//------------------------------// // Prolouge: Execution at Sunrise // Story: A Blackrose in Equestria // by Roran Dreamon //------------------------------// Saturday Morning, March 20, 3E 1999, Before Execution Day Haven Capital, Jardiniere, Prison Parish, Prison Cell Alpha The sun shines into the open cell, the cold air resides inside, frost covers the stone floor and the water in the bucket has started to freeze over. The floor and walls are covered in dry and fresh blood, red tints and hues can be clearly seen from outside the cells and inside of the prison halls. The early morning sun rising over the castle walls, basking everything in its rising warmth, but inside the walls is only death and decay, old prisoner bodies rotting away, old bones litter the corners of the prison keep, guards on their daily rounds sneer and laugh at those that are dead and those that will soon join them. My cell, half the size of a normal prison cell, but also the most secure cell, my body chained to the wall, my hands bound and covered in magical seals, my forehead branded with an ancient spell, making my thoughts only come to me in quick and short bursts, my body covered in scars fresh and old, my pale broken form slowly withering away but the warden wants me alive, their clerics giving me healing potions and casting their damned healing spells, saving me from death many times over, but I wish they haven't, they want me dead but they are just toying with me now, extending my pain for their own amusement and to my own discomfort. My body aches from the lack of food that these guards are supposed to give me but instead eat most of it in front of me and leave only scraps and bits, treating me like a stray dog instead of a high value prisoner. They will all know to never under-estimate a mage that has been trained in every field of magic, and my most lethal of magic is not with words but with my mind. As I hang around in my cell, all I can see is the torch that hangs out of the wall, my prison cell door, my small open window, and a lone mirror that hangs to the left of my head, seemingly not broken on orders of the prison warden to leave it alone and to always have it clean, a constant reminder that I am in prison and that I will die in prison. "How long have I been stuck in this cell now.....5 Years is it? Starting at next sunrise it will be exactly 5 years...its a bloody shame that the 5 year mark will also be my execution date...how the bloody hell did I get the day that it turns into the fourth era and my death at the same time...I will never know..." I said to the mirror, hoping that whoever was on the other end heard it and would give me some sort of solace before my untimely demise. After waiting about 25 minutes in the cell, I give up and just look down, I have almost completely forgotten that I was hanging in the air about a foot off the floor, just hanging in the air by my arms and my legs tangling, this feeling makes me wonder why my arms haven't popped out of its socket and left me in agonizing pain, but than I gave up on the endeavor and just looked at the floor. In this type of cells, most of the prisoners would go mad because of never being able to touch the floor, the constant mechanical marching of the prison guards, and since you can't cover your ears since your hands are to far from your head, the heavy marching would eventually drive anyone insane. That and the never ending taunting from the guards and no way to say anything back without getting 25 lashes, you might as well just go insane and be sent to the the plushy cells and bang your head on the walls. I hate this cell, I hate it more than I hate those stupid guards and the damn warden, who are they to throw the smartest and most cunning of mages in Vvardenfiel, but to these guards I am just some flash in the pants that can get away with anything, well anything except for breaking 26 different magic laws, breaking and entering the Arcane Sanctum, 6 counts of murder, high treason,and the best of them all, talking to another being in another realm. After another 25 minutes has passed, the mirror in my cell slowly glowed a dull earthy green color, than the voice on the other side finally spoke. "So my little human...it seems that tomorrow morning, your death will be calling for you...I am sorry to hear this, I wish you their was something for me to do to spare your life, but you and I both know that their is nothing that can be done." said the voice in the mirror, and to my luck that my ears are still working, the voice sounded like a female and was also regal in some way, most likely another being that was from the upper class. "Yea...I know, being the only Psykeeper in the Arcane Sanctum and my crime for basically talking to you is many years in prison, brutal torture and an execution at the start of the new era...what a way to go, and our little chit chat was at least promising, you helped me not go insane like the