//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Circle's Truth // Story: The Inventor and the Red Lady // by MadNimrod //------------------------------// Hello again! Now, before I do anything else, I AM SO SORRY! I am very sorry it took so long to update! I was put on hiatus for a month, and I barely had time to tell anyone. I have also spent the last few days trying to get this chapter done, but things just kept piling up. Anyway, it's done for now. Yay. Now, this chapter will have twists and turns and something i hope is new to you all. I do not own MLP at all. The city of Vermillion was a veritable sandwich of conflict. On one side, against the mountainside, were the Shetland Palace and the troops therein, lead by Celestia and Malice. On the other side stood Luna commanding the Equestrian armies. In the middle, spread throughout the entire city, was the True King's army, the army of monsters and traitors. Interspersed here and there were pockets of resistance. Throughout the days of fighting, squads and small groups of knights became cut off from their respective side. Many of these pockets were Shetland knights who had been isolated since the first day of the battle. Others were Equestrian knights who had pushed into the city, but were unable to retreat when the invaders went on the offensive. Others still were a mix of the two, working together to stay alive. One such group, comprising of an Equestrian Earth Pony & Unicorn with a Shetland Pegasus, huddled in the basement of a shop on Baker's Row, hoping the invaders wouldn't find them. "Landis," The Earth Pony asked, "Any calls from anypony?" The unicorn, who had a bandage over one of his eyes, shook his head. "Not a word since last night. The Ether's been quiet." The Pegasus, clearly a rookie, asked, "M-maybe I could do a fly-around, see if anypony's nearby?" "No," the Earth Pony shook his head, "I've seen those flying monsters bring down Pegasi bigger than you. Stay here, stay alive." Everypony went silent as the bakery door opened. The Pegasus gulped and curled up as the two Equestrians peered through the floorboards to see who was there. Two ponies and a minotaur were poking through the shelves, checking out the bread. "Anything here?" the minotaur asked. "Just stale bricks," a pony said, knocking two loaves together. "Nothing fresh since the blue Prin-" "Quiet!" the other pony rasped. There was complete silence from both groups. The trio in the basement could feel the slow, steady thuds of big wing beats for a few moments before it faded away. One of the ponies upstairs sighed. "Dragon," he said. "Those scaly bastards have been doing flyby's all day." "How did they get dragons, anyway?" the minotaur asked. "You tell me," the other pony replied. "All I know is that, in one day, we lost air superiority to them. I swear, Mal-the Red Lady has too many tricks." "I heard Celestia summoned them," the first pony said. "Well, nothing here. Let's check the next-" "Ey," the minotaur asked, "What's that?" The three ponies in the basement could only listen as high-pitched chittering filled the air, followed by, and almost blocking out, the screams of the ponies and minotaur. The Earth Pony looked through a crack in the floor in time to see the minotaurs' bloodied face fall over the crack. There was a quick look of realization in the minotaurs' eyes before a green-black blur stomped on his neck with a sickening snap. There was a loud squeal, followed by a buzzing sound, then silence. Nopony moved for several moments before Landis moved for the trapdoor. "What are you doing?" the Earth Pony asked. The Unicorn, instead of answering, slowly opened the door a bit and peered out. "All clear," he said before opening the door the rest of the way. As the three crawled out, they were greeted by the mangled bodies of the ponies and minotaur. Out in the street were more bodies, none of them Equestrian nor Shetland. As the Earth Pony slowly leaned his head out the door, he saw other ponies, knights this time, emerge from other shops. "What was that?' one of them asked. "You didn't see either?" another asked. "I saw a green blur," a third one replied. "Was small, but fast. Sounded like a bug." With this last description, the Earth Pony realized what happened. "Guys," he hollered, "we just got our flanks saved by Changelings." "Impossible," one of the other ponies said as the groups converged in the streets. "Why would they be saving us?" "Maybe not saving us," Landis pointed, "but killing them." "Leave it to your Princess," a Shetland Unicorn chuckled, "to convince Changelings to fight our foes." "Whatever," the Earth Pony shook his head. "I'd say we're closer to the Palace than the walls. I say we make our way there." Malice was worried. It had been nearly three days since the Paladins went to the Evisican homeland. She had received no word from them, but that was to be expected. What worried her was the battle. The invading forces numbered, by this point, ten or eleven thousand. The combined Shetland and Equestrian armies numbered a little higher than that, but more were arriving almost hourly. By her estimates, she and her cousins could clear the city within a week. Malice sighed and looked out of a window at the burning