//------------------------------// // Reception // Story: Scorpan the Betrayer // by Captain Hurricane //------------------------------// “The King isn’t receiving visitors.” Three minotaur guards towered over Princess Twilight Sparkle, blocking further passage into Minovan Castle. Two of them were flanking their captain, whose scarred chest underscored his status as a veteran soldier and fearsome warrior. Beyond them, an iron portcullis ensured the way into the castle was impenetrable to unwelcome guests. “It’s important that I have an audience with the king. I’ve come all the way from Equestria to….” The minotaur cut her off. “You might as well go back there, then. The King will not receive visitors.” A look of annoyance crossed Twilight’s face. “He’ll want to hear what I have to say, Captain. It’s about his brother. Will you tell him that?” The minotaur leader blinked twice in rapid succession. “Brother?” He looked to the minotaurs to his left and right. The same perplexed look on their faces did little to conceal their confusion. The guard leaned in close; his warm and rancid breath assaulted Twilight’s nostrils, but she endured the malodorous miasma with little reaction. “I don’t know what you’re getting at, Princess, but if this is a joke, the King will ensure you suffer much….displeasure. Wait here.” The guard captain signaled to more minotaur guards on both sides of the gate. Slowly, the massive portcullis began to rise, propelled upward as a complicated system of ropes and pulleys worked against gravity. Twilight watched as the sharpened ends of the portcullis were elevated to just above the guard captain’s head. If the gate were to descend on somepony, she reckoned, there would be no way to survive. The captain was gone only a short while before he returned, his face just as emotionless as before. “I am to accompany you to the throne room where our King will see you. Do you…” he hesitated, exhaling before continuing rapidly, “….require help with your bags?” “No, thank you, Captain. I’ll manage.” Twilight didn’t see the need to impose any more than she had to. It would have been quite demeaning for the guard captain to be reduced to a bagpony. Besides, it was only one saddlebag. The minotaur captain stood on the far side of the gate, beckoning Twilight to follow. Her hooves echoed with each step forward she took. The deep red cobblestone path was otherwise unoccupied; only Twilight and her escort traveled upon it. The alicorn princess marveled at the gothic style architecture of the keep and castle, its spires like fangs, or perhaps daggers, piercing the skies above. The guard captain led Twilight through a set of massive wooden doors, their beams painted in a menacing red hue. The minotaur stopped at another, smaller set of doors; here, he opened the door for Twilight, indicating for her to enter. “Good luck, Princess.” The massive minotaur leaned in much closer this time, whispering in to Twilight’s ear. “You’re a braver pony than I am.” *** Scorpan paced nervously, his tail swishing back and forth with each step. Although he was older, and wiser now, his strength had not failed him yet. He glanced back at the arm of his throne, and his brow furrowed as he saw deep gouges where his claws had sunk into only moments before. News of his brother? No news would have been best; a messenger from Equestria could only mean one thing: Tirek has escaped his Tartaruan prison. Scorpan returned to his throne, his graying leonine mane still showing a hint of the youth that had long ago been lost. Leathery wings stretched out, and folded again behind him as two solid knocks resounded from the entrance to his chambers. “Enter,” he bellowed, in a tone neither soft nor menacing, but commanding. With her head broaching the doorway cautiously, Twilight calmly trotted forward toward the sovereign monstrosity. Scorpan stood twice as tall as she did, even when balancing on her hind legs. Draconic red wings rested behind him, and his claws seemed sharp and lethal. Her eyes settled upon his, and found not hardened anger, but a soft, gentle sadness behind Scorpan’s restless gaze. “A…a princess?” Scorpan bowed slightly toward Twilight, who was herself kneeling before the king. Twilight retained her position, awaiting Scorpan’s command. “Come now, my little pony. Dispense with the formalities.” Twilight stood upright, as Scorpan’s wings rapidly outstretched, signifying an urgency Twilight didn’t quite understand. She noted his deep baritone voice, rich yet gravelly but not harsh. It reminded her in a way of her own mentor's speech patterns, with their gentle wisdom underlying a polished and precise eloquence. “Your presence here is a dark omen for Equestria. We have no time to waste. We must return to your lands at once if Tirek is to be captured….” “I don’t mean to interrupt, but Lord Tirek is already in captivity. In Tartarus, once more. My friends and I stopped him.” Twilight watched a veil of confusion descend upon Scorpan’s face. “I…I don’t understand. If he escaped, Tirek would have stopped at nothing to see Equestria crushed beneath his hooves and all of its ponies dominated…bending to his will. Only by the combined powers of your Equestrian royalty could his reign of terror be ended…” Scorpan’s wings folded behind him again. “That was the news of my brother, then? Why now, after more than a thousand years, does a pony stand before me, a visitor in the court of the Kingdom of Minova?” It was Scorpan’s turn to kneel, bringing himself to eye level of the equine guest in front of him. “I am Twilight Sparkle, student to Princess Celestia, and, now that Tirek has been returned to Tartarus, the Princess of Friendship!” She flexed her wings, bowing slightly as she did so. “Celestia? ‘Tia? You know ‘Tia?” Scorpan brought both his arms around Twilight, enveloping her in a deep and warm embrace. “Any friend of hers, my little pony, is a friend of mine.” Twilight was slightly uncomfortable with the towering hulk’s embrace. The last thing she was expecting from the King of the Land of Monsters was a hug. “I…I…I’m glad, Your Highness, that the spirit of friendship between our lands is still strong.” Scorpan ended his embrace. His head turned back toward a door on the far end of the room. “Please, again, dispense with the formalities. You may call me Scorpan…only if I may call you Twilight. Agreed?” “Of course, Your…Scorpan.” The king stood, beckoning Twilight to follow. “Come, Twilight. My chambers are more comfortable than this drafty room. The minotaurs find the throne room’s spartan nature much more to their liking.” He paused before opening the door. “I keep it warm in here. It’s hard to keep the chill off these old bones…even though I have the lion’s share of fur.” He pointed to his mane. “HA! Get it, lion’s share. That joke never gets old, unlike myself.” Twilight smiled nervously at the king’s self-deprecating pun. “We have many things to discuss, Twilight.” Scorpan held the door open for the alicorn; a warm draft played over Twilight’s face. For a moment, it reminded her of a warm summer day in Canterlot. As she entered the door, a set of quills and ink levitated from one pocket of Twilight’s saddlebags; from another pocket, a book with blank pages floated into the air. The room was comfortable, and it felt reminiscent of her old suite at the Canterlot castle; it was a far cry from what she knew of Minovan decor. Twilight gathered her quills and ink, setting them down on a wooden table that seemed to be just the right height for a pony. “Everypony has a story, Scorpan,” She spoke softly as Scorpan settled into an overstuffed armchair. “I’m here because….I want to hear yours.”