A Lost Soul Returns: The King of Monsters

by Dark Star the Crazed

The Battle of Arcusale.

There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else. ~ Ernest Hemingway.

Twilight and Fang woke up in their tent. They were wrapped in each others forelegs. Twilight hugged Fang tighter and began to sniffle a little bit. "P-please... Don't go... I don't want you to get hurt." Twilight just kept sniffling until she felt hooves running down her back. Twilight pulled her teary eyes off of Fang's chest and looked up to see Fang, smiling at her.

"Twilight. Do not worry, I will be fine. All the soldiers, both with and against us, will be fine. We have Sven remember? He is just going to knock all their soldiers out. Then you and I are going to go into the palace and ask the griffon king to surrender peacefully. If he refuses I will kill him. I will probably kill him anyway though. He does work for a archdemon after all." Suddenly the soldiers were shouting things such as 'The enemy is attacking!', 'Surround her!', or 'Don't let her get away!' Fang and Twilight shot up and walked out of their tent to see what was going on.

Standing there, surrounded by soldiers, with a look of fear on her face and some over sized saddle bags on her back, was none other than Gilda. "Dudes please let me pass. I am not working for my father I swear!" The guards did not ease up. Gilda looked around for a way to escape. Then her eyes landed on Twilight. "You're one of the Equestrian princesses right? Please you have got to get these guys to let me go!" Twilight was about to order the soldiers to lead Gilda over to her, but Fang stopped her. She raised an eyebrow but then realized something. Fang was walking towards Gilda. Twilight followed suit.

Fang just looked at Gilda and took off his helmet revealing his face. "Twilight could not make them to stand down even if she wanted to. She can not order them around as it is not Equestrian or Crystal military." He gave a small smirk. "However I can. They are my soldiers after all. I will tell them to stand down." The soldiers started to ease up. "But before I do you have to tell us why your bag is moving." The soldiers all went back to their attack positions. Gilda's eyes went wide as she looked to her saddle bag. It was indeed moving.

Twilight blinked. "Do you have like a rabbit or something in there?" She was now eyeing the bag curiously. She sat down on her haunches and just kept looking at the two. Alternating between the bag and Gilda's face.

Gilda decided to try and lie to Twilight and Fang. "It's a chicken..." The top of the saddlebags opened and the head of a three year old griffon chick popped out.

The little griffon looked at Gilda. "Mom! I am not a chicken! I am an eagle! I told you that ten times alrea-" The little chick stopped talking when she saw Twilight and Fang. "Monsters!" She ducked back into the bag. "I'm not here!"

Twilight just giggled. "So... That's why you were so angry at the party Pinkie threw for you three years ago! You were pregnant!" Twilight stopped and went wide eyed. "Wait a second... If your a mother... Then where is the father?" Two griffons ran out of the bushes. Both were male, but one was a child. "I'm guessing that's your son and his father?" The older griffon took a swipe at Fang and caused some of his mane to fall off. The little one tried to tackle Twilight but missed her completely, because she sat down, and ended up getting a mouthful of dirt. Twilight just looked at the little griffon and smiled. "Hi there."

Gilda ran towards little griffon and picked him up. "Sharp are you ok?" The griffon spit the dirt out of his mouth and nodded. Twilight blinked in surprise. The little boy did not have a head that resembled a eagle. He had a head that resembled an owl. Twilight looked towards the father of the two young griffons and noticed he had the head of an owl as well. The father at this point in time was in a headlock that was created by Fang. "Scope!"

The griffon forgot about his fight with Fang momentarily and looked at Gilda. "Yes? Wait one second Gilda." He looked up at Fang. "You win... Will you let me go now?" As soon as he asked Fang nodded and released him. "Thank you." He got up and walked over to Gilda and his son. "Gilda... Where's Gale?"

The little chick in the bag popped her head out again and hugged her father. "Daddy! We're safe now mommy! Daddy can kill the mean old monsters!"

The male griffon, Scope, looked around. "Um... Gale? These are ponies not monsters." Fang was about to say he was half right when Twilight hit him on the back of the head.

The little griffon, Sharp, looked at his sister nodded then looked at his father. "Um... Half of these are ponies. The other half are... Weird." He looked at Fang. "Father look at the black alicorn. His mouth specifically. He is not a Threshal, yet he still has fangs... It appears that the princess does to." Fang and Twilight raised their eyebrows, looked at each and gasped. He was right their fangs were showing. The large griffon, Scope, looked and gave them a glare. Sharp began to flap his wings and flew over to Twilight's Face. He tapped her fangs with one of his talons. "They are real... What are you?"

