Chapter 2: Released into the world
Edited by: Chrome Masquerade
Proofread by: StratosStrike13
“Both” The alpha holding her growled out after the new stranger announced its presents.
“Wow, look boss. This pretty little pony seem to be covered in gold and other shiny stuff.” One of his goons pointed out, which Thera wasn’t able to confirm it herself since she was still facing the huge white furred dog holding her.
“I can see that myself, you idiot. Quite the pretty boy as well. It would be a shame if something would happen to that pretty little pony face of his.” The alpha replied as a sinister grin formed on his snout.
“What… what is happening? What are they talking about?” Thera thought in confusion as the other three dogs in front of her suddenly mimicked their boss’s expression as well.
The smallest one of the group suddenly stepped up with his axe firmly held within its paws as he began to hop in place with sinister glee, as if he was excited about something.
“Oi, pretty pony.” The midget mutt called out. “How about you give us all that shiny stuff on you and we might let ya go with just couple bruises and maybe a broken bone or two.” The little mutt continued as he began to swing its axe in front of him to carry out his point.
“I am sorry, but I have absolutely no interest in negotiation with such filthy low-lifes such as you. Plus, you four are standing in my way anyway. So I suggest that you leave peacefully before I am forced to end your miserable and worthless lives.” The mysterious newcomer replied calmly, which was quickly met with laughter from all four dogs.
“Did you hear that boss? The pretty little pony wanna act tough around us.” Again the dumbest sounding one announced after his hysteric laughter had died down.
“You’re right, for once. This pony here seems to be not quite normal in the head, I mean, for a stallion to look more like a mare I wouldn’t be surprised if he is crazy.” The alpha laughed before his expression turned back into a frown.
“Plus he is suicidal as well, thinking that he could take us on and insult us.” The lead dog added with a growl.
Before Thera could properly register the events that seems to be happening around her she was suddenly dropped flank-first onto the ground with a loud thud as she fell over on her side facing the direction all the dogs were looking in.
She shook her head to get rid of her disorientation. Once more before she opened her eyes to see the stranger -and possibly savior- for the first time, and what she saw completely surprised her.
Right in front of her was, facing of these diamond dogs all by himself, was a unicorn pony clad in very strange, but otherwise golden looking armor, with purple, black and white robes clearly visible underneath in some areas. The unicorn had a very pale yellow face that looked more like a mare rather than a stallion, with a shimmering golden -but also messy looking- mane with two long strands running down beside his head, where the blonde color slowly faded into purple towards the tips.
His horn was long, like super long for a unicorn and incredibly sharp as well. Looking harder, he even had a set of two golden-looking horns spreading horizontally from has head on both sides, with a small depiction of a serpent poking out from the center of his mane, facing toward his horn. He also wore a very deep purple cape covering his entire back with fin like shapes protruding outward from his shoulders. She can even see the telltale outlines of what looked like a complete golden dragon’s head right on his back above the cap, probably part of his armor as well, if she had to guess.
But the strangest thing -or rather, item- was was lazily levitating right next to the… stallion. It was a strange looking gold and silver staff that had a claw like base that formed a cone like shape towards the tip, while in the middle of the staff were two extending blades, formed like an equestrian letter M, and on the very top, placed on a very narrow looking silver support was a very large looking red pearl with a depiction of a dragon slithering around it.
Oh and he also had a very, very long blond looking tail curled on the ground behind him as well. The longest tail she had ever seen on a pony
Saying that she felt intrigued by this new pony was an understatement. Beside his… unique and very royal like looking looks, she could also tell that this new pony had a very noticeable air of intimidation and dominance surrounding him. For some reason this unicorn was radiating a sense of sheer supremacy and power from him, a feeling that both interested and somewhat scared her at the same time.
“Who is he and where did he come from?” She thought as she continued to carefully stare at the newcomer before she noticed that all of the dog's attention was focused completely toward the newcomer and not her.
A chance she would be damned not to capitalize on as she took this momentary freedom to try and wiggle or break her way out of her ropes. Starting with the annoying gag in her mouth. Which… kind of made her feel a bit… dirty.
Shaking her head to get these… thoughts out of her system she immediately started to chew down onto the thick layers of cloth in her mouth with her razor sharp fangs.
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“A pony huh? So that’s what my species is called.” The fallen Emperor thought as he watched his filthy adversaries slowly forming a semicircle in front of him with their crude weapons held firmly in their paws in front of them as there chuckled sinisterly at one another.
Mateus was really not surprised with the idea that these dog like creatures were somehow capable of talking, let alone in his own language as well.
