//------------------------------// // Appleloosian Showdown, A Father's Face. // Story: A Lost Soul Returns: The King of Monsters // by Dark Star the Crazed //------------------------------// A simple child, that lightly draws its breath, and feels its life in every limb, what should it know of death? ~ Wordsworth. Twilight and Fang were on a train bound for Appleoosa with Applejack and North Star. The two alicorns were going to Appleoosa to try and convince the town to become part of Transylmaneia without a fight. Applejack had offed to help since her cousin Braeburn was highly respected in the community and might be able to help win the town over. She had also mentioned that two of the citizens of the friendly community had gotten into a fight in The Saltlick Tavern and ended up killing the barkeep, when a bottle broke and he fell on it. The train came to a stop and they got off, Braeburn was there to meet his cousin. "Howdy Applejack! Howdy Twilight!" He shook the mare's hooves and then moved on to the stallions. "Howdy! What's your name?" He stuck his hoof out to North who shook it and said his name. He then moved onto Fang. "Howdy. I'm Braeburn! You're the colt Twilight's marrying?" Fang just stood there and nodded dumbly. "Well congratulations! You got yourself a cute little filly, I'll tell you what! Anyway welcome to Aaaaappleooosa!" "Braeburn! Sheriff Silver Star needs your help! It happened again!" The five ponies looked down the street and saw a crowd gathering in front of an alleyway. "Another murder? Who was it this time?" The pony, who looked to be a seventeen year old colt, looked at Braeburn with sorrow on his face. "It was two actually, Scarlet Silk... Just like Topaz her uh..." The colt's cheeks grew a bright red. "Private parts were... Sewn shut..." The colt shook his head and looked at Braeburn. "The other was Lasso. His um... his private parts were... Removed just like Lone Star's." Braeburn growled and stomped his hooves. "That does it! I'm gonna find out who has been doing this and make sure that they pay! They've gone too far this time! They were only teenagers! I can understand Lone Star and Topaz, they were the drunks who caused old Rum to die, but Lasso and Scarlet were innocent!" He bolted down the street followed by the colt, the elements, and Fang. North Star began to follow them as well when something caught his eye. A, large, brown stallion was dragging a red mare into a building. He followed them to the doorway and turned to enter when he noticed they were gone. "Hey is anypony in here?" As soon as he stepped through the doors of the building he heard his name being called by Applejack. He turned around to leave when he saw the mare again. She was sitting in one of the booths. North walked over to her and just looked at her for a few seconds. She turned and looked at him showing him the front of her neck. It was cut wide open and blood was pouring out of it. He yelped and backed up stumbling over a chair and out the door. He landed on something soft when he expected to hit the ground. "Get off of me!" North went wide eyed and jumped up. Looking down he could see Applejack with a glare on her face. "What do you think you’re doing running off like that!? Especially when there's a murderer on the loose!" Applejack blinked when she saw his face. "North... Sugarcube? What's the matter? You look mighty pale. Are y'all feeling all right?" North just pointed behind her. Turning around Applejack saw that the ponies who had been carrying the body of Scarlet Silk had dropped her while they were taking her to the hospital morgue. Applejack frowned and looked back at North. "North... I know that you’re not used to seeing dead ponies... Neither am I to be honest but..." "She... She can't be dead! I just saw her but... Then I saw her dead... How is that possible!?" North turned around and saw the red mare standing at the door. She stared at him with a sorrowful expression in her eyes. "Help me..." Two boney legs came out of the shadows, wrapped around the mare's neck, and dragged her into the darkness while she screamed. Applejack stepped in front of North and waved her hoof in front of his face. "North... Sugarcube, c'mon I'm taking you to a doctor. You’re sick." North shook his head. "Aj... Did you not just see a pair of bony legs drag a mare into the shadows of that building?" Applejack blinked and looked at the building before scratching her head. "No... I didn't..." Applejack walked over to the doors of the building and pushed them open. "North... Nopony is in here. Are you sure you’re alright?" Applejack looked back at North with a worried look on her face. Suddenly two boney