12: A Vanishing Act...
Azure looked down as the buffalo picked up speed and moved into an easy gallop. The minions kept up as they moved and he had to admit that the buffalo were faster than they looked. His eyes scanned the area around him and found it to be a boring landscape of compacted dirt and the occasional cactus. The buffalo carrying him ran at an easy pace that was easy for him to sit and not be tossed around. He had never been one to be carried much throughout his retaking of the Empire and not much after it. Though he had to admit this made things easier on him and he looked down at the minions as they kept an easy pace with the buffalo. They stayed at its sides, protecting the buffalo that carried him as if it were him alone. The red stallion was quiet and looked up as Twilight angled her buffalo toward him and pulled up next to him, careful of the running minions.
“I’m surprised they can keep up so easily.” She called out to him over the pounding hooves.
“They could always keep up with me.” He called back.
“That’s true. They didn’t have any issue tracking that Changeling and stayed a bit ahead of you.” She admitted with a thoughtful glanced to them once more. “I have been watching out for any signs of Changelings since and I haven’t found anything.”
“Nor have I.” He lied easily to her. He would keep his machinations to himself and include her only if it suited him in the long run.
“Not sure If I am relieved or not about that.” She replied.
Azure shrugged and looked ahead of them. Applejack was up with Little Strongheart and he could see that they were talking over the hooves. The Alicorn was quiet as they moved over the arid landscape of compacted dirt. His body was well tuned to the Tower Heart by now and he could reach out to it at any time and could sense that they were drawing upon a font of its power. ‘So this is where it's draining from.’ He thought to himself.
Applejack came over to them and she yelled to them above the hooves. “We’re almost there! She said that they don’t know when it started but it was getting bigger.” The orange mare explained.
“Any sign of tampering around it?” Twilight asked.
“Nah. She said that they have been watching it since they found it but still have no idea what it is or what’s causing it.”
“Odd,” Azure added in for appearances.
The mares all looked ahead and he watched the buffalo ahead of them. The buffalo began to slow down as the little one ahead of them began to slow down. They slowed to a stop and the minions drew up next to the buffalo, once more acting as stairs for him as Twilight and Applejack jumped from their backs. Strongheart led them up to a spot of darkened dirt. He looked at it and he could tell that it was a draining point for the Tower Heart. The dirt was no longer viable and was in essence dead. The Tower Heart was draining the life and magic from the land in and around it.
“Wha’ in tarnation?” Applejack asked and looked closer at the ground.
“What can cause this?” Strongheart asked.
“I’m not sure. Let’s take a closer look.” Twilight said and motioned for him to join her.
He joined the purple mare and watched as she picked up a hoof-full of the dead ground and let it fall from her hoof back to the ground. The red stallion gave the pretense of looking intently at the dead soil and walked slowly at the edge for a moment before rejoining the mare.
“Any ideas?” He asked her.
“Any chance this could be a broken Gate?” She asked.
“Not possible.” He replied with certainty.
“How are ya so sure?” Applejack asked him.
“If a Gate collapsed here the area could not be in this condition. It would be destroyed in a greater display. Plus it would not be this small.” He reasoned.
“He’s right,” Twilight spoke up. “If a magical item the size of a Gate failed the area would be more disturbed and the area would be blackened.” She explained.
“So what happened?” Strongheart asked.
“Not sure,” Twilight replied and looked again.
He watched as her horn lit with her aura and a tape measure appeared in her magic as she sent it to the other side to measure the anomaly. It came back and her eyes widened slightly.
“Okay its thirty feet wide in a circle. So I wonder how deep it is.” She asked and her magic flashed as a long pole appeared instead of the tape measure. She pushed the pole into the ground and it dove into the softened earth in response to the force. She pushed the pole deeper and the dead soil soon covered the top of it. “Okay, so it is deeper than ten feet.”
