Chapters Volcanic ash rose high into the sky over Hordheim. The sun barely reached through the blackened sky, casting an eerie reddish orange glow upon the uninhabitable land. Lava flowed down the black mountainsides, decimating everything in it's path. A dark palace reached its sharp hands into the sky, overlooking a large lake of golden fire. Empress Scarlet Shadow stood atop her fortress, her silver-blue eyes gazing down upon her realm. She smiled darkly, and brushed her silver lush hair behind her ripped ears. Her coat was a deep violet, large feathered wings adorning her back. A blood red cloak made of pony hide rested upon her shoulders, a tall collar of white hair adding a soft trim. The Dark Empress turned as a unicorn soldier in sleek black armor came up the stairs behind her. His blood red eyes shone in the glow of the sun, his silver coat dark and silky.
"You're late, Admiral." Her voice flowed like venom and blood. She stood tall with a grim expression.
The guard bowed and replied in his gruff voice, "My apologies, My Empress. We had a few... difficulties." He rose, standing at attention.
"Was your mission successful, Admiral?" The Dark Queen inquired darkly.
"It was, My Empress. The Prisoner awaits trial in The Main Hall as we speak."
"Anything more to report?" She asked.
"No, My Empress."
"Dismissed." The Empress commanded, of which the Admiral bowed once more and left his Empress to her lonesome atop her realm.
The Prisoner stood in the center of The Main Hall, heavy shackles and chains holding him to the floor. His coat was an indigo shade, his rugged hair and beard a deep blue. The arches above him were dark stone veined with solid gold that seemed to be liquid in nature. The floor was decorated with large tiles of black marble, with a large mosaic in the center of the long room depicting The Crimson Crown, the official seal of The Empress. A large silver throne stood high in the Hall, a staircase at least five meters high leading up to the throne. The Prisoner smirked a little as his green eyes gazed at The Empress who sat above. The stallion on her left boomed, "I, Judge Silvermane, Head Judge of The New Republic of Hordheim, accuse you of treason to the throne! How do you plea?"
The Prisoner laughed, "Silvermane, what an apt name for such an old fool such as you! Look at those long grey locks of yours, you troll!"
The Judge's face contorted into one of rage and boomed once more, "How do you plea?"
"Oh my, quite rude." The Prisoner chuckled, turning to the guard beside him on his right. "Has he no manners in those OLD CREAKY BONES OF HIS?" He emphasised the last bit to see the rage grow even more so on the yellow, wise stallion's face. He laughed again and the guard on his left whipped him, eliciting a cry from The Prisoner. "Ow! How rude!"
"How do you plead?" The Judge boomed once more.
"Oh fine, I'm guilty as charged." The Prisoner chuckled.
"The punishment for treason to the throne is death." The Judge declared. "Take him-"
"Oh, but my dear Judge, death for who?" The Prisoner laughed darkly. The Judge made eye contact with the convicted, and crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.
The Empress stood and shouted, "Kill him!"
The Prisoner laughed as all the guards in the room turned on the chained criminal. "Who's first?" he giggled. A cloud of gas filled the room as he suddenly disappeared, leaving behind the chains, of which were now open, by some cataclysmic miracle.
"Where'd he go?" one guard shouted. The guard opposite him was grabbed around the neck and pulled into the mist by a large pitch-black slime tentacle, where his screams echoed through the halls, blood spraying out onto the other five remaining soldiers.
"Oh gods above!" another yelled, screaming in agony as he was ripped limb from limb, blood and bones flying everywhere. 2 guards rushed to the Empress' side as the other 2 were beheaded by a thick blade of pure darkness, their heads rolling to the foot of the stairs leading to the throne.
"My Empress, we must get you to safety!" The Earth Pony guard on her left urged. She nodded and followed the panicked guard out of the Main Hall through the side door. Just as they made it through, the other guard behind her was grabbed by his back hoof and dragged into the mist, screaming. "My Empress, we must press onward!" The guard yelled. He sprinted down the black hallways with her in tow.
The Prisoner's distorted voice laughed in glee and declared, "I'll find and kill you all!" Screams echoed through the castle as everyone was brutally murdered and ripped apart.
The guard and The Empress ran out of the castle onto one of the bridges leading over to a zeppelin's landing area, where The Admiral was preparing for a diplomatic mission to the South. "My Empress, what has happened?" The Admiral had a look of panick upon his face.
