//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15 
// Story: The Necro Walk 
// by WorldWalker128 
//------------------------------//



Chapter 15


Faltos was not happy about having missed the end of the fight, but it was common knowledge that the winner had been beaten near to a pulp, which left him vulnerable, which meant that Jackylin herself was also vulnerable. The elder's death would be easy enough to arrange, which only left Jackylin and her two Ponies to deal with, which also would likely be easy enough.
Still, easy or not, steps to achieving anything needed to be taken in the correct order, lest the whole project fail. Several commoners and servants had claimed that the old man was so badly injured that he'd wanted to not be moved back indoors and Jackylin had arranged for a tent to be set up for him outside so he could rest in the shade and three guards had been posted nearby.
It was common knowledge that Faltos and Jackylin did not get along, so the guards would no doubt prevent him from visiting the elder personally, which meant that someone else would have to go in his stead, and with Jackylin having brought a Unicorn of her own in secret that apparently could also make herself invisible it was likely that the Unicorn was already there keeping an eye out for his Unicorn.
So I'll just send a common servant with a bit of poison in his food and perhaps a second type in his drink. Even the strongest warrior may be laid low by a well-placed poison, and he's already weakened.
But for the moment that would have to wait. Undoubtedly an ambitious youth or perhaps one of his already-fellow lords would be trying to make a move on him or his holdings in the near future. The elder would probably be busy healing for the next six to eight months, which meant he had plenty of time to strike at him and Jackylin later.


__ __ __ __ __


“Well, that plan was a rotting carcass!” Jackylin said as she tossed an invasion plan of the former king's onto a growing fire she'd started.
Jackylin had found that there were many personal notes, several drawn strategies, and a small number of various ridiculous requests from the various areas and territories haphazardly strewn about the ruler's personal chambers, most of all the above being more than five months old. Some of them had been marked as 'fulfilled' while others had been crossed out. 
For all his abilities in combat and the face he put on for every other person he really was not a very organized man. Jackylin mentally concluded as she pulled a dirty sock with a large hole in the heel out from under a local map. She made a face at the smell emanating and tossed it into her fireplace too. Why there was a fireplace anywhere in a castle in a place perpetually hot, she had no idea, and doubted the last ten kings (or queens) had known either. 
Another old update. Burnt. A supply list two years old. Toasted. An...event chart?
Jackylin's eyes flitted over it for a few seconds, her eyes landing on the legend in the upper left corner. After reviewing it several times she figured out the reason he'd been keeping the old reports: he'd been using them to try and find a pattern so he might be able to predict what would be needed in the future and when. Far better to send something and have it arrive early than have it arrive too late. Still, from the looks of things it seems as though events have been happening with little possible pattern to them. I'll keep this for now, but if it proves useless I'll torch it, too. 
A sudden banging on her door made her reach for her concealed weapon and asked who it was. Without permission the person on the other side opened the door and had her knife wedge itself into the door frame next to his head. He froze and swallowed hard.
“Never barge in on me without identifying yourself first.” Jackylin warned him in a quiet, but hard, tone.
“Y-yes queen Darkfist!” He wore the outfit of a servant. “Queen Darkfist, Lady Yishna wishes to speak with you.”
“About what?”
“She would not say, ma'am. She only gave me a flat stare in return when I asked.”
“That sounds like Lady Yishna, if her reputation is anything to judge by. Very well, send her in.” The servant nodded, but before leaving asked if Jackylin wanted her knife back. She nodded and he pulled it out of the door with a little prying and presented it to her before leaving.
While Jackylin waited she cleaned more of the various papers off the table she stood behind. There were two more of that same table in her new room, and both of these were also covered in stuff ranging from more various documents to a few small and large weapons to more discarded clothing. This clothing she also tossed on the fire as she had brought her own and the clothing left behind had been made for a man.
Lady Yishna also entered without announcing herself, but because of who she was and because Jackylin was expecting her no knife was thrown this time.
“Queen Jackylin Darkfist.” Yishna acknowledged, slightly dipping her head. Jackylin did the same. “I will be brief, for we both have much to do.” Jackylin nodded. “What are your plans for my people?”
“How do you mean?”
“My province is one of the more important ones that serve those that bear the mantle of leadership.” This was not a boast nor was this a statement born of arrogance. Both their weapons and armor, as well as the soldiers they trained were among the best on all of Gaea.  “We have served it faithfully, and we would continue to serve it faithfully.”
“If you are concerned that I will be trying to clear out the previous king's old allies and advisory staff, there is no cause for you to worry. As my grandfather has taught me: 'Do not fix what is not broken.' Most likely those that I would otherwise seek to be rid of others will be removed for me in time as others seek to prove themselves worthy of my favor.”
“Will anything at all change?”
“Only one order for the moment. You are not to attack or raid the equine town closest to the Gateway. Any others you may proceed with unless circumstances change.”
“And if we are attacked by them?”
“Then you slaughter those that attack you, of course. I would not ask or order you to simply allow yourselves to be defeated. Defending one's self is not assault.” Lady Yishna nodded once more, backed out of the door, still facing Jackylin, as people from her province always did out of respect. Amongst Lady Yishna's people, turning your back on an official meant one of two things: One, that you did not respect them as a possible threat, or two, you were afraid of them and you were fleeing.
When the door closed again Jackylin returned to sorting through the various objects.
I'm starting to wish that Jacob had asked for a month's recovery time! It just might take me that long to go through all this before I can actually start doing anything!


