After Brian and Octavia announced they were together, he was sitting in the library as his girlfriend had some personal things to attend to.
“Spike, Brian; Celestia needs the three of us at the castle,” Twilight said urgently
“How are we getting there,” Spike asked
“She’s sending a carriage and says it’s urgent,” Twilight replied
“Before we go, I’ll let Octavia know,” Brian said quickly writing a letter “Would you mind sending this to her?”
“Of course. Hand it here,” Spike answered, sending it
Once they got to the castle, they were rushed to the throne room where the princesses were waiting.
“Sorry for summoning you on such short notice; but Tirek is coming and you need to leave, Brian. Before we send you to the forest, there is a ritual were need to complete,” Celestia said
“What kind of ritual and why must I leave,” he asked
“Tirek is after power and with you having a Nightmare form, it’s best if you aren’t here,” Luna answered
“And let me guess, if he took Ignis Tirek becomes the Almighty,” Brian asked
“Something like that. We really don’t want to know what could happen if he gets a hold of you. That’s why we are sending you away,” Celestia added
“Spike, hold out a claw,” Celestia said
“Okay, I guess,” Spike said reluctantly
Luna summoned a blade and used it to cut into Spike’s hand, drawing blood as the cut sealed automatically.
“Princess Luna why,” Twilight started but Celestia held up a hoof to silence her
“Brian, open your mouth and stick out your tongue,” Luna directed
He did what he was told and felt a few drops of blood hit his tongue which caused him to swallow instinctively.
“The ritual is complete,” Celestia said
“What was that about that you needed to give Brian dragon blood,” Twilight demanded
“To temporarily give him the power of a dragon. Mainly it will allow you to receive a single message saying the threat has been removed,” Celestia explained
“Twilight; kick that jerk’s ass,” he said
“Uh, yeah. I’ll try,” Twilight answered hesitantly
“Do or do not. There is no try,” Brian responded simply
“Huh,” Twilight asked
“Movie quote.”
“Oh.”
“Before you leave; there is something else,” a voice said as Discord appeared “In order to keep you entertained; here's a radio for you. It'll play anything you can think of.”
“Anything?”
“Test it out if you don't believe me,” Discord countered
Looking at the boom box that was summoned; Brian took a second to think before a song came out
https://m.“Really? Out of everything you could think of, you chose THAT,” Discord chastised “For shame.”
“I wanted to think of something annoying. Perhaps this would be better?”
https://m.
“SHUT THIS ANNOYING THING OFF,” Celestia yelled, before shooting a fire blast at it
“Oops. I forgot to mention something,” Discord said casually, as the smoke dissipated “It's indestructible.”
Celestia opened the portal to the Everfree Forest and Brian walked inside. Looking around, he found it was the same spot he landed in originally.
‘Thanks for the survival training, old man,’ he thought
“Well, first and foremost I need shelter,” he said out loud
Brian knew some of the area but decided to look for shelter before anything else. He found a cave and created a makeshift torch to examine the interior in the hopes of not finding unwanted visitors or residents.
“Olly, Olly, oxen bitch,” he called into the cave
Seeing the cave was empty, he set the radio down and went about creating a fire pit inside before venturing out in search of food. About a week later he was startled when he suddenly belched and a green flame appeared along with a message from Celestia.
“What the hell? Oh, a message.”
Tirek has been defeated. You can return to Ponyville
Once he cleaned up the mess he made and attempted to remove any trace of him in the area, Brian jumped in the river to clean up and headed out seeing six familiar faces waiting for him.
“Hiya, hiya! How’s it going,” Brian asked with a childishly high voice akin to Lord Death from Soul Eater
“Let’s head to the castle. There’s some things that need to be discussed,” Twilight said
Brian found out that along with the girls meeting him at the forest, Celestia sent a carriage to bring them to the castle. Once they walked to the throne room; Celestia waved the guards out so they could talk in private.
