An Empress' Wish.

by overlord-flinx

(Memory of the Bell) The Dark Lands.

When you glance behind yourself, what do you see? A shadow. It's always there, isn't it? Even when the candle light is extinguished, it only joins with the rest of the darkness until you summon it back. But this does not only apply to you. Not at all. Everything has a shadow. The living and the dead. Even when the animate become inanimate, their shadow keeps moving. A shadow never dies. It never goes away. You can either live with your shadow, or live in fear of it.

Equestria chose to fear their shadow. Not the creatures that live in Equestria... But Equestria itself. It denies its shadow. Denies how it rives and breathes... How it lives like any shadow. The land itself fears the shadow it casts. The ones who live in Equestria call this shadow "a distant land"; something beyond a veil. Untouchable and under order not to be touched at the same time. Nothing enters into this "distant land", for no one wishes to enter a shadow. Would you enter a decaying city if you had the chance? A decay that would pick you apart just as much as it does the land? No. You're smart. No one would ever willingly endanger themselves for nothing.

That is what Equestria wishes for them all. Ignorance and bliss. How tragic it would be should you wander into the shadowed land. Wither away... Turn to nothing... Become like the shadows... But what are we without out shadows? Hunks of life blotting out the sun? Who's to say? But the land thinks itself able to distinguish an answer... So it grants us its result. A life away from the "distant land"; though how distant it is remains unanswered.

Does the vulture not encircle where it may better find food once a carcass has been picked clean? It does indeed... So too do the withered bodies of creatures hungry for life once the land stops providing sustenance. Which is what they did... They -the strong- were sent out from the shadows to procure life for us. Not fruits; they grew well from the vines. Not carrion; those of us who ate it found plenty off the passing. Not water; the rain that always fell gave us more then we needed. What we needed... What we hungered for... Was magic. The ichor of life.

From the shadows they departed... Yet when time came for their return, only the youngest returned. A traitor... Both of them. Unable to bring back life... Unable to ignore the allure of hope. Tirek stayed... Scorpin returned... One found safety facing the light... The other slinked back into the shadows... Traitors... The lot of them.

Our world dies. The shadows suffer. Because we are unfit for the world facing the light... Equestria damns us... Damns us to our kingdom of shadows. To "a distant land". To Tambelon...

But... I came... And they would not deny me. They all heard me when I commanded an army. When I marched on their Equestria and took what the shadows needed. Life... Existence... Equality.

So, I ask you... What do you see behind you? A shadow.

They never expect a shadow...

The bell I wear around my neck sounds with the thousands of lives at my command. They called me many names... But Necromancer was the most biting. The dead did not stir for me... I allowed the voiceless to be heard. And they were loud... Loud enough to blot out two empires.

---

From shadows he came. A distant land that only one of us knew of. One who was no longer standing with us by my own err. In that mistake, I condemned us all. If they had stood beside us, perhaps then...

The one who decimated us... Who took the empire away... His name was...

---

Raise ye now, o humble stock,

I need you now, swarm and flock.

To my voice you shall come to hear.

From my call, you shall appear.

Out from Tartarus, I dismiss your posts.

Enter hear, in these solid hosts!

Life and hope will fall with the skies...

Hear me now! The earth shall rise!

---

Grogar.

Comments

[More Dakka]

Chapter is short but welcome

[Pinklestia]

Ah Grogar, will he be a season five villain?

[stavaros-the-arcane]

Never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.

Grogar is one of my favorite G1 Villains, I eagerly await his coming in this story.

[Dr Judgement]

5975051 Only time will tell but if you were to ask me.. Yes I think he may be season 5 or maybe season 6.. There is still the small matter of what happen to Season 5's first villain though....

[Dr Judgement]

Ah then I'm not the only one who thinks G1 Gorgar may show up in G4 mode....

[Pinklestia]

5982820

She was the lamest season start villain ever, heck, unless she gets some mystical artifact for real, she is no treat. Also, save for Discord, when has a season start or season end villain ever returned?

