Chapter I — The Prince and the Unicorn
THE QUEST OF THE UNICORN
PROLOGUE: FROM THE GATES OF HELL
The unicorn breathed out a sigh as she closed her eyes and relaxed her body. Biting her lip, she leaned forward and wrapped her hooves around a large, black gem.
The first thing that she registered after touching the crystal was that the world in her mind’s eye was not Equestria. It was similar, but it was not Equestria. This was the place where all hell broke loose — the source of the decimation of the planet.
This was the past.
The land was dark, and the only visible colors of the world around her were violet and a deep, dark blue. The very sky was an endless pit in itself: a complete and utter abyss. She floated about with no clear aim or purpose above grey grasslands, villages and forests, but they were not her destination. A large, unmoving grey cloud hovered above the largest forest in the vicinity, which appeared to span for miles with no clear end.
As she levitated towards the cloud, she noted two dark entities upon its center. They were ponies — pegasi, to be precise.
Nevertheless, the more interesting objects upon the cloud were the two majestic, gray pillars adorned with thorned blue vines and hideous purple flowers that stood in front of the two ponies. Between the two pillars, there was a strange, dark door. It sucked whatever light emanated in this realm into its darkness, and she felt cold wrapping itself around her as she neared it.
A portal.
Upon the cloud, the taller of the two ponies frowned disappointingly. “Are you sure about this?” she asked, “if you fail, you can never come back.”
The smaller of the two pegasi gave a long, thoughtful look at the black door. He began taking numerous steps towards the dark door, and stopped mere meters from it. As he did so, the portal lost nothing more than a shade of its darkness, but enough to make something out.
There was something on the other side.
The smaller pegasus turned back to his companion. “I’m aware of the risks, Your Majesty,” he answered. “I know what the consequences of failure are. What is your bidding, Your Grace?”
“There are six ponies,” began the female pony. “They are the embodiment of what are called the ‘Elements of Harmony’. The Elements are Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. Generosity, Laughter and Kindness are of lesser threat; Loyalty, Magic and Honesty are your targets.”
She began pacing upon the unnatural cloud, and their unseen observer’s anxiety grew with every passing moment. “They are the greatest of threats, to my recollection. They were ferocious, and they will not fall without a fight. Begin with Magic, and then finish off Loyalty and Honesty. With both Nightmare Moon and the great Discord defeated, they have left the bearers of the Elements weakened. Be on your guard against them, for they have centuries of training upon their back, and they have defeated both Discord and Nightmare Moon twice. The names of your targets are Celestia, Speedthirst and Bayhooves. ”
“But mistress,” her companion began. “Magic is the leader of the Six. Intelligence reports that she is the direct pupil of Celestia herself — apparently, someone replaced Celestia as the wielder of the Element of Magic. Moreover, are you certain the intelligence reports are up-to-date, if at all valid? From the stained windows and stories told by the local ponies, I don’t believe that there were any ponies called the such. Nor do I think the princess was any particular wielder of—”
The taller of the two pegasi’s brows furrowed from insult. This slight movement was enough to silence the pegasus.
“I have complete faith in the abilities of my scouts, Akarian,” the taller of the two stated, warning the other pony not to dare interrupt her again. “If the scout didn’t tell you that the other Elements were replaced, or that the older intelligence was incorrect, you do not need to worry.”
Akarian bowed his head, defeated. “As you say, Your Majesty. The new bearer of Magic is safeguarded in the heart of the capital under the watchful eye of Celestia. I believe if we destroy other Elements first, she will come to us.”
The larger pegasus contemplated the suggestion. “Agreed,” she admitted. “Kill the bearer of Loyalty; he was a close friend of the princess Celestia. The key of the Elements of Harmony is, after all, friendship; she will come to us following his death. After that, you can eliminate her and the rest of the Elements in any way you wish. Once the Six have fallen, the future of Equestria would be ours. You will receive reports of your new errand once they are dead by my ambassadors."
“As you command,” Akarian stated, and without a second thought, the pegasus flapped his wings and leaped through the portal. Just as he leaped through, if one would look at the portal closely enough, one could see a dark, gloomy forest. The pegasus froze upon touching the portal, and began merging with it. After a few moments, six alicorns appeared on the other side.
CHAPTER I: THE PRINCE AND THE UNICORN
Incineration.
Ten years ago, nopony used such a horrifying term. It implied destruction, fire and agony, something the ponies of Equestria, the griffins of Aviaria, and the wolves of Mount Blackfang knew very little of in the last two centuries.
Prince Theranius XIV, the prince of the Griffin Empire, son of the deceased King–Emperor Albertus VI, found himself gambling in a wooden inn named the Roseluck on the edge of Canterlot — not reading royal mail, not holding court, not doing anything that befit his title or seemed appropriate to do with his knowledge.
Sitting on a hard chair in a dark room, Theranius found himself dozing off as his companions — three griffins and a wolf — mulled over and contemplated their choices.
What are we even doing here? Theranius thought.
Outside, darkness illuminated the skies of Canterlot, despite the fact that it was two o’clock in the afternoon. Even if a sun still existed, it could never pierce the ever-present thick clouds that filled the skies.
Theranius drank the last drop of his Everfree beer and heard one of his griffin companions mutter something about a “damned Celestia” under his breath.
The prince chuckled at the thought — Celestia had long since perished.
As far as Theranius was concerned, the world was upside down right now. The sun burnt to a crisp half the kingdom of the wolves, including the Eastern and Northern Seas, which contained the kingdoms of the underwater creatures, known as the Laforians and the Nerboiliacs. Several other kingdoms and city-states had burned to the ground, but the only true surviving states were Equestria, the Griffin Empire, and the shattered tribes of the Wolf Clans — or, at least, their territories. The governments of the three states have long since caved in on themselves, and new rulers began arising in the regions.
He continued staring at the table, falling into deeper and deeper thought. The rumors of why the Incineration happened remain a popular debate of tales throughout the taverns. He knew most of them by heart, but he stuck to the facts: Equestria entered a mysterious war with no actual discernible state, and an explosion ripped apart a forest that his beer was named after, the Everfree Forest. Celestia, along with the royal army had been — according to folk legend — “melted to dust”, “grinded into the ground until nothing was left,” or “defragmented into external-dimensional matter,” though he severely doubted the credibility of the latter.
With her death, the sun lost its cohesion and burned to the ground anything that was unfortunate enough to be caught under its rays. To top it all off, it was night in Equestria, meaning the explosion of the sun consumed almost every kingdom but Equestria.
The Incineration.
The other demigoddess, Luna, is a touchy subject too, he had to admit. So was the sovereign of the Wolf Clans; rumors around these parts say that he—
“Come on, Theranius!” one of the griffins, Nalphy, yelled. “Roll already!”
The prince shook his head, trying to bring his mind back to focus. “Right,” he responded as he lifted a broken teapot, filled it with dice, shook it several times, and brought it facedown back on the table. He lifted the teapot only slightly, like the rest of his companions, towards himself, so that he might see the dice that fell. As he did so, the brown hairs on his arm erected as he realized his potentially poor roll.
The game continued.
As they were shaking teapots and mulling about, the griffin prince once again found himself staring at the wolf, a creature that long ago would have been a rare feat to find. His coat was far longer than one that would belong to a dog. His jaw extended further, and his face reminded him more of that of a male stallion. He noted that the wolf’s eyes were brown and the pupils resembled that of any other dog, and they stared with great intent upon his upside-down teapot. With grey hair, a black jacket, and devious brown eyes, the name of this wolf was Grelok, and he said aloud as he uncovered his own dice from below the teapot:
“Ha! I win!”
Theranius could only chuckle at Grelok’s certainty. With a snicker, he picked up his own teapot, to reveal four-fives and two-sixes to the rest of the party.
“I don’t think so, Grelok,” the prince casually informed his wolf friend, and proceeded to pull all the golden coins that were lying on the table onto a pouch. His companions exchanged slightly annoyed faces.
