Chapter 43
“Now, will you cease this unprovoked attack on me, worthy adversary?” Celestia glowered as the manticore slowly pulled itself up from the water. It whimpered as steam rose from the charred stump where its scorpion tail had once been. The appendage in question lay uselessly in the water between it and the solar princess.
“I promise you that was but a scratch in comparison to what damage I could do if I weren’t holding back.” Celestia cautioned. “I don’t wish to kill you.”
The manticore thrashed and roared in pain. It snarled accusingly at Celestia, then upon seeing the alicorn was not about to be dissuaded, it proceeded to spew balls of lightning at her.
“But apparently, you’re dead set on killing me.” She sighed while nimbly dodging the crackling projectiles. The manticore charged at her. Celestia spread her wings again and elevated herself out of harm’s way. The manticore turned and breathed more lightning to shoot the alicorn out of the sky. Celestia proceeded to fire a beam of intense solar magic into the water, creating a great wall of steam that had the manticore running for its life.
“Is there no way to convince you of how foolish this course of action is?” The solar princess mused as her opponent hit the bank of the lake, and found itself with nowhere else to flee. She let her solar beam hit it anyway, just long enough to give it a severe, but non-fatal, burn. The manticore roared again, flailing its wings as they caught fire from the heat. Burning feathers fluttered down to the water, sizzling it as they alighted upon the surface and were extinguished.
“Stand down, let me leave, and I shall heal your injuries. My magic works on many levels.” She said, trying to keep her voice firm, yet diplomatic. Her efforts were lost on the manticore as it smashed its wings into the water, then turned to face her again once it was assured no other parts of it were on fire. Celestia stared defiantly as it shook off the agony of its burns, then raised its wings.
“Please… don’t.” She pleaded softly. The manticore replied with another roar, then elevated itself into the air with its remaining wings. It launched itself at the solar princess with intent to rip her head off her shoulders with a solid butt of its horned skull. Celestia grumbled and knocked it down into the water with an equally solid ball of concussive light.
“I’m not warning you again.” She scolded as the manticore clutched a paw to its smoking cranium, growling and crackling in crazed agony. Clawing at the stinging pain in its forehead, the beast looked up at her, sparks flying from its mouth as it raggedly gasped for air. It seemed to actually consider conceding defeat for a moment… which then turned out to be a feint, as it then leaped back and sprayed the lake with more lightning. With a sorry shake of her head, Celestia took to the air again, glaring as her opponent likewise tried to reach her by flapping its own wings.
Surprisingly, this time, an arrow saw to it that it wouldn’t succeed.
The manticore splashed into the water for the umpteenth time, roaring and clawing at the metal shaft sticking out of its wing joint. Celestia looked over to the bank, and blinked upon seeing a third entity had entered the fray: a female human clad in royal purple armor, wearing a white mask and clutching a finely crafted longbow. The manticore snarled at her to stay out of its battle, to which the female merely notched another arrow and drew her bow taught.
A tense silence held as the beast looked from one opponent to another, sizing up its chances.
It chose the female as the one more likely to die faster by its claws, even as she raised her bow in preparation to land another arrow in its hide.
“Oh to Tartarus with this.” Celestia charged her horn and fired a narrower beam of magical energy at the manticore. This one hit with considerably more punch, enough to go right through the beast’s body and fry the bank on the other side of it. The manticore froze as it registered its entire stomach area and digestive system being vaporized, right before it then tripped over itself and tumbled through the water. The female archer lowered her bow as she beheld the great smoking hole where her opponent’s midsection had once been, through which Celestia could be seen tsking in lament as the manticore exploded into a flurry of white light.
“I trust that will at least convince you not to follow the same course of action.” Celestia intoned as the light faded away. “I bear no one of this realm any ill will, but if everything I encounter is going to attack me on sight, then you all will find I’m no stranger to quickly ending those who would dare threaten me or my subjects.”
The masked female looked to where her opponent had fallen. Above the water, two flames burned softly together, one with the golden essence of a soul, the other with the pitch black void of humanity.
“So I see. In which case, you may rest assured that I stand before you with peaceful intent. I merely heard the sanctuary guardian descend from the sky, and knew that could only signal it had sighted another victim.” She replied, giving Celestia a respectful bow. Celestia looked to the spoils of her first kill with confusion.
“A sanctuary guardian? Is that what you call your version of a manticore?” She queried. Now the masked warrior seemed confused.
“It is the only name we have ever had for those to guard the Oolacile Sanctuary. We know not of anything called a ‘manticore’.” She replied. This seemed to fill Celestia with cautious relief.
“Oolacile… is that a region of Lordran by any chance?” The solar princess queried. With the same cautious manner, her new acquaintance nodded.
