Week 3, day 1
She’s so depressed, I can’t take it. I imparted a sliver of my power to create and bend reality on the mare. I told her to think of stuff to do and it would happen, the first thing she did was disappear and pop out of my coat, screaming “WOW!” Not much later she was able to be nearly anyway at any time, even in reflections. But something in her eyes said that everything still wasn’t right.
Week 3, Day 3
I threw her a party and she loved it she burst balloons, drank punch, and ate cake to her hearts content. She wanted to know how I did it all, so I gave her absolute knowledge on parties of all sorts. I put a little brand on her flank to signify her love and knowledge parties. Three cute little balloons.
Week 3, Day 4
Today Pinkie said the party was great, but it would have been nice to have more ponies to enjoy it with. She was lonely, this was easy to fix. I just pulled color combos out of my ass and made a hundred or so ponies all with human intelligence and everything they would need to know to create basic civilization. I programmed it into their very souls to magically receive a brand when they found out what their unique talents. I made little unicorns and little pegasi and just normal ponies.
I created these beings, they were my little ponies...
-Journal of Kokusho-
-Luna Burns Red-
The pack raced through the northern forests of Equestrian at breakneck speeds, putting even the fastest predators on the globe to shame. Each amarok playfully nipped and shoulder tackled their brothers and sisters. The pack was basking in their freedom, having been trapped in Tartarus since before the reign of Nightmare Moon, they couldn’t help but be elated by the smells of living prey, the feel of cool nighttime air, and the silver light of the moon above.
The scent of the forest was truly luscious. Piss and adrenaline hung heavily in the forest air, like wet, matted fur. As the foreign predators ran past caves other animal dens, they caught glimpses of the many fauna of the wood. Prey species did everything they could to stay out their way - the rabbit huddled up tightly in dugouts, the deer and elk slinked away into the brush, and the birds fell silent.
A toothy grin started to spread across Ifrit’s muzzle, scanning his surrounding, he could feeling them all around, skulking in the shadows. Chuckling deeping, black smoke escaped from the tiny space in his teeth and rose up where it then disappeared into the breeze. Even this forest’s apex predators, were prey to the amarok. The creatures of the brush would be safe... For now, but they get to keep their peace. He shot them all glances: You don’t get die this night, but every dog has its day. His eyes said to them.
“Love,” the smaller wolf cried as she scampered along side Ifrit. “Are we really going to continue allowing that creature to subjugate us?”
The massive wolf chuckled quietly to himself. The dark sound sent shivers down his pack’s spine, causing each wolf to look around in paranoia for a brief moment. Those around him looked upon his form with confusion, wondering what their father thought was funny. One by one, the lesser wolves started laughing as well.
These pups laugh when I laugh, though they know not what is humourous. The thought was made not in malice, but in jest. He dare not sour their glee.
“You speak foolishness Vigdis, let the worries leave your head, we have a task to perform and I want your senses as sharp as your teeth.”
“I understand. And what of the gauntlet Lord Kokusho asked us to retrieve?”
“Have the Preafators ready,” he said, smirking at his mate.
“Yes Love.” Vigdis answered as she silently fell back into the pack.
After an indeterminate amount of time traversing the forest, Ifrit halted as did the forest. Before was the ground was no more, just a sheer cliff. Before frustration could take over, the scent of favored prey and hated enemies invaded his nostrils. Off in the distance, perhaps four miles away, was Trottingham.
Trottingham was a charming city, built during the old kingdom, nearly two thousand years before Princess Luna succumbed to her darkness. Unlike its cousins Manehattan and Stalliongrad, Trottingham chose to remain a quaint town by keeping the majority of its building made of wood instead of stone and metal. The town’s roofs remained composed of thatched hay, adding to the burg’s old world charm. The cobblestone streets were nearly empty, save for the late night guard patrol and the air was filled with the delectable odor of freshly baked breads and cooked vegetables, making the entire place feel homely, despite the tense armored ponies roaming the town.
The clang of spear on platemail echoed throughout Trottingham as the guards made their rounds. They’d been sent here by the princesses nearly a month ago for the purpose of added defense in case something foul tried to harm the townsponies.
“What was that?” the guard asked in a soft feminine voice.
“Sounds like it came from inside it the bushes.” male voice replied in a Trottingham accent.
The guard, an earth pony mare, clad in the green tinted plate mail of the Royal Army, by the name of Oopsie Daisy, slowly slinked towards the suspicion group of plants. She lowered her head closer to the bush to investigate. “Hmm, nothi-EEEYAH!” She yelled, rearing up and flailing her legs.
Out from the bush lept what appeared to be a diamond dog, albeit, more wolf like in appearance, more slender with better definite musculature, and much larger.