The smile instantly evaporated from Grelok’s visage. The game was over.
With a growl, the wolf stood on two feet, took several steps into the darkness behind him, and hit the light switch. It was shaped like a box, to accommodate any species who bore hooves or that lack opposable thumbs. Seconds later, proper lighting returned to their room at long last, which was up until now lighted merely by a single candle.
“Right then,” Grelok said. “No more games for tonight. Out.”
The prince laughed, though he approached the wolf as he noted that the latter looked rather annoyed.
“Come on, buddy,” Theranius chuckled. “Don’t be a sore loser.”
Grelok viciously pointed at the prince’s chin. “No, you listen to me ‘ere, junior. You cheated. I know it. We’re not playing for a very long while again, you and I!”
His voice definitely resembled a dog’s, though.
Theranius shrugged. “You know that isn’t my play style. If you really want,” he said, throwing the bag of money to Grelok, “it’s yours, buddy.”
However, before Grelok could even internally celebrate his success, the prince pointed out. “But if you accept that, we’re not playing anymore.”
Grelok opened his mouth to argue as he found himself at the offender’s side, and took a good look at the small pouch. With a growl, he threw the bag of money back to Theranius, realizing a handful of bits was not worth their friendship. “Whatever,” growled the wolf, falling back on his wooden chair.
Theranius chuckled, turning to his companions. “Go on downstairs, get a few drinks,” he laughed as he sat back on his own chair, looking at the distressed wolf. “Me and Grelok have some catching up to do.”
They nodded in the affirmative, left the room, and closed the door behind them.
Silence stretched across the room for a few moments as neither griffin nor wolf said anything.
“Right then, what’s the matter, Grelok?” Theranius asked, taking a deck of playing cards from a drawer behind him. “You’re pissed off lately.”
The wolf waved his hand at the griffin prince, as though hoping this action would shove his comment aside. “The wolves from Timberland are being a problem,” he muttered.
Theranius frowned. “Who?”
“You know who!” the wolf shot back, as he fully turned himself to face the prince. “The Timberlanders are being a menace, Theranius. Your buddy Andalorian promised to help the region of Canterlot almost a month ago.”
The griffin prince frowned deeper as he randomly selected cards from the deck and studied them. “Andalorian is one of the last remnants of the nobles and thus is inherently an idiot. We’re having enough problems of our own, why didn’t you come to me and ask?”
“Andalorian is no idiot, Theran,” Grelok pointed out. “Sure, he may be a fool to have been part of the civil war, but he’s good! My chieftain of my wolf clan would surely repay you in all the supplies you’ll need to help us get the Timberlanders off our back.”
“The Timberlanders are pirates, Grelok. The griffins are only twice as large as your own clan! We’re a bunch of children and aging warriors, we can’t hold back them back.”
The wolf growled. “Theranius, you’re making a big mistake, but … right. Go ahead and join your friends, come back to me in fifteen minutes. I have … something to show you, that you might like.”
The prince raised an eyebrow at this. “Certainly, Grelok,” he said as he arose from his chair and left the room, leaving Grelok where he was.
As he walked down the wooden staircase, a large, cloaked figure bumped into him without even bothering to apologize. The entity seemed to not even notice — or care — and entered the second floor.
Theranius shrugged him off, and walked quietly towards the bar. Before he could get anywhere near it, however, he felt someone nudging his shoulder.
“Theranius!” yelled what one could consider a monstrosity from its enormous jaw. It was standing on the table, and his eyes were blue with a tiny dot that signified the pupils. The very body looked like little more than soft tissue and flesh wrapped together, and it looked like an overgrown baby. The creature waved its tiny finned arms happily at Theranius as the prince tried to formulate a category for the creature, before it finally hit him.
Nerboiliac.
“It’s me, Korthak, don’t you—“
“Korth—...akanordi,” a griffin to Theranius’s other side said, immediately grabbing the tiny arms with both hands, shaking vigorously. “What a pleasant surprise to see you here, of all fish!” he said, with a slight hint of sarcasm.
Korthak’s eyes widened from awe, clearly not noting the sarcasm. However before he could speak, the brown griffin once again interrupted him.
“It’s great seeing you and all, but I have to borrow Theranius! He’ll be back shortly, as you might imagine!”
Korthak nodded his head very slowly, but nevertheless responded. “Sure sure! I’ll wait right here!”
The brown griffin lead the dumbfounded Theranius to one of the tables, where Theranius’s three companions awaited.
“Hey, Theranius!” yelled one of the three griffins, Ander. “Looks like you’ve met the clown of the tavern, Korth’akanova!”
The five burst into laughter while the two newcomers sat down. “Is that a Nerboiliac?” the prince asked with a hint of amusement. “The hell’s it doing over here?”
“I’ve no idea,” Nalphy said as she shrugged, taking a sip of her Everfree beer, a personal favorite of the griffin clan. “But I sure do know he’s insane, I’m telling you. He thought Lokmaw’s horns were antlers. Tried to break them off, he did.”
“Lokmaw? The Laforian? He’s here?” the prince asked, the amusement gone from his tone. “What’re the Laforians and the Nerboiliacs doing way out here?”
“Well, maybe the circus is in town?” Ander said, laughing.
“Maybe,” the prince said as he chuckled, “but it’s a bit worrying. I sure do hope they haven’t come here for our debts.”
“Debt?” blurted Nalphy as she pulled her beer down. “We’re in debt? With the Laforians?”
“Since when?” asked the third griffin, Uralius.
“I meant to tell you all later, but I guess this is as good as ever,” Theranius said, leaning back on his chair. “We need money. We couldn’t get it, so we asked for the Laforians to continue to ship us supplies and that we will repay them back shortly. But we can’t get it; Andalorian managed to make a deal with one of the Highcliff wolf officers — you know, Grelok. But he’s become too suspicious faster than we imagined, and now we’re in debt with the Laforians, and we’re in debt with the wolves until we take down the four airships harassing them.”
“Surely we can do something, perhaps do a few chores for the Ambassadors?” offered Nalphy.
“Work for the Ambassadors of Chaos? Not on your life. But worry not — I, Andalorian and Korthar have devised a plan that would get us out of this mess. Now be right back, I’m going to get us some more beer.”
He rose from the table, and head towards the bar. He spotted a large, brown pony standing behind the counter; he was the only pony around these parts, and merely referred to himself as “Halfgrin.” The pony was busying himself with rubbing something with his hoof — a picture frame — but it was always too dusty to see properly what — or rather, who — was in it.
Theranius kept his wings folded as he sat down on the stool in front of the bar.
“So,” Halfgrin began. The aging earth pony was already realizing who sat on the stool before fully turning around. “What can I do fer ya, princie?”
Theranius let out a sigh. “Just some Everfree — the usual amount per, but we’re five this time.” he said.
Halfgrin frowned at Theranius’s lack-of enthusiasm at his tavern. “What’s happened ter ya, buddy?” asked the pony, giving him a wide smile. If it were their first encounter, the griffin would probably recoil at the scar that severed the old pony’s lips, or the presence of the broken teeth.
Theranius leaned his cheek on one of his claws as he reflected on today’s events. “Eh, some rough play with Grelok. He thinks I cheated. Blacktooth raided our den last week, and we’re having problems trading with the Laforians.”
The pony burst into a maniac laughter; one of his peculiar characteristics. “Oh you crack me up, Theranius! Trading with Laforians? You lost yer head or something in that raid?”
The prince sighed, and turned his head around. He finally spotted them. Several cloaked beings sat at the table nearest to the bar, mulling over their drinks. Nevertheless, their bright, yellow eyes were clear from under their hoods. Their hands were scaled, and they bore pure white, razor-sharp nails.
“We don’t have much of a choice anymore,” answered the prince as he turned back to the barman. “Supply’s gone low in the Middle Kingdoms. The Laforians are in control of the Southern and Western Seas, and that’s our only cheap way to get some food.”