I mean, really, he had died twice already, seen hell itself, got his soul split in two only for it to re-emerge in a new form before he finally awakened again in a new body and possibly in a new world as well. Really, at this point nothing should be able to surprise him any more. He has as most commoners would say ‘Seen some shit’.
So talking bipedal dogs that smell just as bad as they look? Yeah, not even close. Try again.
Despite the obvious numerical and physical advantages that his opponents had, the emperor felt absolutely calm and collected, simply sporting a neutral, disinterested look with only one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity at just how badly and predictably they attack are going to be towards him.
That thought was quickly answered for him as one of the axe wielding dogs was the first one to charge him with a really loud and annoying sounding battle cry. The mutt was rearing up for an overhead strike so painfully predictable and overdramatic that it almost made the emperor roll his eyes at the foolishness of this… well, fool.
Mateus casually sidestepped to avoid the downward swing of the axe as the blade harmlessly crashed on the rocky ground, basically jamming itself into the earth in the process as well, which now left the slightly-over-pony-sized mutt completely open.
The dog beside him tried desperately to pull its old, rusty and dull looking axe out of the ground, with obviously little success.
The Emperor couldn’t believe his eyes at just how ridiculously dumb and pathetic this is. Not even goblins back in his world were as hopelessly clumsy and downright stupid as this… failure of evolution.
The emperor wasn’t even sure if he should actually laugh at this or facepalm… or facehoof, in his current case.
He was about to just end this sorry excuse of a raider’s life with his staff, when he was promptly interrupted by the leader of this circus gang suddenly calling him over with great annoyance and anger in his tone.
“Mutts! What the heck are you doing?! Get back here, you cur, before I have your tail for it.” The leader shouted with a growl, which immediately ceased the dog’s effort to pull his crude weapon out.
“Yes boss, sorry boss.” The oversized dog replied before quickly running back towards the other ruffians.
“This dog’s name is Mutts? Huh, how fitting.”
“Because I think it will be more fun if we all clobber this pretty little pony all at the same time.” The leader announced, with a dangerous smirk. Which, of course, was mimicked by his dogs as well as they all readied their crude weapons.
“But boss, my axe is stuck beside golden pretty pony!” Mutts whined which was completely ignored.
All four dogs slowly started to advance on the Emperor all at once. Mateus simply stood there, unintimidated and unfazed by their obviously dangerous intentions as they all slowly advanced upon him in a semi-circle.
The leader began to chuckle as the gap slowly closed in between them.
“Look at this boys, the little pretty pony is scared stiff. This will be the easiest catch we ever had.” The lead alpha chuckled which was followed by the others.
“Remember, I get this pretty pony’s staff thingy and his pretty looking cape as well. You boys can have the rest for all I care.” The alpha announced with a smirk as they continued to slow and menacing advance to him.
“Ooh, then I want those golden looking horns on his head and those pearls on it's pretty mane.”
“I call dibs on golden chest plate then.”
“Hey, no! I wanted that.”
“These fools are even more oblivious than I imagined.” The emperor thought with a mental smirk as he casually watched these for dogs slowly encircling him.
Despite his serious looking situation his attention was curiously switched over to that other pony on the other side of the cave that was left behind besides the sacks of loot, and by the looks of it she seems to be still struggling to get out of its bonds, though to her credit she did managed to get her mouth free from its bindings, so that was a thing.
Mateus mentally shook his head, as he quickly refocused his attention back to the four bipedal dogs that were now surrounding him. The small one somehow having retrieved its oversized axe when his attention was diverted.
The leader again began to chuckle. He was slowly approaching him with his sword lifted back from a strike.
“Any last words, pretty little pony, before we clobber you to a pulp and take all of your fancy shiny stuff for ourselves?” The lead dog more announced than asked, as he was about ready to finally swing his sword down onto its next victim.
The Emperor simply smirked up at him, an action that greatly confused the lead alpha for few seconds with a raised eyebrow.
“My, my, your way of attack is just as painfully predictable and amateurish as that little rat of yours. And you call yourself their leader? Actually makes a lot of sense now, when I think about it.” The emperor replied cockily, which had the immediate results of turning the lead dog’s smirk upside down.
The lead dog glared and snarled angrily at him. He was about ready to end this little golden pony’s life, when he suddenly found out that he was unable to move. His body stiff and rigid and unresponsive for some odd reason as his eyes started to dart around the place in confusion.
