Amidst the Howling Dark

To Stand Before the Storm

At last. Judgment.

De'mah directed his craft towards the pony castle as his six Zealots descended upon it. Scores of pony defenders ran about the battlements and turrets, firing heaps of arrows into the evening sky. A few even fired at De'mah's craft, the primitive arrows clattering harmlessly off the Sangheili steel. The drawbridge to the castle had been raised, to which De'mah had to laugh at. Such naivete. Even if he hadn't had his ship, he'd have just rode one of his drakes across the gorge that separated the castle from the rest of the land.

The Sangheili lowered his craft to the ground just outside the gates to the castle and disembarked. A few ponies on the wall fired down at him, but he paid them no mind. The gate to the castle was recessed, providing an arch in which De'mah took cover from the ponies on the wall. He ignited his energy sword and buried the twin prongs into the thick oak, the wood cracking, warping, and catching fire. The steel reinforcements melted and gave way, and the padlock on the other side cracked. De'mah withdrew his blade and kicked the heavy door open.

The room inside the gate was grandiose, but devoid of any defenders. De'mah stepped into the grand hall and took note of the many doors that lined both the first floor, and the second floor balcony. Finding the Princesses would be a tall order, assuming they hadn't already fled from the castle. De'mah liked to think they were somewhere in the castle, waiting for him, but knew it to be unlikely.

Taking the castle would be victory enough the Sangheili told himself. It wasn't true, but taking the castle would be a serious blow to the morale of the kingdom. Especially if he had his dragons raze it to the ground.

Picking a door at random De'mah flung it open and peered in at the room on the other side, finding a nondescript dining hall or meeting room. The door at the other end likely leading to a kitchen. De'mah huffed and picked another door, the room beyond it another dead end. He repeated this process for all the doors on the first floor, quickly growing agitated.

At last he ventured beyond the grand staircase, and saw that built underneath the staircase was another staircase, leading down. A dungeon? A keep? Hidden rooms? It was worth inspecting, and so De'mah ventured down the stairs, the damp walls lined with torches. The stairs soon gave way to a long hallway, lined with thick wood doors, an open slit on each. Prison cells, indeed. Before long the hall ended, and De'mah was forced to head back.

As he was about to ascend the stairs back to the grand hall he looked up, and what he saw at the top of the stairs gave him pause. For at the top of the staircase stood the white Princess, Celestia. De'mah raised his sword, his face bathed in its glow, but the coward Princess simply floated away. Intrigued, De'mah rushed up the stairs, and saw the pony as she flew through an open doorway on the second floor. She was taunting him!

De'mah growled and charged up the stairs, chasing after her. He caught sight of her form as it turned and winded through the corridors of the castle, just out of reach, and he grew more furious by the second. If only this coward would face him. But he knew the Princess knew she was a coward. That's why she wouldn't face him. She knew that she was a coward, she knew that she could never hope to match De'mah's strength.

At last De'mah rushed out into a large chamber, the high ceiling arched and made of thick glass, allowing the rapidly fading evening light to stream into the room. The room was devoid of many features, save for two doors, one at each end. Celestia and her sister, Luna, stood together at the far side of the room, and De'mah raised his sword at the sight of them.

"At last. Judgment" De'mah said.

"Just...tell me one thing. Who are you?" Celestia asked, and De'mah paused. That the coward wished to know of her foe before a fight gave De'mah hope that maybe she was a true warrior indeed.

"It would take long to tell you it all. I come from a planet far, far away from this one. And from a planet very much unlike this one. I came in search of gifts of the Forerunners, but what I found instead was something that sickened me. A race of warriors, content to sit by. A race of pacifists, standing in defiance of the natural order of the universe. In the name of my honor, my name, and my gods, I will correct this injustice" De'mah said.

"You're...from another planet? Tis a LIE!" Luna exclaimed, and De'mah huffed.

"What would an ignorant know of the cosmos? Were you a stronger race I would show you all the magnificence of Sanghelios. As it is, I can only show you the next life!"

"Wait, stop! The dragons... Why?" Celestia asked.

De'mah growled. "I killed their high lord, and they pledged their loyalty to me. That is how dragon code works. Whoever kills the high lord becomes the high lord, and it is under my guidance that the Div will finally learn their true place in this universe."

"Sweet mother... When you first appeared I thought... That's why the Elements didn't work... You're not from Equestria, you're not even from our own planet!" Celestia said, horrified. "Their magic was never going to work on you..."

