Awakening in a new world.
Artorias stood across from the undead warrior, looking for a breach in his defenses. When one was not found, he simply did what he was trained to do: attack relentlessly and wait for the perfect opportunity to show itself. However, this undead hero seemed to be much more powerful and dangerous than he previously expected, dodging and blocking everything that he threw at the undead. At various points during this epic battle, Artorias has attempted to gain more power from Manus, yet the undead still managed to stop him before he could gain the power.
The battle had been going on for several hours, before Artorias made his first slip up.
He stabbed forward with his great sword, meaning to impale the warrior on the tip, but he was quicker than Artorias had previously seen. Showing an amazing amount of dexterity, the undead side stepped the blade, jumped up, and stabbed Artorias through the heart with his blade, enticing an ear-rending screech from the Abyss Walker.
After years of tormenting the souls of other innocent beings, Knight Artorias, walker of the Abyss, has been released from the Abyss' grasp, free to die in peace.
'This was for the best,' Artorias thought, moments after he was stabbed, 'I destroyed homes,' He began fading into the darkness, 'killed innocent women and children.' As he faded off, two words could be heard by the undead warrior, who would later realise his fate as the chosen one: "Thank you..."
_____---==%^(!!~*~!!)^%==--_____
Darkness.
All that Artorias could see and hear was utter darkness. 'This is the afterlife?' he thought to himself, standing and looking around. 'Oh well. I guess this is what I deserve.'
THIS IS NOT THE AFTERLIFE, GREAT WARRIOR.
Artorias drew his sword, looking in all directions, "Who is there?"
A FRIEND.
"If you are friendly, then show your face!"
I CANNOT. BUT KNOW THIS, KNIGHT OF LORDRAN, IF I WANTED TO BRING YOU HARM, THEN I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH POWER TO DO SO.
Artorias lowered his sword, and sat on the unseen ground. "Well then, what is it that you need?"
FOR YOU TO ACCEPT.
"What am I accepting?"
A SECOND CHANCE AT YOUR LIFE.
Artorias was stunned, being inclined to believe this malevolent voice. "Do I deserve this chance?"
YOU SERVED THE KINGDOM OF LORDRAN FOR MUCH LONGER THAT MANUS HAD YOU IN HIS GRASP, AND DURING THAT TIME, YOU DID A GREAT MANY GOOD THINGS. THINGS THAT WENT WITHOUT PAY OR REWARD. I AM GIVING YOU THIS AS YOUR REWARD. DO YOU ACCEPT?
Artorias contemplated the voice's offer. To have a second chance would mean to not only have a physical body to call his own again, but a chance to not be consumed by the raw power of fear and hatred generated by the Abyss.
On the other hand, this would also mean that he would have another chance to be consumed by the Abyss, a chance that he does not want to take again. So, he replied to the voice with a question of his own: "If I were to be resurrected and given another chance at life, would I still be able to be consumed by the Abyss?"
THAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU MUST DISCOVER ON YOUR OWN, BRAVE KNIGHT.
Artorias thought it over for a few more minutes, mentally making lists of the pros and cons of resurrection, and finally made his decision. "Voice, I accept your offer. Bring me back to the world of the living."
VERY WELL. BE STILL, YOU MAY FEEL LARGE AMOUNTS OF PAIN AS YOUR PHYSICAL BODY REFORMS, AS THE PROCESS IS QUITE CHAOTIC.
A blinding light enveloped the knight, preparing him for rebirth into the world of the living. He thought of something he must ask, and shouted, "Will I see you again?"
OH, I THINK YOU WILL. I AM PUTTING YOU IN A LAND FAR DIFFERENT FROM LORDRAN OR OOLACILE, AND I AM KNOWN ALL ACROSS THE LAND. WHEN YOU WAKE UP, FIND THE ONE WITH THE MARK OF THE SUN AND ASK FOR THE LORD OF CHAOS. THAT IS HOW YOU WILL FIND ME.
After that was said and done, the light covered Artorias and sent him away. Away to a world full of surprises, hardships, and new challenges. But mostly, a world filled with one thing. A thing that Artorias had almost never encountered in his many travels through his world:
Friendship.
_____---==%^(!!~*~!!)^%==--_____
Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's star pupil, sat at her desk late into the night. Her more recent studies have required her to stay up well into the night, either gazing at stars or reading ancient tomes. She was midway through one of these studying sessions when a knock came to her door.
"It's a public Library, you don't really need to knock." Twilight said, giggling and walking towards the door.
Twilight opened the door to find her good friend Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing in place waiting for Twilight to answer. "Oh, hi Pinkie!" Twilight said, opening the door wider to let her in. "Would you like to come in?"
Pinkie Pie just now realized that Twilight had opened the door, and tackled her through the doorway. "TWILIGHT! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"
"Pinkie Pie, calm down!" Twilight said, levitating her friend off of her and getting up. "Now tell me, what's wrong?"
"It's horrible, and I knew you could help me best!"
Twilight huffed impatiently, "Well Pinkie? Spit it out? What happened? Is another evil king, or ancient god of chaos, or some kind of bug trying to take over Equestria again?"
Pinkie stopped bouncing mid-air, and said "No, I just ran out of sugar at the bakery, and wanted to know if you had some!"
"..." Twilight face-hoofed, realizing that she never even considered that Pinkie was overreacting again, 'It's like the cupcake incident all over again...'
"So..." Pinkie Pie asked, trotting closer to Twilight, "Got any sugar I can use?"
"Yes, Pinkie, I do," Twilight said, trotting towards the kitchen, "but next time, can't you at least make it seem less serious?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Twilight," Pinkie said with a straight face, "this is a VERY serious problem! I have a party to throw, and without those cupcakes made I can't throw the party and if I can'tthrowthepartythenwhowillbecauseI'mthepartyponyofponyvilleandnoponycanthrowapartylikemesoitwouldn'tmakesense-"
She was interrupted by Twilight, who stuck a hoof in her mouth to silence her. Rubbing her own head, she said to Pinkie, "I get the point; it's important to you to throw this party, and you need the sugar for baking. Just... don't make it seem like a much bigger problem next time, okay?"
