//------------------------------// // Prologue: The Message // Story: A King Unmatched // by Mister Friendly //------------------------------// Prologue: The Message Thunder boomed across the land, echoing through the rain and wind and giving momentary light to the pitch blackness surrounding her. Were it not for the torch held in her telekinetic grip, she never would’ve found her way through the inky night. The flames guttered dangerously low against the torrential downpour and slashing wind, equaling chilling her to the bone, but she could not afford to attend to it. She could only pray that the fire would last. The conditions demanded that she move slowly; the trail was hardly wider than she was, worn through the grass and foliage by eons of travel by ponies and animals alike. Roots and loose rocks were plentiful, and oily mud slicked everything. All the deathtrap was missing was a pony’s haste. Yet, while conditions demanded she proceed with caution, the situation forced her to do just the opposite. She was running down the familiar trail full tilt, breathing hard from the unexpected exertions she was putting her body through. Twice she almost tripped or twisted her ankle, but she pressed on without a second thought. Another cacophonous explosion of sound and light overhead illuminated the trees all around her, and a barely visible shape through them that her eyes had been desperately searching for. “Hurry!” she cried out without turning around. “We’re almost there! There’s still time before He arrives!” Somepony else was huffing and puffing behind her, squealing on occasion when her hooves nearly betrayed her on the slick road. Had they not been more familiar with that trail than their own bedchambers, they never would’ve made it so far without an accident. “P-please, slow down, Priestess!” her companion wailed, distressed. But she took no heed. They were coming around one final bend through the underbrush. The ground to her right disappeared, the forest vanishing along a towering cliff that dropped away into the darkness, its bottom never to be seen. But she didn’t need to see the floor below to hear the waves crashing against the distant rocks far blow, even over the sound of rain and her own heart pounding in her ears. On their other side, the ground sloped up into crags and worn, smooth stone, like the spine of some great skeleton to be illuminated with every flash of lightning. And ahead of them, standing where the cliffs made a thrusting point over the abyss below, stood a small, ramshackle building. It was flanked all around by five ovular rocks bound by thick bands of rope near their bases, as if they were anchoring the rundown structure to the ground. Each rock stood nearly as tall as the shack, and when the lightning raced through the stormy heavens again, she could just make out the great runes etched into their surfaces. Remember… She skidded to a halt, completely out of breath, her eyes fixed on the small derelict of a structure – her salvation. “There isn’t much time!” she called out. “The disturbance is getting worse! He will be here very soon! We must prepare while we still have a chance!” A moment later, her companion staggered to a stop beside her, panting fitfully. “Please, Priestess! How are we to know this will even work? Nothing the Empire has done has stopped Him before! Not even the Sorcerers could!” “It will work,” She responded fervently. “It has to work…!” She turned away from the building, towards her companion. She was a little thing; hardly grown out of being a filly by the looks of her. She was wearing fine, flower-pattern silks that were now quite ruined by the muddy road, her soft yellow mane tangled with leaves and soaked with rain. Her sky-blue eyes were wide and wild, looking around anxiously in an attempt to pierce the foreboding darkness around them. But all there was to see was a pathetically small circle of flickering torch light, rain and mud. “I hope you’re right, Priestess,” her companion whimpered nervously. “If not…” Another sound ripped through the night; another loud, explosive bang. Only this time, it didn’t come from the heavens. This time, the light that followed it wasn’t blindingly white; it was fiery red. Again and again the sound detonated through the air, followed by angry flashes of not lightning, but fire. Both of them turned, hearts filled with icy dread, to see the source of that violent light, and the terrible spectacle that came with it. Explosions were flashing through the darkness below, exploding seemingly in midair in the distance… upon something that stood taller than any mountain. Something that voiced its displeasure with a terrific roar. “He’s here!” cried her companion fearfully. “Already?! But – but…” Her heart filled with dread… and grim resignation at the sight. That titanic form was growing closer, striding through the surf without difficulty, completely ignorant of the hailstorm of detonations exploding across His seemingly invincible hide. They served only to urge Him on, like a cloud of angry bees might a bear. One explosive detonated across His back, and through the flash, she could just see the outlines of countless jagged shadows adorning his spine, though they were little more than nebulous darkness in the clouds of smoke and fire exploding all around Him. He roared again, swinging His girth in the direction of the blast, and for a moment, through the fire and smoke, she