“First things first,” Twilight started “Notice anything different about me?”
Brian took a couple steps to both sides before giving an answer.
“You apparently now have wings.”
“During the fight with Tirek; our Twilight experienced a surge of magic that transformed her and allowed us to banish him to Tartarus,” Rarity explained
“We defeated Tirek, but he said ‘she is coming’ before leaving. Do you have any idea as to whom Tirek was referring to,” Twilight asked
“Yes. Her name is Lucy. She is the same age as I am and as a foal she got into learning forbidden magic. Lucy would kill rabbits and other small creatures to resurrect them,” Celestia explained
“You mean she’s a necromancer,” Twilight asked causing Celestia to nod
“Buck me,” Rainbow Dash said
“Fuck me sideways,” Brian added to which everyone had looked at him oddly. “What? It’s a favorite movie quote.”
“Anyways, after I became an alicorn and long before I banished Luna, I had banished Lucy to Tartarus along with Tirek where they now escaped,” Celestia continued
“According to Tirek, the two of them had been out for at least a decade where they went their separate ways,” Rarity added
“While you were fighting Tirek, we received a message with a simple statement ‘I’m coming’ written on it along with a copy of Brian’s interview with his image crossed out,” Luna said, passing it to him
“Well, ain’t that just fucking peachy!? I happen to have an enemy that just so happens to be some ancient unicorn! If she wants me, I'll be the one to fight her,” Brian replied sarcastically
“Why you? We have the Elements of Harmony,” Applejack asked
“No offense, but this is one time where they aren't going to help. Yeah, normally you could purify whomever you are fighting or attempt to banish Lucy a second time, but it’s not going to work this time. She managed to escape Hell,” Brian started
“Tartarus,” Twilight corrected
“Hell, once,” he continued “and she can do it again. I'll send her back on a one-way trip,” Brian said angrily balling up a hoof
“We don’t kill others,” Celestia warned
“You don’t, but I do. Remember, I’m human; first and foremost, so I can and will. Lucy escaped banishment and will return again. The dead can't return and I doubt there are anyone else that can resurrect the dead,” Brian argued
“Seeing as she had a copy of your interview, we can reasonably assume that she’ll figure out some way to attempt to resurrect your parents,” Luna said
“And I’ll destroy anything she summons in order to get to the puppet master,” Brian decided
A black cloaked unicorn, Lucy, whose cutie mark was a pair of crossed scythes blades outward with a skull in front had heard a rumor about a black pony that happened to lose his parents is now living in Ponyville and decided to return and see if the rumor is true.
Having been around before the rise of Celestia as princess caused Lucy to be banished to Tartarus after her use of dark magic to extract the life force of others and resurrect the bodies of those she's killed. She managed to escape the same time Tirek did and found herself wondering around Equestria for quite some time trying to absorb enough energy to regain her powers; before becoming the apprentice of another.
Through the years Lucy had gotten into enough battles that her entire body was covered in scars that caused her to wear the cloak for protection. Her fur still retained its white color although over the years she started to look more and more emaciated becoming almost skin and bone.
Although she lost count on the exact number, Lucy knew she had absorbed the energy of every species in Equestria except alicorns and that was next on her list. Along with absorbing their energy, Lucy was also able to resurrect the fallen and was able to give them back their appearance before they died. Having wandered around the dragon's realm for so long, every dragon knew to stay away from her as there were rumors that over the years she killed hundreds of dragons without remorse. After hearing about the human that entered Equestria Lucy wanted to try her hand at resurrecting human bodies. She figured she'd test him and report back the findings to her master.
About a week later, Lucy arrived in Canterlot and walked through the castle; knocking guards out of the way until she reached the throne room.
