No Please, I don’t want to die! I don’t want to be like them! I have prepared for everything! But no matter how many traps and walls I build I can’t stop my fear of death! How much longer do need to prepare!!! Captain!!!
BANG!!!
Towering Fortress screamed as awoke from his nap. He was in the break area of the construction yard of which he worked. His body shook as he recalled that horrid nightmare.
Since the day he was born Towering Fortress had the same nightmare. It didn’t occur every time he slept, but when it did it would unnerve him for pretty much the rest of his day. Who wouldn’t get goosebumps dreaming about their own murder? You would think even as an infant unicorn, such a thing should have been inconceivable for sompony so young to imagine. At least… it would have been had Fortress’s nightmare not been a memory.
It was a memory of his past life, of his former world, and of his demise at the hands of his squad captain. Nopony else knew of this recurring nightmare, or of his memories that of other life. Since foulhood he deliberately kept it all a secret, taking on the pony name his earthpony mother had given him. Yet deep inside he kept his other name, though he could never utter it allowed.
Theodore Sherman, the cowardly human boy from Rougehill. The one who foolishly joined the Northern Patria Union military and became a super soldier know as an Incarnate! Together, he and his squad mates brought the civil war to an end, but at the cost of their human forms. For a time they were regarded as war heroes, until their inner humanity also began to erode. After that they were nothing more than beasts and monsters to the people and were put down.
“Fortress get your flank back to work right now!” shouted his boss from somewhere. “I need you back on that scaffold asap!”
Shit!
Theo shook his head and ran out of the breakroom as fast as he could. As Theo ran past his boss he lifted up his hand and saluted the grumpy earthpony.
“I’m right on it boss!”
Turning a corner he approached the scold and ignited his unicorn powers to secure the cement he needed to lay down the next brick.
He was always good at building things, even in his old life. His Cutie Mark – a depiction of a stone castle – was proof of his building prowess both in this reality and the one before.
He worked for several hours until pretty much everypony had gone home for the night. After having that dream again, building would kept him at ease. Something from the past just never change. However, it was getting late so as the sun began to set he got off the scaffold. What he didn’t expected was the group of hooded ponies that had entered the construction site.
Theo blinked, not confused as to who these strange ponies might be? All seven of them had their faces blocked by their purple robes, yet he could tell most of them were unicorns like himself because of the horns, but there were at least two that didn’t have them.
“Sorry guys but the Nightmare Night is next week, and their certainly no parties happening at this dump.”
The figures stood silent, not even a half chuckle came from their mouths. It was that same silence that told him that these ponies meant him harm, but eventually one of them did speak.
“Towering Fortress! We believe you to be a being of great power, and humbly ask that you come with us… by force if necessary.”
Fuck, what could they could they possibly want? Do these bastards actually know I’m from another world?
Once again, the fear of death returned… but he knew he couldn’t give into it even as the hooded figures drew pistols and pointed them at him.
“What do you mean!” he shouted. “I’m just an average unicorn with standard practice in magic. I have no ‘power’!
Their leader chuckled.
“We know you’re an Incarnate,” He said boastfully as if he were exposing a criminal. He pressed his gun to Theo’s temple. “You can no longer hide that truth. We of The Dark Church of Sombra have peered through the fabric of space and time and have tracked you down! You can hide from us no longer, Incarnate Minotaur.”
They are going to kill me! I need to transform! I need to unleash my power!
Thoughts of massacring these creeps with nothing but brute muscle and that steel beam lying a few feet away from him flooded his mind. The only thing stopping him being the memory of his battle with Captain Hank. He had always know he still had the power, but once he transformed he knew he’d be stuck as a minotaur forever.
I will die if I don’t transform! I need to crush them, just as a crushed those human’s during the war! I cannot die again!
No! He shouted internally. If I turn I won’t be able to turn back. I’ll just become a beast again and cause problems, then someone (or pony) like Hank will have to put me down again! Plus I might not get another life after this one!
“Come forward!” The leader demanded. “Come or we will take you unconscious. And if you transformed we are trained and prepared to counter you! It would be better if you cooperated!”
Theo sighed. There was absolutely no way out of this.
Then a miracle happened. Something caught his eye. He looked up and dangling above the cultists was a crane holding cement blocks. Without thinking he shot at it with magic and sent the blocks troubling towards the attackers. Some of them got hit and fell to the ground while others were able to catch the blocks in time with their magic. Either way it gave him the diversion he need to run past the cultists and out into the street!
