Chapter 6: Declarations
“What can I do for you, Twilight Sparkle?” Princess Celestia asked upon seeing her stout pupil enter.
The princess was in the Canterlot throne room, sitting in Equestria’s literal and figurative seat of power. Today had been a quick Court session, something she was rarely so blessed to have, so she was free to lend any help to her personal student. In fact, she looked forward to it. Assisting her student gave a certain rush that made her feel needed and appreciated.
Twilight saw Celestia wearing the motherly smile she had come to adore as a child. She remembered how it had brought her warmth on many cold nights, how it had cheered her spirits when she was down, and how it had given her will when she was broken. But today, it gave her unease.
She slowly trotted to the foot of the large set of stairs leading to the throne. She wanted to speak, but she felt so afraid that she could not.
Spotting her worried expression, Celestia leaned in.
I wonder what is bothering her? she thought to herself.
“What is it, dear?”
“I-I—” Twilight tried to begin, falling short as she collapsed to the ground. Her ears fell further, and her eyes became moist. “I-I-I can’t fix it.”
Puzzled, Celestia moved her muzzle lower to comfort her student.
“Fix what, my dear Twilight?”
Twilight only looked up and into the eyes of her mentor, all life devoid of her own.
She is starting to worry me.
“Hmm?” she mouthed as kindly as possible, prompting a response.
“M-my spell backfired. I accidentally hurt Spike. The spell was supposed to help him get better food, b-but it wasn’t made for dragons.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks. “H-he…”
Poor Twilight.
“How bad was he hurt?”
“He’s in t-the h-hospital. The doctor said he m-might not be able… t-to walk a-again.” Her words were becoming more fumbled as she tried to explain.
“A-are you m-mad at m-me? Are you going to d-disown me?” she asked, truly worried.
“Of course not. You did not intentionally harm him. It was merely an accident.”
“You’re not mad?” Twilight asked, hope in her eyes.
Celestia lowered her head even further.
“No.”
Twilight sighed in relief—far too early.
“What I am,” Celestia began, “is disappointed.”
What? I didn’t mean to say that, or at least it came out wrong.
Twilight shrunk back down again, beginning to learn her place.
“I am disappointed that my student could be so reckless. How could you not think to research how it would affect dragons? They are completely different in anatomy to ponies.”
She was reckless, but that came off rather harsh.
Celestia stood up from her throne, pacing in the room. The guards in the corners looked at her with apprehension.
“I am disappointed that you HOSPITALIZED the only dragon in Equestria, the only one who can communicate with me directly.”
What am I saying? I can’t be saying this, can I?
“I mean, relations with the dragons have been poor at best. Spike was our future. Having a dragon on our side who can communicate directly with me would be crucial to making a peace treaty after all these years.”
Twilight's tears were in full effect now. The floor was becoming her close friend, as dirt should be accustomed to.
“But now you’re telling me he may never even walk—let alone fly someday?” Celestia asked—or demanded rather—turning her head as to open up her ear canal, the flap of her ear standing.
“T-the d-d-doctor said it w-was l-likely.”
Celestia slammed her hoof onto the floor, cracking the beautiful tile under her hoof into a thousand pieces.
“Do you know what will happen because of this?” She paced in the other direction. “The dragons will find out we have an infant dragon and that he is seriously injured. They will view it as an act of war and send dragons to Equestria.”
I don’t know that for sure.
“Yes, you do. They will come and they will rain fire down upon all of Equestria.”
Did I just speak to myself? What is going on here?
“Do you want everypony in Ponyville to be burned alive, Twilight?” The unicorn in question released a torrent of tears onto the ground as she sobbed.
That is ENOUGH. I am going to apologize.
As she tried to, the only words that came out were, “Do you?”
“N-no!”
“I doubt it because you are a traitor who just doomed your country. You are pathetic, useless, weak, and a failure.” Her voice became laced with venom as she spoke, now shouting her words. The guards shifted their hooves uneasily.
Celestia walked towards Twilight with a scowl on her face. She bent down to her student, who looked up and saw that motherly smile she desperately wanted to see right now.
“Twilight,” she started, “you are useless to me.”
