//------------------------------// // No More Gods // Story: Dying Embers // by MrSpartan //------------------------------// Twenty minutes later the other royal soldiers had been gathered and restrained with the same binding spell the villagers had on them in addition to being sent into an arcane cage emitting from a sigil that had been permanently stamped into a stone tablet. They were also in a copy of the pit the other villagers were still trapped in both of which were hidden in remote area just outside of town near an old stone bridge. The cage would forcibly push them back whenever one of them got to close to edges. The guards’ bodies were battered, bruised, and broken. Spectacularly enough not a one of them had died. Only the sergeant who had spit directly in the eye of the human ringleader had been killed. Such was either due to luck, which was not what the current circumstances would imply, or due to the superior skill of the human invaders. History books would later suggest the latter. The soldiers had their armor removed and were currently feeling a mix of emotions; anger at the humans for invading and themselves for failing, sadness for the loss of Sergeant Fallen Angel and fear at what would happen next. None had been assigned by Illitheous to watch them seeing as how they were readying for the next siege that would likely come. The cage, pit, and magic and movement canceling binding were deemed security enough. Many yards, away standing straight with his arms at his sides, Gua (the axe fighter who had previously been partnered with the young mage Terran) was reporting the Crusaders of Fire’s condition to his undead leader. They were speaking privately outside at the base of a tall clock tower. “The mages capable of healing have already cured the few injured during the battle and our flag has been placed where you ordered my lord. The Golem received no damage and the town is ours. All as you predicted.” “Very good, that was likely a test force of her faster traveling troops to see if she could destroy us easily. She may even be heading the next, real assault, herself. Keep the others ready to retaliate,” said Illitheous. Gua was turning to leave when his harbinger briefly stopped him. “And Gua…good job. Tell the others I was proud to fight by their sides.” Gua tried to think of something to say. Illitheous almost never gave praise. That he did so now meant he was truly pleased with them. “Uh, yes my lord. Thank you. I’ll be sure to tell them.” Illitheous shifted back to his introspective state, hands held together behind his back. This skirmish had gone exceptionally well. Perhaps Celestia would even come to them. That would certainly make things faster. Those forces left at the capitol would only retain the less powerful Luna to aid them. He was getting ahead of himself now. First he had to repel follow up assault. The battle with either of the alicorn demi-gods would also be difficult, even for him. Still, he knew he was in the right and he trusted his men to carry on the spirit of the Empire of the Black Dragon once it was as it should be. Men will fight to choose their own destinies but I will guide them to the right one. The flag with the solar cross sat atop the former city hall, majestically blowing as another thermal blew by. It was a wind powered by royal and ancient magic. _____________________________________________________________________________ The Princesses of Equestria along with the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony, which they now wore, were sitting close together on the overloaded chariot of the Sun Goddess. It was going really fast but it still wasn’t fast enough for anyone riding in it. There was no such thing as ‘too soon’. The longer they waited to get there, the more trouble the humans might have caused. Around the ornate golden chariot (which was powered by Celestia’s magic instead of a pegasus) many other Royal Guards flew in tandem with her. They were almost the entire Equestrian Army. Only the ones that were still stationed at other towns to far away like Stallion Grad and a single garrison at the royal castle were not present. The sun was starting to go down now, but it wouldn’t actually start setting for a couple more hours. Seeing as how the chariot was crowded as it was, when Pinkie Pie burst at the top of the group shouting “There it is! Ponyville!” she nearly shoved Princess Luna, who was the closest to the back, right off the edge. “Pinkie Pie! We kindly request that thou never dost that again.” Luna said while climbing back over the side of the chariot. Sure she could fly if she fell but it was always terrifying to fall unexpectedly off anywhere this high up. “Sorry Lu-Lu. I’m just excited that we’re finally here.” The pink pony said. Both Celestia and Luna blanched for a moment. That wasn’t a good idea for princess Celestia to do as the sudden lack of concentration and magic made the chariot start to tip downward. “Princess!!!” Twilight screamed in fright. Celestia looked back at the chariot she no longer channeled magic