I growled angrily as I stomped down the halls of the Palace. I did not know how I should feel right now. Anger, perhaps? No, that was too light for what had just occurred several minutes ago. Enraged would be a more accurate word for this.
What happened, you may ask? Well, apparently, the doctor Aurora had brought to treat me made a rather small mistake. This mistake resulted in the wound Arrow had given me growing larger, and causing more ichor to spill out of it. Thankfully, he was able to reverse his mistake and stopped the bleeding, but that didn’t exempt him from punishment for his mistake. And I took extensive care in making it painful.
Anyways, I continued my angry march down the long hallway. Those whom I had encountered wisely chose to give way to me, avoiding eye-contact in order to not draw my ire towards them.
“Zerstörung…” save for one individual, of course.
Opposite of me in the hallway was none other than Cadence, who was staring intently at me, as if she wanted something. If she did, I wasn’t going to give it to her.
Not wanting to deal with her, I growled threateningly, “Move out of the way, mortal, lest you desire to suffer my wrath.”
Cadence didn’t budge, however, instead standing her ground. She wanted answers for something, and she was going to do anything to get them, much to my irritation.
“I heard today that you ordered the conquest of Rainbow Falls,” she said quietly, her voice almost a whisper. After not giving her answer, she then asked, “What do you plan on doing to everypony there?”
Not in the mood for giving details, I merely answered, “The same as I did to the Yaks.”
After I said this, she immediately perked up, her voice drastically increasing in volume. “You can’t do that! Those ponies are innocent! They did nothing to you!”
Great. Now I had to deal with another emotionally-run individual. Fantastic.
“I can, and I will,” I proclaimed strongly and angrily. “And I won’t let a mortal such as you influence my decisions. Everyone is to be treated the same, no matter who they are.”
“But… they’re just innocent ponies…” Now she was begging. Pitiful.
“That’s the price you pay when your Aunt attempted to use treachery to turn me back to stone,” I shot back with venom, silencing the Alicorn. I gave her a piercing glare, making her squirm under my harboring gaze. “I offered you a chance to save your way of life, your home and family, and yet you dishonored it with your idiotic trap - and for what? To make yourselves out to be heroes?” I scoffed indignantly. “Don’t be so ridiculous. If your Aunt had a bigger brain, those mortals wouldn’t be suffering my wrath.”
An uncomfortable silence reigned between us for a few seconds, Cadence not daring to rebuke my previous statement. Upon seeing an opportunity to end this confrontation, I swiftly moved around the alicorn without a word, with her doing nothing to stop my stride.
And with that, our conversation was over. I returned to my irritated walk, thinking back to the doctor’s stupid mistake and Cadence’s pathetic emotions. Mortals. So… infuriating to deal with, but yet fun to rule over at the same time. Contradicting details which only furthered my irritation.
It was one of these moment’s when I wished Trajan was still around. He mended my anger countless times, and often soothed me just by his mere presence. He was, perhaps, the only person to not treat me as a Goddess of death and destruction, but as someone with their own characteristics and traits.
“Trajan…” I sighed, a question coming to mind. “What in Jupiter’s name did that mortal do that I couldn’t?”
Indeed, that question had been on my mind since I was told of Aurora’s parentage (just her father, that is). How Trajan ended up with such a life form was beyond my understanding as a Goddess, and no doubt I was offended of being bypassed in favor of an inferior mortal. Tartarus, I bet that whore couldn’t accomplish anything close of what I could do, other than perhaps be good in bed, hence how Aurora was born.
My thoughts began to shift away from Trajan at this point, instead focusing on Aurora’s oh-so mysterious mother. What was so special about her that made her a better choice than me, a literal Goddess? What skill did she inherit that caught his eye?
No, she must have been one of those prostitute bitches that seduced him into making a child. That’s what their business is all about, correct? If so, that must be it!
My thoughts stopped for a second as I relaxed state of mind. I was getting ahead of myself, insulting an insignificant mortal who I didn’t even know was alive or not. I sighed again, this time at how pathetic I had been on this subject.
Before I could think more upon that, however, I heard the sound of music coming from one of the doors to my right. The music had a distinctly high tone which made it sound unlike any other instrument I had ever heard been played. It was this that made me confirm that the person on the other side was Aurora, who was once again playing Trajan’s once most-treasured object.
Originally, I was about to move on and not give another thought to the music, when my overwhelming desire to hear that instrument being played again engulfed me. Let this be a known fact to no one else except you; I absolutely loved music. The sounds of the notes and the catchiness of their tunes did wonders to calm me when I was angered by something. Trajan had used it as another tactic of mending my rage, and I loved every time he would play that instrument for me. It made me forget my anger, my pains, and everything else in between so many times over.
