Dark Souls: Story of the Blanks

Chapter Eight

The Black Hammer of Ivory

“What’s your game in all this?” Celestia asked as Nightmare Moon paused in her measurements as she looked up at her.

“I don’t have a game. Being in stone for the past nine years makes a mare think over a few...life choices in her life.” She said before going back to what she was doing. “Was planning on getting revenge on you and your elements of harmony, but after thinking it over...and going insane after the fifth year I gave up on doing that.”

“And you expect me to believe that? You took over my sister’s body and forced me to send her to the moon.”

“True, but even if I hadn’t taken over Luna’s body this would’ve happened either way.”

“What do you mean by that?” Nightmare Moon grinned upon hearing that as she looked up at Celestia.

“Your relationship with Luna was broken. How you would ignore her pleas for letting the nights be longer just a little bit, how her subjects favored you over her, how she cries at night because her sister ignores her. Granted, I shouldn’t be the one who judges a mare’s actions toward her sister. But given how bad it was, it was bound to happen.” She said as her grin formed into a frown. “You hurt Luna, so it seemed fit that I hurt you back for what you did. How was Equestria able to last with a ruler like you that’s too blinded by her own sun to not see what lies in the shadow she cast upon the land she rules?”

“You have some nerve to speak to me like that. Especially-”

“Do keep in mind I only did two things to you. One in the past, and the other when I was released from the moon. You, on the other hand, kept an entire village hidden and sealed off from the world. Which didn’t last long seeing how the barrier you cast broke and they’ve been gathering gullible ponies to be their friends.” Celestia paused as she went silent upon her words. “I can name a lot of things that you’ve done, but right now we have more important things to take care of.”

“The ponies of Sunnytown?”

“Correct.” Nightmare Moon finished her measurements as she pulled away from Celestia. “How good are you with a sword.”

“.....Um…I might be a bit rusty on that.”

“.....Please tell me you kept up with your fighting for the past one thousand years?”

“I have been...busy.” Nightmare Moon deadpanned at the sun princess. She walked over to her, raised her hand, and smacked her upside her head causing her to let out a loud yelp.

“Busy doing what!? Getting somepony else to do the work for you while you sit back and fill out paperwork and eat cake!?” She said as Celestia looked off to the side with a blush of embarrassment. “....That would explain why it was so easy for me to kidnap you and seal you away when I got out of the moon.”

“To be fair I let myself get captured to help my former student Twilight in finding the elements of harmony.” She said which caused the dark alicorn to smack her on the nose as she yelped again. “Stop hitting me!”

“Stop being stupid!” She said before channeling magic into her horn. “Now hold still so I can put something on you.” With that, the pieces of cloth and metal gathered around Celestia for a moment before clinging to her body and engulfing her in a ball of magic. When the ball burst into a flash of light, Celestia was wearing knight-like armor similar to that of Alma but was more shiny, well-fitted, and not looking old.

“....I won’t lie and say that I’m not impressed by this...but this doesn’t change the fact of how I feel towards you.”

“Like I give a flying feather on being friends with you. Do keep in mind that I’m only doing this because Alma suggested we all work together to get out of this forest.”

“I take it she’s one of your subjects?”

“No, I figured she was one of yours when we first met. But it turns out she’s from outside of Equestria. Don’t know, she didn’t explain much, but I’m sure she’ll tell us...or not. I’m not complaining about it.”

“Do you at least know how she’s able to use magic?”

“Something involving a curse or something. I wasn’t paying much attention due to lack of interest, and I was still trying to wake up from being stoned.” She said before finishing up her examination of Celestia’s garments. “That should keep you protected to some degree. You’re welcome by the way.”

“This doesn’t change the way I feel about you. You know that, right?”

“And here I thought you were supposed to be the pinnacle of friendship and giving ponies a second chance. After all, you did give Discord a third chance after betraying you in helping Tierk.” Nightmare Moon said as Celestia stared at her in surprise. “The little filly told me about what’s been going on in the world during my stoned imprisonment for the past nine years. Now if you’re done with your attempts to scare me, we should go meet up with the others so we can wait for your so-called knight who may or may not be dead.” She said before walking back towards the group. Celestia stared at Nightmare for a moment before shaking her head and following the dark alicorn to where the others were. Once there, the two see the other three gathering up supplies from the surrounding area that were salvageable. Nightmare Moon cleared her throat as they turned their attention to her and the now-armored Celestia.

