Trickster Priest

by Fresnor

Chapter 39

Author's Note:

Expect me to screw up somewhere, oh and someone dies this chapter, so be prepared. Not sure what is next yet, but the next solid idea I have at the moment involves Tirek and then a bit after with Rainbow Rocks.

The forest below Xellos sped by as a flew towards a town out on the edge of Equestria. After his meeting with the princess, he had decided to investigate some of the disappearances in hopes of finding something related to the missing monsters. He didn't expect much success though as this seemed to be much too obvious for them if they were in hiding. Still it was at least something that would take up a bit of time that may also end up being mildly interesting.

“Hmm, so that is how it got it's name. Well I guess it's better than what was originally planned by the first mayor.” The flying monster browsed through a pamphlet he had found on the village to pass the time as he traveled. He saw no urgency in this little diversion so he didn't go anywhere near his full speed. Eventually he came upon a large gap in the trees, and with it the sight of the town he was looking for. As he was trying to keep a somewhat low profile he landed a ways into the trees on the edge of town and proceeded to walk but was brought up short by an unexpected voice.

“Just what are you doing here!?” One of Xellos' eyebrows lifted at the familiar voice and turned to find a familiar light gold pegasus. With her signature pith helmet and vest, he easily recognized the mare but was somewhat surprised to find her out here.

“I could ask the same of you DD. It's not like you to come out of your warm jungles into the cool forests for anything.” Daring Do frowned at the nickname as she shot a glare at the monster.

“How many times have I told you not to call me that!? Besides I'm waiting for word to come back on my next expedition and since I've heard rumors about some strange things happening out this way I thought I'd check them out. Though I'm not sure if I want to now that I know you are here, especially after what happened last time.” Her glare deepened at the last part as Xellos just waved a hand casually at her.

“I warned you that you might not like it when you found it. What would were you expecting when I told you that the Clair Bible contained near infinite knowledge?” The pegasus mare grumbled at him before looking away.

“I was at least expecting something that I could read! And would it have been too much to expect an index or something so I could find what I was searching for!? I mean I've only found one reference ever about this Destinae Dominus so it should have been easy finding out information on it if the place was supposed to contain everything! Ever since I read those words and got my cutie mark it has been my life's work to find out just what it is!” Xellos glanced at her before turning away towards the nearby village.

“Well there used to be an index in the form of a caretaker, but she was lost when that large crater was made. Of course, there was always the true Clare Bible, but who knows if it even works after the one who caused the previous incident was alone with it.” Daring Do whipped around to stare at him full on, but calmed herself with a few deep breaths, knowing that he was trying to get a rise out of her. Looking towards the town, she trotted up to stand next to him.

“Whatever. So, what town is this supposed to be anyways? I could never get a straight answer no matter who I asked.” The two started to walk towards the town before Xellos replied with one word.

“What.” The pegasus looked over at him curiously as she hasn't been talking too softly when she had asked her question.

“I said, what is the name of this town?” The monster hid a smile as he replied once again.

“Exactly.” The pegasus quirked an eyebrow at him before looking ahead once again.

“They named this place Exactly?” Xellos shook his head.

“Not exactly. What is the name of the town.” The mare sent a confused look at him.

“That's what I'm asking you, why are you...” She stopped as she noticed a signpost ahead of them stating, 'Welcome to What, You can stop the joke now,' and brought a hoof up to her face while Xellos checked a box off on a scroll.

“Seriously!? They actually named the town What!?” She shoots another glare at the biped in anger.

“Did you somehow convince a whole town to use that name just so you could set up a Haybot and Coltstello skit!?” Xellos let out a laugh as he shook his head.

“Unfortunately I can't claim credit for that. It was really a total accident as the surveyor had a thick accent and what he asked what the town would be called, What was the answer. Of course after the rest of the town found out what it was originally going to be called, they decided not to rename it.” Xellos passed the pamphlet to Daring Do who took it up with a wing and read the section he was talking about before face-hoofing again.

“Seriously!? They don't care that it's supposed to be pronounced Horse Doover, it is written as hors d'oeuvres! Even I wouldn't go somewhere with a name like that, it's just asking for trouble.” Xellos smirks as he walks ahead as the mare is dumbfounded by the stupidity.

“Who knows, though there is one thing I will claim credit for since it doesn't matter now. I was the one that convinced that tribe of ponies to be called the Idiot tribe.” The pegasus stumbled for a moment before she glared at the back of the monster's head. She had dealt with that tribe once before and out of all of the isolated groups she had met they had actually ended up being one of the smartest. In fact they were rather proud of the name and pointing out what it meant was a great insult to them which led to them being very isolationist. She decided to drop the issue for now as she realized she was getting side-tracked.

