Those Left Behind

by the7Saviors

A Princess' Homecoming

The four of us realized we had reached the wastes of the north almost immediately.

Not because there was snow -- there was absolutely none to be seen anywhere, naturally. It was as dead, dry and barren as anywhere else. No, we knew -- or rather, we assumed it was the frozen wastes because the air was still cold.

Just as dry and stagnant as in Equestria, but still cold.

While it was actually a nice change of pace from the otherwise constant mild warmth that permeated the entirety of our ruined homeland, there was still no sign of life, and that put a damper on things.

It was with a large amount of self control that I decided not to Teleport the rest of the way to the Crystal Empire.

The actual amount of self control it took was worrying to say the least.

I had wanted to tell the other Princess' about my concerns regarding my use of ambient Magic, and maybe even ask Celestia about what had happened all those years ago when she had wielded the ambient Magic herself, but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

What she had said to me disturbed me for reasons I didn't fully understand.

There was just something nagging at the back of my mind about both hers and Luna's words, but whenever I tried to think about what it could be, the thought always managed to slip from my grasp.

It had eventually gotten to the point where I just gave up out of sheer frustration, not that I let it show outwardly.

Another thing that bothered me was Cadence.

She hadn't had anything to say on the matter of returning to the North, in fact, she hadn't had much to say at all. With how odd she had been acting lately I was keeping a close eye on her, and I could tell Luna was doing the same.

Aside from snapping at Celestia for giving up so easily -- something Celestia herself didn't bother to deny I might add -- she hadn't really said or done much since. Cadence herself had actually finally given up on restoring the Solar Princess' sight and settled into a sort of surly, brooding silence that didn't suit the Princess of Love at all.

That was another thing.

Cadence's temper had been flaring on and off ever since she had suddenly appeared before Luna and I back in the ruined city. It was kind of disturbing to see her face twisted in anger like that.

I had never once seen Cadence truly angry in all the years I had known her, and frankly, it scared me. What I found strange was that after she lashed out, she would get this extremely confused look and apologize, saying she had no idea what had happened or why she was yelling like that.

I was starting to wonder if Cadence had actually disappeared at all.

I knew Luna had her suspicions, as did I, but my suspicions didn't just stop at what was going on with Cadence. I was also getting a bit wary of the Lunar Princess herself. On the surface, Luna seemed like her normal self -- serious and compassionate, yet with a slight air of regal aloofness.

The thing that bothered me about Luna was how... well... how suspicious she was being. There wasn't any one thing I could pin down about her -- she just seemed to give off this... feeling that she was up to something.

It might've been just me, because the others didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary about her.

It was probably just me.

This whole situation just had me paranoid I guess.

Either way I decided to set my thoughts about the other Princess' aside for now.

Once we realized where we were, it didn't take us too much longer to find what remained of the Crystal Empire.

To be honest, I was shocked at what I saw.

Unlike the giant hole in the ground that used to be Mount Canterhorn, or all of the cities in the surrounding area, a fair amount of the Crystal Empire was still intact. That's not to say there wasn't a lot of destruction left in the wake of the blast.

Even from a distance I could many of the tall, elegant spires that made up the castle were snapped off and presumably lying broken somewhere below. There was also a lot of what I saw back in the cities of Equestria.

Holes in buildings, smashed out windows, large patches of land blackened and melted. The one thing I didn't see however, was a single building that wasn't left standing to some degree.

It was most likely due to how they were built, as well as the sturdy crystalline material they were built out of, that the structures remained standing.

I have to admit, I was more than a bit envious.

It really was a strange sight to behold, seeing the empire and it's surrounding land devoid of any kind of snow whatsoever.

Rather than head directly for the castle, we all landed on the outskirts of the city and opted to slowly make our way forward as we searched for any survivors. As we trotted along, I couldn't help but notice how washed out everything looked.

The once bright and vibrant colors of the crystal structures and sculptures were now dull and lifeless, just like everything else. Still, I did feel a bit more hopeful about finding survivors here with how many of the structures were still standing.

I also took note of the lack of ash in my initial observation.

Cadence, who still hadn't said a word to any of us since we started the trip, suddenly galloped ahead of us, completely ignoring the sorry state of the city. We hurried to catch up to the pink alicorn, but soon lost her due to having to deal with Celestia's condition as we galloped.

I was beginning to feel somewhat bitter about what had happened to Celestia, and her dismissive attitude towards her blindness was starting to get to me at this point.

