Trespassers
“No!” A little voice shouted sharply. “No, you can’t make me!”
“Sweetie, please…”
“No! Brussels Sprouts are evil!”
Crimsondrop sighed, having hung around for her friends, Saddleblaze and Snowy Doublescoop, to be finished visiting the young gryphon cub they intended to adopt together. It had been several hours, and was now lunch time, as evidenced by the sounds of the cub herself protesting part of her meal.
“I don’t know why you hate them so; have you actually eaten any..?”
“Yes and they’re icky! All boiled and yuck!”
Crimsondrop had sat and listened to her protest for the last three minutes and had finally had enough. She knocked on the door firmly. “Hey Saddleblaze, could you come here for a minute?”
The sounds of protesting cub continued as Saddleblaze stepped out of the room shaking her head. “She must be getting better, she’s protesting her food.”
Crimsondrop nodded. “I can hear her from out here, she’ll be fine. Hay, the doctor even said ye could take her home after her meal.” She said. “Look, Saddleblaze, I’m goin’ t’ get goin’; I want t’ see what th’ orange farmer will be wantin’ me t’ do. Will you and Snow be alright here on yer own?”
Saddleblaze nodded. “We should be alright if you have things to do. Thank you, Crimson, you’ve helped more thank you may know.”
Crimsondrop chortled and shook her head. “Oh, I’ve an inklin’. I’ll come back later if ye don’t come see me at th’ farm, okay?”
“Of course, have a good day and thanks again.”
With a nod, Crimsondrop left her friend at the hospital and began her steady trek to the farm on the outskirts of town. Despite being a sunny and beautiful day –something that Ponyville found quite often invited in all sorts of trouble- her walk, and the town, was undisturbed by rampaging bunnies, invading pests, or even a stray monster from the Everfree.
That wasn’t to say that the town was boring. No, no, there would still be the occasional issue that would crop up. This was Equestria after all, and a year without some sort of exciting event was like the moon turning to cheese. Of course, seeing that Crimsondrop was one of the latest ‘interesting’ things that had graced the town, she found herself under scrutiny from much of the populace. Some thought she was a strange new monster that had yet to show its darker side, while others just found her a strange and curious oddity to be admired from afar.
Like the moon turning to cheese.
Her walk, uneventful as it was, brought her to the expansive groves of oranges that belonged to one Citrus Squeeze, and she found the stallion in question spraying something around the roots of a nearby orange tree.
“Good day, mister Squeeze.” She called, startling the pony a little and gaining his attention. “I’m here to ask about what I’ll be doing when I start work?” She looked at the tree he was watering, then at the watering can he held. “… Did I come at a bad time?”
The stallion chuckled and put the watering can down. “No, no, I was just doing some pest control.” He said before waving her to follow him. “Thanks for coming in before you’re contracted to work, by the way; makes the first day a lot smoother.”
“Of course.”
“Now, what you’re here for; we’re almost into harvest season, and as always I’ll need a few extra hooves to help with the harvest itself. Like the fine ponies at Sweet Apple Acres, we try not to use magic if we can help it. As such, we need a few fine young folk such as you to help buck the trees.”
Crimsondrop stopped. “Buck the trees? Uh, sir, I… don’t think I’m one t’ ask fer that. Maybe t’ collect the buckets and pull the carts?”
“Oh? Are you worried that you might not be able to kick the tree hard enough? You certainly look like you can?”
Crimsondrop chortled and picked up a rock. “I could demonstrate the problem for ye?” She asked, to which he nodded. “Okay, watch the rock.”
With his eyes on the rock –barely larger than a tennis ball- she threw it up into the air and, when it came back down within reach, bucked her hind legs and kicked it.
With a bang signalling something breaking the sound barrier and a contrail following it, the stone promptly vanished from sight as it sailed towards Canterlot in the distance.
*
Princess Celestia and her sister had just finished a rather splendid lunch, each having a succulent and expertly crafted salad each which had been a delight to simply look at let alone taste. The main meal, finished as it was, had been cleared from the table and now the after-meal coffees and desserts were being brought out.
Well, dessert.
Luna had been foregoing midday desserts in favour of having a larger dessert after dinner and enjoying nibbles during the day. Her sister, however, had a large piece of colourful and delicious-looking cherry-cream cake. Luna smiled over at her sister knowing how much she enjoyed her cakes and sipped at her coffee. Celestia, in turn, moved a spoon to cut at her cake for her first mouthful of this delightful treat.