“You still haven't told me just why you're here. I would think the great Xellos would have better things to do than to come to some backwater town on the edge of nowhere.” The monster was silent for a few moments, enough to make it where Daring Do started to doubt getting an answer, before he spoke up.

“There's something happening out here. Something that I know nothing about. It's all some big secret about drums of some kind and I just hate not knowing a secret this big.” The pegasus frowned before slowly nodding as she could understand that as she herself made a living off of that in part.

“Ugh, and of course the reason why you are here is why the princess asked me to check the place out. I received a letter on what had been going on and she asked me to look into it and research if there were any ancient legends dealing with drums. There weren't many, but none really matched up with what I was hearing so I decided to come out and see for myself what was going on.” Xellos looked thoughtful as they began to come upon a market area that had a few ponies roaming around.

“Well it has been a while since I've had the assistance of others, but I suppose that this may be a good time to do so. At least this way we can cover twice as much ground and gather information in our own ways.” Daring Do nodded, though she wasn't happy about working with the biped, especially after her last adventure with him. Still, his help was better than no help, especially since there was so little information to go on right now.

The two split up in the market square, each going their own way. While Daring Do checked the back alleys and talked to the ponies out and about, Xellos went right to the sole tavern and eatery of the town. While each had troubles at the first, the pegasus being unfamiliar in town and the monster being what he was, they eventually managed to draw out some information from the ponies in town. The two soon met up again outside of town a distance away at a cave that Xellos had learned of.

“Are you sure that this is where that master character is supposed to be? I couldn't get much out of the town except for that title of his and that he is in charge of some sort of cult. If I even hint at anything drum-like then they just clammed up.” Daring Do examined the ground around the outside of the cave as she spoke, finding a multitude of tracks. Xellos was staring at the entrance of the cavern as he felt something off in the area. It was only when he stepped into it and his body started to shiver that he understood as he backed away in surprise. His motion and the look on his face drew the attention of the mare.

“What's wrong now, Xellos?” He shook his head in frowned in thought before answering.

“Well now this is unexpected. It seems that part of what I had been searching for recently was here all along. Though I never expected to find another monster this strong. I can't quite tell from here, but it may be as strong as I am. Pity.” He reached deep into his satchel and pulled out a glowing blue orb and stared at it.

“Wait, you're saying that there is something else like you in there!? And it may be as strong as you are? Also, what the buck is that thing?” She pointed at the object that Xellos was observing closely.

“Here's a small history lesson that not many remember. A monster is never born, but is created when a higher level one breaks off a piece of itself to create a new one. In fact all monsters are descended from the same source. But what happens when one is finally destroyed?” Daring do pondered the question for a moment. She had heard bits about where monsters were from, but this was the first time she had been able to confirm it. Suddenly her eyes widened as she stared at the orb.

“Wait, do you mean to tell me that's...?” She trailed off and Xellos nodded seriously.

“Exactly. Normally they would just dissipate into the air, but I managed to gather up all of their power into this. Normally it would be useless as a monster can't use the power of another unless they created them, but I have spent years purifying it until all that is left is just the pure essence uncorrupted by anything else. I didn't want to use it, but with what we are about to walk into and the fact that it isn't even trying to hide its power...” He let the sentence hang, causing the pegasus to shudder as, though she would still do so if needed, she didn't want to tangle with anything on Xellos' level.

Xellos stared at the orb for a moment longer before he crushed it in his hand, causing it to disappear in a flash of light. With a sigh he felt the energy coursing through him and while it still wasn't enough to match his own strength, it was still a significant increase to his reserves as well as adding knowledge of the abilities used by those the contributed the power. Looking towards the cavern once more he entered without a word with the mare son chasing after him.

“Wait, that was it? Hey, wait up!” The two snuck their way through the cave, following the feeling that Xellos got from the monster deep inside. There was something familiar about it, yet he couldn't quite place his finger on just why as it was also unfamiliar at the same time. As they came upon a bright up ahead they realized that they were coming upon a large cavern when suddenly the presence vanished, causing Xellos to frown.

“Hmm, whatever it was it left. But now that we are closer I can tell that there are still more monsters down here, along with something else.” Daring Do nodded as they began to sneak their way up to the corner before stealthily peering around it and they were surprised at what they found.

