OC Backstory

by tazdarkstripe13

Chapter 4

Several months had passed since the stallion had been brought into the Crystal Palace and Cadence was still uncertain about keeping him here. Many Words, her translator, had spent almost every day with the stallion. So far he’d learned that the stallion’s name was Vindictus Vulnere and that his father had been killed by one of the villages. Hehad also translated the parchment, which read:

Many Words thought he was referring to the hammer that the guards had found him with just beyong the Barrier so they had given it to him and he’d never let go of it since. Aside from that, the translator had been teaching Vindictus how to speak Equestrian and he could now be understood although he had a thick accent. Cadencse decided she would visit him today. She hadn’t seen the stallion since that first time. Apparently he’d only slept a few times in the minths he’d been here and had slowly been losing his fear and uncertainty of the crystal around him. He had needed to be taught to bathe, though. The falling snow must have been enough to keephim clean in the north, apparently. Other than that he hadn’t been allowed to leave his chambers. Many Words had reported that he felt like a prisoner and wanted to be let out but Cadence wasn’t ready to take that chance. She had to protect her subjects first and foremost and if that meant keeping a foreign pony prisoner, so be it. But she couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty. This stallion has fought his whole life and seen his father torn apart before his eyes. He only just learned to fly a few months ago and has probably forgotten how to by now. She might have to teach him herself, seeing as she was the only pony in the Crystal Empire with wings. But would their difference in wing type affect anything? Probably not. At the end of the day, all wings were made of a set of bones. Wether it was membrane of feathers connecting them shouldn’t make a difference.
Cadence sighed as she got up from the throne and called for her guards. She would pay Vindictus a visit now and get it over with. She began walking out of the throne room then paused. She waved the commander over.
“Dismiss your ponies, commander,” She said and the stalion nodded before barking the orders to the other guards. They each saluted and returned to their prevoious post. Cadence then resumed walking, the commander in tow.

Vindictus snapped his head around. He’d been leaning on the windowsill while looking outnover the Empire. It was so bright and colourful and he could see everypony bustling around in the streets. He saw foals playing and adults chattig and laughing with each other. He even saw a stallion helping a small colt who was crying on the ground. Vindictus felt a stab of sadness when he saw that but pushed it out of his head as he heard the hoofsteps spproaching. The door opened to reveal the pink alicorn with feathered wings. He looked her over and stayed silent. Princess Cadence walked in but kept her distance.
“Vindictus Vulnere,” She said.
“Cadence,” Vindictus repied, ignoring her title.
“How are you feeling?” She asked, ignoring the disrespect.
“Like a rat in cage,” He replied.
“If I let you out,” She said. “What would you do?”
That made Vindictus pause. What would he do? He had nowhere to go, no idea what the world was like outside this room... so he shrugged.
“Travel. Expore. What else would I do?”
Cadence smiled. “I’m afraid we have to keep you here a little longer,” She said. “You may be able to leave by the week’s end.” She let that sink in for a moment. “Tell me, Vindictus... do you know how to fly?”
“I know basics,” He replied. “Why?”
“I can’t have a guest leave without knowing how to fly,” She smiled.
“Guest? I thought I was prisoner.”
“You made no attempt to escape, you were under no guard... you were a guest. Now, would you like to learn to fly?”
“It would be... interesting,” he said, ignoring the first part of her statement. “But what is there to flying? I move wings up and down, I fly. I only need to work on endurance. “
“And improving that is simple; you fly as far as you can each day. Each day, you travel five sedonds farther than you think you can.”
“Very well,” Vindictuc nodded. He then turned and leaned against the windowsill again, looking down on the Crystal Empire. Cadence thought of saying more but nothing came to mind so she walked up to him and put a hoof on his shoulder. She felt him tense at her touch and his hoof twitched slightly but didn’t move other than that. Cadence then turned and walked out of the room, the commander closing the door behid them. Vindictus continued watching all the ponies go about their business. He sighed and walked over to the desk against the far wall of the room. On it was Uguns’ hammer and he put his hoof on the handle. He then wrapped his hoof around it and lifted it off the table. He was tempted to smash the table in half but refrained himself. Instead he put the hammer down and sighed before lying on the hard floor and closing his eyes to drift into an uneasy sleep.