rest of the poor souls that were in these cells...but enough on the past and look to the future, well your future, mine at this moment looks rather bleak and extremely short." I said, my voice is rugged and raspy since the lack of water to my cell. It was lunch time by the lonely sound of a single pair of feet moving down the dead halls, and I know that this person was the one to bring me my last lunch, my last lunch what a horrible way to die with something in my body, going to crap myself when I feel the noose around my neck, what a thought, they said it will be a quick drop and a sudden stop...a drop and a stop...I may have a way out after all. Prison Cell Alpha, Midnight I looked back into the mirror, hoping that she is listening to my final words, hoping that there is a way to escape death earlier than by my formulating plan. "You my lady...you have a very bright future that I can clearly tell, some storm clouds on your horizons but nothing more.....odd...I do not ever remember that type of storm cloud to be ever present...a strange purplish silver cloud...most likely some mage that failed another weather control spell...well my lady, I guess whatever we talk about for the next few hours might as well be something worthy...since all I can do with this mirror is speak through it, not see what is on the other side...at least you can not see my damaged condition, it would leave you in tears." I said, my voice now sounding like stone grating on stone. I look out of the open window in my cell, and just like inside of the mirror, the exact same purple/silver cloud is slowly hanging itself over the prison, and the sounds of thunder and lightning striking the air, the signs of a heavy storm is rapidly approaching. The voice in the mirror was quite for a few minutes, I could have sworn that I heard the faint sounds of crying than another voice, different this time, asking to why she is crying, I knew she lied since she said that she was reading a sad romance novel, seemingly she does not want others to know about our conversations. I can clearly respect that, since it is most likely forbidden also to where she is from. I wish I knew where she was from, or even see her face, I want to know who I was speaking to before I die. "What is the matter ma'am? Why are you crying? Is it because my death would mean you would be left talking to people that are rather simple or that you would miss my company, either way it is flattering to know that such a caring person as yourself would even bother to care for a man like me. Please do not cry for me, for the gods will not show me mercy, only you and if I could escape death and come to your world, I would but I know that is impossible..." I said, my voice switching from its usual low monotone accent to its mostly rare happy upbeat sounds, knowing that my death will rather be quick and painless or very long and overly painful, hopefully the first. There was a long pause after I have said that, I am not sure if I was trying to cheer her up or that I just want the only person that was caring for me to shut up and look the other way when it is my turn to die. Sun Morning, March 21, 4E 0001,Execution Day Today is the day, my execution...why the hell am I thinking of my death at a time like this, I should be preparing my plan, which is not much of a plan, I would just play dead during my hanging and when they take my body off they would just toss it aside near the other corpses and when all of them leave I would just break out, and most likely kill a few guards to settle the score. "My lady...it is almost my time to meet the end, I wish you luck in your life...I will miss speaking to you, your voice soothed my worries...and made me happy because you are the only intelligent being that actually bothered to care for me in any shape or form of support..when I become a spirit, well if I become one since I am most likely going to Hell..." I said sadly to the mirror, hoping that she is on the other side listening, and also hopefully not crying. After a few minutes, a response comes, but not from the usual person, but from another, the one that was there when she was crying and spoken to. "Thou Art the Human my Sibling hath spoken to...why did thy make my sister cry like she has yesterday...she has not left her bedchambers since last night...what did thy saith to her." This new voice speaking like the overly royal snobs back in palace, only one person I know of still speaks like that after my little stunt I pulled 10 years ago. I waited only a few seconds to respond, not really knowing what to say at the moment. "Yes, I am the human that spoke to your sister...and I just realized that you are not human...so what are you? And what is you and your sister's name since she did not tell me over the 5 years me and her were talking to each other?" I said, I sounded at first annoyed, than shocked, than went straight to my old inquisitive self. For at least a few