Gilda began to back up and Gale just shuddered. "Monsters! See mom I told you! Monsters!"

Twilight and Fang looked at each other , then the griffons, then each other and laughed. After a minute Twilight walked over to Fang, and laid her head on his shoulder, before looking at the griffons. "Well, yes we are monsters, we are vamponies to be exact, but don't worry. Most of the stories about monsters are nothing but myth."

Fang smiled and nuzzled her neck. "Well you figured out our secret, now don't be afraid. Most monsters are kind and live among society and are some of the most helpful creatures you will ever meet." He smiled and looked at the griffons. "Now tell us why you are fleeing from your home?"

Gilda sighed. "We don't have to say-"

"Grandpa went crazy!" All eyes turned to Gale who was now sitting on her mothers back. "... I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that was I mom?" Gilda just sighed. Gale looked at Twilight and Fang. "I said nothing."

Twilight just giggled. "We know that the griffon king went crazy. That's why we're here. We are going to get him to surrender and make him give up his crown. At least I hope we can. I don't want to have to resort to the second option."

Gilda raised her eyebrow along with Gale, Scope, and Sharp. "Is the second option killing him? Because that's nothing short of what will stop him."

Twilight gulped. "So he has to die? I was hopping to avoid that... Fang looks like he has to die."

Fang gave her a small nuzzle. "I know... Believe me I know." He looked at Twilight and gave her a small smile. He then turned to the griffons. "Do you want an escort away from here and through the forest? I can spare some of my soldiers."

Gilda and the other three smiled. "If they can get us to Cloudsdale. That would be awesome." Scope nodded in agreement. "So whats going to happen to the kingdom when my dad dies? I don't want to rule..."

Twilight and Fang looked at each other. "Well... You can sign your the control over to one of us and we will split it three ways. One third to Fang's kingdom, one third to The Crystal Empire, and one third to Equestria. However you can't do that until you are the ruler. So you will have to wait until your father is dead." Gilda just nodded and Twilight smiled at her explanation.

"Ok. So just come and find me once my dad is dead. I never wanted to be in the government anyway." Gilda gave a smile. Then she raised her eyebrow when Twilight raised a hoof. "What? I'm not a teacher."

Twilight blushed a little. "Ok. Two things. First, if you tell Rainbow Dash about why you were being so rude at the party Pinkie threw for you I'm sure she will forgive you. Second I want to know why your son and... Is Scope your husband." Gilda nodded. "I want to know why your son and husband look like owls. I thought griffons were supposed to be a cross between a lion and a eagle."

Gilda just looked at her. "Do you really think she will forgive me if I tell her the truth?" Twilight smiled and nodded.

Scope looked at Twilight and waved a talon. "Common mistake. Griffons are gust a cross between a lion and a bird. Its only griffons with eagle heads that you have seen because they are usually part of the royal family. Not always but usually."

Twilight smiled. "I see... Hey Gilda?"

Gilda looked away from her daughter and towards Twilight. "Yeah?"

Twilight gave the ground a little kick. "Do you know where Frigidi is? He looks like a bipedal alligator." There was a crack and the thump of a tree hitting the forest floor. Twilight looked behind them to see Frigidi and Gilda's father. "This is not good is it Fang?"

The griffon king smiled and pointed towards the armies. "Frigidi attack!"

Fang just smiled. "Sven! Keep Frigidi busy! Soldiers with me! We storm the griffon capital now!" Sven's heads came out of the bushes and started to fight with Frigidi. Frigidi was not an old one who was known for his strength, but for is intelligence. No matter how fierce Frigidi was in a fight he had only ever fought one at a time, now he was fighting a seven headed dragon. The griffon king was stunned. He had thought this battle would be simple with Frigidi on his side, yet he had to retreat. Quickly he turned and ran through the forest looking back, only once, to see Frigidi trapped by Sven's heads.

The armies gathered and formed a line. The march then began with Fang and Twilight leading the way. Soon they exited the forest and saw the path to Arcusalae. Griffons lined the pathway with swords, battle axes, war hammers, spears, and clubs. Fang looked at his soldiers. "This is a no kill battle! Do you understand? You shall not take a life unless you have no other choice!" The soldiers all nodded and Fang drew one of his swords. His katana. He raised it into the air. "For glory, and the gods!" The soldiers all cheered and they charged. Fang grabbed Twilight and took to the air. He flew over the battle field and watched as griffons and ponies both fell. When a pony fell three more came to his aid before the griffon could strike him down. When a griffon fell the pony simply went on after making sure they were still breathing.