The unicorn’s hopes were shattered with those last five words.
Celestia retracted her head and began to feel her anger. How could Twilight be so impudent? How could she be so foolish?
As Twilight tried to stand, she suddenly felt that she could not. She then felt herself being lifted off the ground.
What am I doing?!
The horror flooded in as she levitated her into the air. With a forceful push, she hurled her across the throne room.
With a loud crack, Twilight slammed into the stone walls, tumbling onto the ground and once again learning her place as a hoofstool.
Celestia came to her student, seeing the blood oozing from her many wounds. One of her forelegs had been twisted the wrong way from the punishment.
Stop.
The princess reached out a hoof to help, only to slam it down on the already broken leg. Twilight wailed in pain and writhed on the floor like the bug she was. She was only learning to act like her kind.
STOP!
Celestia laughed as she heard the screams. She lifted her hoof, seeing blood smeared onto her golden horseshoe.
“W-w-why?” Twilight managed to say in broken breaths. Every part of her body burned, but that felt like nothing compared to what she was feeling.
“I’m punishing you,” Celestia stated without hesitation. “You are a traitor as I said, and do you know how we punish traitors?”
No.
Twilight gulped heavily. Her eyes widened as she remembered the tales of traitors and their fates. “D-d-d-d—” she tried to say.
“DEATH!” Celestia roared, shaking the very foundation of the room. Pieces of rock dropped from the ceiling, clattering onto the ground. She levitated Twilight off the floor with her golden magic, stopping the squirming fiend from moving.
No! Stop! What am I doing?! This isn’t me—Twilight, you have to believe me!
“She cannot hear you, no one can.”
Dear Faust… Celestia began to beg within her mind.
“Come closer—” Celestia whispered, bringing the criminal to just a foot from the end of her horn.
“—and BURN!”
In an instant, her horn was consumed in a raging inferno of fire. The flames flickered, dancing on the insect’s flesh and making it wince in pain.
Good.
The fire shot forth, washing over it and engulfing its entire body in an orange blaze. It began to scream in unparalleled agony as its fur burned away and its skin charred. Worst of all was the heat. The force of the flame made it feel like everything was melting, and therefore further cooking it into a living crisp.
Screams upon screams fell on Celestia’s deaf ears as she continued to scorch.
Please! Anything, just stop hurting her!
There is no her, the voice of a demon spoke within her mind. There is only it, only creature.
The screams were becoming fainter and fainter as what used to be a mare was becoming a thin, black rock. The cries had also become distorted beyond repair, sounding like a thousand buzzing hornets all trying to scream at once.
Stop, you monster! Let it go! Celestia thundered.
It? the voice responded while snickering. You accept it is an it. Therefore it has no life.
No! T-that’s not what…
Accept it. It is not a life, it is only something to be thrown aside.
NO! SHE IS A LIFE!
Really? Look at her.
Celestia had not noticed the screams had ceased. She had not felt her flames stop. She had not felt the lighter weight of what she was still levitating.
When she looked through her eyes once again, she reared back in horror, disgust, and fear all at the same time.
Looking back at her, were two black orbs with no emotion. There was an outline of what was once a pony but was now a black skeleton, lacking life entirely. Frozen on what remained of its face, was a look of betrayal, betrayal by her own mother.
“Twilight!” Celestia screamed as she saw her student. She was so shocked that her magic faltered, releasing the thing in her grasp. She lunged her hooves forward to grab its remains so she could heal it.
Instead, it hit the floor, utterly shattering into millions of shards, each fragment almost invisible in size. The black pieces exploded outward, spreading in every direction from the princess.
NOOOOOO!
The voice laughed as she tried to sob over her dead student, only to find herself smiling the first genuine smile in centuries.
You killed her…
She sucked in an enormous gasp as she was instantly pulled into the waking world. She sat up so fast she felt lightheaded but did not mind, for she was free of the nightmare. She threw the covers aside and stood up, observing it was still nighttime.
“Where is my sister when you need her?” she joked to herself. “Just a nightmare. They can’t hurt you… usually.”
