//------------------------------//
// ... is still my enemy. 
// Story: Walker of the Abyss 
// by lunarstallion 
//------------------------------//

"I speak, of course, of the awakening of the Abyss."

The group of ponies sat there, stunned looks upon their faces. After what they heard from Celestia about Manus' power, and Artorias' own stories from when he was consumed, this was not something to be taken lightly. Celestia and Artorias were not taking it as well as the other ponies, the former becoming paler by the second, with a look of absolute terror upon her face.

Artorias lunged forward and grabbed Discord by the neck, bringing him face to face with the knight. "Tell. Me. Where."

Discord just grinned and placed a claw on Artorias' chest. With a burst of magic, Artorias was blown back a couple feet, Discord's magic having little effect on him. "Good, now that that's over with, why don't we discuss this like normal ponies, and-"

With no time to react, and no warning whatsoever, Discord was pinned against the wall, a greatsword placed against his throat preventing him from moving. Looking up, he could see two things: the terrified and surprised faces of all the ponies.

And what he assumed to be a demon of wrath.

A black glow had encompassed Artorias, the odd magic oozing off of him like a strange mix of fire and slime. Beneath his helmet, his eyes glowed a sickening red, their piercing gaze staring into the chaos god's soul. "Do not test me, creature." Artorias said, bringing the blade closer to Discord's throat, "I have slain many a beast more powerful than the likes of you on my quest for Manus. You WILL tell me where he spawns, or you will perish at the end of my blade."

Discord, being the immortal god of chaos he is, didn't realize the danger the blade posed to him. So he simply laughed, right in Artorias' face, and said, "Oh really? And what could you, a mere mortal, do to me, a god of chaos? Riddle me that, knight of darkness!"

And in that moment, the supposed god of chaos felt something he had never experienced before. Something that, were it any other being, they would've known how to deal with it.

Pure, unbridled fear.

His taunting of Artorias had led to him being pinned to a wall, the only thing keeping him from falling was the knight's greatsword, which stuck very proudly out of his chest. Searing pain rippled through the ancient draconequus, tearing at the very fiber of his being. The sword, meant to banish the evil that was the Abyss, could apparently be used as a sword of other evil's bane as well.

Which meant for Discord, that he was pretty fucked.

The group of ponies had a mixed reaction to this. In a split second, Fluttershy was being held back by both Rainbow Dash and Celestia herself, the anger felt towards the knight radiating off of her. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie sat there, stunned at what they had just witnessed happen. Applejack was trying to form words, but found herself unable to.

Artorias himself was simply getting more and more angry. 'I never should've mingled with these ponies,' Artorias thought, the handle of his blade firmly gripped by his powerful hands. 'I wouldn't be killing any more gods, and I would have a second chance to stop Manus.'

Discord, finally comprehending the sheer amount of pain he was in, let out an incredibly primal and painful screech, his claws uselessly trying to pull the offending piece of metal from his body. It was pointless, he knew that much at this point, but if he was to die, he would go down with a fight..

When he began to black out, Artorias did something that nopony expected from the enraged being.

The blade was pulled from the Draconequus with ease, fresh blood pouring out of the wound in his chest. Everypony fell silent as Artorias drew his talisman from his belt. "Now, 'god of chaos,' I will give you a choice." He twirled the talisman in his hand, expertly catching it in a ready position. "I have the ability to heal all of your wounds in an instant, all with a little flick of this here talisman. Nod if you understand." At Discord's nod, he continued, "I will do this when I get the whereabouts of Manus' lair. Tell me, or I will allow you to bleed out on this floor."

"B-but that's barbaric! Can't you see that he's in pain?!" Twilight exclaimed, gesturing at the hunched over creature, and the blood constantly spilling out of him. "Why would you kill him just to find out where Manus is?"

Artorias looked at Twilight, and the look he gave made her freeze up and pale slightly. Gone were both his anger and happiness. All that remained underneath his helmet were two orbs that spoke of pain and sorrow. But one emotion showed through them both, and that was what confused Twilight the most.

She saw regret, oh so much regret, when she stared into the eyes of this once great and renowned warrior of sunlight.

