Chapter five: The warrior
There was a flash of white lightening, the clash of metal following soon after.
The sound of metal meeting metal was like nothing heard before; comparing it to thunder did the explosion of lightening too much honour. Trying to put it on equal standing as a volcano erupting was like comparing the 'pop' of a bubble to the sound of thundering hooves. Saying it was the roar of a dragon was the same as saying the scream of a banshee was the same as a kitten's yawn. This was the hammer of time pounding on the anvil of creation. This was a sound that would echo throughout time as earthquakes and thunder storms, the kind of sound that created life and death. The sound of Celestia's metal meeting Remus's was the sound of death meeting life.
The sound of an immoveable object meeting an unstoppable force.
Celestia glared into the face of the newcomer, her face barely an inch from his as she whispered in a deadly tone.
"How about your funeral" she seethed. Remus grinned. He turned his blade under her own, slipping beneath her defence and opening her up to offence.
Fus, Ro Dah
The second shout Paarthurnax had guided him through. At the end of his meditation, the shout had held greater power through the first and second word, though it went further than that; his balance had been massively improved by his knowledge, this ability extraordinarily useful through his life, as both an assassin and thief. Using larger weapons had become easier too, given that when he swung them he could regain his footing after falling on his head with the grace of a dancer.
Celestia shot out of the clearing, Remus soon following after her. The two left Luna, Lachance, Discord and Durnehviir back in the clearing; Luna held Lucien's arm in her fore-hooves, not sure if she was trying to pry him away or hold herself up. She wasn't sure what had happened; one second she'd been at Celestia's back, waiting for the moment to strike. Then she'd felt the…thing now restraining her disarm her and wrap his appendage around her throat. She could barely breath, couldn't move and could feel the cool metal tickling her jugular. Who, and whatever, this was knew what he was doing.
Lucien couldn't hold down the slightly impressed grin. The white mare had moved with speeds he hadn't seen in an age, not since when his old apprentice had killer the listener of his era; she'd left nothing but a white blur in place of movement, nothing but the deadly scrape of metal on leather that was the unsheathing of a blade. He didn't know much, if anything, about these ponies but he was at least glad to know that he'd been correct in his assumption that the inhabitant of this land would be familiar with combat.
Durnehviir was slightly uncomfortable; he wasn't used to taking hostages and he didn't like the feeling of having prey between his jaws and being unable to completely close them. It was almost like being teased, having his snout tickled and being unable to stop it. It made him want to bite something in half.
Discord was asleep.
There was a clash, a small explosion and the sound of another shout being loosed from the piece of forest Remus and Celestia had disappeared into. Lucien glanced at Durn, who had glanced his way, and pondered assisting Remus or not.
"The Dragonborn need not our assistants" the dragon said, his voice muffled some by the creature in his mouth, reading the assassin's mind.
"Dragonborn" Luna asked in an attempt to glean information.
"That is not yours to know" Lucien retorted. Luna shuddered slightly. She did not want to have to hear that voice again.
"Then who are you? What are you" she asked anyway. She felt that if she could find something out about the…things threatening her and Discord, this wouldn't be a total waste; admittedly, she wasn't so concerned about what the dragon was, she already had a general idea, but she hadn't a clue what was holding her now. Lachance decided he didn't like this mare; she spoke too much. When the black clad biped didn't answer, Luna spoke again. "Why are you here?"
"Will you stop talking" he growled.
"Then answer my question" Luna implored. She wouldn't let herself be held captive by this thing and not at least try and get information from him. Lucien responded by growling again and digging the blade in a little.
"You are in no place to make demands" he reminded her. The threat was all Luna needed to decide that this thing didn't like being spoken to, at least by its hostages. She needed to get the guard to advance, needed to send a subtle message to them and have them attack; they were too well disciplined to just attack to just take matters into their own hooves. Or too simple minded. She cast her eyes slowly along the shrubbery the troops were hidden in, trying to catch one of their eyes. Another crash from the forest nearby made her filch, sending birds into the air; then it struck her. Birds. She looked up to find the Pegasi, loitering just behind the tips of the trees. She didn't know if they were watching her or Celestia, but she had to try; she nodded her head the smallest of amounts, her neck feeling the steel of the blade pressed against her neck again. In response, the forest exploded around them.
Ice whites, fire reds and lightening blues flared around them as the runes Remus had cast on the grounds detonated as the guards stepped on them. The unicorns and earth pony guards were quickly incapacitated the spells placed by the arch-mage. The resulting explosion, however, was all Luna needed to slip free from Lachance. The assassin was blinded slightly by the runes, his instincts flaring as his arms rose to cover his eyes and protect his head; Luna planted the knee of her left fore-leg into Lachance's stomach, pushing the wind out of him and forcing him back as her magic grabbed the halberd laying besides them, the weapon raising to her assailant's body. The Pegasi took the blinding explosions as their cue and cover to attack, the lot of them advancing on the dragon; Durnehviir, as anyone would be, wasn't impressed by the insistent beating upon his scaly head. It wasn't exactly painful, simply annoying. He looked up at them to with plans to beat them away with his armoured head, but a certain draconequus had other plans; Discord snapped his claws and was suddenly mad of repulsive goo, the horrific taste prompting Durnehviir to spit him out. The Pegasi above to their turns in swooping in and beating their hind-legs against the back of his head; now, however, Durn's mouth was empty.
Fo, Krah Diin
The blast of frost and ice flowed over the airborne ponies, more than half of them taking it dead in the face. Several dull 'thuds' signified the fall of no small amount of the guards falling from the skies. Luna and Lucien were staring each other down, but it was no lie; the tables had just turned drastically. Now surrounded by Discord, the princess of the night and another five guards, Durnehviir and Lucien stood back to back, as best as they could, and cast their gaze over their adversaries.
