//------------------------------// // The Age of Fire // Story: Of Cinder and Ash // by OpenPage //------------------------------// Yes, indeed…. It is called Lothric, where the transitory lands of the Lords of Cinder converge…. In venturing north, the pilgrims discover the truth of the old words….. The Fire Fades….. And the lord’s go without thrones…. When the link of fire is threatened, the bell tolls… Unearthing the Lords of Cinder from their graves…. Aldrich, Saint of the Deeis land of cinder and ash. Farron’s Undead Legion, the Abyss Watchers And the reclusive lord of the Profaned Capital…. Yhorm the Giant Only, in truth; will the lord’s abandon their thrones, and the Unkindled will rise. An accursed undead, one that this world will not even call its own. A special breed from another world that will travel this land Because it shall learn….. That ash seeketh embers…. Dark souls 3/MLP:FIM Crossover OpenPage Presents..... Of Cinder and Ash Golden Oaks Library - 2 Years after the return of Luna The day started like any other did for Twilight Sparkle, with a mug of coffee and a morning book. The purple unicorn sat snuggled into her favorite blanket reading a textbook on runes and their functions. “Spike, Can you bring me Canterlot’s Clear Coat Color Encyclopedia?” Twilight called out down the stairs while sipping at her coffee. Flipping through her book in pursuit of a specific runic matrix, She hoped to turn up the correct color that would have the rune she had in mind for a summoning spell together. Minutes turned to half an hour and Spike still hadn’t turned up with the book she had wanted. Twilight began to worry where he was. She Set her book down and opened the door with her telekinesis, believing she would not have to get out of bed, she cried out for her friend. She flicked an ear towards the door listening for a reply so she would not have to make her way down the stairs. Not hearing Spike respond, she huffed and rose out of bed and hurried through the door, down the stairs in search of her number one assistant. About halfway down she could look into the living room, what she saw caused her to grind to a standstill, practically tumbling down the stairs. In the midst of the Library was a modest fire glowing with a fire of amber, atop a bed of bones and ash. There was a coiled blade sunk deep into the middle of the bed and fire.  The fire transfixed Twilight, it looked to be almost entrancing as the sun. Slowly Twilight made her way closer forgetting about why she moved downstairs in the first place. All of time seemed as if it had ceased as the flames drew her closer. She walked at a crawl until the fire licked at her hooves.  Once Twilight reached the sword and the ash she reached a hoof towards the sword. Flames shot towards her, no emotion showing on her face as they wrapped around her, the flames licking up along her sides, lighting her to ash in seconds. 10 MINUTES LATER A small purple dragon entered the Library with a pouch of confectioneries in tow. Fresh pastries and sweets from Sugarcube Corner, produced by their closest and craziest friend, Pinkie Pie.    “Twilight, I picked up those cookies from Pinkie, Let’s eat!” Spike Called out to his friend. “I also ran into Rarity on the way to her boutique, sorry for making you wait!”    Turning to the kitchen to set up the table for a meal, he spotted an ash pile no larger than an apple sitting in the middle of the floor. Studying it and discovering nothing of importance he cleaned it up and made his way into the kitchen to make their lunch. Cemetery of Ash       The bell tolls three times, and a body stirs in its grave, beckoned by the ringing of the bell. An equine clad in armor climbed out of the grave that it had not been in earlier. The only sound it could hear was its own breathing and the wind. Twilight looked around with a less than normal field of view. Dark bars cut off her vision, making her feel like she was looking through window shutters. Looking around, Hoping to see the comfort of her Bookshelves and walls, Twilight only saw tombstones and open caskets all around her. Panic starting to envelop her from the unfamiliar surroundings. Trying to calm herself from the sudden panic, she sat down and started her breathing exercises. “Just breath like cadence taught you” Twilight repeated to herself over and over again, following her breathing, until eventually, her panic stabilized. Feeling around her face she found that she was wearing a helmet. Twilight could feel her ears poking out of the top. Trying to ignore the helmet for the moment, she flipped up the faceplate to see better as she looked around. Twilight immediately noticed a sloped pathway that seemed to be almost sculpted from the overgrowth and tombs. Deciding to check herself to see what other additions have been put on her before following the path, She sat down on her haunches and inspected her hooves. Gauntlets on both hooves, one of which that had a small red gem inlaid in a small slot, and a small bag that seemed to hold very few items was strapped to her side. Finally reaching for her back to check the weight that was bothering her, she found a longsword slung from her withers and a crest shield strapped onto her back. Pulling them out she examined them to see if she could make out the smithing style used to forge these tools. “Hmm this style doesn’t seem to be from any modern equestrian smithing books,” she thought “I wonder who gave me these weapons?” inspecting them, before nodding satisfied that she got all she could know and putting them back into place along with her wither and back. Taking the burlap bag off with her magic she pulled the twine and peered inside to find a dull green flask, with a glowing liquid that reminded her of the fire she found in her library. An obsidian black crystal lay next to the flask, pulsing with a gentle light. Tying the bag up and strapping it to her side once more, she inspected her flank to find that the armor covered her entirely. Twilight gasped as she saw the rune, an oval with a small letter C in the middle, she was looking at in her book engraved into the flank of the armor. Colored in an ashen gray, the rune gave off a soft glow that made it almost feel alive. Gently running a hoof along it she could feel magic energy pour off of the symbol. Twilight could feel the items in the bag strapped to her sway as she got to her hooves. Patting herself down to get the dust that settled on her new armor, she got ready to set off. Needing answers and a way home, she decided to find someone who would know what happened and give whoever did this a stern lecture on why to not take ponies from there dimensional plane of existence. Twilight felt a wave of uneasiness, almost foreboding, not realizing yet how this would not be as easy as she thought. So Twilight set off on what would become the biggest adventure of her Unkindled life.