Fate of the Lostbelt Kingdoms

Chapter Twenty-One

Impending Doom

The Minotaur and Asterios are two sides of a different coin. Where one grew up peacefully in the age of the god of the pan-human history, has a semblance of intellect, and his humanity in tacked, the other did not and moved solely on instincts. When he was hungry, he would hunt and eat anyone, or when he was bored, he would kill anything living. Regardless of age, race, or species anyone or anything living was his to eat or kill if they tread within his Labyrinth, or in this case, territory. It is here that we find the lostbelt beast making his way through the snow-covered land of Russia. Where might he be going? He was going after his prey who ran away from him. Normally he would’ve been able to prevent that, but due to Anastasia freezing him in ice, whatever magical energy he had saved up for his Noble Phantasm, was used to break out of her ice prison.

He was angry, insulted, but more so humiliated. Not only did he waste his magical reserve for such weaklings, but for them to stall him to the point where they could escape, was the most humiliating thing ever happening to him. At least that is what he would be thinking were it not for the fact that his intelligence was very low. All he felt was hunger, rage, and an empty feeling that couldn’t go away. As the mad beast made it to the borders of Equestria, he sniffed the air for a good few seconds and a grin appeared on his face. The scent he was looking for, was similar to the one piece of rainbow-colored hair that was found on one of his shackles. He found it as it led outside of Russia.

The beast let out a childish laugh, it wasn’t just her scent that he picked up, but multiple scents from not only ponies but animals. Compared to the scents he’s familiar with in Russia, these were new and yet interesting. Could they lead to more powerful demonic beasts, or weaklings for him to play and devour? Regardless, his prey was across the border, and he was hellbent on hunting them down for food. The Minotaur sniffed the air once again before going full-on sprinting into Equestria. The moment the lostbelt servant left, an injured Alter servant and her pack appeared from hiding below the snow.

“Seriously? How is that monster able to stand after getting a hole through his stomach? Most yaga’s wouldn’t survive long with an injury like that?” asked a male yaga as a female one spoke up.

“Is he even a yaga to begin with? What even is he?” She said before noticing Atalanta staggering to her feet. “You’re not thinking of going after him, are you? You still haven’t recovered from the hit you took from his axe.”

“We’re not going to fight him…at least not alone.”

“What do you mean?”

“The former Tsars of Russia are in that foreign land. Pains me to say this, but we’ll need to work with them to kill that monster.”

“You think they’ll help us? They haven’t done much before and after the fight with the group of humans.” She asked as Atalanta let out a small sigh.

“I’m sure they’ll help us. Especially with that monster coming after them and the group they were with.” She answered before getting into a crouching position. “Marksmen will come with me, the others inform nearby yagas that can fight and follow my trail once they’re ready.”

“We’re going to war?”

“No, we’re going hunting, and our target is the minotaur.”

[Carousel Boutique]

[Bathroom]

While the beast made his way through Equestria, Anastasia was currently in a bathtub taking a bath while Rarity was trying her best to get the remains of CMC’s attempted attack out of the caster’s hair. While it was a bit uncomfortable to be inside of a tub that was a bit smaller than what she expected, it was nice to be in a place with working hot water and not have to boil it with magic or the old-fashioned way with a fireplace and a cauldron.

“It feels nice to have a nice warm bath without the need for magic,” said Anastasia as she tried to adjust herself in the cramped bathtub.

“Was it that bad in Russia?”

“Would you be willing to do the normal stuff you do without electricity or magic to some degree?” She asked as Rarity paused for a moment before speaking.

“Fair point, especially if you want to look good and presentable.” She said before pulling a rubber chicken out of the servant’s hair. The two stared at each other for a moment before Anastasia spoke up.

“...Okay, how did that get in there? I should’ve been able to feel something like that if it was in my hair.”
“Bit of a cultural lesson. Anything that involves Pinkie Pie, do not question it.”

“Why wouldn’t anyone question something like that?”

“Trust me, darling, it’ll save you a lot of hardship and time. Twilight can attest to that.” The mare said as she tossed the toy to the side and continued to groom through the servant’s hair. “I must apologize for my sister’s action towards you. She means well, but tends to take things a bit too overboard at times.”