Same for his three goons, as they all shared similar reactions of both confusion and shock with his boss as they tried their best to get there bodies to respond to whatever order they're desperately trying to give it. Panic and fear was slowly seeping in with in there small canine brains.
The Emperor simply chuckled at this amusing display when all of the sudden and out of nowhere the ground underneath them suddenly lit up with a blue, ominous glow as a large rune quickly materialized from it.
The blue shining rune had many moving lines and text moving in sync with one another in circular movements. The center of the rune shining the brightest as small sparks of electricity were shot out of it.
“What… what is this?! What have you done, you filthy pony? What sorcery is this?” The lead dog in front of him demanded which caused the Emperor smirk even more.
He didn’t bother to answer this question as he casually trotted past them and out of the magical rune’s area of influence. Leaving behind four trapped and frozen dogs in one the many magical trap spells he had in his mental library.
“Why bother telling you if you won’t live long enough to capitalize on the information?” Mateus replied while looking casually over his shoulder.
He refocused his attention back in front of him as the entire cavern was suddenly bathed in bright blue flashes as the cracking sound of electricity and the agonizing howls of dying dogs echoed through the crystallized walls.
“Good to know that I at least have enough magic in me to create a simple trap spell. Otherwise I would have been forced to use more… barbaric methods of getting rid of these fools.” He thought to himself as the flashes and screams continued on behind him while he casually continued his way towards the exit on the other side of the cave chamber.
“Hey, wai… wait!” A voice suddenly called out, female in tone, as the screams and light eventually died down.
Mateus stopped and turned his head to the source of the voice. There, right next to him, still laying on the ground, bound and helpless was the pony that these dogs almost killed before he intervened.
He simply raised an eyebrow at her while she looked up to him with a pleading look in her eyes. It obviously seemed that, despite being absolutely horrendous in fighting, the dogs seemed to have a pretty good talent in binding things and locking it with rather robust-looking knots, too. Something he honestly wouldn’t have never trusted them to possess judging by their previous performance and overall stupid attitude.
Looking back at the… mare? In front of him he began to mentally debate if he should actually help her with her burden or if he should just leave her be and go on alone.
Normally, though, back in his old world he would have absolutely no second thoughts of bothering himself to even help an individual that would have absolutely no use to him whatsoever.
But the problem is… he wasn’t. His former mistakes and failures, not to mention his deaths as well, had left his otherwise proud, power hungry, and self centered mind questioning some of his morals and the acts he’d committed and the methods he’d used in the past. Even more so when memories of that accursed Firion and his rebel gang come to mind. How he had constantly out played them, how he was always one step ahead of them, and how he had used his magic to make all of their lives and resolves a living hell to go through, and despite of all of his careful planning, flawless strategies, and the chaos he caused with his magic he still somehow failed and fell into the hands of the blasted boy and his so called friends! Not once, but TWICE! THREE TIMES if you count his lighter half also falling by the hands of that blasted court mage Minwu and the other three pests that once were loyal travelers with Firion and his friends.
How? How was it possible, even after all the strings he’d pulled, after all the walls he had erected in front of them they still somehow managed to end his perfectly laid out plans of world conquest and drown it with his own blood.
Was there something he was missing? Were loyalty and hope really the only driving forces behind all of it? Is it really more effective than the wish of total dominance and control? Was Firion's source of strength really coming from his friends and his will to protect those he loves? No matter what the cost?
He didn’t know. And to be honest it was confusing the ever-living hell out of him. HE, the normally highly versed, intelligent, cunning and strategic master mind/Emperor confused and completely lost on something. What in Hell’s and Heaven’s names had happened to him? Why does his mind feel so conflicted and torn about it?
The Emperor shook his head to clear his conflicted and confused mind. He looked back down to the pony mare next to him to study her in greater detail.
For one, she was a pony (at least that’s what the dogs called her), similar in look and structure in comparison with him. Though he was a bit taller than her when he compared the lengths of his hind legs to hers. The other obvious difference to him was that instead of a horn like he had, she had what seemed to be bat wings on her back. Her fur color was mostly a really dark blue. She had long, teal hair with violet highlights, likewise with her tail. Another feature she had that was again different to his; where she had fangs sticking out of her mouth, nocturnal type eyes and fluffy ears.
“What was it that these mutts called her again? A Bat-horse? I would imagine it to be more like Bat-pony than horse, since that’s what I am, apparently.” Mateus thought as he continued to look at the still burdened mare still looking for some help for him.