Then, a series of sounds cut through the peace of the room. The first was the sound of glass being broken by a tennis ball sized rock, and the second not even a second after this was akin to somepony punching a semi-frozen puddle.
Luna looked up at her sister in disbelief, her solar sibling staring at where her cake had been not moments prior, her face now spattered with the very dessert she had been trying to sample. Neither sibling made a sound, each trying to process what had just happened.
Then Luna burst into laughter.
*
Crimsondrop looked, disinterestedly, at where the rock had vanished into the distance. Her gaze turned to her employer who stared dumbfounded at the long-gone rock in amazement before coughing and trying to return his attention to the here and now.
“R-right, no bucking trees;” he managed to stammer, “with a kick like that I wouldn’t be surprised if you uprooted or snapped one in half…” He took another worried look at the horizon before shaking his head and motioning her to follow him. “Right, well, I guess that’s not for you then. I’ll see about getting a couple of colts in from town to help me with the harvest.” He held a hoof out to a cart laden with sturdy looking baskets. “These are what we’ll be using to bring in said harvest; usually I get the more strapping stallions to pull them, as they become quite heavy when fully laden.”
Crimsondrop nodded and eyed the cart and the dozen or so baskets that sat upon it with an air of somepony who could be a connoisseur of pony-pulled vehicles. Idly she pushed at a wheel and gave a scowl as the cart shifted.
“The axles are rusty and in poor need of replacement, and I’m not sure if it’ll support ae full load with them in such disrepair. I’ve pulled worse though.” She said, before adding, “Boulders for example.”
“Speakin’ of rocks, a few days ago I unearthed a Cluster in the north-western field and I’ve been unable to budge it. I was goin’ to hire a bunch of the local stallions to help me drag it to the barn and crack it open; if you think you can handle it, I’ll let you keep a basket or two of its contents for your troubles?”
Crimsondrop nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. “Why do y’ want this rock dragged intae the barn?”
He replied as he led her through the orchards, “I don’t really have the tools to crack it open here, and the unicorn in town that does it makes a hay of a mess.” They reached an open paddock, and sure enough a large stone sat unearthed nearby. A long and sturdy set of ropes were already tied around it for when the stallions would be hitched to it.
She approached the stone and ropes and, after studying the coils for a few moments, she tied them around her waist.
“What’re you doing?” Citrus Squeeze asked her, earning only a confidant smile in return.
And then she pulled.
She heaved against the ground with all her might and, after a few seconds of resistance, the stone began to succumb to her heave. The stone, of just over her height and twice her length, was promptly dragged from its home in the soil and through the open gate.
“Where’s th’ barn?”
Citrus Squeeze, who had been staring in stunned shock, snapped back to reality and hurried past her, motioning for her to follow him.
“We follow this path to the end of the field, and it’s the third building on our left.”
She nodded. “I’ll meet ye there, then.” She said, before putting on a burst of speed that again had Citrus staring in amazement, watching her drag the rock away from him at a working trot.
“If I weren’t already married,” he mumbled to himself, “I’d be seriously considerin’ that nanny.” With that aired, he shook himself and hurried after her, hoping to catch her before she needed him to open the barn doors.
It only took a few minutes for them to reach the barn in question, and once the boulder was situated within they took a short break to look it over. The large, ugly and oddly shaped lump of minerals was unyielding in attempts to find a weak point through which Citrus hoped to crack it open with one of his tools. He ended up admitting defeat, however, and stated that he would have to call in the unicorn as usual.
And then Crimsondrop approached it again, still with a confidant smile on her face.
With a grunting cry of exertion she reared up and brought her forehead down upon the solid rock, much to the worry of her employer. The stone, despite its clear resilience and clear desire to remain in once piece, cracked open like a walnut in a nutcracker and spilled gemstones across the barn floor.
The nanny groaned and shook her head before smiling at the farmer. “Anythin’ else you need, or…”
“By Princess Celestia’s beard, Crimsondrop, warn a stallion before you-- you’re bleeding!”
She blinked at him before dabbing at her forehead where she’d struck the rock with a hoof and looking at the red that dribbled off of the glowing keratin. “Oh, would you look at that.” She breathed, returning her attention to the slack-jawed stallion. “Be ae sport and get a rag fer this, would ye?”
“R-right, you look through the gems and pick out the ones you want and I-I’ll go get something for that cut…” He stammered as he made his way to the door. “I’ll… I’ll send my wife out t’ help you pick through them.”
