The Adventures of Damon Lipton
Chapter VIII - A small reunion of old friends.
Damon felt his body go cold as the two stood in silence, his cloak billowing softly as the wind blew past. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he continued to look into Celestia’s eyes, seeing the seriousness and power behind them.
“Okay… but please, hear me out though,” he started.
Celestia gave him a nod as he sighed before speaking.
“While I was doing a report for my Master Kalanar, I found a book with a spell that would allow me to traverse the void. I assume you know what the void is?”
Celestia nodded and he continued.
“I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me and cast it… incorrectly,” Damon rubbed the back of his skull sheepishly, “something about using the wrong candles, anyway, I then found out that it was all Dorian’s doing, thinking I was actually one of his followers and he… well…”
“Yes?” Celestia asked, sensing his hesitation.
“He asked me to release a friend of his called Discord,” Damon saw Celestia’s eyes widen, “but I gathered he must have done something really evil in order to warrant his stone prison,” he quickly added.
This calmed Celestia as Damon settled onto the ground cross legged and looked out to the town.
“I didn’t ask for this you know? Dorian just decided I was ‘right’ for the job,” he said with a sigh, “even turning me into a bloody Lich was part of his ‘fun’...” Damon muttered softly.
“So, what do you plan to do?” Celestia asked, sitting beside him.
“Honestly, I’m not going to do what Dorian wants me to do, I’d rather not be turned to stone. I hear its bad for your health,” Damon smirked, “I’ll probably just try and find a different way to return to Cyrium I guess, and have some fun whilst I live here.”
Celestia and Damon Shared a laugh as he leant back on the grass and looked up to the sky.
“Would you like to know what he did?” Celestia asked.
Damon thought for a moment and stroked his chin.
“Alright then,” he replied.
“About a thousand years ago, he turned Equestria into his own chaotic playground,” Celestia began, “me and my sister managed to defeat him by using the Elements of Harmony to imprison him in stone.”
Damon nodded as she continued.
“What nopony else knows is that, Dorian and Discord are friends and have been for centuries. At first, they were harmless, just causing slight mayhem that was manageable until,” Celestia sighed and shook her head, “they got into an argument on who could cause more mayhem, Discord’s chaos or Dorian’s mischief. So Dorian went back to Cyrium to cause his mischief whilst Discord started his chaos, after we had trapped him in stone, Dorian never appeared again and to this day we have no idea why.”
“Maybe because Discord wasn’t around anymore?” Damon suggested.
“Maybe… maybe we will never know,” Celestia said.
They sat in silence again for a while as the wind gently blew over the two.
“Thank you for being honest with me, Damon,” Celestia suddenly said.
“Not at all your Highness,” Damon replied with a smile.
“We should return to the others, Although I would like to do one last thing first.”
“What’s that?” He asked her.
Damon stood up to face her only to watch her slowly tap his shoulders one after the other with her horn before rising her head with a smile.
“I officially welcome you, Damon Lipton, to the Kingdom of Equestria and officially recognise you as an equal citizen in this land,” Celestia said.
“Thank you… that’s rather decent of you,” Damon grinned.
Celestia giggled as the two began to make their way back to the others, casually chatting to one another about various topics.
“So you’ll come back tomorrow right?” Twilight asked with pleading eyes.
“If I can, I promised Berry that I’d spend the day with Pinchy given its the weekend, and besides I think it’ll be fair to talk to Fluttershy first, given how much we will be discussing.” Damon replied.
Twilight pouted but reluctantly agreed before smiling, realising that it just gave her more time to prepare the oncoming onslaught that would be her questions. As Damon and Berry left the library, being the last ones to go having remained behind for another hour or so after the meeting had been concluded, she waved them off before closing the door slowly and turning her head to look behind her.
“I don’t know why you guys thought he was evil, he’s a pretty cool guy,” Spike said.
Spike looked at Twilight who had a massive grin on her face and felt his body go a little numb, the last time he had seen her like this was the last time she had an all nighter study session.
“Uh... Twilight?”
“Spike… be a dear and ready my quills, scrolls, books and everything else please?” She smiled sweetly.
“Yes Twilight! Right away!” Spike replied quickly and ran off.
Twilight cackled to herself as she headed over to her desk, oh the fun she would have with her questions. She giggled more to herself as she thought about all the books she could fill up with the new found knowledge she would gain.
“So, where to now then Berry?” Damon asked as the two walked through the town.
The fiasco and chaos from the previous day’s events had seemed to simply blow over, over the course of the day the ponies had heard that the Princesses as well as the Prince had arrived in Ponyville earlier that morning in order to talk with the supposed evil that they had claimed was plaguing their town, they had felt a little nervous about it because they were unsure as to what would happen, especially seeing Princess Celestia leave with the creature to talk in private.
