The Wild Unicorn
The band of elven rangers had been scouting the woods for almost a day when they finally found the trail most likely from the witches they pursued.
The day before, a group of unidentified witches had broken into the magic school of Amrun, a middle sized town east of what had been the Elven Kingdom before the Dark Lord. The witches made quick work of the guards, the archmage of the school, and stolen several magic-enhancing jewels. Amrun was known for their magic enhancing artifacts, it was the town's specialty after all.
After taking what they wanted, the witches quickly escaped into the Dark Forest near Amrun before the town guards could catch up with them. The Dark Forest was known to be a dangerous place, filled with creatures or many shapes and sizes, so if the witches went there it was because they were familiar with it. Only a fool would walk into the forest unprepared.
Duke Arhael, ruler of Amrun, quickly gave the ordered Amrun's best rangers to look for the witches, retrieve the enchanted bijoux, and bring them back to face trial, or slay them if they resisted. The task force of ten elven rangers had prepared themselves in haste and left Amrun in pursuit of the witches. Now, after a long search, they were finally on their trail.
Pelilasson, their chief ranger, gestured for the rest to stop. He knelt down, touched the ground, felt some broken leaves, and stood back up.
"The trail is fresh," he said to the others in a low voice, trying to be as quiet and stealthy as possible. "The witches came through here. We're very close and will catch up with them soon. Be ready." The rest of the elves nodded quietly.
"Pelilasson, are we certain these are witches we're tracking, and not agents of… him?" One of the rangers asked.
"My friend, these witches broke into the city, knocked out the guards and archmage and ran off instead of finishing them off. If the Dark Lord of All was behind this, it would not have been so bloodless. Their fear of the archmage recovering would not have overridden their fear of HIM. Nor would it have been the magic school that was struck, it would have been the Duke's castle, at least. And I don't think the Dark Lord would be using a little girl as one of his shock troops."
"I still don't like it," said the same elf, named Galan. "It's been too quiet. The monsters of this forest have given us, or something far too wide a berth. We had not had to hide or slip by any horrors since entering these woods. The witches have left nothing to delay us. This could be a trap. And don't forget the beasts we've found along our search, freshly slain, by magic, something else now walks these woods. And I dread should we encounter it."
Suddenly, the silence of the forest was broken by a loud explosion, close enough to hear, the ground to tremble, and see all the birds flying away in fear, but not close enough to actually see it.
"What was that!?" asked one of the startled elves.
"It came from that direction," said Peliasson, pointing northwards, "Quick, follow me!"
Peliasson and the rest of the rangers readied their weapons as they ran to towards the sound of the explosion. As they got closer to the source, they could hear cries, yells, sounds of spells being cast. It had to be the witches, the trail the rangers had been following was leading them to the same place they heard the explosion and they were hearing a battle. But, who, or what, were the witches fighting?
The elves came to a dead stop when they saw a body crawling on hands and knees towards them, it was most likely a witch judging by how she looked and dressed. But she was bleeding all over, leaving a trail of fresh blood on the ground. Her face twisted in pain and her eyes reflecting complete and utter fear.
"She's going to kill us all… she'll kill us all!" she repeated over and over, before she collapsed on the ground. Her eyes went blank as she succumbed to her wounds and drew her last breath.
Peliasson was the first to shake off the surprise at what they just all saw. He checked her, finding the symbol of a grinning dead tree like a skull on it.
"She has the same symbol as the witches involved in the attack, she's from the same coven. You, register the body. You, cover him while he does." He pointed to two rangers. "The rest, come with me." The first elf he pointed to knelt next to the dead witch and started to register her belongings, the second one kept his bow ready as he looked around for any danger. Peliasson and the rest carefully stepped towards the sound of the still going battle, although it sounded like it was dying out. They quickly arrived to a clearing in the forest. Or rather it was clear now, with the sliced in half, incinerated, and knocked over trees still bleeding sap.
What they saw was unnerving to say the least. The clearing showed definite signs of a fight, a fight that had involved several destructive magic spells with small craters and turned up earth. But more obvious was the fact that there were several dead bodies of witches all over the clearing, half a dozen of them at least. Their bodies were in varying states that went from simply dead without a mark on them with a look of pure terror frozen on their faces. Flesh turned to limestone and shattered. To made into wood and burned to a crisp that smelled of roasted meat. And then those who had just been trampled to death, and bloody impaled. A gray squirrel climbed out of a pile of clothes, confused and looking unsure of herself, she looked at the elves and the unicorn almost innocently, and scampered for the nearest tree not to be seen again.
And in the middle of all the carnage was a unicorn. A single unicorn mare with her coat white as snow and her mane and tail as blue as the deep ocean, the marks on her flanks seemed like blue flowers, but from the angle they were standing, the elves couldn't make out if it looked like five or seven.
In front of the unicorn was a witch, the only witch left alive in the clearing. She tried to cast a spell, but the unicorn's horn lit up and a magical aura enveloped the witch, lifting her off the ground and pinning her arms and legs together so she couldn't move an inch.
The unicorn slowly walked over to the witch, and looked at her dead in the eyes, a sort of calm fury seemed to be in the pony's eyes. Her horn started to glow red with fire, and she smirked. "Do you want to know what death tastes like?"
Red hot fire shot out from the unicorn's horn, and into the witch's open mouth and down her throat. The witch's face seemed to be twisted in pain for just a second, before she bloated and exploded in a giant fireball, so bright that it forced the elves to shield their eyes.
Then the white unicorn mare turned to look at the elves. "And what are you doing in the forest?" she asked neutrally.
Peliasson had heard the stories of how Moochick Randell claimed to have discovered ponies uplifted to sapience by the gods, which the Elves had come to believe (Moochick Randell's word carried much weight)...but this was the first time he'd ever personally witnessed a thinking unicorn. Unicorns for the elves embodied the wilds' grace and ferocity, beautiful yet untamable. Seeing the look of a thinking creature in the eyes of a wild unicorn was something that took his breath away.
"Take her down! She's dangerous!" shouted one of the rangers, as he readied his bow, pointing it at the unicorn. Several other elves followed his example.
"Wait! Don't!" yelled Peliasson, but it was too late.
"Hmph, Bipeds." The unicorn's horn glowed and all the bows and arrows were teleported out of the hands of the hostile elves, even the ones in their quivers. Her telekensis positioned the arrows in front of elves, pointed the arrows ready to fire at the very elves that had just threatened her with them.
Peliasson, who had put away his weapons before all this, put his hands up. "Please! We mean you no harm, unicorn."
He then looked at the remaining rangers that hadn't threatened the unicorn, but that hadn't put away their weapons either. "Put down your weapons."
"But sir-" one elf complained.
"I said put down your weapons!" he repeated, the rest of the elves complied.
"Please, we were only looking for these witches, our quarrel is not with you," Peliasson continued to try and reason with the mare.
The mare kept the arrows pointed at the elves for a moment, then finally she lowered them, down on the ground. "We shall see," she said.
