I suddenly awoke to the sounds of screams, I quickly patted myself down and felt my throat, but it wasn’t me screaming, it was coming from outside our room along with the sounds of frantic hoof beats. I turned to Rose, only to see she was out of bed already and concentrating, muttering under her breath in front of a candle.
I hopped out of bed and grabbed my book, quickly flipping to the summons page to see both the wendigo and living armor. I stared at the words as their memory went through my mind. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, but Rose said that my desire to protect her made the armor appear yesterday; perhaps I could will it into existence again?
My thoughts were interrupted as a large ‘fwoosh’ and a rise in both temperature and light forced me to turn and see what was going on. The candle was now gone, instead floated a giant fireball with arms at its side and a tiny head with beady black eyes.
“Whoa…” Was all I could say, it was incredible!
“Efreet answered the call and sent one of his children to assist us. Now, let’s find out what’s attacking us.” Rose said in a serious tone. I nodded and followed after her out into the hall, my book clutched in my magic.
The halls weren’t crowded, most having fled already as a few stragglers ran around the corner, dark howls causing them to run faster. Rose and I followed after the fire elemental as it darted toward the sound, leaving behind a trail of burnt floor.
We rounded the corner and I slipped, falling on my chin as I slid to a stop. A warm wetness now coated my underside and hooves; it had a metallic smell to it. I stood on shaky legs and looked down at myself in the elemental’s light. I felt sick as I identified the thick slimy blood and entrails I was now coated in, as well as much more flooding the hall and painting the walls crimson.
“Well then, I think I’ll just see myself out.” I spun around and bumped into somepony. I blinked to see Faina, fully dressed, staring into the hall as well. “I assure you; I had nothing to do with that.”
“Shush. Something’s coming.” She said. I noticed her ears were swiveling around this way and that. I did the same, but I didn’t hear anything.
“Are you sure… Where did she go?” I managed to lose track of her and Faina was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
“She’s right, something’s wrong. Let’s fall back to a clear hall for better footing. Keep an eye out.” I nodded as we made our way back slowly, but something was still off.
I kept looking around the floor and the walls when I noticed something strange. The blood on the walls was blotched, spaced out into a pattern. The blood patches grew thinner; looking like something with bloody paws had climbed the walls until the blood faded completely. Something dripped onto my head, and then I heard it: a low growl amid heavy breathing.
I froze stiff, daring not to move as I slowly rolled my eyes back to see above me, but it was all shrouded in darkness. All but the six pairs of red eyes glaring at me.
“R…Rose…” I whispered, “I think I found them…”
Rose saw where I was looking and seemed to pale even more, “Alright… Keep moving back, slowly…”
My legs started moving again as we backed out slowly, making a point not to look up. After about ten steps I heard a soft shuffling as the things above kept up with us.
“Rose…?” I whispered as I thought to myself. They were above us, following us from a distance we could easily be caught, but holding back. Why? What were they waiting for?
“Just keep going, don’t run.” She whispered as we backed away further. It clicked in my mind, they were predators, and they wanted to hunt us, chase us around before eating us.
Unfortunately one of the monsters grew impatient and landed in front of us nimbly. It looked like a weird dog, but its legs were too long and ended in claws, and its main body was too small while the head was huge. Then, to my horror, the entire head split down the middle and opened into a massive tooth-filled vertical mouth as it roared at us.
“Okay, running now!” Rose yelled. We turned to run as more landed behind us, but our way was blocked by two more landing in front of us.
I looked around us as the sixth one yelped from its place on the ceiling. It fell to the floor with a pool of blood under it as its leg landed next to it. I looked up to see Faina up on the rafters as well.
“Alright Sigma, crash course in summoning,” Rose said as the fire elemental moved to hold off the majority of the monsters. “Step one: concentrate. Visualize everything about the summoned monster from what it looks like to how you felt when you started controlling it. Then, designate a job such as offensive or defensive. I would go defensive as these guys look like pack hunters. Then the spell should complete. Now hurry!”
We dodged to the side as they leapt forward brandishing tooth and claw, only to see we were still surrounded. I focused on the living armor, doing my best to avoid attacks and remember what I needed to. The fire Elemental blew a cone of fire at the beasts, causing them to howl in pain at first but the howls were replaced by their taunting barks. Their bodies were still on fire but it no longer appeared to be damaging them.