city. That did not seem right. "Milady," a Blackwatch appeared next to Malice, staring out the same window at the burning city, "I've come to report." "Go ahead," the Red Lady nodded. "Snowpeak and Mossdeep have defeated the invaders in their areas," she reported. "At this moment, both provinces are sending knights to aid us.' "And what of Ironhelm?" "They're still turtled-in. The invaders have been besieging the gates for two days. They barely got a hawk out to report." "Serpent's Tide?" "No news yet." "Shadowrest?" "Oddly, they have not had any invaders attack. They are sending knights as well." "Good work," Malice sighed. "There is no doubt the majority of the invaders are here, so any aid is appreciated. But…" "Milady?" the Blackwatch Pegasus asked. "Nothing. Go rest." As the Blackwatch mare bowed and left, Malice turned the other way, heading to her chambers. It was too easy. This 'True King' had spent months, possibly years preparing for this. There was no way, no way this was all the True King had. There had to be something more… "…and that brings us up to date," Watson finished. The small unicorn spent the past three hours telling the Evisican Leaders (If they could all be counted that) about everything that had happened concerning the blood circles. During his dialogue, Watson had Saria speak up to say what had happened that he was not present for. As the explanations ended, the Ert were frowning, the Edonna had grim expressions and the air smelled of burning coal. "This is most troubling indeed," the blue-garbed Evisican said. "To think the Circle of Darchia would be invoked on this planet…terrible." One of the Ert spoke up in a weird clicking language, and the Evisican responded in kind. Then an Edonna spoke in a low, melodious voice, and was answered by a different Evisican. Soon, all the non-ponies were talking to each other in different languages. The herd of ponies stood in silence for several minutes listening to it all before Redstamp sneezed. The whole room immediately turned silent and looked at Redstamp (one of the Edonna gave him a disgusted look). "Uhh," Redstamp said, "Excuse me." "A thousand pardons," the Evisican leader apologized in his monotone voice. "We did not consider that you did not speak any language from beyond this world." "No worries," Ditzy replied, "Just, well, what were you saying?" "We were discussing the options before us," one of the Edonna replied. "Had we known of this circle months ago, we could have intervened." "But we did not," the Evisican Leader sighed. "And so, our options are few." The room seemed to darken from the expressions everything wore. "I'm getting the feeling," Watson gulped, "that this magic does more than turn ponies into monsters." "Its' ability to make monsters is a lesser step," the blue Evisican explained, "a minor detail in its' weave. The true purpose of this magic is to grant the one who casts it to take control of Death." "As in, the power over life & death?" Watson asked. "Incorrect," the Evisican leader responded. "I refer to Death, the entity. Surely this world has an entity that carries souls to their afterlife?" "We have a Prince of Death, yes," Watson replied. "…Wait…you mean the pony, creature, whatever, that cast this is trying to command HIM?" "Correct," an Ert nodded. "This spell will bind Death's mind to the Caster's will. A slave of a mortal. These monsters serve as bait, attracting Death as a perversion of life." "Seriously?" Ditzy asked. "Why would anypony even want to try that?" "He who can command Death," the Edonna from earlier explained, "would be able to say who lives and who doesn't. That person, or in your case pony, could order Death to leave them and any they choose alive, no matter how much time passes. In other words, control of Death would effectively grant immortality." "But it would come at great cost," the blue Evisican stated. "Every world must end, but in ending, it would be born anew, with new peoples, new lands. It has been so since the dawn of time itself. But for new life to come, Death must take all souls accordingly. If any escape from Death's judgment for too long, if Death is bound to this person, the world will not pass properly." The Evisican's face seemed to darken as he continued, "There would be no renewal, no new life. If Death is bound to the will of anyone, the world will perish, truly and eternally." The five ponies stood in horrified silence. All the murders, the monsters, everything was just bait this "True King" was using to lure Death into a trap. A trap that would result in the capture of Death, and cause the eventual Final Death of the world, all to gain immortality. Who? Who was this pony, who would be so arrogant? Discord was fighting in the city. He was tired from the days of fighting, and so his chaos was down to a minimum, fighting with only his claws. The ponies, minotaur and monsters were beginning to be a nuisance. One of them actually scored a hit against him. It didn't have time to relish its' success. More and more seemed to come, and there was no help in sight. He was in a pickle. One of the monsters lunged at him, but was stopped by gold light. He looked up and saw Celestia standing atop the palace, firing beams here and