Pinkie removed the purple hoof from her mouth, "Well, what could be a bigger problem than this?"
"I can name seventy six right now, and at least five hundred more in the next two minutes."
Before Pinkie Pie could argue further, another knock was heard from the front door, making Twilight groan in frustration before screaming at the door, "IT'S A PUBLIC LIBRARY, NOPONY IS REQUIRED TO KNOCK, YOU CAN JUST WALK IN!"
"Are you okay, Twilight?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head to the side, "You seem kind of stressed out."
Twilight tried to reply, but was interrupted by the sound of somepony clearing their throat to get her attention. She jumped up and ran to the stallion, "Sorry, I got distracted for a moment, welcome to the golden oaks libra-"
The royal guard stomped once on the floor, effectively silencing her. "Twilight Sparkle, I presume?"
"Yes sir, and to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Another pony walked through the doorway, "That would be me coming over here, Twilight."
Twilight gasped, "Princess Celestia!" She immediately bowed low to the ground, looking over and expecting her friend to be doing the same. Pinkie Pie, however, had simply bounded over to Celestia, jumping onto her back.
"And hello to you too, Pinkie."
"Hi Celestia! If I had known that you were coming, then I could have brought over some cake!"
Celestia didn't laugh, or even smile at that. 'In fact,' Twilight thought to herself, 'Celestia seems rather exhausted. Normally she'd have been smiling and standing up a bit straighter...' Celestia was not in the best of conditions, her coat and mane seemed to have lost their usual luster and brightness, her mane sagging slightly in the ethereal wind that blew through it. She had dark rings under her eyes, and looked like she hadn't been to sleep in a while. "Princess... what's happened?"
Celestia looked at her student, and she stood up straighter, regaining her regal poise, "Gather the elements and meet me back here as soon as possible, I'll brief you on the way to Canterlot."
With that strange, and rather short, explanation, she left, returning to the large passenger chariot that she came here in, presumably so she could bring the six ponies back with her.
"Well then..." Twilight said, dumbfounded, "That was rather... sudden."
"I'll get Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, can you get the other two?" Pinkie said, rushing out the door at mach speed, zooming off to retrieve the two pegasi.
Twilight teleported to get Rarity, and found Sweetie Belle in the living room, eating an ice cream bar. Twilight quickly said, "Hello Sweetie Belle," and ran upstairs to get Rarity. She got to Rarity's room and banged on the door, yelling into the room, "Rarity, grab your element, we're needed!"
She heard a squeak and a thud, presumably Rarity falling out of bed. Soon after, the door opened, revealing Rarity with her element, and a frazzled mane. "Really now, must you be so loud? Allow me to freshen up a bit before-" Whatever Rarity was about to say was cut off when Twilight teleported the both of them to Sweet Apple Acres, running up the path, yelling an apology to Rarity, and went on to find Applejack.
---(00@00)---
The great warrior awoke many hours later to find himself in a clearing, surrounded by lush trees. He tried to stand, but was drained of energy, so he simply lied down on the dirt and thought about his experiences; the fight with the chosen undead hero, that strange voice coming from the darkness, and the cryptic message the voice left him still confused Artorias.
'Find the one with the sun mark,' Artorias thought to himself, attempting to decipher the odd message left by the malevolent voice, 'and ask for the lord of chaos...' He couldn't figure out what it meant by "sun mark", and the only way to find out was to regain control of his exhausted body, which would either require adrenaline or magic. 'Unless some monster comes marching up or someone throws a fireball at me, I'm stuck here for a while.'
Just as he finished that thought, a tremendous roar came from his left, shaking the earth that he lay upon with its might. "That'll do," Artorias spoke to himself, the thought of once again vanquishing foes for good sending him into a frenzy, pumping adrenaline through his veins.
Wearily, he stood up, his legs shaking and stance wavering slightly. Artorias looked towards the source of the beastly roar, drawing his greatsword and facing the treeline, which he could now see two glowing red eyes peeking out of. "Well what are you waiting for, beast?" He said, taunting it, "COME GET SOME!"
The trees parted, to show Artorias the creature that had been attempting to intimidate him: a beast with a scorpion tail, bat wings, and the body of a lion. He stared face to face with a Manticore, with no fear in his heart, only excitement for finding a new creature to kill. "It's showtime."
He ran towards the beast, ignoring the pain in his legs from the sudden movement, and thrust his sword into the Manticore's arm, severely wounding it, but not slowing it down in the slightest. The Manticore swiped at Artorias, knocking him back a few feet and scratching his armor slightly. Artorias charged up his magic reserves and activated dark seekers, which quickly overtook the Manticore, its dead body falling to the ground in a mass of muscle and blood.
Artorias retrieved his sword, and walked out of the clearing and into the forest, wanting to find civilization as soon as possible. 'As long as I don't run out of Estus flasks or green herbs, I should be fine.' He thought to himself, as he trudged through the undergrowth of the dense forest.
On and on he went, deeper and deeper into the forest, slicing through vegetation and animals on his way. He had only 2 Estus flasks left, which worried him greatly. 'I need to find a merchant, or a bonfire, and soon.' While he was thinking, he distracted himself and tripped on a tree branch, tumbling down a hill at increasing velocity.
Faster and faster he rolled, constantly descending the seemingly endless hill, until finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he landed at the bottom, plunging into a lake at the forests edge. Artorias struggled to get to the surface, the fall having taken most of his stamina. Beginning to drown, he swiftly breached the surface of the water, gasping deeply through his helmet.
The knight swam to the edge of the lake, panting from exertion and the fall, when he finally took a good look at his surroundings.
To his back, on top of the large cliff he just fell down, lay a massive forest, the wide and healthy trees making it impossible to look inside. Each tree appeared to be vibrant in color, yet strangely malevolent as he continued studying them. He could see birds flying above the trees, looping around and landing on the branches. Below the trees, and at the bottom of the cliff face, was the lake he had fell into. Now that he had a chance to look at it properly, he could see that it was truly a beautiful sight to behold. It's surface gleamed like the sky, a light bluish tint the only indication of color. He could see the bottom of the lake, and all of the little fish inside of it.