“For the present time, it is. I fear, however, such will not be the case for much longer. Even as we speak, the Abyss slowly consumes this land, a terror brought on by the foolishness of its people. Soon enough, we will have no choice but to reduce this region to ashes and leave it forgotten to all but our historians.” She explained, while subtly adjusting her grip on the arrow in her bow. Celestia quietly noted she was still at full draw, meaning she could easily let loose on her in an instant. The alicorn quietly prayed this warrior was not so foolish.
“Then permit me to explain what brings me here, to a place I apparently should be departing from with all haste.” Celestia smiled disarmingly. “I am Princess Celestia, ruler and defender of the kingdom of Equestria, here to seek out several of my ponies who have likewise come to Lordran to investigate a crisis.”
Behind her pallid mask, the warrior narrowed her eyes.
“Crisis is something we are tragically not short of here. You would have found yourself in similar turmoil no matter where in Lordran you traveled.” She replied. Celestia nodded in acceptance.
“Well, this particular crisis involves both my own kingdom, and several souls whom I understand are of a rather important status here.” The alicorn smiled mysteriously. “Does the name Seath the Scaleless ring any bells?”
The masked warrior lowered her guard just a little bit more.
“You have business with the Duke of Anor Londo himself?” She asked.
“I do, him and one whom came from your world to ours seeking him… a miss Aurelia, also known as the Chosen Undead?” The alicorn replied, smirking as her new friend promptly came down from full draw and disarmed her bow.
“Aurelia?? You’ve met my d-… you’ve met her?” She asked with noticeable apprehension in her voice. Celestia nodded in triumph that she’d hit the jackpot here.
“Where is she? Is she safe? Is she alright?” The masked warrior demanded. Celestia levitated her helmet off her head and let the human behold her gentle yet unmistakably regal features.
“She returned here with Seath and my ponies. Last I heard, she was fine, but part of why I’m here is to make certain of that.” Celestia replied softly. The human looked to the sky as another unearthly roar was heard.
“Then you may call me the Lord’s Blade Ciaran, a knight of the Four to the Great Lord Gwyn, and one who is very keen to speak with you more. Only it would not be safe for us to do so here.” Ciaran pointed to the souls and the severed tail. “Collect what you have earned from defeating the sanctuary guardian, and follow me. More guardians have sensed the fall of their comrade and are coming to take up its post.”
Celestia looked to the soul and the humanity sprite and duly levitated them both into her saddlebags. She then turned to the scorpion tail.
“This too?” She asked in perplexity. Ciaran nodded.
“It can be repurposed as a fall back weapon. I will show you how. Come, through here is a much safer place where we can converse!”
The human ran off towards another opening in the high raising banks of the lake. Making a face, Celestia squeamishly tucked the severed scorpion tail into her saddlebags and followed with due haste.
***
Elsewhere, across land and time, Applejack was picking herself out of a freshly made crater in the wall of Gwyndolin’s refuge. Smoke rose from her armored robes as the worst of the magical blast the Dark Sun had scattered the party with burned away at her flank.
“Ow… ow… oh starry apples, that hurt!” The orange mare groaned as she pushed herself back onto her hooves. “I don’t understand, Ah’m usually fast enough to dodge most forms of magic… what the hay was that? A bomb?”
Nursing the parts where his skin had been seared and charred in the attack, Seath growled softly.
“Yea, in one manner of speech. T’is a sorcery based upon phasing the energy of the soul through solid objects… an experimental art I did labor with Gwyndolin for many a year as an alternative to the Great Lord’s lightning spear…” The dragon glared at the human/snake hybrid in the distance. “How admirable to see thou hast pursued thine studies to perfection, e’en without my tutelage…”
Gwyndolin raised his staff and launched a mass of homing arrows at the party, his serpentine legs hissing venomously at them for good measure.
“Didst thou believe me idle after thou corrupted me, heretic? Thine grasp of sorcery is as flawed and weak as thine form, but in my hands…” Gwyndolin swept his staff horizontally, unleashing a wave of pure blue magical energy. “I have ascended mineself from learner to master!”
Seath threw up another crystal wall then did his best to cover behind the pillars as Gwyndolin’s spell just smashed right through his defenses. Below, Twilight and her friends took advantage of their smaller size to duck under the wave, while Priscilla plastered herself to the wall and twisted her face up at the smell of her gown being singed by the sorcery.
“T’is only darkness, thou hast mastered. Darkness, lies, deceit, and treachery!” Seath charged his catalyst and launched a salvo of crystal spears at Gwyndolin. The hybrid merely raised his staff again and teleported himself out of harm’s way.
“Thine words are as false as the oaths thou swore to the gods. How fitting that t’is I who at last shalt deliver our rightful retribution unto thee!” Gwyndolin’s voice came from the far distance. Dusting herself off, Twilight retrieved her catalyst and glared down the hallway.
“This guy’s got some nerve, considerin’ what he just did to try and off you, Twi, as well as Rarity, Dash, Spike, an’ everyone else.” Applejack grumbled as she galloped down the hall. “Ain’t no use runnin’ now, mister! We ain’t leavin’ till we’ve asked you a few rather important questions!”