Peliasson looked relieved, he smiled as he continued to speak to the unicorn, "We come from Amrun, an elf town near this forest. We were robbed recently by these witches, and were following them. Their trail led us here. Would it be okay if my men search the remains of these witches for the bijoux they stole from us?"
"The what?" The unicorn looked confused.
"Jewelry, rings, small objects to wear, they are magical and dangerous in the wrong hands."
The unicorn shrugged. "I don't see why not."
Peliasson turned to his rangers, "Okay men, search the bodies."
"Yes sir," replied the other elves as they started their search, registering the remains of the witches.
"If you don't mind me asking… why is a lone unicorn fighting a coven of witches?" asked Peliasson. "Where is your herd?"
The unicorn mare gestured at a leather bag near one of the dead witches, "Look in there."
Peliasson reached down to pick up the leather bag and opened it. Inside there were several horns of different colors and sizes. All unicorn horns, of that there was no doubt. From long elegant horns of the elderly, to short stubby ones of the youngest foals. The bag was full of them, too many to count just by sight, it was a Bag of Holding, bigger on the inside than the outside.
"Are these…?" Peliasson started.
"The witches came and attacked my herd, they caught us by surprise. Their first attack exploded close to me and threw me off into a deep crevasse. By the time I awoke and managed to climb out… they had already killed all of them and cut their horns… even the colt and fillies. Including mine, and my mate. Years ago, my mother was killed somewhere in these woods...now I've lost the rest of them..."
"... What were their names?"
"... We're unicorns...our 'names' consisted of...scents, so they obviously don't translate very well into a spoken tongue...The unicorn looked away from the elf so he couldn't see her face, "I was their Alpha, and I failed them. All I could do was avenge them and ensure more of my kind wouldn't suffer their fate...the rage and anger...the hate I felt in that moment...I believe it caused me to unlock a power I didn't know I had, which I used to destroy them..."
The two elves that had stayed behind to search the first dead witch came into the clearing, they were surprised at the scene as much as the rest.
"So? Did you find anything?" Peliasson questioned them.
"Yes Sir, but not what we quested for, they didn't have the stolen arcana-bijoux," replied one of the elves.
"And the rest of you?" asked Peliasson to the rest of the elves that were finishing registering the remains of the witches.
"Sorry sir, they're all clean," replied one of the rangers, the rest of the elves nodded their heads in agreement.
"So this wasn't even the right trail of witches," Galan said.
"They had the same symbol, so they're at least from the same coven...that means another group from the same coven must have launched the attack on Amrun," Peliasson replied.
"So there ARE more of these wicked things," the mare admitted, seeming like she'd just received confirmation rather than realization.
One of them suddenly seemed to grow pal. "Sir, I found something...it's not what we were looking for, but it's…"
Peliasson looked at the item in question. It was a wand, but the engravings were what stood out and made him gasp. A series of runes. Unholy, dark symbols.
The unicorn trotted over and looked at the wand. She admitted the symbol made her feel a little ill looking at them. "...I don't understand, why are these markings important?"
"They are symbols for words: 'Mother Lilith, I call down your wrath,'" Peliasson replied. "These witches are a part of Lilith's blood."
"Lilith?"
"The First and Queen of All Witches," replied the Elf. "If this coven is a part of her clan, that means they're a particularly vile brood. Her family worships evil and wickedness as virtues, and many have a natural affinity for the dark arts. They have been a blight upon the world for quite some time, and would be the first one to inform you of that fact."
"Given the horrid acts they performed on my herd, I am inclined to believe that."
"Indeed...Well then, let's not sit around here. We'll keep searching the forest for another trail, their hideout must be in this forest. They must have taken their plunder there," said Peliasson to his rangers.
"Their hideout? You mean the witches' coven? I know where that is," said the unicorn.
Peliasson turned in surprised to look at the mare, "You do!?"
"Yes. When I awoke, I overheard them mentioning a superior named Rowena who had ordered this and where their coven is located. But you will not go there. The witches killed my herd. I will go there alone, and kill every last one of them. Revenge will be mine, and mine alone," said the unicorn looking very determined.
"What? Sir, if this unicorn does that we may never find the bijoux the witches stole!" exclaimed one of the elves. "With the power she's loosed here, she could very well destroy the bijoux while destroying the witches!!" Said the same ranger that had first tried to draw a weapon on the unicorn. "Especially if one of the witches is strong enough to match her!"
"I'm warning you, biped, I will have my revenge. Do not stand in my way," said the mare, frowning angrily.
The elf turned to look at Peliasson, "Sir, we don't have to listen to this unicorn. We should…"
"Enough!" Peliasson cut him off, "We are not here to fight this unicorn, and Moochick Randall has made peace between our kind and theirs. We are here to get back what the witches stole from Amrun."
"But sir…"
"I said no."
"Yes sir," he replied through clenched teeth.The elf looked away, clearly annoyed.
Peliasson again turned to look at the white unicorn, again trying to calm everyone down, "I understand your position. I think anyone with a family would have no different of one, but I hope you can also understand ours."
The unicorn mare seemed to calm herself, as the tension subsided. "What is there to understand? Why should I abandon my search?"
"Those bijoux are important to our people, and they attacked our home as well. We both have a stake in this. I have a proposal," Peliasson continued, "Would you mind returning to Amrun with us, and talking to the Duke? Perhaps you can both come to an agreement that is acceptable to all, you can get what you want, while we can as well."
"Duke? Is that like your Alpha? An elf Alpha?" asked the mare.
"You could say so. Something like that," replied Peliasson.
The unicorn mare seemed to think for a moment, then nodded, "Okay, elf, I accept your proposal."
Peliasson smiled, "Wonderful. Let's go."
"Forgive me sir, but I worry also, it's taken us a day of searching the forest to find their trail, who's to say if they won't simply hand off their loot to a carrier in the meantime as we backtrack and then track all the way back here? Or simply realize their sisters and brothers are dead and RELOCATE? We nor the unicorn will ever find them."
"If this was a separate group, then we've already lost their original trail and will need to retrace our tracks," Piliasson replied. "We got one group mixed up for the other, this path is a dead end regardless."
"Sir! You can't let this... this monster into Amrun! She can't be trusted!"
"I can see the brutality here as much as you Glen. Right now her enemy is the witches, it's better that we-"
"Who cares about witches? I'm talking about all the innocent trees she's slew in her thoughtlessness! Look at all the birds and squirrels who are homeless now because of her!"
The other elves gave a groan. The mare simply looked confused. "Glen, have you been partying with that sect of druids again?"
"They throw good parties…"
+
Duke Arhael walked down the hallway and towards the meeting room, the town's First Spellcaster walking next to him.
"And Peliasson didn't tell you who it was?" he asked.
"No Sire," replied the First Spellcaster, "All he said was that he had met someone that knew of the witches' whereabouts, but refused to tell them. He proposed this person spoke with you, so you might convince her to give us the information we need."
"Her? Peliasson said this person was a woman?" asked the Duke.