“I’m not angry as I was before, but I got my revenge on them, so we’re even for the time being.” She looked outside the window. “It’s….been a long time since I’ve been in a warm place like this.”

“It’s been nothing but cold winters in Russia?” Rarity asked as the servant nodded.

“From the time I was a little girl, up to when I was summoned by Kadoc.”

“Kadoc…I take it he’s a friend of yours?”

“My master.” She answered before bringing up a magical image of him.

“Dear Celestia, that human was your master? No offense darling, but he looks like he would get knocked out by the wind.”

“He may look sickly, but he is an amazing mage from the age of man. At first, I didn’t care much about him. But over time…he kind of grew on me during my time in the castle…might be the only good thing that came out of my ordeal with everything up to where I died.”

“Given who you were married to…I can only assume there wasn’t anything else that was good other than that human?”

“Before the marriage…It was…peaceful for the most part.” Anastasia said as she leaned back into the tub with her feet hanging out. “Before the incident that made the Lostbelt the way it is now, I lived a moderately peaceful life in the mansion.”

“Mansion, you were rich?”

“Royalty. My full name is Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, the fourth daughter of Nikolai and Alexandra and the last imperial princess of the Imperial House of Romanov of Russia.”

“I see, so should I call you, Princess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova? The Princess of Ice and Snow~?” Rarity asked in a teasing tone, causing the servant to roll her eyes.

“I had a feeling you were going to say something like that. But in all seriousness, don’t ever call me that. Anastasia is fine.”

“Oh relax darling, I was only playing with you. Celestia knows that it would be very annoying for somepony to call you by your full name every time…wait, if you were born into royalty, why marry Ivan?”
“It’s a bit complicated. He’s actually my ancestor.” She said which caused Rarity’s eyes to widen upon hearing this.

“W-Wait…he’s your ancestor…like, related to you by blood?” She asked as the caster nodded. “Oh dear Celestia, so that would mean that…you and him…”

“...Y-Yeah.”

“Does Ivan know about this!?” Rarity yelled as Anastasia quickly covered her mouth.

“Given the state he was in before coming to Equestreia, no, no he does not. And before you say anything, I’m not going to say anything about it, and neither will you, got it?” She asked as the unicorn nodded, causing the servant to slowly move her hand off of Rarity’s mouth. “Good, and sorry for doing that.”

“It’s fine, I won’t tell him about that. But I must ask...Did you two have…well…you know?”

“I can not confirm nor deny what you’re thinking,” Anastasia said as the color from Rarity’s face became
paler by the second with a horrified expression on her face.

“...I’m starting to see why you treat him the way you do.”

“Look, I know what you’re thinking and at the time, I was only playing along with the faithful wife thing as a means to overthrow Ivan.”

“I..can understand that…but dear Celestia, you both need to see a therapist or something along the lines of that.”

“I’m pretty sure the Yagas don’t have knowledge or a degree in psychology.”

“No, but we do have ponies here that can help.” Rarity said as she noticed Anastasia raising an eyebrow at her. “Here me out, I know you might not be that open to trust ponies other than us, but you've been in a very…very messed up marriage for…a long time. Holding back your emotions is not a healthy thing for a pony like yourself.”

“I’m a servant.”

“Regardless, you need help, and as your friend, I am going to help you…once we deal with the matter at hand involving the meeting at Town Hall.”

“Hm…maybe.”

“L-Lets change the subject, what was your childhood like? I mean, being a princess you must’ve had some royal duties to uphold, right?”

“I was still too young to rule over a nation let alone an entire country.” She said, which caused Rarity to raise an eyebrow at her. “Father and mother raised me along with my siblings with love and care. He didn't love one child over the other or didn’t put us against each other to win his love. Father and mother loved us equally. While my siblings were well-behaved and proper…I was kind of a…rambunctious girl.”

“You, rambunctious?”

“I know, hard to believe that someone like me can be like that.”

“Given what you did to Sweetie Belle and her friends, I wouldn’t be surprised by that.” Rarity thought before speaking. “Indeed, I wouldn’t have known if you didn’t tell me that you were a troublemaker.”

“Yeah, I was a rebel. I climbed trees, pranking people, and I would occasionally get into fights with some of the bullies in my hometown. No one questioned some of the things I did, what with being the daughter of the town mayor and royalty.”