legs shot from the shadows and dragged her in. "Hey get off of me! North! Help!" North's reaction was instant. He ran through the doors of the building but stopped dead in his tacks when he saw that it was full of ponies. In the corner was a pony with a banjo. As soon as he caught sight of North he began to play. The tune was upbeat and cheerful. It was as if they had not even see Applejack being taken. He walked over to the bar and sat down. "What can I get 'cha?" North blinked as he saw a stallion materialize out of nowhere. He was a pale white color with a dark black mane. His cutie mark was a silver mug. "Well... Don't just sit there dumbly staring into thin air! What do ya want to drink?" North was about to scoff and get up when he thought of something. He had learned in Manehatten. Barkeepers were a good source of information. "Whiskey." The bartender set a glass in front of him and North was about to get some bits to pay when the bartender raised his hoof. "No need for you to pay. After all, your money is no good here." North was suspicious and confused but even so returned his bits to his bag. What had he meant that his money was no good here? He was in Appleoosa, which was part of Equestria, and both Transylmaneia and Equestria used bits as currency. "So mister..." The stallion was wearing no nametag so he couldn't tell what his name was. "Are there any local legends that involve a pair of boney legs dragging a mare into the shadows?" "Nothing like that that I'm aware of, sorry. There is the rumor of old Running Tree though. You see being the strongest member of his tribe he was to be wed to the chief's daughter. He died on his way to the wedding and in his anger he started attacking ponies and buffalo who are in love... Least that's how the legend goes." The stallion took the glass and cleaned it before vanishing along with all the other ponies in the bar, excluding North. North got up and saw what looked like a buffalo walking down the stairs into the basement. North looked at the bar once more and saw a note. He picked it up and read what was on it. He blinked and read it again. "To put a vengeful spirit to rest, salt and burn it's corpse, then repeat the ancient chant? What the hay?" He looked away from the note and saw a salt shaker. "OK... This is weird but... If it has any chance of helping me save Aj then I'll play along." He put the note down and grabbed the salt shaker. He then stood up and walked over to where he had seen the buffalo. He saw what could only be described as a trail of glowing hoof prints. He followed them down into the basement where he saw a door. "Hey! Is anypony out there? North? Is that you Sugarcube?" North smiled and ran towards the door. Right before he reached it he turned around and let loose a buck with all the strength he could muster. He heard a crack, turned around, and watched as the door split in two. It fell over to reveal Aj. North ran in and hugged her. Aj blushed and returned the hug. "Sorry I took so long." North pulled away and smiled at Aj, who kissed him in return. "No problem Sugarcube. I'm just glad we can get out of here now. That freaky buffalo locked me in here and said that I was going to be the next 'sacrifice'." Applejack smiled at North and walked towards the door. She stooped when a mist formed and the buffalo spirit that had taken her stepped out of it. He was large and brown. His headdress was made of two blood red feathers and a band that was as blue as the sky. "Excellent. The other half of the sacrifice has come to me. I did not have to collect him." The buffalo pulled out a long dagger and walked towards Applejack. "The mares blood flows first, then the stallions. Then I have to gather their blood and drink it. I am glad that the old pony disturbed my bones. He is the one who awakened me." He raised the dagger, and was about to bring it down into Applejacks flesh, when North ran up and kicked him into the wall. The boards shook and fell away to reveal a large skeleton that looked hundreds of years old. North smiled at the bones. "So that's where they were!" He ran over, opened the salt shaker and threw the contents onto the bones. Suddenly, to the surprise of all of those who were watching, his eyes began to glow and he began a chant that had been locked away in his mind. "Spiritus hoc os requiescas nunc. Unus assumetur, et calor flammæ onus ponere. Mortuus attulit dolorem, remittuntur tibi. Pax vobis." ("Spirit of these bones, you may rest now. Lay down your burden and embrace the warmth of the flames. In death, you brought pain, but you are forgiven. Peace be upon you.") His horn lit ablaze and the fire jumped onto the bones. As