And now, with another chance to experience it again right now, I took it with open arms. I must to hear this song.
Leaning against the door, I listened in on what Aurora was playing. Just as I had expected, it was a song which I loved to hear so many times. Immediately, my irritation began to melt away as I closed my eyes, focusing solely on the piece Aurora was demonstrating. Soon enough, all outside sounds were blocked out, giving my undivided attention towards the song as the notes shifted from high to low and vice versa.
Aurora’s piece continued unhindered as the humanoid played her instrument along with it. I remained in my position against the door, listening to the soothing music as it passed through my ears and consciousness. It was as though Trajan were still alive and well, once again using his prized possession as a way to settle my rage. This thought made me release a depressed sigh.
Abruptly, the music ceased, engulfing Aurora’s room and, in effect, the hallway I was in. I was confused at what happened to make it stop. The piece surely hasn’t ended, due to how the notes were still relatively high and played at a pace that wouldn’t be fit for an ending. Thinking that I simply wasn’t focused enough to hear the song, I leaned closer into the door.
That is, until it was swung open.
Not having expected such an action, I stumbled forward through the space the door had once been, and fell unceremoniously unto the floor. Immediately after this had happened, I heard Aurora give out a startled yelp. “M-My Lady!” She shouted, moving in to most likely help me get back on my feet, even if I didn’t want her to.
An embarrassing scene, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, I swatted away Aurora’s hands aggressively. “I do not need assistance,” I told the humanoid sternly as I stood back up on my own.
“…A-Apologies, My Lady,” she replied, rather hesitantly.
“For what?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Your actions as of now, or the stunt you displayed in the throne room?”
“Both!” Aurora blurted without a second thought. For a second, she stopped for a moment, most likely thinking of the proper words to use in this situation. Once she had them all thought out, she spoke again. “It was inappropriate of me to have been… controlled by my emotions. I shouldn’t have done that. I apologize.” At the end of that, she looked as the epitome of confidence, standing straight and her eye giving me a hardened look.
Huh. It seemed that she was capable of not stuttering after all. Kudos to her.
I stared back at Aurora after her confident declaration. It was a mere short thought on whether to accept it or not. And due to how sternly she had stated her apology, there was only one answer I could possibly give.
“…Your apology is not accepted.”
Aurora barely had any time to wipe the confidence from her face as my staff’s magic dragged her to the door. Once she was in the position I wanted her to be in, my staff’s magic slammed the door, right into her tail.
Without a second to spare, Aurora let out a yelp of pain, which sounded more like a painful meow, oddly enough.
Just as quickly as I closed it, I opened the door again, causing the humanoid to collapse to the floor, grasping her tail as she whimpered in sheer pain.
“Do not forget that you are never exempt for your mistakes, Aurora. Apologies are nothing but sweet talk used by cowards to get out free of consequence. You would do well to remember that.” With that, I left the room, paying no mind to the whimpering girl as she remained holding her precious tail.
As I walked down the hallways of the Palace once more, I began to hum the piece Aurora had been playing before our encounter quietly, so as long to not draw the attention of others.
It was quite a catchy tune.
The throbbing pain Aurora had felt in her tail was, to say the least, immense. The humanoid had clearly not anticipated her Goddess to have taken such an action as a punishment. But she had, and now Aurora was whimpering mess on the floor, clutching her tail in a pitiful attempt to dull the pain.
The last time she had felt this kind of pain was when she’d lost her right eye to that Ursa Major all those years ago. She would have died, too, had Baron and Stiermann not arrive to save her. But even then, the damage was done, and she would have to live the rest of her existence with only one eye.
She closed her one eye. Yes, remembered that day clearly.
*
It was supposed to be simple. Find a cave, report it to Baron and Stiermann, and take refuge in it for a few days, months, or years.
Unfortunately for the young Aurora, it wasn’t so.
The cave that she eventually found was quite massive in size, probably as tall as the tallest tree you could find. To Aurora, this was the jackpot. A large cave where anyone of them could have the privacy to do what they pleased? It was a great find!
As Aurora turned to report back to the two gatekeepers, a loud sound from inside the cave stopped her movements. It sounded like a stomp of a large creature, hidden within the darkness of the cave.
The sounds of stomping continued, and it seemed that they were getting louder, closer to her.
Aurora quickly raised her father’s staff in a defensive posture towards the cave, ready to fight off what had already been taking refuge in there.
She wish she hadn’t.