"Well then" Lucien murmured at the sudden change, his short sword hanging in his hand as he coated it with poison. Luna took note of his actions, but did nothing to stop him; it wasn't worth it just yet.
"Wah fin dinok, to the death" Durnehviir posed. Lucien just grinned.
"As always." That was all Luna and her company needed.
When Remus stepped into the dark treeline, he quickly regretted it; the shadows were cut by a flash of white that had a taste for the blood of a certain Nord. He hopped to the side to avoid a face/ body splitting attack. The flash of light followed him as he skipped back, slashing up along his body, taking branches and leaves with it. Another whistled went past his throat. The third almost cut off his braid. The fourth his right fore-hoof.
Celestia swung her blade wildly, combat training taking a back seat to killing her foe; each and every slice came close to taking a limb or opening his throat; but close wasn't good enough. Every effort she made to end this stallion came just a millimetre to far away from his fur, from his skin and arteries. She growled and snarled and snorted and spat, none of which helped her in her efforts to kill the newcomer. She let the blade swing farther down and catching the earth; she flicked it up and cast dust into his face. Taking advantage of his temporary blindness, she brought it down on his skull; the clang of metal on metal and the vibrations that ran through the sword told her what had happened even before the dust settled. Celestia and Remus's blades locked, the stallion holding his blade in an inverted grip against his leg, Celestia putting both her fore-hooves against her own, at the tip of the blade and at the handle, as she pushed against his weapon; Remus's other leg went to the hoof holding his hoof, pushing against his foe's weapon and offence with a strong defence.
'Njada, I'll never call you a bitch again.'
"Come on" he snarled, his effort-strained face slowly morphing into a grin "I know you want my blood" he hissed "just try and take it." Celestia growled again. She reared and took her weapon by hoof and brought it down on Remus execution style; the last slipped out of the way and slashed his weapon across her chest, the armour casting sparks as they met. Celestia, weapon back in her magical grip, swung her weapon at Remus once more. The Dovahkiin, done with defending, took her strike on the arc of the Blade of Woe, parrying it past him and opening her defence again.
Ven, Gar Nos
The sudden tornado tossed Celestia off her hooves, throwing her into the air and through the branches of the trees around them. Leaves and twigs fell with her as she came down, grasses and leaves flying up as the cyclone passed by. Celestia growled as she looked up to the newcomer, but found nothing but darkness in his place; the solar princess snarled again as she stood up, her katana held beneath her head as the tip of the blade reached above her head. She slowly turned her head, searching for her foe.
"Come out" she called, panting slightly "you don't seem the type to hide" she said. Remus, meanwhile, was stalking the treeline around the small clearing that he and Celestia fought in. His crouch kept him in the deep shadows of this forest easily, his head peeping over the bushed and between the trees to keep an eye on the white horse. Or pony, he guesses.
"I'm not" he called back, throwing his voice (the greybeards taught more than just the Thu'um) "it's called a 'tactical situation assessment'" he told her.
"Where'd you read that one" she goaded. Remus had to smirk.
"I'll have you know, Kodlak Whitemane taught me that. Not a damn clue what it means, but it sounds good" he told her. Celestia forced down the grin with another glare. Her head whipped to the side when a bolt of lightning shot from the treeline; faster than lightning, her sword intercepted it and deflected it, her own bolt of magic cutting through the forest like a knife through hot butter. The slight smoke blew away to reveal nothing but more forest. She snarled a lip as she continued to search for the newcomer. "Impressive" the newcomer's voice taunted from all around Celestia "what other tricks can you do." The princess of the day smiled.
"I have a good one" she answered. Before Remus could answer, she swung her blade in a wide arc, the weapon seeming to grow in length as she sliced the forest around her; when the weapon cut down the trees, flames grew where the weapon had once been. She searched through the forest fire, finding nothing yet again.
"I have to admit" Remus called out, causing Celestia to growl in frustration once again "most thugs and guards I know would have given up looking by now" he told her. Remus crawled through dense overgrowth, the grass swaying ever so slightly as he passed. He came to a pause in a spot to the side of the mare, watching her continue to search for him. He absently glanced to the side and found an orange flower growing; he picked it and popped it into his maw, chewing it a few times before he swallowed it.
'That would make a great poison.'
Done with his brief alchemy experiment, he looked back up at his foe and got an idea. He took the Blade of Woe by the blade and tossed it at a still standing tree; the weapon hit it by the pommel and bounced back into Celestia's bronze armour. Aela's archery training had been more than just accuracy. The blade stabbed into and through the protective metals covering Celestia, making a shallow wound in her side; Celestia grunted and whipped towards the direction the weapon had come from. When she did, Remus stepped from his cover.
Raan, Mir Tah
The shout hit Celestia in the back, the force stumbling her a bit. She turned back and glared into his soul, fire in her eyes. She pounced and Remus gulped; this, wasn't the plan. She barrelled into him and forced him through the fires and trees behind, pinning him to his back. Her hoof shot down at his head, Remus moving his head out of the way; the force of her attack cracked the hard mud beneath the last's head. Remus frowned up at the mare; why didn't that shout affect her? She was an animal, right? He quickly came to the conclusion that the shout didn't go by race, but mental ability. No matter, he had just the shout for that. Meanwhile, Celestia had put her weapon to the Dragonborn's neck and had no intentions of keeping it clean.