“What is one of those mutts doing here?” Cannon asked as he ran up to steady Daisy. The mare was still panting, but at least her eyes had shrunk back to their normal size and she no longer looked like she was one spook aware from a stroke.
“Hey you! Yeah you. Diamond dogs aren’t allowed within Equestrian city lines, leave now.” Cannon stood his ground and spoke with authority, all the while standing tall to make himself appear more intimidating.
The dog simply seemed to ignore him and instead sniff at the air.
“Don’t ignore me, I Cannon of the Royal-”
“Quiet!” The wolf roar, raising to his full bipedal height.
The creature was like nothing Cannon had ever seen. The wolf’s coat was white as fresh snowfall, and it’s eyes were as blue as the midday sky. One look into the beasts eyes and Cannon knew he and Daisy had to get out of there.
“How amusing that you ponies have forgotten your place in the world now that you’ve lived in the light.” The voice was soft and feminine yet, thrummed with ancient power. She started to walk towards Cannon and Daisy with slow methodical steps. Each step left deep claw marks in the cobblestone streets though she seemed to glide across the ground, making her menacing approach seem like a logical paradox-each foot fall so slow, yet their retreat was being outpaced.
She was now upon them. “... I am Vigdis...” She stood to her full height of nearly nine feet. In a panic Cannon lashed out with his spear, imbedding the pole arm in the bitch’s chest. For his effort, Cannon received a grunt of discomfort from Vigdis and the lovely image of blue flames devouring his spear, turning it into ash. Cannon stood there slack jawed, as the wound he just inflicted rapidly closed up and vanished as if it were never there.
“...Mate of Ifrit...” She reached down and snatched the stallion up before he could react.
“Your species time at the top has ended pony...” She held him in the air by one of his hind legs and let him thrash in her grip. Her claws closed around his leg like a vice, drawing blood and eliciting a cry a pain from him.
She brought his throat to her face and let Cannon feel her breath against his coat. The stream wrapped around his neck and sank into his fur “... You... are prey.”
Daisy shakily brought her head up to watch the scene that was playing out before her. No matter how badly she wanted to move, to help Cannon, her legs just wouldn’t obey her. She could do nothing but cover her eyes with her hooves and tremble.
A terrible crunch and a sound not unlike the tearing rubber, followed by the splash of copious amounts of fluid echoed off the walls of Trottingham’s buildings.
“And your predators... Have returned.”
-Luna Burns Red-
The den was alive with activity. The Luna Adeptorum darted from chamber to chamber, each rushing to gather combat equipment. All around bat-winged pegasi were gearing up in enchanted steel armor and strapping bladed gauntlets around their fetlocks. Below them ash grey unicorns and earth ponies with the same serpentine yellow eyes, mirrored their flying counterparts moves. Most of the magic users were slipping into grey lightweight leather-like body armor. In addition to it’s many defensive enchantments, the suit bore several easily accessible pouches, each likely filled with some sort of potion, whether they were for healing or for killing depended on the squad. Their combat attire was completed by covering themselves in beautiful, midnight blue silk like hooded cloak. Each mage quickly finished their preparations and they methodically walked past a large cabinet, snatching up a staff in their magical grip and affixing it to their cloaks. The earth ponies took a more traditional look and donned armor similar to that of the pegasi, albeit a bit bulkier and lacking the slots on either side for wings. Unlike the pegasi, they wore dark grey luster free chainmail under their heavy plate armor. Once fully armored they trotted past a similar cabinet and pulled out all manner of weapons ranging from fetlock mounted blades to halberd to katanas, each enchanted to stick to whatever surface the wielder willed it them to. Like hive minded ants, each pony fell in line, trotting quickly to combat outfitted carriages that sported crossbow turrets. Each group was composed of six ponies: three pegasi, two earth ponies, and one unicorn; a perfect balance speed, strength, and support.
Grim Stride directed all of the chaos into something resembling order, allowing everything to to move along in a sort of smoothness that could only be obtained through years of intense drilling. The steel grey pegasus hovered above his forces, his golden eyes scanning for any problems. His armor was more like that of the mages than the other pegasi, and he wielded neither mounted blades nor a staff. Instead Daisho consisting of a nodachi and a katana hung from his right side, two of the finest pieces of Japoneighese blacksmithing in Equestria.
The grand doors at the rear of the den swung open, revealing both both princesses and Twilight. The royal sister strode in nimbly. The quiet clop of their hooves, a far cry from the loud cacophony of sound saturating the den. The three strode in near perfect form. Twilight, still a little woozy from arrangement and giving the princesses mana, seemed to be prepared. As she approached Grim Stride the mare cast a spell, engulfing her in a ball of purple light and obscuring her from view. Using his foreleg, Grim shielded his face from the sudden surge of light, until display had ended. Twilight stood before him in full battle dress similar to the mages, but with armor plating in the places that didn’t need to be flexible.
