//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Released // Story: Death Cometh // by Dracthul //------------------------------// Clop. The ponies of Ponyville looked up when they heard the hoofsteps of something walking into town. All eyes turned or looked up to the strange pony that was in the center of their village. He had a somewhat masculine face, and the dark grey hair on the back of his neck was slicked down smooth. His eyes had a blue color to them that seemed as deep as space itself. His jaw was edged perfectly, and his looks were unrivaled by anypony in the town. A shiny silk cloak covered most of his body, the clothing piece a stunning black. The design of it was immaculate, something a particular seamstress would fawn over for hours. A diamond-shaped purple gem was set into place at the center of a silver necklace wrapped tightly around his neck. Despite this, it was not his attire and incredible facial features that stunned the ponies who gazed at him, no. It was not the fact that his horn was straight and quite long, its distance almost a foot. It was not the fact that his fur seemed to devour all light that touched it, making him appear like a living shadow during the middle of the day. Although each of those traits made him very… unique, it was the fact that he was massive. Everypony had to look up to see his face because he was incredibly tall. His height seemed to rival that of Celestia herself, but no one would dare think him taller than her. Because of this, every part of his body seemed titanic: his legs were fences, his horn was a spear, and his hooves were rocks. The strange stallion was casting a glare of intensity over the small town around him. He studied its every stall, inspected its every roof as he took in where he was. Mercantile areas and well-sized homes… It seems Equestria has improved over a millennium. This appears to be a small yet influential village. As his gaze shifted, he noticed the dozens of eyes staring at him. After a moment of consideration, he spoke. “Hear me, citizens, and know I have been lost. I hope that one of you could assist me if you would be so kind?” His voice was gentle yet displayed his resolve. The pure determination in his voice led the ponies around to believe his words to be true. Yogg-Saron had changed his body by letting the world remake his flesh. This world wanted to make him a pony, a different one than the husk he arrived as, and so he let it. His body had changed as he transformed into the larger, darker pony he now was. With the addition of a horn, his sense of magic users became stronger, leading him to believe horns were a source of magical power in this realm. He hoped to draw close to his enemies so he may study them, learning how to inflict such glorious suffering upon them. But that would come later; he needed to first see if the world had changed much since his imprisonment. “I could help you!” a gentle, curt voice called out from the crowd all too excitedly. The Death God turned his head, noticing a mare approaching. She had all white fur beside her cutie mark, and her mane and tail were a rich purple. Every strand of her hair seemed to be brushed down perfectly. She elegantly trotted over before taking in the actual size of the stallion in front of her. She gulped rather loudly—something she regretted. “And who may you be?” his stern voice spoke, just loud enough for her to hear. “My name is Rarity; I own the Carousel Boutique down the street. I have a place you can stay for a short while while I get one of my friends who can find you on your way. How does that sound?” she finished, her voice never faltering from its almost regal tone. He quickly contemplated this before speaking once again. “Very good. Lead the way, Miss Rarity.” “So mannered! Follow me, please,” she responded giddily before beginning down the street. The black stallion began to follow as he continued to survey the town. All eyes were on him as he walked, his very presence drawing attention. If he were to rule, he would need this. Various little buildings and homes passed by as the pair went throughout Ponyville. They finally reached the boutique, where Rarity unlocked the door and let the stallion into the shop. Of course, she forgot to tell him to duck, so he hit the end of his horn on the door, eliciting a slight giggle from her before he made his way in properly. He let such impudence slide since he still needed her alive. He quickly realized this was a clothing store, mainly because of the numerous mannequins with dresses on them. “I take it you make garments?” he asked, hoping to convey a sense of ease. She looked back at him before replying with a simple “yes,” and going upstairs, leaving Yogg-Saron alone. He took this time to search for nearby power sources, his horn illuminating with a black mist, and he found a rather large one close by. Even this far away, he could sense the energy of Celestia and her sister, but he also felt a similar yet fainter power. He dispelled his thoughts for now as Rarity returned from upstairs. “I will go get the friend I told you of, so you may stay here for a little while. I should be back soon.” She walked towards the exit but paused right before she walked out. “Where are my manners? What is your name, dear?” she asked, a slight expression of sadness crossing her face. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and looked at her, flashing a smile. “Sorin.” With that, she closed the door after going through it and out to the street. He waved her off goodbye, finding the mare quite intriguing. The stallion went over to a nearby mirror and looked at himself. He did not like this form, but it would suffice for now. He would wait for his power to fully return before revealing himself, so he would stay lurking in the shadows. After a moment of gazing, Sorin lowered his head and touched the mirror with the tip of his horn. As he looked back into the glass, it warped and shifted, showing a grand castle that he knew all too well. Tall towers were shooting to the sky atop a cliff’s edge; Canterlot. His eyes flashed with a black glow as he transferred part of his consciousness through the doorway. Yogg-Saron found himself floating through the air as a small, dark wisp. In this spiritual state, his hearing and eyesight were improved, and he could hear every sound within the castle of Canterlot. The sound of guards bickering with each other, the clopping of hooves, and the various sounds of clanging metal entered his ethereal ears. Guards were scattered about, each of them standing at attention at their posts. He flew past them unnoticed before slipping underneath the giant double doors that were the castle’s entrance. His ethereal form allowed him to ride along the walls like a shadow, creeping deeper into the castle. He honed in on the voice of the one he hated most, quickly finding her. After slipping under another, smaller set of doors, he reached the ceiling. The chamber he found himself in was what he presumed to be a court. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were sitting in their own thrones while they faced a multitude of well-dressed ponies. He heard petty arguments as he observed the meeting of the nobility. “But Auntie, the cook BURNED my food!” he heard a smug voice almost shout towards the princess. The solar monarch sighed before speaking in her motherly tone. “I will investigate, but there is no reason to arrest somepony for making a simple mistake, Blueblood.” She looked through one of the two massive paned windows, realizing the time. “I’m afraid Court is over for today; I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!” she said, the sounds of dispersing suddenly filling the room after. Yogg-Saron left the room the same as he entered, now having witnessed the same debate-style he had seen a millennia ago. He noticed a large map of the world on one of the nearby walls, flying over to it to examine it. He took form as a bodiless earth pony with a hooded cloak covering their whole body so he could observe the map more keenly. He looked at the map, seeing the Griffin territories, Equestria, and an unexplored area called the Undiscovered West. Large mountains scattered the land, and there were no settlements within it. Based on its location, it should be cold and freezing atop its mountains. It was no wonder ponies had neglected such an area. He then saw the town he was in now, remembering where he had traveled to after gaining his new body. “Ponyville,” he muttered before reaching down to grab a copy of the map from a drawer. He swiftly put one into his mouth—reluctantly—before turning around. He accidentally bumped into a stallion, who tripped and fell onto the ground. The sound of a gold coin dropping from his levitation echoed throughout the room. As the stallion rose, Yogg-Saron could see it was the same pony who had argued with Celestia. He could also see the stallion still had a smug look, but it was more annoyed than anything right now. “Watch where you are going, peasant!” Blueblood commanded, unknowingly stirring a being far beyond his comprehension. As the prince turned to walk away, he felt a cold hoof on his shoulder. He spun around, prepared to punish the servant severely, when his eyes met the gaze of said “servant.” There was such infinite cold within the blue eyes that made Blueblood physically start to shiver, despite it being warm inside the castle today. Becoming lost within the orbs of the Old God, the prince began to hear voices. “Weak… pathetic… insignificant… meaningless. Pointless. Mere DUST. FOOLISH. NOT FIT TO LIVE! VERMIN! SCUM! IMPUDENT FILTH!” the voices cried out, more joining in on the chant of horror. Blueblood felt his hindlegs drop as he cowered before the servant. He could hear Princess Luna now part of the symphony, hearing his aunt only seconds later. “You are a disappointment, Blueblood. You are a tarnish to my family,” Celestia deadpanned, her voice standing out. “No,” he whispered in disbelief. A new voice entered his head, ripping through all the rest, compelling them to scatter. The invader gripped his mind, making the prince gasp for air. “I show you only the truth…” “No, it can’t be,” he repeated, this time to try and convince himself. “It can be… It is…” In that moment, Blueblood could see the wall behind the servant. Large, grotesque shadows of a creature beyond his worst nightmare stood behind the stallion. In pure fear, the prince shut his eyes as hard as he could and covered his head. “All you touch… turns to me…” Then, without warning, the whispers stopped. His pain was gone, and he opened his eyes. He frantically looked around, only seeing an empty room. The shadows were gone, and so was the servant. A sigh escaped him, a breath he had been holding for almost an entire minute. He felt the warmth of the room—something he had never so