From the darkness of the hallway, a flurry of steel arrows shot across to halt Applejack’s progress. This time she was able to stop and roll behind a pillar to dodge.
“And continuin’ with the efforts to stop us ain’t helping yer case!” The farm pony seethed from her cover.
Twilight ran to aid her friend, and found herself having to duck behind another pillar as more arrows rained out from the darkness.
“Keep moving in a zig-zag pattern everyone! Use what cover you can to get close to him.” Twilight ordered. Applejack nodded as the arrow flurry tapered off. She looked into the darkness ahead and ran for another pillar.
Gwyndolin punished the farm mare for her insolence by lighting the room up with more soul missiles.
“Thine hobbled stride will not aid thee, heretic! In this chamber, I command a view of every portal and corner. No soul, be it god or lower, can hope to hide from me!” The Dark Sun intoned as Applejack tried to evade the glowing projectiles, only for them to curve in flight and explode upon her flank. Twilight leaped into the center of the hall and fired a wave of magical energy at Gwyndolin.
“The traitor’s teachings will also avail thee little.” The serpentine hybrid glowered as he teleported away again. Arrows were sent hurtling out of the darkness soon after, forcing Twilight to duck and throw up a barrier as Gwyndolin tried to take her out.
“They’ve availed me enough to know we can’t leave until you give us some answers! If you’re involved in the machinations that are dragging Equestria into your problems, then we will see to it that you explain why!” She said while reforming her barrier into a beam and sweeping it across the darkness. “More so, what’s your beef with Seath? Why did you forcibly steal his daughter and trick him into thinking she was dead all this time? Why did you take such drastic measures to prevent us from rescuing her from the Painted World?”
Gwyndolin bowed to evade the alicorn’s magic, then raised his staff and teleported again to another point further down the hall. Priscilla took this opportunity to emerge from her cover and rejoin the fight.
“Didst thou deem thine fear of discovery to justify destroying Ariamis’ work? To soak thine hands in the blood of kind souls a thousand fold?” She demanded. Gwyndolin charged up another explosive shot and launched it at the party, sending everyone scattering as the hallway was lit up with the burst of deadly magical energy.
“Thou art as blind as the abomination thou dares to call father, if thou deemed the monstrosities that our Great Lord imprisoned within thine world ‘kind’. Such souls spared thee their wrath only because thou art as they: a twisted, abysmal mockery, made to desecrate the Godmother’s image! Made by he that seeketh to twist the image of all entrusted to his tutelage.” The Dark Sun accused as he followed with another volley of arrows. Twilight darted to another pillar until she heard the cessation of metal heads ricocheting off marble. She then dared to peek out into the darkness again.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” The pony queried, leaping back in fright as a plethora of angrily hissing serpents shot out of the dark to sink their fangs into her flesh. She screamed and scrambled back as Gwyndolin lit up his staff and held it over his head.
“Behold this visage, so twisted and evil, of mine, witless one! Behold the spawn forced upon the Godmother by the traitor! Behold Anor Londo, entrusted to his dukedom, and left to rot by negligence! All art sins perpetuated by he who hath manipulated thou, as he hath all!” Gwyndolin pointed his staff at Seath, who likewise held up his own catalyst and let the light from its sorcery illuminate his glowering visage.
“Kay… uh… would now be a bad time to ask what medusa boy here is getting at? Cause I’m totally lost.” Spike quipped. Gwyndolin scowled under his headdress and raised his catalyst to fire off another sorcery.
“Yea, will thou at last confess to thine own sins, as thou demands of I? Thine perversion of our Great Lord’s order to improve mine form? The poison thou whispered to render the Godmother unto thine will?” Gwyndolin spied movement to his left and blasted the area with soul arrows. Applejack cursed as she cowered behind the smoking ruins of a pillar. “What thou intends for these equines? No doubt fresh subjects for thine experiments?”
Twilight looked back at her teacher, regarding him with equal amounts confusion and apprehension. Given what he’d already told her about his past she hated to think that there might be more horrors he hadn’t revealed yet.
“Seath… what is he talking about?” The alicorn asked. Seath looked down at her, shutting his eyes tight as if to try and resist her pleading stare.
“As was I born an exception to the Everlasting Dragons so too was Gwyndolin. T’was the sun his sire and siblings shared their affinity with, yet t’was the moon that granted his strength. Because of this, the Great Lord Gwyn did order he be raised as a daughter, and that I should alter his form to suit!” The dragon explained while glaring with barely restrained rage at the Dark Sun. Spike, Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight all stared at the dragon in unsettled awkwardness.
“Wait… Gwyn wanted you to make his son into a girl? Like Twilight’s trick of making a mare appear to turn into a stallion, only in reverse?” Spike said while looking at Gwyndolin. “Is that why he’s so… weird looking? With the snake legs and the… bouncy chest parts?”
Gwyndolin let out an enraged shout and shot another blast of sorcery into the air. This formed itself into a straight sword that then zipped towards Spike like a spear.