“Good to see you’re wearing something that isn’t so revealing,” Alma said before handing her a makeshift backpack. “Here, you’ll need this to carry your supplies in.”

“We’re not leaving yet are we?”

“No, we’re gathering what we can and waiting for your friend to get here. If he’s not here within an hour or two, then we’re leaving without him.”

“We can’t just leave him in a place like this? He might be injured or worse!”

“Well, we can’t stay here for very long. If the ponies from Sunnytown surround this place, then we’re in trouble since only one of us can fight.” She said before noticing Celestia was about to speak up, only for her to shut her up. “You can’t use magic due to your horn being injured, Nightmare Moon is still recovering from her stone prison so she’ll possibly be useful as support, Mitta isn’t good at fighting other than swinging a knife or stick around, and Apple Bloom isn’t trained well to fight even though she has monstrous strength that almost rivals mine to some degree. I’m the only one with any fighting experience in this group and who isn’t weak or injured...offense everyone.”

“....She has a point.” Mitta agreed. “And unless you can handle yourself in a place filled with undead ponies, then you best come with us when time is up.” She said as Celestia looked off to the side. “Look, I’m not trying to be an ass. But given the state we’re in, we can’t afford to stay here any longer than we need to. Especially seeing how this is...well...buck it. It’s pretty much your fault.”

“Mitta!” Apple Bloom said with a stern gaze towards her.

“What? How do I say it without sounding like a pony’s flank?” The undead mare said as she scratched the back of her head. “I kinda developed a habit of being blunt towards ponies.”

“Back to the matter at hand,” Alma said as she interrupted the conversation. “Everyone got what they needed that can be salvaged from this place?”

“For the most part. We’re still gathering some stuff around here that is salvageable.” Apple Bloom said as she continued to look around the room they were in.

“Be quick about it.” The bat pony said as she walked over towards the hole in the wall to survey the area. As she was keeping watch, she noticed something moving in the bushes as she quickly summoned her lightning bow into her hands.

“Something wrong?” Celestia asked as she walked over to Alma, only to pause upon seeing red glowing eyes peering from the forest. “Oh…”

“Yeah, looks like time’s up,” Alma said as she turned her attention toward the others. “We’re leaving!”

“But what about-”

“We’ll come back after we lead them away from here. Right now, we need to leave.” She said before she noticed the undead ponies making themselves visible from the shadows of the forest. Alma looked over at Mitta and the others as she motioned for them to get over to where she was.

“I do hope you have a plan. Because As you said before, you’re the only one who can fight at the moment.” Nightmare Moon said as the bat pony looked back at the group of undead making their way through the bushes only to stop once they were visible in the moonlight. “Wait, why did they stop?”

“There are many reasons why. One might be because of me, or they have something coming here to kill us and be made into their friends.” She said as the bat pony’s ears began to twitch. “Anyone heard that?”

“Hear what?” Apple Bloom asked as she placed her hands on her ears to see what she meant. There was a moment of silence as the ground around them shook a bit. “Now I hear it. You don’t think they brought a monster here do you?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m being honest,” Mitta said as she moved over to see where the stomping was coming from. Upon hearing the sound of branches breaking to her left, she turns her attention toward it only for her eyes to widen upon seeing a humanoid-like creature appearing out from the darkness of the forest.

“Mother of me! What is that thing!?” Celestia yelled as she flinched back from seeing the creature.
“Don’t know...but I have a feeling that it came from one of my books that they stole when they found me in the forest.” Alma said as Celestia turned her attention to the bat pony.

“...What kind of book would make something like that!?” The Princess asked with a stern gaze on her face.