"No, but he did refer to the person as 'her' Sire," replied the First Spellcaster, "I asked them to wait in the meeting room for you."
"Very well, let's see what we can find out." Duke Arhael opened the door into the meeting room… and was met with the image of a white unicorn mare with a blue mane and tail looking around the room, Peliasson standing next to the mare.
The shocking thing was the unicorn peacefully allowing his housekeeper, Aria, to brush her mane. She blinked as she was shown her image in a mirror, as if she'd never seen her mane styled in any way, or her own face so clearly. A lot of twigs and other things filled a waste bin beside her, the mare having taken care of ticks or other parasites herself with a simple spell long before she'd entered the castle. Unicorns had long since realized the value of such spells.
"Thank you, uh, Miss, Ar-re-ah," she said politely to the elf maiden, who merely bowed and politely back away. A look saying Aria understood this meeting was not for her and not to be discussed with the staff.
The whole scene brought to mind for the duke old fairytales of virgin elven maidens being able to tame unicorns with nothing but the purity in their hearts.
"Ah, Duke Arhael!" said Peliasson, "I'm glad you could come. I was hoping talking with you would convince this unicorn to help us."
"A unicorn?" asked the Duke, surprised.
"It seems like it, Sire," replied the First Spellcaster.
The white unicorn turned to look at the Duke, "Is there are problem with me being a unicorn?"
The Duke shook off his surprise and replied, "No, no, it's just that… I've never seen a unicorn this close before. Except for books." He walked closer to the unicorn and the leader of the elf rangers, the First Spellcaster pacing behind him. All the illustrations he'd seen never showed a thinking mind behind their ferocious magic.
"Sire, we found this unicorn while following the trail of the witches. She got to them before we did, and killed them all. They turned out to be actually merely from the same coven. She says that she knows the location of their lair within the forest, where the rest most certainly took the stolen bijoux. However, she will not tell us, or allow us to look for them before she goes there herself," explained Peliasson.
"I see," acknowledged the Duke, he then turned to look at the unicorn. "Why is that?"
"I am the last of my herd, the witches killed them all," replied the unicorn mare. "As Alpha, it was my duty to keep my herd safe, and I failed. But I will avenge them. The witches will die by my horn."
"I am sorry for your herd," Replied the Duke. "Perhaps we can assist you? A party of elves can go with you to the witches' coven, and help you fight them."
The unicorn shook her head, "I refuse. Revenge must be mine and mine alone. Even if I die, it will be me and the witches, no one else."
The Duke looked thoughtful. "The witches…"
"They are children of Lilith," Peliasson explained.
"...And we're certain…"
"If Lilith herself was there, we'd have detected her darkness if their coven was within a hundred miles," Peliasson explained. Lilith herself hadn't been seen in quite some time, many wondered if she had died...but until they knew for sure...
"If you don't mind me asking, why exactly did the witches kill your herd?" asked the First Spellcaster.
Peliasson was the one that replied, "Their horns. We found a bag full of severed unicorn horns on one of the witches that were killed by this mare."
The eyes of the First Spellcaster opened wide at this revelation, "Sire, I believe I know what the witches are planning."
"You do?" asked the Duke.
"The witches that assaulted the magic school didn't steal every single magical enhancer item there. They only stole the jewelry, everything that was a workable and malleable metal. If they were to forge them around a unicorn's horn, using the natural magical conducts in them, they could make extremely powerful magic wands. It could turn the most common spellcaster into a magical prodigy of amazing prowess. They would be a menace not only to us, but to everyone, everywhere."
"Has any ever done this before? Unicorn horns and our crafting of bijoux is not exactly new."
"Unicorns were rarely ever seen, let alone killed before now...and if Moochick Randell's account is true, it is possible the magic that caused the great change in them may have affected things...that 'little piece of Rainbow' as he calls it had a power the like we've never seen, if even a sliver of it now lays in the magic of unicorns…"
"They must be stopped then!" exclaimed Peliasson.
"So, these witches wanted my herd's horns to increase their power? What would they do with such strength?" asked the mare.
"Knowing their family's reputation, like reek more of their havoc," Peliasson explained. "To a member of Lilith's family who abides by their traditions, to destroy is divine. To maim is bliss. They believe the more harm they cause, they better a witch they are."
The unicorn's ears pinned back, her tail swishing back and forth rapidly. She snorted hot air out of her nostrils. "So...they wanted to turn my herd...my mate...my foals. Into a weapon to harm the innocent?"
"What do you say, unicorn, after learning all this, would you tell us where the coven is?" asked the Duke.
The mare seemed to think for a moment, then replied, "I can't sense any malice in any of you, and the one with magic," she said referring to the First Spellcaster. "He seems to be speaking the truth. But I must take revenge on my own, that I will not yield. I am open to any proposals you might have, however, that might help us all make sure the witches are not a threat."
"Sire, I sense great magical power in this unicorn, she is in fact one of the most powerful creatures I have ever seen. She seems to be even more powerful than the late archmage of the school," explained the First Spellcaster.
"Really? That much?" asked the Duke.
The First Spellcaster nodded...seeming to do a closer examination before gasping. He whispered to the duke. "This...Sire, this unicorn's power, the only other place I've seen a magic like this is the dragon's Rainbow."
The Duke blinked. "The Rainbow Noble Heathspike possesses?"
"The same...or rather one piece of it. A dark but noble power. A sacred darkness, different from the corruptive, vile darkness of the Witches or the Dark Lord of All. Sire, those Rainbows are divine gifts, given to those two by the Gods themselves. If this pony has a similar power..."
"A good omen?" the Duke questioned.
[i?"Indeed...Unicorn, how about we provide you with something that would enhance your magic even more? To help focus it. We were preparing a special set of magical golden horseshoes for the King's chariot, created from fallen starlight. But they were never delivered before the great evacuation of the capital," said the First Spellcaster, talking directly to the unicorn. "It will certainly help you on your quest to avenge your family, but you still would be doing it alone. We could also, if you agree, put a tracking spell on them, in case that you fall, so we can know the coven's location and attempt to stop the witches ourselves."
"Great idea!" exclaimed the Duke, "In fact, what do you say about retrieving the stolen bijoux the witches took from us, and also any books or scrolls they might have in their coven as well, so that we can know more about the magic of the witches and be better prepared for them in the future? In exchange you can keep the Golden Horseshoes. It would be a payment for a job in service of the town of Amrun and of the Elven People, and for having saved us all from what the witches' scheme if our First Spellcast is correct."
The unicorn seemed to think about it. "Will you remove the tracking spell from this horseshoes after I am done with what you ask?"
"Of course," said the Duke.
"Then I accept your proposal," replied the mare.
"Sire, are you certain…" one of the elves said. "Someone of her power…"
"All the more reason to be her ally," the Duke replied. "If the First Spellcaster finds her trustworthy and if Moochick Randall finds her kind worthy of our friendship, then I see no reason not to trust her."
"And what of trial for the witches?" asked Galan.