Halfgrin shrugged as he began cleaning the bar by dragging a cloth with his hoof across it. Anyone with half a brain could know that probably only made it dirtier, considering the conditions of the counter. Sometimes the prince wondered if Halfgrin had received a stone to the face once.
“Ya say ye canna trade with Laforians?” continued the barman. “Then clearly that’s not a ‘way’ to get food, cheap or not! If yer kids are starvin’, then go buy from the Wolf Clans! They’re the only civilization that still has their sovereign!”
The griffin grumbled under his breath. He took a chug down from the mug that Halfgrin served to him, as he rose to take the five beers back to the table. “That’s what makes them the least cheap resort in the entire Middle Kingdoms!—No, the worl—”
The prince cut himself off as a cloaked, four-legged figure entered the inn. He instantly registered that the equine was a female, simply by how she walked. But that was not what captivated his attention, though.
The thing that shocked the barman, the prince, and most likely the rest of the tavern, was her lavender horn.
All eyes locked on the intruder, silence filling the atmosphere.
Too quiet. In the three years Theranius spent in taverns, he learned that there were two times when you expected a fight to break out: when the place got too loud, and when the place got too quiet. And the latter times usually brought on the really nasty fights.
Halfgrin almost dropped his cigar at the presence of another pony. He completely ignored the prince, and leaned on the table with a sly grin. “Hello there madam, what brings you to my most humble inn?”
The figure responded quietly. “Just some fresh water, please.”
Halfgrin let out a smile, careful to not actually grin or show teeth. “I know whatcha mean, missy!” he said, and with no hesitation poured forth from a large keg some water into a bowl. “It’s on the house! So, I haven’t seen anypony yet here or anywhere near for the last decade! What brings you to the Ruins of—“
The unicorn raised a lavender hoof at the barman. “Please, simply call it Canterlot.”
Halfgrin shrugged. “Canterlot then,” he said, idly scratching the back of his head with a hoof. The prince had completely forgotten the drink he had ordered, and shoved all thoughts of his companions aside for now. He found himself gripped by the conversation between the mysterious unicorn and the earth pony.
“I came here seeking the prince of the Griffin Empire,” she said, peering at the griffin. Halfgrin looked, if ever so slightly, offended at the sudden change of attention, but he paid it no mind. He resumed cleaning the counter.
“Please,” Theranius told the unicorn. “I’m not exactly a prince anymore. My name is Theranius. What can I do for you, miss…?”
The unicorn nodded, clearly pleased by his cooperation. “Very well then, Theranius; I travelled here to speak to you and ask for your aid, for you are…”
A claw suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder.
"My liege," began the griffin that took hold of him
Theranius rose back to his feet, and gave his companion — Ander — a confused face.
"We need to talk," Ander said, and began leading Theranius to one of the corners of the inn. Theranius turned, signalling the unicorn to wait as he was pushed to the back of the inn.
As they reached one of the back rooms of the inn, the griffin knocked Theranius to the room and into one of the shelves, appearing outraged. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Shocked, Theranius threw himself forward into Ander, putting his face an inch from his own. "What do you think you're doing, Ander?”
"Don't you get it, my lord? This is a unicorn!" Ander whispered. "A unicorn! They're extinct! And you know what that means don't you?"
Theranius's brows furrowed, realization dawning on him. "That… it can only be Luna or Cadence…?"
An excited grin appeared on Ander's visage. "Yes, my prince! If we turn her in… we will never have to worry about money again! Never loot another corpse, never raze another village and sell it for another to feed our young! We will be richer than… than your very father!"
Theranius exhaled and leaned back on the shelf as he pondered on what to do. He creaked the door open and peered outside at the unicorn.
She was waiting, ever so patiently — or so it appeared — near the bar, awaiting his return, completely ignorant of the unfolding events.
“There is indeed a bounty on her head,” the griffin agreed, “but she’s a unicorn, she could teleport at will. How would we get her?”
Ander excitedly answered Theranius’s query. “Easy! The Laforians work directly with the Ambassadors of Chaos, because they fear their wrath. The Laforians have the most cutting-edge of technology on this side of the planet. They could create an anti-magic shield to stop her from leaving!”
"Excellent,” the griffin said, still peering at the unicorn. Her hair seemed to be longer than the extent of her cloak — it was a dark blue, with a strip of pink. He never saw such hair, but he recognized the description from somewhere. But where…
“My prince?” Ander interrupted his thoughts. “You sounded like you were in the middle of saying something?”
“Yes, yes,” Theranius said, waving his companion’s concerns aside. “Is it dead or alive?”
Ander chuckled. “Apparently, it doesn’t matter. And the anti-magic shield is not movable, and I don’t think the Laforians want to walk all the way to the capitol. We can simply kill her.”
“Right,” he mumbled, opening the door and headed towards their table, his expression grim. His three other companions were laughing — he probably missed a good joke. But their smiles evaporated as they saw Theranius’s visage.
He kept all of his fingers close to his hand as he only allowed the index to stay erect. He proceeded to stroke his neck with his index finger, and pointed at the unicorn, whom was talking with Halfgrin.
Ander meanwhile ran off to talk with the Laforians, as Theranius finally reached his companions.
They exchanged worried faces, before Theranius pulled from his sheath a claymore. The rest of the griffins nodded and followed suite, pulling weapons from their hilts and walked in complete silence to the unicorn.
Theranius reached the unwitting unicorn, murmuring a prayer to the goddess Aviara. He raised his sword high — but that hair. He read… something… significant…
The hesitation cost him.
“Look out!” a voice screamed from somewhere within the tavern. Instantly, the unicorn turned her head around, and the prince brought his blade slamming down.
He was instantly blown backwards, crashing and completely destroying one of the wooden pillars, his chest heaving from pain, scorched from the blast. After a few moments, he slumped against the ruined pieces of wood and lay still, his mind in disarray. A blue aura began enveloping the unicorn as she backed away — fortunately towards the staircase. The three griffins used this opportunity to close the distance on the lone pony, weapons raised evenly.
With a high-pitched creak, a brilliant pink glow began enveloping the tavern. It looked like floating water, as it embedded itself to walls, to the floor, and even to Theranius himself. The prince turned his head back to the source of the sound, and beheld a monstrous Laforian with a mechanical bracer, light dancing from the creature’s fingertips.
“The anti-magic shield!” yelled Nalphy to her companions. “She’s defenseless! Kill—“
With a groan, the entire tavern shook upon itself as though it was ready to plummet off the mountainside that it was perched upon. The resounding shake was caused by Nalphy, who was blown back and into one of the tables, completely pulverizing it upon impact.
“Vile unicorn magic!” sneered Ander, spitting on the floor. Other creatures such as wolves, dogs and even a Laforian rose from their seats to gain a better view on the fight.
Theranius groaned, shaking off the last remnants of the pain from him. He quickly picked up his claymore that lay next to him, and charged back at the unicorn.
She responded by immediately galloping into the second floor. The griffins without a moment’s worth of hesitation gave chase, but before they could even take a single step on the staircase, a bolt of magic hissed past Uralius’s ear, missing by an inch. The bolt in question went straight through the wall and out of the tavern, leaving the area around it charred.
“Take cover!” Uralius commanded his companions. Ander immediately leaped behind the staircase and Uralius dropped to the floor, dodging another bolt. He ran while crouched to Ander, taking cover alongside him.
“Why isn’t the fucking anti-magic shield working?!” Ander yelled angrily, covering his head with his hands as he tried to get a good look at the unicorn.
“Those stupid Laforians! We could’ve died! And she can still teleport out of here whenever she wants!” shouted Nalphy, as she rejoined her companions to the side of the staircase.
“I’ve an idea,” Theranius proposed, grabbing Nalphy’s shield right out of her claws. “Wait here until I can chop that horn off. If she uses all her power to take me out, then she won’t be able to stop you. She won’t dare blow everything she has at me.”
