//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: Duel // Story: Death Cometh // by Dracthul //------------------------------// “So what you’re telling me is that diplomats from Yakyakistan are threatening us with war?” “Mmhm,” Celestia hummed. “And you want me to help how?” “Since you were so stern with the Stonesplitters, I’m hoping you can convey a sense of strength to them. Equestria cannot handle a war right now, and tensions are high.” “Okay. Convince them that they don’t want to fight us. Got it.” “Thou dost ‘got it,’ Sorin,” Luna said. “The Yaks shall be expecting a stance from thee. It’s time for you to show it.” “Alright. Let’s do this,” he confidently said. Nodding, Celestia opened the doors with her magic. He and Luna followed her into the chamber, taking their three seats at the large, circular table that took up most of the spacious room. Things like maps and documents were laid out on the fine table. As soon as the three took their seats, one of the two Yak diplomats started talking. “Us Yaks have been neglected in your trade. You promised us fifty-thousand pounds of food, but you shipped us only half that. We gave you our goods, but you withheld yours!” The other butted in, saying, “Yaks have been struggling to get food because of it. The young ones are going hungry, and you are responsible for it!” “I’m sure it was a simple shipping error. We can fix it ri—” Celestia tried to reason. “No!” one of the diplomats shouted, slamming their hooves down on the table and startling her. “Yaks want war with Equestria!” “Surely we can come to an agreement,” Luna began, “something that will remedy the affair. Perhaps we could ship you the rest immediately and raise the amount of food for the next five years to make up for our mistake?” She gave them a smile, hoping to win them over. The two diplomats turned to each other, whispering to one another. After a moment of deliberation, they turned back around. “Yaks will not be bribed into submission, pony,” one of them harshly said. “As we said before, we declare war upon—” “You dare come to our domain and threaten us with fleeting declarations of war?!” a stern voice yelled, overpowering the Yak who was talking. Everypony looked to Prince Sorin, who leaned forward in his chair with a scowl. “We offered you an incredibly generous offer to make up for a simple mistake, and you throw it in our faces with the threat of war?” He scoffed. “You may think of ponies as weak, fragile creatures—and we are to an extent—but I tell you this: you have never seen a male alicorn before. You have no idea what I am capable of.” He rose from his seat, shooting daggers at the suddenly quiet Yaks. “I will shape this nation into a machine of war, bringing about an army like you have never seen and crush your pathetic uprising if I must. You do not want war with a nation with access to a vast array of resources, production, and money. You do not want war with Equestria!” Huffing loudly, he slowly lowered into his seat, taking a breath. He calmly said, “I suggest you think this matter over and accept our reparations.” Utterly shocked by the intimidating presence of the new alicorn, the Yaks turned to one another. After a tense moment, they turned back to the princesses. “We accept your offer.” “Thank you,” Celestia said with a warm smile as if nothing had happened. “Now, let’s get to this paperwork, shall we?” “Thank you for your help convincing the Yaks to stop pursuing war.” “I couldn’t let them declare war over something so simple,” Sorin responded to Celestia. “I feel thou did wonderfully,” Luna said. “You made Equestria appear strong—which we needed. My sister and I acted as the understanding counter to your stern stance, making our offer appeal to them.” “Well done,” Celestia summarized. “That’s everything we planned for your introduction to being an alicorn. I look forward to having you by our side.” “Thank you both.” The white alicorn nodded before flying off into the distance, leaving Sorin alone with Luna. “Thank you once again. As a token of my gratitude, I want to give you something I came up with before you came to the castle. It’s in my quarters.” “Okay.” Her horn glowed as she prepared to teleport them both to the living quarters within Canterlot Castle. A blue flash brought them to a pair of black doors. Luna opened them inward with her magic, waving a hoof at her room. “Please, go in.” Sorin went inside, looking around the bedroom. It was similar to Celestia’s, but she had vastly different decorations. The ceiling had glowing stars that resembled the night sky, each one of them twinkling. Opposite of the queen-sized bed shaped like a crescent moon, there was a fireplace