Not helping the matters was the building uneasiness I began to feel the further into the city we got.

"I don't like this," Luna muttered, her wary gaze shifting this way and that as she trotted along, "there's something lurking here... something dark and sinister."

"That thing isn't back is it?" I asked, my heart beginning beat a little faster at the thought, "we haven't seen it in ages, why show up now?"

"No."

Luna and I turned to Celestia to see that despite her almost blissfully oblivious demeanor from earlier, she looked solemn and even a bit pale as she spoke.

"This... sensation," she whispered, "this is something else, Twilight. Something old... something familiar."

Luna nodded in agreement and turned back to me.

"If this is what I think it is, we need to hurry and warn Cadence," she said increasing her pace, "I have no doubt she senses it too, though she may not know what it is."

"So what is it then?" I asked, looking around nervously, "what could it possibly be if it's not the monster?"

"Something that could potentially be just as bad," Luna replied, not looking back, "an evil that plagued the Crystal Empire many ages ago," she turned her head and gave me a side glance, "even with your impressive knowledge and penchant for study, I doubt you've come across them in any book you've read, isn't that right sister?"

I turned to see Celestia nod in response, looking a bit guilty for some reason.

"What's she talking about, Princess?" I asked with a slight frown of bemusement, "what's this evil that plagued the Crystal Empire? From the way you and Princess Luna are putting it, it can't be Sombra."

"Well," Celestia began hesitantly, "it isn't Sombra, no... but--"

A scream rang out from further ahead, cutting off Celestia and chilling me to the bone.

Cadence.

"Twilight, wait, don't--"

Without another word I lit up my horn and in a flash of magenta light, I vanished... and reappeared in a scenario out of my worst nightmares.

Ghosts.

That was the best way I could describe them.

They were large vaguely pony shaped wisps of darkness and shadow -- eyes white and smoldering with malice, fury, and hunger... but not like the monster. The monster had an otherworldly feel to it, like it didn't belong here. Like it was corrupting the very fabric of reality around it even as it drove you insane.

No... Celestia had been right.

These creatures felt much more familiar... too familiar in fact. I had never seen these things before, but for some reason they brought about images of a certain shadowy stallion.

Not that any of these observations mattered at the moment, considering these terrifying wraiths were tearing bloody chunks out of my screaming sister-in-law with their teeth.

Nevermind that alicorns were immortal.

Nevermind that Cadence could most likely heal from these injuries if given a chance.

Nevermind that there were dozens of these ghost like creatures swarming around us.

In that moment, the fear I felt from these things absolutely paled in comparison to the fear of losing Cadence. One of the wraiths spotted me and let out an inequine shriek that drew the attention of the other wraiths.

The ones that weren't already trying to eat Cadence turned to me and shrieked before flying towards me -- their mouths wide, jaws snapping, and teeth gnashing.

I didn't care.

I was already reaching out to the Magic around me.

Comments

[Clawfoot]

Cadence.. is apparently magically delicious.

[Black Hoof]

Cadance is not having a good time!
Rushing in was a mistake...

[Cloack]

Awesome story mate especially the writing.
Can’t wait for the next chapter

[the7Saviors]

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Thanks, glad you enjoy it.

[Maxes Altho]

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[Fancy Fox]

i dont understand why i want to see more of how these character suffer, i don't enjoy it! but i'm curious to see where this goes and still enjoy the story itself...

also,
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your comment combined with your profile picture made me read it in fluttershy's voice. I chuckled and spilled my drink.

[Chaos Nightfall]

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I appreciate you.

[Phoenix Nebula]

I was already reaching out to the Magic around me.

Puts on sunglasses preparing for the light show.

[Golden Fang Ryu Shenron]

Not that any of these observations mattered at the moment, considering these terrifying wraiths were tearing bloody chunks out of my screaming sister-in-law with their teeth.

Sweet Faust!

[Brian Core]

Fucking hell this some really messed up shit and its certainly more than I bargained for when I went looking for decently high word count per chapter stories and Daybreaker stuff. To know that this is the prequel to Those Who Seek Death I had to read this to find out what's the backstory but this... damn man. I think you can make a killing writing suspense/horror books or movie scripts.

[darklight731]

...was this inspired by "I have no mouth and I must scream"?

[necrohappy]

What I found strange was that after she lashed out, she would get this extremely confused look and apologize, saying she had no idea what had happened or why she was yelling like that.

I have a feeling that Cadence is not Cadence

[Rewan Demontay]

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Hmm, you don't say.