“That would be nice; I’ve no idea what kind ae coin I’d get for them. I’d like t’ get started on buyin’ a home, and every little helps.”
“Marmalade can help with that, I’ll go get th’ first aid kit.”
Crimsondrop nodded. “Ta, Citrus.”
*&*&*&*
“You had better not be wasting my time, mage.”
The Forsaken warrior, Toothache, was glaring at the Blood Elf mage he had hired. The air around her hands warped in a combination of magic and the heat of the day that is a staple of Gadgetzan’s atmosphere. He snarled at a Worgen mage who looked over at the pair curiously, the female werewolf sighing and returning to talking with her fellow Kirin-Tor.
“Watch your attitude, Toothache; it took but misdirected blame to have the Blood Elves ejected from the Kirin-Tor. I do not particularly want to see what happens when they are angered.”
“I am not afraid of some pansies in dresses, Kirisla,” he growled back at her. “And I don’t see what the fuss is about; your name is exalted amongst them!”
“Being exalted merely means that I am tolerated at the moment, you brute; I have a meeting coming up with Kirin-Tor leadership in a few days to discuss anything further and I will not have you ruin that for me.”
He gave her a disgusted (and, as his face was somewhat decomposed, disgusting) glare. “You’re going neutral? What kind of cowardice is this?”
“The kind of cowardice that lets my children grow up with their mother.” She hissed angrily. “If all goes as planned I’ll have a nice library to study my portal and teleportation spells in and some classes to lecture. It’ll be a darn sight better than the warzones that I’ve been objected to getting here.”
Toothache harrumphed, “You know as well as I do, that Proudmoore witch has it out for anyone in the Horde races. You’re more likely to wind up scrubbing the Dalaran sewers than studying in their libraries.”
“That’s why I asked for that pair to accompany us; they are here to observe and make sure I don’t cheat. A portal to another realm… can you imagine the possibilities?”
“The goblins can.”
“Keep them out of this; those exploitative guttersnipes would drain these realms for all their worth. It’s bad enough they do it to Azeroth.”
“For once, mage, we agree on something.” Toothache hissed before shivering as a wave of magic washed through him and, with a loud sound not unlike two swords sliding against one another, a portal opened before him.
“Finally, it opened!” Kirisla cheered before waving over the Kirin-Tor pair. “The wavelength was strange, but I managed to isolate it using the method that Lady Proudmoore taught.”
“I can finally get my damned goat back.”
“This will not be the exact place that she disappeared to, Toothache;” Kirisla warned, “the magic signature was too degraded for me to get that precise a location.”
The undead waved a hand dismissively. “Bah,” he spat, “I was not expecting you to get it right, useless mages.” He growled before stepping into the portal and disappearing. The three spellcasters shared a look.
“You two feel that too, I take it?” Kirisla asked worriedly. The pair nodded.
“Great power resides on the other side of that portal, possibly unlike any on Azeroth.” The Worgen stated. “It does not seem to appreciate our intrusion into its realm, either. We should proceed humbly and with caution.”
“Tell that to tall, decomposing, and stupid.” Kirisla complained. “Look, I swear to behave, I’ll geas myself to you if you want, but I would really appreciate if one of you could head back to Dalaran and alert leadership. If we anger whatever it is that’s on the other side of this portal…” She shuddered, “It could be the Well of Eternity all over again. I don’t think Azeroth will survive a second Maelstrom.”
The human male of the trio nodded. “I’ll go; you two keep an eye on that corpse.” He instructed as he opened a portal to Dalaran and stepped through, saying a quick, “Good luck,” before the portal closed.
The remaining two females sighed. “Men,” Kirisla groused, “Can’t live with them, can’t live without them, eh Elizabeth?”
The Worgen chortled, “Quite,”
And with that, the pair stepped into the shimmering portal before them.
*
They stepped out into a dense, dark forest. Sounds of creatures unknown moved about through the woods around them, and Toothache stood waiting for them.
Elizabeth, the Worgen, was the first to speak after having sniffed the air. “Predators frequent this place.” She said, an ear twitching to listen to things moving through the underbrush, “despite your rot, they are not afraid of coming for a free meal. I suggest we move quickly.”
“Where do we go, though? I don’t know the lay of the land; this could be a world covered in endless forest for all I know.” Kirisla said calmly. “And that feeling is getting more hostile the longer we’re here.” She shivered. “You don’t think one of the Old Gods could be here… do you?”
