"Pride is not the opposite of shame, but it’s source. True humility is the only antidote to shame." ~Iroh -Avatar: The Last Airbender (cartoon series by Nickelodeon)
"Asheley!" Tryndamere called into the empty fog, "Ashe! Where are you?" he treaded onward in the red mud. Most of the survivors were busy collecting bodies to properly have them deceased. Their dead bodies that were infected with the void produced a toxic fume. Everypony had to wear a soaked rag of cloth wrapped around their mouths and nostrils. Aside from civilians and soldiers, the griffin king, the tauren chief, Luna, Twilight, and the rest of the mane 6 were the only survivors. From the elite guards, Nasus, Alistar, and Twitch survived the ordeal too.
Mothers, father, even children were aiding in the clean up. Constantly, ponies tried to take the children to another place to spend their time, instead of stacking bodies into a pile. Constantly, the children let their curiosity get the best of them and slipped out to help anyways.
Half of the Canterlot castle was decimated, killing civilians who were sheltered there. buildings were either toppled over, or missing a roof. The crop fields and the roads were toiled beyond repair. In a city with 13000 ponies and other creatures, only 1200 lived. However, they were still looking for any survivors beneath the crumbled buildings.
So far, no-pony knew about Celestia's death except for Luna. Upon impulse, she hid her sister's body and made sure it wouldn't rot with a special containment spell. She feared that if everypony were to discover this, there would truly be no hope. She also had another reason why; one that she dare not share to even her stars. They had already sent a messenger to The Crystal Empire, and one to each ambassador's country who remained in the meeting hall before the attack.
Tryndamere dragged his large blade with him as he glanced from side to side, hoping to see Ashe alive, or at least more freljordians. Just then Nunu and Wilump marched to his side.
"Any signs of Ashe?" Tryndamere asked, "Or at least Anivia, Lissandra, or Sejuani?"
"Sorry dude, I couldn't find anyone else." Nunu replied.
Tryndamere sighed, "Do you know where I was during the battle?"
"Nope."
"I was kept within the castle, because they said a foreign king should not fight, leave it to us." he ground his teeth, "What if we fought? What if the rest of the leaders and I fought?"
"I don't know dude. We did what we did. Anything could've happened."
Tryndamere pondered at the hairy pony's words.
"Anything could've happened." he murmured to himself.
The train stopped in front of what used to be the grand city of Canterlot. It was obvious that nopony was going to see them in. It wouldn't be needed anyways because the tracks ahead of them was covered in rubble too large to ram through. They had to go on hooves. One by one, they stepped out of the train. Fiddlesticks had his crows carry Caitlyn along with them. It's a good thing that bird spirits are relentless.
Kassadin went ahead and led the way. As they passed by the buildings, they disregarded the blood stained ground, except for Strongheart. She felt as if she was in one of her tribe's horror stories. Every small sudden sound caused her swerve her head in that direction. She knew she was being paranoid, but was she wrong to worry about what lurked behind the rubble?
"Quite a rendezvous point for refugees." Kassadin commented.
"Wondayvu?" fumbled Annie.
Fiddle chuckled, "Rendezvous, the word deprived from prench, it means a meeting point."
"Prench?"
"You know, Prance? The ponies with moustaches and talk like zees?" Fiddle crossed his eyes and curled his imaginary moustache, causing Annie and Veigar to erupt into laughter.
Strongheart jumped and screamed! She ran past Kassadin and Fiddle, sprinting straight towards Canterlot castle.
"WHY?!" Veigar demanded. His question was left unanswered.
Suddenly, they heard an audible click. Everyone but Kassadin turned to the direction of the sound.
A large wild cougar was staring right at them. Frightened, Veigar jumped into Kassadin's arms and clutched him tightly. Kassadin however, placed him back down gently.
"Fear not. Ignore it and it will ignore us. Let us move on." he said. Unsure, Fiddle kept one eye on the cougar, and another on the Strongheart, Veigar, and Annie. Caitlyn was still being held aloft alongside them thanks to Fiddle's crows. As they turned back towards the castle, the cougar leapt to the other side, tailing them. When Fiddle swerved back to check on the cougar, it was no where to be seen. It uneased him. He decided no to act on it, but to instead keep a sharp ear for it.
