• Published 29th Jan 2012
  • 18,384 Views, 740 Comments

Retired to Equestria - Yet Another Mask



Retirement has never been this much fun

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Two Minutes Notice

“So then after the triple corkscrew I’ll do a double backwards loop and then… The Sonic Rainboom,” Dash said cockily as she detailed her latest sequence of tricks to Twilight.

“Well it certainly sounds like it will be amazing,” Twilight said appreciatively. "But are you sure you can pull off a Rainboom so close to the ground?”

“That’ll be easy; I am the best flier in Equestria after all.”

“If you say so Dash. It still sounds dangerous though.” Twilight couldn’t help but shake her head at the recklessness of her friend.

“Please, danger is my middle name,” Dash boasted.

“Really? I thought it was-”

“Oh HEY! Look there’s Pinkie let’s go say hi!” Dash cried out as she zipped away from Twilight. When she drew closer to her pink friend she noticed that Pinkie was apparently talking to the thin air in front of her.

“OH! Then we can play pin the tail on the pony! That’s my most favoritest party game ever! Have you ever played it before?” Pinkie babbled on, ignorant of her new audience.

“Hey Pinkie… Who are you talking to?” Twilight asked as she neared the pink party pony.

“I don’t know.” She smiled happily. “I call him Mister Scary Overlord Guy! Hi Mister Scary Overlord Guy!” she shouted as she waved at the empty air in front of her.

Before Twilight could ask another question Rainbow’s hoof shot out to cover her mouth. “It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie. Don’t question it,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“Right. I just wish I could understand half of what she does,” Twilight lamented as she watched her friend continue to wave at nothing.

<-[XXXXX]->

They were in the highest room of the tallest tower. It is, of course, where everything of real importance happens when such a location is available. Two figures were staring at a glowing white sphere, although both seemed human something seemed off about both of them. A casual observer, however, would be far more likely to notice the fact that a pink pony was waving at the two from inside the sphere than they would anything else.

“How does she even know you’re watching her?” the woman asked with a raised eyebrow. She was tall and inhumanly thin, rich brown hair flowed down her back like a river over a field of diaphanous silks that clouded the air around her. A fire burned in her pure white eyes that hinted at the immense power that was bound in her seemingly simple form.

“I have no idea,” the man chuckled. He seemed almost flat, there were no shadows or highlights on his body and he looked more like a drawing than a living being. “I like her though; apparently when I open the gate and find her she’s going to throw me a party.” He smiled. “It’s been decades since anyone’s thrown a party for me that wasn’t supposed to end with me dead.” He paused for a moment. "I suppose that one with that Warrior Queen might count, she wanted me enslaved instead of dead if I remember correctly."

“So you’re really going through with it aren’t you? Going to that world to start anew,” she said, a touch of sadness tainting her words.

“Of course I am!” he replied indignantly. “I tried retiring once before and we both know how well that went. If I want out of your little games I’m going to need to leave this world completely. Besides, this world is so innocent! So accepting! So long as I stay on the side of the law they will be more than willing to give me a chance at a fresh start!”

The woman chuckled. “It figures that you would escape. You always were the best you know.”

The man was silent for a few moments. “Thank you. That actually means something coming from you.”

“I suppose you’ve managed to find a way to retain most of your power this time? Your last attempt at retirement left you rather weak.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t still be alive if I didn’t learn from my mistakes.” He waved a hand and his body shimmered as the illusion that kept him looking human dropped, in his place now stood a four legged creature slightly over half his illusion's height. “I’ve already inscribed the runes into my new bones and have transferred as much power as possible into my grimoire.” He patted a satchel that hung from his side, a satchel that looked far too small to hold a book of any kind. “I’ll still be a shadow of what I am now but it will do.”

“Already situated with your new body I see.”

He laughed at this. “Only a fool would simply jump into a new body. It took some time to get the hang of flying and I certainly won’t be winning any races but I can fly and defend myself. All that remains is to cast the final spell and leave.”

A sly smile worked it's way across the woman's face as she gave the man a sidelong glance. “I could stop you, you know. Your wards are gone and your defenses are lowered to power your spell. For the first time in centuries I’m actually here in full force instead of poking a finger through the holes in your defenses.” She ran a hand down his neck. "It would be so easy right now."

He shook his head and rolled his eyes at her. “But you won’t. You never intervene directly, you use proxies and pawns. The fact that you’re actually here just goes to show that you aren’t going to stop me.” His slight glare melted as a hint of a smile touched his eyes. “In fact, if I didn’t know better I’d think you want me to escape.”

“Just cast the spell,” she muttered with a huff.

The man laughed to himself as he padded over to a large jar filled to the brim with fresh blood. “Cost me a fortune to get this stuff. Probably would have been easier if I was willing to kill them for it but I don’t want my last act here to be the murder of a dozen virgins.” He hefted the large jar easily and eased it onto his back. Satisfied it was in place he returned to the center of the room and placed it carefully on the ground. He steadied the jar with his forelimbs and began tipping the jar slowly so as not to splash the precious fluid all over the floor. Slowly but surely the blood began to flow from the jar into deep grooves that had been carved into the floor. Wherever the blood went an eerie red light sprang up from the engraved spell construct. Before long the entire room was bathed in strange otherworldly light. His work complete he tossed the jar aside and turned to the sphere that continued to show images of the peaceful world he had been observing for the past year. It had taken him a while to learn the language, both written and spoken. Even longer to find a proper form to shift into and prepare himself for his eventual journey but the time had come. He was going to escape. With a manic grin he lifted one forelimb into the air and brought it down on the orb.