To his left, more of the forest lay, though the trees are slightly more parted, so he could see inside. Figures moved about in the shadows, getting close to the edge of the forest before quickly retreating, either from fear of the Knight, or weakness to the light. There was a small stream of smoke pouring from the treeline, showing him that either there was something on fire, or something could breath fire, which was considerably worse.
To his right, he could see as far as his eyes would allow, the flat plain leading to a small town in the distance. "Perfect," He said to himself, getting up and checking if he dropped anything, "maybe I can finally get a bonfire, or perhaps a way to reverse the cursed dark sign... After all, new world, new rules. Right?"
He halted his idle conversation with himself when he heard some chatter coming from the forest to his left. He looked, and saw a previously missed path leading deep into the forest. It sounded like two females speaking to one another, and in his language even!
The two females continued their approach, so he decided to straighten himself up a bit, wiping grime off of his armor and cleaning the blood and tree sap from his blade. When he was done, he stood straight and looked at the pathway, waiting to introduce himself.
He wasn't prepared to see two winged horses.
Well, 'horses' is used loosely, because they were very small. Each of them only actually came to about his knee, the increased height a side effect of Manus' dark powers flowing through him. They appeared to be the source of the talking, which baffled Artorias even more. With his sanity being questioned, he looked the two horses over.
The one on the left was a bright yellow in color, and had gigantic blue eyes. Seriously, they looked as big as his fist! Her wings were tightly attached to her body, as if she was scared of them. Her mane and tail were both a vibrant pink, a much more cheerful color than he's ever seen. Her head was hanging low, and she looked to be a shy one. There was a marking on her flanks of three butterflies, which was, once again, very bizarre to Artorias.
The other one walked with a sense of arrogance and pride. Her coat was sky blue, and her eyes were a light magenta in color. Unlike her yellow friend to the side, she appeared to be flaunting her wings, as they were out and erect on her back. They seemed like delicate things, and didn't seem to be able to lift her off of the ground. Her mane was a wide spectrum of color, but, never having seen a rainbow before, Artorias was clueless what to call that strange combination of colors. The mark on her flanks was a cloud with a lightning bolt made of the same strange spectrum her hair was made of.
Neither of them saw him, so he quickly dove into the lake, seeing it as the only cover from the strange creatures. As soon as he breached the surface, he could hear one of them, presumably the blue one, yell "Hey! Who's there?"
He made no reply, and only sat at the bottom of the lake, quickly draining his oxygen supply. The blue horse flew over the lake and looked into it, seeing Artorias at the bottom. She motioned to the other horse, likely knowing that he would run out of oxygen. 'Curses,' he thought to himself, 'They found me. Oh well, they already know of my presence, no reason to keep killing myself.'
As both of the horses started to get worried looks on their faces from him being under the lake for so long, he slowly started stepping out, surprising the blue one and making the yellow one dart out of his field of vision. 'Figures, I knew she'd be the shy one.'
Artorias stepped fully out of the lake, and the yellow one approached him. "Oh my, y-you're big."
'That's it?' he decided to bide his time and let them speak to him, before he actually spoke.
Before the yellow one could say anything else, the blue pegasus - 'Finally remembered the lore about these creatures!' - got in his face and clearly stated, "Just what were you thinking, diving into the lake like that? You could've drowned, you dumb animal!"
'Note to self, blue pegasus is annoying and shouldn't be trusted.'
"R-rainbow Dash," the yellow one said, lightly tugging on the other one's tail, "I don't think that's such a good idea. Let me talk to it."
'Rainbow Dash' groaned and backed away, leaving room for the yellow one to walk up to me. "I'm sorry about her, she's not very good with animals. My name is Fluttershy." Her voice held a soothing quality, and made Artorias feel comforted and safe. Which is exactly why he became more cautious. "Are you lost out here?"
He nodded, preferring the simple way of talking that she has provided. 'Apparently she has experience dealing with creatures that can't talk.' He slowly knelt down to at least seem less large to Fluttershy. This apparently helped her become more comfortable with him, as she stepped closer. 'Good, let them get comfortable with me, so I can strike with more vengeance if they're hostile.'
"Well, if you're lost, then we can go back to my cottage, and get you a place to rest. Would you like that?" He nodded again.
"Are you sure about that Fluttershy?" Rainbow said, earning a look from both Artorias and Fluttershy, "I mean, have you ever seen or heard of anything like what this thing is? And what if it's, like, really intelligent? It could just be a trap!"
Artorias was stunned. This little pegasus just completely explained what he was doing just based on an assumption that he was evil! 'Well, no time like the present.' He took a breath, "Well, I wouldn't say that I have evil motives, but yes, I am indeed intelligent, lady Rainbow Dash."
Fluttershy made a squeaking noise and backed away quickly, while Rainbow flew up to him again. Apparently, his deep, gravely voice unnerved them both. "HA! For once I'm right about this! So, what are you, a spy? Who do you work for?"
Artorias shook his head, "I am not a spy, and I work for whoever needs help."
Rainbow dash snorted, "As if. A mysterious and smart creature comes from the everfree forest and doesn't have some kind of evil plan, THAT'S not an obvious lie at all! Now, spit out the truth, buddy, or else I'll just have to beat it out of you!"
Artorias simply stood there during Rainbow Dash's rant. After she was done, he started laughing. "Ha ha ha, even if I WAS evil anymore, you wouldn't stand a chance against me! I obviously have much more training and experience, coupled with your lack of a proper weapon or any armor, the battle would be over before it started!"
She was mad. Like, REALLY mad. Her ego had been challenged, and downright insulted, and she refused to sit idly by while he laughed at her threat! Rainbow Dash then did something very foolish: She bucked Artorias in the chest.
The laughing stopped immediately.
