//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Rise of an Arch-Nemesis: Hail the Tambelon Empire // by Lord Shadow Eclipse //------------------------------// Over 1,000 Years Ago Stygian was walking through the forest around the recently built Castle of the Two Sisters. The rest of the Pillars were inside the Castle having dinner with the new Princesses of the land. His friends were all laughing and having a great time speaking of their accomplishments. They were so distracted by their own merriment that they never saw him leave the room and the Castle. All they spoke of were their great accomplishments during the war. This war, which had been over for around ten years now, was with the surviving remnants of an ancient evil. An evil that had been initially fought against by the Unicorn Gusty the Great, one of the greatest Unicorns that ever lived. This great evil was the Tambelon Empire, an empire ruled by the tyrannical Grogar, the Father of Monsters. His creations helped Grogar rule over the Empire with an iron hoof. They had ruled over Equestria for a full millennia until the Great Gusty Rebellion formed to fight back against Grogar's hordes. After several years of fighting, Gusty had managed to defeat Grogar and finally free ponykind. The Dark Citadel of Tambelon had been destroyed. What remained of Grogar's armies were either killed in battle, fled into the wilderness, or were hunted down later. What bothered most about the war was the rumor that Grogar had selected a prince to take over in the event that he himself was defeated. But he was dead. Stygian and the Pillars, and later the Sisters, worked tirelessly to hunt down the monsters that still terrorized the ponies of Equestria. He had devoted himself to learning about the creatures they fought to defeat them. Despite him doing have of the work, his "friends" took all the credit. He wasn't a fighter. His strength was his mind. But it seemed that no one cared about the brains behind the brawn. "Would you like more raw power, dear Stygian?" a dark voice called to Stygian from the shadows. Stygian looked around the forest. He couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but trees and the shadows cast by the canopy. But he still had this feeling that he was being watched. "Who's there?!" he demanded loudly. The mysterious voice clicked its tongue. "Is that any way for a war hero to speak to one who's making you an offer?" "'War hero'? 'An offer'?" Stygian asked. "How can I trust the word of someone I can't see?" "Fair enough" the voice said. As Stygian watched, the shadows around him seemed to move. They seemed to slither like serpents. All of the shadows around him congregated to a single point a few feet in front of Stygian. Before his very eyes, the shadows actually formed a solid mass that began to rise from the ground. In a few seconds, the shadows took the form of what looked like a pony wearing a black hooded cloak. A snow-white muzzle jutted out from the hood. Stygian couldn't make out any other features aside from the obvious fact that this wasn't a Unicorn. That alone was odd since he obviously used some form of magic. He was also even taller than Rockhoof. The stranger looked down at Stygian with hidden eyes. "Who are you, stranger?" Stygian asked. The hooded smiled at Stygian and gave him a respectful bow. "I am simply a sorcerer wishing to help out a fellow scholar". "A scholar? You speak as though you know me as well as my comrades" Stygian said. "Oh I you very well. You were the one who conducted extensive research on the creatures you fought. You were the who thought of the best strategies to fight monsters. You are nothing short of heroic". Stygian looked at the ground away from the hooded pony. "Too bad no one else seems to think so. I just want a chance to earn some respect from my friends" "Your friends don't respect you?" "If they did, they've shown no indication of it. I do half of the work and yet I get no credit. Whenever I walk through the Castle halls or through the town, all I hear is the townsfolk praising the others, but they don't even know my name" "But you're a Unicorn, aren't you? You should be plenty powerful on your own" Stygian let out a cynical chuckle. There must've been something about that he found amusing. "I don't have strong magic. I've tried but I can't seem to grasp the usage of higher spells" "It is quite a shame that your peers seem to prefer raw power over intelligence. You deserve far better" Stygian seemed to remember something. He looked at the hooded pony with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. "You said earlier that you wanted to make me an offer. What exactly can you offer me?" A smile spread across the hooded pony's muzzle. Something about that smile was unnerving. "I have the ability to grant great power to others. What I'm offering you is the pure power to balance out your great intellect" From within his cloak, the mysterious stranger