She rubbed her hooves over her fur, warming herself up despite being hot at that moment. The chill of that voice was still stuck in her spine, and she was slowly getting rid of it. The warm feeling of her room was spreading through her again, from the head down.
The wave of heat washed over her, down her chest and to her back. Then, it hit her flank.
She felt herself being pulled into something, almost like a dream, as she opened her eyes in a new landscape. It looked familiar to her, but yet it was so different.
She turned around, seeing Canterlot. There were fewer towers here, so it had to be from roughly… a thousand years ago; the same time she had to banish her sister to the moon.
She looked over the city, seeing her ponies all happy and full of joy. It brought a smile to her face.
But then, the chill returned, making her shiver. Suddenly it seemed very cold, and the air became distorted with fog. She went forward, hoping to get to her probably confused ponies.
As she got closer, she saw them coming out from their houses and gathering in the Canterlot Courtyard, looking for the source of the fog.
The princess and her ponies found it, thick fog seeping out from the mouth of the castle. The metal gates were invisible, completely overtaken by cloudy air.
Celestia readied her horn to dispel the phenomenon, but she stopped as she felt a sudden thump in the earth. The ponies felt it too, for they looked to their left and saw something most frightening.
Rising from the earth, a tentacle that dwarfed even Canterlot’s towers was beginning to flail around. Blue, ice-like crystal chucks were embedded into the fleshy limb in numerous areas, the end of the tentacle being a ball of the same substance. With more scrutiny, Celestia realized it was not a ball, but a spiked mass made of the crystal.
Before she could finish looking at it, another one rose from the ground, this one with a normal tentacle end.
More and more burst from the ground like lesions on the ill, drowning out the sky. From the gates of Canterlot, whispers floated through the air.
As they reached the ears of the nearby ponies, they sunk. They suddenly felt alien feelings such as doubt, fear, hatred, and betrayal. They turned to one another, anger tinting their eyes.
They dove into each other, ramming hoof to fur as they began to brawl.
“Deceit.”
“Betrayal.”
“Lies.”
“Fear.”
The whispers continued to come from the gates, only becoming louder and louder, spurring more ponies to come out and brawl.
Celestia ran to the town center, attempting to break up the fights but to no avail. She settled on the cause, rushing to the gates and being blinded by the thick fog. It was not a normal fog, for she could hardly breathe through it, almost like it was not oxygen.
With her magic, she dispelled the cloud of the strange mist, sending it flying away.
Now standing behind the gates, was a pony she had forgotten.
His brown skin that was somehow fur drew her eyes, and then his glowing eyes stole her gaze. They were like miniature black holes, sucking her soul and yielding to nothing as they stared at her.
The tentacles plunged. They slammed into the crowd of ponies, stabbing some and impaling others together. One maced tentacle crushed a dozen or so ponies, including a few foals.
Her eyesight was still controlled by the orbs looking into her. His mouth moved as he spoke with the voice she remembered most from her encounter. Before she heard it, she saw her bedroom again, the moon not having moved at all. She felt the hot air again, but it did nothing to assuage her chill.
“Hello, princess…”
Celestia remembered herself screaming. Her heart tensed as she realized none of it was just a dream; it was a warning.
Sorin had awoken so early that the sun had not yet risen. In fact, the moon was still a decent distance above the land.
It had been a few weeks since Trixie had come to town, and since then he had shared magical theories and spells with Twilight, learning a useful spell to send a letter directly to the princess. While he could not perform the magic since it was to the princess only, he had begun to dissect the spell's workings to create a version he could use for other purposes. Being able to send a letter almost instantly could be an advantage in the future.
He decided to forgo his morning routine since there was still time before dawn. He could feel that his blood had conjoined with Celestia, and in so doing, alerting the princess to his presence. The moment of truth had arrived; would his new persona of Sorin be suspected?
His efforts to befriend the Elements had gone considerably well, he felt, so he was betting on that. Meeting Celestia also increased his chances of being passed over. Lastly, he had woven her nightmare in such a way that it would lead to her overlooking his current form.
Before he could think further, his concentration was broken. He could feel something reaching out to him through his blood. He called this the bloodline.
