A Kingdom of Intrigue and Blood

by Ernest Wood

Operation: Exit the Everfree

"Try to repeat after me: I am an Equine." I said to the creature in front of me. In response it only looked at me confused, for the past hour I had been trying to figure out or teach the creature language but it hadn't said anything since we saw it. I sighed defeated and just as I did I got an idea. Setting my satchel onto the floor I reached in and pulled out an apple with my magic. "This is an apple mmm." I said rubbing my stomach.

"Its not gonna understand you." Snap said sharpening his sword. "Instead of teaching some brain dead ape our language we should be leaving."

"I already told you Timber Wolfs are outside and it's pitch black out there." I said turning back to the creature, noticing he had took my apple without even feeling it. "You're a crafty one aren't ya?" I said smiling. It only gave me its confused look again while chomping down on the apple.

"Well i've got me sword, easy to hack up Wolfs with this." He said raising his blade. "The dark never stopped us before." In truth I wasn't scared of the dark or even the Timber Wolfs, I was wondering if this creature would follow us. It looked to be starving, and probably hadn't seen light in forever. Maybe it was better to go now rather in the morning, but how would I get the creature to come with us? I then got an idea. I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out a shiny red apple and showed it to it. In response it tried to grasp it but I pulled it away.

"Snap, I think we can leave now." I said standing and walking towards the staircase.

"Well were not leavin witho-" Snap realizing my plan smirked "Oh you clever girl. Alright then, i'll lead us out of here." He said getting ahead of me and the creature. As we began to move upward the creature was having trouble going down the stairs mainly falling down and almost making me and Snap trip, so I decided to 'help' it down. By holding the apple in my magic and letting it lean on me all of us managed to reach the first floor with little to no complications. After a little searching we found the door we had first entered through and walked outside. By now Celestia's sun was rising and would have been beutiful if it weren't for the dark and drab forest.

"I thought you said it pich black and Wolfs had been here." Snap began getting close to the bridge.

"I may have... exaggerated." I said sheepishly. Looking at the gorge below I began to wonder how to get the creature across without taking a risk. I then had another idea. I would have to carry it on my back. Making the apple hover further in front of me I backed up and was able to get it onto my back, it still grasping for the apple.

"You gonna let it mount you now?" Snap said smirking.

"Do you wan't it to make it out of this forest, with it?" I said fiercely.

"Of course. But by all means careful with him, he may try to slip it in." Snap said laughing slightly. My anger was replaced with sudden realization, it was a boy?

"I see that look on yer face, surprised? Just do what I do: Look, before you try anything you might regret." Snap said starting to walk over the bridge. At the sudden realization that it was a he made things a little harder (No that wasn't a pun) and I would have to be a little careful.

In a matter of minutes Snap was on the other side of the bridge waving us over. With one large breath I began carefully walking over to the other side, trying not to fall. *Crack* A breaking sound resounded through the woods. As I looked back I started to see the supports of the bridge begging to fail. "Widow hurry the buck up." Snap said worriedly. Not worried about me; worried about the creature. Continuing on the bridge made me as uneasy as a whore in the presents of Luna's guards, but I had to move quick less I meet my fate at the bottom of this gorge. At last I had finally made it to the last plank *Crack* I lept off of it with agility. Turning back I saw the bridge give out and fall into the gorge below. Looks like it'll be a while before I will visit that place again. Actually no buck that place, good riddance.

"Now lets go." I said making the creature climb off of me.

"Ya' not gonna let him have more fun with ya'?" Snap said with his inscrutable smirk.

"Oh buck off." I said walking past him as he let out a hearty laugh. This was gonna be a long trip home.

The light in the sky hurt my eyes so I chose not to look at it. The green and soft stuff was comfortable though compared to the dark rough stuff I was sleeping on earlier. These creature that I was following had a strange way of speaking, I could try to mimic it but then the ones who voice is the highest eyes would grow and scare this one so I won't try it. The one I had been resting on seemed different than the other fatter one waving around the shiny thing, it was built differently: It face had much more curve to it rather than the blocky look the other had, it had gentler eyes (Even when they scared this one), and it was the one who talked to me directly. Which made me feel warm on the inside.

We had been walking through the grassy green for a while now, or at least I think it was a while. All of this was new to this one. From the brown stuff under the green stuff, to the soft stuff I had been walking on. I really liked this pla- Suddenly a tingling sensation on my shoulder made me slap it. I looked in my hand and saw. Something. There was pieces of something gooey in the palm of my hand, and I didn't know what it was. My stomach began sinking and my eyes began to leak, I dropped down onto both of my knees still cradling the crushed thing. I had no idea why i had felt this hurt feeling even though I had no wounds, I think the orange one with the curved face saw me and began making noise with its mouth again.

"Nyat's wronig?" It said in a gentle tone, as I showed her the crushed thing it put its stump on my shoulder making me flinch slightly. "Iy's jast und bag." I felt sad that I had crushed it. I yelled out in a promising tone.

"I will avenge you!"

"What's wrong with it now?" I said sheathing my sword and walking up to the two. I was hoping this trip would be easy; if they could pick up the slack.

"It crushed a bug and now its sad." She said helping him up.

"A feckin bug? That's why its sad?" I said in disbelief.

"It was more than that to him it would seem." She said as he put out his hand? And showed the bug to me.

"Buck it. Its dead now, and we will be to if we don't get out of this forest." I said unsheathing my sword and moving further down the trail. I heard her sigh behind me as i continued hacking down the vines. We made it to a river in hardly any time at all marking we were a quarter away from the entrance to Pony ville. Turning back to the two I saw her trying to do something with the creature by the water.