I suddenly had an idea, if they were fire now, then ice would counter it! I switched my thoughts to that of the wendigo, and I wanted it to be on the attack. Faina jumped from above and took advantage of the one’s focusing on the fire elemental, starting with the one missing a leg already. She landed on top of it and stabbed her blades deep into its sides and back. The monster let out a shrill shriek as it died, prompting the two nearby to spin around and slash at her.
Faina yelped as they landed, the blows tossing her off to the side. She rolled and got back to her hooves, a little frazzled but not out of the game yet as her armor took the blow. She widened her stance as one turned to target her. At this point I felt a surge of power going through my horn as a deathly cold aura suddenly appeared, the Wendigo howled as frost and ice started appearing on the rapidly cooling windows and floors.
The wendigo turned to the two in front of Rose and I and let loose a howling blast, freezing their legs to the floor. They were stuck fast to the floor but their bodies became encased in frost. I took this moment to start summoning the living armor.
“Good job, looks like you got the basics.” Rose complimented. “O lumen cordium tenebras fugat, suscipe deprecationem nostram quotidianum da nobis contra vim hostium!” She commanded. Suddenly a feeling of lightness and power flowed through me. I found it easier to concentrate and everything around me seemed to slow a bit, almost like I’m seeing everything a bit faster.
“Whoa, what was that?” I asked as my horn glowed brighter.
“Just a divine blessing~” Rose responded.
Behind us the fire elemental blasted its two remaining foes with another gout of flame, unfortunately the fire did minimal damage to them. Instead it swung out with a burning hand, which was avoided. The monsters retaliated with attacks of their own, their claws swiping through the flames but the elemental grunted as though it were damaged.
Faina dodged around the monster that targeted her, and instead delivered a devastating blow to the left monster that was targeting the fire elemental. It yipped in pain as the wounds in its side blead black blood heavily. Unfortunately the monster she ran around came up behind her and swiped at her flank. She cried out as her less armored rear was clawed open, her blood soaking through the tail end of her cloak.
“Damn it all!” She cursed through grit teeth as she found her position compromised.
My horn flared, bringing with it the heavy clang of armor. “That one, the one on the right!” I said, pointing towards our two foes.
“HHHMMMM!!!!!” It grunted, slamming the axe into the immobile monster, cleaving it in two with a critical blow.
“WOO!” I cheered, and then directed the wendigo, “Go freeze those three!” The wendigo howled and flew around the fire elemental and then blasted the remaining monsters with its ice breath. Faina managed to escape the cone of cold with the help of her wings as the other monsters froze to the ground as well. There was another death howl as the critically wounded one was finished off with the freezing breath, its brothers attempted to lash out but were still frozen.
“Alright, my turn!” Rose said as she directed the fire elemental to attack the remaining monster in front of us. It turned around and blasted several fireballs into the monster. It caught fire as the ice melted. It ran away while on fire, making it down the hall before it succumbed to the flames.
We turned towards the remaining two and Faina finished off the further one while the armor and wendigo took out the last one.
Faina walked up to us with a slight limp, “That was a pretty neat trick you guys, do you think that’s the last of them?”
“I think so.” Rose said. She turned to the elemental, “Thank you for your help.” She said and bowed. The elemental saluted and disappeared in a surge of flames.
“I think I’ll keep these guys active for a bit, just in case.” I said, motioning to my summons. “This is pretty cool to just call them to my side like that.”
We started hearing hoof steps as a battalion of guards ran up to us, led by none other than the captain. He slowed to a halt when he reached us and ordered the other guards to investigate the area. Several gasped and backpedaled when they saw the blood everywhere.
“Hi!” I said cheerfully.
He nodded at us as he looked at my summons suspiciously. “I would like you to tell me everything that happened, including these things.”
Rose came forth and explained things from our side, from waking up to the noise and summoning the fire elemental up to us finding the scene of the battle.
Faina came up next to us to tell her side as well, “Like them I woke up to the noise of ponies in panic. I got dressed as quickly as I could and headed out to scout the area. I caught up to these two as they found the scene when I heard something closing in from above. I snuck away and climbed up to the ceiling to see what was causing all the trouble. I found these things huddled together staring down at Sigma and Rose, but it would have been too risky to act on my own so I waited for an opening.”
“And that’s when they jumped down on us as we tried to get away. We won though.” I said.
The Captain nodded, “Alright, I’d like you two to go back to your room and Faina you go with them. Also you left these on the field.” He pulled out four shiny daggers and passed them to Faina.
“Oh, thanks! Sorry, I’m always forgetting them.” She said as she fit them back into her belt.
“No problem. Now, please make yourselves comfortable in the guest room, we’ll have a few guards watching over you as well. It’s bad enough to come under attack but if any of you get injured Celestia would have my head.” He said as he led us to our room.