"No, and I'm glad Tolmirak knew that, so that I could let you cast the first strike. I really must thank you for that, Princess. It gave me more reason to punish your species" De'mah replied. "Enough talk, now. FACE ME!"

De'mah rushed forward and the two Princesses lit their shields, and as he swung his sword recoiled off the magic. Luna's shield dropped and she discharged a great beam at the Sangheili, who ducked to dodge. Striking out he swung at the dark Princess, who vanished in a flash of light. Celestia was about to fire on him when he swung back at her, and her shield came back up. Luna reappeared in a flash and fired again, and again did De'mah dodge the attack. He rushed at the night Princess, who lit a shield around her just as De'mah struck. He heard Celestia charging her horn from behind him, and Luna again teleported away. The day Princess unleashed her terrible beam and De'mah rolled to dodge, the attack obliterating the stones of the far wall.

Luna appeared next to her sister, and De'mah charged at them again. He slashed out and both Princesses disappeared in a flash, reappearing beside him. He turned to swing at Luna and Celestia fired a powerful beam at him, knocking him to the floor. He scrambled back to his feet and lunged at the two ponies once more, his sword deflecting off their shields.

"You run like cowards, and you FIGHT like COWARDS!" De'mah thundered, keeping his sword raised. He again swung and the room quickly became a maelstrom of flashing lights. Sword struck shield, beam struck Sang, Equestrian disappeared and reappeared. De'mah swung and his sword's tips raked Celestia's shield, Luna fired at him and he dodged. He swung at Luna and Celestia fired, and he dodged. They fired in unison and he dodged. He swung and missed Celestia by mere inches, and she bucked him. He swung and his sword flashed against Luna's shield, and he turned on her. He howled in fury and repeatedly slashed at the dark Princesses's shield, and Celestia fired at him.

"ANCESTORS GRANT ME NEW WIND!" De'mah bellowed as Luna teleported away, and he turned to face Celestia. "ANCESTORS GRANT ME STRENGTH." He swung and his sword dragged across the Princesses' shield. He swung again and the sparks and thaums flew. "ANCESTORS GRANT ME THE POWER TO STRIKE DOWN THESE MEANINGLESS CREATURES!!"

Luna shot De'mah in the back and he stumbled away from Celestia, who winked out and blinked back in by her sister. Once more De'mah threw himself into their midst, swinging wildly. His sword grinded over Luna's shield, and Celestia fired at him. He dodged and swung at her, and Luna fired. He dodged, and Celestia teleported. De'mah swung at the day Princess and she teleported again. And as he swung his blade back towards Luna the day Princess reappeared, and the tips of his sword flicked across her chin, an inconsequential wound. She shot him in the shoulder and he spun around, and as she flashed away her sister Luna fired again, her shot slamming into De'mah's helmet, shattering the glass of his helmet's visor.

"ARRGH!! You WILL SUFFER!" the Sangheili thundered, and stabbed at the night's avatar. "ALL WILL SUFFER IN THE NAME OF DE'MAH 'TOKAM!!"

De'mah had just swung at Luna again when there was an earth-shattering boom, and pieces of the room's glass ceiling began to fall down upon them. The two Princesses lit their shields and De'mah was forced to roll away from the falling debris, lest he be hit. The stones near the ceiling began to break away and fall, and the building shook.

"My dragons come, Princesses. My faithful. My ZEALOTS!" De'mah shouted. "They will pluck EVERY STONE FROM THIS CASTLE, and you will fall here as it ALL - TUMBLES - DOWN!!"

Again did De'mah throw himself at the two Princesses, and again did they light their shields. The mighty Sangheili could tell from their sluggish movements and flickering shields he was beating them down, and that he was so close to his triumph. He would be victorious, the same way he'd been victorious over Jilnarok!

He swung at Luna and as his sword struck her shield it flashed out of existence, and he was about to strike her down when Celestia flew straight into him, knocking him over. He swung blindly, hoping to hit the cursed coward, but she scurried back from him. He stumbled back to his feet just as the building shook again, and half of the room's upper walls were blown inward, sending chunks of stone flying. De'mah looked up to see one of his dragons, Kilmeenak, shoving his head into the chamber, black smoke pouring out of his maw.