minutes there was a deathly silence, almost as bad as a graveyard when it came to how quite it was in this cell, it was louder outside of it since most of the inmates were yelling for freedom or some sign of redemption from the non-existent gods. "For the small amount of time you have left before thy goes to ye end, you may call me Luna, and my sister Celestia...as to our race, we are formally called Alicorns..." her voice starting to sound sad and is losing its regal composure. I look around my cell, everything still the same small cramped space except that the cell door is unlocked, and there are two guards, both of them thinking I have gone insane, speaking to a mirror, both none the wiser for not knowing that the mirror was my means of communication to the now non-humans Celestia and Luna. "Well...Luna...and if Celestia is there...tell her I am sorry for making her cry...and that I am sorry for not being there to make her better...but I will be with her in mind, since my death is currently waiting for me, and I am first in line...just..please tell her that I am sorry...eh..I am so dead.." was all she got before the guards quickly undid my chains and yanked me away from my cell, dragging my weak body to the scaffolding. My broken body slowly being dragged down the hall, I see other prisoners in theirs, backing away from me, the guards think I am not a threat to them, but to the prisoners they see me as their worst nightmare. I can see the light at the end of the hallway, knowing at the other end is the courtyard, and at its center is the scaffolding...and my noose at the other end of it. Prison Courtyard, Early Noon I was first in line for the executions, the storm has not only gotten worse, but it seems to be raining a strange purple water onto everything. This storm was created by some sort of magical means, not created by mages, unless the Council created this storm, and by the looks of it is causing damages to the houses both inside and outside of the keep, and the storm seems to be rotating over the keep...very strange indeed. "So...this is how I get executed...by a noose...in a magical storm...at the dawn of the new era...well I can clearly say that this straight up sucks more than the time I was kicked out of a 15 story tower and fell back first into water...no wait...this sucks way more than that..." I said as I rub my neck, knowing that it will be fitted with a rope collar and be pushed off a wooden landing to my death. I look around, seeing who else is standing in line for their death, and also to see if the warden is going to be here, if my plan works he will be executed himself for failure to kill me and that I escaped from his grasp, but sadly, he isn't here, only his wife...his wife is here...my plan just got better. "Alright maggots listen up! Today is the start of the new Era, which means you lucky bastards will be getting a quick death instead of the long, pleasent death that many of the lucky sods before you have recieved. So Line Up, Wait your turn, and when you get up here, say that you are proud to die a quick death, and take a leap of death so you die quick and painless." his voice sounded like some drunk bastard that had far too many to drink. I already hated him. "Looks like the pretty mage is up first, not so fancy and mighty now without your stupid magic tricks to save yourself hehehehe. Hope you slip and fall when you are in your new rope necklace mage." Some of the prisoners start talking, almost all of them starting to yell and curse my name, saying that I am a traitor to the crown, well I might as well be since I broke so many laws and talked to supposedly talking ponies from another dimension, what was I smoking at the time when I started talking to them I will never know. The very few that was not shouting at me were trying to defend my name, saying that how the hell I should know that it was a crime to speak to another being. "Alright alright I get it...just lead me to the stupid rope and get this over with." I said, annoyed to hell knowing that my death will be quick, even more annoying that the storm is know going from bad to total shitstorm, the magic must have been saturated somehow, because it is now raining extremely hard, in a slanted angle, and some small hailstones are now falling. Yea...my death sucks. My slow march to the scaffolding was brutal by normal standards, having rotten fruit tossed at me, people cursing at me, the guards laughing at me, and now small hailstones the size of golf balls now hitting me, the gods really love to give me the worst death to ever remember. As I get to the top, the storm just keeps getting more and more worse, now thunder and lightning is present, the hail is coming faster, and the rain is now so slanted that it is falling at a 45 degree angle. "Vector Viicinitrix...for your crimes against the crown...and for the murder of 6 royal mages, you are sentenced to death by hanging until you die...do