//------------------------------// // Old Memories // Story: Retired to Equestria // by Yet Another Mask //------------------------------// The castle was empty, of course. He hadn’t really expected the looters to have left much of anything behind. But he wasn’t looking for anything physical. He was looking for things that others would have ignored. He had started his search at the bottom of the castle, in the deepest of dungeons. To his surprise they were almost completely free of residual magic. Such a feat meant either very little magic had been expended here or Damien had been exceptionally fastidious in the use of his power. His search continued up through ruined halls and empty treasuries. That made him grin, the few stories he had heard said that the first looters had entered the castle only to find that the fabled centuries of accumulated wealth were non-existent. Just more proof that the monster had managed to escape. He almost thought his search was in vain until he came to the top of the tower. It was here that he finally felt the stirrings of long spent magic. A smile crept across his face as he knelt to inspect the deep grooves that scored the surface of the floor. Tiny flakes of long dried blood sprung into the air as he ran a finger through the grooves. “Blood magic,” he whispered to himself. It was typical of Damien really. His fist clenched in rage as he wondered how many people the monster had killed to get enough blood to completely fill this spell pattern. Luckily he was not quite so powerless as the blasphemer was. His eyes clouded over as he pulled the old spell’s remnants into focus. He could see the faded residue of a teleportation spell, a powerful one at that, and something else. What little he could pull from the dead spell made it look like it had to do with wards… Perhaps it was one of his famous defenses, something to keep himself safe when he teleported. A smile flitted across his face as he called upon the powers that had been bestowed on him so long ago. Powers granted by a vengeful god to a vengeful man. The light in his eyes flashed as he slammed his hand into the ground over one of the grooves. The same piercing blue light in his eyes quickly enveloped his hand and expanded outwards to fill the grooves, quickly bathing the room with a n ethereal blue light. “It isn’t enough,” he muttered as the spell refused to form. “What’s missing?” He slammed his other hand onto the spell form and poured more power into it. He would track down Damien. He would manage to stop the monster. He would get revenge for his family and for the god that had given him the means to his desired end. He was too preoccupied with the spell to catch the small scrying mirror that fell from his coat pocket. To busy wrestling with power enough to destroy the castle and everything in it to stop it from rolling to the center of the spell form, somehow managing to skip over the grooves in the ground. Too distracted to see a faint image of a colorful town appear in its depths before it fell and shattered on the ground. Just as he started to curse the loss of such a useful object he felt the power in the room sweep up around the broken object as a sound akin to tearing fabric filled the air. There was an explosion of light and sound that made him avert his eyes in pain and surprise. When he was able to turn back to the scene of the explosion he found himself staring at a tear in reality, a scar on existence forced open once more. “So that’s it,” he murmured as he inspected the tear. There have always been stories of other worlds beyond ours. Places no one can reach by ship or by steed. But you… you found the way! You found it and used it to escape!” A mad grin split his features as he strode towards the tear. “I’m coming for you Damien.” Without another word he stepped into the tear and vanished. Once more free of inhabitents silence reclaimed its vice grip on the castle tower, only to be shattered minutes later as an echoing voice split the air, “I’m surprised you helped him.” “I do have to keep Damien on his toes. Can’t let him get too comfortable,” came another voice as a tall brown haired woman suddenly appeared in the room. A smile crossed her face as she ran a hand down the edge of the portal. “He never visits or writes, it’s enough to drive a girl to frustration,” she said with a laugh. “The others were hoping that with his disappearance you might go back to your old self,” the voice replied tiredly. “I doubt I’ll ever be quite the same as I was before. Mortals change us and shape us. Look at what has happened to our dear brother Hunt since he had that girl of his join his wild hunt! We will be feeling the effects of Damien’s meddling for millennia to come. Sending one of your little pets after him isn’t going to change that.” “He is the one that desired to find Damien; I merely helped him with what he desired.” “And do you really think he can kill Damien?” “Perhaps, perhaps not.” The voice suddenly gained a slight touch of laughter. “At the very least it will let him know that we are still thinking of him, even now.” <=[XXXXX]=> “And I say that there is no way those things cost more than sixty bits! Let alone eighty three!” Damien declared angrily as he jabbed a talon at the offending items. “And I say that these are the finest writing utensils in Canterlot and these ones are particularly well made! I won’t go any lower than eighty for the set!” the salescolt replied vehemently. “The set? I don’t want the ink! I can make that on my own! I just want those pens! Sixty two bits!” “I only sell these as a set! What am I going to do with all these extra ink cartridges?” “Ink cartridges?” Damien asked as he eyed the indicated items suspiciously. “Hm? Yes, they store extra ink.” The cartridge and one of the pens floated into the air. “You just pull out the old one and insert the new one.” A similar cartridge floated