"This, is what happens to those who cross my family" she seethed. Remus wasn't intimidated; he'd rested his head on the headsman's block and stood up before. He gathered magic in his hoof, the abstract shape that was the embodiment of alteration magic flared and a glow surrounded his body as his skin became as hard as ebony. He put his hooves to the blade and pushed, the well-tempered weapon cutting into his hooves a little as he pushed; he slowly lifted the weapon away from his neck, Celestia watching in disbelief before she put her own hooves to the blade and pushed back. Celestia knew she was strong, stronger than her body showed, but this stallion had the strength of an adrenalin pumped berserker. Slowly, but surly, Remus lifted Celestia off his body, his fore-legs trembling slightly with the strain; this was another side-effect of meditating on Unrelenting Force.
"Push the world harder, than it pushes back."
When he needed it most, he seemed able to call upon a…second wind of sorts, his strength augmented by a powerful adrenalin-like burst. It had saved his life more times than he'd like to count.
Remus slowly pushed Celestia up off of him and rolled on his back slightly, putting his hind-legs against her chest and pushed, keeping her away.
"This, is what happens to those who cross a Dovah."
Yol, Toor Shul
The fire breath shout. This was the final shout that Paarthurnax had helped him better by guiding him through mediation and igniting the fire within him. The original shout had been nothing more than an intense blast of fire, but now, with his deep understanding of the shout and the primal power that it embodied, it came out as the shout of the dragons were best known for; the infernal blast of flames that were known for melting through steel and laying waste to towns in a single breath hit Celestia square in the face, the fire tearing past her and face and hood, licking her mane and turning her perfect face to cinders. She screamed and inhaled flames, turning the air in her lungs to fire. She reared and roared in pain, falling onto her back and beating the flames out with her hooves; she whipped her cloak and hood off, tossing it away. The flaming cloak landed next to the dry trees, setting them ablaze along with the others around them. She growled as she planted her face into the earth and put the flames out with no small amount of dirt and moist mud, leaving her white fur less than clean as she withered around in the mud, knocking the Blade of Woe from her side as she did. As she did so, a flaming branch fell from the trees and landed next to Remus, and it was then that Remus absentmindedly noticed that they were battling in the middle of a blazing inferno as his telekinesis spell dragged his weapon over to him. Meanwhile, Celestia had put out the fire on her face and whipped her head furiously in the snow and ice white stallion's direction. Her multi-coloured mane was singed and blackened around the left side of her fore-head. Her eyes narrowed in hatred, her head angled so she looked past her horn slightly.
"It. Is. On." She lunged and swung her blade in a wide, angry arc, Remus taking the clumsy haymaker on his weapon; the strength of the attack beat the Blade of Woe from Remus's grip, the blade impaling into a tree as Celestia swung the weapon around again and brought the blade down again; Remus watched it happen in slow motion, he couldn't dodge in time, Ebony flesh had already dissipated, he hadn't the time to summon a bound weapon or cast another armour spell and the leather armour wouldn't block that blade. He raised his fore-leg in instinctive defence and Celestia didn't pause nor falter.
The weapon imbedded itself into his fore-leg.
And stayed there.
There was another metallic 'clang', this one punctuated with the soft cutting of flesh, and the katana went no further through Remus's fore-leg. Celestia frowned at the fact that her weapon had been stopped, but even more so at the sound. Remus grunted with pain, a thin trickle of blood dripping from the wound as he held still. He recognised the confusion on Celestia's face and took advantage of it; frosty mist appeared in his hoof as an icicle formed, though no sooner had he thrust the cold weapon into Celestia's armour. By pure luck, he hit a space between two armour plates, the icicle shaving down until it was nought but a thin bladed dagger, and stabbed her in the chest. Unfortunately for Remus, he hadn't hit anything important, but he had slowed her down some. Celestia growled and staggered back, her hoof going to the icicle in her chest; warm blood wept around the weapon, tinting the ice blue a deep red. She took it by the hoof and yanked it out, the blood trickling down her armour steadily. Meanwhile, the last had retrieved his weapon and turned back to Celestia; he didn't find her. He looked around the dark forest in the same way Celestia had, thanking Brynjolf for his lessons in observational skills. He didn't have too long to search before a white mare barrelled towards him and rammed him in the gut, sending the both of them through the shrubbery.
His eyes slowly opening, Remus found a rather grand battle in progress; Lucien was in the middle of a duel with the dark mare he shot with his bound bow, while Durnehviir was in the air, battling a bunch winged ponies and the creature while his skeletons were offering support to him and Lachance with their dragon bone bows and arrows. It was rather useful, being capable of raising an army of dead men with a shout. Remus didn't have much more time to admire his battle brothers, because he soon felt himself lifted from his back by Celestia and quickly slammed to the ground.
The solar princess beat his head into the mud three times before he figured out what was happening; upon doing so, his hoof caught alight and he thrust it into Celestia's chest. The armour that protected Celestia was strong, but even the royal smiths couldn't forge something to withstand heats that matched that of the Skyforge. The symbol quickly melted, the marble turning to magma, while the protective plates turned to a liquid resembling molten bronze as his hoof pushed through; when hoof met fur, Celestia screamed in pain, hopping back in shock. She put a hoof to her chest and looked down at it, finding the scolding hot metal quickly cooling, now that there was no mage fire to fuel it.