The bloodline was a direct link between his blood and his essence, allowing instant contact with him from anywhere his blood was.
Since he has only released his blood in one area so far, he knew the message was coming from the spire he had constructed. The tingling of the network became clearer as words formed, a familiar voice scratching out the sounds.
“Lord Yogg-Saron, it is I, Vultrax. I request your presence at The Spire. I hope you like the name I came up with.”
A devout follower, it seems.
Sorin was pleased that the windigo had managed to master communication through the bloodline in such a short time. Most spirits could only use it after years of practice, and yet Vultrax had done so in a little less than a month.
He threw his cloak on and locked the door before going to the center of his room. He started to form the spell, imagining the cold wasteland where he had created his first monument.
Within seconds, energy swirled around him, beginning to engulf his surroundings. Then, everything disappeared in a flash, and when he opened his eyes, he was standing on a mountain.
The chill of the air hit him hard as he felt the ground slosh beneath his hooves. In front of him was what remained of the griffon settlement he had slaughtered. Burned buildings and piles of bones were all that was left of a once flourishing town.
“I’m glad you came,” a spectral voice called from behind him. Turning around, Sorin was greeted with the partially transparent face of Vultrax.
“I am glad as well; it is good to see you again, Vultrax.”
“While I enjoy the formalities, I called you for two reasons. The first—if I may—” Vultrax began, pointing a hoof back to the center of town. One of them trotted forward while the other walked on air, but they stayed at each other's side.
They reached the base of the rocky structure that seemed to absorb all light it came into contact with.
“—is that The Spire has continued to spread your blood with unmatched speed.” He gestured over the landscape. “It has covered the entire mountain-top and has already climbed halfway down its sides.”
The ground Sorin walked on was covered in the darkness of his blood, and so was the entire village. The ruins were consumed by it, black crystals jutting out in random directions from them. The rocks on the mountain-top had been turned into a very similar material that was growing ever so slightly.
“The Spire. I like it.”
Realizing what Sorin was talking about, Vultrax nodded. “Thank you, master.”
“Yes, it has spread, but not enough to make a stake in the surrounding territories.”
“And that brings me to my second reason for summoning you: expansion. While your blood is spreading on its own, I feel it will grow faster if it connects with a living host. Imagine the power of such a creature as you mentioned before. They would be able to carry out your commands while you are still in Ponyville.” It had taken a while to come to that conclusion, but it seemed to hold weight, according to Vultrax.
“Correct you are. Such a prospect would further my campaign. I should have enough power regenerated to turn mortals to my will. Speaking of, I think I know just who to turn,” Sorin said, walking towards the pile of bones surrounding The Spire. He smiled as he looked down at the remains of his victims.
“What can you tell me about griffons in terms of physical ability?” he asked his servant.
“They are excellent hunters in their natural state—some of the best on Equus. Since relations with Equestria opened, they have become more docile, but I doubt these exiles have turned to such weaknesses. Their bodies should still be accustomed to agility and hunting.
“Their toned wings make them some of the strongest fliers on Equus, and their beaks and talons make them dangerous at close range. What they lack in stealth, they certainly make up for in brute strength and mobility.”
Wonderful.
“Yes, they certainly sound… useful. Their predatory instincts and features mixed with my blood should produce a most vicious result. I am pleased by your observations, Vultrax. You have proven your worth to me so far.”
Sorin’s horn ignited, and with it, the bones strewn across the earth. They rattled in the magical grip and began to lift into the air. Vultrax watched as the fragments moved towards one another, forming the shapes of winged creatures. Tiny pieces of rotted flesh shot towards the bones, latching onto them and connecting the skeletal dots.
What were once skeletons gained tendon and muscle strands as they resembled more of a griffon. Sorin strained as he mentally connected every fiber, tying them together like a web made flesh.
The next stage started as patches of Sorin’s fur darkened, his ichor seeping from his skin. It weaved its way through the air, strands forming into a helix-like formation as it approached the constructs held in the air. The saronite latched onto the flesh, spreading over the tissue and connecting the rest of the skeletons. Another layer formed over the muscles, and then another after that as the creatures were built.
