Celestia yawned as she woke up and stretched in the bed she was in. She had made do with what she could and as she slowly got out of the bed, she was going to have to get used to having a not so comfortable bed. She looked around the room that wasn't exactly empty but wasn't full of stuff. Shelves he figures of carved ponies with weapons in their hand while a few tapestries were amongst the shelves. A nearby closet had held moth-eaten clothes but as she went to where her armor was, she just wishes this whole ordeal was over. Just as she picked up her helmet, she began to cry and though she didn't bawl or even whimper, she tightly hugged the helmet as her tears fell around her feet. But she finally composed herself as she put on the armor and she took her halberd as she left the room. Luna's room door was open and she wasn't to be found inside but Celestia heard someone in the kitchen and she walked to it.
Luna was trying to find something to eat when Celestia entered. Luna sighed as she found nothing and as she looked at Celestia, she said simply, “We’re going to need to forage or go to a market to get some food."
Celestia said, “I know. I was hoping today we could begin by looking through the forest. It has to have enough stuff we can eat, considering its size."
Luna nodded as she took up her spear and the two walked out of the house, fully armored and armed, hoping they were ready for what may happen now.
Celestia did her best to find any form of fruit amongst the trees and bushes in the forest while Luna began to forage from the nearby garden that the original owners must have planted. But as Celestia walked along the game trail in the woods, she couldn't see any form of a berry bush or anything else that was edible. So, she decided to cut her losses and she returned to where Luna was.
And she was thankful, too, as she looked at the garden in surprise and awe.
The garden had grown unchecked over the years but they had grown to be bountiful. She could see grape vines growing into tall bushes in their respected rows while she could see an orchard of and oranges and apples rip for harvest. She breathed in the air and it was tainted by the smell of honey suckles and the fruit. Luna went along the bushes and plants, taking only enough to get them through the day. She placed everything in a basket she had found in the kitchen and as she walked along the rows of vegetables and fruits, a part of her wishes she had a servant to do this.
Celestia walked over to her and helped her sister with picking the fruits and vegetables. And when they were finished, a half-hour later, they were sweating underneath their armor and their hooves a little dirty but they didn't care. They went into the house and as Luna slowly tried to get a fire going, Celestia managed to find a small metal pot to put stuff in.
"So... By any chance you know how to cook?" Hesitantly asked Luna.
"As much as I am no real chef, I do know how to cook a little bit. But, I think some of the stuff we can just eat raw and be ok." Said Celestia as she used her magic to pick-up an apple and she took a bite out of it.
Luna managed to get the fire going and as she made sure it was not going to go out too early, she took an orange and after taking the peel off, she took a bite out of it, savoring the tangy flavor.
Then, Celestia noticed a nearby door that was closed and she slowly walked to it as she took another bite from her apple. She got to the door and she twisted the nob but it resisted her and didn't open.
"Hmm..." Muttered Celestia as she looked around for a key.
She went to a nearby shelf and searched it for a sign of a key. Then, she felt someone tap her shoulder and she turned around to see Luna holding up a bronze key with her magic.
"Maybe try this." Luna said politely.
Celestia took the key and she went to the door and inserted it into the keyhole. It slid into the hole easily and she slowly turned it clockwise.
Click!
The door swung open easily and they stepped inside it as Luna found a candle and lit it. It was dark inside and Celestia noted that there wasn't a form of a window in the room. It was also musty and as she slowly entered it, Luna's candle illuminated the two and only a small portion of the room around them. Celestia looked deep into the darkness as they kept going forward and the light from outside only dimly shown through the doorway behind them.
Then, Luna found another candle and she used her to light it. It slowly glowed in the dark as Celestia found another and Luna lit it as well. And then, slowly but surely, the room was illuminated for them to see what was inside.