A deep growl came from the cave, one which made the ground slightly shake beneath the humanoid’s feet. It was then that Aurora realized that this wasn’t a normal species of animal.
From the darkness of the cave came something that almost made the young daughter of Trajan piss herself.
An Ursa Major.
She had been trained in how to fight off many animals, from foxes to bears and even manticores. But this? What was she supposed to do!?
She was screwed. So very, very screwed.
As the humanoid berated herself with hopelessness, she failed to notice that the Ursa had closed the gap between them, and was raising its claw to attack its intruder.
It was only when its claw was swiping downwards which Aurora took notice of the danger. Quickly, she attempted to raise her father’s staff in defence, but unfortunately, she was too late.
The massive claw came down on her, throwing her away from the cave, causing her to drop her father’s staff. She soon fell back to the ground with a thud, skidding across it as friction slowed her slide. Once she settled, Aurora could tell that her body was covered in scrapes and bruises, if the numbing pain she felt all over said anything. When she opened her eyes to look at her offender, she noticed something off.
Why did she feel only one of them opening?
Confused, she reached her hand to her right eye, and realized something very, very wrong. She felt blood, blood, and even more blood, but where was the eye?
When she realized what was going on, her heart sank like it never had before.
Her right eye was gone. Just… gone.
Before the humanoid could grief the loss of her eye, however, the Ursa Major had once again closed the distance between them, and was readying for another strike.
Upon seeing this, there was no longer any doubt in Aurora’s mind that she was going to die here, because of an Ursa Major. As the giant claw was about to swing downwards once more, the humanoid closed her remaining eye, accepting the fate of death she was so scared of.
“Die, foul beast!”
Before That could happen, however, Baron’s voice resounded across the area, followed closely by the Ursa roaring in pain.
Confused once more, Aurora opened her eye, revealing that Baron was indeed here, and that he did hurt the Ursa. In all her life, she had never been so delighted in seeing the dark Knight before.
A smile came upon the humanoid’s face as the blood loss began to make her black out. She was going to live. She knew she will.
Before the blackness consumed her completely, she heard the voice of Stiermann calling to her as she felt a force lifting her. “C’mon, kid. Let’s get ya back’n shape.”
*
Aurora smiled at the memory, in how both gatekeepers had came to save her from something she couldn’t possibly had hoped to handle herself.
Apparently, the only reason they came to save her was the fact that Baron didn’t trust her to find a good cave, and so Stiermann eventually relented and they decided to follow her. So, in technicality, it was the “self-absorbed, arrogant asshole” Baron who saved her life.
Eventually, the pain subsided to the point where she was able to walk again, but she avoided moving her tail at all, as the injury would spring back to life worse than before, as she had learned the hard way. The pain reminded Aurora what had happened just moments before, bringing her back in touch with current events.
The humanoid sat alone in her room, rubbing her hands along her tail so as to soothe it from the throbbing pai that Zerstörung had inflicted on her. She began to think back on what her Goddess had told her about what she had said about her past actions.
“…Just used by cowards to get out free of consequence, huh?” she muttered, her eye narrowed. “So I’m just a coward, then?” she muttered again, this time more angrily.
She had lost everyone she’d spent her life with. Baron, Stiermann, and her father. Her saviors. And Zerstörung merely told her to suck it up and accept it. Oh sure, she may say that she was used to it with how much violence there was in her life, but Aurora didn’t care. This was about her family, not her Goddess’s. If she could, she would beat the human senseless for disregarding such an important part of living. After all, she deserved-
Aurora shook her head violently. No. She was getting ahead of herself now. There is not, and there still is not, any possible way of her defeating the Goddess on her own. And the more she displays her discontent to Zerstörung, she will most certainly be disposed of soon enough for her uselessness to her plans. So she can’t take the confrontation route.
No, she needed to gain respect from her. Trajan and Stiermann both gained her respect due to their undying loyalty and skill, whereas Baron gained it only by his skill in battle, correct? If so, what could the humanoid do to obtain it like they had? Could she loyally follow the Goddess everywhere she went? No, the Bellatores Martianae would most certainly try to drag her away from Zerstörung the first chance they got, with how protective they were. Could she volunteer to lead every available conquest? Maybe, but that only displays skill in combat, not much in terms of loyalty.
In the end, Aurora couldn’t make up her mind on what to do, but she will figure out how to gain her Goddess’ favor. She will show her that she can be just as useful as her father had been. She was no object, nor a stupid girl, least of all a coward.
She was going to make a mark on Zerstörung’s life, and she’s damn well going to make it memorable.