De'mah looked back to the Princesses to find them staggering around the floor, unsteady on their hooves. Celestia was nearest, and so De'mah rushed at her, howling in fury and defiance. "FOR SANGHELIOS!!" he thundered once again, and he drew his sword back and to the left, his arm crossing in front of his body as he prepared to strike. Time seemed to slow as his blade neared his face, steam rising from the plasma, and he swung out as Celestia as she began to turn towards him.

"SISTER!" Luna roared, and shot forward. De'mah watched as she rammed into her sister's side, entangling the two of them, but it hardly mattered to De'mah which one his blade killed. His arm reached full extension just as Luna passed in front of it, and the twin tips of his beautiful sword lashed across the dark Princesses's side as she knocked her sister out of the way.

Another victory!!

The two Princesses hit the ground together and tumbled across the stones, and De'mah stood, staring at their bodies as they lied atop each other. Celestia stirred first, coughing as she looked around. She saw De'mah standing not twenty feet from them, and the Sangheili simply leered at her.

"L- ...Lulu..." Celestia breathed, and De'mah rolled his shoulders. He would watch the anguish descend upon her, revel in her suffering, before she too would be snuffed out by his blade. The day Princess rose on shaky hooves, nudging her sister, who rolled over. "Y-You're...a m-- Monster..." she whispered, directed at De'mah.

The Sangheili had nothing to say to that, and was about to step forward when the room shook again. He looked up at Kilmeenak, who turned his gaze to the sky. The room shook more and more, loose stones falling to the floor, before it began to come all tumbling down.

"Grrr, KILMEENAK! What is the meaning of this?!" De'mah shouted up at his Zealot, who reached out with his talons and began smashing away what remained of the glass ceiling. De'mah looked back to the Princesses to see Luna standing upright, leaning against her sister for support. Celestia cast one last look at De'mah before she lit a shield that covered both her and her sister, and they began to limp away.

"NOT SO FAST!!"

De'mah was about to rush after them when the ground began shaking tremendously, and he staggered to the side. He hit the wall and pushed away from it, wheeled his arms for balance, and tried to rush after the Princesses again. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" he roared. Kilmeenak quickly crawled into the chamber, his massive body hardly fitting, and he lowered his head to the stones.

"We must leave, my lord!"

"Not until I've had MY VICTORY! I MUST strike these cowards down!" the high lord exclaimed, turning to face the Princesses. He watched as they stumbled through the door at the opposite end of the room, and was about to give chase when the floor split, pieces and chunks of it falling away all around him and the elder dragon. He roared in anger and climbed onto Kilmeenak's neck, and the dragon rose into the air. As they hovered up and out of the room De'mah saw the entire castle coming down on itself, great clouds of dust and stone and rock kicking up into the air. Kilmeenak dropped De'mah next to his ship and the Sangheili rushed to power it up. He snatched at the control yokes and the craft rose into the air, and with a flick of the sticks he turned and raced away from the castle, Kilmeenak trailing behind him.

"COWARDS!! GUTLESS COWARDS! THEY DESERVED TO SUFFER! THEIR WHOLE RACE DESERVES TO SUFFER! They think they know TERROR?! My dragons will BLOCK OUT THEIR SUN!! They will BLANKET THEIR SKIES IN THEIR FORMS, AND BATHE THEIR CITIES IN FIRE AND BLOOD!!" De'mah roared to himself. "I will NOT REST, and I will NOT DIE UNTIL ALL OF THEIR NUMBERS HAVE BEEN EXTINGUISHED BY MY BLADE ALONE!!!"

All he could do now, though, was fly away.

Celestia limped as far away from the castle as she possibly could, deep into the Everfree forest, her sister at her side the whole way. She stopped only when she felt it was safe, gently leaning Luna against the trunk of a tree. Her sister panted almost as much as she did, but she was alive. Celestia was tremendously grateful for this. "Lulu! Lulu, oh mother, are you alright?!"

"The wound...tis but a flesh wound... I will live" the night Princess breathed, and Celestia used the last of her stamina to charge her horn, doing her best to close Luna's cuts. She was exhausted, they both were, but Luna's needs came before her own. "That thing... Tis unnatural. He truly is a demon."

"Hush Lulu, just rest. We need to get moving again soon, but I want you to get your strength back before we do" Celestia said, keeping one eye on her sister and one eye on the direction of their castle. What remained of it, anyway. It would need to be rebuilt. They would rebuild it. They would defeat De'mah and they would rebuild their castle. They'd rebuild all the towns the dark monster had burned to ash.

And, Celestia realized with horror, all the towns and cities he would go on to reduce to cinders.