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One Month Ago

Luna gritted her teeth from pain as her soldiers bore her on the makeshift stretcher they'd hastily built to transport her from the ruin that once was her ancient home. Three of her legs were broken, as were both her wings, several bad bruises that were already beginning to reveal themselves for the world to see, and had her body not already been at the base of the castle where the roof supports were the strongest it could have been much worse. The human that had been impaled on her horn was dead, and had died long before her soldiers had finally dug her out. Now its remains were somewhere in the ravine in which the new bridge spanned.
“We are sorry for the pain, your highness, but most of the Unicorns are too tired to do more than walk.”
“We're all tired, soldier. Do not be overly-concerned for me. We defeated our enemies, and you saved my life. That is enough for now.”
When they finally arrived back at their campsite a messenger Pegasus was sent with an update on the success of their assault, as well as their losses to Canterlot, as well as a personal letter from Luna that said much the same thing, but unlike the status report also included the information that their enemies had discovered a way to use magic, and of the method in which they did it. Also included was an apology for being responsible in part for the leveling of their old home.
A day and a half later a letter and report came back to them as well. The letter was from Celestia, and the report having to do with the rest of their nation. The report stated that an earth Pony had found a way to turn a cloud-house into a weapon and Cloudsdale was even now in the process of producing more of them for the war effort, Manehatten had come under direct assault from the Gryphon nation as well as the Humans that had been staying within the Gryphon borders and all available troops in the area were to come as soon as possible to help in fighting them off.
At that new Luna ordered that her reserve fighters begin marching for Manehatten the following morning. Others had wanted to go as well, but she forbade any of those that had participated in the battle for the old castle or digging her out from journeying until they were well-rested.
“You'll be of no help to anypony if you arrive half-dead!” Besides that, they still were to be watching the travel routes (those that had been discovered) the Humans used to prevent them either from entering the Mythica, or leaving it.
The letter turned out to be a reply from Celestia, admitting that she knew that there was at least a possibility that Humans as they knew them could use magic (to Luna's shock that her sister had not thought to warn her of this possibility beforehoof) and then went on to explain why. Luna was filled anew with disbelief as the letter recounted the actions of the Human that claimed himself different from the others as well as the mission he and two others had gone on. How did they sneak by us?! I had scouts patrolling that whole area! Luna reread the previous paragraph and then rolled her eyes. Right. He uses magic. They could have teleported or made themselves invisible.
Luna was also informed of the demise of the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, to Luna's sorrow, as Rainbow Dash had been amongst those that had rid her of The Nightmare's grip on her mind, and also of the fortifying of Ponyville and in further detail, the deal that had been made by the Lighthand-Human and the younger Darkfist-girl. Hmm. Their names are similar to one another, even if the terms used are opposites. I wonder why? Regardless, I don't trust her, or him, for that matter. But time will tell if my distrust is misplaced. 
Luna shifted slightly on her bed and winced as one of her injuries sent a jolt of pain through her body. Luna frowned and set down the letter and brought a cup of water to herself and drank. Celestia has always been better at healing magic than I, and most of the Unicorns left for Manehatten. Most of those that had stayed were still worn out from the recent battle and needed time to recover before they could attempt another healing session on her, the first being shortly after they'd dug her out of what could have become her stony tomb.
Luna set the now-empty cup on a table they was normally used for map-placement and strategic discussions and sighed. Until she was once more fit to move about on her own four legs her soldiers would see to it that she did not try to go anywhere just as she would if their positions were reversed. Looks like I'm out of the fight for awhile. Buck it all, my kingdom needs me!


