• Published 21st Sep 2015
  • 11,750 Views, 227 Comments

A New Wheel - Northern Desert



You know the drill. Some poor sap manages to buy something from a creepy salesman and is sent to Equus. Now our stranded and weary dimension hopper has to survive war, politics, and others who've managed to get in the same mess as him.

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Chapter 11 - A Dark Turn

The town of Orion was small in size, the population not daring to go above thirty equines. They would often find themselves having more visitors than actually residents. The streets were filled with caravans and travelers. Stores were constantly stocked with new and exciting goods, displaying the sense of connectivity that Equestria seemed to always preach it had. Times of peace had proven far more fruitful than times of high tension, for the requirement to advance one’s technology was no longer driven on how to best defeat thy enemy, but how to equally meet the needs of other kingdoms.

Its location was vital to a long, winding trade route that connected Equestria to the Minotaurs. Equestria lacked the industrial progress to create things as big as airships to things as small as refrigerators. Minotaurian Kingdom’s, on the other hand, lacked the terrain or skill to create a strong, agricultural system that would continue their nation’s growth. So, both sides soon saw the beneficial impact that an alliance and later trade deals would have on their countries. Keeping their people happy and there markets filled with money.

Orion was a valuable safe haven for merchants and government caravan. While bandits were prevalent, they dare not invade the town in fear of earning the wrath of the crown. There were rumors that once, a gang of thieves once destroyed an escort of food and burned the precious cargo along with the guard detail. This did not end well for these bandits, as Princess Celestia was said to be ruling in a difficult time that demanded her to be much...sterner towards such grievous crimes. The hideout of this notorious gang could still be seen, as it forever remained a scorched ground. So, to imagine the ire one would gain if they harmed the town that was vital to this longstanding peace? It is understandably not worth the risk.

Of course, there will always be those that throw such caution out the window and do it anyways. In this case, it happened to be a rather shadowy tyrant king. The day was overall normal, or as normal as it could be, before the dark unicorn Sombra decided to pay a visit to the cemetery. Now, many would probably gather what would happen next…dark unicorn, evil, cemetery?

Yes? No? Maybe?

Oh come on! It’s so obvious that he’s going to raise them from the dead. Really, how many times have you seen the same stunt pulled before. Countless others have written him as a necromance of sorts. Just...look, there he is now!

Said evil unicorn was strutting amongst the graves with both flare and arrogance. Not minding where his metal boots went, breaking gravestones and crushing flowers. With an evil and wicked laugh, one that everyone within earshot could hear, his horn glowed with unholy energy. Unleashing a wave of cruel, maleficent magic, the ground rumbled and churned. The sounds of voiceless screams were obviously coming from the graves as the ground seemed to tear open.

“Now rise my non-living, dark, twisted minions of darkness!” Sombra cackles madly, triumphantly throwing his forelegs in the air like he just didn’t care. One could possible feel smug with how obvious this play was. Of course...legions of undead equines was effective in terrifying your enemies. And unleashing it on an unsuspecting--wait...no…

Instead of the remains of ponies rising from the ground, caskets cracked and twisted. Gravestones tore from the earth, and any materials used to bury those dead floated in the air. Swirling about, makeshift monsters of stone, marble, and wood came to life. Gutless growls emanated from them and Sombra chuckled darkly….

Well, seems like Living Tombstone is making an appearance in this story….



Philip visibly shuddered as he felt a cold, chill in the air. This only occurred when someone attempted to be humorous, but ended up only being cringe worthy. Feathers fluffed out, walking through this dark spooky forest didn’t help. Now many might be thinking, ‘Philip, you are the fantastical Yveltal! Avian of Death!’ and they would be right to think this. Of course, that didn’t mean spooky dark forests couldn’t make him a bit of a chicken!

“Ugh, what is with this cold draft?” Philip asked his comrade, the elegant and calm deer of life. She did not seem to be too cold, somehow resistant to that icy chill. Which baffled the Yveltal considering he was, by far, superior in fluff.

“Probably the Northern Winds making their way down south,” Xerneas mused, looking about them with caution. She was high on alert, expecting a foe to come by at any moment. “We must be careful...there are far darker things in this forest then anything Pokemon or Equus have to offer…” She warned her feathery companion, feeling slight worry for him now.

Philip seemed skeptical immediately, giving her a raised eyebrow. “What the heck do you mean?” He asked, rather confused by her proclamation. “Only thing living on this planet is Pokemon and the original inhabitants of this world…” The avian went silent for a moment before realizing that Arceus was a rather secretive guy when it came time to tell someone everything. “...Right?”

Xerneas shook her head and continued to stay on high alert, eyes scanning their surroundings with intense concentration. “No...we are not the only ones Displaced to this world, nor will we be the last,” The Deer of Life stated simply and as it got darker, her pelt seemed to hum more and more with a soft, white aura. “Do not mistake all Displaced for either helpful heroes or asinine villains, we ourselves represent that their is a middle ground…”

The ground ranged every step from soft to hard. Cobwebs were evident along the trees and the markings of the straight path became less and less with every few steps. Philip felt unhinged by her words, even more so since this was technically someone with far more experience warning him of the certain dangers. With a shudder, he too seemed to look about them...as though waiting for something to strike. However, only the eery silence walk alongside them. Soon, they reached a small wooden bridge.