"Tia, I'm back! Did you miss me? It was too hot in Tartarus so I left when Tirek did. Hope you don’t mind," Lucy said sarcastically
"IT'S A SHAME ABOUT HAVING TO BANISH YOU, BUT WHEN YOU THREATEN THE BALANCE OF NATURAL LAW TO RESURRECT THE DEAD, YOU MUST BE STOPPED," Celestia roared in the Royal Canterlot voice
"Still using that outdated tone, and I thought thousands of years would change that. By the way, what was that nickname you used to have for me," Lucy asked
"I don't," Celestia stated
"SAY IT," Lucy yelled
"Lucy-fer. That's what we said," Celestia said quietly
"Lucifer; met him down there. Nice guy but I couldn’t stay too long. Things to kill, revenge to be taken," Lucy said casually
"What do you want," demanded Luna
"Luna, didn't notice you standing there. Did you know you carry an air of darkness when you stand there? It's unbecoming of you, threatening others, although unintentional. I however, do not do anything unintentionally. And what I came for is the human whose parents are buried in Ponyville. Bring him to me and everyone else will be spared. Do not, and you can guess what happens," Lucy responded before leaving
“Chrysalis; I'm sorry we have to cut our meeting short,” Celestia said sadly “As you heard; I have business to attend to.”
“Nonsense. I will join you both. Think of this as a temporary respite from negotiations,” Chrysalis replied
The next day, the princesses including Cadence and Shining Armor arrived in Ponyville and arrived at town square with the changeling queen, Chrysalis in tow with Lucy following behind.
“Where is the human that arrived in Equestria? Step forward and I won’t harm anyone else. Of course if you don’t show up I will start destroying this town,” Lucy demanded
“Don't do this,” Octavia whispered to Brian
“And if I don’t more will be hurt,” he whispered back
“Be safe,” she begged
“Oi! Looking for someone,” Brian yelled
“Step forward boy, let me get a better look at you,” Lucy said
Brian knew he didn't have a choice and would be on the losing end no matter what, so he decided to put the town before himself.
“Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lucy. I come from darkness and I'll bring your end of days,” she said taking off her cloak
“You obviously do not know with whom you are fucking with,” Brian answered
“Manners boy. Your name please,” Lucy demanded
“Brian,” he said quietly
“Speak up, I can’t hear you.”
“Discord, could a borrow a megaphone?” ‘POP’ “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!? MY NAME IS BRIAN DRAGNOV,” he yelled into the megaphone
“For your insolence and rudeness, I have someone I want you to meet,” Lucy said resurrecting a dragon
“That's impossible. It's dark magic she’s using to resurrect the dead,” said Twilight
“That's an insult to my kind, using a dragon for your evil purposes," Spike said
"That's cute, the little dragon who could. Run home and save the fighting for someone else," Lucy said sarcastically
Hearing this, Spike charged in to attack the dragon trying to avoid the resurrected dragon's tail while Brian stood there for a moment thinking about what to do.
“Ah, the hell with it. Leeroy Jenkins,” he yelled as he charged in to help Spike
“What is that about that Brian yelled,” Rainbow Dash asked
“Dunno. Must be some kind of human thing,” Applejack answered
Brian used his speed to ram head first into the dragon's chest and managed to knock it over. While on its back, the dragon used a claw to swat Brian away causing him to get sent in a wall.
“Well, that was unimpressive. How’s about this: I’ll give you three days to get your affairs in order: write your will, or whatever you need and we all meet back here after the three days so I can properly destroy you and this town,” Lucy said before teleporting away
“Alright, let’s get ya home, sugar.”
Applejack walked over and picked Brian and stuck him on her back and carried him to his house as Octavia walked him to the couch.
“Are you okay? What are you going to do for three days,” Applejack asked
“Thanks Applejack for carrying me here. I’m alright but really sore. I thought lightning was bad but hitting a wall is worse. And honestly, all I can do is train and have Luna help with Ignis. I don’t want to but desperate times call for desperate measures,” Brian said weakly
“I know something else we could before that,” Octavia said wiggling her hips
“Sounds good to me,” he said as they headed to the room
After they finished having sex Brian wrote the names ‘Harmony Eve’ and ‘Melody Rose’ on a scrap of paper that he gave to Octavia to open it in the off chance she was pregnant.
