prologue
As these things usually start, I’m going to say that it was a beautiful and peaceful day in Equestria. Sadly, this was not true; while this day was certainly beautiful, it was not peaceful in the least. This was mostly due to the fact that a dark ritual that would bring about unspeakable evil was in the making. So, let’s take a peek, shall we? Our first stop will be at an abandoned warehouse in Manehattan’s lower east side.
The warehouse was a plain old thing, just an unassuming two-story brick building. But it’s what happens on the inside that counts. On the main floor, eight cloaked and hooded unicorns were standing in a circle around the bled-out body of a beige coated earth pony mare, with a navy blue mane and tail that curled slightly at the ends, a thin line of red across her neck, showing where they’d sliced.
”You’re sure it’ll work this time?” One of the hooded ponies said to another, his voice raspy and unnaturally deep, as if he took the time to try to disguise it.
“Of course it will. The last failure was due to faulty materials, nothing else.” The other unicorn responded, his voice sounding much like the first. “Now, let’s get started, unless you lot want to stand around until the royal guard breaks the door in?”
With that, the group started weaving a spell with flawless efficiency, quickly forming a disk of shimmering air above the body. After the disk expanded enough to cover the body, it started to glow a sinister-looking blood red. The light then focused on the mare, causing her to float a couple feet off of the floor.
This was when everypony present heard a sickening crunch from the body as her lower jaw split down the center. This was followed by various rips, pops and cracks as her body reshaped itself. First her teeth were pushed out of her skull as much larger, sharper ones took their place. Then, the lower parts of her legs were ripped open as spikes of bone pushed their way out, looking like morbid depictions of rose stems. The flesh and skin over her spine and front shoulders was shredded as a serrated length of bone rose out of her spine, and fleshy tendrils sprouted from her shoulders, the sharpened bone at the ends of them looking not unlike meat hooks. After this the light faded and the mare was unceremoniously dropped to the floor.
Then there was silence, none of the hooded ponies daring to break it, the newly born monster unable to. Then just as suddenly as it appeared the silence was shattered as the lead unicorn shouted. “Monster! You were summoned into this realm to serve our cause! You will do as I command, and obey my word alone! Now, you will get up and address me as your master!” At first it did nothing. Then, slowly, almost ponderously, it got to its mangled, blood-soaked hooves. It turned towards him, its eyes closed, and its hooves squelching with every step.
When it finally did face him, it did nothing, its tendrils swaying lazily through the air. When the unicorn was run dry of his patience he tried calling to it again. But before he could get a word out, the monster’s eyes shot open, revealing the void where its eyes should have been. Paralyzed as he was, he couldn’t even flinch when it seemed to appear right in front of his face. It was slowly waving its head back and forth while it made a strange clicking noise, as if examining a particularly rotten pear, the underlying notes of disgust evident to all that could hear it. Then, before any of them could blink, the monster latched its jaws around the unicorn’s head, its teeth piercing the skull and bottom jaw to puncture the brain, killing him instantly.
Shouts of fear and alarm spread quickly amongst the ponies. The monster gave its head a quick twist, severing the head from the unicorn’s body, which it then threw at one of the other unicorns with enough force to shatter bone, collapsing his ribcage and puncturing his lungs and heart. It simultaneously lashed out with its tentacle-hooks, severing a great many limbs and hooking one pony by the jaw, lifting him off the floor, and throwing him into a wall hard enough to crack his skull, break bones, and leave a stain.
The few ponies that weren’t either dead or wounded were now trying to escape. An effort in futility as every last one of them was slaughtered like a pig in a griffic market. The last one had it the worst as she was stabbed through the eye with her own horn, then stabbed in the lungs to drown in her own blood, though the stallion that was beaten to death with spike riddled forelegs was a close second.
After the massacre the monster simply stood there, swaying lightly from side to side, reveling in the pained groans and sobs of the few yet alive. Until, that is, a loud banging started coming from the door, quickly followed by rather official sounding shouts saying thing like, “We know you’re in there!”, and “Open up, before we break it down!” The monster, let’s call her Cherub, just stood there, waiting, trying to figure if the new voice was a threat. Then the bangs came again, only louder this time.
