TCB: The Last Pillar | Monster of Unknown Origin

Chapter 1

In Shadow

The Sun was hidden by cloud above the small quaint town of Ponyville, and the residents and their newly found neighbors, basked in the cool weather of the mid-autumn day. The large surplus of the newfoals caused chaos for the first initial days of their arrival, but other than their odd behavior, things were going quite smoothly.

Twilight Sparkle gazed from her window outside as the first drops of rain began to fall.

'Odd,' she thought, 'there wasn't a rain shower scheduled today.'

She then returned to her novel, reading about the last Human government to be purged of the evil of the Human race. She particularly enjoyed reading about Humans, as their technology, while unnecessary, was quite fascinating. Princess Celestia had told her that after the purge of what was the Human Earth, she cast a spell on the ponies of the world to never remember the atrocities the Humans committed.

Twilight trusted her mentor wholeheartedly. Surely there was nothing ill of cleansing creatures pf their evil, she surmised.

As she read, she had the strangest feeling she was being watched, and cast her gaze back to the window, but Rainbow Dash was not hovering there as usual, nor was there the imminent danger of being crushed by Derpy Hooves. She cast a spell to reveal to her what wasn't there, but nothing came up. Frowning, she sensed that whatever was watching her was somewhere in the treehouse.

She placed her book back down with her magic, then hopped off of the cushion by the windowsill.

"Spike!", she called, but the little dragon did not answer.

Twilight set off to find her assistant, and trotted down the stairs, but her bad hoof caught on the railing.

"Oh Celestia!" She groaned in agony. Cradling the offending hoof, she traced the burn marks where she had been caught in an accident when she was a filly. She hobbled down the stairs, then into the main atrium, and in the kitchen.

Spike was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a chill passed through her, and an overwhelming sense of guilt and sorrow caught her emotions. She nearly collapsed from the surprise emotion, but it faded as soon as it came. She stood there and awaited the draft to return, but to no avail. Abruptly, the door flew open with an almighty BANG, and the chill returned with a vengeance.

Twilight...

A crackling, voice whispered to her, as though there were an electric current running through it.

Twilight shrieked, and galloped to the door, shutting it. After a moment, the chill had vanished, and the silence lingered. Her heart pounding erratically, she slumped against the oak door, before a familiar sense of pain reverberated from her hoof.

Yelping, she retracted her hoof from a puddle of... water?

The rain hadn't made it inside, it was almost as if somepony had tracked it in.

Twilight decided she wasn't going to let some phantom fear get to her, and set off to make herself a daisy sandwich.

Spike had gone into town to find purchase some more gems for his party on Friday. After the addition of Earth to the known lands of Equestria, gems had gone down in price, and Spike was fully willing to abuse this revelation. Being older now, he stood at 5'4, towering above the small ponies, who stood at a measly 4 feet. While this was an advantage in most cases, he would commonly get headaches running into things.

It had just begun raining, and Spike was prepared with a deep blue umbrella, covering him from the rain. One or two ponies had latched onto him to get by faster and without issue. As he trekked, he felt an uneasy feeling of dread run through him for a moment, and he thought he saw a light blue smoke fly over the town from the Library. He shook his head and dismissed it, then strode up to the stand.

"Hello, sir, I've got only the best gems for sale, all the way from Earth!" The salespony said with a grin.

As Spike eyed the gems, he found he wasn't as hungry as he had been previously, and picked three green emeralds, two purple amethysts and one sapphire. The pony loaded up the items in a bag, and Spike set the change down on the counter, making off with his goods.

However, not more than a  centimeter away was a newfoal, and he had walked right into her.

'Not again,'

"Oh my Celestia, I am so sorry, I was not paying attention, and if you don't forgive me, then I am even more so-"

"It's okay. Seriously, no harm done."

"No, but I wasn't paying attention, and I might have hurt you, and-"

"Listen, its fine."

"Let me make it up to you-"

Spike dragged his claw across his face.

"Listen, I'll forgive you if you leave me alone. This is the second time."

"Sor-"

"No. I will forgive you once you have left my sight."

And with that, she was gone.

After that little incident, he guessed it would be a good idea to buy some more painkillers and burn lotion from Zecora, and strode into the Everfree, knowing the creatures would not dare attack a teenage drake. The journey was rather uneventful, besides the occasional beast staring or glaring at him through the brush, but he knew they would never act on their anger.

As he approached Zecora's hut, a large explosion erupted within, the wave of air throwing Spike back. The hut nearly collapsed, and Spike began to run towards it, before he heard voices.

Crouching low behind a boulder, he turned his head toward the hut, and could barely make out a conversation.

"I-if it is o-only death and vengeance t-that you wreak, t-then it is your own demise that you s-seek!" Zecora shouted over the crackle of blue flame within.

Another explosion.

A laugh, a deep maniacal chuckle, shook the ground, and cracked through the air like lightning.

"You think that I know not the price of what I inquire?"

The voice sent innumerable chills down Spikes spines, and he sprinted forward into the blaze to save Zecora, but as he neared, a force of air sent him flying backwards into a tree, his back cracking against it. He groaned, and tried to move, but found the same force holding him down.

Do not move, Drake, lest you seek death.

.

The voice had spoken within his mind.

"Zecora!" Spike screamed, "Run! Get out!"

**SILENCE FOOL, I SHALL NOT BE INTERRUPTED UNTIL MY TASK IS COMPLETE!.

The voice roared within, lifting Spike high into the air, and crashing him back down into the mud.

"I will have my vengeance, and the Ponies of this land shall know what evil their Princess has done. You may have escaped the memory-eraser spell, and your contempt for the Princess is strong, but your morals will not be the end of my cause, zebra!"

Zecora was flung out of the hut at the speed of sound, impacting a tree and causing it to splinter into a thousand shards, while Zecora's broken body sprawled across the grass, her blood coating the nearby trees and dirt. Spike's eyes widened in terror, and for the briefest of moments, the rain stopped, and all was silent, before Spike broke the silence himself.

"Zecora!" Spike cried.

Spike could feel the same pressure from before, and was lifted up into the air. He stopped at roughly 50 feet above the ground where Zecora lay. He could see her eyes gazing up at him, but he knew they could see nothing.

"You do best to remember what has happened here, and spread word that this will happen to all who stand in my way."

The voice crackled and sparked.

Spike could feel himself shaking.

"Who are you? W-what are you?" Spike asked in fear.

"I am ONE, and I am the avenger of the Fallen Race. I am the Salvation to your people."

A face manifested itself from blue arcs of electricity inches from his own. The face was much like those in the History books of the Human race. A sharp jaw, a nose narrow and chiseled into the skin, no hair, but eyes that struck fear into Spike's exhausted heart.

"I am the Last Pillar, and I will not fall."

It spoke.

Suddenly, he vanished, and Spike found himself accelerating towards the ground. Yelling, he cast his arms in front of him, and braced for impact, but instead was roughly caught by a rainbow blur, before he passed out.