He kissed Octavia goodbye and flew to the castle as he planned to spend the next three days figuring out some plan to fight a necromancer.
As he landed, Blueblood just happened to be walking by and noticed the exhausted pegasus and used his magic to levitate Brian on his back, having forgotten about getting punched in the nose.
“Aunt Luna, Aunt Celestia, you have a visitor. Brian flew from Ponyville and collapsed on the ground as I was passing by,” Blueblood said setting Brian on the ground
“Thank you Blueblood. Sorry about earlier,” Brian said through breaths
“Don’t mention it,” Blueblood answered
“Let’s get you some refreshments before you explain why you decided to fly all the way here,” Celestia said levitating him to the dining room
He was brought a simple salad and a pitcher of water and devoured everything.
“Thank you for the food. I came here to ask if there was a library with books that might help me survive against a necromancer,” he said
“There is a private library deep in the bowels of the castle. You should find what you are looking for,” Celestia answered
“If you don’t mind me asking, why put a library so far into the castle?”
“The contents of the books are filled with dark magic. Don’t mention anything to Twilight. You can’t study magic without learning about all magic,” she replied
“You can’t learn about the Force without learning the Dark Side. And don’t worry, I won't tell her,” he said
“I don’t understand the reference,” Luna said
“One movie franchise I love, Star Wars, has the idea of the Force and two sides that use it. There can be no balance without learning both sides,” he replied
After he ate, the two princesses led him deep into the castle where they passed the dungeon and still had to deeper where they reached a solid door with a sun and moon ingrained. The princesses inserted their horns into a lock on both sides of the door causing it to swing open. Amongst all the books, he saw two sets of armor with their swords positioned next to them.
“Nice suits of armor,” he complimented
“Thank you. These are from thousands of years ago when we were warriors,” Luna answered
“We will have Shining Armor outside so no one else enters. Dinner will be brought down here so as not disturb your studies,” Celestia said as she turned to leave with her sister
“Thank you again for allowing me to be here,” he said
♢LUCY♢
“It is done; master,” she said
“Well? What of your subject,” the voice asked
“He is pathetic. Let me have a chance to properly destroy him.”
“We'll see. What did you give him?”
“Three days. After that; I'll kill him.”
“Patience; my apprentice.”
●BRIAN●
Once the princesses left, Brian started looking through the covers to find items of interest.
“Let’s see ‘Nightmares’? Hello, dark magic,” Brian said withdrawing an unmarked black book
Skimming over the book on Nightmares didn’t reveal anything of worth so he returned it to the shelf and went through the black book. Inside the book was different spells, including body transfer, and necromancery. Brian started to read a chapter about harnessing the darkness associated with Nightmares and hadn’t known how successful he was until Shining Armor entered hours later carrying a tray of food and found a black knife being pointed at him.
“Your food is here, and do you mind removing the knife,” Shining said
“Knife? What knife,” Brian asked, turning around “I have no idea how I did that.”
“Perhaps I’ll just set this down and head out,” Shining said slowly backing out of the room
“Sorry,” Brian called
After he ate, there was another book that looked interesting. The cover had a black cover like the one he was reading but this one had a red pentacle on it with one word written on the spine.
“‘Tartarus’ huh? Perhaps this might shine a light on something,” Brian said out loud
As he read, Brian found a section mentioning Hades and his ability to summon Hellfire. He took a step back and held out a hoof and concentrated. From what was mentioned, control over Hellfire would result in black flames appearing and he did manage to see a small flame start before it flickered out.
“I summon the fires of Hell. Damn it,” he said as the flame flickered out “Again. Come forth fires of Hades. Goddammit.”
Celestia came to the door to let him know it was late and levitated a pillow and blanket towards him.