It was nothing special. Not too big, not too small. Somewhere in the middle, though it was clear it could support the two. As they moved to walk on it, however, a sudden shriek became evident and they spun around to see something dart along the bushes. The earthy ground was dug into and clay and dirt were thrown up as a consequence. The two watched in horror for a moment before outright bolting across the bridge.

“Shit!” Xerneas shouted and stampeded away, Philip kawing out in surprise and close behind her. While the two were most definitely powerful beings, it did not mean they couldn’t be startled by this sudden occurrence. From the atmosphere to the noises, anyone sensible being would immediately get away from this extremely off creature.

“What the heck is that!?!” Philip squawks in shock, flapping his wings like crazy. His feathers stuck out on all ends and he let out a series of startled chirps. “Why does it exist!?! That is such a stupid thing to exist!”

The sound of gut wrenching growls were evident as whatever ‘it’ was chased after them. The sound of cracking bark as it shot from tree to tree, the shaking and breaking of branches as it soared in the treetops, and the sound of sharp objects sinking into the ground could be heard as it followed them.

“I don’t want to know, Philip!” Xerneas growled under her breath, weaving and dodging branches. Jumping over rocks that could cause her to trip, she moved about the rather muddy and cold path with perfect elegance. This caused the Yveltal to look at her with wide eyes, body heating up slightly before suddenly seeing an oddity up ahead. “Hurry up birdbrain!” The Deer of Life yelled at him.

“Xerneas, wa--” The avian attempted to warn her, be as soon as she came upon the oddity, it soon became clear it was a pitfall trap. With a cry of surprise, she fell down the abyss. “--No!” with a kaw of surprise, Philip shot down after her. The hole itself seemed endless, big. This worked to the Bird of Death’s advantage as it allowed him to quickly reach his companion and wrap his talons around her barrel.

“Why didn’t you shout, ‘Hole!’ you silly dodo!?!” The deer screamed as Philip desperately flapped his wings to halt their fall. With struggled chirps and growls, the both soon saw a net-like object right below them. Falling down into this sudden cushion, they felt sticky and desperate wiggled to get out. “Webs...Arceus Dammit!” Xerneas seemed even more worried.

“hE CAnnOt heAR YoU dOwN HeRe, LitTle dOE,” A voice seemed to laugh, though it was mixed with an ethereal hiss. The sound from before, the same that was chasing them just now, could be heard walking about the rocky surface. Soon, eight red eyes bored down on its captured prey.

Philip just stared up at the approaching horror with mixed feelings. He would most definitely have to save ‘little doe’ as a comeback later for when Xerneas was verbally schooling him. On the other hand, he was currently stuck in webs with what he would assume was a spider monster coming to eat him. Said creature was laughing in amusement, small bits of rocks broke off further down the hole and hopping onto the webs.

“As vile and disgustingly repetitive as ever, Undgluk” Xerneas spat back with anger, eyes narrowing at the approaching creature. It was large and black, white hairs acting as a trim for the overall dark appearance. The spider-like monster had a scarred along its dark, emotionless face. Shaking her head, the avian took notice that the webs under him were slowly being torn apart by psychic. “Could you please do something new?” A rather smug look came over the deer’s face, which earned a bitter hiss from Undgluk.

“Can’t we all just get al--Gah!” Whatever the Yveltal was about to saw was cut off in a shout of pain, one eye closing and hissing. Undgluk had used one of her blade-like leg to stab into his thigh. Xerneas struggled a bit, eyes widening as the smell of blood was evident. Trickling down his leg and reddening his white fur.

Undgluk let out a gleeful laugh and looked down at Philip, “i’M sOOoo sOrRy, DId i hUrT ThE pOor, aDoRable DoVe?” Another leg caressed the avian’s cheek, causing him to shiver as he felt the pain well up in his leg, blood sticking to his feathers.

Xerneas Struggled even more, tearing the webs under her as well. But doing it slowly so that she could silently peel off the sticky substance. Immediate fear overtook her gaze and she looked at the other Pokemon with worry, trying to give him a reassuring look. “Undgluk, you have no quarrel with Philip--” Another cry of pain came from the Yveltal, causing the deer’s pupils to shrink as the spider-like monstrosity twisted her leg in Philip’s thigh.

“G--ah stop that!” Philip hissed in pain, wiggling in distress. Xerneas frantically worked to break the last few threads of web as her allies pain intensified. The spider let out a broke, twisted laugh.

“I WiLL nEvER sTOP!” Undgluk let out a horrid snarl as she looked at Xerneas. “AN eYE FOr aN EYe mY LiTTle dOE---” Whatever the spider creature was about to say was cut off with a loud snap coming from the webs holding down Philip. With quick speed and driven with fear, the Yveltal’s tail grabbed Undgluk’s body and with a spin he chucked her down into the dark depths below. Letting out an upsetting screech, the dark twisted creature seemed to crash into the rocky surface as she feel down. Bones snapping and flesh tearing as the spider plummeted down the deep abyss. Xerneas winced with each and every sound, not feeling bad for their foe...but she couldn’t help be be sickened by the current proceedings.