“Behold brothers! The Master has finally shown himself and even now the Pawn is advancing on the town protected by the Heretic! With him occupied elsewhere the greatest threat to his return shall be dealt with once and for all! For tonight, the Elements shall burn!” The scorpion shaped monster raised its claws causing the mob of deformed ponies to begin cheering. Each of them had various parts of them that looked to be more at home on a monster, such as claws in place of hooves or spires of twisted metal instead of horns. Xellos could even sense a hint of monster essence in each of them, and he could immediately tell that it wasn't from the Pledge but something even more sinister. On hearing the mention of the Elements though, he frowned in anger and decided to make an appearance, much to Daring Do's surprise and displeasure.

“Well now, what is this I hear about the Elements and this Pawn?” The room was dead silent when he appeared in front of the crowd behind the other monster. Slowly it's head turned around in a one eighty to stare up at him with wide eyes before it managed to sputter out a command.

“The Heretic!? What are you waiting for!? Get HIM!” Before they ponies could move, Xellos's eyes slowly opened and the monster was pierced from all direction but black spikes, killing him instantly. Turning his gaze upon the rest of the room as they began to charge he spoke a single line.

“Simon says, STOP!” When none of them did he smirked before snapping his fingers, causing the room to fall silent except for the sound of cloth hitting the ground. Daring Do walked in with her eyes wide open in shock as she looked at all the plush toys that used to be ponies.

“Wh-what did you just do? HOW did you do this?” Xellos was still frowning as he turned back towards the exit to the room.

“Just a little trick from an old acquaintance. I'm not sure if it is required for them to lose a game, but she used them to turn others into dolls. Look up the Legend of the Artime Tower sometime if you want to know more. But it seems that I am needed elsewhere and don't have time to play around here anymore. Take care of the mess here, will you? I'm sure Sunbutt will be wanting all of these things rounded up for later.” Without another word Xellos disappeared from sight as he made all haste back towards Ponyville and the threat that approached it. Daring Do could only blink, dumbfounded, as she was left alone to clean up the mess before she started cursing at the fleeing biped for leaving everything to her without any explanation.

----------

Noontime hit Ponyville as Twilight and her friends sat out having a picnic with Pinkie's sister Maud, without Pinkie Pie. It had been nearly half an hour since she had left her sister alone with them, frowning before she disappeared. This had them slightly worried, and even with her lack of visible emotions they could tell that something was off with her as she had not stopped staring in the direction the pink pony had gone.

“Was it just me, or did there seem to be something off about Pinkie when she left?” Rainbow Dash's question was met with a few frowns before they nodded.

“Yes, the poor did did seem to be really distracted by something. It must be horrid for her to just leave her sister who she was so-” Rarity didn't have a chance to finish as Maud leapt from her seat to tackle the white mare. Before the others could say anything a mass of metal appeared from nowhere and slammed into the spot where Rarity had been seated and would have injured the alicorn if not for the earth pony's actions.

“What in tarnation!? Is that Pinkie Pie's party cannon!?” The farm mare's words turned out to be true as they looked over the crumpled form of the party pony's party favor. The weren't given much time to think on the implications as Maud was on the move once again, this time intercepting the object which turned out to be the heavily injured form of her sister.

“Pinkie!” They all tried to crowd around the mare, but were beaten to her by Fluttershy who spread her wings to keep the others back so she could examine her friend. She let out a gasp as her eyes roamed over the various cuts and bruises, but her eyes widened at the cut that traveled along her entire barrel towards her flank that was bleeding heavily.

“Oh my! This is terrible! Who could do such a thing to Pinkie?” As the yellow alicorn got to work trying to stop the bleeding, the pink mare in question coughed in pain before groaning out.

“Girls... Run... Before it's too late...” A deep chuckle from out of nowhere caused the heads of the other alicorns to shoot up and search around wildly before settling on a familiar figure that slowly faded into view.

“Oh, but it is already too late. For all of you.” The monster that had nearly killed them back during the diamond dog incident had returned once again, apparently to finish the job. This time though he didn't come alone as small tears began to appear in the air from which monsters and demons began to trickle out through. Soon the sky over Ponyville was full of them and the panic began as fire began to rain from the sky.

“Girls! Group up!” At her words, the mares gathered around Pinkie as Twilight magicked up a barrier around them to protect them from the rain of Flare Arrows. While a few attacks were sent towards other parts of the town to sow chaos, a majority of them were focused on the alicorns themselves. It took everything the lavender alicorn had to hold the shield up so she couldn't do anything to fight back against the tide of invaders. By the time the attack stalled, she was breathing hard and worn down from her efforts, leaving the others to look at her in worry, with one exception as the shield slowly faded.