"It would not be the first time that I have had to resort to such tactics," Artorias said, looking back to the dying draconequus, "and it certainly won't be the last." Twilight fell silent after that, quietly accepting that the knight was doing this horrible act, whether or not they wanted him to.

Discord muttered something, but Artorias was unable to hear him. Leaning forward, he silently waited for the beast to repeat himself. "... Ghastly... gorge..." was all that he heard.

Nodding in understanding, Artorias gripped his talisman, and uttered a silent prayer into it, causing a golden light to illuminate him and Discord, followed by the rather gruesome sight of Discord's chest mending itself shut. When that was all done with, man and beast stood up at the same time, their similar heights allowing them to stare into each other's eyes. "For what it's worth," Artorias said, extending his hand, "I am sorry it had to come to that."

Discord looked at his hand with disgust, and begrudgingly accepted it into his own, shaking lightly and briefly. After that, Artorias turned towards Princess Celestia, while Discord came to Fluttershy to calm her down. "Point me to this... 'Ghastly gorge.' I wish to end this."

Celestia, even after seeing him nearly kill Discord, stood as tall as she could, and refused. "While you may need revenge, you are not the only one that Manus has touched. Either we all go together, and face him as one, or I will not allow you to go-"

She was unable to finish, as Artorias threw her to the floor and aimed the sword at her throat. This time, all that was holding the elements back was Discord, who knew what would happen if they interfered with him, having experienced it himself. "While I would prefer to avoid doing what happened to that creature again, I am fully capable of doing so anyway, princess." Artorias said the word 'princess' as if it were poisonous, spitting it at the pinned down Alicorn, "Now, will you allow me to keep your people safe?"

The malice in his voice was palpable, to say the least. The pure, unbridled rage and hatred coming off of him was enough to make even Celestia quake with fear. His eyes spoke of the terrors his anger could bring down upon Equestria, and the ponies knew at that moment, that he was a force far more powerful than any other they had dealt with in the past.

Before Celestia could say a word, Rainbow Dash stepped forward, regardless of the others' protests. "Artorias," she said, gaining the attention of the ancient warrior, "I'll take you to ghastly gorge."

The anger in his eyes was gone in an instant, and Artorias stood up from his crouched position over Celestia, slowly helping her up. When he looked over to Rainbow, he saw a glint in her eyes. He did not know if it was hatred for what he did to her ruler, or concern for what she had gotten herself into, but she wanted something, that he could tell. "What is the catch, miss Dash?"

"The catch is," She began, looking towards the other elements, being held back by Discord, "that you allow us to help you with your quest."

Artorias quickly shook his head, "I cannot allow that. I am the only one in this world with enough power to face off against the darkness, and with the knowledge to do so. This is what I was meant to do, and I intend to do it for as long as I still breathe." He raised his sword once again, challenging the ponies to defy him yet again. "Now, will you or will you not take me there?"

"Pfft, yeah yeah, 'big scary knight.' Put down that sword, you know that you won't really hurt us." Rainbow said, her ego clearly getting the best of her, "You may have stabbed Discord, but you knew he could heal with your magic, so it wasn't a big deal."

"Hey!"

"In any case," Rainbow continued, confidently poking her hoof into the knight's chest, "Seeing how you're not only a visitor to our world, but also that you're outnumbered eight to one, I'd suggest you listen to us, and let us help you."

The library had fallen silent. 'Did she forget what he could do?!?' Twilight thought, nervously looking from the prismatic pegasus to the towering knight. 'Does she not understand the extent of his power?' She thought for another moment, 'Do any of us?'

Artorias simply stayed silent. Him and Rainbow were having a staring contest, his height allowing him to loom over her and the other ponies menacingly. Wordlessly, he placed his sword onto the ground, alongside his shield. Seeing the confused look upon the other's faces, and the cocky smirk on Rainbow's, he decided to elaborate: "You know not what I am capable of, little one. I have slain many a foe greater than any in this room, and I will continue to do so until my time has come." Before Rainbow could interrupt him, he held up a hand to stop her. "My weapons may be able to take you down with ease, but I assure you that, even without my sword, I can kill any of you faster than you could blink."

Rainbow grinned at that, "Yeah right. You're looking at the fastest pegasus alive right here, there's no way I wouldn't see you coming from a mile away!" She leveled her gaze, hovering so she could be eye level to him. "Now, why don't you drop your pointless tough guy act, and let us help you?"