"Trial?" the mare asked.
"A trial is a court of law where a judge and jury examine the evidence and decide the criminal's guilt or-"
"The evidence is my herd's horns," the unicorn replied. "Including my foals! What more proof of guilt do you need than that?!"
Galan cringed, noting the mother's fury in her eyes. "And you already killed them all. The rest of the coven is only guilty of thievery."
"This 'Rowena' ordered the attack and she still lives! And from the sound of it, the others sought to use my herd's horns for their own ends! They wouldn't have stolen the other half of these 'wands' from you if they didn't want them for themselves!...How would YOU feel knowing someone had your foal murdered to make a weapon to kill more?"
The Duke gave a nod. "If a witch summons an evil spirit to harm another, she's just as guilt of as the spirit that did the deed is...lives taken are worth far more than trinkets stolen...trinkets can be replaced. The ponies are our allies."
What the Duke was true... nominally.
The ponies had yet no formal kingdom or borders, no emissaries, and no mass trade. The ponies themselves simply understood that it meant the Moochick's friends were all their friends and friends should look out for one another.
The elves themselves were reduced to a shadow of their former selves, the majority their people and culture had fled the continent. And Tirek's insanely huge army had been reduced to cannibalism and shrank as it ate itself.
The elves had no armies to send to protect the ponies to protect the ponies if they were in need, and the ponies had no warhorses organized into a military to send to aid the elves who remained behind follow the Dark Lord's rampage.
The unicorn knew none of this and made a haughty pose. She thought. 'The pegasi, earth ponies, and stray unicorns, were these elves allies. My herd was never involved in this nonsense they call 'civilization' and 'alliances.' ... and... am I the only one left... would... would it have been different otherwise?
The Duke continued, "Besides, even if that weren't the case, the thought of Children of Lilith with wands of that power is too large a threat for us to ignore. In truth, even if the battle were to destroy the bijoux, to prevent members of Lilith's family from gaining THAT kind of power would be worth it."
+
The mare stood in the Duke's throne room. The royal blacksmith walked forwards and kneeled, presenting four golden horseshoes.
"For the King's personal horses, anything but the very best would not do," the blacksmith explained. "Even the nails must be perfect. For if one were to be lost, then the rider could fall. And when that rider is our king, that could mean everything. I can say without hubris that the Dark Lord himself cannot break them."
"Why gold for something meant to last?" the mare questioned.
"Gold is among the most enchantable of metals. If properly enchanted during forging, they can make the best material, and it does not rust," the blacksmith replied. "And your eyes deceive little pony, golden they may be, but from starlight itself were these forged."
The Duke took the horseshoes and held them out. "May Vandria Gilmadrith be with you in your mission, unicorn."
The pony cocked her head. "Vandria?"
"Our Goddess of Justice."
"What is a...goddess?"
"Gods and Goddesses are the great beings that watch us from beyond and aid us in times of need, even when we do not see them."
"I believe the closest thing we have is nature itself…" the mare replied. "...But I am open to learn."
"In the case of Vandria, she governs Justice and ensures it is done, be it in this life or the next. We pray to her when we go to battle for a worthy cause."
"A worthy being to serve," the unicorn replied. Her magic grabbed the horseshoes and placed one on each of her hooves. "If she is watching, I am certain she will be pleased."
+
The unicorn slowly trotted towards the exit, steeling herself to avenge her family, her herd, everypony she cared for.
"Wait, unicorn…"
The mare blinked, turning to see the blacksmith who had made her horseshoes. "Hello, you're the blacksmith, aren't you?"
"Yes, my name is Feanor." The blacksmith looked thoughtful. "May I ask something?"
"I don't see why not."
"Where exactly did you learn to speak Elvan so well?" Feanor asked. "I've not heard of a pony with no interaction with civilization being able to speak it so perfectly."
"... I learned from another pony... Pegasi and Earth Ponies tried to join our herd or entice us to join theirs... Wanting us to be part of the ideas they'd imitated from their dead owners. We made sure they didn't think to come back. We wouldn't be domesticated, we wouldn't be wearing saddles or bridles. But then a stray unicorn came, having learned from another mixed herd, and said he wanted to share everything he had learned with his fellow unicorns. Claiming he had been there and seen a crystal tree that the rainbows had come from that turned into a deer. We zapped and poked the newcomer until he understood his place in the herd's hierarchy...Well, I didn't, I'm telling this second hoof. I wasn't born yet. Mother thought understanding the words of elves would be useful. And the blood of this unicorn who had survived on his own, mother wanted it for herself. So it would produce a strong Alpha to succeed her, as she found herself thinking of the FUTURE, not just the present like all our ancestors had.
"They say when the rainbows came, the herd was confused and terrified, CARING if one of us died, if one of us had to be left behind, wanting to help those of us who could no longer walk instead of leaving them, CURIOUS about things... so I'm told. I was told it was like a dream they'd woken up from. I believe one of the things that got us thinking was the realization a hurt member of the herd...got better. That things we were curious about turned into valuable knowledge. Of course...empathy did feel good, something we grew more curious about... So my father shared with the herd what he'd learned, so I was taught to speak like you.
"He also explained something called and 'good' and 'evil'. While the first was easy to understand with our knowledge of empathy, I didn't understand that last one until the witches came. My father knew of something called 'writing' but he never mastered it. He knew of things called spells that humans, elves, and others use and he'd managed to convert a few into unicorn magic. Saying he'd met four humans who could control the seasons. ... Once upon a time, I saw a snake about to bite the colt who'd become my mate, I used the magic father taught me for the first time, and turned the snake into a thin blue bed or flowers. That was when the symbol on my flanks appeared.
"With my entire herd gone... and chasing after the witches, beaten and hurt... for a little time, I envied my ancestors... They wouldn't have felt pain at other ponies dying... they would have just found a new herd... They wouldn't have sought out revenge."
"... How did you learn the word 'revenge?'"
"The witches used it. One of them desired it on a mage who had struck down her sister in battle, another desired it on another witch that had stolen her spell...come to think about it, they may have devalued the word a little."
"Oh. Do you still feel that way about envying not being able to think and feel like an animal?"
"I thought of it.. And I realized the idea of not feeling sad, or not even caring that my herd was gone scared me more than dying ever had."
"There is another thing."
"Yes?"
"An animal wouldn't think about making sure the witches can do no more harm and no one else would hurt how they hurt, they'd have simply found new territory without caring if the witches some day found them again, or found others."
The mare gave that statement. "...That is true."
Feanor nodded...then looked thoughtful again. "...Oh, and there is something else I wanted to say to you."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry for your loss."
The mare, for once, looked surprised. "You're...sorry?"
Feanor reached into his pocket and produced a simple, hand drawn picture of himself with a beautiful female elf and a young child. "This was my family...we lived in a small city. It was peaceful, simple...However, one day, a vile witch, one of Lilith's blood...she struck and destroyed our entire town...I survived, but my family did not...a father's duty is to protect their family, and I could not...I know your pain, pony. I know how much you want to hurt those witches...and my heart aches for you."
