It was morning when Theo’s train arrived at the station. He was a bit drowsy when he walked onto the platform but shot up when he saw that glimmering crystal city in the distance. It was quite honestly one of the most beautiful sites he had ever witnessed. It made him regret not really seeing more of Equestria in his pony life even though this particular city had been gone for centuries.
He rode a shuttle into the city then began wandering on foot. Seeing the crystal ponies and the sparkling buildings made him forget about his troubles. After that awful night he needed to be at peace.
He wandered into the park where a group of soldiers had gathered. They wouldn’t let anyone through but apparently there had been a murder of some kind, but they wouldn’t say who was killed. He did however hear rumors about a mysterious grey demon flying out of the park the night the body was found. The way the ponies discrimbed the creature reminded Theon of his squad mate Topher (short for Christopher) Keynes, also known as the Incarnate Gargoyle.
Topher was the moral arbiter of the Incarantes, and was certainly a lot braver then him. A deeply religious man, Topher believed the southern confederacy was on the side evil and that it was up to us to vanquish them. Theo remembered hearing that after the war he went back to his home town of Whitechurch.
Could he have died and been reincarnated here too? He wondered.
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The sinners of this city must be punished! The one’s who attacked me must be punished!
Topher had punched his stony gargoyle body onto of the battlements of some abandoned castle looking over the Empire. After living his life as a pony trying to bring Alethianism* to Equestria, he had once again ret taken his gargoyle form in order to kill the pony that had tried to ambush him in the park last night. His life as a missionary and as a pony were now over. Now he was a beast once more.
Which he figured wasn’t all bad. This world was filled with monsters and magical creatures already, and his attempts to bring his world religion over were not going over so well. But now, he could once again instill the fear of God to the sinful and punish the wicked.
During his life after the war, he had flown through the streets of Whitechurch killing thieves and prostitutes with the hopes that their deaths would lead people down the correct path. Hank Henriette killed him before he could see any change. This time however doubted there was anyone (or pony) apart from the two sisters who could stop him.
At nightfall I shall strike.
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Theo had deliberately booked himself a room in the shiest hotel he the Empire, which even then still looked like a mini palace of its own. There the less if he wanted to keep his presence hidden from his pursuers he have to be cautions. And if there was one thing he was excessively good at it was being precocious.
I really haven’t changed from my last life have I?
He sat on his balcony overlooking a small alleyway in case anyone in purple robes came down the street. It was almost midnight, and he planned to keep as late as possible to make sure nopony came.
Yet just before he was about to go to bed, he did notice something. A dark figure flying above, a carry what looked like a pony in one his arms. It flew into the dark alleyway where Theo and nopony else could see.
Could that monster really be Topher?
He knew Topher as a friend and a voice of moral support. If anyone could help him protect him from the bad guys it was him.
He rushed down to the lobby and out into the streets where he then entered the ally. It was way too dark so he lit his hor to get a better look. What he saw shocked him.
Sure enough the demon looking creature was in fact Topher in his gargoyle form, and he had scantily dressed mare in his hands while the other looked like it was getting ready to strike. His claws gleamed from the light of his horn.
“Topher Stop!” Theo cried. “You would never do something like this, especially not to an unarmed women”
Topher turned around and gave him a stony glare, pointed his claw at him. “How the fuck do you know my true name! Are you with that cult who worships the false king of this city?”
“Of course not!” Theo shouted, shaking his head in denial while his own body trembled. “It’s me, Theodore Sherman! Those guys are after me too, that’s why I needed to see if it was you.”
“You lie!” he snarled. “You’re just trying to stop me from punishing this sinner.”
“It’s me!” the unicorn shouted. “We were best friends, and the Topher I knew would never harm a defenseless women, not even a prostitute! Please, I don’t know what happen to you after the war but you would never do this!”
“It’s too fucking late Theo!” he roared. “I already retook my Incarnate form. I must now finish what I couldn’t do in the other world. I need to punish the sinful so that…”
“Just because you transformed doesn’t mean you have to make the same mistake twice!” Theo blurted. “You were always the righteous one. You were an inspiration to us all, but what you’re doing is evil and not what God would want.”
Theo wasn’t very religious and Togher knew this, but he figured any decent god would not be okay with this. Plus above all else needed to get appeal to his friend before he did something truly evil.
Topher snarled and let go of the woman. “Find a new line of work,” he whispered to her as he gently let her go. “As soon as you can! Now leave and sin no more!”
The freighted mare nodded and ran past Theo and out of the ally.
“What the fuck are you even doing here Theo?”
“I’ve been living my new life here in Equestria,” he replied. “At least until those Dark Church bastards tried to abduct me.”
Tohpher nodded. “I was attacked by one last in the park, that’s why I took this form again! Why I have become an instrument of God once more.”
“You were right to defend yourself but you shouldn’t hurt innocent people even if they are doing things you find immoral.” Theo said, his head slumping as he thought about the towns people that had died trying to break into his labyrinth fortress in Rougehill. You can argue it was self-defense because he set those traps out of fear. But did that give him any better than Topher?
“If they are after you as well you should transform.” Tohper suggested. “You won’t have to fear being over powered. There is an abandoned castle not too far from here which I have made my lair. With your strength and expertise in fortification they would need an army to capture us.”
Theo shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt anyone again. I’m worried I’ll go crazy and harm ponies that don’t deserve it.”
“Noble, but foolish” Topher said. “They were able to find us with easy, and with two of us in the city they will be attracted here like flies to a lamp post. Resist as you may your only delaying the inevitable. I too thought I had earned myself a second chance, had found a way to guide others without violence. I see now this is who I was always meant to be. Our desiny is inescapable.”
“The monster is in the ally!” a female voice shouted in the distance. Suddenly a group of four crystal pegasi guards flew into the ally, spears gripped in hand.
“Stand back citizen!” there leader -short bearded stallion with a sparkling sapphire coat and purple metallic armor – shouted “This beast is ours!”
Tohper took a step forward, but Theo pushed him back. “I’ll distract them. Go back to your hideout and don’t do anything crazy.”
Topher chuckled. “You’ve grown some balls since we last met my friend. Are you sure you’re really Theo?” With that he flew off. One of the guards tried to fly after him but Theo shot a weak laser spell at him – (it was actually the strongest one he knew) - and knocked him off course. The remaining three surrounded him and restrained him.
“Your under arrest for aiding and abetting a known fugitive and for assaulting an officer!”