“Thou shalt not jest of a god’s desecration, dragon!” The Dark Sun ordered. Spike dove for safety as the sorcery forged sword crashed onto the ground where he’d been standing, creating a two foot long smoking fissure in the stone as it exploded into a ball of blue fire.
“Yeesh! Well excuse me for trying to make sense of what you’re babbling on about! Can’t really empathize with your plight if you don’t explain yourself, you know!” The dragon retorted. Gwyndolin teleported himself again even further down the endless hallway, seething as the party kept following him.
“Never hath, nor can, a dragon know of empathy, this the traitor hath proven time and time again!” He cried. “Unto Seath the Great Lord did demand I be remade, and from thee did I emerge as this… mockery of the gods! When many hereafter hath been remade without error!”
Everyone scattered as the hallway was streaked with more arrows and soul spears, many of them vaporizing huge chunks out of the surrounding walls and pillars.
“T’was thine own obsession to please thine father that did lead to thine visage! Haste thou didst demand of me to remake thee as female, and haste t’was the cause of whatever error lead to this!” Seath defended himself both literally and figuratively as he threw up another wall of crystal, then another after Gwyndolin destroyed the barrier with ease. “Warn thee I did that such sorcery was untested upon a god, its effects unknown, yet thine own wish that the Great Lord accept thee as he did thine siblings did blind thee to danger!”
Gwyndolin paused at this statement, then proceeded to fill the space above his head with blue energy and throw it at Seath like a comet.
“T’was danger that ne’er should have been present. Thou claimed thyself Grandfather of Sorcery! A soul without flaw and without ignorance! And when pressed to prove thine status, how didst thou respond?” Gwyndolin cried as several dozen feet of the hallway was reduced to rubble from the explosion of his attack. The party found itself being hurled back towards the entrance by the blast, while Gwyndolin put their objective even further out of reach by teleporting himself further in the opposite direction.
“Failure! With thine charges, thou proved thyself as worthless as thine brethren did proclaim thee! Dukedom and power did the Great Lord bestow upon thee! Entrust the gods’ holy city to thine rulership he did, and thou proceeded to let it fall into ruin, till at last t’was I that was charged to step in and rule in thine stead!”
From where he’d taken out a good portion of the wall with his impact, Seath pulled himself up and adjusted his spectacles, staring back at the Dark Sun in shock.
“Day after day, thou indulged thine own perversities in research, walled thyself in thine archives, and cared not as Anor Londo suffered from thine own sloth!” Gwyndolin accused. Seath opened his mouth, closed it, then repeated the action in his attempt to find words.
“Proclaim did I to refine our understanding of the arts the Lord Souls did make possible. T’was a task that required many centuries of effort.” He said. Twilight pulled herself out of another pile of broken masonry and followed her teacher’s gaze in shock.
“Thou was charged to tutor all children of the Great Lord in these arts, and what did result from that? The first born, turned against his own blood and struck from all known annals! Mine own brother made a traitor from thine teachings!” Gwyndolin snarled. Seeing an opportunity, Applejack notched several arrows and tried to pin the Dark Sun down. He sighed morosely and sent the bothersome farmer running with his own counterattack even as her arrows pierced his body.
“Grgh… then cameth the Godmother, a light of cheer and joy, a promise of fertility and prosperity to all… ensnared in thine own tentacles, and poisoned by thine honeyed words… to at last agree to bear that… that… NGGRGH!”
Gwyndolin’s voice dissolved into cries of pain, both from the arrows and seemingly from the sight of Priscilla attempting to advance on him again. The crossbreed turned herself invisible and blanketed the area before her in snow. Gwyndolin carefully scanned the darkness and primed his catalyst in preparation for anything.
“T’was not my machinations that lead to Gwynfryn’s betrayal! This I hath swore again and again! T’was arrogance, and the whispers of power that did drive him to seek alliance with the dragons!” Seath protested. “Nor t’was I who did drive Gwynevere to mine arms. She did so of her own volition and… and…”
Seath’s own voice choked up in anger.
“Long hath I suspected her own flights of fancy did guide her to deceive I into believing her affection was genuine… till thou sought to break us up, and she did depart to marry Flann!” He seethed, roaring as Gwyndolin threw another sorcery bomb at him.
“Liar! Thou art a traitor in all ways, from flesh to soul! T’is thee who destroyed the Great Lord’s lineage! T’is thee who devastated our hallowed land! T’is thee who made me… THIS!!!” The Dark Sun roared back as Seath cast his own sorcery and detonated the energy bomb in midair. Everyone scattered again as blue fire ripped through the hallway. Priscilla in particular had to abandon her approach and fall back, cursing as Gwyndolin fired at her with more arrows.
“Oh, this is hopeless! We can’t even get near this weirdo, let alone stop him from wrecking the place!” Applejack lamented as she dodged a hail of boulders raining down from another destroyed pillar.