A scroll and quill appeared in her magic as she began to take notes. Applejack stayed with her as she began to circle the darkened ground. Azure looked at the dying ground before him and she fought back a smile that threatened to tug at his mouth. At his sides, the minions were quiet and were lounged around his hooves. He wasn’t concerned about being found out as he set the Tower Heart to begin to drain other locations as well. The red stallion glanced over his shoulder to the buffalo who seemed to be happy patiently waiting in the background.
His only complaint so far was the heat. His armor was dark in color and he held back a complaint as the sun beat down on him. He looked to the minions and they began to climb over him and several shield their arms up to shield his face from the heat. He heard a chuckle as he looked to the mares and they were chuckling at his use of the creatures. He shrugged and they stayed in place. Twilight flew over to him and she hovered over him, her wings blotting out more of the sun. He looked to her and she chuckled in place.
“A bit warm out fer armor, pardner.” Applejack said as she joined them.
“I did not anticipate being out in the desert when I chose what set to wear this morning.” He said back to her.
“Why don’t you have them hold parts of it till ya get back?” She reasoned to him.
His blank expression earned a shrug from her as she sighed.
“She has a point though,” Twilight said to him as she hovered. “You can keep the chest piece, but the rest can go. Armor is meant to cover your chest anyway, most vital organs.” She reasoned.
“True.” He replied and looked over his body to the armor covering his flanks and legs.
He could feel sweat beading up under his red fur and after several minutes the confining armor was becoming stifling. He growled and his Gauntlet roared as he commanded the minions with him. They crawled over him as Twilight dropped to the ground close to him. He could feel the armor covering his flanks being loosened and then being pulled away from his body. He glanced back as pieces were dropped to the minions on the ground and they passed them amongst themselves to carry the rest. The largest piece on his flanks was removed and dropped to the others, he shook himself once the minions had dropped off his back and were once more standing quietly at his side.
“Wow.” Applejack said aloud.
Azure looked to her and her eyes were wide. His eyes went to Twilight and she was staring as well. He looked back to his flanks and didn’t see anything to cause such a stir from them. He rolled his eyes and began to walk away from them.
“Azure?” Twilight spoke up.
“Yes?”
“You know you don’t have a Cutie Mark, right?”
“A what?” He asked as he looked back to her.
She pointed to the mark on her hip and he looked back to his and it was as blank as always. The mares were looking at him for any type of reaction.
“It’s always like that?” She asked further.
“Of course.” He replied. “There has never been anything there.” He explained. “I do not need such a thing.”
“It tells you what makes you unique.” Twilight explained. “Like a talent.”
Azure stared at them as they waited for him to respond, he barked a laugh. “How ridiculous.” He replied and went on walking away from them. He glanced back and they were both staring at him their jaws slightly agape.
The red stallion stood on the other side of the dark earth and looked down at it. He looked around for a moment and placed one armored hoof on the ground and he pulled back at the sudden draw from him. ‘Hmm. That could be a problem.’ He thought to himself as he reached out to the Tower heart once more. His thoughts became more specific and he commanded it to draw only from the ground and not ponies. He didn’t care about any other creatures so long as the ponies didn’t catch on to any issues with it. He looked up as Twilight flew to him and landed next to him.
“You sure you’re okay?”
He allowed his head to tilt slightly to show that he wasn’t following her line of questioning.
“About your cutie mark.” She replied.
“Oh. I had already forgotten about it. As I said it has always been like this and I have no desire to change it.” He explained. “I fail to see why it is so important to you.”
“All ponies have one. I’m shocked you don’t. I would have thought a pony your age would have one already.”
“What does my age have to do with it?” He asked her, allowing some annoyance to creep into his tone.
“I just mean that most ponies our age have theirs and know what their special talent is.” She quickly explained.
“And again I do not feel the need for one. I do not care what is normal for others nor do I feel the need to find out. I know what I do well and a strange mark on my hip isn’t going to change that.” He replied to her.
“Oh.” She replied quickly. “Well, it’s good that you’re okay with it. A lot of ponies would be upset by it but I’m glad that you’re okay.”
He snorted in reply and she went quiet at his side. He glanced to her after a few minutes and she was taking notes on the dead earth before them and he slowly walked away from her to look at it more closely on his own. He looked up as Applejack joined her and he could hear them whispering amongst themselves.