“Do you still have that rambunctious personality as a child?”

“More or less, though it’s selective when it comes to my pranks.” She said before sinking a little bit in the bathtub. “Though as a child, that part started to slowly die off after…the incident.”

“You mean how your lostbelt was created?” Rarity asked as the caster servant shook her head.

“No, it was the fall of The House of Romanov. Many things led to the fall of it. My father was ignorant of the world and the realities of Russia, World War 1 going on outside of Russia which caused mass famine, the war between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan, the shooting incident which involved soldiers shooting unarmed people who were marching to my father to present a petition to him. The list goes on. Around 1917, that was the breaking point as people began to revolt and cause chaos throughout Russia. My father abdicated after so many uproars causing the Imperial House to fall into disarray.”

“Dear Celestia, s-sure you and your family were okay…right?” Rarity asked as Anastasia shook her head.

“The family was placed under house arrest. Originally we were going to be exiled to Germany, but due to my mother’s reliance on Grigori Rasputin, which caused rumors saying that she was having an affair with him, it was made impossible. One year later, the new administration of Russia feared that my father may be reinstated into power, so they decided to have the entire family executed in secret.” She said as Rarity’s eyes widened in horror. “This didn’t just single out the family, this also extended towards servants that were hired by my father to serve the family.”

“Mother of Celestia, I know what he did was a mistake, but they didn’t have to go that far!”

“Given what happened during my father’s reign and the event that led to him giving up the throne. It shouldn’t be a surprise that people would hold a grudge against him. The entire family was killed through gunfire, thus bringing an end to the Romanovs…at least for them.”

“...What do you mean by that?” She asked before noticing her shadow moving against the wall as Viy appeared on it.

“Ever since I was a child, I was the only one that could hear Viy’s voice. This might’ve been because of me being the heir of the family’s magecraft instead of my father. But as I was dying, I made a contract with Viy. Not as a means to save my life, but as a means of killing those who wronged me.”

“You made a contract with…pardon my language, but what in the name of Tartarus is that thing!?”

“This is Viy, he’s a fairy, the fairy that I made a contract with. While other fairies may be invisible to people, Viy can be seen by people due to it being contracted to the Romanov Dynasty. He can let third parties see him and even use his power.”

“...Are fairies from your world look like shadow beings that look like they would give an elderly pony a heart attack.”

“I mean most people don’t qualify him as a fairy, but I still think he is.”

“Right...well forgive me if I have my doubts about the concept of what humans would think a fairy looks like…but you made a contract with him to get revenge.”

“Wouldn’t you take revenge on someone if they stripped you of your clothes, used your body for sexual pleasure, chopped it up into pieces, and burned you to ashes?”

“...Dear Celestia, I’m trying not to be judgemental, but humans are sounding to be horrible creatures. No offense to you darling.”

“None taken.” She said before making Viy return to her shadow. “I made sure the soldiers that killed me never knew peace until that day they died. But after a while, my consciousness was slowly fading away after a couple of generations. Soon, I was recorded in the throne of heroes, summoned by Kadoc to be his servant and the rest you already know about when we first met back in my home in Russia?”

“I…Don’t even know how to respond to that…sad…angry…shocked. How can you still be okay after all this?”

“I’m not okay,” Anastasia answered bluntly. “Anyone who's been in a situation like that wouldn’t be okay with something like this.” She said as Rarity nice ice formed in the water the servant was in. “Ivan, the soldiers, Chaldea, The alien god, pan-human history. If I had the power, I would’ve just wiped them all out….ever…last…one of them.” More ice began to cover the bathroom as Rarity let out a small yelp upon seeing the ice spreading around them. Upon hearing this, the ice slowly stopped as it brought the servant out of her slight rage. She soon looked around and a sheepish smile appeared on her face. “...Perhaps I should take you up on the whole therapy advice.”

“I think that would be best, less we have something like this happen again out in public.” She said before tapping a hoof to the ice-covered water. “I hope you have a spell for something like this because we’re kind of pressed for time and using a hair dryer will take too long.”

“Um, yeah…just...um…give me a second to…regain some composure before getting out of the tub.”