into and the land below that seemed to be replacing the sky. “OH! Yes of course. My apologies.” “Pinkie…how dost thou knowist about our sister’s fillyhood nickname for us?” Luna asked. Pinkie Pie just smiled as she looked at the younger of the two princesses, still trying to keep her mouth from catching flies. “I don’t know. How do youuuuuuu,” she touched Luna’s snout with a hoof that made an audible honking noise. “get more fans then Celestia when you’ve only been in three episodes ever.” Luna blanched again, this time in confusion instead of shock. “Sayeth what?” “INCOMIIIIING!!!” shouted a particularly big guard that went by the name Heavy Weapons when off duty, or just Heavy for short. They all held on for dear life as fire balls, arrows, and other assorted offensive magic whizzed passed them. Celestia did her best to dodge the various lethal projectiles. She knew she needed to land or they would be nothing but a moving golden target. She sped the transport down as fast as she could, dodging along the way. It would have been good fun if not for the whole mess up and you die part. She thought she spotted a foreign flag as she raced past but didn’t really have time to look. The chariot landed with a not-so-gentle thud. A big cloud of dust came to greet them, getting to know each of their lungs on a more personal level. The equines lungs didn’t feel like playing with their new dust buddy however so they pushed out as much air as possible to regain some of their personal space. The other guards landed more gently around them after the group’s coughing fit was over. Celestia was the first to recover and looked around. They had touched down next to the mayor’s office. She noticed the fearsome looking group of humans charging at her and the others. The guard closest to her asked urgently, “What are you orders Princess?” She thought for a second before recalling one of the books in her study that had mentioned a symbol the humans sometimes used for peace and to parlay. She didn’t want to have any of her subjects get hurt if there was no need for it. “Ah Ha! It was an olive branch symbol!” Celestia realized. She immediately called forth on her inner reserve of magica and channeled in into her horn. The result was a grand fire works display in the air above them that made the symbol. The wall of deadly human forces slowed to a halt as they neared. They had clearly seen the symbol. Unsure expressions were had by all until a sequence of crashing footsteps echoed from behind the humans. They parted to each side of the road and crossed their arms together as it neared. The royal guards were speechless (more so then usual) with their mouths hanging open as if Celestia had spontaneously disintegrated in front of them. We have to fight THAT THING?! was all of their thoughts in a nutshell. Then just behind it came something else. It was only half the height of the metal monstrosity but it was just as intimidating (well almost anyway) it looked unbelievably strong and none of the royal forces wanted to get better acquainted with those mandibles any time soon as the Umber Hulk neared. The princesses were both silently impressed at the show of power but made sure to both keep their princess poker faces on. Thousands of years of ruling a country without parents to help tended to necessitate that skill. Twilight Sparkle and the others also did their best to keep straight faces. Perched on the Golem’s shoulder was Illitheous, one hand placed on the golem’s head for stability. “I’m surprised,” he said before being lowered to the ground on the golem’s flat palm. “You bothered to learn the old human symbol for peace. I have to tell you though humanity doesn’t use that symbol any more. Your texts are out of date Majesty.” Illitheous explained as he confidently walked up to the leaders and heroines of Equestria. “Those six behind you must be the famous Elements of Harmony. I take it the last ones who used it are long dead right? Oh but YOUR still here so the deaths of others doesn’t matter. Tell me, how many died to stop The Darkness from escaping your top security vaults a few thousand years back. Couple hundred? Bah I’m sure you don’t recall. What about Discord? I suppose unfairly harsh punishment methods runs in the family huh? Oh and little Luna don’t think I forgot about you. Don’t give me that dirty look.” Luna had only lost her blank expression of neutrality for a barely perceptible instant. She was surprised he had noticed it. But the real question that was knawing at her since was what the hay the metal…thing was that stood behind the human. She dared a question even though a voice in the back of her head was telling her to let Celestia do the talking and to at least stay on topic. Oh who cared? Questions were meant to be asked. “By chance human, would thou care to explain what that metallic entity behind thee is?” The smug look on the undead man’s face turned to one of surprise. He raised an eyebrow as he looked back to the construct. “Why, this is the Black Dragon Adamantine Golem little Luna.” Luna couldn’t