This had soon passed however, as the ponies had watched a friendly goodbye between the two and although they were still a little cautious, they all had felt a little bit more reassured on the matter and some had actually waved the Damon and Berry as they walked through the town.
“You know, for a town that thought I was a monster and pure evil and possible the spawn of some Demon, they do seem to forgive rather quickly don’t they?” Damon said as he waved to a random pony.
“I know, it just seems to be the normal thing around here, but anyway, we’re going to go pick up Pinchy from school now seeing as we spent all day at the at that meeting,” Berry replied.
“Alright, you want me to cook dinner? You know, to make up for how long it took.”
“Do you even know how to cook?” She smirked.
“It can’t be that hard… right?”
“Just don’t burn my kitchen down.”
“No promises.”
Berry giggled as the two began to approach the school, soon seeing Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity also heading towards the school who then saw the two approach them and stopped, deciding to wait for Damon and Berry to catch up.
“Howdy you two,” Applejack said with a wave.
Before Damon or Berry could answer, there was a collective gasp nearby and they turned to see three fillies staring at Damon with wide eyes. One of them was a orange pegasus with a purple mane, one was a white coated unicorn with a pink and purple mane and the other was an earth pony with a red mane and a yellow coat who was sporting a big pink bow. They stared at Damon for a brief moment as Damon stared back before they burst out into a loud squeal of delight.
“Oh my gosh, Pinchy was telling the truth!” The orange one squealed, “he is a skeleton!”
“That’s so cool!” The yellow one added.
“He’s kinda creepy looking…” the one with the white coat said softly.
“Girls, don’t be rude,” Rarity said, ignoring the look Damon gave her after she had said that, “this is Damon, a friend of ours.”
“Since when?” Damon asked.
He was given a smack to the side from Berry Punch who sighed and rolled her eyes, the three fillies giggled at the antics. They all heard a loud gasp and before Damon could react, he was tackled by a pink filly who held onto him tightly with a massive grin on her face.
“Yay! You came!” Pinchy cried happily.
“Of course I did,” Damon chuckled giving her a hug, “I said I would.”
Berry smiled as Pinchy came over to her and hugged her before running back to the other three fillies, Damon smiled watching as Berry, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow began talking to one another until he heard he heard two voices behind them.
“So, it is true, Pinchy is friends with a freak.”
“Is that an actual skeleton, thats disgusting!”
Damon looked over to see a pink filly with a tiara and a silver coated filly with glasses walk over to them.
“What do you want, Diamond?” The white one asked.
“Nothing, just to remind you four losers that you're exactly that, losers!” Diamond replied.
“Yeah, you blank flanks are such losers!”
“Why I-” the orange one started.
“Leave it, Scootaloo, they're not worth it,” the white one interrupted her.
“Sweetie Belle’s right Scoots,” the yellow one added.
Scootaloo snorted as she reluctantly turned around with the other three, trying their best to ignore the two.
“Don’t turn your back on us! Nopony turns their back on us right, Silver Spoon?”
“Yeah,” Silver replied.
Diamond then noticed Damon looking at her and glared at him.
“What are you looking at? Freak.”
“Wow, okay,” Damon began, “you are two children right? Why are you being this hostile to someone you haven’t met before?”
“Because you’re a freak!” Diamond retorted.
“Yeah,” Silver added.
By now, the three Elements and Berry had noticed what was going on and turned from their conversation to see Damon talking with the two fillies.
“Right, smart. Insult a creature you have NEVER SEEN BEFORE! Without knowing anything about him. Clever.”
“We don’t need to know you, all you freaks are the same. Just like those blank flanks!” Silver sneered.
“Leave him alone!” Pinchy shouted, “he hasn’t done anything to you!”
“Buzz off you blank flank!” Diamond shouted, “go back to your alcoholic mother!”
The three Elements and Berry gasped completely shocked at what she said, especially Berry, their eyes fell on Berry who too shocked for words but Pinchy felt tears form in her eyes.
“T-take that back!” Pinchy cried.
“Daddy says your mum is a good for nothing, worthless, drunk….”
Before either Berry, Applejack, Rarity or Rainbow could say anything about the fillies rude behaviour, Diamond suddenly stopped talking as she watched Damon, who had been quiet up until now, slowly crouch down to be eye level with the two bullies and chuckled.
“You know, that was pretty funny. Know what else is funny?” He asked.
“What?” Silver asked unamused.
Damon suddenly twisted his head with a sickening crack and pulled off his skull much to the horror of the two bullies, he casually tossed it from his right hand to his left whilst whistling a merry tune before holding it in front of the two.
“This,” he said coldly, “now… think about what I could do to you, which I won’t, if you apologise to everyone. Right. Now.”
