Interlude: Preparing The Pieces
Two Days Later – Canterlot, Grand Cathedral of the Holy Sun, Shining Might’s Office; 8:30am
To say the calm of the early morning wasn’t as calm at the Grand Cathedral, more specifically at Shining Might’s office, as the high paladin was thrashing his office, throwing objects, smashing anything within hoof’s reach, his horn sparking violently as a lash of untamed magical energy scored the walls.
While the injury to his horn had been painful and a problem for the first few months, due to the Church’s lesser known scientific endeavors, his horn has been making steady recover, sadly his magical potential is still the same with only his control of it being an issue, putting him back to the beginning. He was incapable of complex spells and limited to firing magical blasts the size of a hoof-ball, destructive sure, but not comparable to his previous abilities.
Might was enraged at not only the familiar of Swift Slice’s and his cohorts attempts at Eclipse Light, but how they were single-hoofedly dealt with by the Lunar Guard accompanying said stallion. The only saving grace is that news of the quote-on-quote brawl hadn’t been made to be known… which is why he only just learned of Swift’s familiar now rather than two days ago.
“DAMN THOSE LUNAR GUARD AND DAMN THEIR LUNAR WITCH OF A PRINCESS! I thought with her return the Lunar Guard would be a sad excuse compared to the Royal Guard or even our Church Knights, but to imagine their capabilities far extend our prior estimates!” shouted Might, tossing a head sculpture of himself.
While Might seethed at the idiocy of Swift and their failure – which the stallion and his fellows have been swiftly punished for – his main ire wasn’t on Swift though, what made his fur stand and his teeth grind together was the recent news of what was occurring in Manehattan.
Its been proven now by the knights and paladins still stationed in Manehattan – unknown to both the Royal Guard and the citizenry – that the ponies who were targeted by the so called dubbed, Scarlet Huntress, had some connection to the Church, both minor and major. Might would had retaliated and go on a witch-hunt across the metropolitan city, but due to his actions in Ponyville, the majority of Church activities have been halted and any such activities would result in a heavy penalty.
The only way he and other leaders of the Church could contact their other secretive operations was through crystal balls, enchanted to send undetectable, live conversations from pony to pony. At this moment, Might was having one of said conversations with one of his paladins who were left stationed in Manehattan.
“We have confirmed most of the targeted ponies are believers of the Church, at first we thought it was a heathen against the beliefs of the Church, but when members of the Church Knights and even a paladin – without their equipment of course – found dead either near or at their homes were found, it was clear who or whatever this being is are hunting members of the Church, regardless of connection.”
Might paced before the crystal ball stationed on his desk, he kept said magical device in a storage container in his office, but with the number of messages he’s getting from the thing, he left it on his desk in case.
With frustrated sigh, he sat down on office chair and gazed at the crystal ball with a deep contempt for the situation. “I will see what I can do, for now, continue with your assigned objectives and if possible, gather what remains of our brothers and sisters to the several safe-houses located across the city. The chances of this demoness attacking a group of our knights, would mean the death of this witch; the coward can hunt and scour in the darkness, but the light if our domain! See to it you do not fail me there,” said Might, disconnecting the signal.
At the same time – Manehattan; 8:35am
As the connection to their leader ended, the paladin who was speaking to Shining Might, turned to his fellow knights and other fellow Church members. Once the sudden rise of the deaths of their fellows began to reach their ears, they quickly rendezvous at one of said safe-houses, fearing they would be next.
“You heard the high paladin, together we are strong and under the light the threat of this ‘Scarlet Huntress’ becomes nothing to the might and righteous power of the Holy Sun!”
All of the knights and Church members gave their own roar of approval, but soon the sound of their applause was drowned out by the shattered of glass, as one of the windows built on the roof sprayed glass shards down below, spooking the more wound-up members.
Quickly they search for the source of the noise, when they find a figure standing on top a stack of crates inside the warehouse. As everypony got adjusted to the sudden beam of light splayed down on them, the silhouette of the figure became more clear until a sense of dread befell them all.