"Alright" she whispered "if that's the way you want to play it…" Her horn flared to life with magic, the glow quickly discharging as she fired the beam of magic at the newcomer. He dodged out of the way of the first, the second burnt past his cheek and the third was stopped by his ward. Celestia fired four more beams into her opponent's shield before she conjured up another spell; the vines and leaves around the clearing suddenly grew a mind of their own as they all darted at Remus. The leaves were suddenly razor sharp and the vines reminded the last of Hermaeus Mora's tentacles. They lashed at him like bullwhips, racking along his leather clad back. The leaves slashed his fur and skin, opening his veins and letting blood leak from him. The Dragonborn grunted and growled as they continued to attack him, waving his hoof as though to be rid himself of a fly as flames burst around him; the small cyclone of fire quickly burned away the assaulting shrubbery, but it seemed his efforts were for nought. Celestia had been using the spell to distract him while her horn glowed a blinding, hot white; she approached him slowly and the vegetation kept him distracted. She dispelled the incantation and he looked up to find her stood over him. He raised his hoof to strike her or cast a spell of his own, but Celestia had already bowed her head and aimed her horn at him; she thrust and the Dovahkiin felt the pain of being stabbed and branded at once. His blood boiledslightly around the Alicorn's horn, the fur burning away as the skin sizzled; the solar princess raised her smirking head, the snow and ice stallion held up by the horn stabbing through the right side of his chest. Remus could do nothing but groan in pain.
Lachance's blade slipped between his body and the dark mare's halberd, catching it against the base of the blade and flicking it up and away from him. He stepped past her defence and beat her head with the pommel of his blade and went on to angle to same weapon to stab into the back of her skull. But he made the mistake of looking over at Remus; the stoic and ice cold assassin, known for his brutality, cunning and dark manner, couldn't stop the ever so slight widening of his eyes; he was struck by sudden conflict. Help the listener, or kill his foe. In the end, the decision was made for him, as he kicked the mare in the back and drew a small dagger with his left hand and whipped it in the direction of the white horse; the weapon embedded itself deep in her side, the penetration helped by the hole in her armour already made by Remus.
Celestia grunted in displeasure as she turned to the assassin, finding him advancing on her with his short sword held beneath his hand. The princess had met all kinds of would-be assassins over the years, as such, she practically knew them by sent now. This biped was an assassin, back in his world, and judging by her sister's condition, he knew what he was doing. He closed the distance quickly, Celestia letting the newcomer drop from her horn as her weapon gained a golden glow as she held it in defence. His short-sword sung across the small distance between them, his under-arm grip putting more force behind the charging attack; Celestia's block held him in place as they glared into each other's eyes before she pushed him back, Lucien flipping his weapon to an over-hand grip before he retaliated. Sparks flew as their blades met, singing and screaming as they flew and met. Their strikes bit into metal and deep black fur, leather and cotton, but no flesh nor hide. Lachance met Celestia's back swing with a fore swing, the blades bouncing off each other and sending them both recoiling. She thrust her weapon through his guard, his blade catching the curve of the katana and pushing it away, though not before it tasted his flesh and blood. The wound wasn't deep, but enough to give him pause for thought. He took a step back and put his hand to the wound, the black glove clad hand coming back bloody. He looked up and snarled at her grinning face.
"There is no pain in the void" he growled as he brought his weapon up, over his head and brought it down with all his strength; it broke through the horse's defence, the assassin following it up by bringing up his spare fist and introducing it to her muzzle. She staggered back and regained her hoofing a second before he followed through with a graceful rotation, bringing the sword around in a powerful roundhouse. Her own weapon raised to meet it, though it did little good as he beat it out of the way and brought the blade across her body. The flesh exposed by the hole in her armour opened as his steel tasted blood. Celestia grunted and stepped back again as he reared his weapon back in preparation to thrust it forwards, though her chest and eventually her heart. His attack was cut off when the dark mare barrelled his was and rammed him off his feet, pinning him down with her halberd. The assassin and lunar princess spat and snarled into each other's faces as Celestia controlled her breathing and regained her hoofing. She looked back at where the newcomer lay dead-
Her head whipped left and right. He was gone. She searched for him almost frantically before she heard thunder strike and an earthquake seemed to hit. Her head whipped up and she saw dark clouds roll in faster than natural, the angry blacks and greys covering her skies. She frowned, knowing that the Everfree dealt with its own weather, but never before in this manner. Thunder boomed again and a flash of lightening forked into the earth, dirt and mud exploding besides Celestia. With a growl, as her vision cleared, she looked up to see the newcomer. He was stood, a brutal and ugly looking scar where she'd stabbed him, looking like it had been knitted together by powerful healing magic, and had a fire in his eyes.
She glared back and advanced, the princess of the sun raising her weapon to defend herself and end this stallion. She stood before him, a few meters between them, and cracked her neck to the right once. Her wings flared as she charged, a battle cry roaring from her maw. The newcomer didn't move, instead he drew a breath.
Mul, Qah Diiv
Celestia skidded to a halt as she watched the snow and ice stallion explode into light, similar to the light she'd seen form this stallion when he'd first arrived. The light formed a dragon-like mask/skull over his face, scale-like armour on his chest and fore-legs and what appeared to be-she took a double take. Wings on his back? Even his tail had gained armour of sorts, formed by a dragon-like tail. He cracked his own neck and took his weapon in hoof before he placed it in his maw; he pushed himself up off his fore-hooves as the same hooves were doused in flame. Wobbling slightly as he adjusted his centre of gravity, he went on to perform a strange ritual of sorts, an ancient dance. As he continued, Celestia watching in fascination, the flames about his fore-legs grew stronger as he came to the climax of his dance; he gathered the power into one hoof and slammed it to the ground. Celestia then recognised her mistake as the air around her caught fire and exploded around her; Lachance, having reengaged his duel with Luna, had seen his listener and lunged for the dark mare, holding her as a meat-shield to take the brunt of the spell. Celestia, Luna and Lachance were flung back due to the force of the spell, the trees around the arch-mage being reduced quickly to ashes. He looked up from the now smoky, blackened ground and found his foes lying on their backs, thoroughly regretting their life decisions. Remus had entered another state of mind; Celestia had drawn blood, and that was something he no longer stood for. Anger had been replaced by a silent rage, fuelled by cold hearted adrenalin. He approached Celestia slowly, his foot, hoof…whatever, steps slow and deliberate. She looked up at him and glared, taking her katana by the hoof and swinging it widely. His hoof shot up and the blade was taken on the curved dagger, slipping harmlessly off the curve. His hoof went to her chest as he pinned her down, his dagger hanging over her eye. He closed the distance between their faces.