“Yeah, and the soap opera confessions aren’t helping matters.” Spike groaned as he dusted himself. “Are we seriously going to have to listen to this guy bicker with Seath like an old married couple while he’s trying to blow us all to kingdom come?”
“That depends.” Twilight picked up her catalyst and ran to her teacher’s aid. “Seath, what he’s saying… is this true?”
Seath continued to stare daggers at the retreating Gwyndolin, snorting a long gust of crystallized breath as he pushed up his glasses.
“T’is… a possibility. T’was research and sorcery that were always my passions. A fitting bonus t’was my dukedom, but nothing more. Ne’er did I desire rulership, and ne’er did I care to fulfill its duties when the gods did turn their backs on me!” He replied. “Mine negligence of Anor Londo did come only when its residents did prove they accepted me as the everlasting dragons accepted me! Not at all!”
If this was meant as an insult it failed to make any impression on Gwyndolin. Indeed the Dark Sun seemed almost pleased at this reaction.
“As was our right. When thou came to the Great Lord with talk of alliance, did thou believe he accepted thee as friend? Thou were an abomination then, as thou art now! Our grace we bestowed upon thee because we pitied thee! Doomed to die thou art, mortal and unformed as the primordial serpent. We only sought to make thine life comfortable until time at last removed thee as a burden from the shoulders of the gods!” The Dark Sun laughed pitifully. “Oh how the whispers amidst our armies did mock us, forever telling us we should have killed thee with thine brethren! Heh, t’is now the truth they spoke becomes clear.”
This got more of a reaction. Seath gaped at the distant figure, his face contorting in an attempt to deny what he was hearing.
“This… this cannot be.” He stated, his jaw quivering with barely restrained rage. “Thou strives to deceive me again!”
Gwyndolin paid the dragon an even greater smile.
“Do I?” He asked. Seath’s whole body tensed to the point the chords of his muscles were visible trying to burst through his pale skin. Then Twilight had to scream as her teacher smacked her into and charged at the Dark Sun in blind anger.
“Seath no!” The alicorn cried as Gwyndolin traded his staff for his bow and aimed an arrow at the approaching beast.
“Oh no! Oh no ya don’t!” Applejack notched up an arrow in her own bow again and ran out into the middle of the hallway. Gwyndolin paid her a dismissive glance then turned his arrow upward and let it fly high into the rafters. Applejack let her own arrow fly into the Dark Sun’s arm and make him drop his weapon and fall upon his serpentine legs.
“Gotcha! Okay Seath, hold on there!” She said to the rampaging drake. “He’s down, take a moment to calm yourself and we can… huh?”
Applejack paused as she felt her coat bristle with a familiar sensation. It was something she experience all the time during harvest season, a sort of sixth sense when she bucked a tree in just the right way to cause an avalanche of apples to fall down to the ground.
Except, of course, there were no apples here… yet she still felt the sensation that some great hail of objects were about to descend upon her from above.
The farmer looked up as the shadows of the ceiling, and found herself being buried in a sudden downpour of arrows. Hundreds and hundreds of metal projectiles rained onto the floor, with the poor orange mare caught in the center. Seath promptly halted his charge as the arrows fell towards him, and tumbled backwards as his flesh was riddled with bolts.
“One falls as punishment for her disrespect. Now thou shalt join her in the domain thou hast evaded long enough.” Gwyndolin retrieved his bow and teleported himself away again.
“Applejack… NOOO!” Twilight ran to the pin cushion that vaguely resembled her friend. She pressed a hoof to Applejack’s flank, lighting her horn to try and pull the arrows out. As if to mock her, the projectiles collapsed in on themselves as Applejack gave a breathless whimper and her body vanished into nothingness.
“Applejack… is she?” Twilight stared at the arrow riddled blood stain left behind, and its sickly green aura. Seath looked at it too and felt his whole body sink as again that damn epitaph appeared before his eyes:
“She shalt… be joining us soon.” The dragon whispered before roaring in lament. “Rest assured mine student, I shall see she is the last soul ever to be claimed by the Dark Sun! What sins I may carry, what sins he carries, for what has transpired he, Gwyndolin shall answer!”
From where she’d risen after evading the arrow hail, Priscilla looked as her father charged down the endless hallway, hurling soul spears left and right as Gwyndolin returned with his own spells. Beside her, Fluttershy looked at the devastation and felt her eyes burn with tears.
“No… no… no no! This can’t be happening! There’s gotta be something we can do!” She said in a panic. Spike choked back his own shock and sadness that yet another of their friends had lost their life to Lordran, reminding himself of what had happened to those before.
“I… I… is there, Priscilla? You wanted us to take this guy down, did you plan for this to happen?” He shouted in anger.
The crossbreed cringed, her own guilt at being responsible for the situation adding to the weight of her guilt at being the reason the Painted World was no more.