desperately wanted before—as he wiped his forehead with a hoof, noticing glistening sweat now on it. He stood up, adjusting his tie as calm reentered him. No pony had seen him, but he quickly left before he could be asked of what had just occurred, retreating to his chambers. Knowledge of the events that occurred within Canterlot filled Sorin’s head as he became whole again. He heard a light tap as a scroll fell before his hooves. The paper illuminated black as he lifted it into the air with his magic, something he now knew to be considered normal for ponies with horns. Once it reached eye level, he unrolled it with his magic and held it in place. Using Equestrian magic was almost alien to him. His most potent spells were far beyond the capabilities of his current body, but a lot of his power could be used as a pony. The very fundamentals of Equestrian magic were different from Azerothian, for you had to channel energy through your horn and into a spell. On Azeroth, you simply had to project magic instead of concentrating it and then dispersing it. Because of this, any spell that was not released through a straight beam would require more focus on this world. He had already begun translating his most useful spells into their Equestrian counterpart, a task most annoying but necessary. Despite being the God of Death, Yogg-Saron had an affinity for the arcane. Magic was raw power to him, and being an Old God granted him all the benefits of its most powerful abilities without the consequences. As Sorin observed the map in front of him, he could feel a dark power emanating from the west. This, he liked. Whatever was there, he could exploit to his advantage. But first, he needed to learn of the presence he felt in Ponyville and what the other five, weaker ones were. He rolled the map back up and opened a portal into the infinite void. He discarded the map into it and sealed the rift should he need it again. Just at that moment, the door to the boutique opened, and two mares walked in. Sorin turned his head to the pair, instantly identifying Rarity as one of them. He also sensed something different about her, quickly realizing she was one of the five weaker presences he felt. Then, he glanced at the purple mare, feeling the strength she possessed. It rivaled that of Celestia, but he could tell it was still unused. He cocked his head at this, unknowingly. “This, Twilight, is Sorin. And Sorin,” Rarity started, pointing now towards the purple mare, “is Twilight Sparkle, the personal student of Princess Celestia.” I see. No wonder she holds such power. As he looked at Twilight, she seemed to welt. He also heard a loud gulp. “N-no need to be so gracious, Rarity.” She came over to Sorin and extended a hoof. He gladly took it, firmly shaking hers. “Nice to meet you, Sorin,” she said with a genuine smile. “I’m afraid the pleasure is all mine, Twilight Sparkle,” he said gentlemanly before planting a gentle kiss on her hoof. She blushed before going back to all fours. “You can call me Twilight. I came here to help you since you were lost, right?” Sorin nodded. “I seemed to have lost my map on my travels, so I came to the nearest town I could find. I don’t know where I am, but would you be so kind as to help me?” Twilight jumped at the chance to help somepony, obliging to his request and practically dragging him out the door. This drew a laugh from Rarity, and Sorin smiled as well. “Thank you for assisting me, Rarity, and have a nice day.” Within a few minutes, Twilight had taken him to her home. As the stallion saw the treehouse, he was quite surprised. It was unlike anything else he had seen in Ponyville. “Here we are, THE LIBRARY!” she practically shouted in her nerdy tone. She opened the door and motioned for him to come in, which he did. Upon entering, the chiseled-out interior of the tree was on full display, a bed on the second story. Countless books lined the walls of the literal treehouse. “As you can see, this is where I live. I love being able to sleep so close to so many books.” She sat down at her desk, where she pulled out a map very similar to the one he had seen in Canterlot. “So, where were you headed?” “I was on my way to Ponyville before I lost my way,” he said as he came over to Twilight. “Lucky you, you managed to land yourself in Ponyville. We are in the official Ponyville library right now!” Sorin smiled at her. “Well then, it seems I know my navigation better than I remember,” he joked. “Since you helped me out, I might as well tell you why I wanted to come here in the first place.” Twilight pulled out a notebook and quill, ready to take notes. “I have always loved magic,” he began, her ears perking up, “so when I heard of a unicorn managing to fight off the infamous Nightmare Moon, I knew I had to meet this pony. I heard they lived in Ponyville, but sadly, I forgot to ask what their name was. “I wanted to meet this pony and exchange knowledge about magic. I find myself to be quite the scholar,” he finished, noticing how she reacted to his words and guessing she too studied magic based on her section of books labeled “Spells.” Using that, he crafted his story to find common ground with her. “Well… actually… I…” she stumbled, Sorin nodding for her to continue. “I am the pony who defeated Nightmare Moon. Well, it was actually my five friends and me using the Elements of Harmony to overpower her,” she admitted, feeling proud of the memory. “Oh? It was a pleasure