“I don’t hear whispers in my mind; I don’t think it is their doing.” Elizabeth replied warily, “Though we do tread in the realm of something… very powerful.”
“Words, words, words; let’s go!” Toothache snarled. “My stupid goat is here somewhere and I’m not going back without it.” He pointed off through the trees, where a rooftop could faintly be seen in the distance. “There’re buildings over there, so that must be a town.”
“Lead the way then, musclehead.” Kirisla spat, to which Toothache grunted and obliged. As he stepped a little ahead of the pair of women, Kirisla leaned up to Elizabeth’s ear. “Getting really sick of him,”
“What’s his deal?”
The elf shook her head, “A few days ago he and his team returned from the Caverns of Time to Gadgetzan after attending to a task the dragons wanted done. According to one of his teammates, my paladin sister no less, he hadn’t left food or water for his Talbuk, not even when he reached town.”
“That’s… somewhat cruel.”
“Yeah, well, the Talbuk sort of collapsed while he was in the inn and after he tried to get it to rise –violently according to my sister- a freak magical occurrence whisked it away. The reason I conducted my cross-realm portal experiment where I did is because that’s where it was last seen.”
The canine woman said nothing for a few moments. “So you’re saying that you weren’t trying an interdimensional portal experiment?” She probed accusingly.
“No, no, I was,” Kirisla replied with a shake of her head, “I used the type of portals that are commonly used by our troops in Draenor to return to Azeroth; I merely added a tracking formula. The idea was to use the portal to track the last teleportation used and follow it, even between realities, such as Draenor and Azeroth. Imagine the potential; we could track down magical offenders wherever they go.”
Elizabeth nodded, eyeing the forest around them as they walked. “Yes, it would be interesting, not sure how it could be pitched to Lady Proudmoore, but it does sound clever. Offenders such as Kael’thas would find it much more difficult to escape us in future.” She smiled as her attention was drawn to the town they were walking towards, now leaving the forest behind them. “It looks to be a quaint town. I can smell many horses, as well as some other scents, including gryphon. Maybe they’re a farming community.”
”Perhaps this won’t be as difficult as-” Kirisla began, only to cut herself off as she saw an equine using a hammer to nail something onto a building. She turned to look at Elizabeth, who was likewise flabbergasted. “D… do you see what I see?”
Elizabeth nodded. “That horse is performing maintenance.” She said. “Perhaps you did break dimensional barriers; look over there, that one is manning a stall! And that one is... wait, what is that one doing?”
“Delivering the mail by the looks of it,” Kirisla said as she watched the winged horse flitter between buildings and deposit letters into mailboxes. “There are pegasi and unicorn mixed into the herd… Could they be sapient?”
Elizabeth hummed, still following Toothache as she pondered the chances. A shout of mild alarm came from the equines, now that the trio had entered the town proper. A small ashy blur, clearly not looking where it was going, slammed into the side of Toothache’s right boot, causing the trio to stop.
Somewhere the words ‘unhitch me’ were voiced in the silent street, but this was ignored by the mages and warrior, who looked down at the curious creature.
It appeared to be a Gryphon chick missing an eye, female by the looks of it. She shook her head and looked up at Toothache worriedly as he turned to glare down at her. Slowly he reached up to his shoulder, where the handle to his greatsword sat waiting for his grip.
Then she spoke. “I-I’m sorry.”
The blade swung down.
*&*&*&*
Crimsondrop strolled cheerfully through town, pulling a small cartful of gems to the jeweller’s for evaluation and sale. Marmalade Scoop, the wife of Citrus, had been a wonderful host and quite helpful in aiding the nanny in selecting gemstones for sale.
For now, Crimsondrop would be contented if she just got to talk to her every time she worked; the mare was thoroughly pleasant to be around, and was incredibly hospitable. Something about ‘Orange Family Traditions’ or some such; she had to admit she didn’t pay much attention to the prideful lecture about being in a long line of such farmers.
Crimsondrop was looking forward to dropping off these gems, getting her Bits and meeting up with Doublescoop and Saddleblaze; she wanted to see if they were interested in going to a diner for some lunch or if they’d had some already. With this many gems, she was certain she’d have some Bits to spare.
Having spotted the pair as they walked towards her, the gryphon chick dawdling alongside them looking about in curiosity, she made her way over and greeted them.