Artorias stood with an amulet in his hand, grinning maniacally behind his helmet. "I was waiting for that." Rainbow Dash looked confused. Confusion turned to surprise when Artorias brought his hands together over his head and light started to emit from the amulet. A shockwave of golden light shot out from the amulet, and a ring of light appeared around Rainbow Dash. She tried to move away, but found that she was extremely slow suddenly.
"W-w-w-what d-did you d-do to me?" She said slowly, becoming terrified of Artorias extremely quickly.
"That, Rainbow Dash, was Tranquil Walk of Peace." Artorias said, striding up to Rainbow. "It will wear off with time, but know that I don't take kindly to people, or in your case, pegasi, hitting me. Apologize," He drew his Greatsword, the very sword that had slain countless terrors from the deep, and that he owed everything he was today, "Or you shall face the legendary warrior of Lordran."
Rainbow Dash realized that she made a grave mistake in challenging this great warrior, but her pride would not let her back down. "And what if I refuse to apologize? What then?"
"If not?" Artorias said. "Nobody has ever refused to apologize, so I assume that I would just kill you."
A cold feeling fell into her stomach. "Kill me..." She mumbled, thinking over her options.
"I assure you that should you choose to apologize, Nobody would hold it against you, as I am indeed a feared warrior. There is honor in surrendering."
"... Fine." Rainbow Dash said, hanging her head, "I apologize for kicking you." She winced when his armored hand cupped her chin and made her look into his helmet. She could see icy blue eyes staring back at her. They seemed gentle, but also scary. They spoke of ages long past, and held the thousand yard stare that only a seasoned soldier could conjure, yet he held it even when attempting to comfort a friend.
"Apology accepted. Now," Artorias said, standing up, "Fluttershy, you said that you could provide me with lodgings?"
She squeaked again, a noise that he thought was adorable, and nodded. "I-if it's not too much trouble anyway..."
Artorias sighed, "If you don't have the proper setting for me, then I can just fashion a home in the forest, Miss Fluttershy." They both looked at him with their mouths hanging open, stuck in a state of shock. "What? Is it not normal to make a home in the forest?"
"No!" They said in unison, shocking Artorias. Fluttershy was the first to speak up, "The Everfree isn't natural, and it's filled with terrible creatures that want to hurt ponies! Manticores, Timberwolves, Cockatrices, even the occasional Hydra!"
Artorias laughed again, causing the two ponies to look at him with equally confused looks on their faces. "I've already slain quite a few Manticores timberwolves and cockatrices on my way to this here lake, and I've fought Hydras before! I can handle anything that this forest can throw at me, trust me on this." The ponies still looked apprehensive of letting him wander into the forest, "Look, if it makes you two feel any better, I'll stay at the forests edge."
"It does make us feel better." Fluttershy said, giving Artorias a small smile, "But let's go back to my cottage for now, I have some questions I'd like to ask."
"Lead the way, Lady Fluttershy."
And onward they went, towards Fluttershy's cottage, where he may recount his tales of Oolacile and Lordran to the Ponies. One thing was for sure known by the two ponies, and that was that they had found quite the strange creature in a lake.
---(00@00)---
Back at the library, Twilight Sparkle was not having a good time.
She had looked everywhere for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, but couldn't find either of them. "Argh! Of all the times that they could've disappeared, it had to be when Celestia needed us all!"
Celestia looked up from her seat next to Twilight and placed a hoof on the purple mare's shoulder. "Calm yourself Twilight, it may be urgent, but not urgent enough that your friends need to be here at this very moment. Give them a couple of hours, and check their houses again."
Twilight sighed, calmed down by her teacher's words, "I guess you're right Princess, maybe I was overreacting a bit."
"Well, that's nice and all," Rarity said from across the room as she approached the pair, "but might we be able to get filled in on what exactly you called us here for? I mean, no offense to you Princess, but this is quite an hour to suddenly call us for nothing!"
"You're right, Rarity," Celestia said, straightening herself. "I have been neglecting to tell you four, haven't I?" They all nodded, and leaned in to hear what the Princess had called them for. "The six of you sealed Discord away exactly a year ago, and since then, you've been dealing with small threats around Equestria, not including the Changeling invasion last month. You are considered heroes throughout the kingdom, and have saved it countless times." They all seemed rather put off by Celestia's recounting of their adventures, but nonetheless, she continued, "You six friends have faced all of Equestria's greatest threats with relative ease, and have always come out on top.
"But, I'm here to tell you of a new threat that has entered my kingdom, and I need you to eradicate it."
The four ponies in the room relaxed a bit, "That's it?" Pinkie Pie said, giggling, "Another baddie we gotta blast with friendship rainbows? Princess, you could've just said that, I would've started preparing the celebration for when we got back!"
"No Pinkie," Celestia said, sounding somber and sad, "This new foe will be more powerful than anything you have ever faced before. Discord was not able to defeat him when they fought, and neither would me and my sisters be able to. The Elements of Harmony may not be enough this time." Each pony had a look of confusion and fear playing across their faces, worried about what could make Celestia worry this much. "You and the rest of your friends will be outfitted with armor and weapons suitable to your talents, and will have an entire army to back you up, as well as me and my sister. Shining Armor and Cadance will be there as well for support.
"My little ponies, the abyss has opened into our world, and in doing so, has declared war on Equestria."
They all gasped, until Twilight decided to speak up. "Uh, your highness, what's so bad about this 'Abyss' place that it needs all of this attention? And shouldn't we try a diplomatic solution first?"
Celestia shook her head, "Diplomacy is not possible at the moment. The Abyss is a place of malice and hate. It's not accessible by most ponies, and thus we can't try to be diplomatic. No, only force will work here. The first time we made the mistake of trying diplomatic resolutions, the castle was set ablaze, and all of my ponies were killed or worse."
Twilight looked to her friends, who all nodded to her, and she looked back to Celestia. "Princess, as protectors of peace in Equestria, we would all be honored to go to battle with you."
"Will my armor at least be stylish?"
"Woohoo! Can I throw a party for the soldiers we have to help?"
"Well shoot, Ah can't turn down a Princess even if ah wanted to."
Celestia frowned at them all, "That's it? No hesitation? You aren't worried that you could be killed in battle?"