out of the pen and the other one took its place. “Interesting. How easily can you replace the ink inside the cartridges?” The salescolt smiled. “I do have a special cartridge refilling tool. Get the entire set at seventy eight bits and you can have the refiller for free,” he said smugly. “And how much would the refilling tool cost normally?” Damien asked, a sly gleam in his eyes. “Twenty bits,” the stallion declared proudly. "It's a very nice deal actually." “Then I’ll take the set sans the refiller for fifty eight bits.” “W-what?” “You said seventy eight bits with a twenty bit gift. So the set must not be worth more than fifty eight bits,” he explained. “If you want I’ll even go up to sixty bits.” “Well I-” The stallion groaned in defeat. "Sixty five bits," he finally growled. “Excellent! Here you go,” Damien replied as he placed his coins on the stand’s counter and picked up his purchase while the salescolt hung his head in defeat. “Damien!” Damien turned around in confusion. “That would be me,” he said jovially as he wracked his mind in an attempt to place the voice. “So it really is you. Heh, a fitting form for one such as yourself,” a dark blue unicorn said acidly. His icy blue mane and tail were strangely short for a pony but the strangest aspect of him was his lack of a cutie mark. “I suppose you’re wondering who I-” Before the stallion managed to make it half-way through the sentence Damien had spread his wings and shot into the air, tearing down the road away from the stallion. To his credit it took the stallion only a fraction of a second to comprehend Damien’s flight and charge down the streets after him. A brilliant blue glow quickly enveloped his horn as he sent waves of blue fire streaking after his quarry. Damien clacked his beak in annoyance as he reached into his pouch and produced a handful of dust, flinging it into the path of the fireballs. As each fireball hit the dust it was snuffed out, the strained look on Damien’s face relaxing infinitesimally with as each fireball winked out. Only for bolt of panic to shoot through him as the last fireball streamed past the dust and slammed into his back. He was sent sprawling along the ground, a burning ache spreading through his body. He pushed past the pain and managed to get back to his feet as the unicorn caught up with him. “You can’t escape me Damien! You will be brought to justice!” the stallion cried. “Empty threats of an empty ideal!” Damien spat as he held up a talon and began to chant. Before he could get more than a few syllables in the unicorn struck out with a blast of kinetic energy that threw the griffon well over a dozen yards along the ground. Rolling with the motion Damien managed to spring back into the air and shoot over a nearby house. The unicorn cursed and a glow spread from his horn to his hooves. With a mighty roar he leapt over the intervening building, only to be struck in the face by a clenched talon as soon as he crested the house. “Idiot,” Damien muttered as he sped off towards his destination. Despite the punch to the face and bouncing along the ground for several yards the unicorn managed to get back up with remarkable speed. “Damien!” he screamed as his horn and hooves glowed with power once more. With an impressive burst of speed the stallion galloped down the street after Damien, screaming in rage. He was so caught up in the chase and his goal that when he finally reached Damien he didn’t notice that the panic the griffon had shown earlier was gone. Didn’t see that his enemy was standing calmly and collected, if a little worse for wear, in front of a small house as though he had every advantage in the world. As such he was caught almost completely off guard when a fist of rock fell from the sky and nearly crushed him the moment he crossed the property line. “No…” he muttered in disbelief, his gaze snapping to the house in front of him and back down to the griffon standing so confidently in front of it. “Yes,” Damien replied with a grin as he reared back on his hind legs, his foreclaws twisting into strange gestures. The unicorn leapt backwards just in time to escape a spire of earth impaling him but was struck across the back by the thorn covered branch of a nearby bush. He didn’t even stop to take stock of his surroundings, instead opting to roll to the side as soon as he landed, narrowly avoiding an arc of fire that scorched his landing zone. In a wild bid at freedom and the relative safety of the nearby street his horn pulsed with energy and threw a thick barrier around his body as he charged away from the house. He was almost there when the grass beneath his hooves reached out and wrapped around his legs, sending him toppling to the ground mere inches from freedom. Despite his best efforts to move forward he felt himself being pulled inexorably backwards until he was lying at the feet of his hated enemy. “Now then, what should I do with you my little hero?” Damien asked with a sadistic grin. “I suppose I should have tried living in a regular house before now. You were probably expecting some sort of doom and gloom keep or tower or something. Didn’t even cross your mind that my fortress would be a simple house like this huh?” “You won’t get away with this Damien!” the stallion shouted defiantly, his eyes full of hatred. “I will make sure that the inhabitants of this world learn what you are! I will make sure that you are brought to justice for your crimes!” “Oh but I won’t be!” Damien crowed ecstatically as he reached into his satchel and pulled out a thick book. Grinning in glee he began flipping through it muttering under his breath. “Here we are!” he exclaimed with glee as he placed a claw on the relevant passage. “In the instance of the changeling Black Husk and his crimes against the Changeling Collective, Princess Celestia saw fit to deny Queen Chrysalis’s request that she turn Husk over to her on the grounds