The Codex Amicitia

by malletmann

Defiance

Carpathios waited for the speaker to step forward. It leaped down in front of him, revealing a being much taller than the ponies he was used to seeing. She stood at eye level with him, supremely confident and wrath clearly visible in her cyan eyes. Her mane and tail seemed more ethereal than the usual hair on other ponies, and in many ways reminded him of the titan lords of legend, said to have fire and storm clouds sprouting from their scalps. She wore an onyx-black tiara and matching chestplate, both inscribed with the sigil of the crescent moon.

"Princess Luna, I presume," Carpathios said, meeting her gaze. "To what do I owe this... meeting, your highness?"

The dark alicorn gazed at him piercingly, an air of finality and judgement about her. It occurred to Carpathios that he was in a potentially dangerous situation, and so he reached out into the Veil. He hoped she would not notice what he was doing.

"DO NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN ATTEMPT TO DECEIVE US, OR CONCEAL THIS FROM US. WE KNOW THAT YOU HAVE RELEASED OUR MOST TERRIBLE FOE FROM HIS PRISON, FOR REASONS UNKNOWN TO US. FOR THIS YOU WILL FACE OUR TERRIBLE ANGER!" Bolts of lightning flickered around her horn menacingly.

Carpathios slowly shook his head, refusing to cower before any opponent. His pride would not allow it; besides, he had a few surprises in store, should it come to that. "Is that what this is about? That I not only ensured that your most hated foe was forever removed from your domain, but in doing so, I saved the lives of three of your subjects? Two of which were blood relations to the Bearers of the Elements, no less. You should be showing me gratitude. I have done for you what you seemed unable to do for yourselves, Oh Bringer of the Night."

"SILENCE!" He was thrown to the floor by this shout. "DO NOT PRESUME TO JUDGE OUR DECISIONS, IGNORANT WHELP!" She reared back, spreading her wings wide in an intimidating display.

"Ignorant?" Carpathios slowly and deliberately returned to his feet. "Ignorant? It seems you do not know who you are speaking with." The mage's staff began to shine much brighter, immaterial flames dancing ominously along its length. "Learn then, how ignorant the Proctek of Agathonis, most lauded of Magnathios' pupils, truly is."

Carpathios thrust his staff forward, casting a ray of eldritch flame directly at the menacing diarch. Luna answered by unleashing a terrible storm of arcane bolts. The events met like a pair of stormfronts, producing a mighty display of blinding light and cacophonous sound. Yet the two combatants stood firm, their eyes locked in each other silent in the tumult. Neither combatant could gain momentum, though, and the energy kept building.

As they both began to strain under the weight of the power between them, Carpathios enacted his gambit. Keeping his staff raised, he moved as swift as he dared through the Intonations, immersing his mind within the currents of the Veil. He guided the ebb and flow, forming a small but rapidly spinning whirlpool around himself. Once satisfied, he lowered his staff.

The lightning storm immediately surrounded him, but the ethereal event in the neighboring reality ensured it did not touch him. Slamming his staff to the ground, he propelled the whirlpool away from himself, dispersing it with the weight of the magic he had cast into its center. The storm, fully affected by the ethereal currents, exploded outwards. The Princess was able to endure the brunt of the blast, but her mutant minions could not stand before it.

Not letting his foe regain her balance, Carpathios immediately cast a torrent of eldritch bolts down upon her. The alicorn dived to the side with a flutter of wings, and returned with bolts of her own. Carpathios spun his staff, deflecting the magic attacks away from himself. His arcane light gleamed off the gold highlights of his scarlet robes, giving the impression that he himself was on fire.

Unexpectedly, Luna charged towards him, diving headfirst with horn crackling violently. Thinking quickly, Carpathios teleported a short distance, appearing behind her. Luna jerked her head around, in doing so crashed headfirst into the stone ground and skidding painfully a few feet. She stopped in an unceremonious heap with her backside raised in the air for Carpathios to clearly see. Unable to resist such a tempting target, he struck it full on with a scorching ray.

Emitting a screeching whinny, the Night Princess spun around, only to find her enemy had vanished. Taking only a moment to check her seared rump, she took to the skies in search of him.

---

Carpathios ran down the obsidian corridor, slowly recovering from the pitched combat he had extracted himself from. The princess was suitably powerful, and he would have to call upon every spell and stratagem he knew in order to best her. It was fortunate then that his plan so far seemed to be working, but how long he could rely on his secret ally was uncertain.