As he sprinted he thought about where he could possibly go to hide. The obviously choice was to go to the police station, but his attackers would probably just disappear and try again if he did that. He needed to get out of town and find out who these ponies were and how they knew about his old life. As his mind and body raced saw a train pull up a station ahead of him. This was his chance! He ran, toss some bits to the station clerk, grabbed a ticket, and boarded without even looking where the train was headed. He thought he could see one of the ponies that chased him staring at his car, but at least he had gotten away for now.
“Next stop Crystal Empire!” One of the attendants announced as he took a seat, letting out a huge sigh of relief.
That is prefect, that place is super far north. It will be a great place to hide until I can figure out a solution.
That’s what he told himself at least, but in the pit of his stomach he knew he was only delaying the inevitable. Whatever The Church of Sombra was they found out things he had never told a soul his entire life as a pony. They will find him eventually no matter how far he traveled.
The old fear he thought he had under control was slowly coming back. He soon would become “Theo the coward” all over again. As a minataur after a child had pointed a toy gun at him, he had built a great fortress and just kept expanding and building it into the town of Rougehill. Many people lost their homes, and anyone who tried to reach him would die from numerous the death traps he had set. All this to calm fear that would never leave him. Fear that enemies were out to get him. That is, until Captain Hank the Werewolf Incarnate came and killed him.
No matter how this all ends, I’m going to die again!
“My Prince, a body was discovered in the park.”
A white coated stallion wearing light purple armor turned to face the guard Captain.
“Who was the victim? “Asked the Prince.
“It was one the Sombra cultists, his eyes were clawed from his skull. Witnesses say a demon like creature with skin of stone was seen last night leaving the park.”
“Very peculiar,” Shining said quizzically as his mind went deep in thought. “Keep an eye out for any more cult members and if you see the creature your orders are to shoot on site.”
Author's Note
Thank you all for reading. Please DM me any grammar and spelling mistakes you find. I'll correct them on my time.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This series is based of the manga/anime To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts. Its got this great American Civil War aesthetic mixed with mythical monsters. To top it off its sad... I mean REALLY sad. The anime and manga have tons of discrepancies but the anime is more accessible. I however highly recommend the manga.
Our protagonist is one of the Incarnates the protagonists fights in the series. Incarnates were humans who turned into dragons, vampires, werewolves ect, at the cost of their human forms and sanity. Those slain in the show have been reborn in Equestria and history seems destined to repeat itself and thus a chance at redemption. Lets see how far I can take this idea given my track record with stories.
Also here is the opening because it is awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D1aBA7L2bQ
It was morning when Theo’s train arrived at the station. He was a bit drowsy when he walked onto the platform but shot up when he saw that glimmering crystal city in the distance. It was quite honestly one of the most beautiful sites he had ever witnessed. It made him regret not really seeing more of Equestria in his pony life even though this particular city had been gone for centuries.
He rode a shuttle into the city then began wandering on foot. Seeing the crystal ponies and the sparkling buildings made him forget about his troubles. After that awful night he needed to be at peace.
He wandered into the park where a group of soldiers had gathered. They wouldn’t let anyone through but apparently there had been a murder of some kind, but they wouldn’t say who was killed. He did however hear rumors about a mysterious grey demon flying out of the park the night the body was found. The way the ponies discrimbed the creature reminded Theon of his squad mate Topher (short for Christopher) Keynes, also known as the Incarnate Gargoyle.
Topher was the moral arbiter of the Incarantes, and was certainly a lot braver then him. A deeply religious man, Topher believed the southern confederacy was on the side evil and that it was up to us to vanquish them. Theo remembered hearing that after the war he went back to his home town of Whitechurch.
Could he have died and been reincarnated here too? He wondered.
The sinners of this city must be punished! The one’s who attacked me must be punished!
Topher had punched his stony gargoyle body onto of the battlements of some abandoned castle looking over the Empire. After living his life as a pony trying to bring Alethianism* to Equestria, he had once again ret taken his gargoyle form in order to kill the pony that had tried to ambush him in the park last night. His life as a missionary and as a pony were now over. Now he was a beast once more.
Which he figured wasn’t all bad. This world was filled with monsters and magical creatures already, and his attempts to bring his world religion over were not going over so well. But now, he could once again instill the fear of God to the sinful and punish the wicked.
During his life after the war, he had flown through the streets of Whitechurch killing thieves and prostitutes with the hopes that their deaths would lead people down the correct path. Hank Henriette killed him before he could see any change. This time however doubted there was anyone (or pony) apart from the two sisters who could stop him.
At nightfall I shall strike.