“I’m...going with one of the darker books that I have...one that most p...ponies shouldn’t read unless they want to go mad with madness and turn to darker thoughts.” She said before noticing everyone looking at her with a deadpan expression on their faces.”Hey, don’t fucking judge me! You guys aren’t exactly perfect. Or need I remind you of what you all told me of what you did..minus Apple Bloom because she’s a victim of this mess.”

“Ponies that reside inside the castle! We are here to take you to Sunnytown so we can cure you of the curse that you have on your flanks!” yelled the undead earth pony as he moved over to the monster. “We would prefer if you come with us peacefully, less we would have our friend here come in and force you to come with us.” Celestia squinted her eyes upon seeing something on the monster's chest. Her eyes soon widened as she saw the symbol of the royal guard on its chest.

“Ivory?” Celestia said as she turned her attention to the earth pony. “What did you do to Ivory you monsters!? There’s no way that thing is him!”

“But indeed it is. For you see, we cured him of his curse and gave him the gift of everlasting freedom and friendship. His new body with the help of that book that Grey Hoof found three days ago, granted us the ability to give ponies much stronger bodies. However that only applies to those that are new, not the older generations mind you. It may be a rushed job, but this quick ritual will have to be done for now.” He said before the demon known as Ivory let out a bloodcurdling roar that caused Apple Bloom to hold onto Mitta out of fear. Celestia could only stare in shock at what this creature was, yet still couldn’t believe that they would turn somepony into an ungodly abomination of darkness and malice.

“Please tell me you have a plan because right now the only option we have left is to give up and go with them to Sunnytown.” Nightmare Moon said as she had a worried expression on her face.

“....You have enough magic to create a barrier around you and the others?” Alma asked as the dark Alicorn raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yeah, why?” She asked before noticing the bat pony placing a hand on the handle of her greatsword. “You’re not planning on fighting that thing are you!?”

“Well, it’s not like we have much of a choice. If I take down the monster, then they leave so we can make a break for it.”

“You can’t do that!” Celestia protested. “That’s one of my faithful guards. What if he is still himself in there and can be turned back?"

“Doubt it seeing how he’s been cursed by a spell in my book. No way of returning him to normal.” She said before making her way towards the undead group. “And right now is not the time to be thinking about saving someone already dead.”

“She has a point.” Nightmare Moon said as she cast a barrier around them as they watched the bat pony walk towards the group of undead ponies. Once Alma was close enough to them, she stopped and placed her sword standing up in the ground as she folded her arms and stared at the group.

“I take it you’re the leader of this search party?” Alma asked as the undead pony nodded.

“Indeed. I am Mello Jello. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said before eyeing Alma up and down. “Hey, aren’t you the bat pony we found some time ago?”

“Nice to see that I’m starting to be known a bit. Shame that it’s you guys and your sick leader.”

“Hey now. Don’t be that way. Once we save you and your friends from the curse mark, we can be friends forever and ever!”

“And if we refuse your most generous offer?” Alma asked as the demon slammed his hammer onto the ground to her response.

“Then we’ll have to take you in by force,” Mello said as he ordered the demon to charge at her. As the demon charged at the bat pony, Mello along with his group quickly made their way back into the darkness of the forest as they watched the fight take place in front of them.

“Hope I can come back from the dead if I get killed by it.” She said before bringing up her greatsword as a magical aura wildly burst from out of it before she fired off a large beam of lunar energy at the demon. The demon quickly jumped out of the way of the beam but was sent flying backward from the force behind her attack as it landed on a nearby tree branch that could support him from a distance. Alma blinked in surprise upon seeing the giant hole she made in the forest where the demon was standing as she looked over her weapon. “Okay, I can work with this.”

The demon lets out a primal roar before launching itself off the branch and flying towards Alma like a bullet. The bat pony’s ears twitched upon hearing the demon flying towards her before quickly rolling to the side of the oncoming monster, then hitting him with the flat part of her greatsword and sending him flying off to the side and into a nearby tree which he crashed through. During this time, Alma began to gather magic into the sword as it once again bursts wildly with the same magical aura from before. The demon soon pulled himself back up and quickly launched itself at Alma again, only for the bat pony to fire off another magical beam of lunar energy at the monster. Upon making contact at close range, an explosion was set off as the force behind it caused Nightmare Moon, Celestia, Apple Bloom, and Mitta to be pushed back into the force field that Nightmare Moon made for them as a means of protection.