They approached the district where they had restaurants and little food shops intact. Unfortunately none of them were serving.
"Look! That one over there still has lights on!" cried Annie as she pointed to the indeed bright shop. They doubted there was somepony inside, but they figured a check for food would be nice. When they entered through the door, the bell that hung just above it chimed, warning anypony inside that they had visitors. Kassadin took a seat by the counter and stared at Fiddle.
"What?" asked the scarecrow.
"You are the one with culinary expertise." said Kassadin. Fiddle sighed in annoyance, but at least he felt a little better for the half-compliment. He groaned as he stepped into the kitchen. The restaurant seemed to be for sandwiches. Luckily, they had more than plenty of bread and daisies to use. There was a fresh stack of hay around the back and clean lettuce. With dull enthusiasm, he went to work into building 5 sandwiches. Then he wondered if Kassadin ate anything? He doesn't exactly have a mouth. He might behind his helmet, but could he take it off?
A loud pang surprised Fiddle. Startled, he whipped out his scythe for defence. He held it in front of him, ready to slice the thing that threatened him. Didn't exactly threatened him, but he had a feeling that whatever was here, it was not friendly.
There wasn't another peep, except from outside the kitchen. When he turned back to the sandwiches, the cougar was about to take a bite from one of them. Fiddle yelped and jumped back. Also frightened, the cougar snatched the sandwich and tumbled and scattered to the back of the room, where it was trapped. Fiddle shimmied closer with his scythe held high. The cougar growled with the sandwich in its mouth, probably prepared to drop it and strike when he did.
Suddenly, Annie barged in with a curious smile.
"Uncle Fiddle? What's going on? What's taking so long?"
"Annie! Stay back! The cougar is back and it's dangerous!"
"You mean her?" she skipped to Fiddle's side and gazed at the cougar in amusement.
"Yes, so let me handle this!"
"But she's just hungry."
"How do you even know if it's a she?"
"Well...?"
When Fiddle turned back to the cougar, it was gone. Now ever more cautious, Fiddle checked every corner and every drawer while Annie witnessed him in his antics. She felt like the were playing hide n' seek with their new friend. She then peeked at the sandwiches and there was the cougar, about to take another. Annie brought a hoof to her mouth and winked. She swore she saw the cougar smile.
Unfortunately, Fiddle discovered where the cougar was too. Instead of hailing his scythe, he drooped his shoulders and sighed. Knowing that she was discovered, the cougar leaped away and dived for the other room. It was the storage room.
"No Uncle Fiddle! Don't hurt her!" she cried as he went towards the room.
"No worries." he said. He picked up the sandwich the cougar dropped and left his scythe at the counter. He stepped into the room and held the sandwich out. Slowly, he saw the cougar meagerly step out of the boxes. Now that he got a closer look at the cougar, it had a green emerald on it's forehead that matched her eyes. She also wore a bonetooth necklace around her neck. Despite the fact that her teeth were very long and sharp, it didn't seem that she wanted to fight.
Fiddle wiggled the sandwich to urge her to take it.
The cougar was quickly engulfed in leaves and a flash. Fiddle had to shield his eyes from the strong burst of energy.
When he looked back at the cougar, it was a mare. She still had a bonetooth necklace and an emerald on her forehead. Her eyes matched the emerald she had. Fiddle stood frozen, but the cougar didn't seem to care, so she took the sandwich and thanked with her eyes.
"What's going on in here?" asked Strongheart as she entered the kitchen.
"We found a new friend!" Annie jumped with glee. Just then, Kassadin and Veigar joined them. They too wondered what was happening. Annie merely pointed to the dark room Fiddle was in.
"Do you have a name?" asked Fiddle.
"It's been very long." she said, "My name is Nidalee, at least that was what my family called me."
"Where is your family?"
"They live in wild, but I am not certain anymore."
"Interesting..." Fiddle prodded his chin, "Why are you here now?" the rest of the group peeked through the door, careful not to disturb their conversation.
"I came curious about this life, the life of lights and technology."
"Than you should come with us, it's dangerous here."
"Are you really telling that to me?" she frowned.