With no further hesitation, he roared and ran up the staircase, raising the shield high above him to defend himself from the relentless assault. As he reached the last step, he leaped at the lavender unicorn — who seemed to have taken off her cloak — and punched her once in the face with his left claw and raised the claymore high above him.
“Wait!”
The sheer desperation and power behind the word forced him hesitate. He growled as he rose up to both of his feet, the claymore still hanging above her.
“Don’t kill me, that’s not what you want. I’m not who you think I am,” she added.
“You know,” the griffin said, chuckling as he realized his hands began to hurt from suspending that claymore above her neck for so long. “Maybe a few decades ago I would have believed you, but for now I only care about one thing. I need the money, girl.”
“So you’ll get a bunch of bits off of me!” she said, peering at the staircase for a moment. “But you won’t stop the starvation of your kids! I can help you.”
“What kind of sad bullshit is that?” Theranius growled, losing his patience. “You can’t even defend yourself against a griffin, and your kingdom is in complete ruins — the people that I’m working for rule over your lands! You have no money!”
“I told you, I am not the princess!” she snapped. “But I do have a way to keep your children from starving, without money.”
He frowned, rising from her. “I’m listening.”
She began to bring herself back to her feet, before he lowered his claymore to her neck. “Don’t you dare move.”
Sweat began dripping from her brow. “I have something that could change your entire circumstances. The only reason you’re staying in this awful land is because you can’t leave it, is that right?”
The griffin slowly nodded, but grew angrier with every sentence. He didn’t like how much she knew, nor did he like that she knew that the griffin clan were starving and in debt.
“Excellent. You see, I have a way to get you to wherever it is you want to go.”
The prince gazed at her for a few moments as they shared blank faces.
He lost first. “I’m unimpressed. I would have thought the princess of Equestria could think of something much better than that,” he said with a chuckle.
She opened her mouth to respond, but the words never left her. He gripped her by the neck, raising the pony off the ground and smashing her into the wall, shaking her vigorously.
“I don’t … have a way to help you!” she shouted as her hooves automatically reached for her neck, “But please, I…”
The griffin would have crushed her neck then and there. But something changed. He was curious, and he slightly released his hold.
“Plain curiosity,” he muttered. “What did you want from me earlier?”
She looked at him carefully, her eyes darting back and forth from his sword and to his face. “I n-need your help in retrieving the necklaces known as the Elements of Harmony.”
Of course, he thought as he released her, frowning. I remember who she is…
“And why would you need the Elements of Harmony? And my help, of all people?” he asked, raising his eyebrow inquisitively.
“I have a way … to make this all go away.”
Make this all go away? were his first thoughts, and his mind screamed, yet no words escaped his tongue. Liar!
But he said nothing, instead just standing there as he contemplated the conflict in his mind.
She could pierce the anti-magic field, the prince thought. She is no ordinary unicorn. Her very element is that of magic, and why would she risk her neck going to a crime lord if she didn’t know she had a chance?
Moments later, the sound of feet striking floor reached him. His four other companions ran ahead of him and formed a tight circle around the unicorn, their weapons pointing at her. But none dared make a move from Theranius’s expression.
Nalphy frowned at him. “Theranius. What is it?”
“Nalphy, you must understand,” he muttered. “She might be able to help us. We cannot kill her.”
Ander lost his composure and erupted. “Help us? Are you insane, Theranius?! The Princess of the Night, Luna, is right there, the salvation of our people, is right there and you’re telling me we’re not going to seize this opportunity?!”
The floor shook. There were rumblings coming from below the inn.
“Ander,” growled the prince. “You're an idiot.”
As if on cue, dozens of wolves, dogs, laforians and other creatures were running up the staircase, screaming at each other to get out of their way. Nalphy, realizing what happened, immediately shut the door and locked it.
“That’s not going to last,” Nalphy pointed out to Theranius. “They heard your ramblings about Luna perfectly, Ander.”
“You shut up!” snapped Ander at the female griffin. “If Theranius had killed her, we could have already left with her body!”
“Listen to me, Ander,” Theranius growled, taking a step towards the brown griffin. “You get out of my way, and block this door—“
He interrupted himself as he realized that the bracer used by the Laforian was on his companion’s hand. “Give me that, Ander,” the prince commanded.
“What?” his companion frowned, taking a step back. “This is the property of the Laforians! I can’t—“
“I said give it to me,” growled the prince, “I don’t want this unicorn trying something.”
Ander sighed and gave in, taking off the bracer. Theranius snatched it from his lieutenant’s claw, locked it to the unicorn’s leg, and armed it. “You’re not going to be able to use magic with that thing so close to you,” he growled, as he turned around at the bangs on the door.
“They’re using tables now,” Uralius pointed out.
“Get over here,” yelled Theranius to the unicorn as he reached the wooden wall, and suddenly realized something.
Grelok never left the second floor.
He spotted the body; right below one of the tables.
Alarm bells rang in Theranius’s head, remembering the stranger that walked up to the second floor. “Grelok?!” he yelled as he ran across the room and kneeled down at Grelok’s body, searching for a pulse.
Good. He’s still alive.
“Wake up!” he yelled as he shook the wolf violently. “Wake up!”
“Erngh…” mumbled the wolf, before he registered the prince’s face. “Theranius! You no-good backstabber, I told you to get out—“
The prince slapped Grelok across the face. “What are you talking about? Will you be okay?”
The slap apparently sent Grelok back into unconsciousness, or something relative to it. The wolf’s eyes became glassy, but he was clearly conscious.
The prince shook him harder. “Grelok!”
The wolf shook his head, and pulled himself to his feet as he studied the room. “I’m not going to be okay! They’re probably going to kill us all! You need to take me with you!”
Theranius blinked, stunned at Grelok’s reaction. He wasn’t awake for all of this.
“THERANIUS!” Nalphy yelled as she appeared to be holding the door by her claws alone, the hinges were on the floor as the sides of the door were moving about, a never-ending struggle between the mob downstairs and the griffin. “Go on! We’ll get out of here on our own!”
“Right,” he said as he wrapped his claws around the lavender unicorn, and the other around Grelok. “We will rendezvous in Canterlot Square in three days and three nights! I won’t come empty handed!” he yelled to the female griffin.
“You aren’t going to do what I think you’re going to do?” the unicorn asked, worried.
Theranius chuckled as he took a step backwards. “Hold tight!”
He leaped out of the open window, and they plummeted into the depths of Equestria.
* * *
With a shriek, he managed to flap his wings once, twice, before he threw the pony and wolf forward with all his might to the cliff. An instant afterwards, his torso slammed onto the ledge, his claws on solid ground; however, his feet were dangling dangerously. After a few moments of struggling, he pulled himself up.
“Is everybody all right?” the prince asked, peering at the unicorn and the wolf. The unicorn was lying on her side, and she returned to a standing position, rubbing the side of her head.
“I’m fine,” the unicorn said, stretching her legs.
The wolf let out a growl. “I am not all right!” the wolf yelled. “Just look at the Roseluck!”
Theranius, indeed, hadn’t even looked at the inn yet. There were screams coming from the inside, and it appeared the three griffins were fighting the mob. After a few moments, flames began erupting from the second floor, and the three griffins were flying out of the window and away from Theranius.
“Most of them were scumbags, anyway,” the prince pointed out, though he did his best to hide his worry for his less-greedy companions, such as Halfgrin. “Anyone who didn’t run after me would be able to escape. I can’t say the same for the Laforians, though.”
Grelok growled angrily. “Where do I go now?!”
Theranius shrugged. “Anywhere? You know, the Roseluck was not the only slime-infested worm in the sewer, Grelok. You should be able to find a hole somewhere in Manehattan or in the Rockfist estate.”
The wolf frowned at this comparison, but let it slip. He turned his attention to their mysterious companion instead.
“So this is wanted Princess of the Night I’ve been hearing all about?” he asked, walking far too close to the unicorn, putting his face mere inches from her own, studying her face under her hood.
