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Prologue1,453 words
Ch.1: First Contact2,790 words
Ch.2: Another Old One?2,699 words
Ch.3: Arrival1,349 words
Ch.4: The Dark Tide1,805 words

Ch.4: The Dark Tide

The two immortals walked through the hallway in utter silence, neither daring to speak a word. They occasionally passed by a frightened servant or guard, Celestia only giving them a reassuring, if half-hearted, nod as they walked by. Soon, they reached a small balcony, Celestia taking a moment to look at the city of Canterlot. Her city. She sighed as she continued walking down the hall. She had already failed her subjects once. She would not do it again by failing to get this monster off their world. Eventually, they came across Luna, who came rushing towards them.

"Tia!" She exclaimed as she dashed for her sister. Death moved out of the way, crossing his arms as he watched the two. "Tia, are you okay?" She asked as she looked over her sister, trying to find any injuries.

"I'm fine, Luna." She said, smiling sadly. "I can't say the same for the guards, though..." She said, causing Luna to raise her brow in question.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, confused. Celestia shook visibly before answering.

"I... I'll tell you later. Let's go to the observatory." She said as they began walking down the hall, Luna keeping a fair distance from Death. As they walked, Luna tried her best not to even glance at Death. But her curiosity got the better of her. She took a quick glance at him, taking in every detail. His deathly pale skin. His powerful muscles. His dark armor. She quickly pulled her head back. 'He looks so strange...' She thought to herself as she risked another glance. She noticed that he was wearing a bone white mask. The mask made it appear as if he had no mouth, and it showed his orange eyes casting a menacing glare. She noticed the crystalline shrapnel in his chest, glowing ethereally. She also noticed the blades hanging from his hips. They were sharp, unnaturally so. And they were still coated in blood. Her eyes widened as she stared forward again. 'What in Tartarus...' She thought to herself. Suddenly, the screams coming from outside the castle made sense. Before she could let it sink in all the way, they had arrived at the doors of the observatory.

"Come in and we'll discuss matters." Celestia said as she opened the doors, entering ahead of the two. Death entered, but Luna was still in a daze, trying to understand what was going on.

"Are you coming?" Death asked as he walked into the room, snapping Luna out of her reverie.

"Ah... Yes..." She said as she walked into the room, her heart racing. 'I have a very bad feeling about this...' She thought to herself.

Deep within the Everfree, a dark figure laughs.
"So, he's reached the city... I suppose it's time I sent him a welcome party..." It says as it scrapes the ground with its fingers, the deep bass of an earthquake rumbling throughout the forest. Soon, it subsides and is replaced by countless feral roars. The chorus of animalistic hunger shook the earth, causing the birds in the trees to take wing, fearing for their lives. The dark figure raised its hand, silencing the cacophony of roars. For a moment, the forest stood in total silence, even the natural predators hiding in fear of the dark monstrosities and their master. It grinned as it pointed forward, the cacophony rising again, this time accompanied by thundering footfalls as the horde charged.

"Now, why are you here?" Celestia asked as they all settled in the room, Luna closing the door behind them. "I don't know myself. I was summoned by some sort of cult member inside a ruined castle." The Nephilim said. Luna, previously lost in her thought, had spoken up at the mention of a cult.

"A cult member? What was he wearing?" She asked urgently.

"A simple dark robe. Why?" Death asked, crossing his arms. Luna just shook her head. "I've never heard of a major cult that wore simple robes. This one must be fairly new." She said, her brow furrowed in thought. The Nephilim was about to respond when he heard a faint rumbling sound.

"Do you hear that?" He asked, drawing his scythes in expectation of a fight. Celestia and Luna immediately focused their hearing, trying to find out what the Nephilim was hearing.

"Hear what?" Luna asked, not being able to hear anything.

"That." Death said, pointing out the balcony, towards the Everfree. The sisters rushed out to see and their blood ran cold. Countless creatures covered in black and green crystals charged towards Canterlot in a dark tide, ignoring all else in their mad dash. Death perched himself on the railing. "I'll meet you on the ground." He said, jumping off and summoning Despair to break his fall. The Princesses stared at each other dumbly for a moment before they turned around and dashed out the door to warn the guards of the coming assault.