could see His maw fall open in wrath, before the fireball engulfing Him extinguished, and He was lost to the dark night once more. There came a terrific, earthshattering boom, and suddenly the explosions ceased, leaving only darkness to burn into the two companions’ eyes. “He will be here soon,” she said, voice empty. They were out of time, the one thing they direly needed. “W-what do we do?” her companion whimpered fearfully. “Those are the Emperor’s finest warriors down there, and He’s not even slowing down!” She had no answers that her young companion would enjoy to hear. She did, however, have answers. “Imi, I need you to do me a favor.” Her companion turned back to look at her, anxious. “W-what would you have me do, Priestess?” “I need you to return to the temple,” she said. Immediately her companion was objecting, but she put a hoof on her shoulder and spoke over her, raising her voice to be heard around the young pony’s complaining. “If I don’t succeed, somepony will have to look after everypony in my stead. The Empire will need a Priestess in these dark times, now more than ever.” “You can’t face Him alone! What if you –” “This is the only way, Imi!” “You’re just—” “I need somepony I can trust to carry out my duties, and to carry out what we discussed should it come to that!” “B-but, but –” “This is the only way!” she pressed, desperate for her companion to understand. “Please! This is our only chance to stop Him before there is any more pain and suffering! It must be done, or there won’t be anything left to save!” Through the rain and wind, she offered a small smile, full of as much reassurance as she could find within herself. “I won’t allow myself to fail. I promise.” Imi looked like she had a million and one things to say – to object to, to question – but nothing found its way off the tip of her tongue. She just continued to make a strangled sound in the back of her throat. Before she could find her voice, the ground beneath their hooves quaked with an ominous, reverberating boom… A flash of lightning cut through the sky… and yet a large swath of it remained dark, casting an immense shadow over the two suddenly petrified companions. That was when they heard the rumbling; a guttural, quaking grumble, like the fury of the earth personified ripping through a cavernous throat. She looked up, too scared to do anything else, at the shadow – darker than the blackness of night, moving through the night like a migrating mountain peak. He was following the coast, each stride shaking the earth bad enough to nearly knock the companions to the ground. But then He paused, and the shadow moved; a gigantic head swung through the darkness, throwing a curtain of rain and sea spray through the lightning-filled air, His sights settling on a tiny, almost unnoticeable point of light. She could see nothing of Him but a dark shadow, save for two pinpricks of light atop its colossal summit; the infinitesimally small reflections of a dying touch far, far below. The shadow loomed over them, inconceivably huge, and yet for its size, the torch she held never reached far enough to touch it. It was so impossibly massive that the wind died, breaking across His broad, powerful back. “Go.” She ordered Imi, but even her own voice sounded strangled. “Run. Run Imi. Go!” Her final shout seemed to shock the filly, and suddenly her limbs were milling through the mud as fast as they could. Imi ran like a thing possessed, fleeing for her life with little other thought in her mind. It took her nearly ten strides before the storm hit her full force again, yet it served only to speed her up further. As her companion vanish beyond the torchlight and into the safety of the darkness behind her, a sigh of relief restrained in her throat, before she turning and staring up at the titanic figure that’d come to loom over the point. Another giant step rocked the ground, nearly tossing her to the mud, and the rain ceased. An eerie, gut-wrenching silence took hold, as if the very air around her was holding its breath. Without the wind howling in her ears or the rain pounding against her slight frame, the sudden stillness was like she’d stepped into the eye of a hurricane. But the truth was far worse; she was standing beneath the monster Himself. She gulped, heart thundering in her chest. She knew what she had to do now… no matter how impossible a task it seemed, and no matter how much she quailed in the face of it. She sat back on her flank, clapped her hooves together. Focus… Remember… She closed her eyes. Her horn illuminated, producing a clean, pure white light. Remember… Her eyes shot open, a declaration on her lips – as the titanic claw fell like a judge’s gavel upon her head. ~~***~~ A shriek cut through a silent cottage, the one responsible sitting bolt upright in bed, clutching her comforter to her front like a scaredy filly. Nightmares weren’t a new thing for her, true. Nightmares like that however… now that was a whole different story. Even her nightmares were not usually so… dark… But the more time ticked by, the more the mare settled down, like she always did after such incidents. “J-just a… a bad dream,” she muttered to herself. It always helped to reaffirm out loud, and it did then, too; her pulse slowed, her breathing evened out and her wits steadied. Her sapphire eyes drifted around the room to take in the familiar sights – another activity to help get over bad dreams. She took in the