Sweat pooled around Sorin’s forehead as his concentration piqued, the last part commencing.
With a surge of magical might, his blood forced its way into the bones, conjoining with the genetic coding held within the marrow. The two beings mixed as the Old God overpowered the griffons, easily taking control of their host cells. Their bodies fully turned into shadow, their skin becoming darker than any night as their full features came into existence.
What were now fully formed adult griffons breathed their first undead breath as their eyes opened, glowing with the same energy as Sorin’s eyes.
He released his magical grip, letting his new minions fall to the ground. As their instincts activated, they caught their fall, landing on their talons and raising their wings in defense. Their wings seemed to drip shadow, and their mouths had a similar effect. There had to be about fifty of the new creatures in front of him, each of them baring their fangs in rabid hunger.
He smiled at his work.
Her chamber doors burst open as an armored stallion rushed into the room, ready to stave off whatever had tried to attack the princess. He was surprised to find no attacker, just Princess Celestia worriedly shaking.
It took a moment for him to wipe the look of shock from his face, and he quickly looked around to be sure of no intrusions. Everything appeared to be normal, except the princess herself.
“Are you alright, your highness?” the stallion asked with a somewhat deep voice for a pony.
His fur was white, like most of the Royal Guard. It was required that everypony inducted into the Royal Guard underwent a spell to hide their identities for safety reasons. The only way to tell them all apart was their rank, body shape, and voice.
Celestia craned her head to get a look at the stout guard who had charged into her bedroom at the sound of potential danger. Based on his voice and physique, the stallion had to be Steel Bastion, one of her most trusted guards.
He had been selected from the Royal Guard recruits to be one of her personal guardians. She had made sure he was always one of the two guardsponies standing outside her doors.
“I am fine, Bastion.” His wings returned to his sides, his golden armor rattling as he did so. He raised his head and stood at attention.
“While I am fine, I fear for Equestria’s safety,” she said, conveying concern through her words. “Go get my sister; she must meet me at once.”
Suddenly understanding the situation, Bastion snapped around and marched towards the exit.
“Oh, and Bastion,” Celestia said, stopping him in his tracks, “thank you.”
“Of course, princess.” He turned back around and started down the halls. The ancient stone walls flashed by as he sprinted, knowing a sense of urgency in the situation.
He quickly found himself at the door of the Lunar Alicorn. The two guards at the entrance smacked the butt of their spears onto the ground.
“Princess Celestia requests an audience with her highness at once.”
The two guards nodded in unison, and Bastion pushed the two doors. He had to use his hindlegs to get them moving, easily forcing them open after that.
“Princess Luna,” he called.
The alicorn in question stood from her desk, approaching him. “Yes?”
“Your sister requests your presence at once.”
She nodded in understanding, already trotting through the exit. Bastion followed closely behind until they both entered Celestia’s room, closing the doors behind them.
“Dear sister, we have something very important to tell you,” Celestia said in her dire sounding tone.
“What is it?”
“I just had a dream of a day one thousand years ago. I was in Canterlot when something attacked the city and the ponies within. I went to the castle gates, only to find a pony I have long forgotten about.”
Bastion was standing attentive, not entirely sure if he was supposed to be hearing all of this. It seemed to be something above his pay grade. Nevertheless, he would listen as if it was any other briefing.
“Who was it, sister?” Luna asked, beginning to feel uneased by how shaken up Celestia seemed.
She gulped, her mouth suddenly feeling drier than before.
“Yogg-Saron.”
Bastion had never heard such a name before, but he knew it meant something important to the diarchs because Princess Luna seemed to lose all composure at that moment.
“A-are you sure it was not just a dream?” she tried to reason.
“I am afraid not, sister. We must go to his prison and see for ourselves if he has managed to escape.” Celestia went to the entrance, her sister by her side.
“Bastion,” she ordered, “what you have heard is to stay strictly between us for now. Do you understand?”
“Yes, princess.”
“Good, because you will be accompanying us to a place we wished to never see again.”
The three ponies left the bedroom, heading through the Canterlot halls and to the lower floors. They went to the very back of the castle, a place few ponies ever went. Mostly forgotten items were stored at that end of the castle, but the princesses went over to a specific black door.
