Harvester Of Souls, Bringer Of Hope

It was early in the morning after a couple of days when Zemrite returned to the castle from his trip to gain support from the Order Of Darkness. Already members of the group had come to seek to join Zemrite’s Shadow Division. He had been seeing over their trials in secret while the princesses were busy with their royal duties. As of the present time, his division has grown twice the size of what it once was. Double both shadow runners, shadow crawlers and shadow flyers. Pony from not only the main headquarters from the order, but other branches as well.

Zemrite walked along the main corridor towards the main entrance. He decided on heading down to Ponyville to visit his dearest friend, Twilight as it had been far too long since he had spent time with her or any of her other friends. After all, it was them who showed everyone else that he wasn’t such a bad guy. And now that he is known as the princesses’ fiance, they’d certainly have no issues with him along with all his other heroic deeds he has done.

Once he steps off the train that had stopped at Ponyville, he makes his way into the small town. He lowers his hood and makes his way straight toward Twilight's Castle, as it had been far, far too long since he had spent any time with her. On his way there, he literally bumps into Rarity who seemed to be carrying a lot of fabrics which seemed to mostly obscure her vision. Thinking quickly, he catches her first with one arm and tries to save what he can with the other. This surprised her as she let out a yelp and clung to his chest to prevent herself from falling. Once she realizes who it was that prevented her from having a nasty fall, she smiled warmly to her savior.

“Well look who it is! It has been so long, darling! And it appears that you came in the nick of time! Thank you ever so much for catching me~.”

Zemrite helped her back onto her hooves and offered her a smile in return, quickly making his way around to pick up any items she had dropped or had fallen out of her bags. He shook his head and gave a low chuckle.

“Burning through fabric as usual I see. Do you ever take an off day, Rarity?”

“Oh no no no! Fashion never has an off day, sweetheart! And speaking of fashion, I see yours hasn’t really changed since I last saw you. You’d look so much handsomer in some with with royal blue and gold trimming. Like...someone out of a fairy tale...from a deep forest kingdom or something along those lines.”

Zemrite was quick to shake his head at any possible offers.

“I am not a wood elf or high elf, Rarity. Those kinds of colors aren’t what my kind wear. We prefer our darker colors in contrast to our pale skin. Besides, it would look horrible with the markings all over my body.”

She gives him a grumpy stare and stomps her hoof in a huff. This makes him laugh on the inside just a bit. But she sighed and nodded. After which he offered to help her carry her things to her shop. After he does, he then makes his way to his original destination. He was rather excited to see Twilight after for so long and couldn’t wait to catch up with her and tell her all the adventures that he had been on.

Twilight sat at her table which multiple stacks of books sat upon. Some open, and others closed as she seemed to be deep in her studies, the sound of the quill scribbling over papers and pages turning filled the quiet building before a knock at the door came. At first, she didn’t notice until another couple knocks happened again. She groaned in annoyance before getting up from her chair and swung the door open.

“Didn’t you see the sign? I am busy wi-...”

Her jaw dropped as she looks up at her dearest friend before letting out a happy gasp and leaping up to wrap her arms around his neck and clinging to him in one of the tightest hugs she had ever given someone. Zemrite was all too happy to return the embrace before letting her back down and resting his hands upon her shoulders.

“Sweet Celestia! It is so so good to see you again, Zemrite! Look at you, you have changed quite a bit! What’s with the mane color change…?”

“Good to see you again as well, Twi. I have missed you quite a lot. I have quite a few stories to tell you. I am sure Tia has been letting you know, but leaving out the fun parts as she always does.”

She giggled and pulled him into the library before closing the door behind them. She leads him over to the large comfy couch over by the fireplace and sat him down before going to make a couple of drinks for them both. Once she had done that, she sits next to him and catch up with each other on what they had been doing and what they have gone through. It was a wonderful time for them both as they had missed each other’s company for so very long.