that Equestria had nullified their extradition agreement with the Collective in 876 AB and without such a treaty they had no obligation to turn the criminal over to her care. Furthermore due to lack of criminal offences against the Equestrian people he was permitted to take up residence in Manhattan where he went on to become a successful actor until his death in 925 AB,” he finished with a smile. The unicorn looked at him blankly. The minutes passed and the silence grew as Damien kept motioning for the stallion to respond. With a sigh he finally gave in and asked the question that was plaguing his mind. “And what does all that mean?” “It means that unless I commit a crime here in Equestria, which I haven’t, then I am treated the same as any other citizen. Furthermore the princesses are not legally obligated to turn me over to any foreign entity that they do not have an extradition treaty with, i.e. every single nation from our home. Furthermore since I am a law abiding citizen here and you’re the crazy outsider in this circumstance I could likely press charges for assault, attempted murder, and trespassing!” he ended triumphantly as he slammed the book closed with a grin. The stallion could only stare in disbelief at the ex-overlord’s words. “You claim innocence? You?!” “Innocence? Gates no! You probably have every reason in the world to kill me in the most horrible way you can think of. I may not agree with your reasons but you would have them. What I am is within the bounds of the law. Therefore even though I am not innocent I am on the good guy’s side where as you, an outsider that attacked a member of the town, are on the bad guy’s side. All rather simple really,” he declared with a grin. His grin froze for a moment as a new thought occurred to him. “I have no idea who you are. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to do one of those grandiose introductions you heroes love so much would you? I’ll even let you free so you can do all the dramatic poses you want~,” he half-sang. The stallion glared at him but nodded brusquely. “Very well, I accept.” As soon as the grass binding his legs loosened enough he leapt beyond Damien’s property line and his horn glowed with a blinding light as he reared onto his hind legs. “I am Gallus Blueflame! Last living descendant of the rightful kings of Holdshire and disciple of Arkus, god of magic! I am here to destroy you for your transgressions against my family and my god! What have you to say in your defense?” At his last words he slammed his hooves into the ground, sending a deafening shockwave throughout the town. Damien’s beak moved silently up and down as he tried to find the right thing to say to the unicorn’s outburst. “Holdshire? And Arkus?” he finally asked, disbelief plain in his face. “I relinquished my control of Holdshire over four hundred years ago! Martin and I even drove off Aldred when he started becoming a tyrant there, long story, if your family really wanted it so bad why didn’t you take it then?!” Gallus looked startled at Damien’s words but rallied himself valiantly. “We were still weakened from what you had done when you took the castle in the first place. We were in no position to reclaim what was ours.” “You had over a century to build up power! If your family wasn’t able to scrounge up enough strength over the course of a hundred years to take a leaderless castle from a bunch of uncaring peasants you don’t deserve it!” He shook his head in stunned silence before continuing his tirade. “And Arkus? He got his eye back when I retired the first time, if he wanted revenge he should have gone after me then! Why wait until now!?” Damien cried before segueing into a long muttered tirade about gods and their inconsistent attitudes. Gallus was silent for a moment, unsure with how to defend the god that had given him the power to find his vengeance. Instead he opted to forget the whole thing and prepared another spell, his horn glowing and crackling with powerful arcane energy. “Oh don’t bother with that, you can’t touch me so long as I’m on my property,” Damien said with a dismissive wave. “Besides, with all the ruckus you’ve caused I think somepony will be wanting to have a word with you very soon.” “Silence!” Gallus shouted as a massive lion made of fire sprung from his horn and bounded towards Damien. Damien merely gave the construct a flat look and tapped out a quick pattern onto a nearby cobblestone. There was a crack of rhunder and a small storm cloud suddenly appeared over the lion. The construct looked up but was unable to move out of the way before the downpour began, quickly covering the yard, and only the yard, with steam. “Wouldn’t want the neighbors to get scalded would we?” Damien called out from the obscuring cloud. When the steam cleared the construct had been reduced in size to something more resembling a particularly angry kitten than a lion. Gallus looked on, slightly embarrassed and not sure what to do with it as it began to stumble back towards him mewling pitifully. In the end he settled for reaching out and petting it with a tentative hoof, murmuring soft assurances to it before he dismissed it. “I hope you’re happy! Sapphire is going to be mad at me for months because of this!” he shouted at Damien. Damien frowned slightly in surprise. “You named it Sapphire? Unoriginal but very touching,” he drawled. “I approve!” Before Gallus’s next retort could get beyond the twitching eye stage there was a sharp crack and a burst of light. “What’s going on here!” demanded the newly arrived Twilight Sparkle as she took in the scene before her. When her eyes finally settled on a smiling and waving Damien she groaned. “Twilight! Good to see you, I had a bet going with myself on whether you or one of Luna’s girls would show up for damage control first!” Damien cheerfully greeted her. “This is my new friend/hopeful murderer Gallus Blueflame.”