//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A Tragedy in the South. Enter: Devourlord Revya! // Story: Soul Nomad and the Equestrians // by Devourlord //------------------------------// *Epic Chapter Opening Music (Read title while song plays)* ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Soul Nomad and the Equestrians Chapter 1: A Tragedy in the South. Enter: Devourlord Revya! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ "Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil." - Baltasar Gracian Equis, The Crystal Empire Fireworks exploded in the sky of the Crystal Empire. Crystal Ponies cheered and danced in the streets in a party that had lasted for hours. Their joy was for good reason. The evil King Sombra, tyrant of the Crystal Empire from over 1,000 years ago, had been destroyed by the purity of the Crystal Heart. Thanks to six brave mares and one baby dragon, the Heart was returned to it's rightful place in the courtyard beneath the castle. The Crystal Empire, Castle Banquette Room In the Crystal Castle, the banquette room was abuzz with activity. Crystal Ponies chatted quietly and laughed. Tables were lined with all sorts of foods, from fruits and vegetables to sweets and sugary drinks. At the table near the middle of the room sat Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike, Princess Cadence and the now Prince Shining Armor. Spike had been gorging himself on bowl after bowl of gems. The Crystal Ponies had said it was the least they could do to reward him for helping return the Crystal Heart and Spike wasn't about to say no to free gems. Princess Cadence looked around at the ponies gathered at the table and smiled warmly. "I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for helping to restore the Empire to it's former glory." she said happily. "Aw... shucks, it was nutin' Princess." Applejack said bashfully. "Really though..." Rarity spoke up. "It was all thanks to Twilight and Spikey Wikey here for helping stop that brute King Sombra." She patted Spike on the head who in turn blushed through a mouthful of gems. "Yeah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Spike and Twilight totally...!" She trailed off as she looked at Twilight. The lavender unicorn was fidgety and looked troubled. In spite of the joyous occasion, her mind was on other things. All of her friends could guess what was going on with her: the test Princess Celestia had given her. Twilight was suppose to be the one deliver the Crystal Heart back to it's pedestal, but even after finding the secret entrance to the tower in the throne room through use dark magic, defeating her worse fear of being removed as Celestia's student, and climbing up a seemingly endless flight of stairs, in the end she was trapped by King Sombra's dark crystals and was forced to pass the Heart to Spike. "Hey! Equis to Twilight!" Rainbow called to Twilight. "Huh...?! What...?!" Twilight looked up at her friends. "Oh...sorry girls..." "Are you still going on about Princess Celestia's test?" Rainbow asked. Twilight looked away. "I can't help it...I didn't deliver the Crystal Heart back..." "Twiley..." Shining Armor began. "You did absolutely everything you could have possibly done, and probably more. I'm sure the Princess will understand. Besides, does it really matter who brought the Heart back? The important thing is the Empire was saved." Twilight smiled slightly taking comfort in her older brother's words. "Yeah, I guess your right..." "Twitcha Twitch!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. Her entire body began to shake and tremble, so much she fell out of her chair and bounced across the ground. "Um...What's happening with Pinkie Pie?" Cadence asked hesitantly. "Oh that?" Twilight responded. "That's her 'Pinkie Sense'" "Pinkie Sense?" Shining asked. "Yeah... I tried to explain it once, but I had to give up because there's was just no understanding it perfectly." Twilight said while inwardly cringing. That had been a really bad day for her. She had tried science, magic, and machines to try and explain the mysterious "Pinkie Sense" and the only thing she got in return was a number of heavy objects dropped on her head, and a really close encounter with a hydra. She continued. "It pretty much means whenever her tail, or body in this matter, begins to twitch, it's means something is going to fall or drop out of the sky. But, I've never seen it this bad before." "Yeah!" Pinkie shouted suddenly standing up. "This one's a real doozy!" "How doozy...?" Fluttershy asked, almost afraid of the answer. "This one's a super mega colossal massive uber gigantic incredibly HUGE doozy!" Pinkie shouted quickly before beginning to twitch again. "A super colossal massiv- what?" Shining asked befuddled. "Don't question it darling, none of us do." Rarity said to the confused Prince. "Well, where's it gonna happen?" Rainbow asked. Pinkie twitched her away across the floor over to the balcony overlooking the Crystal Empire. She grabbed the balcony to steady herself and stood up. "It's headed towards Equestria!" She called. "In fact, it's right there!" She called again while pointing a hoof towards the sky. Twilight's ear perked up. "Wait... WHAT?!" She jumped out of her seat knocking it over and galloped over to the balcony, followed by the other four Elements of Harmony along with Cadence and Shining Armor. Pinkie's statement was true. High above the skies of Equestria was what apparently was a small blood red meteor burning across the sky. It was beginning to slowly descend towards the Elements