Journey To Hearth's Warming

by Lighttone GryphonStar

S2 Episode 12: Getting Ahead

The Afternoon's light laid outside the city was soon cut up with icy winds and snowy clouds that gathered above. Yet no matter the size, not a single one got past the city's borders. Geländehorn was completely untouched by the weather, as it always was.

Yet far from here, across the plains and back into Gelum Voce Pia, things were much different. The snow fell here with no fear and quickly covered up the scars on the land and buildings that even after ten days had still yet to heal properly.

The snow traced over everything until, finally; it came upon a massive crystal claw standing out from a shattered altar. However, just before it could touch it, the snow instantly hit the ground. The winds carrying it hit the dirt as well. In fact, nothing could get within a full five meters of it, as shown. There was no snow, no grass, no forms of life around it or on it.

"It's bending gravity." A lone hooded figure walked to it with joy in her voice. She slowly lowered her hood to get a better look. It was none of than Celestia herself.

She got as close as she could before being stopped. She waved her hand over and over the border. "No, I was wrong, it not bending, it's simply distorting space." She poked and the border and the entirety bounced like a stone on water. "Incredible. Now, this is a much better find than some light magic source."

Celestia backed away as a frown crossed over her mouth. "But... Oh, I'm no good at dark magic studies. If only Luna was here, too. She used to date a dark magic user." Soon enough, her frown flipped. "I guess I could gather what data I can now and take it to Luna later for extra details. Any reason to keep me away from searching for that damn light magic source."

Without warning or any regard to anything around her, her horn glowed and puffed a massive tent around the border. Inside the tent were several tables covered in all matter of test tubes, glass bowls, and other forms of science. "Like Starswirl always said, 'Study Everything'." She pulled out a tool and walked back to the wall.

Soon lights flickered from the tent, followed by sounds of joy and annoyance. From a distance, she never realized she was being watched. A lone pegasus sipped his cider before turning away.

******

Meanwhile, just outside of Geländehorn, in a park with trees and plenty of grass. Adagio ran around and jumped, tossed and fell onto the soft blades of grass. Her face had never been so happy. It was such a wonderful sight to see for Fredricson. The little one had been so soppy before. She needed some rest and fun.

He leaned back in his chair and put a pipe in his mouth. "This be the life, aye Lady Cat."

"See, I told you this could be fun." She walked over and handed him a drink. Once he took the drink, she moved her hands to his shoulders and rubbed them.

"Oh, yes. Whatever it be, it is perfect as long as ye be right here with me." He pulled the pipe out and lifted his drink upward. He reached up and pulled her face down in a quick kiss.

"Oh, just me." Lady Cat purred back. "That might be the best insult to my sister yet."

"Yeah, me be glad to not have any work to do?"

"Speaking of work. What did you send Starlight and Silver Pear to do in the first place?"

"Aye, gave them the blue list--" He stopped as she jumped away from him.

"You did what?!"

"Calm down. It was Starswirl's orders."

"What are you talking about?" Lady Cat raced back over and pulled him out of the chair. "You and him both know how dangerous Diamondback Gust is!!"

"And as aye said. It is Starswirl you need to blame. He planned to test them since he barely had any data on them. He even told me he would follow them the entire time and even lie if they ever spot him."

"WHAT?!" Lady Cat's loud shriek was so unexpected that it even caught Adagio off guard. "Damn it, I hate that unicorn some times." She finally let go of Fredricson.

"Don't worry, they have the bag, therefore they will be fine." Fredricson placed the pipe back in his mouth but quickly became annoyed when he realized he never lit it. Pulling out a match, he swiped it across Lady Cat's leathery corset, then brought the flame over to his pipe and puffed a few times to get it working.

"Fine..." Lady Cat lowered her head and walked back to her chair.

"They'll be fine... Unless they opened the bag early..."

******

Deep underground Starswirl sneezed aloud, stuttering his laughter for a moment, "Oh, wow, I'm sneezing a lot today."He posed as he wiped his nose. "Somepony must talk about me." He reached over to some popcorn floating around him and laughed again before throwing some in his mouth.

His eyes moved around at incredible speed, keeping up with what he was watching extremely well. He was filled with joy, but also scanning every detail. He didn't want to miss anything. This plan was crazy, but it wasn't the first time he thought of something like this.

Down on the ground, Starlight and Silver Pear ran through several pillars as fast as they could. Behind them, the giant serpent quickly followed, twisting across the ground and through the pillars with ease despite being easily over thirty times bigger than each of them.