Without any hesitation, with no warning, Artorias' hand shot forward, and grabbed her by the throat. "I am growing impatient." He said, making sure that she could breathe just enough to stay awake. "I did not want any of this, You could've led me to the Abyss without any fuss, and none of this would've happened. But now, you have attempted to intimidate me, hurt me, and delay me in my quest to stop the primeval man known as Manus. I am sorry, but I will not allow any more delays."

With that, he threw her towards the ground, a sickening *CRUNCH* coming from one of her wings. She screamed in pain as Artorias simply grabbed his weapons and made for the door. "Heal her, please!" he heard Twilight say, the desparation in her voice extremely apparent.

He turned for a moment, and continued to walk out, ignoring their cries of anger, pain, and betrayal. One voice, however, he stopped for. "I brought you to this world, and this is how you treat us? Hostility and anger?"

Discords voice made him stop cold. 'ask for the lord of chaos... of course it was him.' the knight turned towards the group, which was now huddled around Rainbow Dash, Twilights horn glowing softly in what he assumed was an attempt to stop the pain. "Discord," He said, getting the creature to look at him. "I should've stayed dead in Oolacile. I was not meant for this world."

With that, he left the tree house, not knowing of what awaited him at Ghastly Gorge.



After taking Rainbow Dash to the hospital, the other five elements and Celestia met up in the center of town to go to ghastly gorge.

"While he is immensely more powerful than I previously expected," Celestia said as their group trotted at a brisk pace, "I believe that with the element of surprise, we should be able to at least subdue him long enough to talk some sense into him." As the group continued to run, Celestia's horn glowed with golden light, and a small yellow ball erupted from it, flying off towards Canterlot. "I have sent word to my sister to meet us there. She was always better with spells than me, and it should pay off here."

Twilight looked up at the princess with worry in her eyes, "What if it's not enough? What if he has more magic that we haven't seen yet?"

"I know he does, Twilight," Celestia slowed down a bit, letting the group catch their breath for the time being, "he showed us some incredible things back there, but I somehow doubt a seasoned warrior such as him would show all of his attacks to anyone, even an ally."

'Or a former ally' Twilight thought bitterly, as they resumed their fast pace towards the gorge.

During their trot, the group saw a midnight blue carriage flying in above them. The two ponies piloting it, night guards, banked left and began to land close to their position. Celestia ran ahead to their landing zone, and began conversing with Luna who, at this point, had stepped out of her transport. The girls caught up, and Luna looked to them with a grim expression on her face. "While it may have been Discord who brought this 'Artorias' here, his coming is no mistake." Luna walked up to Twilight, "Discord merely ensured he kept his original form through the portal that had taken him here. Portals to other worlds tend to make you a denizen of the world, and if that had happened to sir Artorias, I fear he wouldn't be here."

Twilight looked baffled. "Wait, why are you concerned for him? He stabbed Discord, threatened Celestia, and broke Rainbow Dash's wing! If anything, we should go back to get the elements!" All of her friends nodded in agreement save Pinkie, who was still being depressed in the corner.

"Twilight Sparkle, while we know not to trust Discord, we also know that there is a foe far more powerful awaiting our world in that gorge." Luna sighed deeply, remembering all the times they tried to question what Discord did, "It would be best if we made peace with sir Artorias, and give ourselves an invaluable ally in the war that is to come." With that said, Luna teleported herself away from her guards and the group, likely to go encounter Artorias for herself.

After Luna did this, Rarity turned to Celestia and said, "Why didn't we just do that from the beginning?"

Celestia furrowed her brow, thinking back to when they began trotting. "Well, I... forgot?" She gave Rarity an embarrassed look, "I'm sorry, but some rather old and horrifying memories have been brought to the forefront of my head, and they have clouded my mind ever since." She looked towards where Luna teleported, "But now, I believe we may take our time. Artorias might be strong and fast, but my sister is unmatched in magical prowess.

"If anypony can talk some sense into that knight, it's her."





Princess Luna popped into existence about a foot away from the edge of Ghastly gorge. She looked into the great cut in the earth, and saw only darkness. 'So it is true, then,' she thought, growing afraid of the darkness below, 'the Abyss has awakened once again...' With a beat of her wings, she sent herself flying over the gorge, observing just how far the darkness had spread. 'Excellent, it is still contained within the gorge. perhaps if we collapsed it...'