that came to life, orange flickers dancing on the wood logs and lighting up the room. He saw a long bookshelf with all kinds of tomes on it. A small desk was in the corner with ink and quills on it, a brown piece of paper with black scribbles at its center. By her bed were four adorable black slippers with moons on them. “This room is awesome.” “Thank you. I tried to make it comforting, but there aren’t any couches, I’m afraid.” “No worries.” She went over to a wall, leaning the tip of her horn on it. Before he could ask what she was doing, a blue glow formed a door-shaped outline on the wall. The shape materialized, and she opened the hidden closet. “We hope you will find this most satisfactory.” She pulled a suit of armor out from the compartment and held it in front of her for him to see. Saying he found it satisfactory was an understatement. In front of him was armor fitting of a god. Made of the darkest obsidian plating, it had a flawless shine. It had metal spikes in all the right places, and it would cover everything below his neck. There was a blue flaming orb implanted in the front part of the chest to top it all off. It matched his eyes perfectly. There were even horseshoes that went with the suit. They looked similar to the horseshoes of every royal, but his were made of steel. “It’s perfect, Luna.” “Truly?” “Of course! I love it.” Her face lit up as she saw the genuine smile on his face. He took the armor from her grasp and tossed his cloak aside. With a simple spell, the armor appeared on his body, fitting him snuggly. He lifted a foreleg, the plating bending to match his movement. He grinned, feeling ever closer to a king. “How did you get the measurements so exact?” he asked. “I may have bribed Rarity to get them,” she sheepishly replied. “I was going to tease you, but this is too incredible for me to even comment. Thank you, Luna.” She felt warm and fuzzy inside as he gave her a million-dollar smile. The armor made him look even better than he did before, and he trotted around the room to see how he looked. The horseshoes made a distinct “clang” as he moved, making him sound heavy. As he stopped prancing around, she went over to him. “We must admit that we have an ulterior motive as to why we gave you the armor.” “Oh?” “Yes. We were hoping you could test it out by training some of our thestrals.” “Thestrals?” he asked, unfamiliar with the term. “They are the ‘batponies’ that make up the Lunar Guard. They carried my carriage to Ponyville on Nightmare Night.” “Oh, those chaps! Yes, I remember.” “So, will you help train them?” “What would you need me to do?” “W-well,” she stammered, looking down at the ground, “we were hoping you could fight them.” “That sounds kind of dangerous, Luna.” She looked up at him with wide eyes that resembled a puppy’s. “Please? We’ll make sure you aren’t seriously hurt.” Not being able to deny her look, he gave in. “Alright, I’ll do it.” “Thank you!” She wrapped him into a hug, careful to avoid his spikes. He patted her back with a foreleg, slightly confused by her outburst. She pulled away with an awkward expression. “We are sorry for that.” “Would this duel happen now?” Sorin asked, changing the subject. “Yes. I’ll be back soon to get you. Make yourself at home.” With a flash, she was gone. Sorin shrugged, sitting down on the edge of her bed. He did not have to wait long because she appeared moments later. “Ready?” “Ready,” he answered, preparing for the teleport. A second later, and he was standing in an open space. The ground was considerably dusty, and the air was strange. He could tell he was still in Canterlot; he just did not know where. “My loyal soldiers,” Luna yelled, drawing the attention of the twenty thestrals nearby. They all stepped towards her, lining up and bowing. “You make up the best of the Lunar Guard, but there is always room to improve thy skills. Prince Sorin here will teach you a lesson or two.” Realizing that each of the guards was large, had a complete set of armor, and had a spear, Sorin suddenly felt nervous. “The only rule is that you shall not seriously harm him. Understand?” They all nodded. She trotted over to the sidelines, taking a seat. “You may begin!” The twenty thestrals spurred into action instantly, charging towards him. They opened their wings and took flight, preparing to dive. Rolling out of the way, Sorin narrowly avoided twenty stab wounds. “I wasn’t expecting this!” he shouted to Luna while deflecting a spear with an armored hoof. “You’ll do fine!” I should never have agreed to this. I have to make it look like I am still a normal pony. He flipped backward with his wings, firing a beam of energy at one of his opponents. Not