"Dragons, are the apex predators. I. Hunt. Dragons." Celestia wasn't deterred by his words, but the dagger hanging above her head unnerved her slightly. He brought the dagger up and swung it down, but, to his further enragement, his leg was stopped by something. He looked up and found the creature Durnehviir had held in his maw holding his fore-leg in one of his hand-like appendages, the paw-looking one.
"Ah, ah, ah. I don't think so" he grinned. Remus held his gaze for a second before he yanked his fore-leg sharply, pulling the creature off his foot and hoof before he spun the dagger in his hoof and pushed back, the creature falling onto the tip. His face went from bemusement to shock as he felt the Blade of Woe push through his stomach, his blood dripping from the wound. Remus got up off of Celestia and twisted the weapon, bringing the creature to his knees.
"Zu'u dreh." He pushed the creature off his weapon and let him flop to the ground. He turned back to the mare on the ground and found her stunned face watching the fallen creature.
"D-Discord" she said shakily, momentarily forgetting the stallion atop of her. She tried to get up, but was pinned down when the newcomer stabbed his dagger through her mane, pinning her down.
"May Sovngarde take you" he whispered. His hoof waved and a sword, the blade serrated and wide, appeared there. He raised it above his head and thrust the tip down to her face. Instead of drawing blood, there was a small 'clang' as she caught it between her hooves. Remus growled in frustration, getting tired of these persistent stalls, and put both hooves on the handle of the weapon; Celestia growled back and pushed back, holding the weapon away from anything vital, but the glowing around his fore-hooves seemed to have augmented his strength. She knew she would lose this battle of strength. She suddenly turned her hooves to the side and the soft, ethereal metal of the weapon snapped at the tip; the flat edge stabbed into her cheek, cutting into her but going no further. She put her fore-hooves to his chest and pushed hard; he flew off like a ragdoll before he landed in a heap. Celestia reached back and yanked the blade holding her hair down out and tossed it aside. She leapt up and found that the stallion had done the same; they lunged at each other, no weapons or magic between them, just hooves, and fell to the ground, beating each other like ponies who belonged in a mental ward. As hooves, blood, spittle and sweat flew, Celestia put her hooves beneath his stomach and threw him off, the stallion landing on his hooves again. Lightning blew up the ground to Celestia's right and threw her to the side, Remus taking the opportunity to advance again. Celestia had landed next to her sword; she took it by her hoof and swung blindly. She felt slight resistance and smelt blood in the air. She looked behind her to find the newcomer with a gash in his chest, the ethereal armour incapable of stopping her strike; the lower fur, leather armour and skin drooped slightly, revealing the glistening red muscle beneath it. He growled and roared in pain, but as he loosed his cry another fork of lightning struck the ground, coming too close to Celestia for comfort. When she looked back, she found a set of walking armour, the same ethereal armour the newcomer was clad in, but what hit her was that this walking armour had the posture and body of the assassin. What drew her attention though, was the battle axe of the same light held in hands she couldn't see. The axe swung for her neck; she ducked under it and went to retaliate with her own weapon, but was interrupted when fire burst around her. She was thrown to her flank by the force of the shout, only just managing to raise her sword to stop the incoming axe. He followed it up by swinging the pommel of the staff towards her face.
The dull wooden 'clunk' told whoever would listen that Celestia had just been hit in the face by a stranger's wood.
The armour spun with the axe, a roundhouse style execution aimed at her neck again; Celestia ducked and aimed her sword up, driving it at the armour's ribs. The armour rotated his body, the blade slipping past him, and watched as Celestia tried to regain her balance. He raised his axe and swung it down, another execution, and it was all Celestia could do to leap gracelessly to the side to avoid being decapitated; landing in the dirt, Celestia picked herself up quickly as another axe blade came down at her neck. The blade buried itself deep into the ground, the armour's strength digging the axe at least four inches. Celestia took advantage of the armour's predicament, charging forwards with her sword aimed at his chest.
Fus, Ro Dah
The solar princess was, once again, thrown off her hooves by a shockwave of power that slammed into her side. She growled and grunted as she rolled across the ground, digging a grove into the ground with her skidding body. She looked up to find the newcomer, his chest healed as brutally as when she'd the spot she'd stabbed him with her horn, trotting towards her, and that the spectral armour had vanished. She stood and stared down her opponent; lightning gathered in his hoof as he aimed at her, but before he could fire Luna barrelled into him again, taking him off his hooves. A ghastly, ghoul-like roar ripped from the black robed biped's mouth as he followed after Celestia's sister, his blade catching the sun as he swung at her. The solar princess found herself next to the biped before long, her blade intercepting his as Luna and the newcomer exchanged blows, scrapping on the ground besides them.
