Guardians of Equestria : The Emperor's March

The search around Manehattan proved to be unsuccessful, leaving the entire group disappointed as they headed back to Ponyville. Balgo had truly disappeared from the city, nowhere to be found.

Twilight Sparkle went back to her home, accompanied by Spike and Shining Armor. It was getting dark outside, it was best to stay indoors and try something else tomorrow for that day was very demanding for everypony in the party.

“So, I guess we’ll be sleeping under the same roof again, Twiley.” playfully pointed out Shining.

Twilight was suddenly flooded with many memories that she had of her brother when she was just a filly. “I still remember all the crazy things we’ve done when our parents were asleep!”

Shining Armor sat on a chair, relieved to finally be able to relax for once. “I guess saving the world would count as a “crazy thing”. Well, I guess you’ve already done it with Nightmare Moon and Discord.”

“That was different. Nightmare Moon was Princess Luna, but corrupted. Discord wasn’t taking anything too seriously which is how we were able to beat him. Balgo on the other hand, seems much more threatening than Discord ever could be. What’s on the surface IS his true nature.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Spike immediately went to bed, too tired to stay awake any longer while the two unicorns were willing to stay up late to get some important preparations done for tomorrow.

“Goodnight you two.” said Spike while yawning.

“Goodnight, Spike!” replied Twilight Sparkle as she watched the baby dragon fall asleep rather quickly. She turned her attention back to her brother. “Well Shining, I suppose we still have some things left to do before we head off to sleep.”

“Of course, I’ll gladly help you with whatever you need, Twiley! You’re my little sister after all, I’d do anything for you.” kindly responded the stallion.

“Well, first off, we should-” Twilight was cut off by a sudden knock on the door.

“Twiley, open the door! It’s me!” Twilight’s heart nearly gave in when she heard none other than Shining Armor on the other side of the front door. Her brother now looked very disturbed to hear his own voice coming from elsewhere.

“Tw-Twiley. That, can’t be me outside, can’t it?” muttered the frightened unicorn.

“No doubts about it. B-Balgo's here.”

The voice on the door began to distort itself. “Oh come on now, don’t keep me waiting or else I'll force myself in! Don’t worry, I'm here simply to chat for a bit.”

Twilight approached her front door and opened the upper section of it. She nearly jumped once she saw what was on the other side.

It was Shining Armor, only slightly different. His skin was grey rather than white. One of his eyes were missing while the other had a reddish glow to it. His teeth were yellow and bloodied. There were cuts around his hooves and snout. His mane was much longer and not well preserved. Lastly, his Cutie Mark was different. It was a pair of evil-looking eyes accompanied by a grin. The most disturbing part about it was that the eyes were real, and they were staring at her.

The faker waltzed in without even awaiting a response. “You know who I am, so we’ll cut off the needless introductions. I have a problem that needs fixing or rather, Canterlot has a problem that needs fixing.”

His choice of wording got the two unicorns worried.

“Wait, Canterlot has a problem?” questioned Shining.

“Yes, there has been murders, supposedly. Ponies being attacked in their home and dragged away to who knows where. All that is left on the scene are blood splatters and broken furniture. It’s getting everyone worried, so I thought I'd bring you two to solve this case with me. It’ll be fun, just believe me on this one.” The faker’s expression slowly turned into a mischievous grin the further he went on.

Twilight and Shining were unwilling to cooperate, but then they remembered that their parents were in Canterlot. If this murderer was targeting ponies, then that would mean that their parents are at risk of being murdered. But just to be sure, Twilight had to ask.

“Is this killer only targeting ponies?”

“Pretty much, Scalers seems to be off the table for this serial killer, quite the relief ain’t it?”

That settled it; Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor were going to accompany Balgo on this mysterious case. They can’t afford to let this murderer, kill anymore ponies on their watch; they’ll bring him/her to justice, that is... unless Balgo already has something in mind.

Without the usage of a train, the trip to Canterlot would take quite some time. Balgo saw it as a good opportunity to mess around with his fragile alliance. Twilight and Shining Armor were the ones leading the way while Balgo stayed closely behind them.