Three suits of armor were all on mannequin’s position near the walls around Luna and Celestia. They were Shadow Warrior armor but the one before Celestia she knew it had to be the armor of General IronTrix. It was exactly like any other Shadow Warrior armor but gold inlay curved and twisted around the helmet and down towards the body. It held his legendary mace and shield while next to the armor was a flag of King SoulStorm's army, crossed swords and his Warrior mark of a teardrop soul amongst several white slashes meant to be a storm. And the Warrior Mark, on Irontrix's armor, was that of a pony's head with a shield and mace with it.
But then Celestia looked at the other two and she didn't know who they belonged to. One bore a sword and shield, its Warrior mark that of raindrop that, as she came closer, was made of iron. She then turned to the other and inspected it, too. It held a scythe, much like SoulStorm's scythe. It had a black handle but its blade was made of steel. Its Warrior Mark was also a pony's head but instead it had sickles and a scythe instead of a mace and shield.
Each suit of armor had six crystals and she didn't remember what they were called even though she knew what they were called.
"These... Look fairly new... But IronTrix has been dead for at least... What? A few months, now?" Asked Luna as she wiped some dust off one armor suit.
"Yes, Luna, you are correct," Celestia said as she turned to leave the room," but a better question would be, what happened to his family? They disappeared around the same time he died..."
They looked around some more before Celestia said, “I think we should get back to work... It'll be late soon."
They slowly left the room, leaving the armor as the only occupants inside to guard it.
The fireplace crackled as the wood in its hold burned a steady blaze and it gave off a warm glow that lit the room up. Celestia was sitting at a nearby window, silently looking out it as Luna was finishing up cleaning their dinner. It hadn't been the perfect thing but it had provided them relief for their empty stomachs.
Celestia had been thinking about the armor in the other room and had wondered not only who the other two armor belonged to but where IronTrix's family was. What could have happened to them?
But she focused her mind on the present as she took a little look around outside before she replaced the blinds and left the window.
"So... Tomorrow being maybe the same thing as tonight?" Asked Luna.
"I was kind of hoping to find a nearby village, get some news and maybe get some more needed stuff." Celestia answered simply.
They both sat down on opposite chairs and they leaned against them as they both put their weapons nearby. Celestia let her eyelids fall as she began to drift away in the comfortable arms of sleep. Luna almost did the same but her Cutie Mark of the Moon meant she was a bit more active in the night than during the day.
Probably the only reason she heard it.
The howl was off on the distance but it wasn't a natural howl as she listened to it. It was too deep compared to wolves’ howls and she thought it fluctuated during it. She slowly got up as she walked to the window sill and looked out it. Her natural night vision pierced the dark gloom outside and as she looked around the perimeter, she couldn't see anything coming up the road or in the surrounding woods. But as she looked around, she caught something moving closer to the house as it came from the woods closest to the garden.
She turned around and immediately woke up her sister from her small nap as she picked up her spear. Celestia woke with a groan and she attempted to run her eyes but her armored hoofs only met with her helmeted face.
"What is it?" She groaned at Luna as she looked around sleepily.
"I think we might have some uninvited company coming to visit us." Luna said as she handed Celestia her halberd.
"Shadow warriors?"
"No... Something else." Luna went back to the window sill and looked out it.
She couldn't see the figure anywhere and as she continued to look around, Celestia went to the door and she locked it. Then, she put a nearby desk against it as she said, “Let’s hope it isn't a group of Changelings."
Suddenly, a roar blasted them as the whole house shook. They covered their ears as something began to smash down the door and its barricade. Celestia uncovered her ears as she and Luna stood next to each other, weapons at the ready.
The smashing and banging stopped and for a moment, all the two sisters could hear were their pounding hearts. They stood where they were as they both listened for any movement outside before Luna asked aloud, “Is it gone?"
Then, a shape smashed through the nearby window, almost blasting a chunk out of the wall. Stone masonry pieces slashed through the air as it pinged off Celestia's and Luna's armor as the two fell back in alarm and shock. The figure was definitely not a wolf as it towered over the two Alicorns.