there. Her sniping skills were astounding, but something was off. Pulling a pair of banana-shaped binoculars out of nowhere, Discord took a closer look at Celestia. Celestia was exhausted. Her normally billowing was almost completely limp on her neck. Her eyes were dull and half-closed. Her wings were hanging off her shoulders, and her knees were bent from the strain of it all. She was clearly not doing well. Then, all of the sudden, Celestia stopped firing. She looked over the city and sighed. Celestia closed her eyes and lowered her head. Her horn started glowing red. Discord gasped. That only happened when… He immediately tore through the surrounding enemies to some knights. "Are you making your way to the Palace!? I need you to take a message!" "Okay, Ditzy said with a somber voice, "you've told us what the magic does. Now tell us how to stop it. There must still be a way." "It will not be easy," the blue Evisican droned. "From what you say, the binding of Death is almost upon us. The only way to prevent the binding at this point would be to kill the one doing this." "And if we aren't able to do that?" Watson asked. "What if we aren't able to kill him in time?" "At that point," another Evisican replied, "the only way to end the binding is to destroy the Focus." "Focus?" "The object that binds Death's will," the Evisican continued. "An article of clothing, a weapon, any object kept in close proximity of the caster can be used to bind Death's mind. Destroy that, Death will be freed." "All right," Watson turned to his friends, "now we know what to do." He then bowed to the lead Evisican. "You have our gratitude. Now, we must go fix this problem." "Wait," the Evisican leader called. "You, little one. You have touched this magic as well." Watson thought for a moment, then remembered when he messed with that small circle a few months back. After the small unicorn nodded, the Evisican continued, "Know this, little one. That magic was made to command Death. He who seeks to commaned Death, must be claimed by Death." The Evisican took a step back. "No more advice can be given, for no more words can suffice. Do you have a method of transportation to return home?" They all nodded. "We pray for your success, little ponies. May Death remain unbound." All the ponies nodded, then turned and they walked up the stairs, Thom stepped back so he could talk to Watson. "Hey," the armorclad Paladin asked, "what did that last part mean?" Watson gave a shrug. "Seriously, no clue?" "I'm sure we'll figure it out," Watson replied. Thom looked at Watson for a bit before jogging up to talk to Saria. Watson sighed as the others spoke among themselves. Once they got outside, they activated their beacons and started the half-day teleport home. Watson lied, and Thom knew it. The fighting in Vermillion intensified. Despite the ever-growing discrepancy between their numbers, neither army seemed to be gaining any ground. Every time the Shetland-Equestrian knights pushed forward, the monsters forced them back. Every time the invaders pushed in either way, they were quickly repulsed. Discord had vanished a day ago, promising to return with help, and the alicorns were shown to not be invulnerable. Malice winced as she stormed down the hall. One of the monsters cut a gash on her leg, and her regeneration was taking its' time healing her. There weren't any medics nearby; they were all tending to the wounded knights on the ground floor. The pain from her wound, however, was nothing compared to the fear she felt as she ran, occasionally flew, up the stairs and down the halls to her destination. When she burst through Celestia's doors, Malice continued her pained gallop to the balcony, where a scuffed up Celestia gazed over the city. The ivory turned to Malice and looked at her with a weary face. She had not looked this bad since Sombra's betrayal. "Hello," the Princess of Day quietly greeted. "Tia," the Princess of War gasped, "I-I heard what you have planned. Is such an action wise?" "No," Celestia replied. "It is not a wise choice." "Then why are you going to do this?!" The Red Lady almost screamed. "Tia, with how exhausted you are-" "I am doing this, Lady." Celestia turned back to overlook the city. "My student once told me that sometimes the wisest choice is not the right choice." She straightened up. "With any luck, this will be resolved before tomorrow." Before Malice could say anything else, a Shetland knight galloped into the room. "Milady," he hollered, "the Paladins have returned!" Malice looked at the knight with wide eyes, then looked away pensively. After a few moments, she looked back at Celestia. "Be careful, Tia." With those last words, Tia galloped down the stairs with the knight in tow. Princess Celestia stared down at the flaming city. She had sent out an Ethercall telling everypony on their side to find shelter, so the skies and streets were empty, save for the invaders. The ivory princess took a breath and stretched her wings, taking in sunlight. "I, Princess Celestia Tia Chronos, Princess of the Day, invoke the power of Malice Ul Solarion, Princess of War." Malice galloped fast as she could to the throne room. Any prior pain was forgotten and ignored. As she burst through the