__ __ __ __ __


“AAAaaa-!!” screamed a Human as a black Dragon swept his tail through the remains of his hunting group and a barb on it plunged into his chest. Blood ran down the tail of the mighty creature, and to the survivors, few in number, he bathed them in flame until they were silent.
“Persistent creatures! Strike down a dozen, and a hundred more come to call at your cave!”
“At least the Ponies don't whine if we butcher them, and we can eat as much as we want for our trouble, little brother!”
“Drahngov, you know as well as I do that sooner or later they're going to overrun us! We are still many, and always strong, but we fight alone in this never-ending war, and already we've lost over two hundred of our kind over the last few years, and more of us perish every other month!” Drahngov raised a claw to his mouth and scraped a bit of leather that had once been armor from his teeth and flicked it away. 
“On their own these creatures are almost no threat, Runk.” He shrugged. “All we need to do is stay in the air and we can roast them from above.”
“Not when the Gryphons come en mass and slash our wings to shreds!” Besides, not every Dragon has the wings to fly, you know.” Drahngov snorted, twin clouds of smoke exiting his nostrils.
“Even then they are not much more than a bother unless we are stupid enough to let them pin us to the ground and fight in pairs, which, you and I normally do.”
Runk and Drahngov spread their wings and with a wind force rivaling that of a tornado launched themselves into the air and began flying back home. Or rather, what was their home now that their own nests were no longer same to live in.
When the Humans had first come to their lands they had been hesitant and admiring of the Dragons' superior strength and size, but in less than two years one of their little hunter groups, all made up of youths had decided they would test themselves against one of the Draconic race and brought spears, ropes, and axes and in the dead of night while one of the older Dragons lay sleeping they crept in, tied its wings (which it could no longer use for flying anyway due to its age) to the sides of its body, attempted to tie its legs together, and then crept up to the head to try and decapitate it. The Dragon woke up when their axes hit his scales and failed to penetrate them, and then killed them, enraged at there being intruders.
A short battle followed that ended with there being only two survivors of the Human fools, and the Dragon dead, who had tried to crush one of the little ones with his body and a chink in his scale armor landed on a spear head and in the end pierced his heart.
Ever since it was discovered that Dragons could be defeated, countless thousands of Humans of both genders and ages (minus children) had practically thrown themselves at the Draconic race trying to prove themselves mighty to the rest of their kind, and recently (though that term being applied loosely given that Dragons lived a very long time) the Gryphons had gotten directly involved as well, and even on occasion, a pack or two of Diamond Dogs, whom dug tunnels into the lairs of Dragons to be used once they'd returned to their homes to rest.
Cowards. Runk thought with disgust as he recalled a tactic that they'd once tried on him using a canyon, grappling hooks and large boulders. Their plan to pin him down failed when he caught their scent on the wind, however, and he burned them alive for their trouble. Yes, cowards, but not completely stupid, and they've slain more than just the feeble or the ancient of our kind. And they had been getting smarter as of late. Several watering holes had been filled with a poison that soaked into the banks that housed them that killed prey and predator alike. They could not tarnish rivers for long, of course, but the small springs that fed the pools above or nearby were much more common than the one river that ran through their lands, which had forced them to drink from the river. The river that with exception to the territories in the heart of their lands, was almost always heavily guarded. And it does not help that most of the more traditional of our race are still heavily territorial and pick fights with any other Dragon that should trespass in their lands.