Coming up on a window, he stopped for a moment to retrieve his bearings. He appeared to be in a hidden fortress within view of Canterlot. Judging by the city's layout visible to him, somewhere north of it. After a quick bit of reasoning, he figured his location on relation to Ponyville.

More pressingly though was the midnight-blue wingspan that was now visible in the night sky, eclipsing the moon. Carpathios planted his staff, forming a powerful shimmering shield about himself.

Luna took in a great breath, and blasted forth a scream beyond any heard by those who still had their hearing. Its volume and pitch was enough to atomize solid rock, and sent Carpathios hurtling for many yards. He stood, yet unbeaten, and brushed the dust that had once been the battlements from his garment. Swiftly restoring his assaulted hearing, he began to enact his next plan.

The princess' method of attack had been ingenious, but had given him an idea. A quick glance into the Veil confirmed that a pack of Kerank had been sent his way, and that the Veil of his predators were curiously circling the disturbance the battle was causing, hoping for an easy morsel to get buffeted their way. Carpathios had other plans for them, though, and plucked a handful of them from the Veil and anchored them into the material realm.

A half-dozen of the barely physical creatures appeared, looking for all Equestria like ghostly, flying manta-like creatures. Reeling like fish out of water, they wheeled about, their primitive minds not understanding what had happened. Luna then played right into his hand by attacking them, turning the pack-hunters on her. The alien beasts assaulted her with whip-like tails and ear-piercing screeches. The princess retaliated with lightning and her own vocalizations.

Carpathios was fairly pleased with himself. Kerank were always ill-tempered, and only got moreso when you pulled them into the physical realm. Luna was struggling to defeat these creatures, especially since to defeat one, she had to incapacitate it sufficiently to dispel the anchor he had fixed to them, allowing it to slip back into the Veil. He knew it would not be quite sufficient though, and so needed an endgame maneuver.

Gazing back into the Veil, he spotted the pack alpha, a magnificent specimen. He cast his anchoring net over it, and pulled it to him. Connecting an ethereal tether to it and wrapping said tether around his left wrist, he hopped atop the creature, riding his new mount out to his opponent just as she finished with the last of his previous summons.

Judging by the dismayed look on his opponent's face, Carpathios was putting up far more of a fight than Luna had expected. They engaged each other in the sky above the black fortress, weaving around one another and exchanging blasts of sound, fire and lightning.

The aerial battle quickly shifted to Carpathios' favor. Veteran flyer though she was, the winded princess could not compete with the alien predator, encumbered though it was. Carpathios augmented his mount's flight by directing the air into favorable winds whenever he was not blasting at Luna.

Realizing she could not win in open sky, Luna dived down into the jutting spires of the fortress. Carpathios followed, the kerank's mandibles snapping in anticipation. Too quickly, he realized why the princess had chosen this course of action. The kerank's aggressiveness, combined with Carpathios disrupting the creature's center of balance, were limiting their maneuverability. He had to focus solely on keeping his mount under control to prevent crashing into one of the spires.

The princess suddenly banked around a black tower, disappearing from sight. Carpathios followed, eager to finish the fight. His mount was suddenly struck from beneath his feet, slipping its bonds and returning to the Veil. He fell a reasonably short distance, rolling back to his feet in enough time to dodge a jab from a sharp black horn.

Carpathios twirled his staff around to parry another thrust from Luna. She was tired, yes, but she was also angry. This could give him an advantage if he was swift and careful. He stayed on the defensive, concentrating only on further tiring and annoying his opponent.

Eventually, Luna did make a mistake. She thrust forward, but overextended herself. Carpathios immediately took advantage of the opening, hooking the crook of his staff around her horn. He then slammed her head into the ground, accompanied by a final blast of energy. The princess's black tiara clattered across the cracked stone, stopping some feet from her.

Stepping back, he leaned heavily on his staff, looking down on his bested opponent. The once regal pony was now disheveled, her jewelry scuffed, and her barrel heaving with deep, gasping breaths. "This fight," he said, panting himself, "is finished."

"Perhaps." Her voice was a barely-audible rasp. "But you took... too long. Dawn... is breaking."

Carpathios turned on his heel and fled with as much speed as he could muster.

Comments

[bocaj518]

well fuck .......