“Bit late for that Cap, I took a claw to the ass. I’ll be fine though, I’ve had worse.” She said.
“I’ll send a doctor up to take a look at you anyway. Now sit tight while we secure the area and start investigating the scene.” I nodded as one of the guards opened the door to our room, only to stop in his tracks.
“Just what the hell is going on in here!?” He yelled in astonishment.
We piled inside to see what was going on. Everything in the room was a mess, the bed was stripped bare and holes were cut into the mattresses, foam and feathers carpeted the floor as every dresser drawer was strewn about and the dressers themselves were moved from the wall. The portraits were removed from the wall and vandalized as well, it looked like a monster had broken in and gone wild.
There was a noise in the bathroom. Without a second thought I sent the wendigo in to freeze whatever it was in place. A moment later a very high pitched scream pierced the air as a white unicorn with a blond mane and tail ran out in front of us. He made it about half way before stopping when he saw us, allowing the wendigo to encase him in ice up to his chin.
I glared as I looked him over, he was a mess and covered in feathers, he even had a knife with threads stuck to it. “So, you did this.” I said to him.
“You… how are you alive?!” He half yelled.
I turned to the guards, “Go fetch that captain for me please, and hurry up.” I turned back to the intruder, “So, mind telling us why you decided to destroy this room? And why our being alive would be a concern to you.”
He spit in my face, “I’m not telling you scum anything!”
As I wiped my face I saw Rose holding up her once beautiful dress, it as well as mine were not spared in the intrusion. “Interesting that I’m considered scum, yet here you are destroying what few possessions we have…” Heat started to rise in my cheeks and eyes, my breathing quickened and my heart rate shot up. “I think I’m actually angry… I don’t know if I’ve ever been angry before, so I’m not sure what happens next…”
My armor began to walk forward with heavy steps, axe at the ready. The unicorn lit his horn but a sharp dagger suddenly pressed against it.
“Ah-ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Faina said into his ear, “Light it up again and you lose it, but please, don’t let that stop you. I want to see just how painful it is for unicorns, just how sensitive…” She scraped the sharp edge of the blade against the horn. The reaction was immediate, he yelped and tried pulling away, but was still frozen in place. Faina chuckled as she watched him squirm.
“Huh, that is pretty sensitive.” I remarked before addressing the armor, “Just stand over there for now.” It grunted and did as I commanded. “So, what should we do with him?”
“I would say to make sure he doesn’t accidentally lose his horn before the captain arrives.” She said, causing the stallion to gulp and start to sweat, quite the feat to pull off when incased in ice.
The guards at the door moved aside as the captain ran in, “What in the name of Celestia is going on here? Blueblood? What are you doing here? Faina, what are you doing!?” He rattled off.
I took a breath and began explaining with the help of the guards that arrived with us, “We came back and the room was like this and this stallion was in the bathroom. I captured him in ice and as you can see he is covered in the evidence. He tried to escape through magic but Faina put a stop to that.”
“I’d say we should just chop off the damn thing.” Rose spoke up; she was making sure she had all the pieces of our dress and suit. “We did that all the time back then.”
“You wouldn’t da-AAAAGGG!!!!” He started but Faina scrapped her blade along a ridge, he had tears rolling out of his eyes. “DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!”
“Nope and I don’t care, now stop moving so much.” Faina said casually. The fact that it was impossible for the stallion to move was not lost on us.
“You shouldn’t have been in here at all.” I added. “Not to mention your surprise that we were ‘still alive.’ Makes it sound like you knew about the attack and used it to try and get something…” I trailed off in thought, what could he have been after that might have been in our room?
“Blueblood,” The captain said firmly, “what were you doing in here when the castle was being evacuated as monsters killed my guards?”
“That’s ‘Prince’ to you, and I’ll only speak to my lawyer about this!” He said.
“Wait a minute…” I think I understand now! “I’m pretty sure he was after this.” I held up my book for everypony to see. Their reactions ranged from curiosity to repulsion at the fleshy tome, but Blueblood simply gasped and started to struggle and growl.
“Called it.” I said as I grinned triumphantly.
“I said to stop moving!” Faina yelled as she scraped the horn a bit harder, causing him to scream as tears flowed down his face as he broke down in sobs.
“Stop! Stop please! I’ll tell you! We wanted you dead so I made a deal with Clavicus who sent them to kill you in return for that book! That’s all I swear!” He yelled out.