“Yes, we're still strong, but simply killing them as we encounter them won't win us back out dens and hunting grounds.” Runk stated as his brother washed his jaws in the section of river they'd just earned and drank. “Someone needs to rally our race and take the fight to them, Drahngov.” Drahngov tilted his head slightly and looked at his younger sibling sideways.
“Oh? And just who would lead this campaign? Not our father. He is too content to do as we have done just now, and engage them only when needed.” Drahngov made a face of disgust. “He fears battle!”
“I think if our father fears anything, it is the thought of losing us. The loss of our mother to the Wasting Plague that swept through our race ninety years ago hit him harder than it did you and I, I believe.”
“He becomes attached to things and to others too easily. He is like a Pony.” He snorted.
“Well, since he was raised by them, that is not too surprising.” Runk rubbed his eyes with a claw to clear away a bug that hand landed on his eyeball. After it was gone and he'd had a drink of his own he continued. “Would you not mourn if he or I perished?”
“Mourning is something for a time of peace, and even then it is something to do in private. I would avenge you instead. If anyone is to lead our people, it must be someone strong. Someone who is willing to carry on the fight to it's conclusion even if we should lose three hundred of our number in the conflicts to come.” Drahgov turned and stepped away from the river.
“We'll certainly lose more than that if we stand by and do nothing at all.” Runk agreed, taking another drink from the river. When he raised his head again, his brother was checking the bodies of their victims for any jewels or precious metals to add to his secondary horde. “Why don't you lead us?” Drahngov stopped moving and let a spear he'd been examining fall to the ground. He twisted his neck around 
“Me? Why not you?” Runk shrugged and raised a claw and pointed it at him.
“You're older than me, stronger, and have more friends than I do. Friends who will probably go along with you if you decide that it's time to stop being patient with vermin.”
Drahngov did have a lot of friends, if the word 'friend' meant someone that would do what he said because it was him that said to do it. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he was more respected amongst Dragons of their generation. Drahngov had two hoards (one he slept on, the other he fed from. Most of their kind used one for both), and so far, unlike so many others of their kind living in the outer lands close to Equestria of lesser strength and stature he had not yet lost his den to the invaders. Granted, his lair was in one of the taller and one of the steepest mountains of those within their territory which made ascending it on foot impossible, but it still placed him in awe of others that had either fled their homes or else had not lived in the outer regions to begin with.
“Hmm.” He rumbled in his throat. He glanced at the dead lying around him. “Perhaps you are right. If enough of our generation are involved and we show that together we can push them out of our lands entirely, perhaps the older ones will join as well!”
“Who knows? Perhaps we could even use this as an excuse to expand our borders! Celestia cannot be doing as well as we, given that 'Her Little Ponies' have been fighting them far longer than we have!”