Vindictus snapped awake still in the same position as when he slept. He raised his head and looked around and saw that it was nightime. He’d only recently gotten used to the world getting dark at certain times. He stood and walked back to the window, looking down at the empty streets. All was silent except the slight whispering of the wind. He closed his eyes and listened to it, sighing quietly. A small smile found its way to his lips. He felt calm, calmer than he had in a long time. He opens his eyes and sees a flash of a huge maw, razor sharp teeth coming at him as the Wyrm attempts to swallow him. Vindictus yelps and jumps back in surprise and fear, falling on his flank and staring fearfully at the open window. After a few seocnds he blinks and shakes his head before muttering to himself angrily. He should know better than to think there would be any Wyrms here. This was too far away from their tunnels. It was just a dream, nothing more. Vindictus walked back to the desk and looked at the parchments on it. They were his own attempts at trying to write in Equestrian but he didn’t understand any of it. He’d given up several days ago and had only glared at the translator when he prompted him to continue.
“Rough night?” Vindictus whirled and raised the hammer but was greeted only by Princess Cadence. She smiled and nodded to him. He lowered the hammer and ran a hoof through his mane.
“You could say that,” he replied.
“Nightmares?”
“Kind of,”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“What good would that do?”
“It would get it off your chest,”
“But it won’t remove it.” He looked at Cadence. “Why do you care anyway?”
“Because you’re my guest and I care about my guests.” She walked over and put a hoof on his shoulder again. Again he tensed up and his hoof twitched slightly. “You don’t have anything to fear from me. I’m your friend.”
“Friends don’t trap each other.” He turned and walked back to the window. Cadence sighed and followed him. He glanced at her, his eyes cold and hard as ever.
“Why don’t you trust me?”
“Because how do I know you won’t stab me in the back?” He lifted the hammer from the table. “When will I leave?”
Cadence regarded him for a moment. “What was your fathr like?” She asked.
“What does it matter?” He said flatly. “He is dead now, end of story.”
“How did he die?”
“You know how. Why do you ask so many questions?”
“I want to get to know my guest better.”
“Your ‘guest’ will never come back here when he leaves.”
“How can you be sure? You are an alicorn which means you live for a very long time. You coule travel the entire world twenty times before your back begins to ache.” She chuckled. “You’ll return. I can assure you of that.”ur mo
Vindictus looked at her, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. “Why are you happy?” He asked. “Your mother died half a year ago yet you seem to love everyone else.”
Cadence grimaced. “I’m the princess of love,” She said, sadness creeping into her voice. “It’s my duty to govern the Crystal Empire but also to make sure Equestria stays filled with love.”
“So that’s how things work down here,” He said. “Someone dies and you stop their grief. You make them haooy about their brother’s passing.”
“No, that’s not...” She sighed in frustration. “You have to understand that I have to keep Equestria happy and loving. If not, the entire nation will fall apart.”
“I got on just fine without love,” Vindictus replied.
“No, you didn’t,” Cadence said sadly. “B ut For every stallion, there is a mare and I’m sure you’ll fine somepony to love.” She smiled and turned to leave.
“Why should I?” He asked. Cadence turned and looked at him questioningly. He was looking at her expectedly.
“Why should I find love? Even if I do love somepony they will die long before myself and it will only cause me pain. Why would I want any more pain?”
“Because no matter how brief, love is the greatest feeling in the world.” She smiled and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Vindictus sighed and walked back to the window. The sun was just rising and he watched it as it rose, squinting against the light. He felt like he was missing something but he didn’t know what it was. Closing his eyes, he concentrated hard and tried to remember what it was but just as he thought he had it, it slipped away. In the end he gave up and walked back over to the desk where he picked up Uguns’ hammer again. He sighed and held it to his forehead, feeling the cool metal against his fur and the base of his horn. After a few minutes he opened his eyes and walked towards the door, which he opened. There were no guards outside so he stepped out and looked left and right. The corridor was long and empty with several door leading off of it. He gripped the hammer in his mouth and started walking to the left, remembering the hoofsteps of Cadence. He listened at each of the doors but heard nothing from them except the occasional snore or grunt of somepony sleeping.