Celestia aligned her horn with one of the two holes on it, carefully inserting it into the opening. Gears turned as the door clicked open, the princess removing her horn.
With a loud grinding sound, the doors retracted into the walls, fully opened.
“Held within these halls are weapons of great danger and power, but they also hold cells. We are looking for one in particular,” Luna tried to explain as they went through the entrance.
Bastion was met with the smell of mildew. The air seemed moist, almost damp, and had a light stench to it. It reminded him of rotten food left out for too long on the counter. On top of that, there was fog that made the area darker than it should have been.
The rows of torches on the stone walls lit up, illuminating the hallway.
This section of the castle had been built first to ensure that anything stored away would be kept safe for centuries to come. It had done so, safeguarding some of Equestria’s strongest artifacts, weapons, and armor.
The group came across a door marked with the drawing of a crystal on it. Grabbing a set of keys from the wall, Bastion unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Thicker fog spilled from the room as he did, but they entered regardless.
“This room was designed to hold a powerful crystal but was later used to hold the pony in my dreams, the crystal powering the wards placed on his chains,” Celestia spoke.
The two alicorns squinted their eyes as they tried to see through the dark fog. It was then that Luna remembered.
“Is this room not supposed to be lit up by the crystal itself?” she thought out loud.
“Yes, it is.”
The alicorns flapped their wings in a powerful burst, sending the fog flying in every direction.
As Celestia used her horn to cast light over the room, Bastion saw a strange area at the end of the chamber. There was a raised platform engraved with various alien looking runes, and the ceiling had a giant hole in it. The strangest thing though was the broken chains lying discarded on the ground.
The princesses gasped as they spotted these, and then they saw the hole in the rocky ceiling.
“He’s gone,” Luna whispered in realization.
“And so is the crystal,” Celestia whispered back.
She dreaded saying the next three words, but they had to be declared.
“Yogg-Saron is free.”
Bastion—despite his years of training—started to panic. Even though he did not know who or what Yogg-Saron was, the two strongest beings in all of Equestria were beginning to shudder from the very thought of him being free.
Royal Instincts kicking back in, Celestia forced herself to stay calm. She looked to Bastion, knowing what she must do.
“Steel Bastion, I need you to gather all available Royal Guard. Send them to every corner of Equestria in search of an earth pony. This pony has fur that looks like some type of brown skin, and his eyes might be glowing black.
“He could not have been free for long, so tell them he should have arrived about a week or two ago. Lastly, investigate any magical disturbances in Equestria.”
Bastion took a mental note of everything the princess asked, making sure to remember the description of the pony.
“Deliver a report to me on their findings as soon as possible. Tell them only that they are searching for a criminal.”
“It shall be done. And, just how bad is this pony?”
“We know not where he came from, only that he broke through our planetary defenses. We do not know how strong he is, but the very fact he got through our defenses at all means he holds a worrying amount of power.
“To answer your question, the pony held within this cell seemed evil in every sense of the word. While he stood no threat against us at the time, he managed to break free of his prison, a prison strong enough to hold one of us…”
Now fully aware, Bastion left the chamber to do as he was told, leaving the two princesses alone.
Celestia looked shaken to her core. While Luna had not seen her dream, she could tell it was a scarring one.
“Sister,” she said, “I fear darkness may be upon us.”
“I so dearly hope not. We have no idea what he is capable of, so let us hope he used all of his power to escape, but the worst may be yet to come…”
“Minions,” he called out, causing fifty heads to turn towards him. He let his true voice take over as he prepared his next words.
Vultrax sensed this, being able to somehow feel the mass of hatred channeled into the stallion’s body through simply a voice. Being a windigo allowed him to sense emotions like that, making feeding off hate all the easier for his kind.
“Your fate is bound to me,” Sorin stated.
“I am your destiny.”
“I am your god.”
“I am all that you are.”
“I have returned your souls from the depths to your shattered and broken bodies, but I have gifted you with my blood. With it, you are reborn in my image, the image of the Void.