“Actually,” the unicorn said firmly, taking a few steps back from the invader of her personal space. “No.”
The wolf let out laughter. “Whatever, lassie.”
“All right,” said the griffin prince as he looked towards the ruined city. “We really need to find a place to hide. And then we can get right down to business, after that my griffins would join us.”
Despite the fact it was clear that neither Grelok nor the unicorn were very enthusiastic about the thought of the rest of Theranius’s companions joining them, they did not disagree as the unicorn took the lead towards Canterlot.
They walked fast-paced into the ruins of the capital. With every step, they treaded deeper and deeper into the heart of the city, and that was where things got nasty.
They found bones cluttered near doors, near lampposts, and sometimes even on the streets; they had to be extra careful not to accidentally step on one of the corpses. Looters had smashed most of the windows, and some buildings seemed to have evaporated.
Random-seeming buildings appear to have been completely torn in half in a perfect manner, without any form of rubble to mark why it has gone. There were enormous empty areas inbetween several buildings where nothing but black ash lied. Had it not been clear a building once stood there, then the prince would have thought that no such building existed in the first place.
He stopped in his tracks, studying the ruined capital. “Do you know anywhere we can rest?”
“I know a small little place, come on,” she said, pointing towards a large building with dark-brown roof. All of the windows in the entrance were shattered, and several upturned chairs and tables were visible from the inside.
The griffin prince tried to make out the letters on the sign stationed right above the entryway, but time, ash and smoke had undone most of the letters upon the brown sign.
“It’s called The Merrymaker,” she said. “I used to dine here. It also serves as a hotel.”
The griffin nodded, happy that someone with at least some knowledge of Canterlot remained. They silently walked into the building, past the bones and feathers that lay cluttered in the dining room. The unicorn gave the corpses a silent nod, mourning their passing as they moved along.
They climbed up through the large wooden staircase as they entered a new hallway. The walls were probably red, but they had turned brown long ago. Broken doors and their hinges were on the floor, and a horrifying odor of decay was coming from one.
Smears of blood lead to the inside.
The prince hauled the door back up and leaned it on its own entryway, to make sure that at least less smell would invade their rooms. After a few moments, he notified his companions that he would take care of the body shortly. They approached the farthest door possible, and burst it open.
They located several beds within the interior. The griffin completely forgot about the presence of Grelok, who leaped with joy on one of the beds. “Aaaah, I miss these sorts of bedchambers.”
Theranius laughed as he walked around the well-preserved room. “Grelok, you slept in a cave even before the Incineration.”
The wolf opened his mouth to argue about how he was not a dog, but then shut it.
“Still, I enjoy it now!” he stated as he leaned back on the pillow. The wolf looked like he was lying on one of heaven’s clouds.
The blankets of the bed were red too, and outlined with gold. The room was rather large, with five beds in total. There was a corridor to the right of the entryway leading to several other rooms — probably bathrooms and other areas — but all that mattered were the beds. It was not as if the bathrooms worked anymore.
The unicorn sat comfortably on the bed, and began perusing a pouch she hid below her cloak.
The griffin approached her, opening his mouth to ask something, but the words died on his lips.
“So,” said the unicorn, “what can you tell me about the prelude of the Incineration?”
The griffin let out a sigh as he pulled over a chair and put it in front of the bed, sitting on it. “Well, I can only tell you things that happened in the Griffin Empire. A month before the Incineration, an assassin managed to enter the capitol of the Griffin Empire, and murdered my father, the King–Emperor. The nobles of the Griffin Empire decided that the line has been weakened, and wanted one of the leaders of the nobles — Ashanor — in my place. Of course, half the kingdom hated the fact we’ve become an empire and took over their cities and kingdoms centuries ago, and the other half were loyal to me.
“A war erupted, and half the griffin race were wiped out. We bombed Western Aviaria to dust, so for the last week of the war — before the Incineration — everyone were fighting in Eastern Aviaria. And that’s where the Incineration hit. The other half of the griffin race were wiped out, and only I and around three hundred griffin remain.”
The unicorn sighed. “And you really don’t know anything more?”
The prince let out another sigh. The unicorn sighed too, and then the wolf began taking a deep breath before bursting. “Stop that! It’s contagious!”
The unicorn let out a giggle, and the griffin could do nothing but join along in the chuckle as the trio laughed. “All right, so there was more to it than that. Many kingdoms entered wars right before the Incineration; a Sonic Rainboom in the shape of a dome, if you would believe it — dubbed the Sonic Raindome around here — blew up the Everfree Forest, and it is assumed that Princess Celestia was caught in the explosion; hence why the sun blew.”
The pony looked at the prince inquisitively. “Then why did everypony die?”
The griffin shrugged. “It’s assumed that Luna did die after all, and it was the moon which fell and blew up the Everfree Forest, presumably killing Celestia with the explosion. The smoke covered the other half of the world that the Incineration did not consume, so you vegetarians died from starvation caused by the wilting of your vegetables. Much like the pegasi were unable to stop the eternal blizzard in ancient times, they couldn’t move the clouds. Though it wouldn’t have made any difference, really: the sun was gone. With the sun destroyed — and presumably the moon as well, the magic of the unicorns was useless. Assuming, that is, they even know how to raise the sun and moon anymore.”
The equine nodded, satisfied with his cooperation. “Then why is everybody so certain Luna’s alive?”
The griffin knew the question was coming. “Because there was no moon rock left, no debris anywhere, and the smoke was caused by the flames that erupted on the other side of the world, as well as no nearby cities or town were annihilated. So there’s no evidence the moon ever fell.”
“And you can’t go above the smoke to see if the moon’s still there because it’s too high, right?”
“Exactly,” finished the prince.
“I need your help,” said the unicorn, and she pulled from a belt under her cloak something that blinded him for a mere moment as it was pulled to the light: a crown.
“The crown of Princess Celestia?!” the griffin’s heart almost burst out of his chest, and his eyes were wide. Did she actually steal from the corpse of—
“Actually, no,” the unicorn said with a smile. “It is the embodiment of the Element of Magic. And such an educated griffin such as yourself knows all too much about the Elements, yes?”
The griffin nodded. “Your culture and history was… not that interesting to me during my brash youth. But yes, the story is known to me. Six ponies wielded the Elements of Harmony: Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty and, of course, Magic.
“As they defeated Nightmare Moon, the stones of the Elements of Harmony became necklaces that represented their cutie marks; their ringleader, also the embodiment of Magic, was granted a crown.”
“I need to find the rest of the Elements of Harmony, Theranius,” the unicorn explained as she distracted herself by observing the crown’s architecture; but more specifically, the crystal within it. “They should be somewhere among the remains of my friends.”
Upon the term she used for the other bearers of the Elements, he concluded that he was without a doubt dealing with whom he thought it was all along. “So it is you. You are Twilight Sparkle; I have always wanted to meet—“
“Actually,” the unicorn stated matter-of-factly. “Dear, dear Twilight was part of the Eighth Legion. If Celestia is dead, then so is she.”
“Then…” the griffin finally pieced it all together. “You’re—“
“My name, dear, is Rarity.”
END, CHAPTER I
Chapter II — The Ambassadors of Chaos
The elite division of the Equestrian army, known as the Eighth Legion, stood ready in front of the Everfree Forest. Ranks upon ranks of pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies alike filled the entire plain lands, their shining golden armor dazzling due to the light that came from the center — where the princess of Equestria, Celestia, stood solemnly.
Rarity found herself standing beside the princess — Celestia was grim, never taking her eyes off the Everfree Forest. If only Rarity could share her ruler’s confidence in this expedition.
Inwardly though, Rarity shook at the very thought of what would happen in the next few minutes.
“What’s wrong, Twilight?” Celestia asked her. Rarity was unable to respond, and felt tears swelling up in her foreign eyes. To her shock, the princess smiled. “Don’t worry, my faithful student. Nopony you see here will come to harm today,” she stated with complete certainty, looking upwards towards the mass of pegasi flying towards the Everfree Forest.