Standing with her wings splayed open for all to see was an albino thestral, her fur consisted of white color, tinted with red-tone, making it appear she doused herself in blood. Her mane and tail were a crimson red, while her bat-like wings appeared sharp at the ends, with the membrane scarlet, reflecting a red-light as the sun beamed against them.
The mare stood on her rear-legs, a pair of serrated knives curling and flipping on her forehooves, a noticeable crimson could be visible, covering both her hooves and said knives. With a seductive chuckle, she opened her mouth to reveal razor sharp teeth, stained with crimson life essence of another pony.
The biggest clue that this was no ordinary pony or thestral was her eyes, rather the regular irises of either pony and thestral, hers were shaped differently, the ends of both her eyes coming to pointed curl, while the eye itself was drenched in a crimson red, but her eyes… they feverishly stared at the crowd of ponies not like another would stare somepony else.
She stared at them as if a starved wolf would stare at lambs for the slaughter – meat, simply flesh to devour.
“So you think to hide among each other under the light of the day?” The albino thestral, began to giggle to herself, until her giggling grew to crescendo of mad laughter, many of the Church members in the back slowly began to make their way to the exit, when suddenly a swish of noise in the air as an object flew.
A wet thunk echoed around the crowd, then one of the ponies attempting to retreat found themselves falling flat to the ground with a familiar knife embedded into their eye socket. Those nearest to the body stared with growing horror, until the flood-gates loose, screams of terror spread out to the crowd witnessing the sudden execution of one of their own.
“Who said you could leeeeave? We haven’t started the party!”
As the knights, paladins, and other armed ponies got ready to fight, the albino thestral, with a flick of the hoof she used to throw her knife motioned it back. Soon the knife embedded in the corpse, flew back to its mistress, making the crowd panic at the sudden act of magic, even though the lack of her not having a horn on her.
“Whu-What, who-o, just are you?”
With that, her smile stretched further, revealing the crimson liquid staining her teeth to drip out of her maw like a rapid beast. With a single twirl of her knives, she positioned herself in pouncing position, leaning slightly off the stack of crates, her next target now made crystal clear.
“Me? Hehahhaeheeee… slaughter made flesh, and you… are my next meal.”
With those final words… she pounced – the slaughter has commenced.
Elsewhere – Canterlot, Canterlot Park; 9:15am
After the events at the Gala, Pristine was a little upset she couldn’t spend a little more time with Eclipse, but she was at least glad she got to be with him for that short amount of time. She spend her day relaxing at the park, sitting down at one of the benches that over-looked the park’s small lake, watching a flock of ducks quacking and swimming by.
The entire spectacle itself brought a sense of peace to her, with the past events that had been weighing on her since, taking things easy was all she needed now.
Peace and quiet.
As Pristine closed her eyes and leaned her head back, she listened to the quacking of ducks and the gentle breeze. This serenity would soon end when a figure approached her from behind, not even the grass itself made noise as the figure stepped on it; the ducks seeing the sudden appearance of the figure, either swam or flew away at his approach.
When she abrupt stop of the sound of ducks stopped, Pristine was ready to investigate… when she felt the presence behind, her instincts to turn around and see were halted by the figure’s voice.
Halt.
Or rather, lack of voice, as all she heard was an ominous voice in her head, rather that she listened to the voice… it felt like her body simply followed the words spoken. Her attempts to turn her head or even move her body an inch was fruitless, whatever this unknown figure did caused her entire body to stop listening to her.
“Sorry if I spooked you, but its best you don’t see my face… it is a grand welcome to meet you, Pristine Snow.”
The absolute terror she felt at this figure knowing who she is was palpable, whoever was behind her was capable of freezing somepony with just their word, while inflicting such a terrifying presence from just being near them… it was the same feeling she got when she was with Eclipse Light.
“It is best you calm down if you wish to hear what I have to say.”
Pristine tried speaking, but even her mouth didn’t follow her either, only her hearing, breathing, sight, and the quick tempo of her heart were the only thinks she could control and feel. She noticed now that the entire park was empty of both critters and denizens… it was as if those who were previously here simply left, all at once.