Twilight looked to Celestia, "With all due respect princess, why would we be? With the entire equestrian military on our side, along with you two, we should win this in no time!"
Celestia sighed and pinched her nose, "You clearly don't understand the gravity of this situation, Twilight."
"Care to enlighten me, then?"
"*Sigh* Very well." Celestia got up and strode across the room, preparing a spell. "Long ago, when me and Luna still ruled in the Everfree, a portal to the Abyss opened merely fifty miles from the castle." As she spoke, a screen protruded from her horn, revealing what looked to be her and Luna in the throne room. They were watching Celestia's memories. "We sent a scout into the portal to find out if anything was hostile. He never returned." The picture changed to a black slit in the air with a white outline, and a pony walked through it. After walking through, they could hear him scream in agony, and all was silent.
The picture changed again. "That was when the invasion started." Flaming buildings covered the screen, and strange bipedal beasts ran after ponies. Some ponies got consumed by them, others were simply ripped to shreds. "The minions of the Abyss were ruthless, and they were never easily stopped." The picture went to one of the Abyss creatures that had six swords, a halberd, and several arrows piercing him, yet he still ran around and killed everything he could see.
"Eventually, after many ruthless days and nights of slaughter, we managed to push the remaining forces back to the portal." The picture changed to hundreds of ponies, including the princesses, surrounding the portal, along with about a dozen of the creatures, which were still trying to kill everything they saw. A dragon came into view, and started to below great swathes of fire onto the Abyss creatures. "By that time, we had sent couriers to Draconis and Gryphonia, and their reinforcements arrived just in time to save us. We were all so happy to see the Dragons and Gryphons, that we let our guards down after all of the creatures were dead.
"And that was a huge mistake." The ground rumbled in the picture, and a great behemoth stepped out of the portal. It towered over even the largest of Dragons present, its great size enticing fear into the hearts of even those watching the memory play out. It held a staff that seemed to be simply made of wood. "Manus, lord of the Abyss, came to fight us. And fight he did." Bolts of dark energy shot from his staff in every direction, killing ponies, Gryphons, and Dragons, each falling just as easily as the next. Manus strode through the battlefield, their magic and weapons powerless to stop him. He swatted them away like flies, not caring about the devastation that he caused.
"But then, me and Luna got the Elements and went to face him." The screen switched to Manus facing Celestia and Luna, the Elements of Harmony swirling around them in a vortex. "YOU WILL HARM OUR SUBJECTS NO LONGER, MANUS! FACE THE WRATH OF THE ELEMENTS!" Luna screamed on screen, before Celestia and Luna blasted him with a harmony ray. The blast kicked up a lot of dust, so it was impossible to tell if it did anything. They thought that they had won, until two balls of dark magic shot out of the dust cloud and hit them, making them fall out of the sky.
Manus emerged from the dust with a hole in his chest. The hole was large, and looked painful, but he pressed on. When the hole started to slowly heal itself, the two sisters knew that they had been beaten. "Only by sheer luck, and a little bit of help from the family, were we able to finally defeat him." Manus was about to step on the two Alicorns, when something as large as him and flying crashed into his side, and knocked him away. The two sisters looked over to find Manus in a melee fight with a giant Alicorn. The Alicorn's wings looked to be made of the sky itself, and had a starry coat. It's mane looked to be made of liquefied stars. He looked back at the two sisters, winked, and said "I thought my daughters could use some help, so me and your mother showed up."
Celestia and Luna watched as their father fought with Manus, and leaped away to allow another giant Alicorn, this one brilliantly bright and flaming all over, to fall on top of Manus and make him collapse. The Alicorn looked to the two sisters and asked them, "How are my little gi-" Manus tripped her and threw her into the distance, earning another hoof to the face from the male Alicorn.
Growing tired with the fight, the giant male Alicorn charged up his horn, and screamed, "FACE THE WRATH OF THE NIGHT SKY, BEING OF DARKNESS!" A giant beam of pure moonlight struck Manus, which he, amazingly, blocked. The other large Alicorn returned and did the same with a similar cry, "WE ARE THE ETERNAL GODS OF LIGHT AND DARK! YOU SHALL NOT DEFEAT US SO EASILY!" A beam of sunlight poured from her horn into Manus' back, which he also blocked.
With a flick of his arms, Manus canceled out both beams and knocked both Alicorns back. Then, after all of that, he chuckled. "Foolish gods of good. I am amazed that you are so dull to not realize who I am." They tried to launch an attack, but they were both trapped in a cage of darkness as soon as they tried to move. Their attacks did absolutely nothing to the bars, and all seemed to be lost. "I AM MANUS! DARK RULER OF THE ABYSS, AND ANCIENT GOD OF DESTRUCTION!" His voice could be heard across the planet, so all of the worlds creatures could hear his dark voice, "I HAVE BEEN REAWAKENED, AND NOW I SEEK MY REVENGE! NONE SHALL BE LEFT STANDING IN MY WAKE, AND I SHALL START WITH YOUR TWO GODS OF LIGHT AND DARK!"
His dark cages constricted them, and he sliced them into bits, their golden blood seeping into the soil below them. Cries of sorrow could be heard from the two princesses as he killed their parents in front of them. Manus laughed and addressed the world again. "YOUR GODS LAY DEAD AT MY FEET, AND THE PRINCESSES OF EQUESTRIA WEEP LIKE CHILDREN! I ASK YOU ALL NOW: IS THERE ANY WHO WOULD STILL DEFY ME? ARE THERE ANY OF YOU WHO COULD STAND A CHANCE AGAINST ME?" When he said that, a great rumbling was felt within the earth, shaking him and making him lose his balance. The earth cracked in front of him, and started to split open.
The memory went dark, and Celestia ended the spell. "After that, I fainted. I never knew what the ending looked like, but I will carry the memories of what he did for the rest of eternity." Tears flowed freely over her face. Remembering these horrible memories was not something anypony should endure, and the four elements present in the room knew it. Each of them were crying for Celestia and Luna, Twilight more than the others. They all were a mess, and couldn't believe the atrocities that Manus did to the world.