Her train of thought was stopped when she saw a lone figure approaching the darkness, striding tall and unafraid of what lies below. She descended to meet him, who she assumed was the knight she had heard so much about. Landing in front of him, she noticed the knight tense up at her sudden appearance. In a deep gravely voice he spoke, "Who are you, and why do you stand in my way?"

"You need not be so hostile, Knight Artorias," Luna said, looking up at the towering knight, "While my sister may care not about the way you speak to her, I do. And I am-"

"Princess Luna, the herald of the night." Artorias finished, impatience edging into his voice. "Your sister told me that much, and that's all I need to know. Now step aside, lest you get hurt." He began forward, but was stopped when she stepped into his way yet again. "Luna, I wish not to harm you or any other under your rule. But if you and your sister continue to force my hand, I will not hesitate to do so."

She didn't move an inch. "Knight Artorias, you are not prepared to face what lies beneath that curtain of shadows." Luna stepped back slightly, looking into his eyes, "The darkness is ripe with dangers even you would be hard pressed to fight, and you need assistance." It was at this moment, she realized that a strange noise had been coming from the ancient warrior.

He was chuckling.

Luna blanched, not at all used to ponies outright laughing at her, especially when she was warning them of the imminent danger! "How dare you laugh at me!" She stomped right up to him and hit him in the chest with her hoof, doing nothing more than gaining his attention once again. "Explain thyself at once, knight! Why dost thou laugh at us?"

Once Artorias had collected himself, he took a deep breath. "My apologies, princess, but having someone else warn me of the dangers lurking in what used to be my domain simply made me laugh, that's all." At her startled look, he explained a bit further, "You see, Luna, before I came here I fought Manus himself in combat. My sword arm had been broken saving..." He paused, seemingly uncomfortable with bringing up the one he saved, "... someone, from the clutches of darkness. Naturally, without my good arm, I was horribly outmatched. Instead of killing me in search of his pendant, he simply converted me into his slave."

Luna, surprised at the honesty, thought his speech over for a moment, before something stuck out at her. "Wait, sir Artorias, what was this about a pendant?"

"The broken pendant that was dug from the grave of Manus is what brought about his ire in my world," he said, glancing down into the chasm beside them, "I would assume he simply has a grudge with this world for defeating him once before, if Celestia's tale was to be believed." Artorias sighed, a deep sadness settling into his eyes. "I have seen what Manus can bring about. The damage that comes from his coming to any world. For such a thing to happen to this place, this land of friendship," Artorias whipped his head to Luna, a fierce glare in the eyes of the warrior. "That, princess, is why I was summoned. I will not allow such a thing to befall your people."

At that moment, when Artorias set his shoulders and stared into her very essence, Luna knew what he said top be true. He would brave the everlasting darkness below, and sacrifice his own soul, his very existence, just to save her ponies. 'But why? This stranger to the land, why must he be the one to sacrifice so much for ones who he has hardly interacted with?' Steeling herself, Luna met his gaze with her own, determined look. "You and I have the same goal, Artorias. I fully intend to plunge into that darkness, and vanquish whatever eldritch horrors lie beyond. I will go, whether I follow after you, or beside you."

Artorias, seeing her determined expression, sighed in defeat. "Very well, Luna. I will allow you to come with me, and aide me in my journey through the Abyss. But know this," Artorias raised a finger and pointed it in her face, stopping just short of touching her snout, "what we are about to walk into is something you have never seen before. The things we shall likely encounter beyond the veil of shadows are more gruesome than your worst nightmare, and I will not slow down if you fall behind."

"Knight Artorias, I was trapped on our moon for a thousand years." Artorias looked surprised a bit, but nonetheless stayed silent, "For all that time, three wars fell upon my ponies, and I was up there, completely unable to help in the slightest.

"If you think your warnings will stop me from protecting my ponies yet again," She gained a sadistic smile, "then you will learn why my sister needed the elements to banish me all those years ago."

With a smile and a nod, Artorias and Luna plunged into the deep dark side by side, prepared for the horrors Manus' Abyss would place in their way.