stop a frown at the unwarranted nick name he used for her. “It was a gift to the Empire from the Dwarves. As a token of good will. It’s an artificial life form made almost entirely out of adamantine as the name suggests.” The Princesses and Twilight inwardly gasped. Adamantine was easily one of the all time rarest metals in the known world and it was nearly impervious to anything. A prospector who found even a bit of it the size of grape would be living the highlife in Canterlot in a four story mansion. How did they even find a quarter of the metal required to make this Golem as the human called it. “The dwarves only had about a hundred or so of these and the gesture was not lost on our Emperor at the time. This incredible piece of machinery doesn’t need sleep. It doesn’t eat. It doesn’t complain about suicidal orders. It follows those orders to the letter and it’s smart enough to face any situation thanks to the fragment of a soul it possesses.” Illitheous continued, his arms now crossed as he did so. “It was stored in a secret location and forgotten after your manipulative Mother…” Celestia’s unrevealing expressing faltered as the eye not covered by her beautiful mane now twitched a little. This was going to be a really short negotiation if this human kept up the increasingly painful insults. She stopped him by cleared her throat. “As Princess of Equestria I command you to cease your hostile actions so we may resolve this peacefully,” said Celestia. “No,” stated humanity’s remnants in unified defiance. Celestia’s usually unrevealing façade fell to surprise at this. She had hoped they would at least listen to what she had to say. She considered herself a just and kind ruler and when asking requests of her subjects (no matter who they were) she always both made her request reasonable and even refusable if the other pony had good reason or was gracious about the refusal. This however was pure defiance and she couldn’t just let them hurt anypony and terrorize the town at their leisure. “What did you say?” asked Celestia with both shock and a hint of irritation. The other ponies, including the royal guards and Princess Luna, looked back and forth between the equine and the primate in worry. Things could go sour very quickly right now. It had absolutely no effect whatsoever on the humans. Illitheous repeated himself, “We said, Your Majesty,” his tone was dripping with acid at that word, “NO.” The main six looked nervously at the Sun Princess. These creatures and their leader had just flat-out refused, and insulted by proxy, someone who was for all intents and purposes a goddess to them. “What’s the matter, Your Majesty?” There was that word again. “Have you never had someone besides the occasional monster or fellow demi-god not do every little thing you wanted before?” He raised his arms in a mock gesture of surrender, further taunting her. Illitheous loved every minute of this. Millennia of dreaming of standing up to this unjust dictator were becoming reality before his very eyes. She would not stop him, COULD not stop him, from achieving his justice. His followers grew more confidant as their bold leader continued to verbally abuse what they had heard was one of two daughters of minor gods. Illitheous paced from side to side as he continued to speak. “Well, WE say ‘NO!’ We won’t be doing anything you say nor will we be leaving or having your little ‘Peace Talks’. We mortal men defy you and everything you stand for! You can’t stop us! YOU CAN’T STOP JUSTICE!!!” He paused briefly then took a few steps closer to Celestia, who by now was both angry and saddened at the turn of events “Now destroy me.” “What?!” all ponies said together at once including Celestia. “You heard me. I’ll give you one free shot. Kill me. End it all now before your country is damaged beyond measure. I dare you!” Illitheous continued with a sick grin on his face. Celestia didn’t move. She was torn between striking down this clearly insane man at the cost of her ethics and being forced to find another method that didn’t involve murdering another living being, even one so clearly enveloped in dark magic and hatred. “Go on…live up to your legacy.” That sick grin dominated Illitheous face. Celestia stood as still as a stone. Illitheous turned around and walked back to his loyal comrades and the monsters of war they brought. “See my fellow Crusaders? Not only is she selfish and entitled to everything as I told you, but she is too weak to strike me down in front of her subjects lest she lose their loyalty. Even she doubts the strength of her rule!” That wasn’t it at all! Princess Celestia thought. The unnatural entity that had once been a normal man walked back to his followers. He spoke at normal tone once more as he gave his orders. “Alright now, most of you go capture the soldiers and deal with the Lunar Princess in whatever way you deem fit. I want our Adamantine Golem and the Umber Hulk to assist me with the princess of the sun. Terran, Gua, White Strike, Dails Assent, Kiera, and Sheeva…as for the Princesses pets...kill them.”