Author's Note

Please note that, at this point and time. Celestia and Luna aren’t alicorns (yet), so it’ll be a long while when they do become alicorns through this ancient story. With that out of the way, enjoy!

Chapter 1: Massacre

10,000 YEARS AGO.

LOCATION: ALBORA -THE GREAT KINGDOM BEFORE CANTERLOT.

A giant Orc pounded its chest whilst bellowing in the air, shaking the earth and causing some of the weaker Orcs to lose their footing as they marched their way through the gate they obliterated a moment ago. The massive Orc continued bellowing in the air while his minions followed behind him, screaming like mad men and chanting a battle cry so loud the earth rumbled beneath their feet, threatening to crumble under the force exerted on the ground.

Some Orcs split up to five, breaking down any Pony’s house and slaughtering them before they had even managed to awaken from the sleep they needed for such a long journey. Those that were awake, however, had enough time to scream before being skewered with spears or impaled upon arrows, which pierced them like hot skewers. Some fillies that couldn’t flee were trampled underfoot by Orcs that could and thus, fell to their demise under the relentless assault of the Orcs who wanted nothing more but destruction.

Shopkeepers and traders alike cowered behind their counters or ran for the protection of their homes, all too terrified to stay outside, especially when there was an Orc prowling around looking for unsuspecting prey to slay and eat. The ponies inside their shops either shut themselves inside, locked their doors tightly, bolted themselves in place, or hid in their beds.

An army of royal guards gathered before the Orcs. Spears flew through the air and crashed into the Orcs’ heads, sending one after the other toppling over, dead before they hit the ground. In a display of bravery, a few royal guards took to their second spears and swung them at the remaining Orcs with great force until none remained standing. These elite troops then moved forward to block the path of the Orcs before them, ready to take on any threat that may emerge from the horde, no matter how big. They weren’t just here to protect themselves or anyone else. If anything happened to the princesses, their king would surely have their heads, along with any other member he felt should be punished.

The royal guards and Orcs clashed. They fought with all that they had; both brute strength and pure skill. Their combined forces made a formidable adversary for any who dared challenge it. A good portion of those who opposed them died, leaving only the wounded and those too weak to fight on their own.

In the heart of the battle, Princess Celestia, daughter of the royal family, shot a wave of magic from her horn at multiple Orcs, killing several but wounding another in the process and making his death more painful than it needed to be. This caused her to falter, though, and she was forced to jump aside as a pair of Orcs advanced towards her. She looked over her shoulder and saw an Orc with a curved sword in hand charging at her from behind, intent on ending this once and for all.

At the very last second Celestia vanished in a white flash and reappeared an instant later behind the pair or Orcs. One of them immediately turned and swung its axe at her while the other tried to swing a shield at her. Both missed, due to her vanishing again. She reappeared again and before the pair of Orcs could do a thing, they were engulfed in a wave of magic before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

She then proceeded to slash at two more incoming Orcs before appearing right behind a third Orc who tried to grab her ankle. With fast reflexes, her horn lit up. Shrouded in an intense aura—quickly forming a pulsing white blade. Jumping over the Orc’s head she slashed at the back of its neck, cutting it clean through before returning to her original spot behind the group. All the Orcs turned back to look at her, surprised to see how well skilled she actually was despite her young age.

Celestia launched forward with a grunt. The white blade aimed at the Orc closest to her and sliced cleanly through its throat. It cried out in agony as its blood spurted out. The Orc next to it, seeing its comrades fall to its death around it, roared and charged directly at Celestia. It raised its arm to strike at her and she sidestepped, slicing the Orc in half in one swift motion as blood sprayed all over. It stumbled backwards and fell onto its face, writhing painfully.

Somewhere in the far off battle Princess Luna blasted beam after beam of magic at every Orc that she encountered while her guards of the night stabbed at many orcs with their sharpened black spears, knocking them all to the ground. They kept moving and dodging attacks with ease. Luna whirled around in time to watch one of her guards fall to an orc that appeared behind him and stabbed its sword through his abdomen. Blood flowed profusely and his eyes glazed over. Luna stared in shock as the guard slid to the floor, still holding the bloody sword. His body was limp, unmoving. Luna quickly lit up her horn, grasping a bloodied dagger from the ground, and sliced open the orc’s throat, spilling its life essence onto the floor.

“Princess, are you alright?” One guard asked from beside her, turning to face her. Luna nodded, turning her gaze towards the guard.

She narrowed her eyes at him with concern as she noted his wounds. One wound was shallow enough that it wouldn’t be fatal if not treated soon, yet deep enough that it was worrying for her. “You need treatment, now. We can talk about your injuries later, right now I want you alive.”