They continued to talk into the later hours of the day as the late afternoon came upon them. Twilight sat with her back pressed against his chest with his arms around her front as they just sat there and snuggle while talking. All was going well until Zemrite noticed something odd about the beverages they had been sipping on during their time together. They were ripping every few seconds. Like something heavy was approaching. And it wasn’t until Zemrite twitched his ears, catching the faint sound of something heavy slowly, but gradually getting closer and closer.

“What in the nine circles of hell..?”

He said before he and Twilight both got up to go to her balcony to look through her telescope. WHat they saw shocked them both. It mostly shocked Twilight because of its massive size. But, Mystoghan was shocked as to what it actually was. He deadpans a serious stare to Twilight before speaking.

“Twi...you and the others need to get the ponies in this city evacuated as soon as possible. That thing is a guardian of light. A large stone colossus that is known for destroying cities back where I am from. And just like all the other monsters that have made their way here, it mostly likely came through a rift. I am going to intercept it before it can get any closer.”

He said as he leapt over the balcony railing and slid down tree branches before landing on the ground on his feet. Twilight calls out to him before he could get far enough from her range of voice.

“Are you crazy?! You can’t take that thing on all by yourself! And if that thing is a guardian of light, it’s going to have an overwhelming advantage over you! You can’t think I am just going to let you go after that monster all on your own!”

“That may well be true. But, this isn’t my first guardian of light. The only issue I will most likely have is getting towards its weak point on its body. But once you get everyone a distance, you can come help if you want.”

Zemrite could see the worry on her face as he looked up at her. He simply offered her a toothy smile and summoned his mount. The ethereal horse running through the town and towards Zemrite before he grabs hold of the reigns and swings himself atop the equine’s back before riding off full speed towards the giant. He knew that it would take Twilight and her friends a long while to move everyone away from the town. He simply didn’t want her getting involved and risking her life.

Once he made it out into the open fields on the outskirts of Ponyville where the colossus was walking towards the town. He observed it’s structure. It was like a mass of boulders and stones all brought together in a humanoid structure. He noticed around the knees and elbows that the joints were a glowing cluster of a shiny precious stone that pulsated with life. And in all that stone, cracks formed along it’s body that radiated pure light along with its eyes as well. Zemrite gripped the reigns of his mount before letting out a breath of nervousness. But he has already come this far. There was no turning back.

“Okay, Malumi. Just like the last one we did back in our world. Keep circling below. I will be counting on you to catch me each time…”

The horse suddenly reared back with a ghostly whinny as she began to charge forth. Zemrite removed his cloak from himself and got into a crouching position atop his horse's back The giant took notice of the approaching pair and let out an earth shaking roar before it lifted it’s massive arm and started to bring down it’s massive hand. However, Zemrite leapt into the air and his mounted when the other way to safely circling the beast. The hand hit the ground with a loud BOOOOM , sending a large shockwave and wind over the empty fields. Zemrite landed on the top part of the giant’s arm and wasted no time in running up it as quickly as he could before it could lift its arm back up. Zemrite leapt again with his dagger in hand and plunged it into the joint that seemed to give its limbs life. He knew his dagger wasn’t going to cause much damage. However, there was one thing he could do if he used it in short bursts. He changed into his full on reaper form which made an oversized scythe appear in his hand. He began wailing on the joint as hard and as quick as possible, nothing the other hand coming in to grab him. With one final strike, the massive gem shatters and the monster cries out in pain as it reels back. Zemrite changes back to his true form and leaps off the massive creature and lands perfectly on the back of his mount that continued to circle around. However, Zemrite could already feel the burns forming across his body from being so close to such a purifying light. And being in his reaper form for even a short time only intensified his weakness to it. He couldn’t stop though. He wasn’t going to until the beast was dead..