“All right, that's it! Time to bring on the thunder!” Before anyone could stop her, Rainbow Dash took to the sky and rushed at the nearest brass demon hooves first.

“Darn it Rainbow Dash, don't just be rushing in like that! Though she is right that now is the time to fight. Try and work your fancy magic Twilight while we hold them off. Ah really should have taken Rainbow's flying lessons more seriously.” Applejack sprinted away before spinning and dealing a heavy buck to one of the lesser demons on the ground, sending it flying. Yet no matter how much she or Rainbow Dash hit the creatures, they wouldn't stay down, forcing them to constantly dodge their spells as they tried to take them out.

Twilight looked over at her other three friends to find Fluttershy still tending to Pinkie, yet Rarity was frozen up in shock. From nearly being hit by the party cannon, to seeing Pinkie's horrible injuries, to nearly being killed by the recent attack, she was only a hair away from fainting as she had no clue as to what to do. Twilight was about to say something when she noticed Maud slowly advancing on the monster in charge of the attack.

“Nopony hurts my sister, nopony.” Twilight had gotten used to the emotionless voice of the Pie sister, yet she had to flinch away from her as she could feel the rage coming off of her. The monster only chuckled at the mare as she slowly advanced on him.

“Oh really? And what are you going to do about it, little pony? Huh?” The monster blinked as the mare disappeared from view in front of him and his instincts began screaming at him to run away. It was only then that he realized just what she had said, before he leapt backwards just in time to avoid her plummeting out of the sky at him. Maud's hoof slammed into the ground where he was standing and the area around her erupted into a forest or stone spires radiating outwards, impaling many of the demons in the area. Twilight's jaw dropped at seeing the earth pony pull off an effect much like one of the spells she had read about.

“That could have been bad. If you really are the sister of the alicorn that took out nearly half of out forces then I had better not underestimate you.” Flinging his left arm out, the vampiric diamond dog conjured a giant scythe and brandished it before him. Swinging it upwards, the air before him seemed to warp, and Maud dodged to the side before the ground where she was standing was split apart as if cut by a blade.

“Impressive, you can dodge what you con not see. But unfortunately for you I know your weakness.” Maud's eyes widened slightly as his gaze turned towards the place where Pinkie Pie was and aimed his weapon towards her. Reacting quickly, she moved to block the attack, and wasn't the only one as a wall of lavender rose up between her and the oncoming attack. Unfortunately the wall did nothing as the attack split it in two, and Twilight let out a yell of horror as the attack slammed into Maud, sending up a cloud of dust.

“Now, with the annoyance out of the way, it's time to finish off the rest of you. Huh? Wait, but that's impossible!” As the dust cleared, it revealed that Maud was unharmed, yet she had a hoof raised towards an object on the ground. While she still showed no emotion, her eyes started to glimmer with wetness at what she beheld.

“Boulder. Noooo.” Laying before her in two pieces was the remains of her pet rock. The monster could only stare in shock before he frowned and conjured yet another scythe in his other arm.

“I don't know how you survived that, but you won't do so again!” Swinging both weapons in a figure eight pattern, the monster began launching a series of attacks at the mare, throwing up more dust once again. After a minute, he stopped to observe the area to make sure that she was gone once and for all. Yet when the dust cleared, what he saw just caused him to grow angrier.

“What!? How is it you are not dieing!? And where did you get that armor!?” As he said, the mare was now encased in a gray suit of armor with purple highlighting the various joints. It looked to be made of metal of some kind, yet at the same time it also appeared to be made of stone. Whatever it was made of, it was untouched by the attacks and gleamed as if it was freshly polished. The mare was still frozen as she stared at the remains of her pet and didn't react at all.

“Fine, if that's how it is going to be then I'll just summon the entire army that I had gather here!” He raised both scythes above his head in anger, and Twilight tried to stop him with a spell but she was forced to stop and shield herself and the three helpless alicorns as arrows of flame began to rain down on them from above yet again despite Rainbow Dash and Applejack's efforts to cover them.

Yet nothing came from the gesture as the monster just stood there in confusion. He was about to say something before a portal finally opened up, but what came out was not what he was expecting.

“What!? Just what is going on here!” From out of the portal poured the bodies of dead monsters and demons which began to fade away as they entered that dimension. His eyes widened as he felt a presence appear behind him, and he turned to find a biped that should not have been anywhere near Ponyville. In a panic he leapt away from the figure who slowly looked around and took in the battle, his hair obscuring his eyes.

