//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Sword of The Lord // Story: The Sorcerer Supreme of Earth // by Vishanti //------------------------------// Doctor Strange was being taken to a hospital as the ponies in white coats led his stretcher through the dull halls so they could take him room to treat his hand. Doctor Strange nearly chuckles, finding it ironic for having the title of doctor and yet he is being treated as a patient. His doctors took him to a white and pine green room. They removed his blood coated glove to see a gaping cut wound on his hand. Doctor Strange can feel the numbness as Silver Dagger probably cut through his nerves.  Fortunately, the wound is not too big, so his hand will be healed back to norm.  The doctors added some disinfected before applying some bandages. A unicorn used a spell to x-ray to find anything broken around his body. So far, only a few cracks on the back of the rib cage that they could mend with ease. Doctor Strange got up from the stretcher and stretched himself, then feeling back his hand. He turns to the doctors in the room. “Thank you for the help, doctors.” He said gratefully. But before the doctors could stop him and suggest he stay for a full rest, Doctor Strange quickly flew away through a window nearby. Doctor Strange looks over his tunic, or what remains of it. He groans, “Should have learned a repair spell at least.” He grumbles.  He gazes over the city from above, flying past any pegasus that looks at him weirdly. He flies down to an alley, the same one where he made a portal to Silver Dagger’s location. The portal was still there, he also noticed two Royal Guards that stood guard by the portal. They both notice his arrival as they salute to him? He shook his head from the thought as he walked towards them. “Good afternoon, gentle… men? Stallions? Colts?” He asks while confused what to call them, wondering if what he said is offensive or respectful. The Royal Guards didn’t react, just standing there as if unaware of his words. He finds their behavior odd but couldn’t judge how their military system works, or at least, he thinks their military system is how the Royal Guards behave, all motionless and expressionless to not let the enemy get to their emotions, from what he assumes. “I’ll just pass through, if you don’t mind.” He said as he slowly walked past the odd ponies to enter the portal. One step into the portal and he was already into the same grand room he once was in combat against Silver Dagger. Just the thought of Silver Dagger scares him. Silver Dagger was the only villain that almost ended his life, which he knew multiple tried, but Silver Dagger was much closer if it wasn’t for the princesses who saved him in time. He scans around the large room, seeing a few Royal Guards, a hole on the ceiling from his last fight, and the many plates of armor lying around on the floor. He grins at the thought of easily mopping the floor with the empty suits. Doctor Strange walks to a Royal Guard that was close, hoping this one wasn’t silent. And bless the eternal Vishanti it was the female Royal Guards that tagged along. “Hello.” Doctor Strange greeted from behind, surprising the Royal Guard with a startle, especially at the sight of his dried blood glove and ripped tunic as she jumped. “Oh! Oh, hi, Mr. Strange.” She greeted him back.  The sorcerer’s eye twitches at the nickname but ignores it. “I was wondering if you know where the princesses are. I wish to continue to help alongside them.” He said. She nodded, “Sure, let me lead you to them.” She then guided him through the corridors of the castle. Doctor Strange looks at the halls as if they were decorated with crimson drapes, small tables with lit wax candles, shelves with books that have English writings, and finally a portrait of a human family of four. One man standing in the back, a possibly wedded couple sitting while the woman held a baby in her arms. He looked at the bottom of the portrait and saw a small metal sign connected to the portrait reading; “The Krowler-Mordo Family”. Both the sorcerer and Royal Guard stopped at the entrance of some study room. They spot the Princesses currently investigating any trails of the murderer. Luna searched one side of the room while her sister, Celestia, searched the other as both didn’t notice Doctor Strange nor the female Royal Guard. “Ahem.” Doctor Strange cleared his throat catching the attention of the royal alicorn sisters. Both the sisters turned to see Doctor Strange in his current condition. “Kept you waiting, huh?” he said with a grin. “Doctor? What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at a hospital currently resting.” Celestia said with Luna agreeing with her. “And miss out on all the fun? I think not.” Doctor Strange said, walking closer to the princesses.  “Besides, you’re gonna need my help in finding where Silver Dagger is. He isn’t anywhere where you think we are.” He said, confusing the ponies currently in the room. “What do thou mean, Doctor Strange?” Luna asked. “What I mean is, we’re not where you think we are, we are in my home world: Earth.” He explained. They all looked at him with a raised brow, confused. “Earth?” The Royal Guard repeated, sounding out the word unfamiliar to her. Doctor Strange nodded. “Yes. The reason why I say this is because I found out that the items I found around here are earth related. The portrait of four humans, my kind, and the English writings on the books I found. I believe our writings are different, right?” “I suppose so. If what you said is true, then where are we?” Celestia asks. Doctor Strange hums. “I never thought of that. Eye of Agamotto!” He sang as if calling out a long time friend. The eye opens from its slumber, it then flies out of its resting chamber amulet and flies away, flying through halls until it stops at the hole at the ceiling. It flies through the hole and scans around the area. Once it does, it sends the information telepathically to its master. Doctor Strange receives it well and informs the others. “Well, I am proud to announce to you that we are in Transylvania, a region of Romania.” “Fascinating, a whole different world.” Luna says with a bit of excitement. “As fun as it sounds to explore a new world, we must search for the murderer.” Celestia said, completely killing her sister’s mood. “Silver Dagger, his name is Silver Dagger.” Doctor Strange reminds Celestia. “Yes, the murderer that is named Silver Dagger. Thank you.” Celestia concedes. “We still need to know where he is planning to go, is there anything you two found?” Doctor Strange asks. Celestia shakes her head, “No, we tried to search through these books but there is a language barrier as we cannot understand these writings.” Celestia explains as she lifts a book from a table with a levitation spell. Doctor Strange takes the book and opens it, looking over the pages as he reads the contents of its horrible dark spells of resurrection of the dead with a heavy price and other unforgivable curses that would make even the bravest men’s skin crawl. Unfortunately, none of these pages says anything of Silver Dagger’s plan or the other “cloaked stranger” that Silver Dagger mentioned. These books are just ancient texts from a darker origin. “No, sorry. Nothing here mentions anything about Silver Dagger, or the other person that he mentioned.” Doctor Strange said, putting the book down. Luna thinks before she gets an idea. “Why not use thy enchanted amulet to locate this Silver Dagger like before?” She asks. Doctor Strange blinks, “Honestly, I never thought of that.” He admits blankly.  Somewhere in New York, a mundane rental warehouse that houses a cult of zealous fanatics, armed with machine guns and silver bullets, wearing black uniforms of a priest with a giant cross plastered onto their chest, all of which are discussing in their weekly meetings in their never ending “holy war” against the “sinners”, which were the werewolf biker gang known as Braineater. As the folks talk about plans and strategies, Silver Dagger intrudes in from the shadows. “Silver Dagger?” One of the men spoke, all the men and women turned and were shocked to see their old leader.  “Is that you? I thought you were dead!” Another said. The whole cult were in disbelief as they witness their former leader right in front of them. Silver Dagger smirks. “I have returned to regain my squad once more!” He declares. No one knew what to say, all except one. “Lies! You are not Silver Dagger! You are an imposter, and a work of the devil!” A man replies as he points his machine gun toward Silver Dagger. He pulled the trigger as Silver Dagger jumped behind some crates. The silver bullets pierce through the wooden crates making Silver Dagger run to hide behind different crates. Silver Dagger pulls out a dagger and chucks it to the machine gun as it disarms the man holding it. He pounces the man before he could even react, placing another dagger to the man’s neck.  “Enough of this!” Silver Dagger scowls, standing up straight as he glares at the whole cult. “I have returned from the dead to reclaim my people, to once again lead the crusade in the name of the lord!” He announced. The members of the Sword of the Lord didn’t know what to say or what to do. Until one older member of the cult steps forward. “Is what you say true? Will you really lead our people into glory once more?” the old man asks. Silver Dagger smirks once again. “I swear it upon the lord’s name.” He said as he relaxed his shoulders, knowing he had easily regained leadership from his squad. “Though I am happy to be back, I brought a friend who will help us take out our number one enemy.” He said “Who?” A female member asks. The Cloaked Strange walks away from the shadows as he steps next to Silver Dagger, revealing himself to Silver Dagger’s people. “Greetings…” Back with Doctor Strange and the princesses, including the Royal Guard battalion. Doctor Strange has found a trail with the help of the Eye of Agamotto and discovered their location. They all are currently on top of the roof of the warehouse as the sorcerer and alicorns gaze from above, seeing through the glass windows where they can see the cult members in spot lights. “And here I thought the cult died after fighting the braineaters. I suppose some members survived just like Jack Russel.” Doctor Strange commented. Celestia fell into a conundrum, “I’m sorry, what?” She asks.  