“So, how are your studies going, Twilight? In friendship magic I mean.”

“I was doing pretty well, before you showed up.”

“You shouldn’t neglect your studies. Just because the Devil is knocking at your door doesn’t mean you have a valid excuse to not act like a model student.” retorted the fake Shining Armor. Twilight was getting angrier at the Scaler’s provocation.

“If you weren’t trying to destroy everything we ponies have built, then maybe I'll try to act like a model student!” shouted Twilight. Her brother leaned in closer to calm her down.

“Don’t give him the attention he seeks. He’s just trying to get a reaction out of you, Twiley.”

Balgo chuckled, satisfied at his success while Twilight simply groaned, choosing to remain silent.

“Oh, pardon me, but I believe I actually have something worthwhile to say this time.” said Balgo as he reached a hoof out in a portal he created. He pulled out a rusty, bloodied whistle, as well as a sheet, and handed them to Twilight Sparkle.

“This, is the Blood Whistle. I have a strong feeling that it’ll be useful down the line. The sheet is important too, keep it.”
Twilight examined the whistle with care. “That’s... weird. I thought that Mugen had it. He showed it to me just a few days ago.”

“He’s terribly easy to convince, my dear. I didn’t even steal it; he just gave it to me.” replied the Devil. He was trying to stop himself from laughing.

“What?!”

“My people don’t call him the wildcard for nothin’.”

Twilight refrained herself from responding, instead opting to look in the distance. Canterlot’s castle was in clear view from their position, and that sparked some anxiety in her. It’s been a while since she had stepped foot in Canterlot ever since the city was taken over by the Scalers. She feared to see what had happened to what was once the home of her mentor. Without much else to do, she placed the whistle and the sheet inside her saddlebag.

After a long an uneventful walk, the trio has arrived at the city’s gate. Two Scalers were on duty there, stopping anypony from sneaking in. They quickly stood up upon noticing the three ponies approaching, pointing their weapons at them. It didn’t take long for them to lower their guns, and bow down. Twilight and Shining were confused at first, but quickly remembered that it was kind of obvious who the fake Shining was.

“Lord Balgo.” they both said in unison before opening the gates. “Welcome back.”

Balgo went front and center, now being the one to lead the group. “My mantra has always been; fear and obey. Fear is a powerful tool that can bend anyone to your will. It is how we maintain control.”

“Your regime is a dictature. I don’t expect it to last forever; such empires only end in ruins.” pointed out Shining Armor.

“Maybe you’re right... or perhaps you are wrong. Only time will tell, Shining Armor.”

Strangely enough, Twilight Sparkle noticed that Balgo’s tone didn’t seem to favor any side at all. Even weirder was his reluctance to outright kill any of the Element’s bearers. The Elements of Harmony were very the only thing that can stop this invasion, but the Devil wasn’t taking any step towards stopping them for good. Just what was he looking for?

He’s been constantly toying with her, never once tried to actually kill her. He’s killed Princess Celestia and gravely injured Luna but never bothered to finish the job nor did he even go after Cadance. His decisions at the beginning were calculated, strategic and aiming towards causing as much discord and fear as possible before attempting to take over the most secured city in all of Equestria. Now, they were erratic, contradictory to his previous decisions.

The more she tried to understand the Scaler’s decisions, the more she came to the realisation that all of this simply made no sense on a logical level. That must mean he has a weakness, perhaps a self-imposed one?

Twilight lifted her head and wondered where Shining and Balgo were.

“We are right behind you, you know. If you’d stop over-analysing everything and instead focus on the mission ahead, that’ll be nice.”

They were behind her now. She felt somewhat embarrassed, but tried her best to hide it. Perhaps she should do as Balgo said and stay focus on the case they were taking on.

There were multiple eyes on them now, from ponies and Scalers alike. The reptiles were looking on in admiration and curiosity at their master’s antics while the ponies looked at the faker with terror in their eyes. Balgo took a great amount of pleasure in watching their reactions.