“If it bothers the both of you so much, shall I put the armor back on?” He said to them. He watched them both stiffen. “What foolishness this is.” The Gauntlet roared and the minions began to come to him but they were stopped by a magenta aura.
“No. Sorry,” Twilight said to him. “It’s not that it bothers us it’s just different. It’s too hot for you to be wearing all of it and it was rude of us to talk behind your back.” She rushed out and released the minions once the Gauntlet went silent. “Leave it off. I’m sorry. We’re both sorry.”
He gave a slight nod to her and left the armor in the hands of the minions. The stallion said nothing and walked close to them once more.
“Sorry bout that.” Applejack said to him.
“Let it die.” He replied.
“Huh?” Applejack replied to him, her eyes wide.
“He means that the subject is dead so leave it alone.” Twilight clarified she had grown accustomed to his way of speaking over time.
“Oh.” Applejack smiled at him and nodded. “Ah got it.”
Twilight looked to him and her eyes widened for a moment. “Azure!” She yelled at him and flew to his side. “Is it possible for your magic to find out what could be causing this?”
“For example?” He asked her, he was curious what her train of thought was.
“Is the Netherworld located close to here?”
“Not that I am aware of.” He admitted.
She looked to the deadened earth in front of her. “Is it possible the Netherworld is around here and it's having an adverse effect on the land?”
“No.” He replied. “The Netherworld is not built that way.” He explained to her. “It takes energy from itself.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good.” She admitted and a smile grew on her muzzle. “So we are still not sure what is causing this.”
Azure was quiet as he let her spin her wheels trying to understand what was in front of her. So long as she did not come after him his plans were intact. The tower heart would continue to drain this area until he commanded otherwise. So long as it remained undisturbed then he would be able to keep its actions out of sight. The red pony was quiet as Twilight tapped his hip and he looked back to her.
“I am wondering if the land here is still alive.” She asked him.
He feigned surprise at her and shrugged in reply. “Just by looking at it I am not sure.”
“Can you help me find out?”
“And how do I do that?”
“Your magic is built differently from mine. Can it sense the life force of things around it?”
Azure was quiet as he considered her question. While he had to admit it was a good one he was not sure how to respond to her. He hadn’t used it in that way but he was sure that with the Tower heart it was possible so long as he kept a rein on it. He had learned that the Tower Heart had a hair trigger. If he thought of it then the Heart would act whether he was ready or not. He shrugged in reply.
“It can to an extent I suppose. Though I have not personally used it for the purpose.” He admitted.
“Can you try?” She asked him quietly.
Azure's horn lit and he called on the Netherworlds magic to answer him. He knew that the area was dead due to the Tower Heart but she had managed to pique his interest. His horn was covered in his red aura and he looked to the area ahead of him and let his horn die out.
“I don’t think it can without a bit of help.”
“What can I do to help?” Twilight asked.
“Perhaps if we mix the magic it will be able to reach out enough. The netherworld magic is foreign in this place so it’s having trouble finding what we need.” He replied to her.
She brightened and a smile crossed her muzzle. “Of course. Give it a point to follow and it will help me find the answer.”
“Precisely. We can do the same thing as before if you prefer.” He added to her.
“Will that help, do you think?”
“Perhaps. Can’t hurt.” He replied.
She brightened at his suggestion and nodded in agreement. His horn blazed with his red aura and it covered the Alicorn’s horn and slowly covered her body as well. He pushed her magic out of the way and once more pushed a piece of his own into place. Allowing her to see the dead spot of land before them. She watched him and he tipped his horn to the land for her to look. The Tower Heart connected with him and he pushed a bit of the same corruption that lived within him into her. She looked to the ground and a frown went over her mouth as she looked closely at the earth. She picked up a hoof-full of the land and scanned it. He kept the magic on her to allow her to see. When she was done she looked to him and he removed his magic from her and he saw her eyes flicker once more as she looked at him. The look was gone in a moment and she scowled at the dead earth.
“See what you needed?” He asked her.