"The Prisoner is on a killing rampage, we must leave at once!" The Empress yelled, dragging the guard and The Admiral behind her onto the zeppelin.
"I will pilot, My Empress!" The guard called, taking his place at the helm of the ship. "Opening fuel line!" He began flipping switches as The Admiral and The Empress took seats and buckled in. "Deflating ballonets!" He slammed a hoof down on a large button, and shouted, "Lift-off!" The zeppelin rose quickly, just as The Prisoner blasted through the doors of the castle, his large form reaching for the airship.
"No! You will not escape! I will have your souls too!"
The Admiral shouted, "Not today, you son of a bitch!" He lit his horn and sent a flare toward The Prisoner's outstretched tentacle. The Prisoner screamed in agony and withdrew from the aircraft, releasing them from his grasp. The guard activated the propellers to full tilt and away they sped over the seas and to the mainland.
However, a certain small glob of darkness crawled up inside the gondola section through a vent...
Faera Mossgarden tucked a book away in its proper place on the shelf. It was now 10:15 PM at the Ponyville Library. A lavender unicorn mare exited the back room, smiling with her saddlebags upon her back, of which was decorated with a star. "You sure you'll be alright running the library alone for the night, Fae?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'll be alright, Twi. Now you run along, your date is waiting!" Faera shooed her with a hoof.
"Oh! Yes, yes, of course, I can't leave Rainbow waiting!" Twilight adjusted her glasses and ran out the door, leaving Faera in the incandescent glow of the light-bulbs strung across the bronze-tiled ceiling. She looked around down through the hundreds of rows of ancient books and sighed to herself. She loved working in this library. Not only because she got to help ponies learn, but the smell of the old books and gas lamps gave her a sense of belonging. An engine sounded from outside as Twilight's custom airship undocked from the elevated landing platform. Faera gave a wave and a smile as she stepped outside to give her a friendly farewell. She gave a soft wave back and flew away, the silver sails fluttering in the wind.
She walked back inside, ready to serve whoever might enter into the library. A mirror stood opposite her desk. She admired her appearance: A dark green mane, adorned with a leather hat decorated with a band of metal gears. Her jade green Earth Pony coat rested easy upon her slim frame, which stood slightly higher than most ponies her age. A brown jacket rested upon her shoulders, complete with a nice collar. She adjusted her bowtie, straightened her jacket, and sat peacefully waiting for her next customer, her flank with a cutie mark of a silver lotus flower.
A few short minutes later, a loud crash sounded outside. Startled, Fae ran out to see what had happened. A large black and red airship with a silver gondola had docked on the library, and three ponies darted out. She could barely make them out, but they seemed like they could use help. "Make haste, My Empress!" a gruff voice shouted. A mass of dark ooze reached out from inside the airship, grabbing one of the ponies, dragging them back into the gondola, where screams echoed out and crunching was heard.
"My guard!" one of the two left cried out, supposedly the other's Empress. Whether that was a nickname or something was unknown, but of such things Ms. Mossgarden was not worrying over.
"My Empress, we have no time to mourn the loss of our comrade, we must get inside!" the other with the gruff voice called out.
"In here!" Fae called. She ushered the two ponies inside and quickly closed the door behind them, locking the door as tightly as possible.
Faera took a moment to look at the two strangers who had entered into the library. The mare was a purple pegasus, with a cloak and a golden chest-plate, of which she was in awe of. The other, a unicorn stallion, wore a full reddish-black set of armor, his eyes red and coat grey like unto the full moon. The mare spoke first. "I am Empress Scarlet Shadow, Empress of The New Republic of Hordheim." She gestured to the metal-clad unicorn and continued, "This is Admiral Thunder Storm, Leader of The Hordheim Regiments. We come seeking knowledge of artifacts known as the Sigils of Power. As you, O Wise One, being the warden of this library, I would expect you know where the information we seek is located?"
Faera gave a blank stare and blurted, "Huh?"
The Empress cocked an eyebrow and inquired, "Are you not the Wise One from the distant land beyond our seas?"
The Admiral stood menacingly, sending the poor librarian into a slight panick, replying quickly, "Well, I'm not the warden of this library, but I'm sure I can help you?" She smiled awkwardly, hoping to be giving off an air of friendliness to these terrifying strangers.