Vindictus walked further and finally came to a cylindrical staircase going down. He looked down the corridor again, then began to descend. The staircase was unremarkable, just pale pink crystal walls with a slightly paler pink for the steps. There were thin arrow slits periodically down the walls and it looked as if they hadn’t been used in a long time by the amount of dust accumulated in them. He blew the dust out of one and watched the small cloud for as long as it was visible before continuing on his way. He finally reached the bottom of the stairs and opened the door. The first thing he saw was a crystal sculpture which was floating between 2 crustal pullars, one elading fro the floor and one from the ceiling. In between them was a sculpture of a love heart and it was foating. He shot it a glance then turned and looked around. He was in a room with no walls. There were just pillars on four corners, the stair case behind him and the pillars with the heart. All the rest was open space and he could see some ponies tiredly walking through the streets. They were all crystaline and sparkled in the sunlight.
Vindictus walked to the right, giving the heart a wide berth, and walked into the sunlight. He squinted and raised a hoof to block the light. He quickly became very hot and began to sweat so he trotted to a shadow and rested a bit in the coolness. All the shining ponies looked at him curiously but otherwise paid him no attention, instead they just went about their business. Vindictus watched them all walk by with his usual cold eyes. He gripped the hammer in his mouth and began walking again, tryig to stick to the shadows. He had no idea where he was and didn’t know where he was going so he just walked randomly. He passed a marketplace where ponies were starting to sell their wares and attract attention to their stalls. Vindictus ignored them and tried to keep to the shadows but because the buildings were made of crystal, they were partially transparent so he was sweating within an hour. He sighed and sat down on a bench.
“Hey, you there!” A stallion walked up to him and grinned. “Ye look like ya know how t’ use tha’ thing,” He said, gesturing tothe hammer in Vindictus’s mouth. “How’d you like t’ use ma forge for t’ day?”
Vindictus stared at the stallion. He was of regular height with a light brown coat and a dark grey mane. His cutie mark was one of an anvil and he was a unicorn. He had a light stubble and his eyes were grey.
“What?” The alicorn asked, dumbfounded.
“I’ve got summat I need t’ do and ah need someone t’ mind t’ shop,” He gestured a few doors down the street, where there was as picture of an anvil on a swinging sign. Vindictus looked back at the stallion.
“What’s the catch?” He asked. He had been wanting to craft something for a whilenow but the palace didn’t have a forge.
“Just t’ mind the shop. Ye can keep it shut if ye want, it’s mainly fer keepin’ thieves out,” He shrugged.
“Uh... sure, I’ll do it.” Vindictus stood and accepted the key form the stallion who then thanked him and trotted off. The alicorn watched him leave, then shrugged and went over to the blacksmith shop. He opened the door and was greeted with a smithy, a smelter, a tanning rack, grindstone and workbench. He switched the sign to ‘closed’ and walked over to a cupboard labelled ‘ores.’ He opened it and was instantly impressed by how organised it was. Every small cabinet was labelled and in alphabetical order. Vindictus looked through them, trying to find one he was intrigued by. He found one, it was called osmium. It was a dull grey in colour so he took several chunks and put them in the smelter before beginning to add coal to the furnace.
After a few hours, he noticed the ores weren’t smelting so he continued to add coal. After an hour, the ore had finally begun to start melting, so Vindictus began thinking of a mold to use. The blacksmith had a lot of weapon selections to choose from so Vindictus chose the war axe blade, which he moved under the tilting cup of the smelter which was now filled with liquid osmium. The metal filled the mold quickly and began to set. It was at this moment that Vindictus noticed another mold, this one in the shape of a scythe blade. He quickly got an idea and moved the scythe mold under the smelter before pouring more molten metal into the mold. By this time the axe blade had set so Vindictus took it in a pair of tongs and put it into the fire of the forge to heat up.
Once it was white hot, the scythe blade had also set so he put that in the fire while he picked the axe up in the tongs again before setting it on the anvil. He then raised Uguns’ hammer and began hammering, the sound of metal on metal ringing throughout the small room. He hammered the edge of it specifically to get the edge as fine as possible before honing it. After he was partially satisfied, he dipped the thing in a bucket of liquid and waited until the steam and hissing had died down before putting it back in the fire. He then grabbed the scythe blade with t he tongs and repeated the process, again focusing more on the edge. When that was done, he tookt eh axe blade out of the fire again. He then turned the hammer over. On this side was a small spike that Uguns had used to carve designs on his work. Vindictus used this now.
The osmium was softer due to the immense heat so it was easier to carve. He thought for a moment on what to put on it, then put an inscription on it.