you have any last words?" the warden, Sir Serior Page, said on his high chair overlooking the courtyard. "Yes...in fact I do have a few last words..." I said, looking down, my robes hood down, my lavender/silver hair now soaked to the core from the magicail rain. "Than say it, we want to see how long you live before you choke to death." One of the prisoners shouted, getting encouraging shouts from the other guards and prisoners. I glare around me, first the warden, than my executioner, finally the crowd of guards and prisoners. "My Last words are these exact words...." I coughed a bit, spitting out blood all over my executioners face "The Ashes Will Rise And The Ashes Will Fall, This Land Will Burn Into Nothing But Smoking Ruins And Decaying Corpses, Fire And Death Will Rain From the Sky And Cleanse This World Of The Disease Of The Corrupting Man. The Night Will Be Eternal, The Sun Will Burn The World While the Moon Will Bask The World In Its Cold, All Will Die." I finished my last words, most of the guards are now looking right at me, their swords drawn, the archers on the walls now pointing their crossbows at me, even the Warden had his sword out. I looked up and noticed that the clouds are now red and the rain has changed to fire embers, the hail now turning into burning coals. As soon as I jumped off the ledge, the warden told me to undo the storm, the one that I 'created'. but it fell on death ears, as I fell my life flashed before my eyes. "With my last few words.....F---" and just before I finish my good bye speech, it happened. To tell you the truth it would have flashed before my eyes, but as soon as I was half way to the floor, a ball of white light encased me in its glow, than all was black, but to the everyone elses point of view, it looked like I just teleported using strange magic. Equestria, Royal Palace, 5 Minutes Ago Celestia has been in her room for 7 hours now, crying in her room, her mood has rapidly changed from happy to talk to her friend everyday, to completely devastated, now knowing that he was going to be executed at sunrise, the very thing that she enjoyed doing. Now spending the last remaining hours before his death, not willing to look him in the eye and say that everything will be fine, but that would be telling a lie. "Celestia...sister...please come out of that room...why are you crying? Did a sad letter from your top studen say something sad? Is Somepony injured? Please tell me." Luna said from the other side of the door, her voice with worry for her sister's welfare and compassion for trying to understand her current condition. After a long period of silence, the door slowly openned, revealing a white alicorn sitting on the bed, covered in bed sheets crying into the pillows to muffle the sounds. "Sister...please...tell me what is wrong...if you keep yourself shut in like this than everypony will worry that you have fallen gravely ill..." Luna said, her voice still carrying its compassionate tone. Celestia looked up, than finally spoke, her voice strained from all the crying "I am crying...because a friend of mine...is going to be executed today...and their is nothing I can do to stop it from happening...somepony that I started to know...is going to die and I can not save him." her sobbings partially interrupted her words, but Luna got the idea. Her sister was crying because for the first time in hundreds of years, she couldn't save someone from dieing when she has the power to. "Do not worry Tia...we can save him, we need to quickly get to the Spellbinders Court if we are to save his life...if not...than our once chance to save your friend will be lost." and with that small jab of words Celestia finally got out of bed, and with the both of them quickly moving in the halls to the room, Celestia's face now filled with hope that she could still save him in time... Equestria, Everfree Forest, Afternoon The Everfree Forest was in its spring season, the leaves were still on the branchs, some snow was still on the floor, but to a single manticore's surprise, a sphere of white light suddenly appears infront of it thinking it is an easy meal it gets ready to pounce on it...but to its surprise it was a portal, and a single creature fell out of it, saying something in mid-sentence. "uck all of you!!!!" falling face first into the floor, a rope noose around its neck, and part of the scaffolding falls ontop of him, knocking him unconscious. The loud shouting alone and the loud thud was enough to make the manticore flee with terror, not knowing if the thing that fell was stronger than it, or that its shout was a pack call to others. While I was laying their knocked out, a small pitter-patter of hooves came closer to my broken body and prodded it with a stick, only to get a slight unconscious groan out of me, and just as quickly as it came, it left me to my fate in the unknown forest for the beasts to have at me. Yea...this is better than my execution.