"But, how did he finally get killed, Celestia?" Twilight asked between sobs. "Did you ever find out?"
"Yes," Celestia said, "But those memories lie with Luna, for she didn't faint like I did. I doubt that she will ever want to tell anypony after she told me, it was too painful and horrid."
After that explanation, everypony present took a moment to collect themselves. Each pony took a turn in the bathroom to wipe off their face and look presentable, Celestia and Rarity taking longer than the others. When they all finally got themselves pulled together, Celestia looked much better than she had when she originally told Twilight to get the girls. "I thank all of you for letting me tell this memory. Keeping it inside was painful, and it was good to have somepony to tell about it."
Twilight and co. smiled and hugged the Princess. Twilight then gasped, "WAIT! If the portal opened again, doesn't that mean we should close it now while we still can?"
The princess looked at Twilight, and sincerely said, "Nope." After Twilight started to go insane from the mundane answer, Celestia explained a bit further, "The portal was found at 2:00 this morning. It took at least a week before it started sending soldiers in to Equestria. We have plenty of time to prepare, but also not enough time to find a way to close it effectively. So, we can wait to gather the elements, but we can't wait too long, or-"
*knock knock knock*
Twilight snapped after hearing too many ponies knock on a public library door. "I am so sick and tiRED OF PONIES KNOCKING ON THE PUBLIC LIBRARY DOOR! YOU CAN JUST COME IN, THERE'S NO NEED TO KNOCK! EVER!" She was breathing heavily, clearly stressed out a lot over what Celestia just told them.
"O-oh, I see..." A quiet voice answered from behind the door, "I-i'll just come back later then."
Twilight rushed to open the door, and saw Fluttershy turning to leave. "Fluttershy! Good, you're here. Do you know where Rainbow Dash is?"
Fluttershy smiled at Twilight, "She's at my cottage helping with my new guest. Actually, I was hoping you could come look at him, I think he's a new species."
Twilight's face lit up immediately, the thought of discovering a brand new creature appealed to her greatly, and she needed to take her mind off of the Abyss. "Sure, let me just get a few things and we can go. Come on in and take a seat, it'll just be a couple of minutes!"
"Thank you, Twilight." Fluttershy walked in to see Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity surrounding Princess Celestia, all of which were in some form of physical contact with the Alicorn in the room. Pinkie was hugging, Rarity was leaning, and Applejack somehow got on Celestia's back. "O-oh, m-my..."
Celestia smiled, "Hello Fluttershy, care to join us?" She wiggled her eyebrows to add extra effect to the prank. All three of the ponies attached to her stared at her and Fluttershy.
Twilight walked out the door with her saddlebags, and Fluttershy said, "Sorry, but I've been in enough group 'sessions' this week. Bye girls!" She left on that, leaving behind a VERY stunned group of ponies.
"Did... did she really say that?" Celestia was laughing, and fell onto her back in laughter. "I never expected a response like THAT from her of all ponies! Priceless!"
Fluttershy closed the door behind her, giggling and catching up to Twilight. "What are you laughing about, Fluttershy?"
"Oh nothing," She said, smirking, "Just something Celestia said while you were getting your bags. It wasn't important."
The walk to Fluttershy's cottage was uneventful. Nopony bothered them, because they knew that Twilight with bulging saddlebags was usually either something very good that needed to be documented, or something really bad and they needed to panic. But, luckily, nopony panicked. They knew that Fluttershy and Twilight could handle just about anything.
Twilight turned to Fluttershy while they were walking, and started the questions, "So, what can you tell me about the new creature?"
"Well," Fluttershy started, "It's name is Artorias, and it can speak Equish. It can also cast magic with a weird object that he carries on his belt."
"So wait, we can understand him?" Twilight was grinning maniacally, excited to meet some strange new creature that can speak. "What kind of magic have you seen it cast? Simple levitation? Can it use advanced magic, like teleporting?"
"Well, umm," Fluttershy started, but before she finished, she looked up to see that they were at the cottage. "I'll let him answer that for you."
Twilight and Fluttershy approached the door to the cottage, when they heard a commotion going on inside. They could only make out a few words, but what they made out sounded bad. "Stop... never... off... kill... flying horse... annoying..." Fluttershy walked in with Twilight, both ready to break up a fight, but it wasn't necessary.
There was no major problem. Rainbow Dash wanted Artorias to take his helmet off, and he said no. So she tried to do it for him.
They both stopped immediately when Fluttershy and Twilight walked in. Artorias sat down, because his full height would hit his head on the roof, and Rainbow Dash stood to the side trying to look innocent. Twilight didn't care, though. She trotted up to Artorias immediately, and said "Greetings, sir Artorias, I am Twilight Sparkle. I'd like to ask you a few questions involving your sudden appearance in Equestria, and of your intentions thereof. Would that be okay?"
Artorias smiled, glad to meet another scholar. Back in Lordran, he loved to read, and he was very well versed in all subjects. "Miss Twilight Sparkle, it would be my genuine pleasure to alleviate your worries about me. Ask away."
She beamed and started her barrage of questions with a simple one: "What is your species called, Artorias?"
Artorias thought long and hard for an answer to this question. "Do you want to know what I was originally, what I was prior to coming here, or what I am now?"
Twilight was not expecting that answer. Thinking quickly, she said, "I need to know all three, please."
Artorias sighed, "I can tell one story, and one story only. Having the rest will only confuse you, and likely make you fear me. I apologize, lady Sparkle, but you must decide between one."
"Well," Twilight started, squinting slightly as she considered the questions she could ask, "I guess I'd like to know what you were prior to arriving in Equestria. Were you not a knight then?"
Artorias sighed, hoping that she would've asked him about anything but that one. "I was, but... but I was not the same knight."
Twilight sat still, a smile plastered on her face, eager to learn of this strange creatures world, and what he was. Artorias envied her naivety. She had everything here - Good friends, plenty of clean air and water, no hollows, death not constantly around the corner - while Artorias killed everything he ever loved in the name of Manus.