“Yes. Unfortunately, it appears that the land itself has died.” She explained as Applejack came over.
“What was that?” She inquired and pushed the Alicorn away from him.
He feigned surprise at the farm pony’s question. “I did as she asked of me. She asked for help and I helped.”
“Ya did?”
“Yes. I asked him to help me try to find out if the land was dead or not. I figured that since the magic of the Netherworld is different from typical Unicorn magic that it might be able to help me try to find out more about the land.” Twilight defended. “And it worked.”
“Oh.” She looked sheepishly to the stallion and backed up several steps. “Ah didn’t know. It looked funny so Ah though somethin’ was wrong.”
“Applejack!” Twilight looked angrily at her friend. “Azure is a friend of ours. He wouldn’t try to hurt me.”
“I have no desire to harm her,” Azure said to her. Which he admitted was technically true.
The farm mare looked properly chastised and looked apologetically to the red stallion. “Ah’m sorry Azure. Ah’m batting a thousand with ya today. Ah’m sorry.”
“As long as this stops happening then I do not see a reason to hold it against you.” He replied, diplomatically.
Applejack nodded and went back to stand with Strongheart and waited for the others to join her. Twilight patted Azure’s shoulder and motioned for him to follow her back to the buffalo. Azure paused and his armor was put back in place to avoid stares and more questions at his lack of one of their ridiculous marks. The minions made the stairs for him once more and he sat evenly on the buffalo’s back. The minions kept up as they began the journey back to the tribe and then back to Appleoosa.
Azure walked toward the Gate and he was pleased to see that it had been moved out from behind the train station and now stood twenty feet from that original location. While he was pleased to see it moved, he noticed that a group had gathered outside of it.
“By the Dark.” He cursed as he and the two mares reached the Gate. When they didn’t move he sent the minions to make a path for him and he heard Twilight giggle at the minions as they forced the ponies back.
Applejack didn’t say anything as he made a path for himself. He walked ahead once there was a sufficient opening and he saw that there was a small group of minions waiting at the base of the stairs of the gate. They saw him and started to call and yelp. He approached them and Silverstar was not far from them.
“They yours?” He asked.
“Obviously,” Azure replied.
“Well, they went tearing through town looking for ya and scared the daylights out of a lot of ponies.”
Azure looked at the group and he waited as they ran to him and began to crawl over him. “Interesting.” He replied and waited as they finished checking him. He looked to them and a note was handed to him. His magic held the letter as he opened it.
Master:
Mistress Juno left the Tower to get a slip in her gown repaired and has not returned. She was told not to leave but she claimed that she now had your favor and left anyway. The minions were sent to locate you and were not able to so they were commanded to search the town for your Dark Majesty.
Gnarl
Mistress Kelda says take your dammed helm with you next time.
“Hmm.” He said and the letter was incinerated in his magic. “Interesting.” He whispered aloud.
His eyes landed on the annoyed Sherriff and he nodded his head to him. “My apologies. They were looking for me and were not able to find me. They are trained to search just in case something had happened to me and I was unable to call for aid.” He explained which was true.
“So they were makin’ sure ya weren’t hurt?” Applejack asked him.
“Precisely,” Azure replied to her. “After a few close calls, we began to teach them to search for me just in case of capture or injury.”
“That makes sense. Did they hurt anypony?” Twilight asked.
“Nah. Just scared ‘em,” Silverstar admitted.
“They are also ordered not to harm the ponies and to work around them if able,” Azure explained further. “They are taught not to cause harm while they search for me. If they find evidence that I have been harmed then they will react to it and double their efforts.”
“Meaning if they find your blood?” Twilight said to him.
“Precisely. They know what my scent is and what the smell of my blood is so they are able to track it.” Azure replied to her.
“Okay. That makes sense actually. They searched but nothing was broken or damaged.” Silverstar replied. “So no harm is done. Just a few startled ponies.”
“Good to hear,” Azure replied. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get them back to Ponyville.” He replied and nodded to the two mares at his back.
