“Go fish.”
The guard on the left side of the small table grumbled and reached for the stack of cards in between him and his friend. Sure, Go Fish wasn’t the most exciting game in the world, but it definitely helped pass the time.
The pegasus on the right looked over his cards with a raised eyebrow. “Got any… threes?”
“Damn it Chrome!” cursed the disgruntled unicorn, hoofing over two ‘Threes’ from his hand with his magic. Chrome just smiled.
“You’re gonna have to try harder than that Hilt.” He laughed, setting down his completed stack of ‘threes’.
Hilt stretched and leaned back in his chair. “I wouldn’t have to if Shining didn’t put us on guard in front of Starswirl’s vault!” He complained for the fifth time that day. “Who’s gonna come and try to break into a dusty vault full of useless scrolls?”
Chrome chuckled. “Whoever they are, I should be thanking them.” He pointed out. “You owe me at least a hundred bits by now!”
Hilt muttered something under his breath that comprised of a couple of suggestions where Chrome could put his earnings, but fished a pouch from inside his uniform just the same. He threw it to Chrome, who caught it in his wings with a pleasant smile.
“Why thank you, my good sir!” he said in an atrocious Canterlot accent.
“Go stuff it Chrome.”
“Whatever. You wanna know what I think?”
“No.”
“I think you’re just still sore over the fact that I scored on our last club run.” Chrome smirked.
Hilt rolled his eyes. “The only reason that whorse-”
A polite, quiet cough sounded behind the arguing guards. “Please refrain from using such foul language in the presence of a lady.”
Both guards jumped in their chairs and scrambled for their weapons leaning up against the wall. Once they were in their respective positions on either side of the vault door, they noticed who had startled them.
“Oh, Lady Lulamoon!” Chrome said nervously. “We were just… uh…”
She stared at the both of them with a cocked eyebrow. “I know full well what you were doing, dears.” She said flatly. “Now, do at least one part of your job right and open the doors for me please.”
Hilt flushed at the cold reprimand, but stood his ground. “I’m sorry ma’am, but Captain Armour has requested that this door stay locked to the outside for a while, following the recent events in Ponyville.”
Lady Lulamoon thought for a moment, then smiled. “I thought as much. I’m glad to see Mr. Armour is taking threats seriously now.” She said sardonically. “While I appreciate your concerns, I can assure you the utmost confidentiality regarding your… lapse in judgement,” her eyes scanned over the card game on the table. “Assuming of course, that you open these doors immediately, my dears.”
Hilt shook his head again. “Apologies ma’am, but that would be a serious breach in protocol. I’m afraid you’ll have to come back when the vault re-opens to the public.”
Her smile dropped. “I see.” She said softly, appraising the two guards with new scrutiny. Her smile returned, though this time it looked sadistic. She looked at Hilt, who stared emotionlessly over her head. “Dear, I couldn’t help but notice that your helmet seems to be crooked. Would you mind terribly if I fixed it?”
A red haze surrounded Hilt’s head, and Chrome stepped forward defensively. “Ma’am, that won’t be nesses-”
With a sharp twist of her magic, Hilt’s neck snapped like a dry twig, and his body instantly collapsed to the stone tiles with a resounding crash. Chrome swung his halberd at her with a roar of rage, but the older mare ducked it without breaking stride. A scarlet wave of energy solidified into a glowing lance, and Lady Lulamoon rammed the sharp end into Chrome’s sternum, piercing his armour with hardly any effort. The rod of magic punctured out his back with a wet splatter, sending red droplets spattering against the wall. She slammed the guard’s impaled body into the fortification and held him there, pinned to the stone by the spear of energy.
Chrome dropped his halberd to the floor and began grabbing at the lance sticking out of his body with desperate chokes. He coughed, sending spittle and blood onto the floor, dotting the growing puddle of gore underneath him.
Lady Lulamoon stepped daintily around the carnage with a look of disgust on her refined features. “Now look what you made me do!” she said huffily, glaring at the stallion suspended by her spear a couple of hooves above the ground.
Chrome spat a glob of mucus and blood at her, but it fell far short. Lady Lulamoon scowled in distaste. “One would think that you could give a noble the respect she deserves. No matter I suppose.”
The spear dissipated, and Chrome fell to the ground in a heap, splashing in his own pool of blood. He shuddered, clutching at the jagged wound in his torso, still spilling gore onto the formerly pristine stone tiles. He felt a hoof roll him over onto his back, and he looked up into the face of Lady Lulamoon with contempt.
He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a wet wheezing, as a red bubble formed and then popped on his lips. He gave a shiver, and then lay still, his eyes glazing over. Lady Lulamoon grinned evilly.
“Follow your leaders into defeat little sheep,” She mocked, rolling him back over onto his side. “Watch from Tartarus as Celestia is dethroned, and sent to her rightful place at the hooves of the Lulamoons.”
She levitated the key out of Hilt’s armour and gently turned it in the lock. The great doors to the treasury swung open, and she laughed as she trotted into the vault, the dead stares of the two guards following her into the darkness.