The serpent was so big and so long that no matter how far they ran from the place where they dropped; it didn't feel as if they were getting any further from his jaws.

"What are we going to do?!" Silver Pear screamed.

"Why are you asking me? You know more about these things than me?"

"I've only seen them in my mom's old hunting books!"

"You at least know their name! That's more than I know." Starlight barked back. She reached her hand out and channeled her magic. "We can't just keep running forever." In a poof, her gentlemare sword appeared in her hand.

"Fine!" Silver Pear thought back to the book, but the longer he thought, the more nothing came to mind. "I'm sorry. I guess will have to improvise."

"I was worried you were going to say that." Starlight closed her eyes and concentrated magic on her feet. With a good kick, she launched herself into the air and toward the naga.

The naga opened its jaws wide at this and smiled. Silver Pear jumped around and pulled out his claymore. Starlight leaned back as she fell closer to the teeth, but before the naga could get a chance, Silver Pear punched his hilt into its jaws, slamming them shut. Hearing the loud slam, Starlight's eyes shot open, and she finished her flip by landing feet first, perfectly on the forehead of the naga. She pulled her gentlemare sword back and pointed downward.

"Now this stops."

She dropped the tip down. However, just before it made an impact, a snapping sound filled the air as if somepony had snapped their fingers. The tip hit and, much to Starlight's shock, bent like rubber.

"What?" She pulled back and stabbed again. Just like before, the weapon bent like a rubber band. "No, no, no." She stabbed over and over and nothing.

"What's going on up there?" Silver Pear struggled as the chin of the naga pushed down on him.

"I don't know." Starlight turned her gentlemare sword upward and her eyes widened at the blade drooping in her hand. "What?!"

Before she could process anything, the naga pushed upward, sending her flying into a pillar. She coughed hard and fell onto the naga's body. The naga felt her hand knocked its body up, launching her in the air again. She was sent spinning through the air and toward the jaws once more.

"Silver Pear!!" she shouted as the jaws snapped shut.

"Starlight!!" Silver Pear shouted in rage. He charged forward and swung at the naga over and over. He was filled with such rage that he didn't even notice that his claymore was acting like rubber now as well.

"Give her back!" his voice was stopped halfway as a poofing sound filled his ears. He turned around to see smoke that looked a lot like cotton candy. Much to his shock, Starlight fell out of it, covered in slime. "Starlight!" He rushed over.

"Silver... Silver..." Her body twitched uncontrollably and her eyes glazed over.

"What is it, Lovely--" He was stopped in questioned as she slapped him.

"You asshole!!" She pushed herself away and coughed a few times.

"What?! I didn't touch your ass once?" Silver Pear threw his arms around, knocking the slime off his hands.

"Not you." Starlight wiped slime off her face and pointed upward. "HIM!!"

Silver Pear looked to where she was pointing and jumped back at the sight of Starswirl floating above them all. "How long has he been there?" He questioned.

"The whole time I'm sure!"

Starswirl stopped spinning the popcorn and looked down at them with her words. "So, what gave me away?"

"How about you puffed me out of there?" Starlight posed. She aimed her gentlemare sword and despite it still drooping, she pulsed magic out of it and shot it at Starswirl. The old wizard waved his hand and the attack bounce to the wall.

"Attacking me won't make this end."

"Yes, it will. Now end this illusion!!" she shot off another.

"I never said this was fake."

"What do you mean?" Starlight's eyes widened. "Of course it is. Why else would you tell Fredricson to give us that list?"

"While, yes, I planned all of this? This is very real!" Starswirl put on a serious face.

"You mean I just got eaten?"

"You mean, you are about to get eaten again?" Starswirl pointed over to the naga that was clearly still there.

Starlight's eyes widened, "Curse you, Dis--" She was stopped as her and Silver Pear were swallowed again.

"Hmm, Dis..." Starswirl stroked his beard. "Is that short for something?" He snapped his fingers, and a dictionary appeared in the swarm of popcorn. He opened and moved over to the D's. "Let's see D I S, Dis, Disability, Disable, Disabled, Disablement, Disabler, maybe, Disablism, Disabuse, oh certainly not that one. Hmm, Disaccharidase, Disaccharide, Disaccord, Disaccredit, Disaccredition, Disaccustom, Disadvantage." He flicked his finger, and the page turned.

******

On the other side of the capital, Rex, Clover, and Twilight walked silently through the hallways of the castle. Indeed, just as Rex described, much of it was covered in dust. There were certainly clean spots, but most of which were concentrated around important areas, like the dining room, stairs and quarters. And yet even those places had dust gathered around the edges of the walls and cracks.