“N-Nay… I swear. These powers, the Dark Sun should not have. Something is wrong, far more than I anticipated.” She said while her own tears began to spill freely. “Noble souls, I give thee my utmost apologies. This is not what I intended! But it dost prove the Dark Sun must be stopped!”
Spike nodded warily. “Yeah, and how do we do that?”
Priscilla looked to her scythe, and gripped it tighter to strengthen her resolve.
“Much blood hath I shed to atone for my own wrong doings. More I shall shed for the death of your friend.” She replied while kneeling. “Take up thine blade, and harden thine spirit for what I now ask. I need… I need thee to cut off my tail.”
***
Outside the tomb, the Lady of the Darkling couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The Chosen Undead had already proved a greater challenge than she had expected, but in her line of work, such was just how it tended to be. To see the undead warrior rise, despite taking the full brunt of the Darkmoon Blade miracle though, that was unheard of!
“But… how…” She uttered as the female shook off the powerfully divine magic. “A threat I took you for… but not of this caliber!”
The Chosen Undead strode towards her, the gas lamps on either side flickering on to light her path to her opponent. The Lady promptly stepped back, raising her estoc in warning.
“You asked how I got this far, when the proof is plain to see. You warned me against approaching Seath’s archives, yet I not only did so and survived, but thanks to the ponies, I stand in his good graces.” She replied. The Lady enchanted her blade and charged the undead, she parried and grappled with her fellow knight.
“No servant of the gods is of greater faith than I! No mere human has ever lasted this long against my steel!” The Lady intoned, then cried as the undead’s chaos blade cut a long searing gash across her side. She jammed her estoc into the gap between her opponent's shoulder and chest plate, and both females reeled back as their blood spilled upon the ground.
“Heh, if only fortune had favored me to be born a mere human. Sadly, I’m not. Not entirely…” The Chosen Undead replied while hurling a fire whip attack at the Lady. She rolled and swiped her blade, forcing the other warrior back a few more steps.
“Wh-What? Impossible! Kingseeker Frampt did assure our Dark Sun! Only humans were to be chosen to link the flames! Who… What are you?”
The Chosen Undead grabbed her helmet and pulled it off, letting the gas lamps light her tanned and strikingly beautiful features.
“Perhaps too similar to Priscilla for anyone’s liking. Possessed of humanity enough to feed the flames… but with something else, to see to it I succeed in what I aim to do!” She said. The Lady of the Darkling let her blade droop, her helmet listing to one side as she tried to work out what was being revealed to you.
“Wait… your stance… your speed… the way you heft your blade…” Her voice grew cold as the Chosen Undead spun around, forcing her to duck and roll again to evade her swinging blade.
“I know these…from others...but… that can’t mean…” The Lady deflected the blade and dodged another fireball as the Chosen Undead leaped and rolled back onto her feet. “No… that can’t be! They wouldn’t!”
The undead made the charge now, letting her shield take the brunt of her opponent’s counter attacks before smashing into her chest plate. The Lady stumbled back, wildly trying to keep her sword between her and the Chosen Undead, until at last, the Chosen Undead just took the simple route of jumping and striking her down with a somersault.
“No… it is… ughhhh!” The lady crashed onto the walkway, her blood spilling freely from several more additional cuts. “Artorias… Ciaran… you… bastards! ARGH!”
The chaos blade pierced through the knightess’ chest plate like it was paper. She let her weapons fall from her hands as her life spread out around her.
“Seath… Frampt… Gwyn’s knights… all have betrayed us… ughhh… Master Gwyndolin… all is lost.” The Lady’s voice croaked out as she left the waking world. Her body vanished, leaving behind the burning essence of a most valuable treasure: the soul of a firekeeper. The Chosen Undead promptly scooped it up and secured it in her pack.
“Whatever lies or deceit the gods have sought to make me a part of, my contribution to them is now ended.” The Chosen Undead swore as she wiped her blade clean.
“Perfect.” Came a voice from the darkness. She turned in puzzlement, unaware someone else had joined the fray.
That someone else proceeded to introduce themselves by riddling the Chosen Undead’s body with throwing knives.
“Then you won’t mind if we remove you from the equation.”
Out of the shadows stepped a being dressed in an exotic set of plate armor, exquisitely crafted with multiple designs and etchings echoing of the eastern lands. In its hands, it hefted a massive murakumo blade and an iron round shield.
“Your ambitions have sealed your fate, dear Aurelia. When word reached me of Quelaag’s defeat, I knew you were a soul worth keeping an eye on. Admittedly, when you left our world for that of the ponies, I worried we might not see you again, but as always, Alvina knows how to select the truly special.”
The Chosen Undead tried to get up, only to find an uchigatana sword now lodged in her chest. Looking up, she spied the faint outline of a body standing over her, hidden by the effects of a ring of fog. The warrior dressed in the eastern set tutted softly as he pressed his foot to her wrist and yanked the chaos blade out of her grip.
“Sh-Shiva…” The undead gasped.