Theo had deliberately booked himself a room in the shiest hotel he the Empire, which even then still looked like a mini palace of its own. There the less if he wanted to keep his presence hidden from his pursuers he have to be cautions. And if there was one thing he was excessively good at it was being precocious.
I really haven’t changed from my last life have I?
He sat on his balcony overlooking a small alleyway in case anyone in purple robes came down the street. It was almost midnight, and he planned to keep as late as possible to make sure nopony came.
Yet just before he was about to go to bed, he did notice something. A dark figure flying above, a carry what looked like a pony in one his arms. It flew into the dark alleyway where Theo and nopony else could see.
Could that monster really be Topher?
He knew Topher as a friend and a voice of moral support. If anyone could help him protect him from the bad guys it was him.
He rushed down to the lobby and out into the streets where he then entered the ally. It was way too dark so he lit his hor to get a better look. What he saw shocked him.
Sure enough the demon looking creature was in fact Topher in his gargoyle form, and he had scantily dressed mare in his hands while the other looked like it was getting ready to strike. His claws gleamed from the light of his horn.
“Topher Stop!” Theo cried. “You would never do something like this, especially not to an unarmed women”
Topher turned around and gave him a stony glare, pointed his claw at him. “How the fuck do you know my true name! Are you with that cult who worships the false king of this city?”
“Of course not!” Theo shouted, shaking his head in denial while his own body trembled. “It’s me, Theodore Sherman! Those guys are after me too, that’s why I needed to see if it was you.”
“You lie!” he snarled. “You’re just trying to stop me from punishing this sinner.”
“It’s me!” the unicorn shouted. “We were best friends, and the Topher I knew would never harm a defenseless women, not even a prostitute! Please, I don’t know what happen to you after the war but you would never do this!”
“It’s too fucking late Theo!” he roared. “I already retook my Incarnate form. I must now finish what I couldn’t do in the other world. I need to punish the sinful so that…”
“Just because you transformed doesn’t mean you have to make the same mistake twice!” Theo blurted. “You were always the righteous one. You were an inspiration to us all, but what you’re doing is evil and not what God would want.”
Theo wasn’t very religious and Togher knew this, but he figured any decent god would not be okay with this. Plus above all else needed to get appeal to his friend before he did something truly evil.
Topher snarled and let go of the woman. “Find a new line of work,” he whispered to her as he gently let her go. “As soon as you can! Now leave and sin no more!”
The freighted mare nodded and ran past Theo and out of the ally.
“What the fuck are you even doing here Theo?”
“I’ve been living my new life here in Equestria,” he replied. “At least until those Dark Church bastards tried to abduct me.”
Tohpher nodded. “I was attacked by one last in the park, that’s why I took this form again! Why I have become an instrument of God once more.”
“You were right to defend yourself but you shouldn’t hurt innocent people even if they are doing things you find immoral.” Theo said, his head slumping as he thought about the towns people that had died trying to break into his labyrinth fortress in Rougehill. You can argue it was self-defense because he set those traps out of fear. But did that give him any better than Topher?
“If they are after you as well you should transform.” Tohper suggested. “You won’t have to fear being over powered. There is an abandoned castle not too far from here which I have made my lair. With your strength and expertise in fortification they would need an army to capture us.”
Theo shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt anyone again. I’m worried I’ll go crazy and harm ponies that don’t deserve it.”
“Noble, but foolish” Topher said. “They were able to find us with easy, and with two of us in the city they will be attracted here like flies to a lamp post. Resist as you may your only delaying the inevitable. I too thought I had earned myself a second chance, had found a way to guide others without violence. I see now this is who I was always meant to be. Our desiny is inescapable.”
“The monster is in the ally!” a female voice shouted in the distance. Suddenly a group of four crystal pegasi guards flew into the ally, spears gripped in hand.
“Stand back citizen!” there leader -short bearded stallion with a sparkling sapphire coat and purple metallic armor – shouted “This beast is ours!”
Tohper took a step forward, but Theo pushed him back. “I’ll distract them. Go back to your hideout and don’t do anything crazy.”
Topher chuckled. “You’ve grown some balls since we last met my friend. Are you sure you’re really Theo?” With that he flew off. One of the guards tried to fly after him but Theo shot a weak laser spell at him – (it was actually the strongest one he knew) - and knocked him off course. The remaining three surrounded him and restrained him.
“Your under arrest for aiding and abetting a known fugitive and for assaulting an officer!”
Author's Note
*Alethianism is TTASB version of Christianity with history and belifs that mirror its real world counter part.
Again, please DM me about any editing mistakes I might have made. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