"I'm doubtful of this mare's competence, My Empress," the Admiral stated aloud, "it is very obvious she is NOT the Wise One."
"But if she runs this library, she must have some information; after all, libraries are the centers of knowledge, are they not?" The Empress responded. "Give her a chance, Admiral. If we can't find anything, we can always kill her afterwards."
Faera gulped as the Admiral stared into his soul with his piercing gaze. "Very well, My Empress."
"I think you might find the section you're looking for on Shelf 19 toward the .97's, if you'd like to go look?" Fae said, hoping to live just a little longer.
"Let us go search, Admiral." The Empress pulled her cloak and led the Admiral away down into the dusty aisles.
Faera sat at her desk at the front of the library, nervously examining the hydraulic doors, the gear-decorated walls, and especially the second story landing, where the two strangers were searching for their information.
A joyous "We found it, My Empress!" echoed through the library, quickly followed by two screams of terror and squelching of flesh and bone.
Fae panicked, remembering the mass of darkness that was outside in the docked airship. Come to think of it, if the two strangers were just now killed... that meant the mass was now inside the library. Specifically on the second floor, just above her!
She stood as still as possible, trying not to breathe too loudly, thinking she might fool the ooze demon. This did not work however, for the ooze demon was not after her at all. The glob slithered out the front door, right past her and back to the airship from whence it came. She heard the roar of the engines, a loud distorted cackle (which she presumed was from the ooze creature), and the fading of the ship's rumbling off into the distance.
Faera relaxed when she no longer heard the ship, and ran up to where the two strangers had been searching before their brutal demise. There was not a trace they had ever existed there, except for a book she had never seen before laying open to a page labelled in some ancient tongue that she could not understand. A diagram of some stone cliff surrounded by all sorts of plant life enframed a collection of 6 runes of which she knew not. It seemed strange to her, that she had never seen this book. It was in perfect condition and-
"Wait, what the-"
The book started to change, showing ancient pages tattered from use and age. She instantly recognized the book. "Starswirl's Journal of Magic?" she blurted, surprised and in a slight panick as the runes changed into what was the Elements of Harmony. She vaguely remembered the stories of the six ponies who used them almost 100 years ago. Twilight knew all the Bearers names by heart, but Faera never tried to remember their names. The Element Bearers' names were all right there in the book, so she didn't have to look far. But, she was more confused about the fact that the book had changed completely in her hooves. She decided to check the security footage at the end of the aisle. The two ponies had been standing in the aisle, as was expected, but when the Admiral pulled the book off the shelf, the video cut out and spat sparks from the gears rotating the tapes. "Gah!" Faera pulled away and stomped on the sparks that had landed on the tile floor. "Gosh dang it, I thought that would have something for sure!" She kicked the camera stand in frustration and took Starswirl's Journal of Magic down to her desk to examine it.
A few hours later, after many trials and frustrated yells, Faera gave up and screamed in anger at the innocent book in front of her. "What the freaking heck is wrong with you, you stupid book? Why the heck won't you work for me? SHOW ME YOUR SECRETS!"
At that, the book began to change back to the ancient book he had seen before and she gasped softly and sat up excitedly. She opened up to the page she found the book on and translated it late into the night using a translation guide to ancient cultures and races.
After finally translating what was the Zebrican language, she finally decoded what the page said:
The Sigils of Power were crafted by the hoof of our First Great Leader, Lord Ju'karta, founder of our land. He created them in hopes of driving away any evil beings. We lived a many great years in peace with the Sigils in place. However, one fateful year, the Sigils disappeared. The Zebra Tribes now fight for their survival from disease and darkness. Legend has it that a demon made of pure liquid darkness had hidden them away. We know not where they reside now, but only that they are still alive.
Faera groaned. "Well, that was fucking vague! What kind of information am I supposed to get from this??"
Something seemed to move in his peripheral vision. She froze for a moment, worried it was the monster that had returned to finally kill her. Fae shouted, "Who's there?"
Twilight stepped out from behind the desk, saying, "Whoa, whoa, it's just me! What's got you all riled up? And why are you still here?"
"Even if I told you, you'd probably think I was crazy."