of Harmony's homeland. Staring at the "meteor", Twilight felt a horrible chill ripple down her spine. "What was that?" She thought to herself. "Why did I shiver at that?" "What tha' hay is that thang?" Applejack muttered looking at the strange meteor. "I-It looks's s-scary...I don't l-like it..." Fluttershy whimpered quietly. "So what?" Rainbow asked casually. "It's just a meteor." "Just a meteor?" Twilight asked breaking out of her stare and slowly turning to Rainbow. "JUST A METEOR?!" She questioned loudly. "How can you not be worried about a METEOR?!" She yelled at Rainbow. "Hey!" Rainbow said holding up her front hooves in defense. "Chill out egghead. I mean really, look at it, its just a small meteor." Twilight took a deep breath and calmed down. "It doesn't matter how small it is, a meteor hitting the planet will still do damage, and that's generally a bad thing." She said lecturing Rainbow. "Really, Rainbow Dash." Rarity said in a scolding tone. "You should be at least a little concerned for the safety of Equestria." The ponies looked back and saw the "meteor" was disappearing from the their fields of vision and had sunk below the mountains. A moment of silence followed the meteor's disappearance from view. "See? Nothing happen-" Rainbow began to say to her friends before a soft explosion was heard in the distance followed seconds later by small shockwave vibrated the castle. The castle's windows and the glasses on the tables shook slightly. After a moment, Pinkie stopped twitching and stood up. "Doozy's over!" she said happily. Pinkie, AJ, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike and the royal couple returned inside, leaving Twilight standing alone on the balcony. She continued to look on towards Equestria with worry evident in her eyes. Ten minutes earlier, Revya's location The Devourlord still floated unconscious through the vastness of space. It was impossible to tell how long he had been drifting since the destruction of Haephnes. Despite his unconscious state, he continued to tightly grip the Onyx Blade in his right hand. His body was covered in numerous cuts and bruises, most likely from the occasional collisions with small space rocks. Revya continued on his journey until the planet of Equis came into view. It's gravity began to lightly pull the Devourlord into the planet's atmosphere. At the same time, the madman was finally beginning to come to his senses. As Revya began to plummet through the upper atmosphere, his body began to catch fire due to re-entry, but thanks to the power granted through all the souls he had consumed on Haephnes during his planet wide rampage, his body was unharmed. "Ugh..." Revya groaned as he plummeted towards the planet. "...What the...?" He looked around to see himself on fire but somehow not burning, and also hurtling towards what looked like a desert and a probably not soft impact with the ground. "Oh...today's just getting better and better, isn't it..." He muttered sarcastically to himself seconds before impact. The Devourlord slammed into the sandy ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and sand dozens of feet in the air. Compared to being crushed by a massive rock, this was something Revya could manage to stay conscious through. Revya staggered to his feet and clutched his head while looking around at the impressive crater his impact made. "Okay...where the hell am I?" the Devourlord asked out loud. He paused for a moment expecting a snarky comment from Gig to echo through his head but then remembered the Master of Death was gone from his mind. In a single leap, he jumped out of the crater and landed on the sand. Revya could see nothing but desert in the distance. "I'm hungry..." Revya muttered as he closed his eyes and reached out with his power. It took only a few seconds and then he could sense it: about dozen or two souls in the north, a fine meal for him. Revya had no need for real food, souls were his only needed nourishment. He clutched his stomach as his hunger had become madding, he hadn't eaten for so long, or at least he thought he hadn't. The Devourlord began to advance in the direction he felt the souls. "...Heh heh heh heh heh..." Revya chuckled darkly. "More souls, more power..." And Celestia help whoever would come across him... Four hours later, present time, The Friendship Express The Friendship Express had left the Crystal Empire a few hours earlier and was en route to Canterlot, capital of Equestria. The train clicked and clacked across the tracks as it steadily approached its destination. In the fourth train car were the Mane Six and Spike. Fluttershy and Rarity sat quietly discussing about planning more trips to the Ponyville Spa. Pinkie Pie was sitting with a notebook in hoove, no doubt scribbling down new party ideas. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hoof wrestling to pass the time. Spike laid napping on top of two bags full of gems. He had stuffed himself to the brim with gems at the banquette and had to be carried back to the train. The Crystal Ponies gave them the two bags of gems to go. As for Twilight, she sat staring out the window while resting her head on her front hoove under her chin. She kept thinking back to the meteor that they had seen a few hours ago. "What was that thing?" she thought intensely. "It couldn't have been a normal meteor, I've seen meteors before. And also, I've never got a chill looking at them." Twilight smiled slightly and recalled when she lived in Canterlot Castle while studying under Celestia. The two of them would sometimes stay up into the late into the early morning hours to watch the occasional meteor shower that would sometimes pass over the skies of Equestria. They were always beautiful but none of them were ever red. A woozy groan nearby broke Twilight from her train of thought. She looked towards Spike, who had finally woken up. "Ugh...too...many...gems..." Spike groaned as he slowly rolled off the bags and fell on his face. Twilight couldn't help but giggle at Spike's situation. His antics never failed to cheer her up. Spike sat up looking at Twilight. "Oh...hey Twilight." he muttered as he stood up. Twilight's smile faded away as she returned to her window staring. Spike folded his arms. "Really? Are you still bugging out over the test?" *Thud* The two of them turned and looked in the seat behind them to see Rainbow Dash having pinned Applejack. "Aw yeah! Rainbow Dash 1, Applejack 0!" Rainbow cheered. "No way! Ah want a rematch!" Applejack replied angrily. "You're on AJ!" Spike and Twilight turn back to continue their conversation. "It's not just that anymore Spike." She spoke still looking out the window then turning back to Spike. "It's that meteor as well." "I thought we decided it was just a meteor." Spike said. Spike knew Twilight had a tendency to blow things way out of proportion, but deep down, he too was uncertain about just brushing off the meteor. "But what if it isn't?" Twilight replied. Spike sighed, walked over and climbed up into the seat next to Twilight. "I felt something Spike." "Felt what?" her assistant asked. "I'm not sure..." Twilight said hesitantly. "As I looked at the meteor, I had this feeling of...dread." "Are you sure it wasn't something you ate?" Spike asked questioningly. Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yes, Spike, I'm pretty sure it wasn't something I ate. ...It was a genuine feeling of dread and...terror..." she added in slowly. "Well I think-" Spike was cut off by a bell and a mare's voice coming over the intercom. "Attention all passengers. We have be arrived at Canterlot Station. Please collect all of your belongings and begin departure from the train. And thank you for choosing The Friendship Express." "We can continue this discussion later Spike." Twilight said getting up and putting her saddlebag on. She sighed deeply and began to walk towards the exit. "Right now, I have to see Princess Celestia..." Twilight's friends watched her exit the train and quickly followed suit. However, the sight waiting for them outside the train was quite unexpected. Equestria, Canterlot The seven of them could only stand in shock as dozens of Royal Guards rushed around. There were no stuck-up nobles or anypony else besides Guards for the both the Day and Night shifts galloping around. Pegasi Guards rapidly flew from tower to tower and there were fully armed and armored guards at every street corner and battlement as far as any of the Mane Six or Spike could see. If they didn't know better, they would have thought Canterlot was preparing for another invasion. "What the hay is going on?!" Rainbow exclaimed to nopony in particular. A guard approached the stunned group of ponies and one dragon. "Miss Twilight!" he said stopping in front of Twilight. "Their Highnesses has been awaiting you and your friends' arrival. I am to provide you with escort to the Throne Room." "Thank you." Twilight replied to the guard. "But do you know what all of..." she gestured around her. "...this is?" she questioned. "To be honest..." the guard said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "....I'm not really sure. Princess Celestia only said to put Canterlot into a state of emergency for the time being." He turned away and began to leave. "But I'm sure the Princesses will be able to answer any questions you may have. Please follow me." The group exchanged worried glances and galloped after the guard. Canterlot Castle, Throne Room The Princesses stood in the middle of the room looking over a scroll that had been delivered to them by the Royal Guards only a short time ago. Deeply troubled looks were plastered to their faces as they desperately read and re-read the scroll over and over in the hopes that the information they had were looking at was all just a horrible mistake. After the fifth or sixth reading, Celestia closed the scroll and sighed in defeat, knowing the information wouldn't change no matter how many times she read it. "This is very disturbing news..." she told her younger sister. "I know sister..." Luna said solemnly. "...What should we tell them?" "We should tell them the truth." Celestia answered. "Lying will only make things worse and if we did, they would eventually find out through somepony else." At that moment, the double doors to the throne room opened and the Mane Six entered, followed by Spike who was obviously putting a great deal of effort into dragging the twin bags of gems behind him. The guard that escorted them closed the doors behind them. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight called as the seven of them ran up. "What's happening? Why are there so many guards? Wh-" She was cut off by Celestia raising a hoof at her and immediately fell quiet. The Princesses exchanged glances and turned back to the group. "There has been an...incident in Equestria." Luna said in a hesitant tone. "An incident...?" Rarity asked. Princess Celestia nodded slowly in confirmation. "I take no pleasure in saying this...but..." She looked directly at Applejack who in turn looked back with evident worry in her eyes. "Appleloosa...has been completely destroyed."