“She is most certainly not your little doe!” Philip shouted after her, wincing as his wings flapped and a pain shot up his body. “Urk! Fricken demented spider freak…” The avian hissed in pain before flying over to Xerneas who looked at him with a surprised look before smirking.

“I will admit...you did well...for a rather new Displaced,” Xerneas took not of his wound before the bird grabbed her by her barrel and began to lift them up.

“Thanks...I guess…” Philip shrugged, not sure if it was a genuine compliment or not. Eventually, he lifted the both of them out of the hole where he set her down. Soon collapsing on the ground himself with a tired look about him, his side aching with more pain due to the wound.

Xerneas looked down at the avian, a conflicted look about her before she shook her head and smirked at him. “Let’s get you patched up and we will take a rest here...there is no need to rush ahead while tired and injured.” The Deer of Life suggested, sitting down for a moment and sniffing his wound to see if he had been poisoned. The Yveltal couldn’t help but agree, not arguing back and staying silent as she examined his wound.



Meanwhile, that town that Sombra was about to terrorize...yeah, that one...well, turns out that it was somewhat more difficult than the dark unicorn anticipated. The guards were on constant high alert, so when they saw the stone monsters and evil cackles from the graveyard, they rushed to get their arms and create a proper defense. With a shield in place around the perimeters of the graveyard, the battle begun more as a small struggle for the twisted forces of Sombra to escape. Whittled down by lightning bolts, arrows, spears, and magical blasts, the stoney and wooden creatures fell down in heaps. These heaps, unfortunately, reformed into bigger monsters that continued to smash at the weakening shield.

As the conjured bubble broke, the equines were quick to stab and batter the now larger, yet fewer, monstrosities with projectiles and long pikes. These efforts would prove fruitless, however, as these machinations of dark magic and abundant material simply reformed when damaged. With heavy hearts, the inhabitants quickly began to evacuate as Sombra’s army continued to push them and their armed forces back and out of the town. This continued for a long time until reaching a certain limit. A place outside of the town, a good couple of feet, and the creations of the mad unicorn ceased their attack. They seemed bound, unable to move further.

With this sudden realization, the inhabitants continued to flee without the fear of being hunted down. They, unfortunately, were forced to retreat north...not south where their capital resided. This lead them to be stuck in the home of the minotaurs….which was not exactly thrilling for either side. Of course, was this not what Sombra wanted? To shove his foes in uncomfortable and uncontrollable circumstances?

This latest attack now over and done with, the unicorn couldn’t help but feel victorious. Moving like a shadowy plague, he continued these acts upon several other villages with similar results. Causing a mixture of strife, unease, and tension to arise in the north. Each one of these quick, forceful evacuations seemed to lead directly towards the Crystal Empire, possibly and probably his end goal. Whether or not the Guardians of The World Below could stop him in time was unsure to any and can only truly be determined when they finally confront this rampaging sorcerer.

Author's Note:

Hello Everyone!

Once again with another chapter out. Yes, it is quite short I know. Reason why was mainly due to me still getting back into writing, hopefully I can start writing longer chapters soon. In the mean time, I decided that since I was writing a short chapter that I would continue to use it as a way to create small ideas of possible conflict while also give you, the reader, a better ability to see what the characters are like.

To be honest, I almost forgot how much I enjoyed writing these characters :twilightsheepish:

That being said, I will probably make a blog later asking you, the readers, about a few things regarding the story. I will, of course, need to get these new chapters edited. My editor and I have kept in touch this whole time, so he is aware that I am writing again (He was one of the people who really motivated me to start picking back up now) and when he has time, I'll ask him to edit these. Of course, the poor guy has his own stories and stuff so he needs to focus on those.

Other than that, I hope for criticism and I am always open to it, hope to hear from you guys soon. Have a wonderful week and I hope to see you all again!

Comments ( 17 )

7702265 or the black hole launcher from saints row :pinkiecrazy:

Question: what was the giant spider thing? I get the impression that it was a Displaced, but a Displaced of what?

Dear Sombra,
I am going to snap your horn off and shove it so far up your a**, you will be spitting magic for weeks!:pinkiehappy::pinkiecrazy:

I AM BACK AUTHOR DID YOU MISS ME!

I D O N T T H I N K H E D I ..

DONT RUIN ME MOMENT.

Comment posted by Waifu Crossbreed deleted Feb 2nd, 2018

You took my minecraft city name!

Hope there's another update

8372478
Considering he's a Yveltal, I imagine him to be pretty damn big.

8372478
It also depends on how big the pony's are too.

8564465
That link no long works :pinkiesad2:

Sorry if this makes this feel rushed.

WHERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER

7689053
When will you update

I absolutely love this story, and cant help but keep reading. I don't want to stop reading but with only 1 chapter left I'm sad because I fear that it wont go on. Is there any chance of your story continuing?

This fanfic is sadly dead

11317053
not just the fic the author has not logined in almost 6 years🤧

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