"I have to go back to my crew so we can continue our cargo run, you take care, Falcon. You too Richard." She finishes, waving as she leaves, my hand waving back as she vanishes into the forest.

Turning back I follow Falcon further into the village as I notice a younger guard wearing fur and leather close the wooden gate shut. Falcon stops and turns to me, us both remaining stood on flattened earth making up a sort of natural courtyard beside the gate.

"Welcome to Falcon's Rest, Richard!" He says enthusiastically, gesturing an open talon at the village around me.

Scanning my eyes, I can see that the wall that joined to the gate is not fully enclosing. Standing as a giant semi-circle of stone and wood, the back of the village is set against the jagged slopes of a mountain range. And as my eyes trail up the steep rock face of the natural barrier, I see at least a dozen small homes carved into the caves high above us.

But forming the majority of the village are simple stone and wood huts roofed with thatch, giving a very medieval feel to the place. Although, the world itself seems completely medieval besides the city I escaped from, which was almost otherworldly. Shaking my head to dispel the memories clawing themselves back into my consciousness, I give a weak smile to the somewhat concerned old guard.

"This place looks wonderful." I reply, following him as he continues walking. After a moment of walking, I speak once more. "How come you were so accepting of me? I figured you'd be more wary of some unknown being showing up at your doorstep." I finish.

I see his back shrug as he walks, his head looking over his shoulder at me as he speaks: "I don't really get that shocked at seeing new types of creature. I adventured quite a lot in my life. I'm an old griffin, if you couldn't tell!" He says with a wink and chuckle. "And living with villages that are different helped numb me too." He finishes.

"I mean, you're not too outlandish. You're pretty similar to a Diamond Dog or Minotaur, and I've seen plenty of those." He says, although he notices my confusion. With a smirk, he points a claw at a stone hut with a fiery glow outside it. I'm startled, as a real live minotaur just shorter than me brings a hammer down on a red piece of steel and sending sparks flying like tiny stars.

Gulping, I turn away and look back at the guard with surprise still evident in my facial features. Laughing a little at my surprise, he realizes just how clueless I am about the different peoples dotting this world. Seemingly having fun at my expense, he points out a group of bipedal dogs rushing by with pickaxes and disappearing into a mine carved into the side of the mountain at the back of the village.

"The village isn't that old. It came about after I chose to quit adventuring and return to my homeland. If it weren't for us having more than just griffins around, we'd not have gotten far. Diamond Dogs love to dig, so we let them dig. They bring ore for us, and that heap of muscle at the forge is one of the blacksmiths that turn that ore into useful stuff." He finishes stopping outside of a two-storey wooden building.

"Well, Richard, it's been good meeting you but I have to get back to my post at the gate. You should take a look around if you're planning on staying whilst I'm on my shift." He says, before gesturing to the building we've stopped at. "This is the inn. When my shift ends at sunset, meet me back here. I'm gonna speak to someone to clear out one of the empty houses on my way back to the gate, so it should be ready for you by the time we meet up." He finishes, waving goodbye as he strolls back down the winding streets of his home village.

I lean back against the inn's wooden exterior, staring up at the sky. Although this land isn't my world, judging by my gut feeling, it's at least safe for me.

Maybe I have a chance at a peaceful life here.

Author's Note

The massive wait is inexcusable, I'm sorry. Hopefully this chapter isn't that much of a let down compared to how long you readers had to wait for it, but hopefully I'll be back in the spirit of things. I've been terribly busy, and still am.

But I'll try to make time for you guys.