While the Dragonborn, speaker, princess of the sun, and moon duked it out on the ground, casting dust into the air until nothing could be seen but flying hooves and errant curses were the only thing to be heard, Durnehviir had finished off the last Pegasus guards by biting one in half, casing another one in ice and watching him shatter on the ground, ripping one limb-from-limb with his claws and finishing the last by swallowing him whole. He didn't like the taste of horse, he'd always been more impartial to sheep then equine during his life. Durn looked to the battle below, finding it having devolved into little more than a brawl the drunken mortals got into. He looked down at his alleged foe, finding the creature that had consistently named himself 'Discord' during their battle lying half-dead on the ground, a little ways away from the main brawl. He descended until he landed next to the creature known as Discord, his weight sending a large 'thud' through the clearing, though the combatants seemed to care very little. The undead guardian of the Soul Cairn gazed down at the now pitiful creature and watched as he tried to regulate his breathing.
"Gahvon, ahrk hin dinok fen kos aaz. Yield, and your death will be merciful" the Dovah told Discord. The draconequus looked up at the dragon and smirked.
"Oh please, you think this'll keep me down? Tis' but a scratch" he assured. Durnehviir snaked his head down and glared at the aspect of disharmony.
"These claws have rent many foes on the field of battle, siigonis. Do not test me" he growled. Discord laughed.
"My, oh my, you sound just like my old geography teacher" he mused. Durn shook his head in sheer disgust at this thing's attitude on the battle field and decided he'd had enough; he bared his teeth and went for a chunk of Discord. As he got close, the goat-headed monster snapped his claws and Durnehviir's teeth were turned to rubber. As the Dovah clamped his jaws around the creature, Discord laughed like a madman as the undead dragon's teeth bent around his body. "What, did you think it would be that easy" he asked, his body in a longing position as he tweaked the dragon's nose. Durnehviir roared in frustration and spat the aspect of disharmony out.
Rii, Vaz Zol
Discord sidestepped the blast of purple energy, whipping his hand and beating the dragon across the face with the back of his hand. Or at least, that would have been the plan had Durnehviir not opened his maw and caught the backhand in between his re-boned teeth. Discord grunted slightly as he pulled back, his hand popping off as he did. He looked down at the stump that used to be his hand with disapproval, he shook it a little, the paw coming back again.
"Tut, tut, didn't your mother teach you to never bite off somepony's hand. It's rude" he scolded. Durn spat the hand out again and roared.
"Kos nahlot! Cease with your jests" he ordered.
"And talking with your mouth ful-"
Fo, Krah Diin
Discord stepped out of the way of the initial blast of ice and frost, but couldn't avoid the flow that followed; shards of ice cut through Discord's skin and scales while sub-zero frosts froze his blood in his veins. While he was stunned, Durn advanced on Discord and pinned him to the side of a tree, the draconequus holding his maw back with his claw and paw.
Meanwhile, Remus had claimed the upper hand, hoof…whatever, on the dark-armoured mare he fought; his fore-head was stained with blood after the amount of times he'd head-butted her and her muzzle was weeping blood because of the same reasons. He picked himself up and staggered away, their fight leaving him slightly brain-dead. He shook his head and gathered magic in his hoof, a golden glow sparking and flashing as he cast the healing spell, feeling the dent and gash in his head close and re-form and his muscles drain of lactic acid as his stamina returned to him. Cracking his neck, he took in his surrounding; Durn had the creature he felt Sheogorath would like to get to know against a tree and Celestia pushing her blade against Lachance's. Remus looked around for the Blade of Woe, finding it stabbed into a tree at the side of the clearing; he raised his hoof to pull it over to him with telekinetics but found that the spell wouldn't work. He grunted when he realised how low on magicka he was; he was too used to the enchantments of his armour keeping his magicka pool full and quickly re-filling. Not to mention that he had no potions on him.
He rubbed his head a little, the pain of his wounds hitting him. Healing magic closed wounds, it didn't get rid of the pain. He looked around himself; thunder crashed through the sky, lightening forking to the ground while the battles around him continued; Remus observed Celestia as she disarmed Lucien and took him by the throat before she slammed him into a tree. He didn't interfere; he knew that the black-robed man wouldn't drop that for days.
Celestia turned back to him, the two of them having already established themselves as enemies during this fight, and stared him down. Each pony was already a fighter down, Lucien having slumped against the tree, out cold; Luna was having the same problems as the assassin; and Remus knew that the creature and Durnehviir would keep each other busy for a while. This was between them now, just the two of them; there was no respite now, nothing coming to help them, nothing coming to their aid, no time to rest and nothing to keep them from death. Nothing but their own skills. Remus's hoof flashed and a rock rocketed at Celestia; it hit her dead in the face, drawing blood from her lip. When she looked up, she found that the newcomer had disappeared, watching the leaves and shrubs flow slightly as she followed them. She saw the small flash of white as he vanished around a tree, once again following after him.
"Quit running" she called after him.
"Tactical withdrawal" he said from besides her; his ethereal dagger went for her neck as she looked over at him. Celestia's eyes widened as she hopped back, her wings spreading as she took to the air. Remus watched as she took to the skies, the canopy of trees appearing to bend out of her path as she did so. Remus didn't even blink, his experience with dragons leaving him unfazed by it; though thanks to the same said experience, his instincts kicked in as he drew breath.
Joor, Zah Frul
Even before the shout had struck Celestia, he'd growled in frustration; he knew that the shout wouldn't work against anything none-Dov, as such, he would never have expected the mare to scream and fall to the ground.