“Mother of me,” Celestia said as she pulled herself off of Nightmare Moon. “Just who is that mare?”

“I would like to know as well.” Nightmare Moon said as she along with the others pulled themselves up from either the ground or each other. “I know ponies have certain magical properties, but what pony other than unicorns or alicorns can perform feats of magic like this!?”

“I think we should save the questions for later,” Mitta said as she pointed over at Alma flying out of the explosion and towards the sky. “We need to follow after them.”

“Wouldn’t that be a bad idea?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at the bat pony flying off in the distance. “We might get caught up in the fight.”

“It would be, but we might need to make a quick getaway in case Alma gets in trouble during the fight...that and I prefer not to have the undead group attack us while Alma is distracted.” Nightmare Moon answered as she motioned for them to follow after Alma.
The cloud caused by the explosion moved a bit and the demon soon followed Alma as he grabbed her by the face and slammed her into the wall of the upper tower of the castle. Once the demon had a good footing on the wall, he brought up his hammer and slammed it down onto Alma; she was sent crashing down the inside of the tower as it crumbled. Before the debris could fall onto the duo, Alma was sent flying backward by the demon as she skidded across the ground, and was sent flying into the air by the demon surprisingly appearing behind her. As she was sent flying into the sky, the demon soon followed as he was about to send her flying into the ground. Only for the bat pony’s wings to open up to quickly recover as she soon hit the demon with another magical beam of magic at point-blank range it caused another explosion that sent the demon crashing towards the ground while Alma slowly descended. Once the bat pony landed, she let out a low grunt from the pain she felt in her ribs.

“Geez, even with the armor I have on this bastard hits harder than Yhorm. And he’s a fucking giant compared to this demon.” She said before pulling out an estus and ashen flask as she began to drink them one at a time. Once she was finished, she soon heard the demon’s body crashing down onto the ground covered in magical flames and a few limbs and pieces ripped off from his body. Alma let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the demon dead, only to deadpan upon seeing the demon’s eyes glowing as he soon stood up its body began to glow. Once he stood up, a dark crimson aura erupted from the demon as his limbs and wounds began to regenerate at an alarming rate before letting out a primal roar. “Of course...why wouldn’t it have a second wind.”

The demon rushed over towards Alma flailing its hammer around like a madman as both their weapons collided with each other causing the ground to crack and buckle a bit from the force behind their attacks. Alma could feel herself losing her footing as she used the magic in her sword to parry the demon’s hammer off to the side as she fired off another large magical beam at the demon. Just as Nightmare Moon and the others made it to where the two fighters were, the dark alicorn used her magic to push them all down as the beam Alma shot off flew passed from above. Once the beam flew past them, the group pulled themselves up as they looked at each other in both shock and surprise as they looked back at the fight.

As the group continued to watch the fighters fight, Alma was soon pushed back by the demon sending her flying as she skidded across the stone-covered ground. The demon soon shot up into the air as he fired off a barrage of fireballs down upon the bat pony. Alma took notice of this as she placed her sword back onto her back as she summoned up a bow made of lightning which she used to fire off a barrage of lightning arrows at him from the ground while dodging the barrage of fireballs. The demon easily dodges the oncoming arrows as he soon lands near the section of the tower he broke. Once he was there, he quickly lifted a large piece of it and hurled it over towards Alma.

The bat pony’s eyes widened upon seeing it heading towards her as she quickly dismissed her bow and pulled out her greatsword to form a large magical blade to cut it in two. As the large debris was cut and shattered into pieces, the demon soon appeared behind Alma in an attempt to hit her from behind. The bat pony’s ears twitched as she quickly turned around to block the incoming attack from the demon. The floor she was standing on buckled from the force as she felt herself falling. Before she could react, she felt the demon grab her by the face and slam her onto the ground, and started to drag her along it while hitting pieces of stones sticking out from the ground breaking from the force of the demon’s strength.