“Crimson, I thought you said you went to Citrus’ grove;” Saddleblaze began, eyeing the cartful of gems that the nanny was pulling, “where’d you get these from?”
She smiled at the trio. “Citrus had something called ae ‘cluster’ in ‘is fields he wanted movin’. I dragged it from the field and cracked it open; Citrus said I could take a cartful.”
The two adults nodded in understanding. “Ah, he let you have some for services rendered, seems fair.” Saddleblaze said, as if clarifying to herself. She then gestured down to the gryphon that was looking up at Crimsondrop in wonder. “Crimson, this is the gryphon cub that we’ve adopted, Softcrest. Softcrest, this is a friend of ours, Crimsondrop.”
“Hello, Softcrest,” Crimsondrop said down to her warmly, “Nice to meet you.” The cub nodded, still staring in wonder at her glowing horn and hooves. “Did the doctor say anything about taking her home early?” She asked the adults.
“She’s not to run around too much, as she did inhale some smoke that still needs to clear her lungs, but she should be alright provided we take her back for a check-up in two days or so.” Saddleblaze replied.
“That’s good; have ye had lunch yet? I was goin’ t’ trade these t’ the jeweller in town for bits, I was wondering if ye wanted t’ go for somethin’ t’ eat?”
“I don’t see why not. Softcrest has already had her lunch at the hospital, but I’m sure she would enjoy a nice piece of cake.” Saddleblaze responded with a nod. “The jeweller is that way, near the edge of town.” She added, waving a hoof.
Crimsondrop waved a hoof in response. “Lead th’ way then,” she instructed, turning and tugging the cart into motion.
“Where are we going?” Softcrest asked from down around their ankles, making Saddleblaze chuckle.
“We’re just going to go sell Crimsondrop’s gems, and then we’re going to go to a diner for something to eat.” She said, leaning down to speak into her ear. “I’ll buy you some cake, would you like that?”
Softcrest’s face exploded into bliss and she nodded furiously, before starting to run down the road. “Let’s go!”
“Softcrest, wait! Watch where you’re going!”
It was then that the gryphon cub ran into a hard metal boot, bowling over onto her flank. She rubbed her cheek before looking up at who she’d run into. The figure was tall, and walked on only two legs, their entire body covered in heavy metal armour. Two other figures stood behind it, one of which looked like a bipedal wolf in a dress, though they at least only looked curious.
Crimsondrop shoved Saddleblaze. “Unhitch me.” She snapped, watching as the familiar shape reached up to his back. “Blaze, unhitch me now!”
Something in the urgency in her voice seemed to have spoken to the subconscious of the mare beside her, because she was out of the harness faster than she’d thought would be possible. Knowing she was now free of the cart, she bolted towards the figure.
Her left front hoof slapped the blade from its original downward angle, making it bury itself into the soil next to Softcrest’s now terrified form. With a feral snarl Crimsondrop spun, brought up her rear legs, and bucked.
Her hooves connected with his helmet, and the force behind them brought him up off his feet and knocked him back behind his companions where he rolled to a stop. One of the robed figures turned to his prone form.
“Toothache, are you alright?!”
“Kirisla, is that a Talbuk?” The wolf-like female asked.
The other figure turned and stared at Crimsondrop as she stood protectively over Softcrest as if she’d never seen their like before.
“She’s a little small, isn’t she?” Kirisla asked confusedly, realizing that the talbuk in question only came up to her chest. “She seems… different from the talbuk back home. Something about her face feels… off.”
Crimsondrop snorted angrily, “Yeah, well something about your face makes me think of paladins!”
The two mages stared, gobsmacked.
“She just spoke.” Kirisla stated.
“By the light she just spoke.”
“Yeah, there’s a whole lot o’ things I can say, like that ye can crawl back through the hole ye came out! I ain’t goin’ back! Not t’ him! As much as I miss my family, as much as I long for the companionship of his teams’ mounts, I’d rather miss all of that than go back t’ him, so take yer undead sack of manure and git!” She shouted.
The pair only stared.
“I’ve had enough of his beatin’s, had enough of his mistreatment!” Crimsondrop belted out angrily, a few tears struggling to break free of her eyes. “I have a life here!”
Toothache growled as he struggled to a kneeling position, clutching his greatsword with a tightly-bunched fist. “Two hundred Gold pieces… wasted on some pathetic, poorly trained piece of meat!” His head swivelled and he glared directly into Crimsondrop’s eyes. “You have a life here? Fine then, I’ll take it!”