Using her magic, Twilight called a halberd over from one the racks and gave it a test swing. Satisfied with the weapon, she placed on her back where it would adhere until she willed it to come loose.
“Twilight, this will be real combat. No do overs, no opsies...No second chances... Are you ready for for that?” His hardened gaze bore directly into Twilight, trying to size up the mare’s position.
“Honestly, no, but what pony has ever been truly ready to kill or be killed when first presented with the situation? Training in these caves prepares me for the reality of what’s out there no better than a game of chess prepares a commander to send real ponies to die on the battlefield,” she said sternly.
For all intents and purposes Twilight put on a convincing ruse. Her tall strong, stance spoke of great confidence and something about the way she trotted up to him with her weapon brought with it and air of finality and duty; however, none of that was what he wanted to see. As he scanned her body, for a moment, he considered refusing her, until he saw it. A simple twitch of the ear, followed by an miniscule shift of her left hoof. Her eyes held the fire of confidence, but behind that was fear... That’s what Grim Stride was looking for. Fear of death and fear of failure, when combined with confidence and training would make sure she did her best, fear would keep her concentrated on her goals. He flashed her a smile and gestured for her to jump onto the the carriage behind him.
Celestia watched in awe as her student boarded the chariot, unsure of whether she should be proud of Twilight's decision to brave the battlefield or if she should snatch the young mare up by the nape of her neck and forbid her from facing Ifrit so soon. Once the mare boarded she was greeted by hoof bumps, a hug, and even a nuggie. Seeing this, Celestia knew that she couldn’t stop Twilight from going even if it was the right thing to do. Even in this dark hour, her student was driven by the magic of friendship. There was no way Twilight would let her new friends tackle this alone. A later Grim gave the order and the chariots took off.
Twilight looked back of the railings at the shrinking form of Celestia. Her hoof twitched, and her mouth worked wordlessly.
Celestia stared at Twilight as her chariot pulled away. She raised a hoof to speak, but no words came. Luna turn and started to trot off while Celestia stood there deep in thought. Though she still spied her sister trot off gingerly.
“Luna,” she called over her shoulder. “I know that gait, what are you planning?”
The moon diarch stopped in her tracks, not even bothering to turn around to address her sister. “Twilight’s path is bound to be a trying one, there are artifacts in my sanctum that can be of great help to her.”
“Like what?” Celestia growled.
“...The Whispersilk Cloak, The Blightmail, and Blight Satus”
“Luna, you can’t... Those items drive a pony’s soul to madness... With Twilight’s condition...”
“I know sister, they were locked away for a reason, but with the main issue with those artifacts was that the wielders were not under our guidance. Twilight is a strong pony, with us by her side she will not stray. These items will giver her an edge over her foes.”
“I'll trust your judgement here Luna. I have faith in my student."
-Luna Burns Red-
The flight to Trottingham was uneventful thus far. Twilight had summoned the one of the tomes on demonology from sanctum and took to studying it diligently the entire flight, every now and then she muttered a mental note under her breath, but otherwise never looked up from her book. The other two pegasi were pulling the carriage and the two earth ponies were casually chatting among themselves.
“Ifrit, one of the big three... at Trottingham...” Thicket said sadly and she pulled her lance closer. She was a young earth pony with a build that leaned more towards lithe than muscular.
“Tartarus,” Dune Bug cursed. “No telling what were trotting into.”
Their chatter helped pass the time, but more than anything it helped loosen up the soldiers in the chariot. Dune Bug and Thicket had changed subjects three or four times and were now engrossed in a heated debate about who the Manhattan's Mare-Do-Well was under the mask. The two pegasi pulling the chariot-- Hot Streak and Gale-- were idly chatting about Soarin and his how his pie eating skill would translate into - Grim shivered fiercely when his mind caught where their conversation was going.
“Luna save us...”
Grim snapped his head in the direction of the distressed voice, But before he could even mouth a reply his eyes lock on the sky in front of the transport.
The horizon was burning. A shifting orange dome of light peeked over the curvature of the earth and licked at the azure night sky. Grim knew it was Trottingham... it was the only thing in that direction large enough to burn so gloriously. The pegasus could only stare at the glow of the inferno, his mind trying to comprehend what could breed so much damage in such a short timeframe. Is this the power of demons?
His squad wasn’t doing much better either. Everypony’s eyes were looking in Trottingham’s direction, each face scrunched up or buried in hooves as various emotions took over.
He shook his head, clearing the panic from himself. “Adeptorum!” He yelled. “Are we just going to gawk while the ponies of our nation burn?! No! Break from your fear, we’ve ponies to save and monsters to kill!"