pair of knitting needles lying on the rocking chair beside her bed, a blue thread from a nearby ball of yarn still wrapped around one tip, and the half completed muffler resting neatly beside it. A birthday present, she recalled. Not far off, there were several books, all arranged neatly in two piles; a ‘to read’ pile, and a ‘to return’ pile, both arranged on a nearby dresser next to a series of picture frames. See? No scary monsters, no dark stormy nights… only your bedroom. Everything’s just fine. As if to contradict her, a loud bang and squawk echoed through her bedroom door back at her, jarring her fragile nerves. It seemed that her terrified return to consciousness hadn’t gone unnoticed by the rest of the many occupants of her cottage. “Oh… my…” whispered the timid pegasus to herself, eyes growing bigger by the second. “Not again…” ~~***~~ It took Fluttershy nearly half an hour to get her many animal friends to calm down again. After many, many soothing words, a few pets and an early, ample breakfast, she finally got the last squirrel to cease panicking. Oh Fluttershy, you silly filly… you really shouldn’t make everypony so upset. I’ll just have to be more careful in the future. She bustled about her duties, going from one animal friend’s home to the next, tending to whoever she could. It was simply routine, and soon enough she fell into her usual tempo. Still, thoughts of her dream plagued her all morning, continuously sending shivers down her spine. And every time she recalled that immense shadow… At one point she dropped Angel’s salad as a result, much to his ire. But the more she thought about it, the more she started to try to explain the whole thing away as simply an overactive – and maybe slightly vindictive – imagination getting the better of her. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone with Rainbow Dash to see that movie last week… Oh, but she wanted to see Daring Do and the Temple of Gloom so much, how could I say no? There was a priest in that, too, I think. Oh, I don’t want to think about that one, either! Fluttershy shook herself. No, it was best not to think about it. The right thing to do for herself was to just forget all about it and go about her day. It was only once she’d tended to all of her furry friends that she finally paused and decided to tend to her own needs. She showered, made herself some tea, and enjoyed a buttered croissant with jam by the window while watching the sunrise. It took her some time, but she managed to shuffle the nightmare to the back of her mind, where it would eventually dissipate and leave her in peace. After such a rocky start to the morning, the rest of her day so far promised to be nothing but peaceful indeed. She was able to preoccupy herself with thoughts about what the day would need getting done – last she checked, she was almost out of birdseed again, and oh! It was Mr. Bluejay’s birthday! She’d have to pick him up something extra special – maybe a few of those worms he loved so much, even if they weren’t wholly good for him anymore. But… maybe one small one wouldn’t hurt. Fluttershy nodded to herself, finished the last bite of her croissant, and hopped up, ready to tackle the day. She cleaned up, dressed in her best saddlebags, and headed out the door – after leaving Mrs. Goose in charge, of course. She could always be relied on to keep order amongst so many while she was gone. The sun outside was bright – it truly promised to be a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky to bother it. She even find herself humming a little tune to herself as she trotted down the long, winding road towards Ponyville. Nopony was around – why not? By the time she was just around the corner from the outskirts of Ponyville, however, what she was doing could no longer be defined as ‘humming’. “Got the music in… you?” she paused, freezing halfway through a little kick as something caught her eye. For some reason – a reason that really did elude her – Ponyville seemed to be… glittering. As in, for some reason, the streets that lay ahead of her seemed to be shining like it’d been literally paved with gold. Which was, strangely enough, exactly what seemed to have happened. The sight of Rainbow milling through the air wildly while clad in a full-sized gala dress only made things weirder. “Oh… my…” A crunch of gravel behind her made Fluttershy squeak and whip around, automatically collapsing in on herself defensively… until she saw who was behind her and relaxed. “Oh… hello Rarity.” ~~***~~ Several hours and one possessed fashionista later… Twilight Sparkle was in an absolutely foul mood as she slammed the door to her bedroom shut behind her. “Of all the ways I could’ve spent my day off,” she fumed to herself, ears slicked back and mane a wild mess, “This has got to be the worst way possible. I should’ve made Spike clean all of that stuff up – it was his mess, not mine or Luna’s! Grr, if I ever see gold glitter ever again, I’m going to hurt somepony!” Spike’s new bout of honesty wasn’t doing him any favors either. Oh, there would be retribution, without a doubt. Maybe she’d go downstairs, shuffle around all of the books in the library while hiding a few before making him reorganize the shelves, just to watch him sweat. But no, she thought with a sigh, she couldn’t be petty like that. It wasn’t what princesses did, as Cadance would no doubt be quick to point out. But that only meant she’d have to