Doctor Strange shook his head. “Nothing, just some news I read online years ago. Got any plan how we should handle this? Normally I just break in through the window for dramatic effect or appear from the shadows, but after my encounter with Silver Dagger, I suppose an individual stealth take down could be optional.” He said, open minded to any ideas. “I believe the stealth option is a good idea, it would make things easier by reducing the chance of injuries of our Royal Guards, if they’re as skilled as Silver Dagger.” Luna said, liking the idea. “We’ll have the Royal Guards block any possible exits so no one escapes while you, my sister and I will personally take down any of these accomplices we come by.” Luna explained. “Excellent idea, Luna.” Celestia praised. “Then we’re all set then. Order your guards into position.” Doctor Strange commanded. The Royal Guards did as they were ordered, blocking any possible escape routes. The princesses had to use a spell to quiet their metal slippers on their hoofs as they wouldn’t want to attract attention with the sound of metal clapping against the hard floors. They didn’t use a teleportation spell for it would also attract attention with the whole sparkly noise and a flash of light, the only viable way to sneak inside would be by Strange’s portal as it creates less noise and has the brightness of a lava lamp. As they step through they hide behind some crates, away from any cult member’s sight. The sorcerer and alicorn princesses snuck through the jungle of wooden crates and cardboard boxes, making sure they weren’t spotted by anyone. They all split up to cover more ground, getting close to any cult members from behind to take them out in a sleep spell. Silver Dagger and the mysterious Cloaked Stranger can be seen visibly in light, planning to make use of the information they have gathered from the book they’ve stolen. “What are they looking for?” Doctor Strange muttered under his breath, taking guesses of what use they have for a book. He passed by multiple cult members that he had managed to cast to a deep slumber, catching them before they could hit the floor and cause a ruckus. There were only a few remaining cult members left, nothing they couldn't handle, except for maybe Silver Dagger. From Doctor Strange’s experience, he was magic proof from his enchanted daggers and armed with dark magic. He had to think of something, a way to beat Silver Dagger and the other accomplice he mentioned, the Cloaked Stranger. As the sorcerer and princesses grouped together with the shadows to their advantage. They prepared to confront the last multiple members head on to put an end to this. Doctor Strange conjured a few Ruby Rings of Raggador and flung them to knock them all out; he managed to take down a cult member or two. This alerted the few remaining as they quickly armed themselves and pointed their machine guns in Doctor Strange’s direction. Doctor Strange formed a larger Ring of Raggador to block all silver bullets as the Sword of the Lord cult emptied their mags. The shield began to slowly crack from the silver bullets as they are made with the same material as Silver Dagger’s daggers. Dark magic that can counter magic. With their mags empty, Doctor Strange spinned his whole body to give out a powerful throw of his shield, like what Captain America would do with a large circular object in hand. The shield hit all who weren’t quick witted as they were flown off and out cold. Those who were fast were able to duck under or move out of the way while quickly reloading. The Princess intervened as they levitated their weapons out of their grasp and took them out with the butt of their machine guns against their heads.  