"Anyways you should meet my friends! They're really nice and would love to teach you about... whatever!"
"We are right behind you inferior!" yelled Veigar.
Skarner dove onto Sombra with fierce determination. He dug his pincers right into him, but all he slashed was shadows. Sombra then rained sharp dark crystals on top of him and dove in. Skarner conjured up an outer shell of crystal to shield him for now, while he brought his stinger back to prepare a devastating blow to Sombra. When Sombra came closer, his horn lit up, so did the tip of Skarner's stinger. When they both clashed, it created a large pulse of black and purple. Both of them were thrown back.
Sombra smiled despite the painful explosion. Skarner gritted his teeth. Sombra then shape-shifted into his shadow form and engulfed Skarner in darkness. Not a stranger to this trick, Skarner braced himself.
He had shards of dark crystal surrounding him, all threatening to impale him. Skarner sunk into the ground right before he had 50 dark crystal shards inside him. He emerged from the ground and behind Sombra. With the element of surprise, he cast a lasso spell that purged Sombra's shadow form and brought him to the ground. Now vulnerable, Skarner slashed him with his pincers while pinning him down with his stinger. Each strike made Sombra laugh.
"You fool! You think this hurts me?!"
"Yes! Now die!"
"Look out!" screamed Luio from behind them.
"Luio?" said Skarner.
Sombra only laughed harder with a sinister smile.
Luio blasted a stream of magic into Sombra, making him not laugh anymore, but instead yell in agony.
"Get back to the barrier!" yelled Luio, "I'll be right behind you!"
"No! We'll finish him off once and for all!"
"I order you to return back behind the barrier!" Luio was astonished at his outburst, but he didn't show it. Instead he kept his gaze on Sombra.
Skarner contempted, but he went anyways. True to his word, Luio followed right behind him. Sombra had to shake off the magic residue that was hurting him. Sombra turned to the fleeing ponies, and dove after them. With his mouth wide open, he tried to swallow them whole. Crystal guards were standing at the ready on the other side of the barrier. As the gap between Skarner and Luio, and Sombra shortened, the guards readied their weapons. The unicorn guards were blasting beams, hoping to delay the king.
However, it did not.
Approaching at deadly speeds, the king caught up, but in the slick of time, Skarner and Luio were able to slip through the barrier, causing Sombra to crash right into it. It knocked back everypony on the other side of the barrier.
Sombra was stronger than his last form, making it twice as hard to kill him. The barrages seemed to only get stronger, as the barrier also seemed to become weaker. They needed a solution fast.
When everyone recovered, they remained at their posts, prepared to fight what awaited outside. Luio rushed back to the castle without another word to Skarner. Interested in following Luio, he tailed behind him.
He followed him to the basement of the castle, one where he never knew existed. He found him running around with tools manically.
"Luio, what is all this about?" asked Skarner. There was a draped object in the center of the room. It towered high for about 3 times the size of a normal pony. Luio ducked in and out of the drapes, causing a fizz of sparks each time. He went back and forth between his counter to get a gem, then back under the drapes that covered the construct.
"Oh hey Skar." said Luio without breaking pace, "This the solution to our void problem. With this thing, we can push back and put and end to all this!"
"Really?"
"Hopefully."
Skarner sighed, "May I see it than?"
"I just finished!" he exasperated, "I'm so excited!"
"Thrilled." said Skarner with lack of enthusiasm.
"I call it..." he gripped the drapes with his magic, then threw them off, "...Galio!" It had aqua blue stone as flesh with ruby eyes. His wings were also made of blue magically imbued stone. On top of those, were coated with sapphire for resistance and strength. He mixed gold and citrine to make the his arms and linings of his other parts, so he could have fast and sure movement.
"Excuse me friend, but what is it?"
"It's a gargoyle!" he waved his hooves at the construct.
"I'm not quite familiar with gargoyles. Is it alive?"
"Should be. What did I do wrong?" he rushed over to his desk and mixed around his papers searching for the one he was looking for. "Aha! An onyx heart!"
He sprinted to his stash of gems and pulled out a pre-carved diamond shaped into a ring. Luio pressed the diamond ring into the middle of the chest. Slowly, he used his magic to faze it deeper into Galio, until he reached his desired spot. (That sounded dirty)
Almost instantly, Galio took a huge breath of air, then exhaled just as mighty.