It was huge, easily twice as big as them, with bulging muscles and only a few patches of pitch black fur. Its body, for the most part besides the fur, was a green, very reminiscent of a Changelings color scheme. Its eyes were a pure white and as it curled its lip back in a snarl, its fangs and teeth were a rotten yellow. As it breathed out, its breath was fetid and smelled like some rotting carcass.
"What in SoulStorms name is that thing?!?" Shouted Luna as the two Alicorns scrambled to their feet.
The thing roared as it raised a paw, big as a plate, and swiped at them. Luna ducked and rolled as the paw smashed a nearby chair to toothpicks while Celestia raised her halberd high and with a shout, brought it down onto the beast’s right shoulder.
And watched in disbelief as it's merely bounced off, the reverberations going up her arm.
The beast looked at her with its white eyes and it snarled as it made a lunge at her but she quickly dove out of the way and towards the forgery. Luna joined her as they slammed the door shut and barricaded it with several benches and chairs. The beast began to hammer the door as Celestia said to her sister, “What do we do?!"
Luna would have shrugged but as she looked at the dormant forge furnace, she got a risky idea. Risky, but if done and executed correctly, the plan could just deal with this thing.
"Grab some wood and toss it into the furnace! I'll see if I can light it into life!" She said to Celestia as she began to look around for some flint.
Celestia began to look for some wood and she found several chopped logs stacked in a neat pile next to the furnace and she quickly ran to them and began to hurl them into the furnace as Luna found some flint and steel and she quickly used it to spark up the furnace into a roaring flame.
The beast continued its relentless assault onto the door as the two ponies scrambled to set up Luna's plan. Luna pumped the furnaces bellow as she made the fire into a burning inferno and Celestia braced the door as the beast's assault sent splinters flying through the air.
"Celestia!" Shouted Luna.
Celestia looked at her sister with a glance.
"Now!!" Shouted Luna as she pushed and hurled the barricade pieces away from the door and Celestia jumped away from the door.
The beast tore apart the door in an explosion of splinters and wood as suddenly, having so much forward momentum, flew into the furnace in an explosion of embers. It screeched as the fire began to lick up its body and as it tried to scramble out of the fire, Luna and Celestia jumped to keep it in, using their halberd and spear to keep it in.
"Kill it with fire! Kill it with fire!!" Shouted Celestia as they prodded and poked the beast as it tried to escape the fire and its doom.
Then, it swiped Celestia and caught her flank, hurling her away as it managed to scramble out of the fire. But the fire had taken its toll, its patches of fur gone while its body was now a crisp, burned black. But its eyes were still a pure white that burned with hate and its eyes now fixed itself on the two Alicorns.
Luna made a glance to check on Celestia and saw she was slowly rising to her feet, simply just a little banged up. The two of them grouped closer as the beast slowly turned to face them, a snarl emitting from its throat as it came closer and closer to them.
"Wait..." Whispered Celestia to Luna.
The beast's muscles began to grow taunt as it arched its back, the snarl becoming a growl and growing in loudness.
Then, just as its last muscles went taunt, Celestia shouted, “Dive!" as the two of them dove into two different directions.
The beast kept forward, its growl a roar that rattled the house as its leap became its undoing. It landed on a nearby bench with a saw and Celestia and Luna looked away as the saw cleaved open the beasts skull in a spray of grisly matter, blood splattering the walls and the bench. The corpse twitched once, twice, and then was still as Luna turned off the saw blade.
The two sisters looked at the beast, more happy they were alive than it was dead.
But then, it began to bubble on its skin and both Alicorns backed up as the whole corpse and blood began to dissolve into a pile of goo that soon disappeared, leaving only six gems behind.
Luna walked and picked the gems up as she put them in a nearby bag. “What do we do now, Celestia?"
Celestia looked at the huge gaping hole and then said, “Let’s make a barricade before we go to sleep. No need to invite unwanted visitors."