expecting the blast, the guard was sent flying. Another spear came at his head, but he met it with his horn, shattering the weapon’s handle. Sorin then jumped up and kicked the guard to the ground. Quickly getting back up, the batpony charged. Sorin stirred a cloud of dust with his wings, moving to the side of his enemy and ramming into him hard. He then shot into the air, aiming at another with his horn. Instead of using an energy beam, he caused the ground to explode, knocking two thestrals out cold. Feeling confident again, he dove into the dust cloud he made and took a sharp turn. He flew into a surprised guard, forcing them both to the ground. Sorin grabbed the spear that almost hit his chest, snapping it in half. He used his other hoof to punch the guard on the helmet, knocking him out with a “pang.” Seeing somepony out the corner of his eye, he jumped to his hooves. The end of a spear shattered as it hit his armored side. Grinning, he pummelled the pony to the ground with a kinetic spell. He leaped at another, using his magic to throw the pony’s spear away. He teleported, appearing behind the guard. He used a quick spell to power his legs, and then he reared back and kicked his foe as hard as he could. The quiet thump on the ground was confirmation of his hit. Five more thestrals were closing in on him, but he let them come. His horn burned bright as he charged a spell. Not realizing what he was doing, the guards sped up and raised their weapons. He released the torrent of energy, creating a shockwave strong enough to flip them onto their backs. He then leaped into the air. Eight. Sorin was knocked from the sky, causing him to roll across the ground. He quickly stood up, just in time to see a guard rushing him. No weapon. The two clashed, and he ducked under and pushed upward on his adversary. The pony was forced onto his hindlegs, and Sorin took advantage of the opportunity. He swept the two legs, causing the pony to fall. All he saw was a hoof coming down on the side of his face. Seven. Luna realized that her guards were falling faster than she thought they would. Even though Sorin was an alicorn, he was making her Lunar Guard seem like a joke. She decided to join the fray, flying towards him. He barely noticed her as she rushed him, rolling on the ground to avoid her. He then uppercut another guard. “Joining the fight, are you, princess?” he taunted in a lighthearted manner. She did not see the humor, scowling as she turned around. He prepared to dodge her attack, but she teleported forward, punching him before he could avoid the blow. His head whipped around, making a sickening “crack” as it did. Sorin shook his jaw, thoroughly annoyed. Without thinking, he fired a magic blast from his horn at her speeding form. Before he could redirect the spell, it clipped her barrel, bursting on impact. Luna went tumbling out of the air, crashing onto the ground hard. “Oops.” “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!” she screamed, already on her hooves. Thinking he was distracted, a thestral threw his spear at Sorin. The alicorn disappeared as the spear hit, causing it to just barely bounce off his armor. The guard looked up to see a bright light coming towards him from Luna’s horn. He raised his hooves in defense but was blasted away. Five. Sorin snickered, finding humor in the guard’s foolishness. He was repaid by a similar blast exploding right next to him, causing him to go rolling across the ground, rocks slicing his face. His black blood spilled, but he quickly forced it back into his body, sealing his wounds. He was angry now.  As he whipped around, he narrowly dodged a beam. He shot two guards before avoiding another blast. He teleported out the way of another, firing a shot of his own to impact one of hers. The two collided, blinding him for a second. Luna came at him, pulling up before she could hit him, and turned the ground below him to ice. He tried to move, suddenly finding his legs stuck. He looked down to see ice covering his hooves. He melted it away with his horn, seeing a bright blue flash above him. He put up a shield around himself just in time to deflect what she had fired at him. Most of the projectiles bounced off of him, exploding randomly and happening to take out two ponies. After hitting the magical barrier, the last bolt shot back to where it came, almost shooting Luna out of the sky. Luckily, she was able to roll in the air, but that left her vulnerable. She looked in front of her with wide eyes to see Sorin only a few feet away. He jumped up, grabbing onto her midsection. Feeling his full weight and finding the breath knocked from her, her wings tensed up. She then started to fall