think up a more grown up way to punish him. Like… dungeon time, maybe. Yes, dungeon time sounded good… Twilight was distracted from her temperamental musings by a sound behind her. It was a familiar sound that she could’ve recognized even from the opposite end of the library, one she didn’t care for at the moment; the sound of a dragon burping. “Twilight! Letter for you!” called out Spike through the door behind her. To Anypony else, that would’ve sounded like a very strange followup indeed. No “Excuse me” or “Wow, that was a big one!” like most ponies would expect. Then again, most ponies didn’t have baby dragons, and Twilight had had years to get used to it. “I’ll get to it later,” Twilight snapped, continuing down the stairs. She was not finished being mad at him yet, princessly behavior be – “It looks kind of important, though,” Spike added. “Later!” Twilight shouted back, glowering to herself. “It says ‘Urgent’, Twilight,” Spike pressed. For some reason, that made Twilight pause, one hoof hesitating in midair just before the halfway mark down the spiral staircase. “Urgent?” she repeated, brow furrowing as she turned her head to listen for Spike’s response; just, not too much. “Yeah,” Spike said back. “Come to think of it, didn’t the last time Princess Celestia stamp a letter as urgent, it was because of the Crystal Empire?” Twilight didn’t respond; she was too busy thinking. Spike was right; she’d only ever seen the ‘Urgent’ stamp used maybe two or three times before. Celestia usually didn’t feel the need to employ it, because Twilight was always so quick to open them and read the contents within. To label a letter as urgent meant only one thing; it was. She very much wanted to keep fuming at Spike, but... It took her only a moment or two to make up her mind, however. Twilight huffed, swallowed her pride, and turned back around to trudge up the stairs. “Alright, I’m coming. But this’d better be good!” Spike was waiting for her on the landing. He was holding out the rolled up scroll at arm’s length, as if expecting Twilight to bite at him on sight. The short-tempered alicorn princess tried to ignore his attempt at a peace offering and snatched the letter up in her magical grip. But she really wasn’t all that vindictive of a pony. She could see Spike sagging his shoulders, holding his head low, and as much as she wanted to pretend like she hadn’t for the sake of staying mad a bit longer, she couldn’t ignore his clearly repentant demeanor. So, she let out her breath before tugging the baby dragon in for a one-hooved, one-winged hug of appreciation. She didn’t say anything, though, and she kept herself aloof; he hadn’t earned more than what he was getting after the pain and suffering he’d put her through that day. She ignored his responding hug – more involved than hers was – as she broke the official royal wax seal and let it unravel itself. However, it wasn’t a particularly long letter, just like the one that’d summoned her to Canterlot over the Crystal Empire. It contained only a few choice lines, quickly yet elegantly scrawled on the parchment, but Twilight knew when her mentor was in a rush. And that rarely ever happened. Now she had warning bells going off in her head for real, and it only became worse when she beheld the last line on the letter, and grew as still as a statue. Spike noticed Twilight cease moving, and craned his neck up to see what she was reading. It barely took him any time to get through the sparse letter, but like Twilight, he paused at the final line. Only, in his case, it was due to confusion. “Uh… Twilight? Why is Celestia writing to you about the eastern ocean?” Twilight didn’t answer right away. Her eyes, which had suddenly become a million miles away, her brow deeply knotted together. “I don’t know, Spike,” she muttered. “But… I hope it’s not what I think it is.” ~~***~~ From her balcony, Princess Celestia looked out over the whole of Equestria, watching the last dying rays of sunlight relinquish their hold over the highest mountains in the land. The sky was still a medley of pinks, purples and deep, unfathomable blues, growing darker the further one’s eyes drifted from the horizon. Stars twinkled above, and while the moon had not yet made its grand appearance on the astral stage, she knew it was but minutes away from doing so. Yet, it wasn’t her usual evening array of thoughts that occupied her mind. Usually she preoccupied herself just before bed with wondering what kind of nightly spectacle her sister would put on in the heavens; maybe a comet, or meteor shower. It was a good way to unwind from the bureaucracy of the day, one that she’d taken to quite well since her sister’s return. But not that night. No, something far less benign had taken root in her thoughts, and refused to let her rest in peace. Her usual smile and soft expression had hardened into a troubled, pensive scowl that delicately knitted her brows together and drew down the corners of her mouth ever so slightly. She sat quietly, alone with her thoughts… and an elegant scroll clad in gold, its surface scrawled with a foreign and unusual text. And in one hoof, she held a metallic insignia of gold and ruby with seven jagged edges. Whenever she looked at it, her mind became very troubled indeed… She received a distraction, however, and in quite the spectacular manner, when her sister, Princess Luna herself, literally dropped out of the sky like a meteor, landing