The guard blinked in surprise at her words. “But Princess, I can still fight!” He argued.

Luna shook her head firmly. “Not in those injuries. Now go! I’ll have Captain Forest take your place!”

“Yes ma’am.” The guard saluted as he disappeared through the gate with Luna’s orders ringing in his ears. Luna stared forward and sprinted towards the echoing war cry between Orcs and knights, taking up her battle cry alongside them.

Spears were flying all over the place, each one of which seemed to pierce a target within seconds. The Orcs were easily able to dodge most projectiles that hit them due to the quickness of their reactions, though a couple of blows managed to find their mark, slicing clean through armor and flesh and creating fresh wounds on skin.

Flesh was splattered across the ground and the bodies of their fallen enemies lay strewn about, their faces twisted in agony. They didn’t die easily, either; a single blow from a spear could put them out of their misery instantly. But this wasn’t merely a battle. This was a war of survival. Swords were thrust into unprotected chests and guttered organs. Arrows pierced vulnerable necks. The sickening crunch of bone cracking, of organs bursting from ruptured stomachs or ruptured hearts, was a terrible sound.

This was a battle no pony expected. Not even Luna, Princess of the moon, foresaw such carnage. The number of Orcs she’d killed was small, only around twenty or thirty, but the amount of damage done was staggering. Every blow, every cut, every stab, every arrow, every blast was like a knife plunging itself into the chest of every creature present in the vicinity.

But no matter how many she and her guards have slain, more kept coming through the breach. Luna grit her teeth in frustration at the overwhelming number of enemies. She could sense danger from everywhere. There were so many of them that they practically filled the entire area. How was it possible for them to surround us so completely? She wondered to herself.

One of her guards shouted to her. “Your highness, we should retreat,” he said.

“We haven’t won yet,” Luna responded stubbornly.

As much as she hated to admit it, she knew the guard was right, but she wasn’t going to give up without a fight. Especially not while the surviving Stallions, Mares, and fillies are behind her.

Before her guard could argue, a powerful thump shook the ground. Luna whipped around in time to see one of the left gate collapsing, the rubble falling straight down upon the enemy, burying them pitifully. Her brows furrowed in confusion and worry.

With an ear shattering roar, a dark green dragon charged into view, landing in front of them and towering over the ground. Blood flecked from its howling maw as its jaws snapped close upon an approaching pony guard. Without thinking, Luna rushed forth.

Luna’s heart beat rapidly through her rib cage as the Dragon lifted its head, turning its gaze toward her. It inhaled all the fire it held up inside its belly until it shot a hot torrent of flames out its mouth, nearly engulfing Luna within. Just as she was about to be engulfed into the scorching abyss, however, a young royal guard tackled her out of the way, allowing the flames to pass by harmlessly overhead and crash into the ground.

Luna blinked, looking up to find the young guard staring back at her, a serious expression upon his youthful face. Luna returned his stare, then slowly rose to her feet. He helped her to her feet.

“Are you alright?” the young guard asked worriedly.

Luna frowned. “I’m fine,” she replied shortly. “What about you?”

“Just a little burned here and there. Nothing serious.”

Another bellow from the dragon shattered through the air. Luna spun around quickly and noticed the massive beast was heading towards the houses before shooting a wave of flames out of its gaping maw, setting some of the houses ablaze. Screams from within said houses indicated that others had suffered casualties.

“Get as many men as you can and get any surviving civilians to safety,” Luna ordered her guard. “I will deal with the dragon.”

He hesitated but eventually nodded. He rolled his body around and sprinted away, disappearing amidst the chaos.

A roar rang out from within the horde as another Orc charged at the duo. However, it was blocked by the white blade slashing through its body, cutting the Orc down from the top of its head down to its ankles. There Celestia stood behind the collapsing body of the Orc then walked over to Luna.

“Luna, are you alright?” she asked, concerned.

She nodded. “Yes, I am.” Luna looked at the utter chaos of knights and Orcs clashing against each other, swords and axes striking down foes left and right. “This is getting out of hand sister. At this rate, this kingdom will be lost to the Orcs.”

Celestia hummed quietly to herself, pondering for a moment. “We just gotta hang on for a little longer sister. Father had already sent a message to the tribe, so we will have to hold it down for a little long-“

Celestia’s words were interrupted by a loud bang followed by cries of pain. Celestia and Luna turned around quickly, noticing far beyond the horde of Orcs that a large group of heads from Orcs were exploding in a red mist. Their bodies dropped lifeless to the ground. A loud roar resounded throughout the battlefield and their bodies began to disintegrate into dust along with the Orcs.