“Right behind you Azure,” Twilight said to him and Applejack nodded at her side.
He walked up to the stairs and the minions leaped into their respective gates as Wrath gripped the stallion’s armor and the mares reached out to touch his armor and held it tightly. Thunder crashed as they emerged back in Ponyville. He walked down the stairs with them on his heels and he began to look around as the minions rejoined him at the call of the Gauntlet. Twilight came to stand at his side and looked at him, her expression curious.
“What is it?” She asked him.
“Juno came back here to have her gown checked and has not returned yet. So I will look for her, send her home, and then head home for the day.” He explained.
“Do ya need any help?” Applejack asked him.
“No. It should be easy to find her. I will just listen for her whining.” He explained and Applejack nodded and smiled at Twilight as she went her own way.
“I’ll come with you,” Twilight said to him and fell into step at his side.
“Very well.” He replied and began the walk to Rarity’s boutique.
“I thought you told her to go home?”
“I did. Apparently being at my side recently has given her the wrong idea.”
“What do you mean?”
“She seemed to think she has my favor and the ability to do as she wishes.”
“Oh.” Twilight laughed at his side. “I assume that she is wrong?”
“You assume correctly.”
Azure was quiet as they neared the boutique and a minion pushed open the door for him as the bell above it dinged to alert the mare aside.
“Azure?” She called out as she came around the corner. “What can I do for you darling?”
“Has Juno been by?”
“Yes. She came by to see a snag in her gown. I fixed it and she claimed to be going home after that.” Rarity replied to him. “She needs a bit of a lesson in manners if I am being frank, dear.”
“She will be getting more than that when I find her,” Azure advised.
“Oh dear.” Rarity replied, a hoof going to her mouth.
“Thank you Rarity. I was informed that she had not returned. For her sake, she had better be in a ditch.” He replied as he bowed his head politely to the seamstress and left the shop.
Twilight jumped after him after saying a quick goodbye to the other mare. “How much trouble is she in?”
“Enough that I will demote her further when I find her. I do not appreciate her thinking she is able to do as she wishes with the bit of…” He paused as he searched for the word.
“Kindness?”
“Not quite.” He searched for the word but dropped it when it did not come to him. “She will pay for this transgression.”
Twilight cringed at the angry stallion as he led her through Ponyville’s streets. Azure had to admit that a part of his anger was fake but at the same time, he was furious that she had chosen to take the bit of leniency he gave her and run with it. His annoyance was beginning to show as the minions began to search as well. He was fairly certain he knew what had happened to her but he was not about to guess with Twilight on his heels.
“Can she use the Gate at will?” Twilight asked.
“To an extent. I altered it to only allow her to go to places she had been before.” He replied.
“Has she been anywhere else?”
Azure stopped in his tracks at the mare’s question. ‘If she went to Canterlot I will skin her.’ He thought to himself and the Gauntlet roared at his command. Twilight stayed close to him as a large group of minions came running to his side.
“Find her.” He ordered and they splintered into small groups at his direct command.
“What? What is it?” Twilight asked him.
“They will find her if she is in this town.” He snarled through gritted teeth.
“And if she isn’t?”
“I will kill her.” He snarled and whirled to head back to the Gate.
Twilight cringed but stayed with him as he stalked back to the gate. ‘If the Changelings grabbed her then I’m fine and that plan is going as intended. If not…Then I may replace her with Faye and start over. If she survives the aftermath I will have her living in the minion burrows.’ He stopped at the Gate and waited as the minions slowly came back to him. Twilight stared at him for a moment as the minions trickled back to him. Azure snorted as the last came back to him. Twilight looked to him as he closed his eyes in anger and tried not to rage in front of the Alicorn. He pursed his lips and opened his eyes once more. They blazed as he gathered himself and minions under his command. He looked back to the Gate as Wrath jumped from his back under a thought command and vanished into the minion bolt hole. A minute passed and he had returned through the Gate with Azure’s helm. The Overlord gripped the helm and it slid into place on his form.
“Master?” Gnarl called out to him.
“I hear you.” He replied.
“No luck Master?”
