//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 - They Live // Story: Fallen Stars // by Zachurra //------------------------------// Princess Celestia dismounted her carriage the moment it touched the ground in Ponyville. Her sister’s protests to her actions fell upon deaf ears as she too stepped off the golden chariot to join her sibling, but not after a quick “at ease” to the two at-attention Pegasus guards that had towed them to the front lines. “My goodness…” Was all Celestia could bring herself to say as she looked to the broken bodies that resided in the streets and the broken homes that made up the once humble town. At first she felt relieved in seeing that many, if none at all, of the ponies that were outside of shelter were more or less unscathed and tending to those truly were wounded. Casualties, it seemed, were kept to a bare minimum. However, a terrible feeling in her gut washed away the relief as her eyes trailed over the dead or dying bodies that made up the Changeling horde. Despite her conflicting emotions, the regal Alicorn couldn’t help but feel guilty for the events that had occurred. She knew that so long as Madora led the Changelings than there would never be a hope for anything other than a bloody conflict, but perhaps if she had only tried… “Sister, are you alright?” Celestia almost jumped at her sister’s words despite their calm flow. She took a deep breath to ease her nerves before giving the younger Alicorn a short nod. “Yes, Lulu, I am just… taking in my surroundings.” Luna extended her wing to wrap around her older sister’s frame. “As am I, dear sister. I am sure we both wish this was simply a bad dream we could wake up from. And speaking of things that belong in dreams…” Celestia, having closed her eyes to savor her sister’s affection, opened them once more to see a figure approaching them. Like Dante and the one he called War, this one walked on two legs. As well, its choice in attire was just as questionable. Mostly brown and black in color, leather straps that served to hold small sheaths in place covered its arms, legs, and torso. A majority of the sheaths were filled with knives or daggers, though half a dozen or so appeared to be empty. Wrapped around its neck was what seemed to be a scarf that once matched his snowy white hair but was now stained red. “Your highnesses,” he put his forearm against his chest and bowed before the two princesses. “My name is Vice Virtus, Horseman of Famine. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.” His eyes shifted towards Luna and the two shared a nod. “Likewise.” Celestia replied, “My student has told me much about you and your kind.” The two Alicorns began to bow, now knowing that being a “Horseman” was a prestigious position in their world but Vice held out his hand in a gesture to stop them. “Please, save your bows for someone more deserving. Now,” He cupped his hands behind his back and stood straight, “I assume you are here to inspect the aftermath?” Upon seeing the two nod, he stepped out of their path and held out his arm in the direction of the battlefield. “Please, right this way. While I’m sure your subjects will delight in seeing you here during such a traumatizing time, there are other important matters to be tended to.” Again, Celestia nodded. What surprised her at that moment was that she had stolen a quick glance towards a house whose owners seemed to have hastily boarded up and were now peeking out through whatever gaps there were to catch a sight of her. How had he noticed such a minute movement of her eyes of her eyes and slight relaxation of her posture and immediately deduced the cause? She knew there was much about these “Demons” that she did not yet know about, but it appeared even the information her student had written about it in her letter was still barely scratching the surface when it came to not only what Demons were, but these special individuals as well. “I agree,” Luna spoke, a slight hint of reluctance in her tone that confirmed that she was just as worried about the inhabitants of Ponyville as much as her sister. “I suppose we should, oh what as it that they say now… ‘Cut to the chase?’” A frown crossed over her face as the next question came. “Tell us of the… casualties.” Vice, in the same formal tone that he had used during the entire discussion thus far, replied swiftly as the three walked together. “By our reports, civilian casualties include three dead, seven wounded. Military casualties include one dead and roughly ninety percent are wounded but will likely live to see another day. Of course, the battle has only just ended and a proper head count has not yet been made.” Despite the tragedy that was the passing of at least four of their subjects, the two regal sisters couldn’t help but be rendered speechless by this report. So few of their forces knocked out when the enemy was a force as great as it was? Eye witnesses reported seeing the Changeling horde’s attack all the way from Canterlot, their numbers were so many. “W-when we had received word from Dante that he was taking the role of training the enlisted, I had no idea that he would be able to turn every day ponies into such an army…” Celestia said, more speaking out loud rather than directly to the Horseman. “It took time, but all the forces we could muster were awaiting the order to reinforce the town.” Luna added, recovering from the news faster than her older sister. “And then the great calamity began to fall from the sky. When we saw it, we thought we were far more outmatched than we had previously predicted… We began to fear that perhaps all hope was lost if the Changelings had such a power as to pull objects from the very sky and use them against us. And yet, it was destroyed before it could even touch the ground.” The lunar princess stopped in her tracks, causing the other two to stop as well. “Was it you who stopped it?” If one was perceptive enough, they may have seen the slight frown that proved to be the first real emotion to be shown to the Alicorns since their arrival. “No, I did not stop it. Nor was it brought by the Changelings