"The feck are ya'll doin?" I asked tail deep in water.

"I think its scared of the water." She said as it scaredly backed up from the water. I sighed.

"Then carry him, we can't stop now." I said waking across to the other side. I heard her sigh as she lifted him back onto her Continuing through the water I began to see a light feeling as though our journey was over I told the others to pick up the pace.

"Hurry up were almost through this!" I say rushing towards the light. As I breached through the brush we had finally reached our destination. Ponyville. The other finally caught up with me out of breath.

"Why are you so tired?" I asked with my hoof out.

"Try carrying the damn thing." She said making him unmount her "And then tell me how well your back feels!?" She said huffing with anger.

"Firecracker this one eh?" I said nudging the creature, it just looked at me confused. I sighed. "You need to get out more." I say trotting towards the town. I got a feeling today will be a good day.
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The room was silent as I entered, my hoofs making a clapping sound with each step I take. The sisters around me cover their left eye ceremoniously for what is about to take place. I reach the end of the room near the podium where a crystalline pool lay. Here is where we will summon him.

"Sister Anora do we have the ingredients?" I ask to my congregation of beige cloaked sisters. One of them breaks formation and comes to me, at first glance it looked to be a faceless mare but as she got closer I could see that it was my gentle sister Anora. Her eyes always gave her away from the other sisters, one was completely white as the fresh fallen snow of the North, the other golden as the coasts of the Sunset River. She was blessed by the Dredd Mother with two different colored eyes each used to see different points in time, this had proven useful in finding King Ackaton's skeleton key the one that would open Norava's chest.

She squeaked out "Y-yes sister S-sankara." She stuttered the words out as she reached under her cloak and pulled out an dusty wooden box with a golden bracket shaped for a key.

"Good sister. I will need your assistance with them. Are you up for the task?" I asked waiting for her reaction. At first she seemed scared but quickly put on a face of determination.

"Yes High P-priestess." She stuttered out pushing out her chest.

"Good. Place the box on the altar." I told her while reaching under my own cloak and pulling out the Skeleton Key made literally from Ackaton's pelvic bone. She placed it and moved out of the way as I approached the box, it hummed with a dark energy as a black aura surrounded it. I placed the key within the box and began hearing ineligible whispers turning it made the whispers stop. Once I pulled the key out it turned to dust in my palms. So much for relics I thought. I opened the box to be met with, a thing of legend. Ackaton's skull. It is said that during the war against the Equestrian's Ackaton suffered a thousand stabs to his skull, without flinching once. Sadly in the end the two Alicorn sisters were able to turn him to ash, though this seemed to not be the case.

I picked it up out of the box carefully and knocked the box itself to the floor. Now I needed to place it onto the Doom Stone, it was a terrible thing: The stone itself was black as the void, at the center a statue of Ackaton stood sitting on his dredd throne, below that a stone bed of sorts stood with two slits on each edge. This was used or sacrificing. I walked over the the top of the slab and placed the skull facing towards the altar. Now there was one more thing to do.

I walked back onto the altar and began my speech. "Sisters the time is at hand when our father Ackaton awakes from his dusty slumber, let all who be his enemy's tremble at his feet and give into his desires; let the men's adulthood be force fed to them as they watch their women raped by Ackaton's glory. Let the children be disemboweled and made to eat their own innards; while watching their parent's cook in the bronze camel. Let all his followers hear his roar and know it to be true! The time is at hand sisters. Soon Ackaton will walk among us once more and his empire will last 5000 years. We need but one more thing, nay a thing a mare! Sister Detrice! Will you give the life of your unborn child and your own if it means Ackaton will walk with us again?" I asked pointing down the rows.

"Yes sister Sankara." Detrice said walking out of formation.

"Then let it be known that our sister Detrice chose her life and her childs life for another. Sister Detrice come to the altar!" I said pulling out from under the podium a black and jagged dagger. Once she reached the altar she lay flat on the stone. With eyes closed. I walked up to her and whispered in her ear "He is coming, and you will not be forgotten." I then raised the dagger and slammed it hard into her belly making a cross like incision she screamed heavily but I didn't stop for Ackaton will always need a sacrifice. I reached deep into her open wound and pulled out the child and raised it into the air.

"Sister's together." I began. "His coming is true; know it to be near when you hear the blood moon calling as the wolfs howl. Death is but a shell, living begins at the end." I say this while pressing the dagger into the child head and placing its corpse onto the slab, its blood filling the slits at the edge. Next sister Detrice her face is blank and all full of shock. I take the blade and slice it across her neck. letting both bloods fill the slits. Soon after a rumbling is heard as the room shakes and the statues eyes glow blood red. The bodies of mother and child began to eminate with smoke, and eventually evaporate. What was left was a skeleton of a large horse like figure. As I approached it skeleton began to convulse and move rapidly as flesh, organs, and skin began being grafted onto it as all of this was happening smoke began covering the body being made so thick I could not see through it. Then silence fell on the room as the noise of the convulsing stopped. I moved towards the altar carefully but was quickly taken back at what I saw.

A Zebra larger than and Alicorn trotted out of the fog, his mane black as night as was its stripes, its eyes were a dark red color while his white stripes were dark and grey. He had a gold ring pierced through its nose and was ripped with muscle. It was him Ackaton reborn, me and my sisters bowed at his glory as I heard him let out a guttural laugh. I heard his footsteps as he neared me. I looked up and saw he was staring back at me his eyes making me want to flee on the spot; he grabbed me with such speed I hadn't even known what happened till now. He then spoke his holy words.

"Bring me the Alicorn Sisters spines."