pulled out a small glass container filled with something black and seemingly gooey. The substance seemed to be looking right at Stygian. The hooded pony held the container out to him. "This is your key to the power to even surpass Starswirl himself. All you need to do is open this jar, and you will feel your own magic rise a thousand-fold" Stygian studied the jar with a healthy dose of scrutiny. He didn't get the feeling that this substance was harmful, but he wasn't sure if he would get stronger if he opened the jar. Besides, what did this stranger want from him? "Even if I agreed to this, what would you get out of this?" Stygian asked. "You would be misunderstanding me if you think I'm doing this for material gain. I have a bigger purpose than that" the stranger replied. "Which is?" "I wish to see a rise in one who is the prefect balance of brain and brawn. I want to see a greater legend than even Starswirl" The stranger said the wizard's name with a lot of venom. This stranger seemed to really hate him. Stygian looked at the jar and pointed at it. "If I use the contents of that jar, I will become stronger?" he asked. "You'll be the one to pass into even greater legends than the other Pillars". Stygian put a hoof to his chin in thought. If he used it, he could become a hero that could be even more powerful than Starswirl. He'd really love to be able to fight alongside his friends. But if he didn't use it, he'd more than likely fade from memory after he was gone. He would never be acknowledged for helping his comrades. He held out his hoof in front of the stranger. "Deal. I'll use it." The hooded stranger smiled and put the jar into Stygian's hoof. "You've just made a very wise decision. Just open the jar. The entity inside will handle the rest". "I would like to know your name, sir. I should know the name of the one I have to thank for this power" "Just call me a dark friend. That's all you need to know for now." Stygian used his magic to open the jar. The strange tar-like substance suddenly slithered up his foreleg and seemed to fade into his skin. After a few seconds, Stygian fell to the ground and started convulsing. The hooded figure just stood there and watched with a large smile on his face. Stygian stopped shaking after a few minutes and slowly opened his eyes. His eyes had become deep black orbs with streaks of darkness coming out form the outer corners. He stood back up and looked at the stranger with an excited smile on his face. "You were right!" he said with a distorted voice. "I can feel the power coursing through my body" The stranger smiled at Stygian. "You should show off your newfound power. Make your mark on the history of Equestria. In fact, here's an idea to test your new strength: challenge the other Pillars. Impress them with the strength of legions" "What will you do?" "I will be close by, don't worry. I'll see to it that you succeed". "Very well. Thank you, my Dark Friend" And with that, Stygian took off, making a beeline to the Castle of the Two Sisters. He would become the strongest being in Equestria. The hooded stranger watched with a smile. "I hope you like my present, Starswirl. Your pain will be most delicious" In Canterlot Castle- Modern Day Stygian awoke from his slumber with sweat pouring down his muzzle and neck. He wiped the sweat away from his brow and saw that it was morning. He sighed and leaned back in his cot. "Was that simply a dream? But why did it feel so... familiar?" he asked himself. He got out of bed and made his way to the dining room to eat with the Princess, her friends, and the rest of the Pillars. He walked through the double doors and sat down next to Starswirl. Princess Twilight sat at the head of the table and Pinkie was passing out the food. "Uh, Stygian?" a voice asked. Stygian shook his head to snap himself out of his thoughts. He looked to his left to see Starswirl looking at him with a hit of concern. "Sorry, old friend. I've been thinking about an unusual dream I had last night" Stygian said. "What was your dream about, lad?" Rockhoof asked. "It was about something about how I become the Pony of Shadows" Stygian replied. The mood in the room suddenly become much more dark and somber. Everyone looked at Stygian with a look of concern. "Buddy, if you want to talk about it, we're here to listen" Flash Magnus said. Stygian looked at the friends gathered around him and chose to speak. "It was a scene about the short while before the Darkness spoke to me. I was walking through what eventually became the Everfree Forest. Then, a voice called out to me from the shadows. The voice offered me great power and recognition. When I demanded that the voice reveal itself, the darkness manifested itself into the form of a white pony wearing a black cloak. The pony wasn't a Unicorn, but he was obviously using some bizarre form of magic. He produced a jar from his cloak containing the Darkness that corrupted me. He said that he wanted me to