She walked amongst the shelves for a while, somewhat annoyed at the vastness of Starswirl’s vault. The pulsating light on the tip of her horn sent reaching shadows along the floor and up the pillars, before vanishing into the gloom of the treasury.
Just as she was giving up hope, her eyes fell upon a podium, barely illuminated at the edge of her circle of light. She walked cautiously over to it, finding it suspicious that a large area had been cleared around the podium, run through with wide grooves that spiraled and twisted in random patterns, all connecting to the dais in the center.
Circling the podium, she saw that a single book lay open on the dais, a quill beside it. It seemed to call her, begging her to just walk over and read its contents. Giving in to the urge, she ascended the podium, looking down at the book. A single riddle spanned the pages, leaving generous space underneath for somepony to write an answer.
This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats High Mountain down.
A smile split Lady Lulamoon’s face as she realized just what this book and its question represented. It was perfect.
Smirking, she picked the quill up in her magic and wrote the answer underneath. Immediately, the dais rumbled, and the crimson magic surrounding the quill began to snake down towards the book against her will.
Lady Lulamoon cried out as the book absorbed her magic, feeling her essence draining from her horn in droves, feeding the ravenous pages. The podium began to glow, and a blindingly bright fluid began to fill the grooves on the floor, trickling out in streams until they were almost overflowing with raw magic.
The book released Lady Lulamoon from its grasp, sending the unicorn stumbling. She was weak, almost all of her energy sapped by the hungry book. She looked around in apprehension, realizing that the patterns drawn on the floor were not random at all.
She looked over a giant rune -the biggest she had ever seen in fact- all of it filled with her magic. She began to laugh maniacally, the mad cackles bouncing off the walls and ceiling.
“Stop her!”
The sudden shout brought an end to her jubilation. A group of guards spilled into the clearing, careful not to touch the raw magic residing in the channels. Lady Lulamoon glared at them in fury.
“Lady Lulamoon!” Came a regal voice from behind the legion of royal guards. Her eyes widened at the sight of Princess Celestia stepping into view, flanked by a limping Trixie. “Stop this madness at once!”
She tried to make eye contact with Trixie, but the show-mare looked resolutely at the floor. She growled. “So even my own kin betrays me,” she spat venomously. “I expected as much… from a coward.”
Trixie winced at the harsh words, blinking away tears. “M-Mother, I-”
“Do not think me a fool, insolent wretch.” Lady Lulamoon said coldly, lighting her horn. A burning fury snuck its way into her mind as her magic was restored tenfold by the feed-off of energy. As her power grew stronger, her sense grew clouded by a fog of red creeping in at the edges of her vision. “You have been plotting my downfall since you returned from Ponyville.”
Trixie’s eyes widened, and she looked up at her mother. “N-no, Never!”
“LIAR!” she screamed, her eyes glowing with excess magic being fed to her off the rune. Her eyes flicked around the room, taking in the slowly advancing guards. The encroaching red tint grew thicker, filling Lady Lulamoon with a sudden streak of madness. “You all seek to impede my progress! You seek to take my power away!”
Princess Celestia lowered her horn threateningly. “Lady Lulamoon, disarm your magic immediately or face the consequences!”
She turned her attention to the Monarch, seemingly thinking about her intimidation. Then she grinned. “I Don't think so Celestia.” Her horn pulsed with power, and the rune on the floor matched it. "If nopony else will rise against your monarchy, then the responsibility falls on me." Realizing what was happening, the guards began to retreat as the Princess slowly backed out of the rune.
Most of the guards were out of the circle before a shimmering wall of scarlet magic surrounded the rune, sealing three of them inside. Lady Lulamoon started to laugh again, her body shining with unsuppressed power. Bolts of light shot out of her, connecting with the trapped guards.
Upon contact with their skin, they screamed in agony, flesh melting under the onslaught of magic, catching alight in mere seconds of exposure. Their bones ruptured and mutated, ripping out of their skin and branching out in rigid structures, while their bodies swelled, bending armour and splitting their charred flesh, abnormal muscles bulging and dripping blood onto the stone floor.
The last thing to go was their minds, as they gave into the pain overloading their systems. The former ponies staggered around in wild lurches, falling into the raw streams of magic lining the floor. The ensuing howls of torment that drowned out Lady Lulamoon’s laughter were not from ponies. The feral creatures howled as their minds were torn asunder, madness setting in.
The rune flashed once more, outlining the mad-mare and her creations in a blinding silhouette. Lady Lulamoon’s cackles were cut short as the rune collapsed in on itself, the fluid magic encasing all four figures in a sphere of energy, before winking out of existence with a deafening BANG!
The ensuing shockwave blasted everypony back but the Princess, safe in her personal bubble of shielding magic. She stared emotionlessly at the podium, now split down the middle by a large crack, spilling the book and quill to the now empty tiles.
Expelling her protection, she walked slowly to the still open book. She gazed down at it, scanning the riddle, and it’s scratched down answer below. The four letters glowed with excess magic, sparking and spitting bits of burned paper at Celestia’s gold-clad hooves.
TIME.