“In the near future, the coming fall of the Church of the Holy Sun will come, with it a new age will be birth from this change. You will witness to this change… and must decide – which side will you join.”
What is he talking about? ‘The fall of the Church?’ ‘Choosing sides’?
“You must be confused, no matter, this decision will not come immediately… but when it does…”
At the corner of her eye, she could see a muzzle, but there wasn’t enough to see to get any details whatsoever, all she knew was they were male and their fur was a dark color – black or dark blue maybe.
“One age shall end… another will begin anew. I hope you decide the correct side to choose… because they’re will be no second chances afterwards.”
Soon she felt the presence slowly vanish, but she couldn’t move yet and the presence while not big was still felt.
Hope you will see our master in a new light after this occurs. Farewell – Miss Snow. Release.
At that, with a heavy gasp, she swiftly turned around only for the breeze of the wind to blow the grass behind her. The sound of ducks returned and suddenly, she could hear other ponies wander the park as if whatever happened to Pristine never occurred at all.
Turning around and sitting back on her bench, Pristine leaned her head on her forehooves, her thoughts rapidly rushing with question after question on what she was told… and what it could mean for her and the future of Equestria.
...Wait, who does he mean by his ‘master’?… And who is his master?
Manehattan; 9:30am
(Character Theme)
The soft drip drop of blood, was the only sound heard inside the warehouse, all over the now blood-drenched building was the bodies of various ponies. Many were unarmored, but even those who had armor shared the same fate as their compatriots, various stab wounds through the armor, cause deformities on both the armor… and the bodies.
A hoof which was still connected to one of the exits to the warehouse was detached from its owner, left gripping on the handle, forever showing the despair of escape being impossible. Those that tried to fight back were dealt with last, but even their deaths weren’t as swift compared to others, cuts, slashes, even stab wounds decorated their bodies with a twisted sense of macabre artistry.
In the center of the warehouse, piled on top of each other like some twisted form of a throne, was the bodies of the dead, a pool of blood slowly expanding from the bodies. Sat a top, in clear psychotic and twisted sense of humor was the albino thestral, her knives returned to their sheathes hidden under her wings; she held the head of the now decapitated paladin who was earlier speaking to Shining Might through the crystal ball, in a reference to some well-known individual that nopony in this world would know about or at least have heard under a different name.
“‘To be, or not to be, that is the question’… Or something like that.” Tossing the head, forever stained with an expression of sheer terror, behind her, she gave a stretch and yawn, smacking her lips – her crimson-stained lips.
“What a lovely meal, but mustn’t waste the leftovers, now.”
Pulling out one of her knives, she points it upward, soon afterwards, every drop of blood – both on the ground, the walls, even the blood still pumping in the freshly killed bodies – began to float and coalesce toward the sharp-point of the knife like metal sand attracted by a magnet.
Soon all the blood began to form together into a perfectly spherical ball, said ball would warp and jiggle with the slightest movement. “Bottoms up!” With that, she opened her serrated mouth wide open, the orb of scarlet slowly being sucked into her mouth, until not a single drop remained.
Closing her mouth, she sighed in content, laying down on the pile of corpses for a short while, gazing at the slowly rising sun beyond the single shattered window. For that short time, utter silence fell upon that spot for several seconds… then with a grunt, she lifted herself up and stretched her wings open.
“Thank you for the meal, now then… off I go, hehaeheheeee.”
A flap of her wings and she skyrocketed upward, leaving the bodies of the Church members to be later found a week later after complaints of a strange smell coming from the warehouse. Newspapers would later state that the Scarlet Huntress has struck again, except this time, the victims would be unconfirmed Church knights when it was reported there were no more Church knights within Manehattan after all other members returned to Canterlot.
The echoes of mad laughter was heard by all, as a the silhouette of a winged figure flew through the skies of the metropolitan city, as she goes out to hunt once more.
Some time later – Canterlot, Canterlot Caslte, Royal Gardens; 11:00am
(Outro Music)
At the statue area of the gardens, a particular statue of a strange creature stood among the other stone-crafted figures. However as the peaceful serenity of the royal gardens was heard, that serenity began to shatter… as well as another shattering noise.