as you has assumed.” Vice turned his head to either side, ensuring that no eavesdroppers or potential interruptions were nearby. “I presume that you have been informed of our ‘past lives’ as well from your student?” The nodded, “Vaguely, it proved to be a difficult concept to comprehend. Whether that is from Dante’s information or my student’s way with words has yet to be seen to.” “The way it works is simple, really. Two souls, one body.” Vice held up two fingers on one hand and a single finger on the other to emphasize. “When our kind dies, our soul leaves our body for an indeterminable amount of time before being reborn into the world. The amount of time a soul can take can be anywhere between ten minutes and several thousand years. It is speculated that there are souls who have lived only once and have yet to be reborn. But I digress; our souls retain the ‘memory’, or consciousness, of our past lives. War’s former life, as many Horsemen’s tend to be, was a former Horseman: the Horseman of Desolation. “The Horseman of Desolation, or Desolate, as he is often called, was a very dangerous and powerful man. He was known throughout all of our kind as an unkillable destroyer that refused to follow any order that wouldn’t lead to some form of conflict. It was said that he joined the Horsemen by destroying an entire criminal organization with his bare hands as a child. Eventually he went rogue, daring the very mightiest to come and claim his head but none succeeded. The story goes that even while surrounded by an army, he knew that they would fail to kill him just as everyone else had. And so he used his power to bring down the same force you had seen before and proved that the only one capable of killing him was himself. “Now, to the point of this story: while our past lives are conscious within us, our souls are constantly fighting for dominance. With our soul being the dominant vs their recessive, the chances of losing ourselves to our past lives are slim to none. However, Desolate, as previously mentioned, is far from just a normal soul and simply being recessive wouldn’t be enough to hold him in check. For years he has been trying to break War and it would appear that today was finally the day. However, shortly after being released, Desolate was wounded and again tried to end everything around him. War regained control and used everything he had to try and stop it. He saved us all, but some were less… grateful than others and-” “Princess Celestia!” A certain lavender Unicorn sprinted forward after unintentionally cutting the Demon off. Princess Celestia smiled and turned to embrace her student once she was close enough. “Oh Twilight, thank goodness you’re okay.” The Alicorn’s smile turned from her student to the rest of the Elements. “And it warms my heart to see that all of you are unharmed. “More or less…” Rarity added as she fussed over a part of her mane that had been ruined during a scuffle. While Twilight may have been contend to be held by her teacher until this awful day was over, the curiosity growing within her friends was becoming too much. “So who’re you supposed to be?” Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves and cocked an eyebrow as she hovered over to Vice. “Ain’t you the fella who took on Madora all by himself?” Applejack spoke up as she too approached the Demon. “Now that I think about it,” Twilight said as she pulled away, albeit reluctantly, from her teacher’s comforting touch to take a closer look at the black sheep of the group. “You look kind of familiar.” Vice gave a gentle bow, “Vice Virtus, Horseman of Famine. I believe we met briefly in your home after I was recognized. Sadly, I was still suffering from amnesia at the time.” “Amnesia? That sounds absolutely dreadful!” “Do you remember what caused it?” Celestia asked. Vice took note of the way that, even though Twilight had already pulled away from the embrace, Celestia still kept a protective hoof on the Unicorn. Perhaps teacher-student relationships ran deeper here than they did in his world, or perhaps there was simply something more. Regardless of which is the true reason, it was something to think about some other time. “Vaguely. I recall landing in this world and being attacked by the Changelings shortly after. The next morning, I took to the sky in an attempt to better understand just where I was. It is here that my memory is a little fuzzy but I remember feeling some sort of… sensation. I began to fall and must have fallen unconscious. When I awoke, I found myself in the care of a small family and in the same form as the two of you.” Celestia hummed as she brought her hoof to her chin in thought, “Hm, perhaps it was…” A sudden blush arose in her cheeks and her eyes widened a bit in realization. She coughed into her hoof upon noticing the awkward pause she had taken, “Erm, it truly is a mystery…” “As thou were saying,” Luna said, stepping forward and eyeing her sister for a moment before looking back to Vice, “Something about your friend?” A pregnant pause filled the air. Vice, as well as many of the girls, shifted uncomfortably. Fluttershy began to lose her composure and buried herself into Pinkie’s fur as the other mare pulled her into a tight embrace. The two princesses looked confused at first but soon enough put two and two together. “Oh my…” Vice nodded gently. “War has… passed. One of our own betrayed us and joined with the Changelings and managed to defeat him.” Celestia brought her hoof to her lips and her ears drooped back slightly at the news while Luna’s stance stiffened. “A traitor!? Where is this whelp? We shall invoke the full extent of our power to see to it that-“ Vice held out his hand in a gesture for her to stop, “Please, your highness, while your enthusiasm is appreciated, Dante has taken care of the matter. By now it’s likely that our former comrade is… is…” A few of the ponies cocked their heads in confusion as the Demon’s eyes slowly shifted from the group in front of him to someplace down the road. The mare’s turned and their jaws dropped at the sight they saw. “…is being carried by the man he killed.”