dead on her hooves so hard the walls trembled. One look, and Celestia could tell that she was not in a particularly good mood. Her ethereal mane, usually sleek and flowing, had developed the oddest kinks and eccentricities, making it look like she’d tried an ill-fated attempt at styling it. Judging by the sour scowl on her face, it was something less humorous. “We have returned, dear sister,” Princess Luna drawled dourly without even looking at her startled sibling, “Do not ask us where we have been, for we do not wish to discuss it. However, we are very much considering dropping a meteor on our old home. We trust you will not miss it.” “… Long night?” Celestia asked, trying to seem neutral. Luna merely glowered. “We do not wish to talk about it,” she reiterated. “Now, if you will excuse us, we hath dire need of a full coffee pot. And a bath.” As she quickly strode away, making for the door with all-due haste, Celestia suddenly jumped upright, turning in the direction of her sister. “Luna…” The umbral princess halted, glancing over her shoulder. It had been a while since she’d heard Celestia speak to her like that before. “Could I… have a moment of your time?” Celestia asked, chancing a smile. “I… must get your opinion on something.” Even as foul as her mood was, Luna’s eyes flashed, scrutinizing Celestia carefully. “About?” Then, her eyes drifted down to the ground, momentarily flicking towards a medallion lying on the ground, glittering in the light of a nearby candle. When she saw it, her eyes narrowed. “We have not seen one of those…” she glanced up towards Celestia carefully, biting back her intended comment, “… in a long time. Is there some reason for you to dig such a relic out of the archives?” Celestia unexpectedly shook her head. “No, little sister. This did not come from the archives. It, and this letter, were delivered to me early this morning.” Very few things in the world could’ve gotten Luna to raise her eyebrows, even in an amicable mood. For her to be so testy and still find it to give her sister such a surprised look was something in itself. “Truly?” “Truly.” Luna’s expression settled again, her now mercurial eyes drifting back down to the medallion. She did not say anything further, but the way she pursed her lips squirmed at the inside of Celestia’s chest. Without asking to do so, Luna’s horn was engulfed in a midnight blue light, and Celestia watched as she tugged the scroll towards her, set it on its side, and started reading, her eyes flashing up and down in rapid movements. And the further she read, the darker her expression became. “Curious… And most unsettling,” she concluded, her eyes drifting up to scrutinize her sister once again. “Apologies, but our Empirese is a little rusty. Are we to believe that they have broken their silence… for this?” “I thought mine was out practice as well,” Celestia responded, an understanding smile flicking across her troubled expression. “But there are some names – one in particular, I’m sure you’d imagine – that I’d recognize anywhere.” Luna’s frown deepened, only now it bore the telltale traces of her troubled mood. “That may be so… But…” Her brows pulled together even more, her eyes settling upon a short, three character line near the end. She turned the letter this way and that, scrutinizing it with an increasingly perplexed eye. “Practice or no… I do not recognize this one. Go… rilla… whale? Sister, what manner of word is this?” Celestia sighed, looking away towards the open sky beyond the balcony. “That… I do not know, dear sister. But I fear what it might be…” ~~***~~ Remember… She skidded to a halt across the mud and filth, nearly toppling in her exhaustion. She panted, gulping down as much as air she could, but it never felt like it was enough. She was chilled to the bone, her dress nothing more than a sopping wet washrag around her frame. Stars danced before her eyes, but she struggled to see through them. One of her forelegs was pulverized – she couldn’t tell which through the lancing pain. All she knew for certain was that she couldn’t rely on it. And ahead of her, through the gloom and rain of the storm, she saw His head swing around to look at her again. He huffed in contempt, a sound like a gale lashing against her ears. Even from over the edge of the cliff, He towered over her; an impenetrable, immovable mountain indifferent to whatever attempts she made to shift it. But she had to keep trying. She couldn’t allow herself to give up hope; it was all she had left to rely on. Every spell she knew, every incantation she’d practiced, every prayer she’d memorized – nothing was so much as giving the beast pause. Why He hadn’t moved on or simply finished her off, she did not know. Was He so entertained by her antics that he’d simply stopped to toy with her like a cat would a mouse? But she had to keep trying… With the last of her strength, she summoned up whatever dregs of magic she had left in her, forced it into her horn, and took aim. She could see the reflection of her spell in His shining eyes, gleaming like the eyes of a predator in the darkness; two points of light atop of a colossal monster. He snarled at the sight of her glowing horn, rising up to His full, intimidating height, becoming somehow taller. She could hear His lungs filling to capacity, dragging in more air in one gulp than she’d likely breathed in her entire, short life. She had to keep trying… “KREEEEE-OOOOOOONNNNK!”