doors, she saw her brother (who was barely keeping his insects together) standing over the Paladins. To his credit, Watson was still conscious, but still very wobbly. "Paladins!" Malice nearly bowled Watson over as she skidded into the room and stopped in front of Watson. The tan unicorn opened his mouth to speak, but quickly turned to the side in a coughing fit. Malice leaned forward and down. "Are you all right, Watson?" "I'll be fine," Watson gasped. "Teleport sickness." "It's an improvement from last time," Saria pointed out. "Last time, he was out for two days. That's what took us so long." "Two days," Nephronopht said, "is a long time." "I-I'm sorry," Malice told the small unicorn. "I'll have the medic heal you." "No time," Watson gasped. "I've got to-" "Milady!" another knight screamed from the hallway. "The beasts have breached the main gates! They're on our doorstep!" The Red Lady gritted her teeth, giving a sidelong look to Watson before addressing everypony. "Anypony who can fight, with me! Brother, watch over Watson! I will return momentarily!" She galloped out, followed by the Paladins and knights, leaving a weary Neph and a weak Watson alone in the throne room. "How'd it go?" the buggy alicorn prince asked. "Neph," Watson said, "This is gonna sound crazy…" "WHAT!?" Malice screamed as she stomped a monster's head. "This whole war's just for some immortality ritual!?" "I know," Thom hollered as he bucked a minotaur away, "kinda stupid, huh!?" "At least that explains a few things!" Malice fired a shot, vaporizing another minotaur before throwing more monsters out slamming the gates shut. Before she could lock them, they flew open again and a blistering hot wind pushed most of the ponies back. The invaders that were shut out mere moments ago now screamed in agony as blood-red fire engulfed them. Redstamp managed to lean his head outside to see where the fire was coming from. Soaring through the air above the city Princess Celestia, but she wasn't the kind, ivory alicorn she was before. Her coat had turned the color of dark rusted metal, and her mane blazed like gold fire. Her eyes shone like the sun, blinding and hot. Blood red fire shot from her horn like a dragon's breath. Above the Princess, the sun shone red and the sky was black as pitch with gray wispy clouds. In all his years as a Paladin, Redstamp had never seen anything more terrifying. "What is it?" Thom asked as Redstamp went back inside and slammed the gates shut with Malice. "What's going on?" "Umm," Redstamp said in terror, "L-let's just say Princess C-C-Celestia is very pissed." Malice nodded in agreement as she locked the gates. "I say we all remain inside for the time being." As she finished locking the gates, Nephronopht gimped into the room. Malice turned with a curious look. "Neph? Why are you out here? Where's Watson?" "Umm…" Neph turned away. Malice gave her younger brother an icy glare. "Nephronopht," Malice asked, "Where is Watson?" Watson took a deep breath after he finished vomiting. He felt tired and drowsy. He wanted to rest, but he couldn't. It was clear the True King was almost done. The assault on Vermillion was just a cover to keep Malice's troops in the city. Had to be. They were almost out of time. Watson pulled out the bee-like insect Neph gave him and let it sting his foreleg. He winced in pain, but the wave of nausea and exhaustion were gone in an instant. Watson needed to be clear-headed for the next step. He took another breath and looked at the ruins around him. He was back in the Evisican Palace, in the center of it all. Neph couldn't teleport him to the Circle chamber, but prince did get him to the great hall, and that was close enough. Watson turned to the familiar stairway and galloped downstairs. With any luck, he could get to this 'True King' and kill him before the ritual was complete. Watson never actually killed anypony before, but with what this stallion did… Watson slowed when he reached the bottom. There were voices coming from the Circle chamber. One voice was calm and stern, but the other was loud and argumentative. Watson got a little closer to listen in, sticking close to the wall. "You-you MONSTER!" the loud voice shouted. Elder Carneades. "All this work, years of preparation, and for what? You said our armies were undefeatable, and yet we've lost! Celestia's burning our army to cinders, and you're just hiding down here like-" There was the sound of a drawn blade, followed by a sick gurgle and a thud. "You talk too much, pawn," the other voice said. Watson gasped. It couldn't be. The tiny unicorn ran into the Circle chamber and saw the chamber was well-lit by the circle. In the middle of it was Elder Carneades with blood pouring from his throat. Standing above him was not Elder Fetlocke. It wasn't even a member of the Conclave. It was Racer. Hey hey hey, who saw that last bit coming? Raise your hand if you saw that coming! ...that's a lot of hands... Anyway, the next chapter will have the Final Boss Fight of the fic, and don't think the others will just sit in the Shetland Palace twiddling their...hooves while this fight is going on. Remember, they have a very p-o'ed Celestia to deal with. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! See ya!