towards the ground. Sorin took the brunt of the impact, his back impacting on a rock and cracking it. He held her tightly as he bounced on the ground. They flipped, causing him to come down on something soft. Sorin slowly got onto his forelegs, feeling the pain of the fall. He wiped his eyes of the dust and refocused them. He looked down to see Luna directly under him with a goofy smile plastered on her face. “Are you alri—” he started to say before she forced her lips into his. He quickly caught himself with both of his front legs, utterly confused. Why is she doing this to me?! He pulled his head back slightly, finding her with an even goofier smile that changed into an intense blush as she lowered down. He got off of her, letting her stand up before he did the same. “W-we do not know what came over us,” she babbled, looking down. “We apologize for that.” This could prove to my advantage… “No need to apologize, Luna,” Sorin said while dusting himself off. He gave her a reassuring smile as she looked up. Before she could speak, the sound of hoofsteps drew their attention. “Are you alright?” the last guard standing asked both of them as he came running through the cloud of dust. “We are. Thank you.” Sorin went over to the guard, patting him on the shoulder. “You did well. Consider yourself honored.” He then walked past the thestral, who saluted them both. “I think a promotion is in order,” Luna hinted to the guard. Lowering his hoof, he smiled. After the impromptu battle, Sorin was exhausted. His body needed to relax, so he met with the sisters one last time, thanking them for their help and wishing them farewell. He then hopped onto the next train to Ponyville, eager to return home. He eventually made it to the station, getting off with nothing to carry. He got a few strange looks as he walked into the small town. He did not know whether it was because he had wings or armor. As he walked into the town square, he was met with a strange sight. Next to the six Elements was Discord, free from his stone prison. Sorin charged towards the Lord of Chaos, not noticing Princess Celestia nearby. He charged his horn and ripped a spell towards the draconequus. A yellow shield appeared around him, causing the spell to fizzle away on impact. “Stop!” Fluttershy shouted, which made Sorin pause. “Discord’s reformed!” Slowing down to a stop, he looked at her in disbelief. “He is?” “Yes,” Celestia answered, trotting over to him. “Fluttershy, with the help of her friends, was able to convince Discord that friendship was something he valued. He promised to use his magic for good.” How did she actually manage to reform him! He is Discord, the Lord of Chaos, yet turned to Harmony so quickly? “Which brings me to why I need his help,” she continued. She looked at all seven ponies and Discord. “As you may have noticed, Sorin here has changed.” They all looked at the stallion, seeing his wings and armor. “You’re an alicorn!” Twilight shouted. “He is. The changeling invasion awakened him, and my sister and I helped show him some things. Equestria now knows of Prince Sorin.” The Lord of Chaos walked over to him, extending a lion paw. “Discord, Lord of Chaos. Nice to meet you, Prince Sorin.” Sorin took his paw, shaking it, when he felt a sudden spark. He could sense that the Void magic within Discord was pure, which confirmed his previous suspicion of the draconequus. It almost brought a tear to his eye. Luckily, the other party could not feel the spark. Discord cleared his throat rudely. “I sense that you’re about to tell us something big, aren’t you, princess?” “I’m afraid so,” she replied with a sigh. She looked back at everypony. “I need to tell you all something that you can tell no pony else. Do you understand?” “Of course. What is it?” Twilight asked, a little worried at her mentor’s serious tone. “With the help of a new alicorn and Discord’s magic, I hope we can find our new enemy.” “Enemy?” Twilight repeated. “My sister and I have been looking for him, but it has been useless. We need all the help we can get in searching for this monster. He is not from this world, and he managed to escape a prison strong enough to contain an alicorn.” Everypony gasped. “We only know that he is a creature far more evil than anything Equestria has faced before. His title alone tells us that.” “You sound scared, Celestia,” Discord said. “Who is this monster you speak of?” The princess gulped. “His name is Yogg-Saron, the God of Death.” Sorin ground his teeth as he heard the princess finish talking. Despite Discord and the Elements now knowing of his existence, Yogg-Saron was delighted. After all, the time had come for him to seize control of the dreamworld.