“Now, this is power. Fear and respect are earned through many trials and tribulations. It can’t be taken for granted.”
Twilight wanted to share her opinion on the matter, but stopped when she saw a house with many signs around it telling citizens that this area was off limits. There were multiple Scalers positioned around it ensuring that nopony would come close.

“So, this is where the latest murder took place?” she hesitantly asked.

“Yup, let’s get in.”

Balgo walked up to the house, the Scalers quickly recognised him and saluted their leader. He spun around and gestured at Twilight and Shining to come inside with him.

The kitchen was where the murder happened. The broken cupboard as well as the knocked down chairs made it pretty clear. There were no lights in the house at the moment, making the whole scene look more ominous. The most interesting part of all were the bloodstains. They were still red, meaning that the murder had happened recently.

“By the looks of it; the victim was attacked and when it was unable to defend itself anymore, it was dragged away as judged by the bloodstains.” remarqued Balgo in an emotionless voice, sounding indifferent to the massacre that had occurred.
“But the trail ends right there, in the room adjacent to the kitchen.” pointed out Twilight. “What could have happened to the victim? It’s as if it disappeared!”

“Could it be that the murder is a unicorn? It could have used magic to erase his or her tracks.” theorised Shining Armor.

“Then explain to me why there is a fuck ton of blood in the place where the victim mysteriously disappeared.” coldly exclaimed the faker as he rubbed his hooves in the blood.

“Maybe the killer was clumsy and casted his spell inefficiently? It could have made the process messy.” explained Twilight. Shining wasn’t sure this was the case.

“Twiley, I don’t think that a clumsy unicorn could have left this much gore with a spell. Maybe the killer didn’t have access to magic at all in the end.” Balgo let out a small smile of satisfaction, though it was brief enough that the two unicorns didn’t notice.

“Seeing as this killer messed up the kitchen pretty bad, I’d say he’s got quite the muscles to do this much damage.” he said. Twilight was slowly starting to figure it out.

“I can agree with that. This could be an earth pony, but then again, an earth pony couldn’t have made an entire body disappear!”

“The only way he could was if he devoured his victim on the spot, but even a stallion can’t eat that much in such little time.” Shining said, slowly getting closer to discovering the nature of the murderer.

“That could only leave... a Scaler!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle with great satisfaction, though it quickly turned into anger towards Balgo. “A Scaler is killing ponies!” The Devil chuckled, looking satisfied that Twilight has nearly solved this mystery.

“Just one thing, Scalers aren’t allowed to hurt ponies unless it is self-defence. Failure to follow this rule will result in their execution at the hands of Knoxx and I. I doubt my own kind could have done it, unless... we’ve got something truly unruly hidden in Canterlot.” Twilight was slowly losing her patience. She knew Balgo had solved it already, he was just taking his sweet time to deliver the news.

“What are you getting at?”

“The abomination is our culprit here. A Scaler that has fallen from grace, going to the point of losing everything that made him a Scaler in the first place. He was eating other Scalers before, but I guess ponies just tastes better to this thing. I’ve got a feeling that the Blood Whistle will help us track him down.”

Twilight took the whistle out of her saddlebag and examined it.

“Now here’s what you must do, Twiley. Play the melody on the sheet with the whistle. Once you hear his voice, you’ll have to sing the whistle’s melody.”

“What?”

“Don’t ask questions, do it.”

Twilight played the melody with the whistle. At first nothing happened, but Balgo pressured her to keep on playing. After playing through the melody a second time, a disembodied voice sang the melody that she had just played.
“Now Twilight. Sing the melody with him.” ordered Balgo.

Twilight sang the melody, harmonising quite well with the voice for it was also good at singing. Then, a Scaler slowly materialised into the room. He looked like any ordinary Scaler with the sole difference being that his skin is ghostly white and his eyes are as black as the abyss itself.

The ghost continued on singing while Twilight and Shining looked on in awe.

“Don’t stop singing, you’re nearly there. Follow his lead.” pressured Balgo.