be a 'legend that would surpass all the other Pillars'. I opened the jar and became the Pony of Shadows. But after I left for the Castle of the Two Sisters, I heard the hooded pony say 'I hope you enjoy my present to you, Starswirl'" Stygian replied. Everyone at the table looked at Starswirl. Even he seemed disturbed about Stygian's dream. He seemed to recall something awful based on the look on his face. "Starswirl? What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "I too had an unsettling dream last night" Starswirl replied. "What happened?" Starlight asked. "I was leading an army against a horde of monsters. We were in the midst of battle when suddenly, my whole army turned to dust and blew away. All that was left was a smoking battlefield and a monster hordes glaring at me. Then, the creatures all started laughing at me. Twisted and maniacal laughter. The monstrous army before me parted to reveal... a white pony in a black cloak" Starswirl replied. The others in the room, especially Stygian, latched onto the mention of a white pony wearing a black cloak. It seemed too convenient to be a coincidence. "It doesn't end there, though" Starswirl continued. "The Cloaked Pony walked right up to me, looked down at me, and said 'I'm coming for you, Starry'" Flash Magnus looked even more concerned. "I saw the same figure in me dream last night." "I was leading a squadron of Pegasus soldiers through some mountains. Suddenly, a solar eclipse blocked out the sun. I tried to get my troops to the ground but they weren't there anymore. I suddenly found myself standing on a cliff looking at the eclipse. A sound came from behind me, like wings flapping. I turn around and the same Cloaked Pony was smiling at me. He looked right at me and said 'Your days are numbered'" "I also had a dream of this cloaked stallion!" Rockhoof exclaimed. "I was shoveling a defensive moat for a battle-worn fortress when a large Bugbear came out of the surrounding forest. I was about to fight the beast when a voice commanded it to stop. The beast looked back toward the forest and the Cloaked Pony started walking towards us. As he walked toward me, the day was rapidly turning to night. Soon, it was completely dark, without even the light of the stars. The Cloaked One leaned his head towards me and said 'The light can't keep you safe forever'" "The dream I had was quite a fright, as well" Mage Meadowbrook said. "I was in my clinic preparing medicine for a patient when suddenly my home tree started to rot. I went outside to see what was wrong. My whole swamp was rotting. The trees were dying and the water was turning into stagnant slime. The Cloaked Pony appeared from behind a tree. He smiled at and touched his hoof to the tree. The tree started to rot even faster. Then he walked toward me and said 'Your world will burn'. Scared me half to death" Mistmane spoke next. "I dreamt that I was tending to a lush garden of night-blooming flowers when the flowers all suddenly began to rot and decay quickly. I looked around and saw the Cloaked Pony simply tap his hoof against one of the flowers. The flower began to wilt and die in a matter of seconds. Then he simply whispered 'I will devour the light'." Finally, everyone looked to Somnambula. She nodded in understanding. "I too experienced a dream with the same Cloaked Pony. I was walking through the temple where the Sphinx used to live. I was attempting to fill in the trap she had there when the Sphinx suddenly returned to the temple with the Cloaked Pony riding on her back. He gazed at me, smiled, and said 'Let me devour you'." These dreams about the Cloaked Pony were becoming quite disturbing. The Pillars were all looking to Starswirl, who had the gravest look on his face. Twilight decided to speak. "Do you know this Cloaked Pony?" she asked. "Well, the fact that we all dreamt about a mysterious Cloaked Pony who appears to know who we are seems too convenient to be coincidence. Besides, in all our years of fighting monsters, there's only one I can think of that vaguely fits the Cloaked Pony's profile" he replied. "Who is it?" Rainbow asked. The Pillars looked to each other with haunted looks on their faces. The Bearers knew that something about this Cloaked One spooked them to their cores. Flash Magnus cleared his throat. "You see, a little over a thousand years ago, we fought against a very powerful monster. A creature that was very old, but very powerful. He was so feared that historians refused to write about him. They were trying to forget that ancient horror". "Who was this 'ancient horror'?" Fluttershy asked in a trembling voice. "Its name was Shadow Eclipse" Starswirl replied. When Starswirl didn't elaborate further, Twilight decided to probe the other Pillars. Surely they knew something about this "Shadow Eclipse" creature. "What kind of creature was he?" Twilight asked. "Shadow Eclipse, according to the existing records of him at the time, was a vampire" Stygian