"This place would give Rarity a heart attack," Twilight did her best not to sneer even as a crystal spider dropped from a string of web right in front of her.

Her eye narrowed on the creature, and she held her hand out. The crystal spider landed and Twilight brought it up to her face. "Can you tell me why this place looks so distorted?"

"Are you talking to that thing." Clover raised an eyebrow in confusion at Twilight's actions.

The crystal spider crawled off of Twilight's hand, making her deadpan. "Damn it, Fluttershy always made this look so easy."

"Flutter-who?"

"Nevermind..." Twilight waved the web off of her hand and attempted to catch up with Rex. Clover, seeing this, hastened to be in front of Twilight... and closer to Rex.

"Quiet, you two!" Rex's loud voice caught their attention. "I'm listening..."

"To what--" Twilight looked at Rex's head. Even though they were covered by his turban, she was surprised to see the bumps where his ears would twitch, as if listening.

"What do you hear Rex?"

"I'm not sure. Cast a hearing spell."

"Of course." Clover closed her eyes and her horn glowed. Inside her head, her eardrums widened. "There is... Nothing, absolutely nothing."

"Do you think it might be a magic dampener?" Twilight questioned. "I read they were first getting invented around this time."

"No," Clover quickly answered. "And what do you mean, invented recently? Rex's amulet is over five thousand years old."

"Amulet?" Twilight was confused since out of the ten days she knew Rex and even when she read books about him, she never knew he wielded an amulet. She jotted down a mental note on that question. For later, now a bigger question was this castle?

"Nevermind that!" Rex's annoyance was clear now. "... Twilight... Do you know any--"

"Sound amplifying spells! Sure I do." Twilight's horn glowed with magic and inside her ears did just the same as Clover's. "I learned this spell straight from Clover's private section of Canterlot's Library."

"Remind me to never tell my brother my sound spell..." Clover deadpanned.

"Sh..." Rex held his hand up and all three of them stopped despite the guards leading them, not giving any sign of a halt.

"I... I..." Twilight's eye went wide. "I can't hear anything."

"I knew it..." On that Rex's chains flew upward and wrapped around the throat of each guard.

"What are you doing?" Twilight rushed forward, but Clover quickly stopped her.

"I want answers now!" Rex demanded. "We have been walking for hours and not got anywhere near this garden..."

The guards refused to answer. They kept still and strong despite the hold over their throats.

"Ha!" Clover laughed at the guards and walked forward. "You don't know who this is?" She waved her hands around Rex as she walked. "This is Rex Moba, Warlock Knight of the Alicorns and master of shadowmancy. You know the rare power of shadow magic." She pulled out her bow staff and walked over, punching one guard in the gut, knocking his face forward. She quickly grabbed his mane and held his head down. Leaning in his ear, she quickly yelled, "That means he can use all shadows within this entire city. He knew where the garden was the whole time and only has been following you out of a show of respect." She leaned in closer to his ear and blew some air into it, making the guard twitch in fear.

Twilight was in complete shock to these actions. And yet the only thing that kept her in her place was the smile on Rex's face. She knew Rex was strong, but could he be this strong? She almost felt doubt in all the words, but she couldn't place it where.

After a moment of no answers, Clover kicked the guard between the legs and knocked him to the ground before walking off. "Fine, we will go the rest of the way on our own."

Clover walked past Twilight. She kept moving for about ten feet more back the way they came and hit the wall hard with her bow staff in specific spots that seemed almost at random. Without warning, the wall opened, revealing a new pathway, dusty like the others, yes, but clearly a more traveled route.

"This way you two." On Clover's cue, Rex let loose a small laugh before bashing the guards into the wall and out cold.

"Wait, what? WHAT WAS THAT?!" Twilight's jaw dropped.

"That was a bluff." Rex walked past her.

Clover laughed harder as Rex entered the new hallway and walked back over to Twilight. She closed the alicorn's jaw and laid her elbow over her head. "Yeah, Rex's shadowmancy isn't anywhere near that strong. I just needed to get close enough to do a mind scan. Scarying them with such a simply lie made their most recent thoughts on the garden pop into their head. After which it was easy to find the garden."

"Wait, so Rex knew they were leading us in circles!" Twilight knocked the arm away.

"I doubt he did at first. He was getting annoyed at how much time we were wasting." Clover laughed harder and ran to catch up with Rex.