Twilight nodded and repeated the same melody as the ghost. Suddenly, the lights in the house went out and a blood curling scream startled the two unicorns. When the lights turned on again, the ghost’s appearance changed. He now looked mangled, torn apart, with his face now expressing sorrow and pain.

The apparition began to sing much faster than before, a whistle accompanied every single note he sang. Twilight followed the Scaler’s lead, trying to keep up with this sudden change in tempo.

“Blood Whistle! Hear its cry!” the singing stopped after the voice had shouted these words.

Twilight was expecting Balgo to pressure her to keep singing, but he instead looked satisfied.

“To earn the favor of a ghost, one must appeal to him or her first.” he said, smiling proudly. “You have done well Twilight.”
Shining looked at the ghost, visibly disturbed at the being’s pitiful appearance. “So, what are we supposed to do now?”

“You’ve done it Twilight Sparkle. You can ask the ghost anything you want, but it has to be something the ghost knows.”

Twilight turned her head to look at the disguised Devil. “Does he know about the murderer’s identity?”

“I’m sure he knows more than that. Ask him where the killer is hiding.”

The Element of Magic placed her attention back on the ethereal being. “Where is the killer hiding?” she said sternly.
The ghost slowly raised his only arm and pointed at the floor. He lingered there for quite some time, not moving an inch.

“He’s... pointing at the floor.” observed Shining Armor. “So, the killer is somewhere below where we are, but I'm fairly certain this house has no basement.”

“Well?” started Balgo. “What’s below the house?”

The stallion finally remembered a little-known fact about Canterlot. There were caverns below the city, though they are not used anymore which is few nopony even knows about their existence.

“Canterlot’s caverns! Of course! There is no better place to hide than in the caverns located just under the city!”

Weird, as soon as Shining Armor finished his sentence, the group found themselves in the caverns. Most likely caused by Balgo’s magic. The whole place was kind of dark, but still fairly lit thanks to the abundance of crystals around. It was quite the big underground system, with minecarts still present in there along with the tracks. Searching for the killer would take some time, but since it’s a Scaler they are looking for. It should be doable since the culprit cannot use magic.

“Well, you two will hunt down the abomination and strike it down. Do not count on me for help, you will be on your own.” announced Balgo as regained his true form.

“What? You brought us all the way here to arrest a serial killer only to ditch us at the last second!?” angrily shouted Twilight Sparkle.

“It is a test, actually. If you want to see Celestia again, you’d better play along with my games.” said the grinning Devil before he leaped out of the caverns, leaving the siblings alone to put an end to the monster’s killing spree.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll give us a C- even if we pull this off perfectly.” grumbled the unicorn.

“Twiley, you’ve got to keep your cool. We won’t be doing this for him, we are doing it for the ponies of Canterlot, remember?” Shining’s words calmed her sister down. As her big brother, he had to keep his composure and reassure her that they’ll succeed no matter what. Though, he was very anxious about the killer’s identity. All they know was that the serial killer was a Scaler, nothing more. With reptiles like Aruba, Kryser and Mugen, it was reasonable to assume that this particular lizard was unique, stronger than the others even.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but they can’t back out.

Making their way through the unstable floor of the cave, they reached the minecarts and decided to use them to move further down, seeing as the Scaler in question was probably hiding in the deeper section of the mine.
The ride was quite bumpy and frightening to them. The tracks looked fragile, it felt as if they could break at any moment. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and they’ve reached the deeper sections safely.

There were large crystals everywhere, practically functioning as mirrors due to their size and refractive capabilities. This made it quite difficult to navigate the area as the siblings would often bump into a crystal thinking there was a path.
Their search was relatively uninteresting, that was until they heard a mare calling out for help in the distance. Getting closer, they saw that this pony was badly injured. One of her legs was gnawed on, leaving her unable to stand up. The despair in her face quickly turned into joy when she spotted the siblings arriving on the scene.

“There’s somepony in there! Quickly, we gotta save her!” said Twilight as she rushed towards the injured mare. She was unable to get any closer however, because Shining Armor was biting on her tail to hold her in place. “Shining, what are you-”

“It’s a trap. It’d be wise to take our time instead of rushing in.” explained the stallion. Twilight looked back at the injured mare and quickly realised that Shining was most likely right.