The mare turned so he couldn't see her face. "I...and I know yours...thank you."
"And thank you…I forged my finest sword and gave it to a knight to slay that witch...and he succeeded, and it felt good, but…"
"Yes?"
"But that feeling was brief and fleeting...Knowing she could harm no one again gave me closure. Knowing my revenge was complete gave me some joy...but it couldn't fill the void...You will ensure this coven harms no one ever again, you will know your herd can rest in peace...but just remember one thing: the man who has only revenge and blocks out all else...when they finally get that revenge, they are left with nothing at all."
"...And what do you have?"
The blacksmith pointed to her horseshoes, then to the armor of the elf warriors on the patrol. "I have those I help protect. Those I help ensure will not suffer as I have...That is what I hold onto now. Regardless...I wish you luck, and pray that Naralis Analor will give your herd safe passage."
"...Another Goddess?"
"God, of Death...and peace for both those who have passed on and those who remain to mourn them. He guides the spirits of the deceased to their proper place."
The mare's eyes seemed to grow a little bit...hopeful. "Proper place? Somewhere...after this?"
Feanor nodded. "He leads the just to a place of eternal peace and happiness called Valinor, and the wicked to a place called Hel to face justice for their crimes."
"So...it would be to his hands my herd is now in? To lead them somewhere where none can do them further harm?"
"That is our belief. One of which we are certain."
"I see...Feanor...how do you pray?"
+
Rowena paced impatiently around the damp floor of her room in the cave that served as the coven for the witches of the Dark Forest.
"Where are they?" She asked out loud to nobody in particular. "They should have come back with those unicorn horns ages ago!"
Rowena has been leader of the coven, and its most powerful witch for years now, and the reason for its recent growth in size. But her ambitions went beyond the Dark Forest. That's why she had devised this plan to increase not just her magical prowess, but the whole coven's, and with their newfound power her own influence would extend all over the continent. It had taken her years to design the magic wands they were going to build, but now she was closer than ever. The wands were finally almost complete. And they should have been complete already! If the group she had ordered to find and kill the herd of unicorns had come back already with the severed horns that were to be the final component!
"Where are they!?" Rowena repeated, losing her patience. "I send them out to do the simplest of jobs and they are taking THIS long to finish? I'm the one that took the risk doing the difficult part! I'm the one that our assault on the elf town's magic school for the amulets! All they were to do is find some unicorns!" That unicorns were sincerely dangerous beasts was of no concern to Rowena, she had ordered her relatives to find a herd and pooch their horns, nothing else to it.
Rowena paced some more, then exited her room and into the main room of the coven.
"Have Beatrice and the others reported back?" she asked the other witches in there.
"No, Rowena," replied one of the witches. Rowena gave her the evil eye. "I mean, no, Your Majesty."
"Do we have to keep calling her that?" One of the younger witches whisper to another.
"Hey, if she becomes the new Queen of All Witches, I say we get on her less-nasty-side now!"
Rowena walked over to the center of the room, where a big cauldron was over a bonfire, with some green and smelly decoction boiling inside.
"Prepare the black cauldron," she said to the other witches there.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The other witches quickly moved to obey, gathering ingredients from the many shelves around the room, tossing them into the cauldron as Rowena took a big wooden spoon and began stirring the mix inside.
"Black Cauldron, Black Cauldron, show me the thing that keeps me sleepless, show me the whereabouts of the witch known as Beatrice!"
The green mixture in the cauldron began to glow, and finally an image began to appear, clear as a mirror. All the witches' eyes grew wide when they saw the image the cauldron was showing, it was a clearing in the forest, and all around it all the witches, even Beatrice, that Rowena had tasked with finding the unicorn herd and bringing back the horns, were all dead. Some of them in gruesome and spectacular fashion.
"Dead? They are all dead?" said one witch.
"Who, or what, could have done such a thing?" asked another witch, half-in-wonder half-horrified.
"That would be me," came a voice that seemed to echo through the long, dank and dark tunnel passageway that connected the main part of the cave with the cave's entrance, which itself was located in one of the darkest places in the forest. "You will be reunited with them shortly."
All the witches turned around to see who had spoken. They could all hear a clopping sound getting closer until a unicorn emerged from the darkness of the cave's tunnel, a white mare with blue mane and tail. She had shiny golden horseshoes on her hooves.
"What are you doing here? How did you get past the troll guarding the cave's entrance?" asked Rowena in a demanding voice.
"Giant troll? You mean this one?" the unicorn's horn glowed and something was levitated from behind her and in front of the witches for all to see. She tossed the troll's head aside with a flick of her horn. "He was in my way. As for what am I doing here... your witches killed my whole herd..now I'm going to have my revenge!"
"Kill her and bring me her horn!" ordered Rowena angrily. The other witches jumped into action, rushing towards the white unicorn mare as their prepared their spells.
The unicorn's horn glowed yellow and moved her head making a triangle like shape pointing down with her horn, just as the witches cast their spells. A magical spherical barrier appeared around the unicorn, stopping every fireball, lightning bolt, icicle and other sorts of magical projectiles. When the dust settled the ground around the unicorn was scorched, but the unicorn was completely unharmed.
"My turn."
The unicorn's horn now glowed in a more bluish light, moving her head making a triangle shape moving up with her horn, and a gust of powerful wind seemed to emerge from her horn, tossing the witches back and against the wall, only Rowena managed to raise a shield strong enough to keep herself from being tossed away by the magical gust of wind.
"That magic... I cans smell it!" Snarled one of the older witches. "You thieving horse! How dare you use our magic? Thief! THIEF!"
The unicorn didn't dignify that with an answer, she was nothing like them.
"Huh, well if I'm honest, I still don't see the difference between wearing these things and not wearing them." The unicorn looked down at one of the golden horseshoes on her hooves, then back up at the witches as they were getting up from the last blast. She smirked at them with confidence, "Let's try and test the limits, shall we?"
The unicorn then teleported herself right next to one of the witches, her horn glowing brightly as it seemed to somehow get sharper and harder, the unicorn sliced the witch in half with her horn, then teleported herself next to another witch and also sliced her in half. Then teleported herself again, and again and again, killing a witch by slicing her with her horn again and again and again, teleporting so fast that the witches couldn't keep up with the unicorn, and the blood being spilled didn't even touch the unicorn, as the mare was teleporting too fast for even a drop of blood to even touch her coat or mane.
"There! No! There! Get her! Get her!" the witches yelled as they all fell in disarray, as they failed to connect even one magical hit on the unicorn, the sound of the unicorn teleporting again and again was the only constant as witch after witch fell. Cutting off limbs, bisecting then coming back for a finishing blow.