"Wait..." Twilight ran over to the turn to the new hallway and asked, "Does that mean there was no magic dampen--"

"Actually, looks like you were right... At least about one thing." Clover threw a large star-shaped crystal right in Twilight. Luckily, the alicorn ducked in time to dodge. Seeing that she missed, Clover huffed in annoyance and whispered under her breath, "For somepony with only one good eye, she certainly has good depth perception."

******

Underground, deep inside the belly of the beastly serpent, Starlight and Silver Pear struggled. They didn't know what to think about all of this. The inside of the naga stank and was covered in slime. The colors were dark or pink.

"What is this?" Starlight lit her horn with light. "Some sort of test? Or a twisted joke?"

"You tell me. You know more about this wizard than I do." Silver Pear posed.

"Not really. Before I met my teacher, I only knew him as a great wizard. She was the one that was such a big fan of his work."

"She certainly didn't act like that on the airship. Since she was constantly watching Rex and Clover." Silver Pear pushed at his shoulder to stand up in the small, moving walls.

"Oh, More like self preservation rather than idolization."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'll explain later. Speaking of preservation." Starlight's horn glowed brighter. She held her hand and Silver Pear moved out of the way. Magic from her horn flowed over her hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, either we die or I test out a spell I'm been working on."

"Working on?"

"Not really working on? More like I've seen it in dreams ever since I saw some mass murderers use it."

"Mass Murderers?" Silver Pear raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'll explain later... I hope..." She held her hand out and open. The magic slowly condensed in her palm. "I really hope this doesn't backfire. Great Hand!" She shouted her spell but stopped halfway as pain-filled her palm. "Damn it, Great Hand of--"

The magic stopped, and a stick grew out of her palm. A paper was attached that said the word 'bang'.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Silver Pear questioned.

"What?" Starlight pulled back and removed the stick off and looked at the paper. "No, it was just supposed to be a giant 'fuck you' beam!" She looked the paper over before throwing it into the stomach acid below them.

Silver Pear picked it up and read the paper. "You... truly... are... hopeless."

"I am not!" Starlight shouted at him.

"No, the paper, it's saying more." Silver Pear brought the paper over to her face. "Look."

"What?" Starlight stopped and grabbed the paper as the words from before slowly faded. Soon, extra words replaced them. She quickly read aloud. "I know you have only three hours left before the acid eats you alive, but taking a chance on a spell that could have vaporized your arm is not the best use of your time."

"Wait, we only have three hours left!"

Starlight waved the paperback and forth, "Huh, I've never seen message paper up close before. Always thought this kind of spell was a legend--" She stopped as the writing faded again and new writing took its place. "Hmm, if you want out of there, I suggest you put your heads together and think. I wouldn't put anyone in danger unless they already had a way out."

"What does that mean?" Silver Pear questioned.

"Hold on, there is more..." Starlight waited as the new message came through. "Also does the word Disassociation sound at all familiar to you."

"Disassociation? What does that have to do with this?"

Starlight facepalmed, "He's just taking guesses on his name in the future."

"How do you know that?"

"Because this message paper was made from the paper of a dictionary." Starlight crumbled up the paper. "Teach always loves reading those before going to bed, so I know the paper pretty well."

"Huh, you know what Twilight sleeps with?" Silver Pear's eyebrows rolled around.

"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter and help me think." Starlight threw the paper at him and searched her pockets. "No, nothing here." She stared at Silver Pear, annoyed.

"What? Oh, right?" Silver Pear checked his own pockets, but again, nothing.

"Well, he didn't sneak it on us." Starlight placed her hand on her chin and pondered aloud. "Maybe it was something we bought." She turned around and raced her hands over Silver Pear.

"Hey? Right HERE!" He by stopped by a punch to the gut.

"Do you ever get your mind out of the gutter?" She pulled back with the list in hand and looked everything over. "No, no, no, no." She went over every item on the list and either it wouldn't help or be way too small of an amount to be useful.

She waved the paper back and forth, hoping for some invisible ink or another kind of hidden message to be revealed, but no. "Damn it!"

"Maybe the items we have can have some sort of effect on this naga."

"What are you saying?" She questioned him, "You know more about this naga than I do."

"Well, mom used to hunt the smaller ones."

"Really? They come in smaller sizes?"

"Yeah, some as small as your hand. Their size is determined by their age and wisdom."

"Wisdom?! This thing ate us." Starlight attempted to throw her arms out to emphasize this, but the wall was now leaning inward. "Plus, you were the first one to run from it."

"Yeah, I know, but that was because it showed anger to us."