He turned to face the studious mare in front of him. “Twilight we’re going to drop you off on the outskirts, clear the way for any survivors as you search for Ifrit. We’ll be doing the same. If you find Ifrit before the rest of us, don’t engage! We’ll take him together.” Shakily, she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and nodded.
“Double time it now, the other Squads will get the picture and step up.”
The two mares pulling the chariot nodded to each other and turned their attention forward.
“Hehe, hold on to your glasses Twi.” Grim muttered.
“What? I’m not wearing-WAHHH!!!” The chariot took off like a rocket, accelerating like nothing she’s ever experienced. The rushing wind drowned out cries and once the metal transport broke the sound barrier her words were forever lost to the slipstream.
The boom shook the skies, calling for action from the other guards around them. One by one the flock of chariots accelerated, each disappearing with a thunderous boom and zooming off toward Trottingham.
Luna Burns Red
Trottingham was burning. The skies above the town were stained orange and black by the malevolent pyre that was consuming the homely structures. The smells of searing flesh and setting gore polluted the air, where there was once peace, anarchy now reigned. Death was so heavy in the air that the skittering pony populace could feel it clinging to to their coats like swamp tar. Fires raged, devouring everything in their path; stone, hay, wood, and flesh were all swallowed by the vicious inferno like tasty snacks. The flames moved with an otherworldly intelligence, everywhere there was fuel, it hit first, growing in size and strength. Everywhere, ponies fled from both fire and predator alike, both where to fast.
A red blur darted across a street and into and building.
A brown blur was right on its heels.
The building's front door slammed shut.
The brown blur crashed through the door, smashing the wooden obstacle into splinters.
Frantic scrambling, pained screaming, and surprised yelping escaped through the doors and windows of the establishment. It came to an end just as quickly as it started, casting an eerie psuedo-silence across the area, nothing but the background crackle of burning wood made a sound.
A tall bipedal figure slowly stepped out from the building, behind it, being dragged by a single hind leg was a beaten red stallion. Once completely out in the open air, the hellhound lifted the stallion up until his preys gut was level with his snout. Without waiting another moment the hound opened his mouth as far it its jaws would allow and started to tear at the pony's belly. Blood, entrails, and stomach acid ran down the predator's face and chest, impacting the ground with a sickening splosh. Right as the beast was starting to lose itself to the feast, a head of cabbage lightly rolled into its paw. Now, more alert, the hound scanned the area. Spotting the the broken down cabbage cart, the hound turned its nose up to the air and attempted to pick out anything of interest. They weren't stupid beast, it knew that based on the arrangement of the vegetables in the cart the cabbage wouldn't have just fallen out without being jostled and based on the carts position, being stricken by fallen debris was highly unlikely as well. Its curiosity paid off when its nose picked up two of its favorite scents.
Adrenaline and arousal...
The hound quickly made its way over to the vegetable cart, crossing the distance nearly instantly. With a simple flex of the arm and a twist of the wrist it slapped away cart like it weighed nothing, revealing a shivering yellow foal, cradled in her mother's baby blue hooves.
"The little one would have had a better chance at life had she escaped alone. How does it feel to know that your child will die because of your inability to control you body's greedy need for sex?" It growled in a raspy feminine voice. Slowly, she reached out with her claws, intent on taking the foal.
A lavender blur crashed into the massive wolf, followed by a piercing crack akin to a thousand whips. The force of the was enough impact sending sending the mother and her foal reeling across the ground. The cobble stone split like a nut, and the buildings shook violently, some collapsing from the force. Whatever it was that hit the wolf hit struck with enough force to bury it in a massive crater with an elevated rim.
The mother's ears rang and her head swam from the sudden force, but she and her child were no worse for wear. Looking up, she reluctantly searched the area, mostly the crater, for any signs of movement. She flinched and her ears swiveled forward when a small stone rolled down the side of the crater that she was facing. She held her child closer when she saw a form lumbering through the dust.
It was a young lavender unicorn mare dressed in the garb of one of Princess Luna's magus. The pony stumbled out of the dust cloud and cough softly into a hoof to remove the irritating particles from her lungs. She shook her herself off, shedding puffs of dust with each movement. The unicorn looked up at the frightened mare staring at her.
"You've got to get out of here! Head towards-" she coughed again. "-The edge of town, the Night Guard will take you back to canterlot!"
The mother nodded. As fast as she could she grabbed up her filly and place her on her back. As fast as she could, the galloped away from the lavender pony.
Twilight watched the two ponies dart off into the town. Please... Let them make it out of here. she thought as the mother's tail disappeared around the corner of a building.
A throaty growl came from behind her, causing her heart to leap into her chest. Twilight took a breath and calmly turned around. Ok, you can do this Twilight... Remember what Grim taught you... Remember the text on amaroks...