Celestia watched as the shout charged towards her, her eyebrow raised as she watched the newcomer; he seemed to growl in frustration, as though annoyed with something. But when the sky blue glow struck her, something tapped into her head, something struck her thoughts, something made her mind victim to something she couldn't understand, couldn't fathom, couldn't even begin to comprehend. It showed her mortality. The anguish of having an end hit her like a brick, made her feel the uncertainty of knowing that one day, a day she would never know, she would die. Her existence would simply cease, and after that, what would there be? An afterlife? Purgatory? Would she be sent to Tartarus and be kept there, forever locked in torture and pain? Or would there be nothing, just an end, just darkness, and she would cease to be? The scream that ripped from her throat was not one of pain, not one of anguish nor sorrow, but fear, the fear that came with a lack of knowledge of a dangerous wonderment. Her concentration faltered her, her wings giving up trying to keep her airborne, the Alicorn of day plummeting to the ground, her screams of fear following her.
She lay on the ground, shuddering in fear and tears. Remus blinked a few times; that was not what he was expected. Remus had no problems with killing, with stealing, with mugging people, inspiring fear in his enemies or beating them senseless, but there was something about this mare lying before him, who not a second ago had been the image of a truly great battle-maiden, quivering on the ground in total terror. It gave the drums of war hammering in his chest a bad tune.
Remus approached her slowly, his will to fight dissipating with the dragon aspect that surrounded him. He stood over her, victorious, and spoke down to her.
"Leave me, and my allies, be and I shall leave you and yours be" he told her. He had no quarrel with these ponies now; they knew that he was not to be trifled with, and he had no need to take the fight to them. Celestia looked up at him, very small tears in her eyes. The shout had worn off, but the questions lingered; how could he cope? Knowing that one day, perhaps one day soon, his life would come to an end, and that would be it. There was no coming back from death.
She swallowed once, her resolve having not crumbled, but having shattered with the shout that lashed out at her, at her soul and at her very being. She couldn't fight the newcomer in this condition, didn't want to, and simply nodded her head. She stood up, her head hung in defeated shame, and trotted past him.
Back in the clearing, all was calm; the dragon had Discord held down by his tail and back, the Wyrm's teeth threatening his neck, and Luna was still unconscious. The Pegasus guards were dead, ripped asunder by the same dragon that was holding Discord down, and she wasn't looking forward to writing out the letters of condolence. She could only hope the other guards were at least in one piece. Tia looked down at her sister, finding her distressed, yet peaceful face, likely having bad dreams about the battle she'd just been in. She picked her up and lay her on her back. Meanwhile, the newcomer had followed her out, keeping a cautious and respectable distance, and motioned for the dragon to move, letting the creature up. Discord picked himself up and brushed himself off, holding his jaw. Remus shadowed Celestia from a distance, a limp developing in his left hind-leg. He hobbled to Lucien and shook him awake, the speaker grumbling to himself and looking up in time to find the white and dark mares and the creature back away into the forest.
He picked himself up and followed after his Listener, standing by his side as Remus stood by Durn's. Celestia glanced back at Remus, a sorrow in her eye the Dragonborn didn't understand, before she turned away and into the forest to limp away, lick her wound and nurse her fallen pride.
Trotting slowly through the clearing, Celestia found where her troops had been holding out; she was glad to find that the earth pony and unicorn guards had set up a small camp at the side of the clearing to lick their own wounds, mainly because they hadn't had to fight and they'd avoided further casualties. The white mare looked over them; some of them had bare hooves, their boots having been melted while their bellies were covered by only leather, the plating having suffered the same fate. Others had drawn close to a large fire they'd made, shivering violently, covered by blankets too thin to help. Others sat by themselves, and with good reason; every now and then, the ponies would twitch and judder, their electrical impulses interrupted by the mage-lightening.
Taking a brief headcount, Celestia found that she'd be writing a few more letters. She didn't blame them for not attacking; they'd been exposed to magic they weren't familiar with, not to mention, the ones that were shivering seemed very tired. They all looked up at their ruler, and quickly figured out that they'd lost. With slight shame, they stood as best as they could, most holding wounds, all with their heads hung. Even Discord seemed to have lost his humour. One of the older earths piped up.
"Where are the Pegasi?" Celestia looked over at him; he showed signs of age and experience, his navy-blue fur rigged with wrinkles and a few scars. Celestia knew he'd come close to death more than once, and she both pitied and envied him; he would one day die, but he'd cheated death. When she registered the question though, her head dipped again, and it was all the soldier needed. He sighed once. "Orders, ma'am?"
"Back to Ponyville. We need to rest and tend to the wounded." They nodded but didn't salute; they didn't have the energy.
The trip back to Ponyville was marred by failure and shame; Celestia had been beaten before in both war and combat, but never in mind. Never once before had she been so broken down by a foe, not even Discord or Sombra had gotten so far into her mind, or done such damage. Spurred by slight fear of the newcomer coming up from behind them, and the trip masked by thought, Celestia and her company quickly found their way back to the small town; they weren't met by anypony, but Celestia didn't care. It suddenly struck her that she didn't know where to go; the troops were in no condition to make the trip back to Canterlot, neither was she nor Luna, but there was nowhere for them to stay.
"Celestia" a voice mumbled from behind her. The princess of the day turned her head back slightly.
"Yes, little sister?" The dark mare shifted slightly, getting comfy on Tia's back.
"What happened, did we win?" The white mare's mood dropped again, her head doing the same.
"No" she answered simply. Luna didn't say anything in return, but she felt her loosen slightly and her fore-hooves wrap around her neck in a tired hug. Celestia decided her sister needed rest and mentally shrugged. She guided her company through Ponyville towards the large oak tree in the centre. She hoped that Spike would be home so she could just pass out on Twilight's bed. The only consolation was that the working day was in full swing, and most of the ponies were either at work, school or indoors. Those who weren't, however, were met with the sight of Princess Celestia, her head hung in defeat, Princess Luna riding her big sister, Discord, holding his jaw and limping slightly and no small amount of the night and day guards missing. When they were a but a few steps away from the door, it opened of its own accord.