“W-we’re sorry!” Diamond squeaked.
“Y-yeah, we d-didn't mean it!” Silver added.
“Now… this is the part, where you run away…” Damon whispered to them.
The two fillies quickly cried in terror and ran away as fast as they could, Damon chuckled and stood up before readjusting his head on his neck and looking to the others. He blinked as Berry, the Elements, and the filles stared at him in shock.
“What?” He asked, "too much?"
Before the adults could say anything, they were interrupted by the gasps of the fillies.
“That… was… AWESOME!” Scootaloo shouted.
“Yeah! You totally kicked their flanks!” Sweetie Belle added.
“Thanks Mister!” The yellow one finished, “them bullies are always botherin’ us!”
As Damon was about to speak, Berry walked over and gave him another smack to the side.
“OW! What was that for?!” He protested.
“You just got the town to calm down, you do not need to antagonise anypony by removing your head!” Berry replied.
“Good point…”
“However… as much as you shouldn’t have,” Berry started, “thanks for sticking up for me, Pinchy and her friends,” she finished with a smile.
“Yeah… as much as ah don’t condone bullyin’ or whatever,” Applejack added, “them two fillies are always causing problems for Applebloom and her friends.”
“Applebloom?” Damon asked.
“Yes sir! That’s me!” The yellow filly replied.
“Ah, right,” Damon nodded.
“I have to agree, your method may have been a little… unorthodox, but those two bullies did need being taught a lesson,” Rarity said.
“You're not such a bad guy after all, Bone man,” Rainbow grinned.
“Bone man?” Damon asked.
“Hey, if Pinkie can give you a nickname, why can’t I?” Rainbow protested.
Damon sighed and shook his head before feeling something jump onto his chest and cling tightly, he looked down to see a teary eyed Pinchy hugging him with a smile.
“Thank you for sticking up for me, Uncle Bones…” Pinchy said softly.
“You’re welcome kid,” Damon smiled, hugging her softly.
“Oh, so it’s ok for her to nickname you but not for- OW!” Rainbow was smacked in the side by Applejack, shutting her up.
As the group chatted for a little while, Damon learned that the three other fillies were called the Cutie Mark Crusaders and decided to ask Berry about what exactly a cutie mark was. Eventually the group said their goodbyes and Damon, Berry and Pinchy headed towards home, Pinchy convincing Damon to let her ride on his shoulders.
“So you’re really going to cook us dinner, Uncle Bones?” Pinchy asked.
“Well… try would be more accurate,” he replied
“Do I have to get a fire extinguisher ready?” Berry teased.
“Hey! I’m not… that bad!” Damon protested, “I have made toast before!”
Berry rolled her eyes before giggling as the three headed for home, the sun starting to slowly descend as Pinchy and Damon engaged in another round of ‘Skeletal transportation vessel’.
As the sun hung above the horizon, two guards left a large building that was the Canterlot barracks and began to head out towards the Royal gardens. Out of all the patrols there was for the capital, none were hated more than the Royal garden route, not because it was painfully hard or difficult, it was the fact it was simply very boring. Nothing ever happened there, it was simply just a walk around the gardens that took hours to complete, given the sheer size of it and many thought it to be completely pointless, even some of the senior officers.
However, the two guards that had just left, Steel Wing and Shield Heart, a white pegasus mare and a blue unicorn stallion, were the only guards who would volunteer for the patrol route. They would always say excuses along the lines of that someone had to do it or it stops the seniors from getting annoyed, truth is every guard knew of their badly kept secret that the two were in a relationship with each other.
As they trotted down the garden, all the while keeping a stern expression until they were out of eyeshot from anyone before giggling to each other. Taking one last look around, Steel wing moved closer to her coltfriend with a smile and giggled again.
“Do you think they know?” She asked.
“I doubt it,” Shield Heart replied, “otherwise we wouldn’t have heard the end of it.”
“True, true… so what would you like to do tonight?” Steel asked him.
“We could always go down the route of the garden with the statues in them?” Shield offered.
“That sounds lovely,” she smiled.
They made their way down the statute section of the gardens, Steel always loved it here. The various statues ranged from ones of past heroes of the Kingdom to creatures either extinct or mythical, but out of all of them there was one that she found the most fascinating. The statue was a creature that was made up of several different creatures and always fascinated her, it was supposedly called ‘Discord’ and represented everything that was chaotic in the world. Shield, however, didn’t share her enthusiasm.
“Can we go, Steel? This statue always gives me the creeps…”
“Oh come on, wheres my big brave stallion?” She giggled looking to him, “I don’t suppose you have seen him anywhere little colt?”
“Har har,” Shield laughed sarcastically, “very funny.”