Silver Dagger was enraged by his already taken out members of his grand cult. “Damn you all to hell! You may have taken my Sword of the Lord, but I will not fall so easily!” He swears as he throws a few daggers he had left. Doctor Strange and the princesses dodged as best as they could, either sidestepping or ducking under. Silver Dagger pulled out a light grenade, pulled the pin and threw it down to their feet and hoofs. The grenade triggered and flashed a blinding light and loud noise that hindered their senses and hearing. This gave Silver Dagger time to retreat behind some crates before opening one, he smiles sinisterly as he grabs exactly what he is looking for. He arms himself with two machine guns. He aims them at the sorcerer and the princesses, who managed to quickly recover. He pulled the trigger and released a flurry of bullets that rained upon them. The Princess protected themselves with a shield bubble as Doctor Strange protected himself with a mandala disk. Their respective shields began to crack as Silver Dagger skillfully reloaded to keep up barraging them with silver bullets relentlessly without falter.  Doctor Strange took the risk by getting closer to Silver Dagger, focusing on mystic shield to stay firm. Doctor Strange pushes on through, even when his allies discouraged him from risking his life. Doctor Strange now stands in front of Silver Dagger, both glaring each other with hatred in their eyes. Silver Dagger still kept up with firing, Doctor Strange now focuses on his amulet. He must do it quickly or the shield will break instantaneously.  “By the Eye of Agamotto! Let the blinding light freeze you!” The eye opens once more unleashing a beam of light as it blinds Silver Dagger in place, he finally stops firing as he drops his guns and places his hands on his eyes. With this moment of advantage Doctor Strange drops his shield and blasts Silver Dagger back to crash into boxes of crates. Doctor Strange slowly breathes, thinking it is over.  “It is… finally over.” He let out a breath, exhausted from the usage of magic for the shield, the sleep spells and transportation. Suddenly, a dagger flew from the broken wooden crates and struck Doctor Strange by the shoulder, he let out a groan of pain as his body jolted back, falling to the ground. “Doctor!” Celestia cried out. A sinister chuckle was heard from the broken crates. “You think I can be so easily defeated? How foolish can you be?” He rhetorically asks with a sneer. Silver Dagger steps in front of Doctor Strange, towering over him with a blade in hand. The princesses put on a stance, ready to fire a beam from their horns. Silver Dagger swiftly picks up Doctor Strange by the tunic, placing his blade on Doctor Strange’s neck, threatening to take his life if the princesses so much as move. The princesses were immobilized, unsure what to do. Before Silver Dagger could make any demands, Doctor Strange laughs, even with a dagger sticking out of his shoulder. Silver Dagger glares into Doctor Strange’s eyes. “What is so funny!?” He asks authoritatively. Doctor Strange sighed. “Oh, nothing much, it’s just that, you forgot my cloak.” He said with a smirk. Silver Dagger raises his eyebrow with a look of confusion when all of a sudden, Doctor Strange’s cloak seems to arise with life as it ensnare both Silver Dagger hands and squeeze them tight, causing Silver Dagger to reel his head back in pain as his hands let go of the blade and Doctor Strange’s tunic. With Doctor Strange free, he quickly uppercuts Silver Dagger with all the strength he could muster with his good arm with no dagger on shoulder. With Silver Dagger knocked out cold, now it is finally over. Or was it? Unbeknownst to him or anypony, the cloaked stranger has escaped among the shadows, abandoning Silver Dagger. The Royal Guards has searched the premises, finding nothing but the many knocked out cult members of the Sword of the Lord. All tied in ropes, a sufficient way to constrict them from moving if they ever wake. Seeing no cloaked person that Silver Dagger spoke of, Doctor Strange assumes they must’ve run off, somehow escaped. Even with the mysterious accomplice vanished, the princesses were satisfied with Silver Dagger being taken to custody and the evil relic of a book retrieved. Doctor Strange looked over the notes on the table the book was on. There were notes of a map of a location unrecognizable to him. Taking the notes in hand, he walks over to the ponies. “Looks like that’s everything, other than this mysterious accomplice of Silver Dagger.” He said, handing Celestia the notes. Celestia lifts them with her magic, seeing over them. “Thank you, doctor. We couldn't have tracked him down if it wasn’t for you.” She praises. Doctor Strange grins in response. “We should also haft that wound taken care of, should we not?” Luna said, pointing her hoof to Doctor Strange’s shoulder wound. He glances at it. “Yes, I probably should.” “Then let us return to Canterlot. We’ll have that treated.” Celestia said. In a circular motion of his hand, Doctor Strange conjures his portal to the same street of Canterlot. Even the two Royal Guards are there too. It may all be over, but the reviver of Silver Dagger is still out there. But there is one thing for certain; Doctor Strange will find who the cloaked person really is. The End (To Be Continued)