said. The girls all collectively gasped. "Wait, this creature was a vampire?! I thought vampires were only myths!" Rarity exclaimed. "Well, Shadow Eclipse was a vampire. But not just any vampire, but the First Vampire. He created the entire vampire species" Flash said. "Vampires actually existed! Who knew?!" Pinkie said loudly. "They did exist. And we hunted them to extinction. That's why you grew up thinking them to be legends. There hasn't been a single reported case of a vampire infestation for a thousand years" Mistmane said. "Were they just like the legends say they are?" Rainbow asked. "Yes. They possessed many supernatural talents. They also fed on the blood of ponies" Somnambula said. "And this Shadow Eclipse guy is the First Vampire?" Applejack asked. "Indeed he was. Being the First, he has many powers and abilities his children didn't" Rockhoof said. "There was a creature that old and powerful and you fought him?" Twilight asked. "Fought him and won" Starswirl said. "If this First Vampire is in your dreams, does that mean he's still around?" Pinkie asked. Starswirl shook his head vigorously. "It's not possible. He died centuries ago" Twilight squinted at her hero. "Are you sure?" "We were all there, Twilight. I watched him die myself" he replied. "If he's dead, why are you all having dreams about him?" Fluttershy asked. "Not sure. Maybe we're experiencing traumatic past memories through dreams?" Rockhoof suggested. "Either way, if he was still alive, we'd kick his butt easily!" Rainbow said proudly. "You don't want to fight him, Rainbow!" Starswirl yelled. Everyone in the room fell silent. They had never heard Starswirl yell like that before. The subject of Shadow Eclipse must be quite raw for him. After calming himself, Starswirl spoke softly. "I'm sorry for yelling, Rainbow Dash" he apologized. "But Lord Eclipse was nothing you or your friends have ever faced before. And for your sake, I hope you never do". And with that, the conversation was truly over. Wishing to get off the grim subject of this Shadow Eclipse creature, Twilight spoke. "Why don't we all get ready to leave for the Crystal Empire? They're hosting the Equestria Games again this year. This time, all the world's leaders will be having their athletes participating" Twilight said with a smile. At least the mood in the room brightened somewhat. After breakfast, they all left to get ready for the long journey ahead. In the Forests Outside Trottingham- Sunset Two young children, a filly and a colt, were playing hide and go seek in the vast forests around Trottingham. The filly ran out ahead of them as it was her turn to hide. After waiting for the sun to go down, she found the perfect hiding spot: a hollow tree trunk. She climbed inside and waited for her friend to find her. Or attempt to find her. She held a hoof to her mouth to keep from laughing. A collection of sounds snapped the young filly out of her revelry. There was a small hole in the hollowed trunk for her to look out in the forest. To her horror, a large horde of armored monsters burst forth from the brush. There were monsters of various species making up this horde. There were goblins, trolls, Saurians, gnolls, Lamias, ogres, and Lycans to name a few. All of them were wearing black armor and carried vicious-looking weapons. All of them carried a small flag on their backs with a foreign crest. The flag was dark blue with a white crest in solid white. It appeared to be a waning crescent moon with a bat's wing flaring out from the inner bend. The monster horde all seemed to be moving in a singular direction with a clear sense of purpose. Monsters normally didn't gather in groups like this to begin with. Unless a darker power was leading them. The filly concluded that something was calling these monsters somewhere. "Hurry up, troops!" an Orc called to them. "Remember, the Master wants us to meet him in Undertown in two days!" Master? Undertown? What's going on here?, the filly thought. She was keeping quiet as a plant to make sure the monsters couldn't find her. She waited until the entire horde had passed by and even stayed in the trunk for a few more minutes to be safe. The filly climbed out of the trunk and hurried back to the direction she came from. She ran into her friend along the way. "You were supposed to hide!" her friend chastised. "That doesn't matter! We have to go!" the filly cried. Seeing the fear and panic on his friend's face, the colt grabbed her shoulders. "What's wrong?" he asked calmly. "I saw monsters. Armored monsters. We have to let the Princess know about this!" the filly replied. The colt took stock in what she was saying she witnessed. At least he believed her. "Alright, let's go tell the adults about this. If we can get them to not yell at us for playing in the forest after dark" the colt said. The two foals made their way back to town to tell the adults. Something was gathering monsters to it. Something sinister. Something... evil.