The statue of the particular creature slowly began to crack as flakes of stone began to break off, from the statue, the ominous laughter could be heard by any who were close by, but sadly none noticed.
As the statue began to crack more and more, a voice began to crept out with a chortle.
“My my, there sure is a lot of chaos happening… and… something else… something… Primordial… this will be fun.”
Slowly more shards of stone began to fall off, the raucous laughter growing louder and louder, until finally like the roar of a lion, the stone state exploded shards everywhere.
The Spirit of Chaos… is free.
Ponyville, Eclipse’s Property; 11:05am
At the docks, Eclipses sits on the edge, spending his time sharpening his weapons for his free-time, but as he sharpened them, a shift in the air catches his attention. His gaze moves to Canterlot, a new sensation being felt coming from the mountain-side city.
Luella waddles her way beside Eclipse, looking up at him with the same curiosity about this sudden change in developments. Not even looking at her, he picks up both swords, sheathing them back, continuing to gaze at Canterlot.
“Trouble already… I’m not at full strength yet…” said Eclipse, now looking at Luella.
The cub bear snorts in return, which Eclipse looks at her a little before looking back at Canterlot with a thoughtful expression… then turning around and walking away from the docks.
“Maybe, maybe… I think its time we see how the ‘Elements of Harmony’ fare against a foe of this world. Let us hope I am not needed… the stench of Chaos is in the air, though, its quite different from the one I know of.”
Luella gives out a small roar, which Eclipse sighs back at her with his own annoyed look.
“Right right… the problems of this world are not our own… but when has that stopped me from intervening at the oddest of times. Let us await what decision Celestia makes and then… I might do something to fix whatever muck up she creates from her choices.”
As Eclipse and Luella made their way back to their abode, from Eclipse’s shadow is peerless, endless horde of glowing eyes, gazing at every direction without an end in sight, while Luella’s own shadow reveals the massive form of a terrifying beast without equal, awaiting its next prey to devour.
“After all… adding another deity to the list isn’t an issue.”
Luella gives out a snort, flicking her ear as the two readied for another foe to face in their endless strife-ridden path that is their life – tomorrow was going to be wrought with unspeakable horrors and carnage.
...Just like the old days.
End of Arc One: The Trader.
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Amazing to see this story alive and well.
And 2 chapters in one day, what a gift.
My Pristine Snow/Eclipse ship has just got a big hole in it.
I wonder what reaction Celestia would make when she realize Eclipse has to clean up for her messes.
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Bob and weave?
10666966
DING DING DING! WE GOTTA A WINNER!
10667111
I didn’t even realise this was a competition!
Yay
10669780
Nope not a repost, also on another note, if a pony's name isn't A. in some form of pun, or B. a big FAT descriptor to their cutie-mark (or what could be their talent), so I wouldn't be surprise by a lot of canon and fan-made names within the community.
ok thanks
this story is awesome i love it and am eager to to read what will happen in ark 2 apperently starting with discord. hes right this will be fun :D
Can you please add numbers to the chapters. (season number - chapter number) It is easier to track seasons. I can't wait for season 2.
I am rooting for Pristine and Eclipse ship.
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Well with more then eight points to that mark... how are we sure it's a star and not a sun? Sun's can be many colors. Wonder if the points apply to suns as well.
Also... me needs more updates please.
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She had to be talked out coming and she implied that she invited the girls to come with her. And considering its not really her business if someone else gets to go with him or not the point is that not asking to be invited is rude and deciding that you can come without asking is rude.
10938334
Okay aside from her forcing her way to come with Eclipse, nowhere in the chapter does it suspect or mention she invited the girls to come with Eclipse or with her. When she mentions to not go alone without friends, she meant for some pony close or he can trust to come with, as the only ones who came with him are two guards none of the girls got to know long enough and Pristine which she was an ex-Church member making extra suspicious.
With that I’m trying to remove any confusion, as I never wrote in any way to imply what Twilight suggested, closest thing that does fit is her rude approach to things, more close to Rainbow and Applejack, but this just fits with the whole “character development”.
Update?