A green blurr shoots to the air from beyond the fray, screeching and diving towards the crowd of Orcs that was currently fighting the unicorn guard with his spear in hand, trying desperately to fend them off.

The figure landed on the ground roughly but stood up before the crowd of Orcs. The Orcs snapped their heads at the figure with shock on their faces as they backed away, leaving space for the figure to stand alone before them. Celestia and Luna blinked, stunned, as they stared at the figure who stepped forward confidently.

Standing before the Orcs was a six foot tall armored bipedal creature that stood on two legs. It wore dark green armor from head to toe. Celestia ran her eyes over the flat, green surface of the armor the creature wore, her eyes followed down, finding lighter patches across the creature’s chest and signs of battle scars on the arms, only deeper, and more brutal. Its armor looked battered and worn out. But said armor was something Celestia never seen before.

It carried what looked like a long double barrel firearm in one hand. It brought up its weapon, taking aim at one of the Orc's heads. Its finger pulled back, aiming directly at the target's head. Before the Orc could act however, the armored creature pulls the trigger, blasting buck shells straight at the guard’s head causing said head to explode.

Without thinking, three orcs charged towards the figure.

As they closed in, the armored figure fired his gun again. The first blast hitting the orc to the left, directly in its chest. Sending its body flying backwards into some nearby buildings. Having seen the action the figure inflicted onto his buddy, another orc lunged forward to throw a punch. However, before it could make contact, a sudden force struck him hard in the face. The force sent him flying through a tower. The entire structure caved in and crumbled onto it by the sheer impact alone.

Right fist stretched out, the armored figure brought it back down to its side before turning its gaze towards another orc who had launched themselves at him, the orc swung its mighty sword, bringing it down to the armored figure’s abdomen. But to Celestia, Luna, and the attacker’s shock, the blade shattered into multiple pieces. The armored figure remained unphased.

The orc’s confidence quickly faded as it felt something cold and metal pressed against its forehead. "Wha…?"

With the muzzle of the weapon firmly pointed at its temple, the orc’s head exploded. Blood splattered everywhere covering the ground. The armored figure stood over its headless corpse, watching it drop.

A giant orc launched forward and threw barrage after barrage of punches from all over the armored figure’s body. Each blow washed over their whole being with such intensity and speed that Celestia, Luna, and every royal guard watching had a hard time keeping up.

Even the Alpha orc, who was watching from a safe distance, was having trouble seeing past all the blows raining down on the bipedal figure. But that wasn't what shocked them all the most. None of the giant orc’s punches seemed to phase the armored figure as though it were nothing more than pebbles. They neither dodged nor blocked every one of them, instead simply absorbing it, leaving little effect in its wake. Even when it got hit, it didn't seem to faze them, its form remained as solid as a statue.

Celestia and Luna were amazed that it could withstand every blow without a single sign of weakness.

“Ugh! What are you, you pest!” One orc yelled as it threw another hammer blow that still didn’t phase the anonymous figure.

“Just keep hitting it! It can’t keep standing forever!” Another shouted in response.

One of the attackers growled in frustration, despite the fact that the orc had been punching the armored creature nonstop, it was still standing and doing nothing but absorbing each and every one of the orc’s attacks. The orc somehow knew that the armored creature was starting to get annoyed and for some reason, that scared him.

The three orcs increased their barrages of attacks at the armored creature who simply stood unmoving, ignoring them and absorbing them all without a sound. It got to a point where every orc, pony, and the princesses to wonder why isn’t the armored creature retailing?

But as quickly as they thought of this, the armored creature brought up its right hand. With one swipe it sents the three attackers flying backwards several meters away, landing on the ground in various locations around it. They groaned slightly as they regained their senses. Reaching for its back it pulls out another strange weaponry.

Every-pony eyes the device up and down. Luna glances at it, back up to the armored creature, flashing it a look of fear.

Raising the tool he shook it around. Fuel sloshes back and forth inside the small gas tank. flick the choke, and grab the pull cord. With a firm yank, the jagged teeth on the chain spin around, before coming to a stop. With another yank, smoke billows out the exhaust on the side as his pride and joy revs to life. The deafening sound of an enraged two-stroke engine echoed. Jamming down the trigger, the teeth on the blade arm rocket around in circles, flicking specs of dried blood and guts on the ground. Celestia and Luna cringes at the sound and display, yet keeps their gaze locked on the creature.

The armored creature set one foot forward and the other retreated backwards. Kicking off faster with its heel, it slams both feet into the ground creating a small crater, which is quickly followed by lunging forward with incredible speed. He reached towards its first attacker and swung the tool's jagged teeth towards the side of the orc’s neck.