"Hello master." he bowed, "What is your bidding?"
"Just sit there for now. You shall be named Galio." Luio then turned to Skarner, "What d' ya think?" he chimed.
"Impressive, but how is he our solution?"
"Oh right! There's one more enchantment I need to do." Luio used his telekinesis to pull up a chest, revealing a fragment of void stone.
"Where did you get that?"
"From the void. It really was frightening in there."
Skarner didn't question it, just accepted it.
"Now," Luio hovered the stone closer to Galio, "Hold still Galio, this may hurt quite a bit."
"Pain is merely temporary."
"Alright than." Luio shifted, not telling him the real effects it might have. He shattered the fragment of void stone, and cringed as he performed the next part of the spell. He reversed the polarity and colour of the stone, thus making what he liked to call 'anti-void'. He then siphoned its energy and transferred it to Galio. As expected, Galio stood still without a flinch.
"So now he's void-proof!" Luio squealed in delight.
"Interesting... but can it also be done to others?"
"Do you realize what it took to extract void-stone? I haven't had enough to try it on flesh experiments yet!"
"I'm not flesh."
Luio thought for a moment. The idea was so crazy, it could work!
After hours of following Burdac through scorching hot deserts, they finally settled down for the evening to rest. It seemed that Burdac had a wide lead on them. Both Shyvana and Jarvan suspected a mutiny stirring up. All thanks to Vayne. If Jarvan wanted to keep his party aligned, he needed to do something. Unfortunately, he was too caught up in his own mind to take action.
Once all of the tents were up, they had dinner served. Decent porridge was enough to satisfy everypony's bellies. Most of them participated in a chat around the campfire. Jarvan was conversing with his trusted officers in front of his own tent, likely talking about their next move.
Shyvana laid in a patch of soft ground, relaxing and relishing her flashbacks with her father. She's gone so far, yet not far enough. She always came so close to Burdac, but she failed. Three times. She gazed to the stars above; the stars didn't seem to be their usually lively state. For some reason, she felt not much hate towards Burdac anymore. It was a weird feeling. She felt more like... she feared Burdac. She feared that she wouldn't succeed and see his dying face, because to her, he seemed intimidatingly impossible to kill.
Upon impulse, she morphed into her dragon form, and spread her wings.
"Don't you dare think to take off into the night again." spat Vayne, "You've gotten us behind so much more now. We would've taken him out by now, but all you have been doing is screwing up. You're just like the other filthy stupid dragon scum, obnoxious and useless to the world."
"Then tell me Vayne..." Shyvana returned to her pony form and paced around with Vayne. "...who's listening to you right now?"
Unamused, Vayne replied, "The dragon-bitch."
"The dragon-bitch who longs to avenge her father. At least you have a family to go back to."
"Please! Suck it up! Losing your father is no big deal! What makes you think that even I have a family to go back to?"
"Than you lost your father too."
"He was a weak and worthless stallion. I never needed him!"
"What about your mother?!" Shyvana shouted back, "Surely bitches are raised by bitches!"
"You're right! That bitch left my father and I, but am I complaining?!"
"So that's why you're lonely." Shyvana softened her tone, but her anger clearly showed, "You had no one; all you had was your father. You were an uptight mare, kissing your father's ass for a treat. When he died, you felt no pain? It's obvious that you're hiding something. Something that will exploit the real side of you. The weak side of you. You think a link to your father is a weakness, since he too is weak." she leaned in close to Vayne, "All it took was a death to sever your bond. Quite much to break such a thing."
"What the fuck are you blabbering on about? Yea I got over it.Right then, I finally realized that a sophisticated life of a noble was just a burden. I survived on my own. I trained. I learned how to be the best hunter in Canterlot. All my father is to me is my reminder of the cowardly life. At least he fought and killed most of his assassins along with him. Your father ran away for centuries, hoping that his doom would not catch up with him. Just like you, I loved my father and he loved me, but who's being the whiny whore, seeking blind redemption?"
They both came to a slow stop. They didn't dare show each other, but they both let a tear fall from their eyes.