Twilight watched the battle with wide eyes. They had miscalculated the size of the griffons army. it was three times the size they had thought. Then the griffons started to drop their weapons and fight each other knocking each other out. "Fang why are they fighting each other?" There was a flash of green and half of the griffons became black bug like creatures. "Changelings... Fang! You had the changelings that you employ as spies sneak into the griffon army didn't you?" Two griffons flew up next to the alicorns. Both had swords. One of them dropped their sword and punched the other in the face before letting it fall into a bale of hay on the cliff side. The griffon smiled at Twilight and turned into the purple eyed changeling she had met in Stalliongrad.

Copycat smiled and gave the alicorns a small salute before diving backwards to see if the griffon she took down was dead. She dived into the pile of hay and heard snoring. She smiled and returned to the battle.

Fang lowered his head and dived, with Twilight in his grasp, to the courtyard of the griffon kings castle. Fang set her down and she nuzzled him. Seeing the courtyard was empty they walked to the great doors of the castle. Fang opened one and Twilight opened the other. They were greeted by a suit of armor that was covered in sharp curved spikes all over the armor itself. Suddenly the inside of the helmet grew, glowing, red eyes. The suit of griffon armor reach a talon to its sides and pulled out two swords. It lowered it's shoulder and charged at the two alicorns. Twilight gave a small shriek as Fang pushed her to the ground. Twilight looked up to see Fang, covered in his own blood.

Fang gave a grunt as the suit of armor backed up, pulling its spikes out of his skin. Fang looked over at Twilight. "Did it get you Twilight, or did I protect you?" Twilight's eyes were wide. She was looking at Fang's coat. He had taken off his own armor so that he wouldn't hurt her when he pushed her out of the way. Twilight shook her head no to answer the question. It had missed her completely and had only hit Fang. There was a small laugh and Twilight looked up to see the griffon king.

"Do you like my black knight? I created him. He is nothing but armor given life. A mindless, soulless, golem." He stepped up beside the suit of armor. "It's heart is nothing but a blood stone." The suit of armor charged at Fang once again, this time using its swords. Fang used his katana to block every swing the suit took. The downside however was that he could not get a hit in while blocking.

The griffon king laughed and looked at Twilight. He slowly began to walk towards her. "Your kinda cute for a pony... Maybe I'll keep you as a prize once I win." The next thing Twilight saw before the griffon king grabbed her was Fang bashine into the griffon king's side sending him to the ground tumbling. Fang just stood there.

"I will say this only once... Leave. Twilight. Alone." The next thing any of them knew Fang was on the ground with the black knights spikes in his side and chest.

"Fang!" Twilight's eyes filled with tears at the sight of her coltfriend on the ground bleeding. She had caused him to get hurt by that thing twice. She gritted her teeth as she saw the suit of armor pull its spikes out of Fang's side. Her eyes began to glow and she blasted the suit of armor. Soon its body began to seize up. The joints in the armor turning brown and spreading. Soon the suit crumbled. The griffon king's eyes went wide and he ran over to the no longer moving black knight.

"What did you do to my black knight!?" He heard a growl and turned. His blood turned to ice when he saw her. Twilight had gotten taller, her fangs sharper, and her eyes were completely black.

She went over to the griffon king. "Something that is not even half as bad as what I'm going to do to you." Her horn lit up and all she heard was a scream. Twilight blinked and opened her eyes. She was back to her normal self. The griffon king however was dead. His right talon was covered in blood and there was a hole in his chest. Impaled on his talon, was his own heart. Twilight had made him rip his own heart out. Even knowing what she had done, she didn't care. She looked at Fang and began to cry. He was dying. He was dying because he wanted to protect her. She walked over to him and saw that he had a smile on his face. He reached up and placed a hoof on her cheek.

"Don't cry Twilight... It's not your fault... I wanted to save you... I let my guard down... It was my mistake..." Fang was having a hard time breathing at this point. "At least now you can see that not even an alicorn is immortal... We all die eventually... We can die from blood-loss, injury, sickness, and poison... It's a shame that we can't spend... A little more time together..." He gave a small chuckle. "I just wish that I had met you earlier... You are, honestly, the only pony who has ever made me, truly, smile..." Fang gave her a small nuzzle, a quick peck on the lips, and closed his eyes, a content smile plastered on his face. He was fine with dying at the moment. Because he had made sure that he kept Twilight safe.