[overlord-flinx]

5983057 Nightmare Moon is referenced and visually shown on multiple occasions as both a cautionary tale and a possible threat that could arise some day from with everyone.

Sombra was blown up so cannot come back. The Changelings were run out and one can assume countermeasures are up now.

Starlight Glimmer is still alive and is a real threat. She has the power of persuasion and is able to pick at people's insecurity. That's not a magical threat, but a very real one.

[Pinklestia]

5983210

Yes, but it would take years for her to do her "Sameness" town trick again. Hence if she returns, it would be actually using a magical device to force that "Sameness". Also, since only Fluttershy seemed to buy into her speech, it means she only has a 1/6 success rate. And then Fluttershy was horrified at not being able to talk to animals.

[Dr Judgement]

5983057 Exactly my point! We've yet to see returning villain or two other than Discord and there are some magical things that could cause trouble.. Remember the Alicorn amulet? Or how about Sombra's horn which can bee seen flying away after he gets blown up? Or how about those magic staffs that Twilight named or that time Rainbow Dash joined Daring Do A.K.A. Yearling to stop that bad guy from getting those strange magical rings?.. Seems to me there's lot of magical stuff laying around in Equestria for a bad pony to get their hooves on.. The right one or should I say the wrong one and even a lame villain could become a BIG problem...

[overlord-flinx]

5985405
5983251 Either way, you're over the reply limit. Take it somewhere else. You're taking up too much space here.

[Dr Judgement]

5985475 There's a reply limit? I know you asked me to go somewhere else but I think I can make an exception in this case since you said there's a limit...

[overlord-flinx]

5985802 I set a limit on people reply chaining. After two or three, it starts making a mess of the comment section. So, at that point, I ask the people to take it somewhere else. Nothing personal; I just don't want wasted space.

[BenRG]

Megan's enemies were all suitably epic in nature.

Once, Tirek ruled over Equestria with a blood-splattered hoof of iron, compared with which the insane rampage of his more recent advent was but a passing cloud over the sun. Once, The Smooze was not a simple crystalvore that truly only wanted friendship. Rather, it was a terrifying monstrosity that consumed body and soul of all who crossed its path and came close to turning all of Equestria into a wasteland occupied only by itself.

Then there was King Grogar.

[Brony Soprano]

Megan was pretty darn impressive, looks like.

[Lord_Kalbario]

Please continue this story, it has so much potential to be a great piece in depicting Equestria's history.
There are surprisingly little stories that involved Megan and how Equestria came about because of her. With the setting being the crystal empire, it really shows just how old the place really is. Hopefully Cadence uncovers more.

[Pinklestia]

7391468

Ditto, I love this story and the one with Megan being Cewestia and Woona "pet."

[overlord-flinx]

7391468 Someday soon... I promise...

[starship55]

This seems to be a different type of Megan character. Very intriguing. Her words are deep, from the heart.

[Walpurgisnacht]

Please continue this story, I want to here more.

[Ice Star]

Is there any hope for more or has this gone on hiatus?

[overlord-flinx]

8330761
I was actually thinking of this story-line today. So... Maybe sometime soon.

[Ice Star]

8330788
If that's to be true, then I look forward to reading more, and if it's not to be, I'm afraid that I have the audacity to wait patiently for updates.

[overlord-flinx]

8330810
I thank you for your patience. Interest comes and goes, and I have a packed schedule of work and obligations (the curse of growing into a productive member of society). But when I do get these stretches of time where I feel like writing, I use it as much as I can. I may actually have something for this story next week.

[Ice Star]

8331317
That'll be a treat! :)

[HB_DS2013]

6005571 You mean Grogar the Necromancer? The same Grogar who was Sombra's mentor?

[overlord-flinx]

8332406
Depends on your continuity.

[Tyrannosaurus_Tux]

Can't wait for more.