The area in which the pony was placed in was fairly big unlike the hallway of crystals they had passed through. Plus, they know that this killer devours his victims, so seeing a pony still alive in his hideout is another cause for suspicion.

“I guess you’re right, but look at her leg! She’ll bleed out if we don’t act fast enough.” she pointed out in a worried tone.

“Don’t worry ‘sis. I’m going to make this quick.” Shining examined the area with great care. His gaze ultimately rested upon a strange shadow somewhere on the cavern’s walls. He turned his head towards one of the crystals, calculated the angle of his shot and fired a magic beam at it. The beam hit the crystal and ricocheted directly into the position of the shadow. The resulting explosion casted some light on the shadow, revealing it to be the Scaler they were looking for.

Shining Armor couldn’t get a good look at it since it ran off and hid somewhere else, accompanied by the sound of metal scraping against the rock walls. The stallion had just enough time to see just how different this Scaler was.

“It knows we’re here!” he announced to his little sister.

Twilight immediately rushed to the mare’s assistance with Shining following closely behind. The pony stood up with her functioning legs, eyes tearing at the sight of her saviors.

“Don’t worry, miss! We’ll get you out of here!” exclaimed the purple unicorn, getting closer to the injured pony.

Shining saw something quite startling in the corner of his eyes, it was a log on a rope, with its extremities carved up into a spike swinging down exactly at the position of the mare. The same position that Twilight was getting in.

“Twilight!” Using telekinesis, Shining pulled his sister out of harm’s way, but sadly, he couldn’t do the same to the victim. The log slammed into her, tearing her in half.

A sickening amount of blood flew into their faces, blinding the siblings as they heard the thump of her lifeless body hitting the floor, echoing throughout the cavern. Twilight had a look of pure horror on her face once she got to see the damage while Shining Armor did his best to keep his composure. He couldn’t crack, not right now, not when his sister depended on him. As long as he can keep his cool, she’ll be safe. He wrapped a hoof around her in hopes it would snap her out of this trance.

“Sweet Celestia, no... I-I couldn’t save her. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Twiley. I failed her. It's my fault.”

After he was done mourning the death of the innocent mare, he moved further down the caverns, chasing down after the abomination. The monster who already knew they were coming was indeed prepared for their arrival. They had to proceed with caution, for there may be more traps waiting for them. This beast was intelligent, underestimating it would be a foolish mistake.
Just as he was thinking about it, he felt his hooves touching a trip wire.

“Above you!” shouted his sister. Shining Armor saw a huge boulder falling on him. Thankfully, he too was capable of teleportation, narrowly avoiding a painful death. Twilight ran up to him, looking worried sick. “Shining! Be more careful than that, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“You’re right, we should proceed with caution from now on. There’s probably traps everywhere.”

Metal scrapping could be heard around them. The beast was moving quickly, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. All they could really do was to follow the sounds of the creature in hopes they could finally bring it out of the shadows. Their combined magic should be enough to triumph against it, especially since it doesn’t appear to have any magic as evidenced by its reliance on traps and its physique.

As they chased after the abomination, they narrowly evaded many traps. Spiked fences swinging at them, arrows being shot from the dark, holes that lead to bottomless pits, the monster's imagination made its traps truly unpredictable and hard to avoid. The scraping was now close to them, they’ve nearly caught up to it!

The monster descended from the wall and ran into a claustrophobic corridor, eventually arriving in a fairly spacious room as it stared back at the two of them, taunting them with a mocking smile. Determined to put an end to this beast’s killing spree, Twilight Sparkle rushed forward, navigating the corridor with ease thanks to her smaller size. Just as she got out however, the abomination bit down on a wire, causing massive slabs of stone to fall behind her, effectively blocking any and all exit from the room they were in, simultaneously preventing Shining Armor from assisting her.

“Twiley! Hang on, I’ll find another way!” he shouted from the other side.