The unicorn spoke as she continued the slaughter, "How does it feel?" Slice. "To be so helpless?" Slice. "To have so much power?" Slice. "And it not mattering one bit?" Slice. "So powerful the elves and other humans are terrified of you." Slice. "I bet you'd have turned those rangers to rats if they'd actually found you." Slice. "But here you are!" Slice! "DYING!" SLICE! "Scared! Confused! Shooting at everything and not hitting anything! NOT EVEN A FAIR FIGHT!" SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! "Strength you're so proud of being overwhelmed! Going from being the object of fear of the beasts who once hunted you to suddenly being just the hunted again! Imagine feeling the way you do now all the time like ones you take such pride in ruining! Like my herd did when you ambushed them!" SLIIIIIIIIIICE! "Like my FAMILY! Now it's your turn! I hope you enjoy it!" Her last spell left a gash in the stone wall.
Finally, the last witch of the coven was struck dead by the unicorn, leaving only Rowena alive. The unicorn looked up from the carnage she had just caused as her horn seemed to return back to normal, and locked eyes with the witch.
Rowena was surprised, but quickly shook it off, "Well, you're better than I thought. That was pretty good actually. Nice speech by the way, did it make you feel good little unicorn?"
"Just you and me, witch. After I end you, I'll finally complete my revenge!" said the unicorn.
“Revenge for what? So, we killed your herd, what of it? If it hadn’t been us, it would have been some dire wolf, a dragon, a hunter, or a hundred other things that have killed unicorns since the beginning! You lived like animals, did you expect not to die like animals too?"
The mare didn't feel like telling her she had a point. "...You killed my foals."
"If it makes you feel any better, I'd have sacrificed my worthless kid for this power too."
Rowena reached into the sleeve of her robe, and produced a magic wand. But no normal magic wand, this wand had some precious metals and stones decorating it, and it was made from… a unicorn's horn!
The unicorn mare was surprised when she saw that, "How? How is that possible! I killed every witch that had attacked my herd back in the forest, there is no way any of them could have escaped with the horns they took!"
"This? Oh, I had this for years. My idea of making wand with unicorn horns to enhance magical powers isn't something I just came up with last week. I have been planning it for a long time. I simply had to wait for the right power vacuum to make proper use of it. This wand here is just my original prototype. My plan was to make one of these for each member of my coven, then to every witch in the world, until witches reigned supreme over everyone! Yes, you might have killed all my coven, but they were replaceable anyway."
"You... you had that this whole time... did you... let me kill them?" The unicorn asked bewildered. "Your coven...you're their leader...how could you?!"
"I was merely keeping my ace up my sleeve, not that you'd know what an ace is, you dumb animal. As for them, we're all of Lilith's blood, to us the act of betraying another is something to be praised, abandoning one to die if it suits you good tactics. They'd have done the same to me if our roles were reversed, and bragged about doing it. I'll find another coven, and I'll just start again. But first I'll kill you, just like I killed the mare that held this horn, in this very forest, all those years ago. Then I think I'll stop by that little hold out elf town and have a little fun."
The white mare's eyes opened wide when she realized what the witch meant. The memories were still vivid in her mind, in fact they were the oldest memory she remembered… She was just a filly back then, when one of the unicorns in the herd had told her how her mother, the herd's old alpha, had been found dead and her horn cut off. She remembered the pain of losing her mother, the anguish, the sorrow.
The eyes of the unicorn seemed to shine with barely contained rage, "You… it was you… IT WAS YOU!" her horn glowed as she fired a magical beam at the witch. "DIE!"
"No, you die!" Rowena lifted her wand, and casted a magical beam at the unicorn.
The magical beams crashed in the air, as both fought for dominance. Both Rowena and the white unicorn mare putting all of their power into it, Rowena's beam seemed to gain the upper hand.
"It's useless, pony! Your story ends here!" exclaimed Rowena.
The unicorn clenched her teeth, then yelled as she pumped even more magic into the beam, the magical horseshoes seemed to shine as she did so. The more powerful beam finally overpowered Rowena's, shattering the wand into pieces and tossing the witch back and against one of the walls, her features bruised and her robe smoking and almost charred. Rowena coughed as she struggled to get up, but failed.
"Do you think this changes anything, pony?" said the witch as defiantly as she could considering the situation, "Killing me won't bring back your herd! And even if you kill me, there are more of us, some witch or warlock will eventually find you and kill you! You are nothing. You hear me? Nothing!"
The unicorn slowly walked over to the witch, and looked at her dead in the eyes, a sort of calm fury seemed to be in the pony's eyes. "Then I guess I'll have to kill all of you until there are none left to harm another innocent."
The unicorn's horn glowed. "Your heart is cold and holds no good, so let your body likewise be cold as wood."
Rowena had just enough time to notice her body transform into dead wood, being left as a wooden statue, her head now resembling her coven's emblem.
Majesty looked at her. "...I'm tempted to leave you here, for eternity...but I just want this to be over…"
And like that, the statue ignited, and burned to ashes in a moment.
The unicorn looked down, closed her eyes and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "It's over. It is done."
Suddenly her ears perked up as she picked out a faint sound, it sounded like… crying?
The sound seemed to come from a closet on one of the walls of the cave, the unicorn walked over to it and opened the doors with her horn.
A little witch was in there, she had been hiding. The witchling was just a child, she looked at the white unicorn in horror, her eyes full of tears, her body trembling in fear. She hid her body under her witch's hat.
The white unicorn looked at the little girl, her horn began to glow red with fire. She was a witch, she couldn't let her go… "I've been told recently of someplace called Hel, I'll be sending you there." The unicorn said with a voice of ice.
She had to die! The witches had killed her herd! Every last one of them, every colt and filly! They were PROUD of the blight they were upon the world! Why should she let this witchling go! Why should she be… any better? Why shouldn't she… kill a child of theirs? Who had no choice in being here? Who hadn't become a threat yet and might not?
"P… please… please, don't… don't k…kill me…" she muttered in a tiny and terrified voice.
She couldn't do it. The unicorn's horn stopped glowing.
"What is your name?" she asked in a neutral voice, she didn't sound angry or happy or sad.
The girl, who had placed herself on a fetal position, covering her head with her hands and closing her eyes when she saw the unicorn's horn glowing, opened her eyes and slowly looked up at the unicorn, confused. "W… what?"
"Your name. NOW," repeated the unicorn.
"S… Syrup," replied the little witch. The unicorn looked her in the eyes.
"...You are poor at dark magic, aren't you, Syrup?"
"Y-Yes...I...I'm just bad at being bad...I try but…" The unicorn could tell now that she was looking closely there was more light than darkness in the witch’s eyes.
"...Tell me, Syrup...did you want one of those wands?"
"N-No...I...I...I'm...I'm just good at making potions! I'm no good at blowing stuff up! I got F's in Misery and Mayhem! Rowena said it would be wasted on me! Plus I'm...k-kind of squeamish."
"...Where are the things the witches stole from the elves?"
"In… in that chest, over there, near the cauldron," answered Syrup.
"Get out of this cave, and don't you dare ever lift a finger against a pony for the rest of your life, never harm another," said the unicorn.
"You mean… you aren't going to kill me?" asked Syrup, hopeful.