__ __ __ __ __


Patches the Diamond Dog sneezed from the dust in the air and rubbed his cold nose. He stood five feet tall, but most of his body's height came from his torso. His legs were rather stumpy, with his arms being at least twice their length. His fur was mostly dark gray, but in a pattern that resembled a cow he had splotches of white that were scattered around his otherwise lanky body, one of which including about a third of his head. His nails, much like the rest of his body, were filthy, and he had one broken tooth that ached whenever he drank or ate something cold.
At the moment he was counting the gems he'd been given from the last job they'd performed for the Humans, and he was quite irritated to discover that even though the number of gems and their weights were acceptable, the quality of the gems were not, with most of them being worth little more than feeding to a dragon's whelps.
Reaching for a dented metal trash bin, he swept more than half of the bag's contents into it, and placed the others back onto the small crude bronze scale he'd once bought several years ago while in a Pony city after selling their finds. This had not been the first time his pack had been ripped off, and he doubted that it would be the last.
“Stupid, cheapskate fur-less wretches!” He growled as he removed several weights from the value-read end of the scales. “Third time this month!” But there had been little they could do about it. The Ponies as a general whole had not trusted them even before the Great War, Gryphons more often then not simply threatened to lift them into the air and drop them from a great height if they didn't do as they were told (and had sided with the Humans anyway), the Dragons were angry with them for several packs working with the invaders, the strange black shape-shifters had vanished from these lands not long after Humans had begun attacking Eqestria's lands, and the Zebras lived too far away to trade with and never seemed to be interested in acquiring gems anyway.
The one race that seemed to show them any sort of respect (other than members of their own race) were the Minotaurs, and that was for digging out the complex underground mazes they used for training their minds and bodies. It was for this reason that he, and most of the rest of his pack were sad to hear that they too were seeming to vanish from Equestrian lands. He only hoped that it was because they left of their own choice and not because they'd joined the war effort and were being killed off.
Patches dipped one of his longer nails into an ink well and scratched the value of the gems into the also-dirty ledger next to the scales. When he finished he removed the weights from the scales and then poured the good gems back into the bag they'd originally come in, once more frowning at the much smaller amount and grumbling. “Should have sided with blasted Ponies. They at least pay or trade fair!” 
The patter and clicks of paws and nails on the stone floor echoed through the tunnel that led to the counting room where he stood and Patches looked in the direction the noise was coming from and waited. He sniffed the air, but only received another sneeze for trying to discover who was coming and was forced to find out the same way the other races did. What is point of having strong nose if can't use it? He mentally grumbled as his visitors finally joined him. It was one of the dumb brutes they normally used as either security guards or as haulers of some of the heavier loads of gems they excavated from their own tunnels.
“What you need?” Patches asked.
“Alpha say you come!” the brute said in barely-understandable Equestrian.
The Diamond Dogs did possess their own language, but due to it mostly being made up of growls of barks like regular wolves if one of them were to become ill what they said could often be misinterpreted. To prevent these misunderstandings most of the packs had made it a point to learn at least rudimentary Equestrian, as it was considered the 'common' tongue for most of the known world's residents. Doing so had prevented one particular sentence of “I need to pee, please move so I may” from turning into an arrogant “I'm going to have puppies with your sister” and had averted many possible murders from angry siblings.
“What she want?”
“Alpha say...you come!” the brute repeated.
“Fine. You lead.”

It turned out that all the Alpha wanted was for someone to shut her window, but the brute had proven himself too stupid and clumsy to do it himself, so she'd called Patches (he was the closest)  instead. However, once he had shut it, she asked if the Humans had made good on their bargain, and was just as displeased as he had been to discover that the Humans had once again done otherwise.
“This be last time I help wretched fur-less ones!” she said through a growl. “Treat us like stupid animals, will they? Maybe white Pony leader be better for deals!”
“But Alpha, Ponies no trust us!” Patches objected, his paws, pads-up in front of him.
“They may trust when we give information on Human forts in area and dig Ponies ambush tunnels!” She nodded and pointed a nailed finger at him. “You smart, Patches! You go make deal with Ponies. Humans can no be trusted!”
Patches tried to convince the Alpha of his pack that another might be better suited, but she could not be dissuaded, and in the end he found himself packing up his white polka-dot spotted red travel pouch (Which he tied to a 'v' in a long tree branch half width of his arm at its most slender area) with food and three less-dirty shirts.