“Oh don’t tell me you’re surprised. That mangy cat hinted multiple times that I was a soul not to be trusted. By this point, you’ve only yourself to blame for not seeing this coming.” Shiva shuddered and exhaled in amazement as he beheld the gleam of the Chosen Undead’s weapon. “Ahh, splendid, the Chaos Blade… yes, look into the vortex, see that it truly is the legendary sword of the ancient undead master Makoto, now given form again by Quelaag’s infernal soul!”
The eastern warrior cradled the sword like it was a priceless treasure, drinking in the spotted texture of the blade and the still fresh blood dripping from its lethal edge.
“You’ve done well in finding that which I’ve searched for ages. Hee hee… with this, my gamble in betraying the Forest Hunters for my new retainer is vindicated! My collection is at last complete!” Shiva hefted the sword, churring in utter delight as it radiated its authenticity with even the slightest of swings. “Of course, the sword’s true value… hmm… can’t be known without a good killing… even with all the bodies I’ve watched fall under your skilled hand, armed with this weapon, I must be sure this is capable of slaying anything.”
Shiva nodded to his ghostly bodyguard, who in turn yanked his uchigatana out of the Chosen Undead’s chest.
“In keeping with the traditions of the east, and the preferences of my new retainer, I must do the honorable thing… and kill you with my new prize!”
The Chosen Undead struggled to get up, but felt her body was losing all mobility. She looked at the throwing knives piercing her armor and her soul darkened at seeing they bore the green-ish tinge of being coated with rotten pine resin poison.
“No doubt, you’d have hoped for a better outcome. But, seeing as you want no further part in your quest, you must know this is the only way. Farewell, Aurelia. May you forever walk the Abyss with those you hold dear!” Shiva proclaimed as he swung the blade down to finish the Chosen Undead off.
Welp here we are again, another chapter done, and another point of me wondering why do I always assume each new installment is going to be easier than the last. In fairness this time it was due more towards the chapter getting longer than I anticipated and requiring dividing up, but seriously, my plan was literally just 'The party fights Gwyndolin --> Secrets are Exposed --> Story moves on.' and yet here we are almost a month after the previous chapter before I have anything to show for it. Ugh, I don't know what's wrong with me. 
At any rate, in terms of what I believe I did right for this part, I did a lot of reading up on the various fan lore surrounding Gwyndolin and his bizarre appearance, and took particular interest in the parts that debated on if Seath had a role in the latter. It's what lead me to eventually come up with the idea that Gwyndolin has indeed been subjected to a lot of misfortune, and for much of it he's come to blame Seath. Not only does that give him some decent justification for being such a jerkass, but it also serves as yet another eye opener to Seath himself at how much he screwed things up for everyone over the years, how even when he wasn't trying he still made things worse for everyone, and thus is his continued existence going to do the same for Equestria eventually seeing as his arrival there is what started off this whole fiasco?
I also wanted to investigate another bit of cut content from the game, that being Shiva and his betrayal of the Chosen Undead. From the sound files that exist I know many will argue that the chaos blade he seeks (ref here: Dark Souls Cut Content ) is not the same one as the one you can obtain in game, but given he's seemingly as barmy as everyone else in Lordran it wouldn't be too far out of the realm of possibility to assume his rantings about 'vortexes' and such is an embellishment brought on by his obsession with the weapon.
Also yes I'm going with 'Gywnfryn' as my assumed name for Gwyn's first born. After researching how many names exist that fit the scheme for Gwyn's children (using their father's name as a prefix) that one seemed to best fit as it translates to 'White hill/mountain', quite suitable for a being who's meant to be an indomitable warrior and icon of the gods' power.
: *clears throat*
Oh...yes and I killed Applejack. Yeah sorry, but I had to. Much like Trixie her own character arc required her death to get started and this seemed like the perfect spot as it also indicates Gwyndolin's not fighting according to the rules of DS1. Seems he's been upgrading himself a bit beyond what should be possible...hmm...wonder what that could entail...
: Ah hate you.
No doubt so will many others. All I can say is don't worry, you'll get your own back in due course.
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Dark Souls is on sale for 75% off on Xbox as we speak. Mine just finished installing.
Her journey it began because SHE DIED.
From the pillar she ran and then SHE DIED.
She paused to catch her breath and died another gruesome death,
and now they'll seek Gwyndolin's spirit JUSTIFIED.
*reads 2k words into the chapter out of morbid curosity*
Yep...another crossover where the author did little more than basically say:" I want character A to be in ponyland!" with little beyond that...
i.imgur.com/CoWZ05t.gif
So... Shiva the Traitor now makes an appearance... Things are about to become... very interesting...
7552200
*looks at the chapter commented on*
I'm curious how you arrived at this conclusion since the plot and characters left ponyland in chapter 26 and haven't been back since.
*Is very confused*
7552231
Let me take a wild guess at the plot of this fic Its gone one of three ways most likely:
1. X pony has joined Dark Souls character and they end up following the game's storyline except with a few variations to prevent it from feeling like your just inserting the dark souls plot into your fic.