Alma let out cries of pain from being dragged through the ground and pieces of the floor as she soon felt herself being thrown into the sky. Before she could recover from the throw, the demon darted after her once again he grabbed her and slammed her onto the ground. The force behind his slam caused the ground to buckle again as he soon started throwing her around like a ragdoll against the ground and pieces of the earth that were sticking out from the ground. Through the pain, the champion of ash managed to get a grip on her greatsword to be able to fire off another magical beam of lunar energy at point-blank range causing a pillar of said energy to erupt from the ground as the two were sent flying off towards the garden part of the abandoned castle. Alma would be the first to land as she tumbles onto her side covered in burns and bruises while the demon would be in the same condition as the life in its body was starting to fade away but was still able to fight.

“Time to end this.” She said as she staggered to her feet and brought her sword up above her head with one hand as she began to gather up magical energy from her body and unknowingly from the surrounding area around them. The demon lets out a primal roar as he begins to pull himself up and launches himself towards Alma getting ready to drop the hammer onto the bat pony’s chest. His hammer soon hit something metal, he looked down to see that he hit the shield that she pulled out from off her back as she parried the hammer off to the side, causing the demon to stagger as Alma quickly placed her hands onto the handle of her greatsword as it soon reaches its maximum output as magic wildly burst from her sword. “I'm sorry, brave knight. May you find peace in oblivion.”

With that, she brought down her sword to unleash the magic stored up in her greatsword the beam sent the demon flying off into the distance of the direction she fired at causing it to destroy part of the area she fired upon as the demon’s cry of pain was slowly dying off as his body began to turn to dust. The beam began to slowly die down, the others began to quickly head over to the bat pony as she soon collapsed to the ground.

“Is she going to be okay?” Apple Bloom asked as Nightmare Moon looked her over for a moment as Mitta and Celestia quickly moved to pull the unkindled one up for support.

“Well, she’s breathing from the looks of it. But I’ll have to look over her body to get a good look at what we’re dealing with.” The dark alicorn said as she looked over at Apple Bloom. “Is there someplace that we can take cover in? Apple Bloom places a hand on her chin for a good few seconds before her eyes widen at the sudden realization.

“Zecora!”

“Who?” The three mares said in unison as Apple Bloom motioned for them to follow her as Celestia and Mitta carried Alma and her gear along with them.

“She’s a Zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest! Why didn’t I go to her sooner about this problem I have!?”

“Could be because you died and were on the run from the ponies of Sunnytown for the past eight years.” Nightmare Moon said as Apple Bloom, Mitta, and Celestia stared at her with a deadpan expression. “What? You know it’s true given how you’re still a little filly.”

“Can we please go before the undead rejects of Sunnytown come out of the shadows and try to capture us?” Mitta asked as the group quickly made their way through the destroyed area that used to be the ruins of the castle of the two sisters. Only for Celestia to pause to the sudden realization.

“Something wrong Celestia?” Mitta asked as she noticed the white alicorn look over the damage, then back at Alma, then at her sword.

“....She’s the one that blasted me and my ponies out of the sky wasn’t she…?” She asked as all three of them paused and looked at each other with worried looks on their faces.

“One of the ponies from Sunnytown did that,” Mitta said as Celestia looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “Blame Grey Hoof and his curiosity for stuff like this. He didn’t think the sword held any power or anything until he fired off a blast by accident.”

“...I am going to need a long warm bath when this is over...and to reflect upon my past mistakes.” She said before going back to carrying Alma. As she walked close to Apple Bloom leading the way towards Zecora’s hut, Nightmare Moon and Mitta moved towards the rear as they whispered to each other.

“Nice save with the whole blaming your townsfolk thing. Was beginning to think she was going to figure it out sooner than expected.”

“I’m not in the mood for more drama than needed. Right now I want someplace to feel safe without those idiots from Sunnytown following us.” Mitta said as she picked up the bat pony’s greatsword and began to follow after Apple Bloom and Celestia. “And right now, I’m tired and want to sleep.”

“You can sleep?” Nightmare Moon said as Mitta deadpanned at her. “...Sorry.”

“Let’s just go before I say something I’m going to regret saying.”