The orc had no time to react nor time to dodge. A gurgled scream erupts from its throat. its body goes limp, as its blood begins to pool on the floor beneath it. Its companions watch in horror as their leader’s face turns pale, and its head cut from its shoulders.

Before the second orc could think of anything, the armored creature’s fist punched through its head creating an explosion of mist. Its body fell to the ground and all the other orcs gasped.

In a blur the creature lunged forward grabbing the third orc by the throat. The orc’s throat contracted. Gasping for air until the creature snapped it with full force like a twig, and the orc’s head went limp.

It tossed the body away, and jumped to the next orc. The creature smashed its fist into the side of a pale orc’s face. The orc landed with a thud laying dead with its head under a pile of dirt. Another orc took the opportunity of the distraction by leaping at its back but the creature anticipated this.

It swung the rear guard straight into the orc’s eye. It roared as it felt an indescribable pain explode through its whole face. It fell hard struggling on the ground but the armored creature didn't give it time to recover as it bowled over the orc with a bone shattering kick to its left hip, sending it flying miles in the air and out of the kingdom’s walls.

Out of the blue, a powerful thump shook the ground as the dragon stood behind the armored creature. It rolled its body around slapping its tail onto the creature’s chest pinning it against the cobblestone wall. When the dragon was about to snap its jaws at it, it screamed in excruciating pain as the creature elbowed its tail with full force breaking a bone instantly.

It pulled its tail back giving the creature the opportunity to lunge in the air landing on its snout. it threw its away and in a flash the double barrel returned in its hands. It’s fingers jammed down the trigger, hot shells exploded from the barrels. Launching forward, piercing through the dragon’s right eye socket of its head. It's body collapses to the floor and the armored creature lands back to the ground with ease.

Celestia blinked in surprise, her eyes widened to size plates as she stared wide eyed at the scene in front of her. Her mouth hung open in shock. No one else seemed to have any idea what was happening either.

Luna was visibly shaken by this creature’s ruthless brutality, she couldn't bring herself to speak. All she managed to do was take one step back her legs shaking so badly they almost gave out.

The armored creature turned to face the army of orcs. All of them crouch in a battle stance much to the armored creature’s bewilderment and disappointment. It slowly stalked its way towards them while reaching up to its back.

"Enough!"

Halting at mid reach both the armored creature, the orcs, and every-pony turned to their right. A giant armored orc marched towards them with its hands crossed in front of its chest. The giant orc snapped its head at its puzzled troops.

“It’s over. We’re leaving!” It turned its head to the orcs standing on the roof, their arrows now aimed at the armored creature. It glared at them and shouted. “All troops, retreat, retreat!”

As quickly as they all appeared, every-pony watched the orc army ran out of the main gate, sprinting over the bridge and towards the deep forest. The pony archers stood frozen in the two towers, waiting until they could no longer see the army anymore, before letting out a long collective sigh. But the pony’s ease was short lived however when they were confronted with a new issue. All of them stared at the armored creature with a mix of fear and awe.

The creature stood silently staring at where the orc army had fled. Every-pony jumped in their wits as the creature started running, towards the gate along the bridge, rushing past the trees, and vanished into the forest.

Luna galloped to where the armored figure had vanished into said forest. Staring into the darkness, her hooves skidded across the rocky surface and came to a halt. After a few minutes the forest along with the surrounding area returned to life. Luna and the royal guards listened to familiar nocturnal animals. Birds chirping, insects buzzing around the place. Owls hooted and squawked. There were even a few crows cawing overhead.

“Okay, excuse my language but…What the buck was that?!” A royal guard behind Luna exclaimed in disbelief, looking back and forth. “I’ve never seen anything like that! Did any pony see where it went?”

“The heck if I know,” his partner replied.

“It was what, five—no, six feet tall?” A royal guard further back responded. “With some sort of weapon?”

Another nodded in agreement. “And it moved really fast.” She added.

Luna kept her gaze focused on the dark abyss. “Whatever it was it's…gone now.” She spoke up, glancing over her shoulder. “All of you, check for any survivors, tend the wounded and inform my father of this.” She ordered, turning back around.
With quick nods, the royal guards scattered away. “Sister, we need to immediately patch up the wall and set up preparations for another attack. Who knows when those filthy Orcs will return for another attack.”

Silence. Luna blinked, turning her gaze to her left. She found none but an empty clearing. She wildly looked around for any sign of her sister’s whereabouts. Her heart dropped, panic setting in when a terrifying realization dawned on her. Celestia’s heading towards the armored creature.