"Anger, it roared at us only after you ran from it."

"You wouldn't understand. It's a hunter kind of sense that told me it was angry long before it roared."

"Hunter sense, well what does this hunter sense tell you now?"

Silver Pear stopped at her words and leaned against one side of the fleshy wall while Starlight pushed against the other. Thoughts swarmed his head.

"Shit," Starlight pushed harder. "I'm thinking Starswirl meant three minutes."

"Wait, he said we already have what we need on us."

"Yes, and--"

Without warning, Silver Pear reached over to Starlight. "Don't you fucking dare?!" she screamed as his hands went over her sides. The walls pushed closer, knocking Starlight into Silver Pear's arms. "No, no, no!!" she struggled, "I am not dying while you attempt to have sex with me!!"

"I'm not." He placed his hand over her mouth. His other hand continued to move around her, despite her fighting. The walls pushed forward, knocking their stomachs against each other and her chest into his face, making her squirm even more.

Finally, he pulled out what he was searching for. The package that Fredricson gave them. Going on the pure gut feeling, he tore open the bag only to find nothing in the bag at all.

"What?" Silver Pear pushed his face away from the chest and pulled his arms back in confusion before receiving a swift kick between the legs.

"Thank you for not taking my virginity!"

Silver Pear pulled back in pain. "I'm sorry, I thought--" His eyes blinked a few times before his thoughts changed gears. "Wait, you're a virgin--" Again he was stopped, but this time not by Starlight.

Out of nowhere, liquid rushed over them and pushed them upward. Within seconds, they were puked up and out on.

******

Roaring echoed back and forth through the base of Indigo Frost. The teeth of the monster edged closer to Sage's throat, yet the blank stare in the beast's eyes was the only thing Sage could see. At first, he found exhilaration upon realizing the truth. Then again, if the beast killed him now, it would matter not.

Luckily, help arrived with a slam to the monster's head, knocking its jaws clear from 'Sage. Sage finally snapped out of his fear and exhilaration at seeing Vanity standing over him. She quickly helped him to his feet before turning her attention to the monster.

"Back, back, back," she swung flames around. The monster finally yielded... for the moment.

"Uh, thank you," Sage finally exhaled heavily.

Vanity smiled, but with her free hand punched him hard in the gut.

"Uhg, what was that for?"

"There is a reason we watched them from a camera!" she screamed at him. "A reason this room was locked behind a safe door!"

"I'm, I'm sorry." Sage stood up better and leaned toward the doorway's corner. "I just got curious..."

"Well, next time you get curious, bring some flames." She held up the flame to the other monsters, and they pushed away from it in fear. "You see intense cold or heat is a good barrier."

Suddenly, without warning, the lead monster charged forward again, aiming straight toward the lowered guard of Vanity.

Vanity turned almost too slow to stop it. However, that mattered not as giant green tentacles flew into the room and grabbed the monster, throwing him across the walls before beating him against the table.

Upon seeing this, Vanity quickly took a bow. Sage, meanwhile, turned toward the doorway and was completely puzzled by the sight of a swirling vortex floating in the air, of which the tentacles were flowing out of.

The tentacles beat the monster around several times. Each hit crushed several bones. After a few moments, the monster was pulled into the vortex. Screams and crunching sounds followed.

After a moment of silence, the monster walked back out, only now he looked and acted very different. His skin was now covered in wrinkles and he was so much calmer. Despite all of this, one thing was instantly more noticeable than any other.

"That smell," Sage pulled back at that all familiar pungent odor. "Thule?"

"I'm sorry we could not stop him, Thule."

The monster raised his hands to his face and stretched the skin back so drastically before finally talking... with Thule's voice. "Do not worry. I needed a new one, anyway. The other one was rotting a bit too much for my liking." He removed his hands from his face and down to the neck, giving loud popping before finally stopping. "He could have served a better place, but this will do fine." Thule turned to Sage and gave a smile, at which point he noticed the teeth had fallen out of place. A swift punch to the jaw fixed on that. Once everything seemed right, he spoke to the ifrit stallion. "I assume you know your place now."

“Yes, I know my place now…” Sage laughed aloud. “I know why he chose us all. All nine members. Because we are all alphas.”

“Indeed, you finally see it. You are his proof. That even the highest of elites can become monsters.”

“To pollute even the head of the world with the ideals of the monster that are our will.” Vanity stood up finally and place her hand over her head in a salute.