The Emperor mentally sighed as he finally made a decision. For once he had absolutely no reason other than maybe spite to just leave her tied up like this. He hated to admit it, but he would be damned to walk this new and unfamiliar world alone without a local guide to tell him more about this place while also having someone to momentarily guard his back, for his magic wasn’t fully restored yet, or so he hoped. Besides having displayed her courage towards her captors and having shown determination when trying to free herself from her bonds, he still had no idea how her fighting capabilities were. IF she could even fight in the first place.
With another (this time outward) sight, he mentally moved the tip of his staff to meet the knots of her ropes, and with a quick, small fire spell the knots immediately disintegrated, freeing the previously trapped mare from her burden.
She immediately pushed the reminding ropes off of herself and shakily got back up on all fours. Now that the ropes were gone and she was now standing tall, almost to his own height, he could finally make out some cuts and bruises around her torso and front legs that were previously hidden before, but didn’t look too serious. That and she was obviously still breathing and standing, though possible infection could also be an issue here. Though if it was he could just simply cast an esuna spell if it ever came to that.
Yes, he was actually ready to help her with her injuries, before he was again reminded that his magic was currently limited.
Seriously, his old self would have not given a damn about this unless the person in question was of any importance to him.
Dying twice and getting your soul split and put back together can really mess with a person’s mindset, apparently.
But it didn’t matter.
With those troubling thoughts out of his system, Mateus decided that getting out of this bloody cave and taking his first steps into a new a fresh world full of new possibilities and power was his first priority of the day as he turned back toward the exit and made his way for it.
He would be if the mare he hadn’t just freed earlier didn’t call out for his attention first.
“Wait a minute, I had allot of stuff with me before these Diamond dogs ambushed and captured me. Let me just quickly check if some of them -or hopefully all of them- are in one of their sacks. Just give me a few more minutes to check them first, then we can go.” The Bat pony mare announced with a hopeful tone in her voice as she quickly began rummaging through the loot sacks of the now-crispy dead diamond dogs.
He really fought the urge to groan out loud in annoyance from this added time waster to him.
“Oh well… a few more minutes of waiting hasn’t really killed anybody yet, now has it?” The emperor mentally asked himself as he simply decided to humor her further and wait patiently, close to the exit of the cave, for her to retrieve her missing belongings.
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“Where is it, where is it, where is it?! Where is my father sword?” Thera mentally asked herself as she tried frantically search for her father’s heirloom within the burned corpses of her captors.
“Ah thank the gods, here it is and it seems to be completely untouched from whatever magical attack that unicorn used on them.” She announced with a sigh of relief as she finally found her father’s blade, slightly sticking out from under the alpha's body.
Pulling it to freedom proved itself effortless with her teeth, its silver-like blade gleaming welcomingly on her eyes, as she soon found herself reunited with the most prized possession of her collection of items she had already found in one of the loot sacks.
Shoving the blade back into its scabbard and strapping it back onto her torso with the added belt that it had, she sighed in satisfaction. Everything is finally back in her possession and placed where it belonged.
She was still somewhat shocked by the magical ability the unicorn waiting for her by the exit displayed earlier. Even more when it seemed like no real effort for him whatsoever.
“All of these dogs, dead with just one simple move on his part, while looking calm and completely in control of the situation, no sense of urgency or fear whatsoever. Impressive.” She thought to herself as she switched her gaze from the burned alpha to the unicorn responsible for the former, waiting for her in the distance.
For some reason she felt terrified of him, which is saying something because usually there really isn’t a lot in this world that could legitimately scare or intimidate her. One of those exceptions being her mom. But for some reason this pony waiting for her just had this air or…supremacy and power around him no matter how she turned her head to it. Which was both very intriguing and fearful for her. She didn’t know who he was, where he came from, and why he looked like some kind of king or something (maybe he was, who knows), but one thing about him is something she can 100% agree with. This pony is really something else.
“You really are thinking too deep into this Thera. I mean, really, if this pony might be some sort of super powerful villain or something like that then why would he go to the trouble of saving you and even helping you get free from those damn ropes. Well… to be honest he did seem a bit… hesitant back there about my rope problems. But really, if he wanted to he could have just easily killed you as well and simply trotted off out of the cave without a second thought in his mind, but he didn’t. So really, how bad could he be?” Thera mentally debated to herself, trying to convince herself that this stranger waiting for her was friendly… well, to her at least.
Shaking her head, she quickly decided to simply suck it up, before she swiftly made her way back to the unicorn stallion waiting for her at the exit.
She eventually reached him and gave him a nod, signaling the unicorn that she was ready to depart. He answered her with a sideways glance towards the exit before the two finally made their way out of the caverns together into the free and open world outside.