"I was a warrior then, too," Artorias started, "However, not the kind one that your friends found in the forest. No, I was being controlled." Artorias showed her a relic that Manus gave him a long time ago - Manus' catalyst and staff - which, unbeknownst to him, Twilight recognized immediately as the same staff that Manus used all those years ago against Equestria. "I was under the influence of the Abyss. Namely, its master, Manus.
"I was known then as Artorias the Abyss Walker."
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Finally, finally! After years of searching I have finally found a Dark Souls Cross over, fucking brilliant!
I can now finally post this! Come Solaire Join me on this glorious adventure, come touch my summoning sign!
fybertech.com/4get/13196712103188.png
3738200 So, I'd like to assume that you enjoyed it.
3738851 Thanks, I put a lot of work into the pilot chapter!
I LIKE THIS STORY YAH MADE LUNARSTALLION! now i just eagerly await the next chapter!
3739785 WHY THANK YOU LUNASON IT MEANS A LOT! And don't worry, I'll be focusing on this for a while before returning to my other stories, and I SHOULD have another chapter out sooner than usual with my stories. Then again, USUAL time between chapters can be anywhere between a week, to a full year. Hopefully, it's the week one
3739800 of course....NOW THE SPEAKING IS REVERSED! HaHaAHAHhahAAhahahahahahAHaHaHhahAhAhA
For Lore matters:
Artorias' speech sounds too...modern,I mean it was probably hundreds if not thousands of years before the Chosen Undead came to Lordran and even then,no one talked like that.
I thought he more of an animal rather than warrior in the fight,so it's more that the abyssal corruption is irreversible and made him howling insane/feral rather than being evil.
Wasn't he part of the Giant race of Humanoids(Anor Londo and all that) and not an undead,so the Estus doesn't work because it's actually filled with Bonfires and only undead can heal themselves with those?
Also wasn't he around Oolacile most of the time?Since it's there that we find him and Gough(who was staying enough time to carve trees to art), in the Colosseum...s,and most of the people in Oolacile are being/were either converted or dead,with the Abyss Spreading without his help
Also,Manus is...too malevolent for my tastes,in DS,he was more like a beast,wasn't aggressive until the Oolacile ravaged his grave,inciting his wrath(since most think he's either the Furtive Pygmy or Human after wandering to the Abyss too long,his humanity went wild and here's what we see) and not so "BWAHAHAHA,I'M EVIL",though he had enough of a mind to seek the pendant,for unknown reasons(nostalgia/fondness maybe?).
Hell,the abyss so feared because we and they don't know what it is,is it the Below before the fall of the Dragons,only with the first flame missing,thus the darkness/abyss of below spreading all over the world?
Is it the darkness that the Dark Lord controls?
The unknown?
Mass unfocused humanity?
Or is it something new/older all together?
As for personal preferences:
Weren't Luna and Celestia only movers(of the rather small) Celestial Bodies and not "Light and Darkness" or "Totally Goddesses of good in the MLP world.",and being Very powerful ponies with "God jobs" instead of Gods beyond the comprehension of Mortals?
And why no mention of the Broken arm,Sif or the other three of Gwyn's Four knights?(especially with the implied romance with him and Ciaran?)
Also wouldn't Artorias have problems,you know,with mentioning his fall,his loss of sanity,his failing of everyone he knew?
Also,instead of spells,shouldn't he just practice decent faith required Miracles?
3740411 Okay, let's address these one at a time:
Speech - I can't write older forms of speech very easily, and that heavily influenced how he spoke, for obvious reasons.
The Fight - That was mostly my personal feelings about the fight, so they were the main influence for it.
The Flask - Well, we already know that turning human still allows you to use the flask, and we don't know for sure that the giants of Anor Londo could use it or not, so, meh. Plus, this is an easy fix, since I wasn't planning for him to use it anymore.
Location - Well, yes, he was around Oolacile a lot. But I filled in the blanks with what I knew and didn't know, so, yay.
Manus - You and I see him differently, then. I see him as the monster that I portrayed in the story: excruciatingly powerful, kind of arrogant, and a very short temper.
I don't understand what the next stream of questions means so we'll skip those for now.
Celestia and Luna - Yes, that is how most people see them, but I wanted them to be the goddesses of good for the world, so I said "Fuck it, why not make them into goddesses? Then I can have them and their parents try to wreck Manus' shit."
Mentions - Sif will be mentioned later, I'll have to find out what the broken arm is later, and I don't know what you mean by Gwyn's knights.
His past - I never said he didn't have trouble saying those things to Twilight. He may just leave most of it out. But, if I do make him say it, then he WILL have trouble, and may start shedding tears.
Spells - I thought it would make him stronger. I'm all about overpowering things in my stories, and you'll see a lot of that when the war starts with the Abyss and Manus.
Artorias was not Human and never undead none of the four knights where. They where basically demigods to the settings real gods like Gwyn and Nito.
Also his speech patters should be even more outdated then Lunas after her return and he isn't one to boast or hide, he is described as an holy warrior with an unbendable will of steel and he fought Dragons, the Darkwraiths, the four kings and traversed the abyss twice once to face the Darkwraiths in their own home which earned him the title Abysswalker and the second time in Ooloacile which didn't go so well because he was defeated by Manus who took control over him after he sacrificed himself and his shield to protect sif.
When writing him keep in mind that he was a member of the elite of the army that vanquished the dragons and changed the order of the world, at base he should be serious and very confident in his abilities which are primarily his complete mastery of the greatsword and secondary at most miracles, dark sorceries would be ok too because of his pact with the abyss.
He wouldn't see the need to hide or show off in front of them and neither should he be so open and willing to tell them everything about everything. And please by the gods don't have him explain the stuff he does to them after he uses it, if you do it for the reader maybe put a link to it in a footnote or explain it in the Authors note.
And Manus is more a force of nature then something that is actively evil or has malevolent plans, he awoke after the people from Oolacie desecrated his grave on suggestion of possibly Kaathe or Frampt and stole his pendant, then he went on to spread the abyss in search of the missing pieces.