2. X Pony has somehow found themselves in the DS universe or DS character somehow found themselves in ponyland and then they either duke it out, have a "Deep and meaningful conversation", band together to beat X DS character or ponyland villian, Or all three.
3. X Pony and DS character fall in love at which one plots 1 or 2 are most likely to follow.
If its none of the three then woot for you, you've done something mildly new with this genre but I'd bet 50 bucks that it has at least 1 to 2 elements from the above plotline.
TL;DR: Crossovers of this kind are RARELY anything more than: "I want character A to be in ponyland!" or "I want my pony to go to <insert other word here.
5871721
Okey THAT is cool.
7552178 I remember that song. I really need to see what he has been doing lately.
7552254 Well as someone who has actually been following and reading the fic I can tell you this: None of your 3 'criteria' apply. So perhaps if a fic has 90 THOUSAND VIEWS you might assume it's doing something right and give it a proper try. Or not, whatever. Tis your life.
7552378
I'll pass thank you. I do have standards so feel free to view me as the following pony as i walk out of this fic:
reviewersunite.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/mlps6e12-9.jpg?w=625
For a moral normal mare. It's really impressive that Applejack able to survive this long in the Dark Soul after fight in several heavy battles. She really be a nice player...To play this game from start point til Anor Londo without any dead or fatal injure. It's really impossible...You really have well avoiding, AJ.
7553072 Well in fairness, the Chosen Undead made things slightly easier by eliminating a bit of the opposition on the way to Anor Londo. Also AJ's now undead so that's another hindrance she doesn't have to worry about anymore...presuming she can handle the trauma of now knowing what it's like to die and be resurrected....
7553169 Welll....She did survive the fortress, fight again Dark Sun countless warrior. Go thought the paint world. and another battle that so difficult even for chosen undead or great lord Seath. You have to admin that she is really strong here. Physical and mentality. Especially a sense to avoid the attack that not even in her vision yet.
So we have only 4 mortals left it seem. Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. (Not sure if Celestia can be count as mortal or not...To fight Manticor-like creature with peaceful step like that...)
7553621 Actually there's more mortals left than those four.
Trust me, the body count is just getting started.
So Celestia is going to be a whip user, uh. Kinda more fitting for Molestia if I dare say. Anyway, hope she rapidly learns that if what comes against try to kill you, you kill it without mercy.
Man was Gwyndolin bitching a lot. He should rather blame is father. What kinda father says to his child "I'm not satisfied with how you are, so you become this."? I was expecting him to have his words shove back his throat, but no, not only he cheats but he killed Applejack.
Also ouch, Priscilla is letting Spike cut her cute fluffy tail so he can have her Dagger.
And what a surprise at the end. Aurelia is the daughter of Artorias and Ciaran. Did not see this coming. And god damn it, Shiva, you're script says you're to be at the bottom of Blighttown, what the hell were you doing here?
Nice chapter!
I am looking foward to seeing Celestia join the fray. 
Hopefully Seath gets things back together too. 
very interested in why Gwyndolin is so strong. Maybe it's something from Dark Soul game cause I don't really know anything about them but I am still very much enjoying this story. 
*Insert musing on plot that makes author pm me for spoiling stuff*
Another great chapter.
I personally always called the firstborn gwynson, but his name is up for debate. Poor AJ. All dead now. After Auriela gets up, shove of the east is going to be shiva, of the deceased! Love that gwyndolin is getting some sympathy and not just bad without explanation and that there is a reason for him to hate seath
7558539
*Insert musing on what new musings you may be musing on*
And yeah, Gwyndolin, like many villians is one who's been made by the demands and turmoil of his life not born. It's the least I can do to make everyone's favourite waifu more sympathetic...for now at least.
7558728
*Agreement with the musings and reassurance that it is part of the lore*
He just used Aldrich's ability...
Lothric, here we come.
7562461 Well lore states that Gwyndolin's loss and assimilation by Aldrich is why Anor Londo looks as it later does so perhaps that's inevitable.
7562461 Does that mean they're all gonna lose their poise as well?
They need a hero to save them. A legend thought to be lost, but...
The legend never dies.
7608407 Not to mention that, as will be later explored, the new lore set by DS3 doesn't necessarily discount previous fancanon if you sit down and think about it.
Once I bring Solaire back into the main focus I'll show what I'm getting at.
And now, we patiently wait.
I must say, this story has me enraptured. Well written, author.
It just needs more giantdad. That's all, and then I will die happy.
7616318 Latest blog on story progress.
Sorry that it's always a wait these days. Promise I'm trying my best to get the next chapter out asap!
MORE LIKE SHIVA THE DECEASED LOL
7552794 I love how you refer to Equestria as Ponyland. Anyway, it's your decision to not read the story, but you're missing out on an amazing read.
Shouldn't that say 'what was being revealed to her' ?
Hallway Simulator 2015