Steel giggled once more before looking back to the statue, failing to notice the odd looking mist slowly creeping up on the pair from behind. Shield heard a soft rustle and looked round just in time for the mist to blast through his body, causing his body to go stone cold for a brief moment which caused his fur to turn grey before he fell unconscious. Hearing the thud of something hitting the ground, Steel turned round to see Shield on the floor and her eyes went wide in alarm seeing his unmoving grey body.
“Shield? Shield?! SHIELD!” She cried.
She could see him breathing and felt for his pulse, satisfied for a moment she hovered into the air slightly and drew her sword, scanning the area around them for anything. Whatever had caused Shield to faint was clearly a threat, she wanted to run back to the barracks to warn the others but she couldn’t leave him here.
“Alright, SHOW YOURSELF!” She shouted.
A rustle behind her caught her attention and she swung round, sword at the ready.
“WHO’S-”
She come face to face to the swirling mist and her eyes went wide in fear, the mist had a clear and visible manic grin and two black, soulless eyes. She opened her mouth to demand an answer from it and no sooner had she done so, the mist shot at great speed into her mouth. She choked as it finished entering her before falling to the ground and writhing in agony before stopping, a brief silence hung over the garden before Steel finally stood up slowly, opening her eyes to reveal they were now black with a silver dot in the centre and she grinned.
“Silly lass shouldn’t have struggled, wouldn’t have hurt as much,” Steel spoke, but with a different voice, “anyway, back to business. Hello?!” she shouted, hitting the statue with her hoof, “you in there, Discord?”
“Hello, Dorian,” Discord’s voice said, some annoyance in his tone, “finally decided to show up then?”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I come visit my bestest friend in all the twenty five and a half worlds after all the fun we had?” Dorian replied.
“Ah the fun times we had… shame about that never working wasn’t it?” Discord chuckled.
“Aye, the looks on the faces of the mortals when you sent an army of animated furniture to take control of New Talazar in Cyrium was priceless!” Dorian replied.
“But what about when you crashed Celly’s eighteenth party by appearing naked in her cake? THAT was priceless!” Discord said in between laughs.
“Haha! Indeed it was, old friend, indeed it was.”
There was a silence as the possessed body of Steel looked at the statue of Discord, tilting its head at the sounds of Discord clearly trying to stifle a laugh.
“What?” Dorian asked.
“You realise you took control of the mare, not the stallion. Right?”
“Did I?” Dorian looked over his body, “huh… they all look the same to me.”
“Why did you possess her anyway? Why not just use your normal form? I miss that top hat of yours that could swear like a sailor.”
“I don’t know really, thought it be fun to see through another's eyes. That, and I don’t get noticed by anyone."
“But in all seriousness, Dorian, I sent my message for help a thousand years ago. Why has it taken you this long to come back?”
“You don’t know what happened, do you?” Dorian replied.
There was no reply from the statue, Dorian sighed and sat on its head as he looked up to the sky.
“After the uh… incident,” Dorian started, “we might have attracted the attention of some of the darker Gods…”
“And?”
“Well… the other Gods, the good guys, managed to stop J’skaar from invading Equestria and managed to seal off the link between our worlds. Leaving me trapped in Cyrium and unable to help you, still, imagine my surprise when I opened my door the other day to find a bunch of dead chickens, who looked like they had been there for about a thousand years, with your message on them.” Dorian laughed.
“So, how did the link re-open?” Discord asked.
“I honestly have no idea, and frankly I don’t care!” Dorian grinned, “and don’t you worry your pretty little socks, I’ll get you out of here… soon,”
“Why not right now?” Discord grumbled, “I need to stretch badly and start causing chaos.”
“I don’t want to attract too much attention to myself at the moment, given the other Gods are not too happy with me… so I sent one of my not-a-follower-but-could-be-if-he-tries-hard-enough to come and help a bit more discreetly!”
“Is it Delaros?” Discord asked with hope in his tone, “now he was a human who knew how to have fun!”
“No, not really, it’s some fellow called Damon Lipton. Nice lad, a bit strange and weird but he has potential, can use magic too so thats a bonus. I even threw in a fun twist for his adventures!”
“What did you do?”
“Made him a Lich! Don’t know why, I just did.”
“A Lich?” Discord laughed, “Oh when old sunbutt remembers about their kind she is going to go crazy!”
“I know right?” Dorian joined in the laughing.
“So how long till I get out?”
“Not sure, have to be patient for him to do it I suppose. Speaking of which, I need to get going, places to go, people to see, mischief to cause you know the drill.”
“Wonderfull…” Discord sighed, “It was nice seeing you again, Dorian, until next time.”
With that, Steel fell to the ground and writhed in agony, gagging as the mist left her mouth rendering her unconscious. The mist shot off away from the gardens at great speed, it soon came to the edge of the Everfree forest and floated briefly before vanishing from sight.