"No," replied the unicorn.
Syrup fell to her knees, her head touching the ground in front of the unicorn's hooves. She tripped over her own words. "Oh, thank you, Your Grace, thank you Majesty."
The unicorn looked away from her. "I said go! Go and sin no more!"
Syrup quickly stood up and looked at the unicorn, the unicorn looked back at the little witch. "Now!"
Syrup nodded and ran away as fast as her little legs could take her, into the tunnel and out of the cave before pulling out her meager broomstick and flying away like a drunk insect.
Once she alone, the white unicorn looked at the deceased witches. Her family and heard's murderers dead. Her revenge complete utterly and fully...and she finally let tears flow down her face and sobbed. "Rest in Valinor…"
After several moments of finally letting her grief, sorrow, and mourning out...she looked at the chest the little witch had pointed at, and at a bookcase full of thick books that was next to it. She knew what she had to do now, she had made a promise to those elves after all.
+
Much later, back at the Duke's palace in Amrun.
-
"Miss Unicorn! Miss Unicorn!"
"Oh, it's you.. Aria?"
"Yes, that is my name. I have overheard what you have accomplished. And I wished to give you this." The housekeeper offered a long pink bow to the unicorn. Oh yes, the unicorn had seen those before, on ponies who had been owned and on their foals and their foals' foals.
"It's unlady-like for a lady to go around naked," Aria had said, offering it.
"Naked?"
"Um, it means you aren't wearing anything."
The unicorn blinked, looking at the elf's clothing and recalling others had all worn them. "Really? I was of the belief you wore them to be warm, you don't have fur."
"That's one reason, but another is to cover parts of you that are...unfit for others to see..."
The unicorn looked at herself. "Am I showing...any of those?"
"Um...no. I think. But it's still considered proper to wear something even if we aren't," Aria explained. "Some ponies apparently have taken to wearing these on the base of their tails for that reason."
The mare looked at the bow and gave a thought. "And they're CHOOSING to do this?"
Aria nodded. "That is what Moochick Randell said. He says they decided it after he told them why he wears clothes."
"...Sure, I suppose that would be fine. Thank you, Aria."
Aria nodded, the elf carefully putting the bow around the base of her tail, seeming to be careful not to let her eyes wander lower. It'd generally been decided peeking under a mare's tail was akin to peeking up a woman's skirt.
The mare gave it a swish, and had to admit, she did look nicer with it on.
She then noticed that Aria's nose was crinkled up.
"What's wrong?"
After much discussion, the unicorn consented to have perfume applied to her before the meeting as well, as after living in the wild for all her life, being thrown down a ravine, and two intense battles, she wasn't smelling of roses, nor had there been time to explain what a proper bath is yet.
"I didn't have to do these things when I first met him."
"Before you were pressed for time in defeating the witches, now you are to be thanked proper."
And so the white unicorn was standing in front of the Duke, the First Spellcaster and Peliasson at the Duke's sides, smelling like a rose and much more regal when the wild pony first entered. The Duke himself was impressed by the 'transformation.'
"Brave unicorn, we thank you for your great help. You have defeated the witches and brought back the stolen bijoux, and their spellbooks, which our magical scholars are studying right now. You kept your side or the bargain, and so will I." he looked at the First Spellcaster, standing next to him. "Badhor, take this unicorn to the palace's magical lab, and remove the tracking spell placed on the golden horseshoes."
"I'll do so right away," replied Badhor, the First Spellcaster.
"Before you do, I have one more request." Said the unicorn.
This surprised the Duke. "Well, let's hear it."
The unicorn looked around the palace, the walls, the ceiling, he looked at the furniture, the paintings, even a mirror on one of the walls. "I must admit that, at first, I didn't understand why all you bipeds were so gung-ho in building all these cities and roads and all that when one could perfectly live off the forest's blessings. But…" she looked down at the golden horseshoes, "I can see now that there is some merit in all this that you call… civilization."
"I see… What are you getting at, unicorn?" asked the Duke.
"My herd is avenged, but they are still gone. I have nowhere to go back to, so I need to find a new herd. But before I leave, I was wondering if I could stay here for a while, learn new things from you, and in return I could teach you everything I can about our kind...I have had my revenge...I need something new, and that seems like a worthy cause to apply myself to."
The Duke, Badhor the spellcaster, and Peliasson the ranger looked in surprise at each other.
"Sire, learning first hand from a unicorn about their magic would be invaluable for any magical researcher, a dream come true I might say," said Badhor.
"This mare has proven herself quite the ally, Sire," added Peliasson.
"I agree," said the Duke, "It is agreed then. You are welcome to stay and learn what you want from us, and in return our magical scholars will learn about unicorns from you."
"Thank you, I am grateful," replied the unicorn, making a small reverence in respect.
"But, since you will be staying here, you should have a name. We can't just all refer to you as 'unicorn' all the time. What shall we call you?" asked the Duke.
The unicorn looked up and tapped her chin with her hooves in question, "Hmm… Majesty," she said with a smile, "Call me, Majesty."
+
Feanor the blacksmith wiped the sweat from his brow as he set his hammer down. His home was not in the city proper, rather a good bit from it. The last batch of armor was finished, and so was the long day at the forge. He went into his shop where his earth pony, Black Anvil, was harnessed to the wheel to stoke the fires.
"All done, boy! Let's call it a day," he gave his pony a cheerful pat on the head.
"Ah, finally!" The pony panted. "I thought it'd never end!"
Centaurs hadn't been the only people to make use of ponies as beasts of burden... though they had by far made the most use of them (in particular the pegasi). Then elves used ponies even less so after they had fled their own kingdom under the shadow of Tirek's rampage, the majority having traveled across the sea, and the rest now living in far smaller and isolated numbers. Their grand tree cities were no more. When the aurora borealis had been seen around the world, and their equines had begun acting MUCH smarter and began speaking their words, it was startling to say the least. Elves had always had greater empathy for animals than the other races, and had been quicker than others to accept their hoofed beasts had become free-willed thinking beings. Particularly when Moochick Randall confirmed it himself, along with the message he'd received on the matter from the Gods themselves. But the ponies' numbers were incredibly small, and would soon have to spread out (by elven terms of 'short time') to find new blood, die out, or suffer in-breeding.
"Well, I think we earned ourselves a couple ice cold ales, don't you?"
"Sounds good to me, pal!" The pony shrugged off the harness. "And on the way, you can tell me again about that unicorn you… Oh… Oh my…"
In the door stood the white unicorn that Feanor had told him about. She was even more amazing than he had imagined.
"So…" Feanor began. "Is your herd avenged?"
"...Yes."
"Congratulations." Feanor smiled.
"Thank you." The unicorn trotted inside. "I mean really… thank you."
"No trouble at all." the elf smiled.
She turned to the other pony. "Hello, I am Majesty."
"Um… H-h-h-hello, I'm Black Anvil."
"You are Feanor's friend too?"
"Oh yes, we've been friends since I was just a colt."