Thule walked over to the other monsters and placed his hands over their heads. The monsters twisted and screamed before abruptly standing still. He released his hands and brought them down to the binds. Their binds were unhooked. Sage and Vanity jumped back as the monsters, walking on all fours, slowly exited the room. "These two know their place now as well, so they are free... to follow our command."

"Of course," Vanity smiled. Even though she was loyal to the cause, Sage could see a bit of faint fear in her eyes at the sight of each monster as they passed through the door.

"Yes, but what is their place... now?"

"Their job now will be to go to other elites and bring them here for more knowledge. To gather packs of their own and wait, being ready for the last phase of the plan."

"We're that close..."

"No, but Frost has been planning this for a long time. It's best to think ahead." Thule walked up to both of them. "Speaking of thinking ahead, he has a mission for you two."

"What is it?" Vanity questioned with a little a glee.

"You will know soon enough, but we need your brother's ashes first." Thule's last words brought a chill through Vanity's whole body.

******

A distinct chill covered Twilight's mind, especially as the three walked through a graveyard to reach the garden. Rex and Clover were so eerily quiet about the whole thing. Clover kept her attention to the front while Rex did everything he seemingly could to never look at the graves, especially the names.

Each grave was of the same shape and stood in a range of heights from just barely up to the kneecaps to taller than an alicorn. They were kept incredibly clean. It was quite surprising since the rest of the castle was so empty and covered in dust. All of them were chilling to see, but that they were what stood between the entrance and the garden really said a lot. And yet there was clearly so much more care for these than anything in the castle.

At the end of the graveyard, a tall statue of a unicorn in fancy royal armor. Rex stopped at the sight of it and slowly bowed. Clover was even slower to her actions, but followed suit. Twilight gave no reaction at first and only stared in confusion before asking what they were doing.

"We are showing respect to the former ruler of the unicorns," Rex answered her with a slight harshness in her words.

Twilight's sight went wide, and she quickly dropped to one knee. "This is Sir Sereal Platinum? Sorry, the books only say so little about him. The biggest thing being his death."

"Well, the day of his death, the alicorns lost a truly loyal soldier, and the unicorns lost a great ruler." Rex stood up and walked away.

Clover gave no words to add and only frowned at the word 'great'. She stood up too, but walked away much faster.

Twilight looked up at the statue and smile, grabbing out a notepad. "Note to self, get a picture to go later."

"Look," Clover speaking brought Twilight attention away from the statue to see the garden just a few meters away.

Twilight walked ahead, only to stop in her tracks at the sight of what lay at the center of the garden. An extensive area for fighting, and a battle going on with rather a young female unicorn mare fighting with all her might.

The alicorn slowly approached the sight of it all.

The unicorn moved fast. Throwing the much heavier opponent to the ground. Taking his arm and swiftly breaking it. Quickly smashing the other hand with her foot until he dropped the weapon. Seeing the opponent down, the unicorn mare reached into her back pocket and pulled out two knives, swinging them right at the opponent's throat.

"Enough, Mira!" The attack stopped mere centimeters from the skin at those words. A strange lizard walked forward from the side of the arena and spoke with less anger, "I believe you have won."

"Have I Dim?" She turned the knives away. Smashing the opponent's face into the ground and out cold.

"Incredible--" Twilight's words were stopped instantly as without warning the unicorn mare threw her knife at high speeds right for her throat.

Rex's chains caught it just as it came within centimeters of her neck. Twilight fell to the ground with pure shock and gripped at her neck, itching at an old scar as familiarity twisted through her mind.

Rex threw the knife back into the arena. "Twilight, this is Princess Platinum. Ruler of the unicorns."

Though chill was completely gone, now the only thing outside of sheer confusion in Twilight's mind was absolute fear.

******

Author's Note:

Yeah, I ended the scene on such a powerful note. This moment is meant to not just a literal punch but also a mental punch to the reader. I wanted Princess Platinum’s introduction to be so drastically different from every version of her. However if you are familiar with my work you will notice a similarity between this scene and a previous introduction that Twilight once had before in one of my previous stories. As you read chapter 13 it will become very clearly what angle I’m going for.

Otherwise this chapter was mostly a comedy with a bit of world building. The fact the graveyard was the only b=place clean has massive reasons in the story.

Also we finally got more on the mysterious body jumping Thule. I’m loving the inclusion of this character in my story, he adds so much extra fun.

So much more was added with this chapter and so much more is still to come in the next chapter.

Don't forget to comment, like or favorite. Whichever you think is best. Want to keep with updates, follow me here or on my Twitter. https://twitter.com/Gryphonstar5678