//------------------------------// // Chapter XX // Story: Papa Gehrman // by SolidArc5542 //------------------------------// Cadance paced in circles around her throne, a throne where she met the man that made her frightened of the dark again. She winced as a fierce, stinging pain coursed through her head, almost like it was about to explode from some kind of invisible pressure. Looking back at her wing, which was wrapped in bandages, around two layers of them, she cringed as she recalled all of the horrifying memories. She truly wondered how one could be as cruel as to do the things that creature did to her. What kind of sick, twisted motive must he have had? She had no idea the world could be this cruel. She was the Princess of Love for crying out loud! Her mere presence was enough to make any arguing couple halt their bickering. But alas, this did not count for the creature that attacked her. When her husband had found her lying in her throne room, her body broken and her soul scarred for life, he was at a loss for words. His eyes were filled with fear while he rushed to her aid. He cried out for help, but no one came. Eventually a doctor came. Doctor Whooves, or something? She couldn’t remember his name, but she was grateful he was able to fix her up. Her wing was probably going to take most time to heal, since it was dislocated. The tissue was ripped and some veins gave in under the pressure. The amount of blood she lost was enough to kill a normal pony. But luckily for her, she wasn’t a normal pony… but still, it hurt like hell. What was even worse was the fact that she had to wash all of her blood out of her coat. It was all sticky and dried up at the same time. Absolutely disgusting. Shining Armor had asked her if she could describe the creature as precise as possible, but that proved to be useless. She was in shock and was not able to respond to any of his questions. She heard what he asked her, but she couldn’t answer them. But what she did remember was every scream of agony she let out when the creature stomped on her again like it was crushing a bug. She remembered how her bones snapped, how she gurgled up blood, how she almost choked in said blood. All of those memories, they would haunt her forever. ‘Why?’ Cadance thought to herself, sitting down on her throne, gritting her teeth in pain as she felt her wing tighten up. ‘Why? What did I do to deserve this? How can somepony be so cruel?’ Closing her eyes, Cadance tried to force the memories out of her head, only thinking of pleasant ones. Like her wedding, or the day she got to foal sit Twilight for the first time. Yeah, those were the pleasant ones. “The Heart!” Cadance’s eyes shot open as she glanced around the throne room, her breath quickening and sweat dripping down her forehead. Sighing to herself, she wiped the sweat off her forehead. She still couldn’t get it out of her mind. She wanted it to go away so much, but since it occurred last night… well, she just couldn’t. Had her husband been with her back then, things would have turned out differently. His voice still sent shivers down her spine, as she would accidentally recall it from time to time. It was so deep, yet so menacing. It was like all your fears were put into one creature, and it spoke with a voice so loud and terrifying, that anyone would freeze right on the spot. “Well, luckily for me, Twilight is coming for a visit,” Cadance chuckled to herself, thinking back to her sister-in-law. “What would I be without her?” ‘Dead.’ Cadance’s eyes widened as she frankly looked around her throne room again, trying to find the source of the voice. “Hello?” she asked out loud, waiting for a reply as she slowly got off her throne. “Is anypony out there?” she asked. ‘We are everywhere,’ the voice replied, thought this voice was unlike anything she had ever heard. It was like there was a faint echo after every word that was spoken. The voice itself sounded very low and very calm, yet equally as terrifying as the voice of the creature that attacked her. Though she did not want it to, the voice continued. ‘Mankind’s greatest emotion is fear, and the greatest fear is: The fear of the unknown. Tell us, child, are you afraid of what you do not understand?’ Cadance shook her head furiously, accidentally making the stinging pain in her head even worse. “Ouch,” she grunted, holding her head in pain. “What is going… on?” she asked. ‘Tell us, child, are you afraid? To you fear what is yet to come?’ the voice asked. “I have no idea,” Cadance replied, slowly backing away from her throne, “what you are talking about. But I can assure you that I am not afraid.” she stated with much confidence. ‘You lie,’ the voice chuckled grimly. ‘You fear what is yet to come. Remember, they are born of the blood, mad men by the blood, undone by the blood. Their eyes are yet to open.’ “Fear the old blood.” Cadance finished. …Wait, how did she know that? ‘A city lost, its populous gone mad; with one thing in their mind: Death,’ the voice said, seemingly getting louder as Cadance herself felt her heart skip a beat. ‘Will you let this happen to yours? Will you go mad?’ the voice asked. Gulping, the Princess of Love replied to its question. “No. B-but answer my q-questions. W-where are you? What are you? And what exactly are you talking about?” ‘As the night falls, the creatures will come. The city was already lost when they upturned the grave of our kin. The humans, they brought this upon themselves. Suffered, they have. The nightmare, the dream, everything was their own fault. Now we ask of you, child, do you dare take the risk? Do you dare enter the unknown?’ “What fear of the unknown?” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Who was talking to her? And why couldn’t she see the pony or whatever creature the voice belonged to? “What am I supposed to fear?” ‘That which you do not know,’ the voice replied. “I get that,” Cadance deadpanned. “But what I don’t get is why you are telling me this. I don’t know who you are or what you want, but I have already been through enough. Please just leave and come back another time, or something.” She said, the pain in her head getting worse. ‘Tell us, did it hurt when you were beaten into a bloody pulp, child?’ the voice asked, chuckling grimly at the end. ‘He has tasted your blood. He will return. And there will be no one to protect you. Blood is what attracts him, what makes him stronger. Thanks to him we are here and are able to talk to you. Through your wounds our blood has entered. Fear our blood, child. Fear it.’ Cadance blinked in confusion, slowly backing up towards the throne room’s exit. She was frightened. He would return? Was the voice talking about the creature that attacked her? If so, then she would not leave Shining’s side for a very long time. But now Twilight was coming, along with her friends. Surely they would be able to protect her… right? She hoped they would, because another encounter with that creature would surely resolve to her death. Sitting down on the concrete floor of his temporary hideout, Gascoigne rested his head on his hands, letting out a sigh as he closed his eyes. Today was the day. Today he would retrieve the Crystal Heart. Today the invasion of the Crystal Empire would commence, and he and Sombra would be victorious. He was a hunter, and Sombra a king. He knew what to do. Turning his head to the side, he looked at his axe. Blood. The blood of beasts stained his once clean axe. Reaching for it, he traced his hand over it, feeling the curves and engraves as he traces his fingers over it. This axe had saved his life countless of times, along with the lives of many other hunters. In secret, though, the hunter hoped that he could one day lay down his axe and Blunderbuss, so that he could live out the rest of his life in peace. Sombra promised him. He promised him he would return him to his family. He had a duty to fulfill, a duty the hunter would fulfill. He was going to make sure he would see his wife again! Even if it was just for a split second. To see her face, to be able to touch it, he would kill everyone to touch her one more time. ‘I will… I will return. I will not fail you, Viola. I will make you proud! I will make everyone proud! Your father, your mother, everyone!’Gascoigne inwardly screamed to himself. “When will you let us go?” Gascoigne turned his head to his tied up hostages. Their mouths were dry and their bellies rumbled continuously. The stallion had fallen asleep, probably because of exhaustion; the same thing was probably going to happen to the mare very soon. “Once I have what I want I will let you go,” Gascoigne replied. “You’ll have something to look forward to. Once I have retrieved the Heart, the rightful king will sit upon his throne once more.” “His throne?” the mare repeated in confusion. “You’re not…” she trailed off, eyes widening as realization finally hit her. “Are you a servant of king Sombra?” she asked, her fear of the creature increasing as she watched him turn his head to her once more. “Are you here to enslave us, like he once did?” “Enslave?” Gascoigne repeated in confusion. “Why would a king feel the need to enslave his subjects?” he asked. “You serve the evil king!” the mare said, glaring at him. “You are here to enslave us! Well too bad! Princess Celestia will stop him, like she did before! You will regret this decision!” “Your Princesses?” Gascoigne spat at her. “They are useless. One is broken and will never walk again. I will make sure the others share the same fate as her.” “What kind of monster are you?” the mare asked, tears forming in her eyes as she stared at Gascoigne in complete horror. “How can you be so cruel? Have you no emotions?” As a reply, Gascoigne stood up and walked towards her. Getting on one knee to meet her one eye-level, the hunter placed his hand on the mare’s cheek. “You should not ask those kind of questions,” he said, waving a finger at her as a way of showing her she had done something bad. “It’s not very polite.” “Buck, you!” the mare retorted. “You too, honey.” Gascoigne replied. “Just enjoy my company for now, okay?” Standing up and turning his back to the mare, he walked towards the spot he was sitting at. Sitting down on the exact same spot the hunter grabbed hold of his axe once more. A smile spread across his face. He would get to hunt one last time. ‘Are you proud of yourself?’ Gascoigne’s smile instantly disappeared as he turned his head, wanting to know whose voice he just heard. He looked at the mare, who looked at him with a confused, yet angered expression. “Who’s there?” he asked. “Who are you talking to?” the mare asked, only for her to close her mouth and keep it shut as Gascoigne growled at her. ‘A hunter is a hunter, even in another world. Such a shame you had to bring me with you, though it is not entirely unappreciated.’ “What are you talking about?” Gascoigne asked, getting up and holding up his axe. “Show yourself, you fiend!” ‘Even if I wanted to, I simply cannot. I believe it has been mentioned in the books of old. The books written by the humans who beckoned my kind. We responded and granted your wishes. You humans tried so hard. You all tried so hard to ascend to godhood. Your arrogance blinded you, and your race suffered the consequences of your ancestor’s mistakes. Amygdala, dead. Mergo, dead. Rom, dead. Ebrietas, dead. The spawns of Amygdala may still roam the city, but the original is dead. Killed by a hunter.' The voice stopped, before continuing. 'And now it seems that I am the only survivor. For I was beckoned and granted the wish the one who beckoned me had. To make sure humanity would live long and prosper. To have them evolve into an even greater species. I have ascended to a level that no one can challenge me. I do believe Runesmith Caryll mentioned my name every once and a while.’ “… Oedon.”