Twilight now realised the danger she was in. The abomination was a few meters away from her, staring at her with a now blank, emotionless face. Its entire body was twitching, causing the armor plates to squeak eternally. Out of nowhere, the monster moaned. It was a moan that sounded otherworldly, unnatural, impossible for a living being to make. Then, it spoke in a deep, guttural voice.

“Fight or flight. It's time to choose.” it said as it pointed a finger at her, its face contorting into a smile full of anticipation.
Without wasting any time, Twilight used telekinesis to push the monster away, but it leaped away, digging its claws in the ceiling to hold on. She tried her luck again, but the abomination was far too fast for her, pouncing away into a nearby wall. Then, it lunged at her to which she casted a magical barrier. The creature landed on the shield, cracking it severely before it jumped back, ready to strike again.

Twilight planned on teleporting herself out of harm’s way, but the monster pounced on her barrier again, this time plowing through it and then it grabbed her by the throat. The unicorn tried to struggle as the beast strangled her. She was losing her strength quickly leaving her unable to use her magic. Eventually, she was barely able to remain conscious, her whole body slowly going limp. Her eyes were now struggling to stay open; everything was getting heavier and heavier to her. Now completely at the mercy of the abomination, she was giving in to fear. The fear of being eaten alive by this monstrosity. The fear of never being able to see her friends again. The fear... of abandoning everypony she knew.

“You never knew your true fate, unicorn.” gurgled the creature as it opened its mouth to an impossible length, now big enough to swallow her whole in just one bite. Just before she was about to pass out, she noticed that the armor on this thing was etched into its skin. Odd.

“Get away from her you freak!” Shining’s voice echoed through the cavern. He had found another way in above the previous entrance. He fired a powerful beam of light at the creature’s face, causing it to briefly dropped Twilight. Seeing her brother come to her rescue brought back her will to fight and now being very angry, Twilight focussed all her magic on the armor plate on its chest, pulling it with all her might. For the first time, the abomination began to panic as it saw the chest plate being slowly ripped away. With one final pull, the Element of Magic tore off the plate.

Twilight’s satisfaction quickly turned into shock, and even horror as it heard the monster screaming in pain. It sounded like it was in complete agony as it clutched its bleeding chest. Its abdomen tore itself apart, revealing all its organ and its broken ribcage spilling on the floor. The creature was now screaming words in a language she couldn’t understand, but its voice sounded no longer monstrous. It was deep, but no longer guttural or otherworldly in sound. She strangely enough starting to feel bad for it.

Using a swinging axe trap that the beast had prepared for them, Shining Armor swung it down. The axe went straight into its chest, the impact cutting the monster’s agony short. Right after the impact, black smoke flew out of the creature’s mouth. The axe kept on swinging around as Twilight stared at the whole scene, greatly disturbed by this brutality. Shining descended and rushed to his sister so he could check on her.

“Twiley! Are you ok?”

“Yes... I’m fine.”

The abomination was still alive, clutching the axe that had impaled him. Its breathing was now erratic. It had a look of agony and fear on its face, now shaking immensely. The siblings nearly jumped when the ghost came out of the blue, slowly approaching the monster.

“Rest now. We will finally be able to find peace.” said the ghost on the verge of tears.

The monster slowly looked at the spectral being, the terror on its face slowly fading into a smile of pure joy. “You were at my side all along...” These were the final words that the abomination spoke before he passed away, his expression of joy refusing to leave even as he died.

The ghost started to fade away, but before he would be gone, he turned to face the siblings. “Thank you, for putting an end to the curse. We are free, all thanks to you two.” He smiled happily at the two before finally disappearing.

The two unicorns were quite confused at the scene, but nonetheless felt happy knowing they did the right thing. This celebration was cut short by a familiar voice.

“Seems like poor old Ted has finally been put to rest.” It was Balgo, still in his true form. He looked rather sad, an expression that Twilight had rarely seen. But before she could comment on it, he regained his composure. “The fun’s not over yet, but it will be soon. Time, for one. Last. Game. Best of luck to you, Twilight.”