When the door finally gave way, and a group of five guards entered the building, they could only stare in shock, none of them having seen carnage of this magnitude before. Then they saw Cherub, still just standing there, body and tendrils swaying lightly. Only now, her eyes were closed, a quiet clicking coming from her throat. Then, just as before with the unicorn, Cherub seemed to appear in front of the guard, but unlike before, the guard did flinch (and may or may not have soiled his armor). But before any of them could do anything, Cherub spoke, with a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere and from inside their own skulls at once, she said, ”My master wants not for thy souls, be grateful thou dost not share the fate of these fools.”
After this, everything went dark for an instant. When the light returned Cherub had disappeared.
A nice, hot cup of raspberry tea. That was the only thing Celestia was thinking about at that moment. While outside of her liquid-based imaginings the day court was in full swing, the current petitioner, Lord Oak Hoof, a dark brown coated unicorn stallion, with an almost leaf green mane and tail, and a cutie mark in the shape of a raven perched on a branch of oak, judging by the leaves connected to said branch, was prattling on about how some Baron or other insulted him by not using a napkin at the dinner party he hosted last night.
She loved her little ponies, she really did, it’s just that they seemed to think she was going to fix every little, inane thing they brought to her attention. As she was thinking this she noticed Lord Oak Hoof was finishing up.
“- And that Princess, is why I believe Baron New Wig should give me and my family a formal apology in the form of a check to the amount of 500 bits, and a statement made to the public.” Oak Hoof finished, his voice cracking slightly from the strain of speaking for so long.
Celestia could only sigh internally, though her face bore the same serene, motherly smile that she often relied upon to hide her thoughts. A few moments passed as she tried to find a way to put Oak Hoof down without hurting his pride too much. Finally she decided on a course of action.
“Please, tell me Oak Hoof, Do you remember Sir Silver Horn’s birthday party last year?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
“O-of course Princess, but I fail to see what that has to do with my request.” Responded a visibly shaken Oak Hoof
“Oh, but, dear Oak Hoof, isn’t that the occasion where you tried to seduce the good Baron’s daughter, while drunk I might add, only to be rejected out of hoof?” Said Celestia, not unlike a mother chastising a particularly naughty colt.
Oak Hoof looked like he was about to speak again, but Celestia cut him off. “As well, some ponies might see it as you trying to get revenge on New Wig and his family. Now I know this isn’t what’s going on.” Celestia said, despite knowing for a fact that this was exactly what Oak Hoof was doing. “But I’m going to have to de-.”
Celestia was interrupted by a pair of unicorn guards, one was white, and the other was charcoal grey, blowing the main door open, and bowling Oak Hoof to the side. Oak hoof, seeing his chance, snuck out of the chamber while the princess was distracted. The guards, not seeming to notice the errant noble, ignored him while they ran to the throne to give their report.
When they slowed, they both bowed hastily, and when they stood the grey unicorn floated a scroll to Celestia with his magic while the white one spoke.
“Your Highness, we’ve received a message of the upmost importance. It seems that a being that is a direct threat to the world as a whole has been summoned to Equestria.” He paused for a moment before Celestia motioned him to continue. ”The report from one of the guards that happened on the scene stated that the being was, and I quote, ’the scariest bucking thing I’ve ever seen in my bucking life.” Celestia raised an eyebrow at the choice of words, but said nothing.
The guard proceeded to tell Celestia of what Cherub (though he called her the monster) looked like, how the various unicorns had died, how the ones that were believed to live, after proper medical treatment, died of unknown causes, how the post event magical analysis confirmed that something from one of the lower plains of Tartarus was, in fact, summoned to Equestria, and of what Cherub said to the guards.
After the guard stopped, Celestia said in a quiet tone. “Blazing Pike, Sharpened arms, I want the both of you to Inform Captain Stone Bulwark of this, if you haven’t done so already, and tell him that I would like to speak with him immediately. Also, I would appreciate it if you could keep this information to yourselves for the time being.” Both of the guards bowed before leaving to find the captain.