__ __ __ __ __


“If your alpha is sincere in her words, I would be more than happy to welcome your aid in our war against the Humans.” Celestia said to the Diamond Dog that had been brought before her several minutes ago. According to him, the leader of his pack had in the past done a few jobs for the Humans, but they had proved themselves to be untrustworthy, and now they wanted a new employer that could not only grant them a bit of justice (or revenge) but also was willing to deal honestly with them.
In return for gems the Diamond Dog said his pack's alpha female had offered to perform the same ambush tactics the Humans had paid them to do, as well as something her armies sorely needed: information. Information on their locations, numbers, the layout of their campsites or temporary fortresses, and what other Diamond Dog packs might also be persuaded to defect as well. All they had asked for in return were high-quality gemstones, most of which could be found using a simple spell. All in all, it was an offer for assistance she did not want to refuse.
Her experience in reading the expressions of all the races she'd dealt with over the eons told her that Patches the Diamond Dog was being sincere, and the way corners of his eyes slanted when he said 'Humans' indicated that he personally had a strong dislike for them. If he intended to deceive her in order to spy on her capital, he was a very convincing actor.
“Oh, she be! What I tell her?” Celestia looked towards one of the paintings decorating her walls in the throne room for a few seconds, longing for the peaceful times in which it had been painted, and then returned her gaze to the Diamond Dog and nodded. He grinned and performed a sloppy salute. “Goody! Me go tell her you say yes!” He turned to leave and then suddenly froze and turned back and bowed, also sloppily and the princess had to resist the urge to laugh at his attempts at being formal. He was trying, but it came off as comical rather than official.
Her guards escorted the Diamond Dog out to a room that he'd been offered shortly after his arrival to stay the night, and once the doors closed her momentary distraction faded and her edginess returned. Manehatten was under direct assault, and even though she wanted to go and join in the city's defense, her advisers had all strongly spoken against it, saying that the place for the leader of a kingdom to be was in during such a time was in her capital city so she could be better advised of all goings-on so as to better be able to make a decision for acting in favor of one action or another. Personally she suspected they wanted her to be there so as to ensure the safety of their own plots. After all, both her son and her uncle were present in the city at nearly all times, so there was little need for her to be present as well.
In the time of peace before this war, they were my most trusted advisers, and handled nearly every daily activity other than the raising and setting of the sun. She left her throne and walked to one of her windows and opened it, gazing out at the city below. Now they seem to get in my way more often than not. Perhaps it's time to replace them. Or at least some of them. She knew all too well the uselessness of an adviser that told you only what you wanted to hear (from an event that happened in her younger years shortly after Thanatos vacated the throne in favor of pursuing the study and teaching of magic), and it was all-too-easy to become overconfident in your abilities when you had a yes-mare to discuss your decisions with.
A green flame soaring through the air caught her attention and her eyes followed it up until it poofed in front of her and formed into the familiar shape of a scroll of parchment. Celestia caught it in her magic before it could fall to the floor and unrolled it to read the contents. According to the latest report from Twilight (not a friendship report, sadly. Celestia had received precious few of those in the least few years) Pinkie Pie and Pipsqueak had finished their project with Rainbow Dash's house and had renamed it Rainbow's Thunder. From the description given it would not be almost impossible to recognize it for what it had once been, and some of the more courageous members of their town were eager to test it out.
The Humans from the camp that Jackylin had come from had paid them two visits since Jackylin's departure, and both times had been met with hostility, but thankfully not violence. The Humans in turn normally laughed at those that had mocked or insulted them, or else had ignored them. They'd been impressed with the wall that had been erected. During their second visit twenty of the carnivorous Humans had arrived and offered to test the effectiveness of their walls. To their surprise and the pride of the inhabitants of Ponyville they had been unable to make it inside until two had used the houses themselves as an entry point by entering one and opening a window on the rear of the house on the second floor and sliding down a rope secured to the stairway guard rail. Those that got in surrendered themselves and had, with many suspicious eyes on them, been escorted back outside the town. Quickly the Ponies boarded up the house's windows and the door as well to (at least in part) solve this issue.
