The Dead Stallion's Hand

by Lord Zalgo

Prologue- The Council

"Tia, Are you sure that this is the best course of action?" Luna asked her big sister as they walked towards the Chamber of the Council.

"I am, Luna. It's high past time that the council's dissolution was brought to an end." Celestia replied. Celestia opened the giant doors to the chamber and took a seat in front of the giant pentagram engraved on the floor. Luna sat next to her and they both began to focus their magic onto the pentagram. The symbols on the pentagram began to glow bright violet before all of the pentagram followed suit. The light grew almost blinding as it filled the entire room. Moments later, translucent avatars of the princesses appeared in a bleak environment, surrounded by stone and small amounts of black fire in random places, mainly used in torches.

"Tartarus. It isn't as hellish as I would have imagined." Luna commented. Celestia nodded and was about to reply before an alicorn appeared before their avatars. He was slightly taller than Celestia, had black fur, a red mane and tail that flowed in random directions; giving the illusion that they were tentacles, a cutie mark of two overlapping ovals with a circle inside both of them and most noticibley: a face like a devil. Jagged teeth and red slitted eyes that seemed to glow with evil.

"Zalgo..." Celestia said under her breath. Zalgo said silent for a moment before giving a friendly smile and walked towards the princesses.

"Celestia! Luna! It's such a joy to see you two again! How long has it been? Nearly one thousand years?" Zalgo asked in a very low pitched voice.

"Indeed, Zalgo. Sorry it's been so long, but we have decided to try to reform the Council." Celestia said. Zalgo looked a little surprised before smiling again.

"I'm sure my chamber is still operational. I would be willing to rejoin. When we are allied, the Underrealm does nothing, but thrive." Zalgo said cheerfully.

"Could you please use your chamber to come with us to Elysium?" Luna asked, happy that Zalgo had accepted.

"I'm a little surprised you didn't ask her first, to be honest. You two go there, I'll catch up with you." Zalgo said with a smile. The princesses smiled back and bowed before disappearing. Celestia and Luna awoke back in their chamber and shared a smile.

"I was hoping that he would be happy to see us. It made him rejoining the Council much easier." Celestia said with a slight amount of relief. Luna simply smirked.

"You were just hoping he'd be happy to see you, Tia. Admit it." Luna said teasingly. Celestia blushed slightly before replying.

"Shut up, Luna. Let's just talk to Faust." Celestia said quickly as she focused her magic once more, causing Luna to follow suit, her smirk never leaving her face. The blinding light returned before subsiding, leaving the princesses in a bright, clean environment with a small amount of somewhat etherial mist floating around. They didn't have a long time to look around before Zalgo's avatar appeared before them. He looked around in disorientation for a moment before spotting the princesses and smiling once more. Not a moment after, Faust appeared before them in all her glory. She was a tall alicorn with a crystal white coat and a bright red mane and tail with bright blue eyes. Her cutie mark was a large quill in an inkpot. She walked forward with a large smile as she watched the three of them.

"It's been the longest time since I've seen the three of you together like this! I think I might start crying!" Faust said with tears beading up in her eyes.

"Hello, Faust. The Overrealm has been in good condition, I presume?" Zalgo asked with a smile.

"As well as it can be. What about the Underrealm?" Faust asked quickly. Zalgo and the princesses looked a bit confused before asking what the three of them were thinking.

"'As well as it can be'?" The three of asked at the same time. Faust sighed, but before she could reply, some kind of alarm began to sound.

"Well, he let everyone sleep this time." Faust said under her breath.

"What's going on?" Luna asked.

"Well, for six months now, a particular pony has been rebelling, fighting the guards and causing chaos as he tries to escape. Anypony that comes to Elysium is always comfortable, because they can have anything they want. But, not him. He just tries every day to get out. He just fights and fights." Faust said tiredly.

"Every day?" Zalgo asked incredulously.

"Every single day of the last six months. And what's worse; he's been training himself as he fights. He's developed his own way of fighting and has only gotten stronger over the weeks and months." Faust continued.

"How could he train every day without simply collapsing from exhaustion?" Celestia asked.

"It's the magic of Elysium. Everypony always feels vitalised and energised here. That's why he never stops until he's subdued. Which has been getting harder and harder." Faust replied.

"You mentioned that he wanted to get out of Elysium?" Zalgo asked.

"Yes. He said that he didn't want to die and nothing could make him happy again until he would return to the realm of mortals. Unless you two would take him back to the Middlerealm or you would lock him away in Tartarus, I have no idea of what to do." Faust said sulkily, meeting her limit. Celestia, Luna and Zalgo exchanged looks before looking back at Faust.

"Can we see this stallion?" Celestia asked. Faust looked at her in silent gratitude before leading them towards a beautiful courtyard filled with every type of flower one could imagine and a few that one couldn't.

And a few dozen of unconscious angel guards.

The four alicorns watched as a single stallion was outmanoeuvring the guards, dodging their attacks and countering others, causing them to fall unconscious. After a few minutes of watching, all of the guards had fallen before the stallion. Faust turned to Celestia and Luna desperately.

"Well? Will you take him?" Faust asked. Celestia and Luna didn't respond immediately. They simply stared at the stallion who was ensuring that all of the guards were unconscious.

"We know him." Celestia said.

"The beard is new, though." Luna added. The stallion had a light grey coat, his muscles were not large like more athletic stallions, but they were noticeable still. He had a long, unkempt, black mane and tail with a bushy black beard. His eyes were piercingly bright blue and his cutie mark was a pair of playing cards: an Ace of Hearts and an Ace of Clubs.

"Who is he?" Zalgo asked curiously as the princesses continued to stare. The princesses then turned to him and spoke at the same time.

"...Phoenix Fortesque."

Comments

[WarriorSaint]

Cool a Sequel!

[zaku666]

we shall see how this progress