Twilight began to shake him. Her eyes were overflowing with tears at this point. "Fang... Please don't die... Don't die because of me... Don't die because I'm weak... I'll get stronger..." When she saw that Fang had yet to open his eyes she laid her head down on Fang's chest and began to cry even harder. "Please... Don't leave me... You promised that you wouldn't die... Please... You promised!" She picked her head up to see if it was just an act. Fang hadn't even moved a centimeter. Twilight began to cry like a hungry newborn foal as she pressed her face back into Fang's chest and before hugging the black alicorn's lifeless body. "I'll take care of Ana for you... You don't have to worry about her... I'll get stronger and keep her safe for you... I promise... I won't let you down... I hope you'll be watching over us from, wherever it is that ponies go when they die... I just wish there was something I cold do to save you..." The sound of crystal repeatedly hitting the stone ground beneath her caused her ears to perk up. She raised her head and looked to the side to see a vial of blood.

"Phoenix blood can bring even the ones about to die back and as strong as ever..." Twilight looked behind her and saw a bipedal, green, alligator wearing what looked like a buffalo chieftain's headdress. It also had some glasses on, it was wearing them on its forehead. On its waist was a belt that had pouches and loops that held what looked like crystal vials filled with liquids of different colors. "That should be just enough to save his life. He is not yet dead but I can see his chain, rusted and about to break. I usually wouldn't save a life, I try to refrain from either taking or giving such things, but... Your words have... Moved me." The alligator smiled. "Have him drink it and he will be as good as new." It's slited, navy blue, eyes had a joyous look in them.

Twilight did not even bother questioning him. If she wanted to save Fang she would have to trust him. She grabbed the bottle and uncorked it with her teeth. It smelled terrible, like it had aged for thousands of years. She slowly lifted Fang's head and opened his mouth. She placed the bottle to his lips and tilted it upwards. She watched as the blood slowly disappeared. She didn't let her magic falter until she was sure she had given him every single drop. She let the vial fall to the ground and shatter. She looked at his chest and gasped. Slowly his blood was flowing backwards, into his body, and his wounds were closing. After a few minutes all his wounds were sealed. Twilight kept looking at his face hoping to see his eyes open. "I-i-i-i-it didn't work..." She slowly hugged Fang and began to cry once again.

Fang's eyes shot open at the sound of Twilight crying. Twilight who had her eyes closed was surprised to feel his hooves wrapped around her. "Twilight... Did you heal me?"

Twilight blinked and pointed behind her. "No. He did." She heard a small laugh from the alligator.

"I have no idea what your talking about little princess pony. Why would I help you?" The alligator had a small grin on his face. He slowly turned his attention to Fang. "Hello old friend."

"Hello Frigidi." Fang smiled and looked at Twilight giving her a small nuzzle. "Thank you for saving me." He gave her a kiss on the lips which she eagerly returned. They just sat there for a while and let their tongues dance. When they broke their kiss they slowly pulled away for each other. There was a trail of saliva connecting their tongues. Then Twilight gave him a hug.

"Don't ever scare me like again! I thought I was going to lose you!" She leaned in and laid her chin on his shoulder. "I don't want to lose you..." Fang smiled and gave her a nuzzle.

"Don't worry Twilight. I will be more careful from now on." Fang wiped her tears away. "Now stop crying. There is no reason for tears to stain such a beautiful face." Twilight blushed a little bit at his words and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"If you two are done... I believe you have a victory to announce." Frigidi smiled at the two alicorns as they walked away.

Twilight and Fang stood on the wall of the castle gate. Twilight smiled as Ponies and griffons began to help each other up. Fang raised his voice. "The griffon king is dead and the kingdom is ours!!!" The cheering came from both griffons and ponies alike. Twilight slowly laid her head on Fang's shoulder and let out a sigh. It had been a long day. She gave a small yawn and Fang picked her up and his horn glowed as he sent a message to his kingdom. Three hours later four gargoyles and two chariots came by. The soldiers of all three of their armies had already began their walk back to Equestria, The Crystal Empire, and Transylmaneia. Fang went into one carriage and brought the peacefully sleeping Twilight with him. He sat her up and hugged her with his forelegs, after wrapping his wings around her, and the carriage took off. It as soon followed by the second which carried a smiling Frigidi. Their destination was Canterlot.

While his wounds had been healed. Neither Fang or Twilight had left the palace without injuries. Not of the body, but of the mind.

The healthy man does not torture others. Generally, it is the tortured who turn into torturers. ~ Carl Jung.

Comments

[Snowdrop_snowbird]

This is a good story

[Dark Star the Crazed]

4024596
I'm going to have another chapter up soon.

[BlackBloodProject]

Why does everything have to escalate so quickly!??!

[Bright Light46]

As always an interesting chapter, I like how you put a quote at the beginning and the end of each chapter, keep it up.