“Nopony that I see?” she asked, her shock fading into curiosity and suspicion.
“Yes. We will return to Canterlot within the hour.” The princess closed her eyes, her wings folding back to her sides, and resumed her grim expression, before whispering to her. “But somepony will have to make a decision.”
Rarity looked up at the ruler of Equestria from the eyes of Twilight, a silent question upon her lips.
What is she thinking? Rarity thought, but before she could contemplate it any further, Celestia appeared to have already realized what the question was, and answered:
“Yes.”
* * *
The scene changed rather quickly. Rarity found herself in a realm between what existed and what did not. Darkness engulfed her very form, but in her mind’s eye, she could still make out Celestia’s faint murmuring of concerns, the shouts of Captain Vanrick, and the clanging of the royal army’s armor. She was with every passing moment closer to disconnecting with her ability to discern what was reality and what was not. She had to see what was going to happen. She had to, for secrets still lay within the Elements of Harmony.
* * *
“Your Highness!” shouted one of the Royal Guards next to her. “The pegasi are retreating!”
Rarity did not even need to concentrate on the poor soldier to see that he was doing his best to cover his concern, for the Eighth Legion were instructed that their ace was a small squadron heading to the Everfree Forest.
“We shan’t retreat as well, soldier,” Celestia calmly commanded. “Captain!”
Captain Vanrick galloped to Celestia and stood at attention. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Order the units to stay at attention,” Celestia ordered. “The Wonderbolts are retreating, but we are uncertain as to why. Send a small squad of your own to find and question them at once!”
“As you command, Your Majesty!” the captain said, and immediately rushed off to do his ruler’s bidding.
Celestia fixed her gaze to the squad, and after a few moments, smiled sadly.
“Why do you think they’re fleeing, Celestia?” Twilight asked the princess, her gaze drifting to the fleeing pegasi. “Do you think they fell under—“
Rarity felt Twilight freezing. She stood very, very still. She had spotted something among the pegasi.
Or failed to? she thought.
“Cel-Celestia?” Twilight asked her teacher. “Where... where is Rainbow Dash? She’s … she’s not there. There’s only … nine of them …”
Celestia closed her eyes, and softly stated. “I know.”
That cold, tingling sensation once again resumed engulfing Rarity. Or was it Twilight?
“Where is she? Did you … did you tell her something?" Twilight asked, and her eyes narrowed. "How did you know? What did you tell her?!”
How did she learn of an apparent conversation with Rainbow Dash? Rarity thought. Why did the Element of Magic fail to show it to me if it was so important? Was it even important?
“Nothing more than she needed to know,” Celestia said, breaking through Rarity’s chain of thought. The ruler gave herself a confident smile, as if pleased with her handiwork.
Rarity felt shock building up inside of Twilight. Without sparing another second, the lavender unicorn galloped to the Everfree Forest. Celestia’s eyes snapped open, her horn bursting into golden light. “Twilight, get back!”
A Sonic Rainboom soared through the skies above her. The Sonic Raindome is already starting, she thought.
Another Sonic Rainboom — another, and another, and another, she thought. Why is Twilight still running towards it? How is Rainbow Dash doing so many Sonic Rainbooms?
And with a deafening shriek, the Everfree Forest exploded with light. The lavender unicorn shrieked from the top of her lungs: "RAINBOW DA—“
The explosion knocked Twilight off her feet, sending her flying backwards and into a nearby rock. She blinked for but a moment at the array of colors and the magnificent dome that was appearing over the Everfree Forest. The rainbow dome was expanding. And fast.
The light reached them.
The army’s scream of shock and—
Chapter II: The Ambassadors of Chaos
Rarity’s eyes snapped open from her vision. The blue, glowing runes on the ground around her faded further with every passing second. After a few moments, when she was certain they had completely faded, she pulled herself to her hooves and examined the Merrymaker.
Nothing changed since her vision. The Element of Magic lay next to her where she left it. Theranius was slumbering on one of the tables where she left him, the bracer that stopped magic, yet still allowed the enchantment and runeworks, remained on her leg, and all the chairs and tables remained upturned as though somepony went insane before they perished. All the chairs and tables lay strewn about the hotel as if somepony had gone insane before they perished.
With a sigh, she picked up the Element of Magic. Curiously, there was light now emitting from the star-shaped gem on it. She contemplated wearing it for a few moments, but decided to put it in her backpack instead. It wasn’t her Element to bear.
Before she could tie the straps, she heard a commotion out in the streets. Cautiously, she crept up to the doorway and peered out into the street.
“So tell me while we head over to my office, sir,” a black pegasus — who from a small, silver medal, appeared to be a captain — muttered to an aging, brown earth pony. “What do you know about the griffin who burned down your tavern?”
The brown pony paused. He raised his hoof to his chin as though conflicted, murmured something too quiet for Rarity to hear, and took a glance a small glance at the two pegasi in the air above them.
“Aah, I see,” the captain said in an understanding tone. “Do you even want to find this griffin then, sir? You did after all file the report.”
“Yes, but…” the earth pony muttered, before sighing. “No, no I don’t. Sorry fer yer troubles, officer. I’ll be on my way.”
“Actually,” the captain calmly corrected him. The earth pony froze. “You know, we’ve had a few… wanted criminals nearby, and three crime lords have arrived last week. We’d like to ask you a few questions — nothing too lengthy.”
“I understand your need to find criminals, sir…” Halfgrin slowly said, peering at the black pegasus and the two flying above him. “But I really must get going. My wife, Rose, is waiting for me in my—”
“Mister Davenport,” the captain sadly muttered. “Your wife has been dead for over a decade.”
Halfgrin, or rather Davenport, hastily turned around and galloped as fast as he could from the pegasi. After a few seconds, a loud crash emitted throughout the cold streets.
Rarity peered to the skies from her hiding spot and saw both of the flying pegasi had immediately flown down and caught Halfgrin, who seemed to be unconscious.
The captain looked in a satisfactory manner at his two companions, before signalling them to follow him. “Bring him to the castle!” he yelled, and flew off towards the capitol.
A claw suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder, and, before she could scream, another one covered her mouth and suppressed it. Theranius looked extremely tired, and peered out of the side of the door.
“What’s going on? What were you looking at?” he asked after releasing her, and heavily sat down next to her.
“The barman from the Roseluck. I knew him!” she said. “He was from Ponyville, and his name was Davenport, but he seemed to be known as Halfgrin around here. Three black-coated pegasi just took him to the capitol.”
“Halfgrin?” the prince blurted, trying to search for the pegasi. “They took Halfgrin? Blast them all, why did he have to contact the Ambassadors of Chaos, of all the security forces here?”
“The ‘Ambassadors of Choas’?” she asked as she sat down next to him. “Who’re they?”
“They are the current rulers of several cities in Equestria. They are led by what is said to be an alicorn named Akarian, and are well known for their oppressive regimes within Canterlot, Manehattan, Stalliongrad and Maremill. While there are other significant powers within Equestria — such as myself and several wolf clans — they are the most well known and powerful.
“They put a bounty on the head of Princess Luna and Princess Cadence. The Ambassadors of Chaos care about neither that husband of Cadence nor that arrogant nephew of Celestia, Prince Blueblood, because they do not control any of the celestial objects — nor are they alicorns. The price on the heads of the two Princesses is astounding. Hell, the reward could last generations of your kin. It is riches beyond your wildest dreams. They can simply conjure the money into existence,” he said as he sat up and spotted Grelok, who was eavesdropping on the conversation.
“I see. I’ve been gone a long time then,” Rarity muttered. She sat up and walked to her circle of power, took from the bag the Element of Harmony, and resumed inspecting the curious glow from the Element’s gemstone.
“What were you trying to do there, anyway?” the prince asked while taking out an apple from his pouch and taking a bite off it, for he had missed dinner.