they began to char and blacken his eyes returned to normal and he blinked. He turned around and saw Aj just staring at him. The buffalo however was running around and sparkling. "No! No! I'm not ready to go yet!" His body began to fade away just as his bones turned to ash. He growled at the two ponies and just as his neck disappeared he let out a scream. "I curse your first born foal ponies!" With that his head vanished and the skeleton fully turned to ash. Applejack blinked and turned to North. "How did you know that old chant?" North just shrugged. "I don't know... Come on let's get out of here." Applejack nodded and the two left the building. Looking up into the sky they saw that it had turned dark but it was still daylight. Appleoosa had become part of Fang's kingdom without a fight. "Applejack! North! Where are you!?" Twilight and Fang turned onto the street that they were on and ran over to their friends. Fang saw worry on North's face and glanced into his mind. "North... I know what you did... Tell me all about what happened." The stallion glared at Fang for entering his mind without permission but realized that he should probably talk to him anyway. If it involved anything supernatural Fang was the one to talk to. Once they had finished they all went to Braeburn's for dinner, he had invited them all after the bodies had been relocated to the local hospital. Little known to the ponies inside of the farmhouse a pale figure stood in the orchard. The pale bartender with the black suit stared at the farm house from atop a hill. He could just barely see the face of North Star laughing with his friends and marefriend. His suit elongated into a cloak that covered his whole body and two, pure, bone, wings sprouted from his sides. Slowly a thin leathery substance formed in between the wing's like a Threshal's. His eyes sunk into his face and his fur vanished. All of his organs turned to ash, as did his muscles. Displayed on his flank was a dark black scythe with four balls of fire surrounding it. One was red and had both a horn and wings, one was blue and had only a horn, one was yellow and had wings, and the fourth was green and had nothing. "So... My son's powers have finally awakened... It seems that he shall live a long and happy life..." The sound of a coyote calling drew the skeletal alicorns attention. A crow flew up to him and squawked before pointing it the direction of the howl with one of its wings. The alicorn nodded and his horn lit up with a pale glow. A scythe made of bones sprung up and he slung it over his shoulder before walking away. Before he left he sent a small message to North who had just walked out of the farm house with his friends. North Star blinked when a scroll hit his head. He picked it up with his magic and unraveled it. He read through it twice before he spoke it aloud. "To my son North. I could not be more proud of you for helping the soul of Running Tree finally cross over. I know that I was not there for you during your younger years but you would not have believed me when I told you who I was. Now that you have finally discovered your true powers I shall reveal to you my name. I am The Grim Reaper. Signed your loving father..." North's voice caught in his throat but he simply had to finish reading the letter aloud. "D-Death... I'm the son of Death?" North's ears laid back with sorrow but perked up when he felt two hooves wrap around his neck. "Doesn't matter to me who your daddy is! You're still the North I know and love!" North smiled at his marefriend and kissed her. "Thanks Aj... I needed that." Aj just smiled at him as he wrapped a leg around her and the four ponies walked off. Fang looked at the unicorn and smiled. He turned to his fiancé and gave a sheepish smile "Twilight, I feel bad for asking but... Remind me to purchase a gallon of lamb's blood, a crow feather, a black cat's bone, and a king cobra's scale once we get back to my kingdom. Ok?" Twilight blinked at Fang and raised an eyebrow. "Ok... Why?" "I plan on letting North meet his father. To do that I will need to summon and bind Death himself. I will need those items to summon him. I already have the heart of a dragon, the eyes of a cockatrice, the claws of a manticore, and the fangs from a chimera's tail, which are needed for the binding ritual." Twilight opened her mouth to say something but closed her mouth. It was Fang and the answer to how he had the body parts of multiple dangerous creatures was probably going to be 'I killed it'. "Ok. I'll remind you." Fang smiled at Twilight who smiled back as they got on the train. It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was. ~ Anne Sexton.