Shining Armor sat alone in his office, silently grieving at the loss of his comrades. None of them had ever done anything to deserve being killed so brutally and callously. "I'll make him pay..." He grit his teeth in rage, hearing the door open.

"Captain, we have a situation." Celestia said as she burst into the room. Shining stood at attention, saluting her as Luna followed her in. His grieving would have to wait.

"What is it, Princess?" He asked. The Princesses turned and motioned for him to follow.

"We are being invaded." Luna said as they proceeded to the balcony. Before Shining could ask what they meant, they motioned him to look out to the fields facing Canterlot. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the massive horde of demons charging towards Canterlot. He needed no words.

"I'll assemble what I can." He said, galloping off. The Princesses flew off towards the horde, prepared to use everything at their disposal to neutralize this threat. When they were above the horde, they were amazed to see Death holding them at bay by himself. Even from above, his movements held grace and fluidity, making the act of murder seem almost like an art. Celestia nodded to Luna and began charging energy into her horn, pointing it at Death.

Death galloped off quickly, intent on reaching the horde before they reached the city. If the city fell, no one would be able to help him get out of Equestria. He dashed through the open gate, watching the horde advance quickly towards the city. He moved to intercept, standing between them and the city. "Can't let them reach the city." He told himself as he prepared his scythes, the horde's focus suddenly shifting to him. He stood unwaveringly as he awaited them, noting their appearance. Hulking beasts towered over their smaller and nimbler brethren, all of them striding towards Death in the hopes of killing the Pale Horseman. Gholens and Traumas supporting the comparatively smaller Minions and Stalkers. "The Legions of Hell?" Death asked himself. Whoever had brought them here must have really wanted him dead.

Soon, the distance between them shortened and he was right in front of them. He charged at them, raising his scythes to strike down his enemies. He brought them down on a pair of Minions, relieving them of their heads as he leaped through the air, decapitating a Stalker with a single stroke. The horde realized that Death was amongst them and they fell upon him in a blood frenzy. Death weaved through the whirlwind of claws and teeth, slashing at any beast that had dared to drop their guard against the Reaper. He was interrupted by a Trauma slamming its claw into the horde, killing many of its companions. Death nimbly dodged the massive blow and he was quick to retaliate. He sheathed his scythes and summoned a massive axe, shearing the beast's claw off with a single savage blow. The Trauma recoiled, roaring in agony and rage as it attempted to crush Death with its other claw. Death merely stepped back, lodging the claw in the ground. He jumped onto the claw and ran to the beast's neck. He connected his scythes and positioned the blade underneath its neck. He forcefully pulled back, decapitating the creature as he jumped backwards, burying his scythes in a Gholen, quickly tearing them out of its chest and shearing off its magma-like hands.

Death moved to dispatch the rest of the beasts, when a fireball exploded in the crowd, killing many minions and staggering the larger creatures. Death looked back for a moment to see Celestia and Luna flying down to assist him, a line of crossbow-wielding Royal Guards preparing a volley of bolts. He grunted as he moved to dispatch another Trauma. He summoned a hammer, bringing the shaft to his shoulder and swinging downwards, a loud crack echoing as he brought the hammer crashing down on its head, pulping the beast's skull. He swung the hammer to his right, the momentum of the strike carrying him slightly as the hammer impacted with a Minion, turning it into so much red mist. The hammer disappeared to be replaced by his scythes. A volley of crossbow bolts flew over his head, striking a wave of Minions, only killing a few. Another fireball exploded to his right, killing another score of demons. Death connected his scythes and threw his gestalt weapon forward, the blades spinning rapidly as it chewed through the rapidly thinning horde of demons. The blades shredded the bodies of the demons with no effort, their unnatural edges never dulling. The scythes returned to him and he spied only a single limping Stalker trying to get away from him. He drew Redemption and fired at the beast, the bullet pulping its brain as it fell on its side, dead. Death holstered Redemption as he walked to the Princesses.

"A bit late." He said. Luna stared out onto the field, once a beautiful grassland that rolled gently in the breeze, it had become a blood soaked testament to Death's might. Bodies lay strewn across the bloody flatland, torn apart in Death's dance of destruction. The corpses of demonic beasts lay on the ground, mutilated by Death's scythes. She trailed her gaze to Death's scythes. They were once again bathed in blood, their edges as keen as ever.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?"

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