With a roar he leapt from the earth, bringing his sword over his head and leaping towards where Crimsondrop was protectively shielding Softcrest. Her eyes went wide, and she scooped the cub up into one of her forelegs before jumping to one side. Her jump had extra momentum put behind it when Toothache struck the ground and she rolled a few times before coming to a rest. She found her feet and gently shook Softcrest.
“Hey, kid, I’m going to throw you to Saddleblaze, okay? Spread your wings when you’re airborne, keep them wide. Ready?”
After a nod from the cub, she jumped back to dodge a swing of Toothache’s sword before hurling Softcrest where she said she would. Thankfully the feeling of being airborne in such a way didn’t startle the cub too much and her wings spread, making her glide over to where Saddleblaze and Doublescoop caught her.
“Toothache, what are you doing?!”
The warrior turned his sword on his elf companion. “Stay out of this, mage, or you’re next!”
Crimsondrop took this moment to grab a nearby metal broom, and managed to just barely block Toothache’s next swing with it. The swing that followed, however, cleaved clean through the metal pole before burying his blade into the soil. With a grunt he used the sword as leverage and put his full weight into kicking her square in the head, sending her tumbling to the ground.
“Pitiful,” Toothache snarled down at her as she struggled to get to her hooves, “can’t believe I wasted so much gold on you.” He pulled his sword from the dirt and gave Crimsondrop a strong kick in the stomach to which she yelped loudly. “Useless piece of meat; I don’t know why your trainer thought you were worth that much, you’re barely worth me having to clean my armour!” He stopped and sneered, raising his sword high. “But at least I’ll enjoy this.”
Crimsondrop coughed, glaring up at him, “And at least I’ll be free of you, master.”
With a yell, Toothache’s sword swung down.
The sword collided with a golden barrier which burst to life around Crimsondrop, and the blade shattered into fragments when a short jolt of magic shot along it. His eyes bulged in fury, and the two mages hugged each other shivering in fear as a new creature floated down from the sky. Its fur, horn, and wings a pearly white and a flowing multi-coloured mane and tail streaming around her.
Celestia cleared her throat to get Toothache’s attention, speaking only when he looked over at her. “It would seem that someone is about to have a very bad day.”
“That someone is an interfering mare!” He shouted, pulling a dagger from his armour and rushing her.
Unfazed, Celestia merely waited for him to close in before backhoofing him hard enough to make him spin and crumple to the ground. She huffed down at him, rolling him over with a hoof.
“Stay down.” She instructed, only for him to grunt and attempt to rise.
“I will not… be humiliated… by a damned horse!” He bellowed as he struggled to his feet, dagger still in his hand.
“Toothache, stop; you don’t know what you’re up against!” Kirisla shouted warningly.
“Don’t tell me what to do, you damned stupid witch!”
His return to attacking Celestia was cut short when her magic grabbed him and made him simply vanish with a burst of light and sound. Celestia sighed before her eyes connected with the two mages, and her gaze bore into their terrified eyes. “And what of you two, hmm..? Do I need to send you to the castle dungeons too?”
“NO!” The wolf-like woman yelped, cringing as if struck.
“Then you will not come back after returning to your realm.” Celestia hissed, “Your constant conflicts, petty squabbles, and resource exploitation will not be brought to Equestria; you are not welcome here if you bring such things to our realm, especially the small green ones.”
“W-what will become of-”
“Your… undead companion will not be returning.” Celestia stated firmly. “If asked, you will tell that he bit off more than he could chew.” Her eyes narrowed at them, “Leave through your portal and never return.”
“O-of course.” Elizabeth stammered as she backed away and tugged Kirisla to join her. The pair walked in sullen silence until they reached the forest edge and Elizabeth spoke up. “We are lucky, elf,”
“Why do you say that?”
Elizabeth chuckled humourlessly, “We just walked away from a face-to-face with something akin to a god.” She stated, stepping over a root. “Walking away from that is lucky in itself. The power I could feel from her… it was like standing before A’dal all over again.”
Kirisla took a nervous look over her shoulder as she prepared to return through the portal. “Light have mercy on Toothache… I doubt that she will.”