“No. That leads me to think she decided to go against orders and go to Canterlot.” He snarled back.
“Why Master?”
“She is only permitted to go to places that she has been to before. The only other place outside of my kingdom is Canterlot.” He replied.
“Understood Dark one. Will you be going after her?”
“Yes. I will skin her if she has screwed things up.” Azure snarled and Twilight set a hoof on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
“Can I help?” She asked him, her voice quiet.
“I have Twilight with me,” Azure said to the Minion Master.
“Oh. Can she be useful?” Gnarl asked him.
“Perhaps.” He replied quietly. “You know the most about Canterlot.”
“I was born and raised there.” She replied.
“Perfect. I will need you to show me around areas that, that airhead might have gone to.” He replied to her and she nodded.
“Shall we?” She asked and trotted up the Gates steps to wait for him.
“Lets.” He replied and joined her. He reached out to the Gate and its magic roared as they were taken to the Canterlot Gate. “We are here.”
She opened her eyes and nodded to him. “Okay. What does she like?”
“Money.” He replied immediately, she looked to him, her expression annoyed. “She enjoys being fawned over if I am honest.”
“Okay, then she will head for the shops and areas where there are lots of ponies. The markets places like that.”
“Like the one, we almost crashed into?” He replied.
Twilight laughed and nodded. “Exactly. It’s the biggest one in all of Canterlot. There’s no way a show off pony like her could resist.”
“Lead on.” He said to her and she stepped up to his side and led the way forward.
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Two chapters in a day, oh boy!
Reporter: "Overlord Azure, if l may be so bold as to ask..... On a scale of 1-10, how much trouble is Juno in?"
Overlord Azure: "Over 9000"
Juno in the far distance: "Meep"
9508795
She felt a disturbance in the force!
9509310
that... or she felt the heat built up in her butt from a fast approaching spanking....... l am so looking forward to seeing what he does to her :P
9509521
Agreed
9509310
More please
Oh that's quite subtle (though I suppose still obvious if you know what to look for). I assume this corruption simply makes her way of thinking conform to his, a bit?
I expect that she'll begin having issues with her friends, soon-ish... I mean, once AJ catches on that something's wrong, anyway - that mare is nothing if not persistent. Though I assume it'll be Pinkie that makes the initial connection - she's good with things like that, thinking outside the box (heh... she's actually quite the genius, if you go by the standard definition -- to be able to make correct (but wild) assumptions, and arrive at the correct conclusion while not necessarily taking the intermediate steps to produce it).
Still, I'm not sure how you're going to reconcile this with the rest of the universe. I mean, whatever happens, 'good' must triumph in Equestria. Twilight will be clensed, one way or another - she can't be allowed to remain corrupt, Celestia would probably scorch the very earth to fix it once she's made aware. I don't see the Overlord winning this one.
At best, he's going to be made to back down, and they will hold (somewhat strained) peace. Or a cease-fire, anyway (some say "peace" is but the interim between wars when countries take time to prepare themselves). I don't think Twilight is going to like him very much once she learns the truth... I don't think any of 'em will.
I mean, unless he can corrupt Celestia, Luna and Cadence... but then, he's won by default, right? Not something that should happen in the middle of the story, and I have a feeling that we're just getting started.
I wonder if Twilight would, for some reason or another, fall in love with the guy... Not sure what redeeming qualities he's got, though. That's the only force in the whole wide universe that I can see could hold her with him once she learns he's been corrupting her, you know? And I'm working under the assumption that she will, at some point. Unless, of course, she wants to replicate the Discord-Fluttershy Experiment...
I mean, once she learns the truth - she's already shown a little bit of her approach to someone trying to hurt her friends, and once she's fully aware of his actions, I don't think he's going to like the result. And having the Overlord just raze Equestria to the ground is... boring, and doesn't fit with the setting.
Uncle Death agrees with this statement.
bigmemes.funnyjunk.com/thumbnails/comments/Uncle+death+helped+me+through+tough+times+yall+_e3aa978eef17b7125f1a8339d5720625.jpg