“Be thankful, for you will be a monster amongst sheep. Your every move will strike fear in your enemies, and your blows will rival those of titans. This new body comes with a new title for your kind: Shadowstrikers.
“You will serve my will eternal, but you will also answer to your new commander—” he said, turning his body to face the ghostly creature beside him.
“—Vultrax.”
The windigo was caught off guard by his master’s words. He was not expecting to have such trust placed in him so soon. He did not doubt in the slightest that he would rise to the occasion, though. He would show he deserved power in the world.
“I have bestowed you authority over my minions so you may learn to command.”
He will need it if all goes to plan.
“I trust you will do well to alert me of any matters requiring my attention.” Sorin walked past Vultrax, headed into an open area. He gave him a look, signaling for the commander to address his soldiers.
It had not taken long for the first sweep to be completed. The Royal Guard had employed the local guards to search their individual towns, the Royal Guards overseeing the searches. Every one of them had yielded no Yogg-Saron, no information, and no leads. Another search would be conducted shortly to hopefully catch him while he tried to relocate. Until then, it had been fruitless.
Steel Bastion had spoken with every member of the dispatched Royal Guard, writing down failed search after failed search. After a few hours, he had generated a formal report detailing the exact number of houses swept and their findings.
He marched through the Canterlot halls again, this time headed to the throne room. He had received instructions to notify the princesses immediately when he finished his report, so he was going to have to interrupt Night Court—not that there was much going on during that Court.
The guards let him pass, opening the doors in the castle to let him into the chamber. He walked in, attracting the attention of everypony inside.
“Princess Luna, my report is ready.” He pulled out a thick scroll from his side, approaching the grand steps.
Luna stepped down from the throne and went up to him, whispering in his ear, “Meet me and my sister here in half an hour.” She took the report and held it to her chest.
He exited, returning to his duties while he waited.
The half-hour passed, and he returned to the now empty room. His lack of sleep was starting to get to him as he almost bumped into Luna since it was so dark.
Celestia had been discussing with her sister when he came in, and they turned their attention to him.
“Steel Bastion,” Luna began, “thou hast done us a great service today. We wish for thee to continue with most vigilant watch for Yogg-Saron, but for now, rest well. Report to us any information thou receives.”
He bowed in respect and went along his way. He passed on the orders before returning to his post.
Celestia faced her sister again.
“With no information, we will be forced to wait until he makes a move. We can’t even inform the public unless we want to cause mass panic. Who knows what they do if they hear of an alien that managed to elude our guards.”
“So we shall be perched poultry, it seems.”
“Sitting ducks.”
“What?” Luna asked, clearly puzzled.
“We will be sitting ducks, Luna.”
“We see.”
“I am afraid that is the case. I pray we find him before any of our little ponies fall victim to him.”
“We can only hope,” Luna replied. “We can only hope,” she quietly repeated to herself.
“Servants of Yogg-Saron, my first command to you is simple; go out into the west and feed, spreading the influence of your new master.”
The griffons shot into the air, scattering snow everywhere as they launched.
Sorin looked on in delight as they flew over the landscape at incredible speed, releasing cries of predators. Their wings stretched out longer than they previously did, blanketing the skies with their presence.
He was pleased.
Equestria had been upturned in search of the frail pony he was when he arrived on the planet. They would never find him, for he had embraced an entirely new body, and with it, a new personality. He made sure he left no trace of his former self behind.
“They will follow your every command without question and with undying loyalty, Vultrax.”
“I will not disappoint.”
“So I trust,” he replied. “Their abilities are satisfactory. I feel they will make for an excellent first clutch of minions.”
“Indeed, master,” Vultrax answered, looking on in the distance at the fading images of the Shadowstrikers, hearing the last echo of their wicked screeches.
Stats
Page generated in 0.017 seconds
Total duration
656 users online
893,688 hits today, 1,996,409 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I hope vultrax survives this story. I have growm to like him
I hope nothing happens to Vultrax since i really like him, but never mind that, awesome chapter dude and keep up the good work!!!!!
10983087
Thank you for the kind words!
10982530
10983087
He will have his part to play…
10979721
Then it grew an extra 10 sizes
10983807
Her density increases. Her size remains the same.