*
With a sigh, Celestia lifted Crimsondrop to her hooves with her magic, helping her stay steady as she struggled to stand. It had been a long time, she noted to herself, since a sentient creature from that realm made it through to this one. The light-birthed Naaru had been a sight to behold and wiser than she could hope to be, and those two females were, while terrified of her and following an obvious dunderhead, smart enough to not cause trouble.
“Crimsondrop, are you alright?”
“I… I’m sure I'm alright, princess; I ache, but I’ll get better.”
Celestia nodded, looking out and over the crowd idly. Angry, she’d been angry at these intruders to the realm she called home. Her mother would probably not approve of her bias against their intrusion, but she would likely accept her judgement against the undead. He clearly would not be dissuaded from violence.
“What are ye going to do to my master?”
The question was so out of the blue that it gave Celestia pause, her thoughts freezing in their path as if struck with a freezing spell; master? Is that what she knew him, their relationship, as? Master and servant like those who were freed of Diamond Dog slavery?
“Now that he is no longer your master, what do you wish upon him, Crimsondrop?” She hesitantly asked in a breath. Would she have to remove another potentially violent and dangerous factor from her realm?
Crimsondrop shook her head. “I don’t know.” She breathed, still struggling to find her balance but becoming steadier by the second. “Justice, for what he did to me, for what he’s done to me. He nearly killed me, princess; twice now I’ve been at his mercy and he‘s decided to grant none. He almost killed Softcrest, the gryphon cub that my friends have adopted. A child, princess, whose only crime against him was bumpin’ intae his leg.
“He’s a true product o’ my home, a true warrior. There’s a sayin’ that I can remember hearin’ from one of his friends; ‘blood and honour’, I don’t think he knows anythin’ else. Can such a… disruptive element be allowed in this world, what with the added problem of his undeath as well?”
The princess sighed. “I suppose not,” She breathed, “Discord was difficult enough to tame, and he wasn’t violent in the same way.” She smiled and dipped her head to the battered nanny. “And thank you, Crimsondrop, for showing me that your realm is not without good souls.” Her wings spread and tensed, ready to take her into the air. “If you are alright, there is a… visitor in the castle who must be attended to. Have a good day.”
Her wings beat and she took off into the air, soaring into the distance towards Canterlot.
Crimsondrop groaned and held a hoof to her stomach. “I… I think I need to see a nurse.” She grunted, before collapsing as darkness swallowed her vision.
*&*&*&*
Toothache strained against the bars of the cell he was restrained within; normally iron of this width would be easy for him to flex, and thus escape through. The white equine from before stepped into his view, him having been too busy with the metal to hear her approach, and he growled at her angrily.
“Let me out of here you damned-”
“That is enough out of you, corpse.” She spat, cutting him off and feeding his anger. “You do not quite understand the situation you are in.”
“I’m being held prisoner by a damned white horse, that about sums it up!”
She sneered at him. “You truly won’t see reason, will you? Your talbuk spoke of your cruelty and violence, but I thought it unlikely that anything could be so dark of soul.” Her eyes narrowed at him. “How disappointed I am to find I was mistaken. You come into the realm of my family, threaten my subjects, and attack the innocent. Your actions are inexcusable, irredeemable; there truly is no good left in you is there, child of the Fallen King?”
He continued to strain against the bars and she sighed, letting magic collect on her horn. “While corporal punishment has long been abolished in Equestria, I find that you give me no alternative; Toothache, as Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria and Regent of the Sun and Bringer of Dawn, I find you guilty of disharmony, assault, assault on royalty, and attempted murder.” The magic gathering on her horn became blinding and she pointed it directly at the struggling undead. “May the Light embrace you.”
The magic burst from her horn, engulfing him as he struggled against the bars in a blinding wave of power; when it faded, only the white-hot iron of the bars remained where he had stood, surviving only because of the enchantments upon it. With a sigh, Celestia strolled back out of the dungeons. She paused only at the final door between the dungeons and the rest of the castle to look over her shoulder at the cooling metal.
“Such a waste.”
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great chapter cant wit for more of this story
Serves him right, the douche.
im loving this story, i hope you will continue to write more to it
the talbuk you used for the protagonist was my favorite in WoW im saddened they patch out the glowing horns and hooves D:
The guy was a bastard and had it coming.
Update?
I was hoping this "universe" would have a multi-chapter story.
is it dead?
8420000
No, in fact I am working on the next chapter of this now (in my spare time)!
I am somewhat surprised that he was actually killed (as Equestria doesn't seem to go for that), but I can't say he didn't have it coming, and no better recipient could be found.