"Is it crazier than that time you said you ran out of town because you thought you were possessed?" Twilight chuckled.
"I thought we agreed to never talk about that again, you dadgum Sparkle!" Fae burbled. "And no, it's not exactly crazier."
"Well then, what was it?"
And so, Faera recounted all the events that had happened between when she had left until she returned.
"Twilight, I don't know what to do, these runes are bugging at my mind and making me go insane!" Faera complained.
Twilight jolted upright, and she began to speak in a voice that wasn't hers.
"A long time ago in The Crystal Mountains, lived a group of pegasi who called themselves 'The Servants of Morderath,' a demon known only as an anti-void of pure darkness. He arrived to his Servants after raiding the Zebra Tribes and gave them The Sigils of Power, a collection of inlaid stone runes with powers beyond any's imagination. The leader of the Servants was a sorceress only known today as Fractal.
"Fractal was a power-hungry pegasus and led her Servant comrades into a war against Morderath. They used the Sigils to overthrow his power and imprisoned him on a distant land of which nopony has ever seen or heard of since. As for the Servants, they began to turn to stone after using the Sigils and became frozen in time in their mountain keep of Muthran. Nopony who has ventured there has ever returned."
Twilight finished the tale and Faera just sat there mulling over all the information, and then asked, "How did you even know all that?"
"I have no idea!" Twilight blurted. "It just invaded my head, gosh, I feel like I've just been violated, oh my word.." Twilight clutched her head, massaging her temples.
"If you just got bombarded with information like that after I told you about the Sigils, then something is trying to get me to find them or something!" Fae chuckled skeptically.
"Haha, very funny," Twilight mocked, "but I think there's something more serious going on here. You said you had seen a big glob of black goo, right?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I think you saw Morderath, Fae." Twilight whispered.
Her eyes widened and she began to panick. "Oh no, oh no, he's loose in Equestria, we have to do something!" She began to pace and mutter to herself.
"And now we have a logical excuse to search for the Sigils!" Twilight hooted.
"Um, excuse me?" Faera asked.
"Did you think I was gonna let you go on your own, you big doofus?" Twilight booped her.
"Ahem, no booping please." Faera rubbed her snoot, and Twilight chuckled sheepishly.
"Right, right, of course, my apologies."
"We might want to start packing if we want to get a headstart on finding those Sigils. Any time we waste is another second that Morderath is exploring Equestria." Fae declared.
"Wise choice." Twilight nodded. "But wouldn't some sleep be beneficial to us as well?"
"Yes, yes, fair enough." She agreed.
The two said their goodnights and went their separate ways to try and receive as much sleep as possible with the amount of time they had left of the night.
It was now 8 AM, and Fae was tired. She hadn't gotten much sleep since she had arrived home at 4 in the morning. She had packed everything she may need that morning, and had gone to pick Twilight up, who was currently locking up the library. When she arrived, she saw Twilight waiting patiently outside, with a soft smile on her face. She parked the airship and climbed out to greet her coworker. "Hey, Twilight! You ready to get going?"
"Yup! I got everything we could possibly need!" she called back. She came up to the ship and set down her saddlebags, and started heading back down.
"Hey wait, where are you going?" Faera asked.
"There's lots more stuff inside!" she replied.
Fae groaned and followed her down the stairs. Two suitcases, a cooler, and a small portable bookshelf sat ready to be loaded up. "Well, start grabbing stuff!" Twilight urged.
"Are you sure everything here is stuff we actually need?" Fae asked.
"Yes! We've got a first aid kit," - she pulled down the smaller suitcase - "a bunch of my clothes," - she moved the larger suitcase, which was approximately twice her size - "and a collection of food!" She gestured at the large cooler next to the portable bookshelf.
"And the bookshelf?" Faera inquired.
"The bookshelf has a bunch of survival guides if we crash or something similar." Twilight explained.
"Alrighty, well, to start off, we're ponies, clothing is optional, so you can downsize your amount of clothing," she began, "but other than that, I think you're good."
"Alright, I'll sort through my clothes, and then we can get going. In the meantime, would you mind taking everything else up to your ship?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, sure, just make your sorting quick." Fae replied.
A few minutes later, Twilight had a smaller suitcase about twice the size of the tiny first aid kit. "Alright, I'm ready!" Faera was standing just outside staring off into space toward her airship. Its golden balloon glinted in her eyes, the gondola below an oak compound.