“Xellos! What are you doing here!? Can't you see we have enough troubles as it is!? Buck me, this isn't working. I didn't want to do this, but it looks like nothing else is going to work. VISFARANK!” A glow began to surround Rainbow Dash's hooves as she cast the spell before she smirked at the monsters in the air around her. “All right, time for round two!” This time when her hooves landed their strikes on the monsters they actually had an effect as they didn't get back up again after falling this time now that she had something that affected their true bodies on the astral plane.

Applejack frowned up at the flying alicorn as she recognized the spell as one that her sister's friend Scootaloo had used before. Thinking of the three Crusaders, her eyes darted over towards her farm just in time for a loud explosion, followed by a pillar of flame, to ring out causing her to smirk. “Well it looks like those three are doing fine, and Spike must be there helping out as well. After this ah'm going ta have ta get one of them or Twilight ta teach me some magic so ah'm not so useless again.”

Xellos took all this in before his gaze swept over towards the ringleader, revealing his rage-filled eyes staring at him, wide open. Not saying a word, the powerful monster raised his hand into the air, palm open.

“All of you! Ignore the ponies! Get Xellos, now!” His words came too late as Xellos' fist clenched, bringing an end to the fighting as suddenly every monster and demon, except for the leader, had been impaled by a black, spear-like thorn, instantly killing them. As their bodies were absorbed into Xellos' attack, he slowly stepped towards the remaining enemy.

“You! Why are you here!? Why do you betray your own kind and defend these ponies!?” In a blink, Xellos vanished and appeared next to the monster, with his arm over his shoulder.

“Why? Because I need them for my plans, and anyone that gets in the way of my plans, well, not like I need to elaborate, do I?” The dog was frozen in fear at his presence, but he still managed to stutter out an answer.

“But why? Why go through with all of this?” Xellos could only smirk maliciously as he leaned closer to him.

“Well I suppose I could let you know a little secret.” Leaning close he began to whisper into his ear, and when he finished the monster's eyes were wide open in shock.

“What!? You can't mean...!? How could any monster even think to...!? GRAAAAAH!” Xellos walked away from the monster as black thorns began to erupt from all over his body, killing him in a painful manner. Walking over towards Pinkie he looked down at her for a moment before reaching into his bag, and pulling out Sweetie Belle who looked around in confusion.

“Huh? What the, how did I get here? Oh, Celestia! What happened Pinkie!? Give me a moment and I'll have you healed right up!” As the filly worked on helping the alicorn, the other mares collapsed in exhaustion, either physical or mental, while Xellos walked over to the frozen earth pony.

“So you must be Maud, one of my adopted nieces. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get here in time to prevent this from happening. That armor is from an old enemy, and as long as you are inside of that there are few creatures that can stop you so you can protect your family in my stead.” The mare said nothing as he knelt down next to her, still looking at the broken stone. With a sigh, Xellos waved his hand, and that armor melted away from Maud, and formed into a small stone on a string around her neck. Bringing up a hoof a grasp at it, she finally broke down and grabbed Xellos in a hug before burying her face in his chest in grief.

Comments

[SeventhBrony]

Poor Maud!

[Voltaje]

Well, RIP boulder, are rock like most rocks, died when he wasn't alive, now forever he will rest in pieces while protecting Xellos' Nieces.

[AyanamiRei]

Poor Boulder. At least he died for a valiant cause! Boulder is a great hero to our story! <3

[Balewood]

Such a heroic death for the mighty Boulder diving in front of his paramour like that.

[odeeyou]

BOULDER, NOOOOOO!

[Draskos]

Everyone, please pay your respects to our valiant Boulder. His sacrifice shall not be forgotten. --'--,-@

[nightmaster0]

AWESOME CHAPTER AND STORY!

[Vigriff]

8659030
/)

[Closet-Bronie-333]

when is the next chapter coming out

[Nonameknight]

Im absolutely loving this fic! Xellos was always an interesting character, easily my favourite, and to see him so well portrayed here is awe inspiring! For the first time in my life, i have absolutely no clue what a character's plans are, and its beyond exciting to see, especially when i can tell that none of what he does is random and its all in the plan.

I tip my hat to you, and greatly anticipate knowing what happens next!

[Simbul]

What a great story! I hope chapter 40 is still coming out.

[TheUltimateBalanceChaos]

Amazing story can't wait for more I just love the way your handling Xellos's personality and the way he interacts with everyone and everything

[Windy0]

Is the next chapter almost ready by now?