Also the revelation that the abyss is here was way to rushed and then Celestia begins showing memories of devastation and carnage to her little ponies out of nowhere, she could have instead told them about how the abyss invaded without seeming reason and terribly twisting and turning their own people against them and they had now power to stop it, only delay it and temporarily seal the source with the help of the elements.
The whole part about how they fought against Manus and the sudden arrival of their parents showing up and fighting him was kind of bad.
The abyss isn't a force that attacks and overwhelms enemies, it slowly spreads and twists everything while you stand there unable to stop it.
Dear gods i'm thinking this over way to much and i don't want to produce an even bigger wall of text so i just stop here and if you think something of what i'm trying to tell here has any value to you i can maybe expand on it
3740778 Actually, this is VERY helpful to me. Would you mind PMing me the rest of it?
Also, his speech, Manus, and the flask were addressed already in a previous comment. A couple more things were too, see if they help narrow things down at all.
3740700
In the boss fight,he had a broken arm(his shield arm).
The arm was broken because Manus could hit so hard that the shield cracked,with Artorias' hand broken in the process.
Or maybe it was after leaving the shield to Sif ,not sure:P.
Artorias was one of Gwyn's Four knights(Gough,Ciaran and Ornestein are the rest),some parts of Fanon portray them as close acquaintances if not out-right friends...just sayin,it was pretty much the closest group in Canon where he could have some form of a relationship,friendship or otherwise.
We know the Abyss isn't just darkness, "evil" or hell because it has the purest beings of "humanity",humanity phantoms(or pieces of the Dark Soul,your choice) and the Oolacile Dark Sorceries use Humanity in some way or another,not the Abyss itself.
The abyss,as the game shows, was closer to the Void rather than hell,it was literary NOTHING,or it could be mass uncontrolled,uncompressed "humanity",would explain it's more damaging properties.
We really don't know what it is
Also what's with all the "speaking to God/angel" in all those redemption stories?
Couldn't they just dump him somewhere with a conscious/subconscious message?
The whole "Sure,why not" with the power levels is a bit annoying,to be honest.
And as a quick heads up: avoid exposition abou as much as you can(except Prologues),the last thing the audience wants is to be reminded of stuff it already should know,especially if it just sounds like exposition from a character that has no reason to say it.
3743314 I'll be sure to keep that in mind through the rest of the story. Thanks for the help!
Brilliant, wish I had written it. Best of luck with the rest of the story!
3745314 Thanks!
Also, concerning Artorias' speech patterns, if you go back to all the unused dialog from the game he speaks very similar to how Luna does in Luna Eclipsed.
Easiest base of reference would be videos like these:
3745345 Need moar! STAT! hold on we are going to lose him if he doesn't get something to read! He needs it within a few seconds or HE> WILL> DIE! nothing!? I see R.I.P onyx.
Oh you and your insatiable lust for overpowering everything.
well this will be good
... What? Ok Manus and the Abyss was all wrong! The reason the denizens if Oolacile attacked us as the player was because we were, like always, just barging into peoples homes and lives and killing all we saw. They just didn't want to be disturbed. And the natural denizens of the Abyss are the living Humanities that don't actively try to hurt you they only want to touch you... Unfortunately it hurts you. Manus is not malevolent. He simply doesn't have the drive for it anymore. He's just a being with only one desire on the whole world, his amulet... Unless the equestrians have his amulet he'd ignore them like humans do ants. Basically the Abyss is passive unless provoked or you have something it's father wants. Other than that I find your story enjoyable ^.^ ... Oh and I think Manus can't talk... I'm not too sure though
Oh my GOD! You can not write a story with characters from settings like Dark Souls without understanding the lore! We are never given the full story, so some personal interpretation is fine, but simply by looking at videos from people like Vaatividya on youtube will give you most of the necessary lore to write a story correctly, or better yet, read the information each and every item in the game has to find the right pieces of the puzzle.
Here are some examples:
Several people already mentioned this, but Artorias was not human, he was more, however this can be argued since Elizabeth refers to him as a "murmur of Dark", and Humanity is the Dark Soul, only split up into small pieces. Personally I compare him more to the Silver Knights of Anor Londo, but much more powerful and a much stronger will, but that's just IMO. There is also cut content where he speaks to the player before engaging in battle, where it is suggested he isn't human.
Second, he was one of four knights, "The Four Knights of Gwyn", the others being Gough, Ornstein and Ciaran. Each had their own titles and specialities, as well as a ring to boost their already potent abilities. It is only speculated about their relationships towards each other, whether they were good friends or merely allies in the same "army". Point is, from what we know, he was a mighty warrior with a will of steel, and being a Knight he probably had a "code of honor", which might have included where his loyalties lie: First to Gwyn, second to the people.
As a person he would probably be less likely to outright threaten to kill people from one action or comment. He was an honorable knight, true, but he was also a "man of the people" so to say. Unfortunately, we know little about Artorias as a character, only his deeds, and from them we speculate what he was like.
And then there is Manus, Father of the Abyss, the Primordial Man. Beyond wanting his pendant back, we don't even know if he has any sentience left in his mind. He has no dialogue, and beyond the fact that the people of Oolacile messed with his "grave", we are not told what the Abyss really is. Is it just Humanity gone wild? Is it "Evil Incarnate"? Was Manus once the Furtive Pygmy? And besides, while many characters feared the Abyss, was it really "spreading"? Sometimes we can even speculate that the Dark isn't evil or bad, maybe there isn't a good and evil, just imbalance and balance?
So much lore we are never told, but the story that people like Vaatividya tells seems accurate to me. Look him up on Youtube, maybe you can seriously improve upon your own "head canon".
In the end, we just don't know, because Fromsoft saw fit to not give us all the information, which is a part of what makes Dark Souls a great game. I suppose personal opinions will always be different when "canon" lore from games are incomplete.
Maybe you've already been told all of this and that's why you are going to rewrite it. Anyway, don't take this as an attack, though I can see it can be seen as just that, I just want to help a fellow writer and (hopefully) Dark Souls fan to create a GOOD story.