"Twilight?" Fae asked.
"Is something wrong, Fae?" she responded.
"What if we don't make it back? What if one of us die and never return to the world we know?"
"Oh, Faera, you know that's your depression talking. I assure you, everything will be alright." Twilight put a hoof around her friend's shoulder and gave her a small hug. "Now, let's get going. Those Sigils await us!"
They climbed onto the airship and set off northward, the sun shining brightly in the early morning sky.
"And we're off!" Faera announced as she kicked up the propellers. "So, what would you like to do while we wait to arrive?"
"Well, I packed some games; how about a couple rounds of One?" Twilight pulled out a red package labelled in a black and gold writing.
"Ah sure, why not?" Fae chuckled. They played the game for several minutes and enjoyed each other's company. A few rounds later, Twilight stopped.
"Wait, aren't you supposed to keep an eye on the steering so we don't crash?" she asked worriedly.
"Oh, we'll be fine, I had an autopilot system installed last week." Fae dismissed.
"Oh, okay." She set down a blue reverse card and yelled, "ONE!"
"Gods damn it, Twi!" She threw her cards down and yelled in slight frustration.
Right at that moment, an alarm started going off, red lights flashing through the gondola.
"What the fuck?" Fae got up and trotted over to the dash. Her eyes darted around the ship's dashboard. "Oh, those shithole douchebags..." she muttered angrily.
"What!?" Twilight shouted.
"Those motherfuckers never gave me autopilot!" she shouted back. "Brace for impact, we're going down!"
"You mean this whole time, we've been on a crash course for the ground???" Twilight screamed. She snapped herself into her seat and cursed in Ancient Ponish as they dropped.
"GROUND APPROACHING, BRACE FOR IMPACT," the warning system blared, "ALTITUDE TOO LOW, CRASH IS INEVITABLE!"
"Hold on!!" Fae screamed.
The airship crashed through the Everfree Forest's canopy, a loud crash sounding that could be heard for a mile.
Faera groaned as she opened her eyes. She felt woozy, and tried to stand. A sharp pain screamed through her ribs and legs. "Agh!" she cried out. Fae began to inspect her surroundings. The airship was in ruins around her, flames roaring on the balloon that hung shredded in the canopy above. Darkness surrounded the trees around her, creatures lurking just out of sight. Twilight laid almost 15 feet away, unmoving. "Twilight!" she yelled. She forced her aching body to walk forward. "Twilight, wake up!" she cried. Every step rang out agony through her body. Still, she moved forward. She couldn't, no, she wouldn't let her friend stay where she was.
An inpony screech shattered the air, and a large wolf made of wood, near the size of a small dinghy, leapt out of the darkness, in a beeline for Faera. She shouted in terror and dropped to the ground, a wet crunch sounding from her leg as her bones screamed. "OH GODS!" she shrieked, as her leg was now twisting in a way it shouldn't ever have. She looked up and saw the wolf fly over her, seemingly limp. A loud crash sounded and a roar of flames engulfed the wood of the unearthly creature. A figure in a dark cloak walked out from where the wolf came. It stooped and removed it's hood, examining Fae's wounds.
The figure was a male zebra with a long, flurrious mane, of which seemed to float around his head in a wave, but not like she had ever seen. His green eyes darted back and forth between Faera's legs and her ribs, which still ached immensely.
"You seem hurt." he said.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Fae exasperated, a groan of pain escaping her lips.
"Let me help you." The zebra helped her up, and placed the agonizing mare on a slat of wood nearby. "Levitas!" He exclaimed, the timber rising. The pony upon it yelped in surprise.
The zebra glided to Twilight's side and motioned for the slat to approach. The wooden aircraft floated softly and soundlessly to the striped stallion's side. He hefted an unconscious Twilight upon the floating plank. The zebra began to walk away, the board drawing near to him. He walked in silence, guiding the wood through the forest.
Thorny vines slithered under the two hurt mares, surrounded by dense forest, dark as a room lit by a singular candle. The smell of death and muck filled the air, accented by the presence of skunk cabbage. Although, Faera didn't notice such things. She was focused on the pain in her leg and the cuts on her torso. Suddenly, the zebra's voice cut thru the eerie silence. "We're here."