மரணம் எப்போதும்

Once that was done, he stopped it altogether. He got the last remaining osmium from the still burning furnace and used it to attach the scythe and axe blades together with a metal pole in the middle. He held the three parts together as they dried, making sure to scrape any excess osmium off and make sure it was smooth and flawless. After half an hour, he carried the near-finished weapon to the grindstone and began sharpening the blades. As the sparks flew, he thought back to the North. He had been at home there. He may not have been accepted, he had even been shunned, but he’s grown up there and would go back if given the choice. But he’d asked to return to his homeland during his time in the Crystal Palace but everypony had given him the same answer; He would never return home.

Several hours later, Vindictus snapped out of his daydreaming and looked around. He saw that he was still sharpening the blade and had absent-mindedly been switching between blades as he did. He stopped turning the stone wheel and looked at the edge. It looked sharp enough but he put it to his fur to make sure. With only the slightest pressure, the skin broke and a small red bead of blood appeared over the cut. He nodded and wiped it away before grabbing some leather and fashioning a sheath for it, which he strapped to his back. He put the weapon in it and grabbed a hooded cloak from a hook on the wall. He put it on, pulled up the hood and walked outside. It was evening and the sun was going down. He had nowhere to sleep and he had nowhere to go, so the alicorn began to wander. Strangely enough, he saw no guards. Nopony was pursuing him, even though he’d escaped from right under their snouts. Vindictus narrowed his eyes but kept walking through the darkening streets. They were deserted now and he was thankful for that. It meant there were less ponies who may be hostile towards him.
As he was walking through the streets, he felt uncomfortable. He looked back but saw nothing but shadows and the faint glint of the crystal buildings. He turned back and continued walking, looking from left to right suspiciously. As he turned a corner, he heard somepony step to his right and he unsheathed his weapon and swung it swiftly, stopping it just at the throat of Princess Cadence. Vindictus narrowed his eyes.
“Why are you following me?” he asked.
“I wondered where you went,” She smiled. Vindictus didn’t like that smile. He didn’t like anything about the pink alicorn, now that he thought about it.
“Why should you care? I’m just your prisoner,”
“Oh, really? Would a prisoner be able to wander the streets of the Crystal Empire unguarded? Would a prisoner have a guest room in the Crystal Palace?” She smiled again.
“What do you want from me?” He asked after a few moments’ hesitation.
“I only want your trust and friendship,”
“The moment I trust you, you’ll have me torn limb from limb and burned alive,”
Cadence looked shocked. “What gave you that idea?” She asked. “As I said, I wish only to be your friend. You’ve been through so much at such a young age, you have to understand that I only want to help you,”
“But why?” He asked again. “i have given you no reason to like me.”
“I don’t need a reason. Friendship is a thing that nopony can explain. I am a princess of love, which is what I understand and encourage. Friendship is yet to be fully understood. All I know is that it is the best feeling I’ve felt so far,” She smiled at him.
“What’s so great about it?”
“Having friends is wonderful! Laughing with them, playing with them, telling stories with them... they make you happy and are always there when you need them,”
Vindictus considered this, then shook his head. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. How do I know you’re not lying?”
“Because I can show you proof,” She put her neck slight closer to his weapon blade, which was still close to her throat. “If you kill me now, you have lost a friend. If you let me live, you call me a friend.” She smiled and closed her eyes, waiting.
Vindictus thought hard. He felt the strong urge to kill this mare, this mare who infuriated him and annoyed him so much. He raised the axe blade to swing, the blade of the scythe almost touching his other shoulder... then stopped.
This mare had been kind to him. She had housed him, fed him, even would have clothed him had he not turned them down. He would probably be dead if it wasn’t for Cadence. She could have ordered Vindictus’ death any time she wanted but instead she was kind to him. She offered to help him understand what she claimed was the greatest feeling in the world. She had tried to help him countless times and he had turned her away at every turn and even still she persisted, trying to help Vindictus. He didn’t know why she did it. All he knew was that he owed her a lot.
The butt of the pole hit the ground with a small clink and Cadence looked up. She saw the stallion looking at her with those cold eyes, eyes that looked like ice itself.
“I become your friend,” He said. “On one condition.”
“What is it?” She asked,
“I want you to let me leave this place.”
“When?”
“Whenever I please. For now, I will return every night at sundown. On the day I stay away, don’t come looking for me. I will have made my own way.”
Cadence smiled. “Come on, then. I’m sure you've never tried cocoa.”