“It’s getting late. Here, I brought you these to use,” she said sweetly
“You’re right. I’ll continue in the morning,” he said with a yawn
Some time in the morning Brian woke up to see a bowl of cereal on a tray with a sealed quart of milk. After stretching to remove any tightness, he devoured the food and milk as he stepped outside to hand the tray back only to see no one there so he headed back inside to train.
With only two days left, he devoted himself to studying so much that he lost himself in the book and never heard anyone arrive until Luna tapped him in the back.
“Find anything interesting so far,” Luna asked
“A book about harnessing the darkness associated with Nightmares and now I’m attempting to summon Hellfire,” he responded calmly
“I came down here to let you know that it’s almost night and going to be the last day. My sister and I thought you’d want to spend it at home,” she said
“Sounds good. I do have a favor to ask if you for tomorrow night. I want to release Ignis.”
“Are you sure you want to release Ignis? I sensed the presence of a nightmare form inside you and helped you lock it away so you didn’t turn out like I did with Nightmare Moon. Do you have the ability to control it,” Luna asked
“Honestly, I don’t have a clue, but to fight against a necromancer I need to use him. I’m just hoping that I will come back from the brink of darkness,” he responded
“If you believe it to be best than I will release it. By the way, congratulations with Octavia. Hopefully everything works out that you don’t have to leave her alone,” Luna responded
“Thank you. I’m hoping everything works myself.”
In the morning after walking out of the underground library Brian had breakfast with the princesses before he was sent home by a chariot. Before he could get to his home, Twilight ran to the chariot excitedly.
“So did you manage to learn anything,” she asked
“Something; but I’m not entirely sure how to use it,” he answered vaguely
“What is it? What did you learn?”
“If I’m lucky, tomorrow I can show everyone the fruits of my labor,” he said heading home
Once he walked inside Brian was blindsided by Octavia who immediately hugged him.
“You’re back, and I have some good news. After our activities the other night, I went to see Nurse Redheart and I’m pregnant with twin girls,” she said releasing her hug
“Congrats! I’m going to be a father! Now I have another incentive to defeat that necromancer tomorrow. I learned a couple of things that might be useful but I couldn’t tell Twilight about them.”
“Why? How bad are they,” she asked
“Dark magic.”
“That might be bad,” she said
“That’s why I didn't tell her. Princess of Magic or not, there are things she shouldn’t be learning.”
“Agreed. Don’t tell her I said that,” she said sheepishly
"Don't worry, I won't say anything. Before I forget; could you get a couple things for me?”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“Two candles; one black and the other white that are the same size and diameter.”
“Any particular use for them?”
“Something I'd rather not share right now.”
As Octavia took off to run the errand; he made sure to get a saddlebag with a few other items that consisted of a new scroll, ink pen and a knife. On the scroll, he drew a simplified cross on one side and a pentagram exactly six hooves away before rolling it up and stuck in the bag.
The bag was stuck under the bed and would be pulled out the next morning.
That night the two of them cuddled together for what they hoped wouldn't be their last time. As he slept, he entered the dreamscape and saw Luna standing in front of Ignis’s cage.
“Letting me out?”
“Yes,” Brian said with a sigh
As Luna opened the cage Ignis floated out before starting to grow a simple four legged body.
“Celestia.”
“What about my sister,” Luna asked
“Thank her.”
“For what,” she asked
“Blood.”
“You mean,” she started
“Dragon's blood,” Ignis said altering his form
“I have one rule you must follow,” Brian said
“What?”
“You are only here to destroy Lucy the necromancer and whatever creatures she summons. Attack anyone else and you will be banished,” Brian said threateningly
“How?”
“Never you worry about that. Consider yourself a windup toy. I point you in one direction and you attack that direction only, understand,” Brian asked
“Yes, master,” Ignis said sarcastically
“I’m not your master or controller. I’d much rather see you as a friend,” Brian replied
“If I do what you want, and we survive, we’ll be friends.”
“Agreed,” Brian said