The letter also went on to say that in regards to the Human camp some of them had been collecting and making juice from the local fruits for drinking, though they still discarded the flesh of the fruits.
Strange. Celestia mused. Why would carnivores be interested in drinking fruit juice? Wouldn't that make them sick?
And finally, the last paragraph asked if Celestia wanted her to go to Manehatten to join in the effort in defending the city. In the times before the war, Ponyville normally wouldn’t find out about a mainstream event for another week or two.
Celelstia composed a reply in short order that thanked her student for the update on the goings on in Ponyville, as well as her willingness to help Equestria, but declined, saying that they already had plenty of volunteers and soldiers there already and heading there for additional aid and that she would be of more use in her own town should it come under siege as well. Not that one Unicorn, even one as powerful as Twilight Sparkle would make much difference if the same number of attackers arrived with the intent of crushing Ponyville. She did not add her personal thoughts to the reply-letter, though. In truth she had not seen the forces attacking Manehatten for herself, so she did not truly know if those present were enough or not. If she had been able to go herself, then-
The doors to the throne room opened and an orange Alicorn walked in, bowing as protocol dictated, to the eye-roll response of the princess.
“Uncle, you need not bow to me. You used to rule before I, after all.”
“Be that as it may, Celestia, I no longer am the ruler, and even your adopted nephew Blueblood bows when he enters.” Thanatos made a sound of disgust. “I still don't know what you saw in him that made you want to adopt him!”
“He was not always as he is now, uncle, and he may yet redeem himself. He is still in his youth, after all. Perhaps one day he shall realize that what makes the Ponies of this nation obey me is respect rather than simply my title.”
“He most likely thinks that what you command with is fear. After all, you could choose to punish the masses by not raising the sun at all and leaving them to freeze to death, or leaving it up to roast them alive in the heat. Or perhaps simply smiting them on the spot.” Celestia sighed and shook her head.
“We're not deities; we have no right to do that. We're stronger than the Ponies, and pretty much everything else, but that only means we have greater responsibilities to those that live here.” Thanatos nodded with a smile.
“Indeed. And that is why I named you and Luna the rulers of this nation and retired.”
“Really?” Celestia asked, putting on a mischievous face. “And here I thought it was because you were getting old!” They shared a laugh.
“I do admit I'm getting on in my years, and your son has grayed more than a few of the hairs in my mane. I suppose I should be grateful you did not have twins or more!”
“He can be a bit trying sometimes, but he brings a light into my life that even the cloudiest day can't dampen.” Thanatos nodded.
“A child of one's own truly can change the way one views the world. I only wish...” He stopped, but Celestia knew what was on his mind. If only my parents were alive to see him. She missed them, too. In a way, Luna was lucky she was not around when they died. That had been the most emotionally-painful day of her life, and it still was. Still, now her sister was with her again, and their family had grown a bit. Though I swear, if Luna takes him on one more candy-shopping spree, I may just scream!
Luna simply loved spoiling her biological nephew (much to Celestia's annoyance), and the last time Celestia had found one of Sol's candy stashes it had weighed more than thirteen pounds! The time before that he'd tried to eat it all at once so his mother would not take it and made himself sick to the point that a few servants began joking in (what they thought was) private that his special talent might be multicolored vomiting. He's tasting the rainbow...again! Hur hur hur! Celestia made a face and Thanatos raised an eyebrow.
“That's the first time I've seen you make that expression after I brought them up. Did I make you angry?”
“No, no. I was just thinking about the last time Sol ate too much candy.”
“Oh, ho ho ho! We all experience that sooner or later. Perhaps he'll have learned his lesson about indulging too much?”
“We can only hope.
“So, what really brings you here, uncle?”
“I have decided to involve myself directly in this war. It is high-time I took a little responsibility for mine and your parent's decisions of the past.” Celestia's eyebrows rose.
Her uncle had been avoiding involvement in the war from day one, and now he was suddenly deciding to jump in? What could have changed? She asked him as much but he shook his head, saying vaguely only that he was making up for a mistake of the past.
“We all have to pay for our mistakes, Celestia. I'm just sorry that mine came back to haunt this entire world. It's high time I rectified it.”