When the pair left to get Captain Stone Bulwark, Celestia let out a tired sigh. Why can’t Equestria go a couple years without a disaster on the horizon? Celestia asked herself. While she was waiting, her thoughts turned to the captain, and how he was likely to react to her wanting to send him and three hundred royal guards to Manehattan. She surmised that he would likely question her logic on the matter, but not voice it, then try to understand why she would send so many guards against one monster, at which point she wou- *Ahem*
Celestia was promptly broken from her thoughts by Stone Bulwark, who had likely been standing there for some time. He was a light grey stallion with a white mane and tail, bearing a cutie mark of a slate carving. However, most of his build was hidden under the armor he wore. “Ah, Stone, I see you got my message, please forgive me, I’m usually much more aware of my surroundings.” She said.
“Of course princess, it’s not a problem. So, what did you want to tell me?” Stone replied, his hooves shuffling slightly
“It’s a simple matter really; I need you to go to Manehattan with three hundred of the best guards you have, and control the situation there. At least until my sister gets back from coordinating trade relations with the Griffon Empire, anyway.”
“Very well princess. I do have one question, though. Why do you need three hundred guards?” Stone replied.
“To keep the peace, of course, what else would I have them do?” Celestia replied, a wry smile adorning her face. “Unless, of course, you mean my ultimate goal, concerning what happened in Manehattan?” She continued.
“I think that’s what I meant, your Highness.” Stone said, unfazed.
“Let me tell you a story, Stone. It won’t take long, and should answer your question nicely.” Celestia said, taking a sip from the cup of raspberry tea that wasn’t there until a few seconds ago.
“You see, Stone, about five thousand years ago, when I was just a filly still growing into my power, my father, King Solaris, was approached by a demon by the name of Lazarus. Now, Lazarus was a very generous being, despite being the lord of Tartarus. So, when he heard that a rebel faction in his realm was going to try to invade Equestria, he went to my father and offered him protection from those in his realm, by way of a contract sealed in blood. Blood magic being the most powerful magic at the time.” Celestia said, taking a few sips of her tea before continuing.
“The contract promised that any pony in the land of Equestria that was not bound for Tartarus was not to be harmed in the slightest, and any demon that broke this promise was immediately bound to the ‘tenth level of torture’ for the rest of eternity. In return for this protection, the royal family, King Solaris, Queen Eclipse, and I made a blood pact with King Lazarus, thus any demon that does obey the previously mentioned condition cannot be forcibly removed from this material plane.” Celestia narrated, drinking another sip of tea and sighing sadly before saying.
“Now, you see my dilemma, I cannot directly banish the demon, and while the elements could potentially work against it, I’m not about to send six mares that have no concept of death to fight something like this, on the chance that it may work. So, my only option is to send for Luna, as she was born after the contract was signed, and so, isn’t bound by it, and hope she gets here before any more of my little ponies are killed.” Celestia let out another tired sigh, before finishing her tea, the cup vanishing as soon as she was done.
“This is where you and your guards come in, Captain Stone Bulwark. Like I said before, I need the guards to keep the peace, to act as a deterrent to those who would attempt evil, and likely get themselves killed.” Celestia continued. “As well as to keep panic at bay, should another murder be discovered… Now then, I hope that answered your question. But I would appreciate it if you hastened your departure to Manehattan.” Celestia finished, looking at Stone Bulwark, who saluted crisply, and departed with a bow and a quick assurance that he would do his absolute best.
Meanwhile, a butter-yellow Pegasus with a bubblegum pink mane and tail was preparing to board the Ponyville express, headed to Manehattan to visit her cousin, a certain unicorn musician by the name of Vinyl Scratch
Author's Note
Proof-read, and edited by my good friend Mockshade, the Grammar Nazi equivalent of Adolf Hitler
Also, quick apology to everyone who thought I meant last Thursday when I said I was going to update on that day.... mostly because that is what I meant. But then I got sick, then I got lazy then mid-terms happened, so yeah.