"Celestia" Twilight exclaimed. Celestia frowned; that wasn't who she'd been expecting.
"Twilight" the white mare murmured "what are you doing here?" The purple unicorn started to look sheepish, but when she saw the state of her teacher, the blackened mane, the melted armour, the cuts and gashes all over her body, it turned to a look of fear.
"Oh my gosh" she whispered, cantering up to her teacher "what happened?" Celestia didn't answer, instead she just kept her head hung, staring emotionlessly at the ground. Twilight wrapped her fore-hooves around Celestia's chest.
"Why are you back" Celestia asked again, her own fore-hoof around the back of the purple unicorn.
"I-I got worried, so I came after you" she explained, her voice still worried "Spike wouldn't let me follow you into the forest, but he agreed that it was a good idea to wait for you and the newcomer." She gave Celestia one last squeeze before she released her and stepped back, looked past the gold clad mare at the other ponies with her before she frowned. "Where is he?" Celestia didn't answer, the smaller pony suddenly understanding why her teacher was so quiet, not to mention why she was so battle-damaged. "Would you like to come inside" she asked quietly; she didn't need to ask what had happened. Just looking at her teacher's expression told her everything, not to mention the fact that her little sister was on her back, never mind the wounds. Celestia nodded once.
"Please. Me and my company need rest" she answered. Twilight nodded and stepped back, bidding them enter. It didn't take long for the troops to get comfy; when the troops trotted inside, they didn't bother looking for seats and just plopped down wherever there was room, some of the forming small circles and leaning on each other's backs. Most of them pulled their boots off and examined their hooves, most flinching upon sight; those who didn't have horrible burns had frostbite, and those who didn't have frostbite were blackened by the lightening, the fur standing on end, some of them even having small sparks crackling around them. It hit Celestia in a strange way that even Discord wasn't taking the time to be remotely humours or annoying, instead he just sat against a wall and buried his face in a book he'd randomly picked out to mask his shame, loss of pride and the pain of his wounds. The solar princess didn't have the heart to tell him it was upside down, but even so, the behaviour unsettled her. Once they'd gotten settled, Celestia looked at her student. "Do you have somewhere for Luna to sleep?" She nodded and guided her to the spare room. Once they were there, Celestia pulled Luan's armour off of her before she lay her down on the bed, delicately laying the covers over her. Once settled, she quickly fell back to sleep. Celestia lingered for a second, watching her sister sleep; she brushed a piece of frazzled mane out of her eye, the hair matted with sweat.
"You look like you need to lay down too" Twilight noted from besides her. The solar princess made no argument as her student guided her to her room and sat down on the bed. Twilight sat down on the stool she normally kept by her writing desk. "What happened" she asked cautiously. Celestia sighed again.
"Twilight, forgive me, but I really don't want to talk about it" she answered. Twilight nodded once in understanding.
"That's alright" she answered "I'll just leave you to your thoughts" she said as she got up. She didn't get very far before a hoof on her shoulder stopped her.
"Twilight" Celestia started "could you keep me company for a while. I just…really don't want to be alone right now" she explained. Twilight smiled slightly as she took her teacher's invite and sat next to her. Celestia didn't bother being subtle; she quickly put her fore-hoof around Twilight and pulled her in. The metal was cold and hard but her embrace was warm and comforting. "I wanted to thank you for housing me, Luna and the troops" she said. Twilight nodded, smiling slightly.
"Don't mention it. I can tell you've all had a…a really bad day" she answered. There was a period of silence for a while before either spoke again. "So…was that dragon working with him" she asked, trying to answer a few of the questions they'd amassed. Celestia nodded.
"Yes, and it seemed your brother was right as well; he didn't demonstrate half of his powers in the palace, and I'm not all together sure he did all he could back in the forest" she answered. Celestia sighed as she released Twilight and her horn sparked to life, her armour gaining the same glow as she removed it piece by piece. "He also knew how to use a sword" she added.
"What about those shouts?" Celestia had pulled off all her boots and examined them; they were partially ruined, melted in no small places, and placed them in a neat row besides Twilight's bed.
"He had many more of them. I get the feeling they and the dragon may be connected" she answered.
"Why's that" she replied as Celestia pulled off the breast plate and gazed through the hole, setting it to the side.
"The dragon seemed to be using the same kind of magic, the same sort of shouts" she answered. Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"So now he has the same powers as dragons?" Celestia deflated slightly as the realisation hit her.
"Goodie, more questions" she drawled as the rest the battle suit came off and got dumped to the side, Twilight giggling with little mirth. Celestia looked down at her student; she would die one day, and there was nothing she could do about it. No spells truly conveyed immortality without a catch. And she had no idea when her time would come; but when it did, there would be no turning back. She'd miss everything that would come after her, she'd leave nothing but a memory and Celestia would miss her opportunity to tell her how she really felt about her. Celestia put her fore-hoof back around Twilight and the purple mare leaned into her.
"Celestia" Twilight started, prompting the solar princess to look down at her "I'm glad you're alright." Celestia swallowed slightly, her affection bubbling over slightly. She pulled her daughter in closely, hugging her tight.
"Twilight, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you" she said shakily. Celestia had never been more anxious in her life, and this was just after she'd come from a rather massive and nerve wracking battle. She took a long, calming breath, and steadied herself.
"Yes Celestia" Twilight answered. Celestia took another breath, and opened her mouth to speak.
That was when they heard the roar.