Excalibur Umbra growls, looking frantically from non-caring face to non-caring face. Ballas, surrounded by Sentients looks at him with almost pity as he waves for the sentients to finish him off. In his mind, a memory of his deathbed flashes through his skull. His son on one side to him, Ballas making snide remarks to him on the other. The pain, the infestation growing inside him, the strength leaving and yet filling him to the brim. Above all else, the anger. Anger against Ballas for making him a monster. But that anger is directed in the wrong direction. His son falls, and he lets loose a scream of sorrow and rage, a howl even.
The attacks come, yet he feels nothing, sees nothing, hears nothing. His battered form feels as though it is drifting though that damnable rift the Limbo series is somehow capable of wielding. He supposes that's how it feels at least. All too soon that blessed nothingness leaves and he's left with his pain, searing light, and the sounds of things moving. Many things moving. The Sentients? He needs his eyes to adjust, he needs to be able to see again.
He feels things hitting him, ineffective. They try to piece his armor but they simply aren't sharp enough. The things that do go through the already missing pieces of his frame barely leave a mark on him. He recognizes the feeling though, these are weapons, melee weapons. Something is attacking him with dull swords and spears.
His thoughts grind to a halt though as he feels electricity run through his body. He lets loose a howl and he feels some of that energy leave him. His eyes have finally adjusted and he sees what has been attacking him.
They're rather strange creatures, obviously sapient with their use of tools. But they're hardly human, or even anything close to what he's seen before. They're almost like Kubrow, four legged. But that's where the similarities stop. Colorful, hoofed creatures, with horns or even wings sprouting from their heads and back. Covered in golden armor and holding their weapons in whatever way they can. In the case of the horned ones, they seem capable of using void energy much like the other frames. He's concerned about that. If their weapons can't harm him, their void energy might.
He stands quickly, taking his nikana and standing on guard against the creatures surrounding him. He lets loose another growl and the creatures fumble about, many running from him as he looks from side to side. He must find an exit, he must get out of here.
He begins to move, but feels something impact the back of his head. Not hard, but it seeps into his armor, attaches to his mind. He begins to feel sluggish, slow. They've hit him with something, some kind of ability.
He thinks no more as he falls. The sunlight glinting off his battered, but healing form.
Luna stands beside her sister, looking at the strangely deformed and armored human in curiosity. Celestia on the other hoof looks disturbed, angry, and with barely restrained emotions she speaks. "Sister, do you know what this... Thing is?"
Luna obviously shakes her head, she's never seen anything like it before. It's clearly basically human, but beyond that? She doesn't know. She relays these thoughts to her sister and Celestia sighs out a response. "We should take it to the dungeon for now, it is clearly far too dangerous for the traders to handle." With those words, Celestia picks up the deformed human and motions for Luna to pick up its sword. She does so with no further words and follows after her sister, keeping another sleeping spell on standby incase it shakes her first one off somehow.
Once they reach the cells, they chain the creature up securely, placing it in their one anti-magic cell. It was clearly using some form of magic earlier to blind the guards, so better safe than sorry.
Once the matter of chaining the creature was finished, Luna bade her sister a goodday and went back to her room. She wished to study the sword they took from it better, under her rooms wards, and of course go back to sleep afterwards. Celestia agreed, stating "I will send for Twilight, she'll be able to help you sister. Rest well, and don't spend too much time on the blade before getting back to that rest."
With that final statement, the sisters left each others' company. Going their separate ways.
In her room, Luna looks over the blade, testing its craftmareship and sharpness on a few disposable items before scanning it with her magic. She finds... Not much. Aside from the fact it is a very well crafted blade, there is very little magic across its surface, whatever magic is there could be explained as residual telekinesis energy from wielding the blade, or even enhancement magic temporarily spread across its surface. But nothing was inlaid in the blade. Surprising, since she assumes this blade can cut through the armor of the beast where her own guards could not.
After an hour of puzzling over the blade, she sighs and moves to her bed, laying daintally upon it and laying her head across her pillows, wondering what would possess a pony to create such a monster.
She finds it hard to fall asleep, and with a hearty snort of frustration, she decides to just go into the dreamrealm, maybe help the few nocturnal creatures that dream during the day. As per the times enumerable before, she finds herself in a mostly empty and calm dreamscape. No nightmarish creatures to be defeated, no fears to be conquered, just calm day sleepers. Except for one, particularly violent dream. Spatially near her, within the castle walls even.
She moves her way through the dream realm, avoiding doors, spheres, and other representations of dreaming or otherwise asleep creatures. She soon floats in front of a peculiarly shaped entrance, something akin to a Japanaighs' minka entrance from that small island chain on the other side of the world, yet more refined, more noble.
More foreboding.
She makes her way into the strange dream.
Author's Note
He he he... Hey its me. Would ya look at that, yet another fanfic I probably won't ever finish. Whatever, enjoy the concept I guess. If it gets enough likes I may write another chapter.