“Well,” she began after placing the Element of Magic back on the floor, “the reason I need the Elements of Harmony is because I can tap into their… urngh! How do I explain this?”
The lavender unicorn brought her hooves together in a thoughtful gesture. “They basically store things that were either really important or really emotional to their respective wielders. You could, say, live their memories chronologically, but … some of them you just might want to skip,” she said with an uncomfortable smile.
The prince raised an eyebrow. He was about to ask ‘What do you mean?’ before realization dawned upon him. He let out a long laugh, shaking his head with amusement as he took another bite from the apple.
“I see,” he said uncomfortably. “So what are you hoping to find with these things?”
“I… I don’t know,” she murmured.
“I was in Canterlot, in this very hotel, during the explosion. I don’t know anything about what happened other than Rainbow Dash had an important task by Celestia, Twilight was personally accompanying Celestia out of Canterlot, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were … I don’t even remember! And Fluttershy…” her voice trailed off.
“Fluttershy…” she repeated in thought, more to herself.
The griffin cocked an eyebrow. “Flttershy was the Element of Kindness, yes?” he asked. Nothing more was needed to be said – he did not know if something happened to her, or perhaps they shared a greater relationship, or Celestia-knows-what.
“Fluttershy … she died, before the rest of us did,” she muttered.
He raised a claw to ask further on the matter, but his face fell, and said no more. The white unicorn continued:
“I was … on my way to Ponyville from my … trip to Canterlot, yes, when it happened. Twilight said that both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were gone for an absurd amount of time, and when Twilight went to check in on Fluttershy at her cottage, she realized Fluttershy wasn’t even home. She gathered the local guards and went into the Everfree Forest, where she found Rainbow Dash crying over Fluttershy. The inspectors that came along with Twilight informed us that they found a bloodied spear near the pool, and a corpse of a black alicorn the size of a regular earth pony lying on the shore of the pond.”
“I’m sorry,” Theranius quietly muttered. “Though, there are barely any truly black ponies in the world — and an alicorn, of all creatures. Have you ever considered that he could’ve been part of the Ambassadors of Chaos?”
“Maybe,” she quietly muttered as she rose from the ground and approached the window. “Maybe the Ambassadors are the remnants of the army Celestia wanted to fight. The reason Celestia was in the Everfree Forest was because she was about to attack an army that was assembling from the heart of the forest. Rainbow Dash was given a very important mission by her, and I remember Twilight was to accompany her, and so was I, but… I never made it there.”
“You never made it there?” he asked while swallowing the rest of his steak. “How so?”
“I don’t even remember,” she muttered. “I was about to join them in the hall, but beyond that, I don’t recall anything. Sometimes I recall a few steps I’ve taken while following Twilight, but… when I woke up, I felt like I was drunk and I could barely focus. I was standing right in front of the Merrymaker in the dead of night, and I just… went in here. The tavernkeep greeted me, but he was concerned. I don’t remember what he asked or what I told him, but moments later we saw a horrifying explosion from the South — from Everfree Forest. After that, that I… just so many insane things happened at once. But after everything settled... the sun never rose up.”
“Whelp,” Theranius said with an uneasy chuckle. “Now I have a new story to tell to my old pals. Few ponies I met seem to have sighted the explosion or been awake, so we knew little of the event,” he said, stretching his arms wide and leaping to his feet.
“We should really get going, though. Do you know where the other Elements are?” he inquired.
“There are five other Elements I require to obtain,” she began. “Fluttershy’s and mine should be the simplest. I already have Twilight’s, which I found after I went to investigate the Everfree Crater in the ruined battlefield. Rainbow Dash’s Element is the key, however. It was, presumably, she who was in the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters, and it was she who caused the Sonic Raindome that blew up Everfree Forest. If I can only see what happened there, then maybe … maybe I can finally …”
The griffin suppressed an eyeroll from his complete bewilderment. “Why would you even want to understand?” he asked. “I get it that you were bullshitting me when you said you could change anything, but the Elements of Harmony could be used for many things — perhaps even restoring the sun, so I felt it was necessary to help you out in this. Honestly, what do you even want to do with them? Remember and feel the deaths of every one of your friends?”
“No, of course not!” she returned. “I don’t want to feel all of my friends dying — that would be preposterous! What I want to do… is... listen,” she muttered. “You clearly said you realize you don’t care about the rewards; just help me find the Elements. Then you can be on your—
Boom.
“—way?” she said, feeling a tiny shudder.
“If I wanted to leave your company, Miss Rarity, I would have left long—“
Rarity’s hoof swiftly covered his mouth to interrupt his sentence. “Shh! Do you hear that?”
“Hear—“
Boom.
The prince shuddered, and the unicorn gave him a concerned look. “You are the one that lives here! What is that?”
The prince put a claw to his chin. “The patrols I talked about belong to, as you might imagine, the Ambassadors of Chaos. They only recently managed to buy off Canterlot from the two ruling wolf clans — or rather, buy the wolf clans. Anyone who ever began working for them eventually sold their people off to them — you sell it to them either by the tip of a sword or by your own greed. I would assume this means the Ambassadors are trying to breach the main gate of Canterlot. Perhaps to gain easier access to the capitol—“
Boom.
“Yes?” the unicorn asked, still not quite certain as to how this was relevant. “You’re saying this noise is coming from the Ambassadors of Chaos trying to blow up the front gate? Why don’t they just use the lever?”
“I’m not at all sure,” he muttered. “They might not be blowing up the gate, but rather one of the forts near it. The forts have been sealed shut for two decades.”
Rarity nodded, and took another look through the door. “Okay, let us meanwhile get back to—“
Boom.
“—our rooms,” she muttered.
“You’re right,” the prince nodded, replacing his belt pouch back in its place, “Once there, we may be able—“
CRASH.
“Everywhere!” shrieked the wolf as he came running down the stairs hazardously. “They—“
Rarity quickly threw a rock at Grelok's chest before he could give away their position, knocking the air from his lungs with a satisfactory "OOF!"
“Get down!” she insisted quietly. He did as she told him, and they all lay flat down behind the wall that separated the door and the windows. Curiosity overcoming her, Rarity took a peak from the doorway.Black pegasi and unicorns marched across the burnt roads of Canterlot.
“Forward — march!” a one-eyed, black pegasus screamed hoarsely from the outside. “Get going to the capitol! Now!”
“I thought there were no other unicorns left?” Rarity muttered to Theranius, observing the black horns on the skulls of the equines.
“The Ambassadors of Chaos are not your everyday ponies, to be frank. Some took to calling them horses. They may resemble ponies, but they are definitely not ponies. They are all black, and there appears to be no earth ponies among their ranks, and there were at least nine sightings of alicorns among them,” he concluded.
“But that crash!” Grelok whispered to Theranius, interrupting him from his eavesdropping. “Big badda boom! It comes from the East!”
The griffin let out an amused chuckle. “You’re losing your charm, Grelok, but yes. We heard. I wonder where it came from.”
“The East!” Grelok answered, on the verge of screaming.
“No shit, Grelok!” the prince shot back. “I’m asking what made the crash! Did they tear down the capitol or something?”
* * *
The prince was more amused than he should have been as they reached the rooftop of the Merrymaker. He corrected himself: he should not have been amused at all.
His earlier statements weren’t all that far from the truth, after all.
The main gates of Canterlot were in splintered pieces; for some reason, they didn’t hear that crash. The marching ponies seemed to have arrived upon its collapse. How did they get from the entrance of Canterlot all the way to the royal palace in a matter of moments? We saw them passing by the Merrymaker after the crash, not before. So who were the pegasi that were marching through the streets?
The palace’s southern wall was a mess – A big mess. Unicorns and pegasi alike were galloping across the breach, dragging war machines through the collapsed southern wall of the palace.
“Why did they break the wall when they could’ve just stepped in through the front gates? The palace is in ruins!” the lavender unicorn asked, her brow furrowing as she contemplated the issue.