"I am." they both muttered in unison. Finally, with sincerity, they both didn't stop staring at each other. Silence killed the air.
What they didn't notice was that Jarvan witnessed and heard the whole thing. Along with everyone in the camp. Feeling the tension, the troops went away one by one. Until Jarvan was left. He could never see them both the same way again. He knew that the rest of his troops wouldn't either. He too retired to his own tent.
"T-truce?" mumbled Vayne.
"Truce." Shyvana smiled. They mutually came to a hoof-shake, then sat down on the patch of soft ground to share their life with their father.
With a loud gasp, Riven awoke disturbingly. She found herself panicking in a cot provided by someone unknown. She whipped around her hoof, hoping to fend off her opponent. Her head wracked with pain and dizziness. She felt most of her body parts numb, but slowly regaining conscious.
"Please calm down." said a new voice in a surprisingly soothing voice, "You'll only make my bed messier."
She jolted up and was able to calm herself down like she was told to do. She remembered being locked into combat with Master Yi, the best warrior known in Ionia. She took in the details of the walls, decorated with broken pottery and not-broken pottery. She then turned to the stranger. She immediately tried to beat him up with her own hooves, but swiftly he dodged all of her blows.
"Please stop and allow me to explain." he said. He then pushed her back with gust of wind. She fell back into her cot, but she didn't bring herself to attack the stranger again. He sat down. Now that his appearance was clearly shown, he had a mane that was dark brown with a hint of of sunset orange. His coat was cloudy blue, and he had his mane tied into a ponytail. Quite a very large ponytail. He wore silver armour, lined with blue that matched his coat. On one shoulder, he had plates of armour pertruding up in a row of 4. His cutiemark was a blade and a windy cloud.
"Okay fine. What happened and how did I get here?" she said.
"I watched you fight Master Yi and his student. Unfortunately, you ate from my plum tree traps. They were originally for defence from people I do not wish to encounter. I must inform you that they render you paralyzed and fall asleep. No real harm done. I had to take you all into my home and wait until you all awoke."
"Is Yi here right now?"
"Yes. They have already awoken and are awaiting outside."
"Where is my weapon." she rasped.
"It is outside of this room as well."
Without another word, she tried to rush out the door, but was stopped by the stranger.
"What haste is there in leaving? I have yet to ask for your name."
"Get out of my way fool."
"Allow me to introduce myself first than. My name is Yasuo. Now you try telling me your name." he smiled.
"I'll wipe that smirk off your face if you don't let me out."
"Are you really that stubborn?"
She stepped back, then attempted to ram through. He let her through without resistance, but she didn't see the staircase, and fell down the stairs. She groaned in pain as she regretted her decision.
Yasuo casually stepped down the stairs, and held out a hoof to help her up. She whacked it away and looked around for her sword.
"I also heard what Master Yi said to you during that fight. You indeed were holding back. What is stopping you from fighting?"
"You shut up. Give me my blade and let me out of here." she huffed.
"It is right there." he pointed to the other side of the room where his blade also rested beside Riven's. She picked it up and fast walked her way out of the door.
"You can't run away from your past..." he suddenly said, "I tried."
"I'm not running away from anything!" she stopped in front of the door.
"Oh really?"
"Y-yes."
"Stay here."
"Why the fuck would I?" she turned to face him.
"So I can train you to be stronger than Yi."
Her ears perked up.
"Just tell me your name and we may begin."
"Riven." she said, "My name is Riven."
"HALT!" yelled a guard pony, "This is restricted area for civilians!"
"Oh! Uh!" Fiddlesticks stammered.
"We come with grave warnings." said Kassadin.
"Oh yeah?" the guard drew his lance.
"There is a second wave of void creatures incoming."
"How do you know? Huh?!"
"We have delayed them for you. We have witnessed their size."
The guard sighed, "Alright whatever! You guys better get to the castle quick."
"Farewell."
"Yea yea, just get goin'."
The crystal heart radiated brightly, shimmering upon each strike from Sombra. He has been ramming himself into the barrier for most of the time. The crystal heart could not hold off the artillery any longer, thus finally collapsing. All of The Crystal Empire was exposed. Sombra cackled manically and began his dark reign.