With another leap into the air, he casts a grappling spell that sent an ethereal hand up towards the right leg which pulled him up onto it. Thinking having its left arm and right legs disabled would slow it down more due to being off balance. He repeated the save process again before riding off a ways away to gather himself, the burns becoming more intense and spreading across his flesh. He grunts in pain as he clutches at his chest chest, his heart rate going crazy as the pain racks through his form. Thankfully, his strategy seems to be paying off as the giant was struggling to move, exponentially slowed down because of its current out of use limbs. He gathers himself and fights against the pain going throughout his body before charging back into the battle. This time however, he was going to take out the other two limbs before dropping back down.

He uses the same technique to latch himself onto the other legs and destroy the joint accordingly, then he uses the grappling spell to latch onto the other arm and swing himself under and over before landing atop the shoulder and slides down to the other joint. He lets out a roar to fight through the pain of the spreading burns and takes his reaper form once more and destroys the final limb before falling off and landing on his horse again which galloped fair enough away to watch the colossus slowly fall and make the ground around them shake heavily. Once the monster was down, Zemrite stood about thirty feet from its head and his eyes focused upon the gem in the middle of its head. He drew his bow and pulled back on it slowly, a dark wind swirling around him as a black and purple arrow appeared in the bow, a swarm of ghostly ravens circling around him until one large raven appeared behind him and let out a demonic cry with its wings spread.

“Fuck you and your god damn light.”

He said before releasing the arrow which turned into a full on oversized shadow arrow with the raven flying full force towards the giant’s head. The impact shattered the gem into dust and caused another shockwave which reached Zemrite and threw him back about ten feet onto his back. He sat up slowly holding his chest again and breathed heavily before letting out a weak laugh.

“Heheheh, piece of cake...just like I said.”

He tried to get back onto his feet, but the burns on his body were starting to take full hold of him, especially now that he didn’t have the fight to keep his mind off the pain anymore. He lets out a groan of pain as he tears through his clothing to reveal that he was indeed covered with deep burns, the blood from the wounds being soaked up by the clothing until it was getting heavy with it along with the melted flesh. Going into his reaper form was certainly a huge contribution to his now current critical state.

He shakily reaches into his void satchel and pulls out a red healing potion. Knowing this wouldn’t heal him fully, but at least prevent him from reaching death’s door for now. He drinks down the liquid quickly and tosses the bottle at the remains of giant before falling onto his back with an exhausted smile.

“I am getting too old for this shit.”

He wasn’t really old, but he felt like saying that line because it is something he has always wanted to say after a hard fought battle and being the victor. He closed his eyes and sighed lightly as he heard hoofsteps along with the clanking of armor. He sniffs the air and catches the scent of Twilight who must be among the group and sighs in relief.

“Okay, nap time…”

--A few Hours Later--

Zemrite opens his eyes and sits up from where he was lying. He stretches his arms out and yawns as if he had just woken up from slumber. He looks down to see himself nearly wrapped up fully in bandages and gauze. He looks around to see he is in that old familiar place. The royal room of the Ponyville hospital. And who should be there waiting not only Twilight, but Celestia and Luna as well, resting their heads on the side of the bed sleeping away. Zemrite knew he was going to be getting an ear full from all three of them. So as carefully as he could, he crawled forward on the bed and silently made his way onto the floor and tiptoed to the door. Quietly opening and closing it before making his way down the hallway to the cafeteria to get some food. He was starving. He really didn’t care that all he was wearing was pants. He wasn’t going back into that room if he didn’t have to. As he made his way there, he bumped into one of the nurses that was tending to him, nearly making her scream in surprise before he placed a hand over her muzzle and placed his finger to his lips.

“Ssshhhh. I am alright. Last thing I need is for those three to come out and hunt me down. Please don’t scream…”

The nurse hesitantly nods in understanding. Zemrite then removes his hand from her muzzle and smiles to her.

“Thanks. Now then, I am off to get some food. And thanks for patching me up by the way.”

One he had sat down with a sandwich and a glass of milk, he was about to take his first bite when he heard the cafeteria doors slam open. There stood three very upset alicorns. Zemrite sighed and looked down at his food.

“And I didn’t even get to have one bite…”