Theranius took this time to study his lavender companion. He still wasn’t quite sure what to make of her — she was powerful in her own way, she would truly be respected among the griffin. Yet calm and not as emotional, as he remembered many of the upstart female ponies to be.
Lavender coat, dark blue hair and a pink strip in her mane. I wonder if she once had a husband. He was probably one lucky bastard—
“Theranius?” Rarity’s voice cut through his thoughts. He realized he’s been staring at her for almost half a minute.
“Yeah,” he swiftly answered. “We need to… enter the palace,” he explained.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Why? Their entire army is marching in there! It’s not like if Luna’s there we can rescue her.”
“You said the Elem—err, Fluttershy, died before the Incineration, yes?” he asked the unicorn.
“Well, yes, but—“
“Then either her Element is in whatever tomb she has, or it’s safely guarded within Canterlot! But in the Griffin Empire, we usually bury the passing griffin’s most prized possessions with them. Where is Fluttershy buried?”
“No, it’s nothing like that here,” she swiftly clarified. “We don’t bury stuff with our ponies; I think the Element should be in the vault where Celestia stored the Elements.”
“Excellent!” the former prince exclaimed. Only four Elements left to uncover—
Rarity suddenly interrupted his train of thought. “But Celestia used her horn to open the vault! Unless we have it as well — are you really planning on going to the ruined battlefield and plucking Celestia’s horn from her skull? — then we have no chance in entering the vault!”
The griffin’s hopes shattered. “Am I planning? You’re—“
He silenced himself and let out a deep sigh as he leaned on one of the short walls on the rooftop. “You’re right.”
“Finally,” she said. “Somebody has the humility to accept being wrong. You’re quite an exception to your kind, Theran.”
He was stunned, but he was spared the need to respond.
Something sharp prodded his back. It pained him the instant it touched his skin, and it was poking slightly harder with every passing instant, as though ready to run him through. It drew blood upon touch.
The prince froze at once.
Five black pegasi, with black-purple garbs along with blades attached to their wings, were pointing the aforementioned wingblades to the backs of the trio.
“An earth unicorn!” exclaimed the first, the one behind the griffin.
“This doesn’t look like the princess of the moon,” pointed out the second one, standing in between Grelok and Rarity.
“Yeah,” the one behind Grelok pointed to his companion. “Her mane’s supposed to flow! And where’s the wings?”
The pegasus behind Rarity withdrew, frowning. “She’s not princess. She’s regular unicorn. So much for rumours.”
The prince silently entertained himself with the thought that the pegasus was brain damaged from his broken sentences.
“We take them to the palace,” continued the pegasus, “we inspect. We find who they are. If they not with us …”
The pegasus grinned his mouth towards the griffin for the first time, showing rows of razor-sharp teeth. The griffin restrained a whimper as his amusement was stolen from him in an instant.
“Then we dine.”
* * *
“We’re here!” The lead pegasus yelled as the pegasi and their prisoners landed in a balcony within the capitol.
The two pegasi that didn’t carry them, in addition to Grelok’s captor, proceeded to take hold of the trio and shove them through the balcony that they arrived upon. The moment they entered the main hallway and turned left, Rarity recognized that this was a very, very private hallway.
The carpet below them was red and tarnished. Portraits were held on the walls, and every single one of the ponies in them seemed to be unicorns, rather than alicorns or even pegasi.
They saw two black unicorns standing firm and still as stone on each side of a large, ruined entryway, and the door was on the floor between them. Within the chamber, Rarity noted a large red bed, a window, tapestries, and several other pieces of furniture. Though her captors gave her no time to appreciate them fully. They passed through several other doorways – a ruined kitchen, another bedroom, one enormous bedroom with around a dozen beds, and an armory.
The hallway ended, and they entered the main hallway of the capitol.
Dozens of pegasi and earth ponies littered the palace, studying the stained windows, vases, tapestries and skeletons, and the pegasus were ordering the earth ponies to write down what was most probably transcriptions.
They saw an enormous doorway, which Theranius assumed leads to the throneroom. Instead, they were shoved down a short staircase and into an extremely small stone room, barely two meters in height and around ten wide. Rarity’s escort shoved her into the wall and held her there, and the same was done with Theranius.
Grelok, however, was shoved into the wooden door. His captor joined him, and the door was sealed shut.
* * *
“What do you mean I’m a liar? I told you everything!” the griffin yelled. Both of his front arms were chained to the back of his chair, and he was forced into an awkward sitting position, which could only be fit for a baboon. Grelok had already been interrogated, and Theranius had been questioned for an hour.
“You’re trying to tell me you are Sir Ayotnom Ogini? Either your mother was a cruel ogre, or you’re a liar,” the black pegasus muttered, behind a table which stood in front of Theranius.
“Your wolf friend says he met you in the Merrymaker, before you were captured,” said the black pegasus. He calmly sat down on a pile of hay, and leaned on the stone table expectantly.
“And?” Theranius muttered. “Is that relevant?”
“Yes and no,” answered the pegasus. “The crime lords, Prince Korthar, Prince Theranius and Mistress Starbeam have been sighted a mile from Canterlot four days ago. The first two are in fact griffins, the two brother princes of Aviaria — the Griffin Empire — and the third is a pony. The funny thing is we have barely seen any griffins here in the last two years. However, the late Mr. Davenport has reported, before he was promptly exec—“
“You killed Halfgrin?!” Theranius erupted.
The pegasus smiled, and continued, “—executed, that a griffin has burned down his tavern. So from your reaction, that just begs the question: Are you Prince Theranius, or Prince Korthar?”
Theranius swallowed, dumbfounded.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter, does it?” the pegasus chuckled, arising from his seat. “I’m sure Her Majesty will be skipping from joy to learn that she has her hooves on one of the griffin princes — and possibly even Theranius.”
“Son of a bitch,” Theranius growled, grinding his shackles against the stone, silently trying to pull them upwards and out of the chair in order to bring himself free. “I’m sure the Devil himself would be proud to have somepony like you in his collection.”
“I’m sure he’d be gladder to have you,” the pegasus chuckled, approaching him.
Theranius grinned to himself. Almost free—
His world went black.
* * *
“What the fuck was that for, Parengath?” the black pegasus growled at his companion, who had just smacked Theranius with a bat upon his silent entry into the room. “I was interrogating him!”
“He was trying to free ‘imself,” Parengath pointed out. “Besides, I hears you found who he is. I came ‘ere to tell you that Her Majesty demands an audience with these three immediately.”
“How does she know that I’ve found his identity?” the interrogator growled.
“I hears it and told her. Also, she wants an audience with ‘em,” Parengath finished.
“Why you…” the black pegasus growled. “Fine. Round ‘em up and bring them there — oh, and you’re carrying the griffin.”
“Wait, why me?!” Parengath yelled.
“Because I’m your fucking boss and I’m pissed off at you,” the black pegasus said, “so do it before I decide to make you Urqag’s new playtoy!”
* * *
Theranius rubbed his head. He could only feel the cold stone floor beneath him.
He was in the throne room, he realized. Stained windows were located on either side of the walls. To his left was Grelok, and Rarity stood to the wolf’s left. He realized they were both staring at somepony on the throne in front of them.
A towering, black alicorn stood on the throne menacingly. Adorned with midnight blue armor, black wings folded to its sides, and a frighteningly confident grin, this description could fit only one alicorn.
It could only have been Nightmare Moon.
But it wasn't.
That was a relief, he noted. He had never seen the ruler of the Ambassadors of Chaos, but he had definitely heard a lot. The horse was huge and bore midnight blue armor, said to have been forged with his creation. His coat was a perfect black, and his wings were stripped of all of their feathers, and in their stead, razor-sharp blades were embedded on each side of the wings.
The thing that horrified him the most, however, was that he remembered him. Or, at least, someone very similar to the alicorn.
He knew him.
END, CHAPTER II