to meet you before, but now I feel as if I should thank you for what you did, Twilight.” He did genuinely want to learn just how strong a pony could become. She blushed at this for a second before speaking. “If you want to thank somepony, thank all of my friends. I can bring them all here tomorrow morning if you want. Would you like that?” “I would love it.” “Then it’s a date,” she said before scribbling down more in her notebook. “Do you have a place to stay?” “I’m afraid not,” he said with a slightly sad tone and wearing a similar facial expression. “Don’t worry; you can stay here as long as you like.” “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” “I told you, you can just call me Twilight. And really, it’s nothing.” She left her desk and went to the center of the room. “There’s a spare room on the left upstairs,” she said while pointing for emphasis. “Oh, and I would love to discuss magic sometime; it is my passion and talent after all.” Sorin was surprised at how easy it was to convince Twilight to do such things. “I will be sure to take you up on that, Twilight.” “One last thing. Make sure to keep your gems in your room, or else—” Twilight started to say, being interrupted by the library door swinging open abruptly. Sorin whipped his head around with incredible speed and launched a small fireball from his horn towards the intruder. “Look at my—” the small, purple dragon started to say before being blasted by the fireball. The impact sent him a few feet back, and he wasn’t worried about the fire since his scales were fireproof after all. After hitting his head on the road outside, Spike stood up and wiped his eyes clear of smoke. “—dragon sculpture…” he deadpanned upon realizing the wooden sculpture of himself was now a small pile of ash at the library door. “SPIKE! Are you okay?!” Twilight screamed as she rushed over to the baby dragon. “I’m fine, just a little hot, that’s all,” he replied while patting the mare who was now hugging him. After the tender moment, she remembered who was responsible for hurting Spike. “Sorin! How could you just attack Spike like that?!” she said with rage, her face burning red now. Sorin raised an eyebrow at her sudden anger. The dragon was fine, was he not? “I thought someone was breaking in, so I retaliated. I did not realize he was welcome, so I apologize,” he said while bending down to the two. “At least that’s a good excuse. I forgive you—only because he is okay.” She let go of her favorite assistant and stood back up. “Next time, look before you blast. I am impressed by your reflexes, though,” she complimented, attempting to lighten the mood. It worked, as Sorin turned to Spike. “I do apologize for blasting you with a blazing inferno, but it seems you are unharmed, naturally.” The dragon snorted, blasting a small amount of smoke in the stallion’s face, but he didn’t seem to react in disgust as most ponies did. “Yea, except my sculpture got all burned up.” “I think I can fix that,” the stallion said with a grin as his horn lit up. Twilight turned to him with a confused look before she saw the nearby ashes come alive. They spun through the air and into Sorin’s now outstretched hoof. They stacked on top of each other as they shaped into a dragon and gained their brown color back. “I’m Sorin. Nice to meet you,” he said while presenting the repaired object to the dragon. The awed assistant took the wooden toy from Sorin, suddenly finding this pony far more interesting. “Nice to meet you too.” With that, Sorin stood back up, and Spike went back inside, studying the wood he was holding. Twilight approached the unicorn who had just changed matter’s state. “How did you do that?” she asked out of complete shock. He chuckled as he turned to her with a grin. “You’ll have to wait until that discussion,” he teased as he headed into the library and up to his room. The wooden door had a heart cut out near its top as a window and a metal knocker near its center. It screamed medieval. He turned the doorknob and went inside the room. A twin bed was along one wall, a nightstand next to it. There was a desk on the other side of the room, a candle resting on it. There was also a giant window on one wall, the last of the sunlight flooding through it and into the bedroom. He locked the door before trotting to the center of his new quarters. His horn sparked with dark energy as the area around him began to flicker. The furniture warped and shifted as a blue flash overtook Sorin’s vision. Suddenly, the room disappeared as he was sent somewhere else… Yogg-Saron grinned as he looked ahead. The moon had risen, and the citizens of Equestria had gone to their beds to rest. The God of Death was standing in front of a massive stretch of dry, grassy land. To the left, there were high-reaching mountains and the same to the right. In front of him, though, there was a mountain with a snowy flat top. He could sense something there as if it was calling out to him. A cold, wispy like wind nipped at his exposed fur, but to the Old God, it was nothing. His body did not like it, so he used his magic to warm himself. Such a spell did not require his horn to light up. He wore a wicked grin as he stepped forward towards his prize. He had already managed to make his way into the lives of the Elements and secure a place to live. He had also met the student of Celestia herself and formed a relationship. They did not call him the God of Deception for nothing...