I whispered to Rose, “That was easy.” She nodded in response.
Faina flashed her blade, “And where can we find him?”
He whimpered, “There’s a tunnel in my study! It leads to the crystal caves in the mountain and that’s where he is! Just please let me go!”
The captain blasted Blueblood in the face with enough power to shatter the ice and throw him into the wall, where he lay limply on the floor. “I want a detachment of guards ready to deploy immediately and alert the princesses. You two, take Blueblood into custody and lock him up and don’t let him out until I say.” The guards saluted and split up to carry out the orders.
“Captain, mind if I join you?” Faina asked, “Caves and mines are kind of my thing.”
“Normally I would be against it, but we could use the help to navigate and fight in the close quarters. Just be sure to follow my orders.” He said.
“Alrighty!” She smiled.
I went to Rose while they were discussing things, “You alright?”
“No, I’m furious. I want answers and I want my pretty dress fixed, but I also know I’m going to have to wait for all that.” She sighed, “But it really goes to show that being different is severely looked down upon in high society.”
“I wouldn’t know, most ponies all look the same to me.” I said, causing her to chuckle dryly.
“What do you want to do then, are you alright?” Rose asked me.
I was confused for a moment, what was it that I wanted? After Faina did the thing with the knife I didn’t feel as angry anymore, and I wasn’t in the mood to hunt whatever was after me… “I think we should stay with the Princesses. Whatever sent those things was after us, and being alone or going with the captain would put us in greater danger. I don’t think I’m ready for a powerful battle yet and I don’t want the book to fall into the wrong hooves.”
Rose chuckled and smiled, “Then you are wiser than you let on. They may have a restoration spell for our cloths as well.”
I nodded and approached the captain, “Captain, Rose and I would like to be with the Princesses during this event so they don’t get ahold of my book.”
“I assume it’s an artifact of some kind then?” He asked. I nodded in response, “Alright, I’ll send you to Princess Celestia.” His horn glowed brightly as Rose stood next to me, the scraps of our clothing across her back. With a flash we found ourselves suddenly clean, not a drop of blood on us. There was another flash and we were in a familiar room.
“Ah, Rose and Sigma, I’m glad you decided to join me.” Celestia said from her spot by the fire. Next to her was Twilight, she must have been crying recently because the fur under her eyes was damp.
“I figured it would be safer here.” I said as we lay down on some cushions as well.
“Yes, I received word that monsters had attacked the castle. I’m glad you’re both alright, but what of Faina?” She asked.
Rose and I briefly explained what happened, from waking up to being teleported here. Twilight looked on in horror while Celestia’s face remained unchanged.
“I see.” She said once we were finished, “It would appear that the nobles have finally stepped way out of line, they will get what’s coming to them. As for my nephew, I will not defend him in his actions. He will be tried as well for his crimes of conspiracy, not to mention there’s an ambassador involved as well. If this is handled improperly it would sour any relationships we could have established with her people.”
“Faina is going to assist them in the mines from my understanding, but I was also wondering if you had a spell to restore our outfits?” Rose asked as she lay out the shredded cloth.
Celestia looked them over for a moment before shaking her head, “I’m sorry, they are too far gone. If I restore it there will be holes and loose threads that will fall apart anyway.”
Rose looked downtrodden so I wrapped a hoof around her, “Oh, I see. Thank you though.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Celestia nudge Twilight with a wing. She started a bit before collecting herself, “Rose, Sigma, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for what I said yesterday and the day before. I let my emotions cloud my judgement, and I said some horrible things. Princess Celestia explained everything to me, and I see that I was wrong about you both. I’m sorry I thought Sigma was just controlling you Rose, and I’m sorry I was so harsh to you Sigma. Can you forgive me for what I’ve done?” She finished, fresh tears in her eyes as she finished.
I looked to Rose for a moment before we nodded in agreement, “That’s all I wanted, and I told you so.” I chuckled, “So yea, you are forgiven. Also I would like an explanation why ponies in general are so rude all the time.”
Rose turned to me, “I think you just perceive it as rude, I’ll help you out with that.”
“Oh.”
Screams suddenly erupted in the hall as everything started to shake and rattle. Both Celestia and Twilight stood and lit their horns, ready for whatever was coming. Suddenly a wendigo phased through the door, followed quickly by the living armor, smashing the door into an explosion of splinters with a mighty roar.
We stood there staring at them in stunned silence for a full minute before Rose turned to me, “In the future, please dismiss your summoned creatures so they don’t wind up chasing after you through the halls.”
“Ah… My bad.”