"Well, then I guess that makes us friends as well."
"I… I'd like that!"
"So, ‘Majesty', I guess that's your name now… me and Black Anvil were about to go get some ale. Care to join us?"
"I'd suppose, though I do have to ask… what is ale?"
"What's ale?! Oh, you don't know what you've been missing!" Black Anvil laughed.
"I mean to say, would you join us for a drink?"
"Oh, well, I suppose that sounds nice."
The elf and earth pony bowed towards the door. "Then, after you, Your Majesty."
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I would add "What kind of dumb name is Queen Majesty, anyway?" to the long description's list.
7328742
Ask Hasbro, they came up with it.
http://heckyeahponyscans.tumblr.com https://derpibooru.org/tags/majesty https://derpibooru.org/tags/queen+majesty http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Majesty
7328752
It's like going to a cathedral and having a chat with Father Priest, or sailing under the command of Captain Skipper. I can't take a character seriously when I can't stop giggling about how bad their name is.
7328767
majesty |ˈmajəstē|
noun (pl. majesties)
1 impressive stateliness, dignity, or beauty: experience the majesty of the Rockies.
ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense ‘greatness of God’): from Old French majeste, from Latin majestas, from a variant of majus, major- (see major) .
Wow. I know i normally say your work is good(because it is) but this is just.....wow. I enjoyed this alot more than i thought i would, and that fight scene was straight out of Metal Gear Rising. If the rest of your 200k of pony pov is even half this good, I can't wait to see it.
7330626
Remember that roughly half of this at least was written by Persona22, me and Wolfram expanded on it and edited it, so please remember to give them credit too!
7330685 Done and done
This story is an interesting transition piece between the old G1 world and the modern Equestria. I liked your take on vengeful, justice-seeking Queen Majesty as well. The only thing that threw me was that she spared Syrup, from what I remember of Majesty she wouldn't let a single witch live. But I think this is an interesting interpretation as well, and it's kind of interesting to see pony civilization grow as elf/human civilization fade away.
7332230 The main thing that, technically, diferentiates Majesty from "modern day" Equestria Unicorns, isn't her sheer power (which is considerable, she is more powerful than Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer combined), but the fact that she is a WILD unicorn. As in, she has lived in the wild her entire life, having almost no interaction with civilization.
She is a survival specialist. She has a detailed mental map of the forest she lived in, accurate to the last twig. Her senses are fine tuned to her enviroment, she can hear, see, smell and feel better than any unicorn that has lived his/her life in a modern Equestrian city, she knows, and memorized, a great amount of information of every plant and animal she had living around her (which ones are fit to eat, what is dangerous, what is not dangerous, etc) her physicall prowess is comparable to that of a well trained modern athlete (she could run as fast as Rainbow Dash or Applejack, for example, and has most likely more stammina), just because of her daily routine. She can whitstand more hot and cold weather conditions, and go for longer without eating or drinking. And her magical instincs are in peak form. While Twilight would need to study for years to learn a new spell, Majesty would be able to do them on the fly, fitting her current situation. She can't read or write (yet), so casting a spell, new or old, for her is pure instinct, her body, her horn, just reacts.
Imagine if Superman were raised by cavemen, then suddenly finds out moder society exists, and also that they are octopus people instead of humans. That is Majesty's situation.
7387422 Huh. I can't speak to Majesty in particular, but I will say that in general, you want to be careful of buying into the highly discredited "noble savage" idea that the romanticists invented a while ago. A "wild" individual likely knows their area of the forest just as well as an urban dweller knows their own city. And sure, it makes sense Majesty would know whether plants and animals would be dangerous or safe to eat, though in the city she might try to eat paper or something.
But I really doubt her physical prowess is comparable to a highly trained athlete, let alone that of an earth pony, for the same reason professional runners have far more stamina available to them than even someone who has lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle their whole life. Doing something every day you get pretty good at it, but not as good as if you work for an extended period of time using a training regime to improve yourself, and have all the advantages of modern society to help you in your goals. Same for thing thing about hot and cold weather conditions and starvation. There's a big difference between enduring brutal conditions and training for them. If Majesty has had to live her whole life with an irregular food supply, that just means she has less fat reserves than someone who hasn't, and would succumb to starvation long before a civilized person.
As for the "instantly learning magic" thing, I have a hard time wrapping my head around that as well. A small wild unicorn tribe, or even a tribe that just started civilizing, is going to have a very small body of knowledge and spells, passed on erratically and with frequent errors piling in because they don't have written documentation. I can see why Majesty would only be able to learn by instinct, but any civilized unicorn also gets new spells shown to them by example, so I don't know why they wouldn't also learn by "instinct" at an equally rapid rate. In fact, Majesty has probably learned 2-3 spells in her life from other unicorns before she met those witches, and she has no grounding in theoretical magic that say Twilight would have, so it should take her far longer to learn a spell.
Now, Majesty could just be that 1 in a billion super genius that instinctively understands magic and can immediately cast any spell she has witnessed. But then it's even more impressive she has come so far so fast, despite the handicap of her "wild" background.
That makes a lot of sense. I was actually thinking earlier that she kind of reminds me of Vandal Savage.
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My oh my. I cannot believe I have neglected this treasure for this long. The side characters are pretty interesting to get to know, particularly the Blacksmith and Black Anvil.
The witches.....................jeez, only one chapter and I already held overwhelming hatred towards them, especially their leader. Glad to see all the adult witches are dead.
As for.............Majesty (wow, that was one convenient way for her to pick a name, wonder what would have happened had the kid given her a ridiculous name instead.).......................after reading her background, her personality, her third dimensional characterization, how she interacts with others, her fighting skills, her moral code, the brutality she displays.................damn, I lover her.
And the awkward moments when she is learning the new stuff on civilization, especially on the subject of nudity, was amusing and funny to read.
The philosophy discussed between the characters and how Majesty is drawing conclusions, which in my humble opinion I feel close kinship with, is very well executed. Though, the only character flaw I notice she has is the tendency to do things herself and not involve anyone else in the actual fight. I hope pride doesn't become a problem.
I really am starting to love this Majesty character. You authors have an interesting way in getting me to like these characters when I hardly heard of them before.
Finally, I can sit down and give this fic a solid read. Here I go.
1.
...I think I'm in love with this mare. 
"They throw good parties…"
2.
treehuggers always annoy me.
3....I like this. It means that there is, without a doubt, a lot of good within her, despite people's opinions on how she carries out justice.
4. I don't know why, but this peace of dialogue...gives me warmth and helps me to relate to them.
5. ooo. I liked how she handled the witches in the coven. Rock on.
6. I like this. As a self-defender, you target only threats and those who committed crimes. Not the innocent, even if they have loose associations with the murderers.
7. huh...she adopted "Majesty" from a kid....okay. *shrugs*
Second time reading this chapter and it is still good. On to the next.
That was a good first chapter. Its was nice to see a non villain pony fighting seriously with the irredeemably evil.
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Which is the entire point of Majesty. Thank you for the comment.