There was a massive explosion of light and sound as shards of glass scythed through the air, a noise akin to tearing fabric split the air as the light faded. When he managed to open his eyes again he was staring at a tear in reality, a tear leading to Equestria. With a final wave to the woman he spread his wings and leapt through the portal and towards his new start.

<-[XXXXX]->

Gilda had been staying in the Everfree for nearly a month now. Every day she would fly to the edge of the forest and stare at Ponyville, trying to work up the courage to head into town and find Dash. Not that she would ever admit to being scared or to wanting the forgiveness of her lame-o former friend. She was far too cool for that sort of thing.

She was on her way back to her makeshift nest from her daily Ponyville viewing when she heard it: a sound reminiscent of tearing fabric being broadcasted over industrial grade loudspeakers while the souls of the damned acted as backup singers. She whipped her head back and forth in an attempt to figure out where the wretched sound was coming from to no avail. As quickly as it started it stopped, leaving ringing silence in its wake, a silence that was pierced by a thunderous crash that came from the direction of her nest.

She bit back a curse as she flared her wings out and shot towards her home. It may not be a particularly nice nest but it was hers damn it! Her beak twisted into a grimace as thoughts of something destroying what she had worked so hard to build flashed through her mind. Another growl rumbled out of her throat as she put on another burst of speed that would have impressed even Rainbow Dash. In the blink of an eye she was back in the clearing she had made her home bristling for a fight.

However the scene that greeted her brought her bloodlust to a screeching halt. Her nest was, thankfully, untouched. This fact was disregarded almost immediately as she surveyed the respectable crater that had been punched into the middle of the clearing. Her eyes widened even further as she saw what was crawling, intact no less, from the crater. Another griffon. His coat feathers were a deep brownish black, his wing feathers were much the same but tinged with silver along the ends, his fur was a pale sandy tan that contrasted sharply with his dark plumage, and both his eyes and beak were both a cold steel grey.

She hadn’t seen another griffon in months. The griffon city-states were already notoriously insular and what few griffons did leave to travel abroad almost never came this far into Equestrian lands. She was so shocked at the sight of another griffon that for the moment she completely forgot the fact that he had apparently crash landed with enough force to carve out a crater in the middle of her clearing.

“Gates that was an annoying experience. Should’ve known inter-universal travel would be unpleasant,” he muttered as he dusted himself off and looked at the crater he had come out of. “At least I’m as tough as I should be. Half expected those damn spells to fall apart on my way here. Oh well, all the better. Now where the pit am I?”

Hearing the strange griffon speak brought Gilda back down to earth and back to her not inconsiderable anger at having her home invaded so thoroughly. “What the buck are you doing in my clearing?!” she raged as she swept down to his level.

The other griffon seemed startled by Gilda’s sudden outburst. “Ah! A griffon! Didn’t expect to see one of you this far into Equestria, thought you tended to keep to yourselves. Guess this throws the whole strange foreigner gambit out the window huh?” he asked her conversationally.

Gilda couldn’t help but glare at the stranger; he hadn’t even paid the slightest attention to her demand for answers. “I said: What. The. Buck. Are. You. Doing. In. My. Clearing?” she demanded again, her feathers bristling in rage.

The other griffon grinned mischievously. “And if I don’t answer your question?” he asked innocently.

Gilda advanced several steps, her wings flaring and her claws twitching dangerously.

Surprisingly the other griffon merely chuckled at the display. “Don’t bother girl, I don’t want to have to hurt you.” His face suddenly shifted to a look of barely restrained malice. “But I will destroy you should you give me just cause.” As quickly as it had come it was gone, replaced with a look of subdued glee. “As for why I’m in your clearing, I was traveling and found myself engaged in an unexpected landing.” He swept into a low bow. "I apologize for the inconvenience my dear."

Gilda paused momentarily. Partially mollified by his apology but the look that had flashed across his face was what truly gave her pause. The closest she had never felt anything like the sheer volume of promised ciolence that had shone in the griffon's eyes was when a couple unicorns had tried to strong-arm her mother into giving up her claim on a house. In that moment she saw that whoever this was, he was not someone that would be pushed around. “Fine. Whatever,” she grunted in acceptance of his apology. “What are you doing out here anyway?”

“Ah, therein lies a tale!” he crowed as he spread his talons to the sky and flared his wings dramatically. “There was once a man, a devilishly handsome, ungodly powerful man, a man that all the world feared and hated. A man who was… bored. He despised that everyone was trying to kill him. He hated that he couldn’t leave his castle without being besieged by heroes. He abhorred the constant assaults by the gods and fae alike. So he decided to retire. But he couldn’t just retire anywhere. He had tried that before and it didn’t work. So he decided to tear apart reality and leave his world behind for a new one.” The griffon grinned manically. “And he succeeded. He clothed himself in new flesh to fit his new home and left his world behind to come here to live out the rest of eternity in peace.”

Gilda simply stared at him for a few moments before shaking her head roughly. “Okay then, you’re just crazy.”

“Eh, I’ll take that,” he chuckled with another grin. “By the way, you wouldn’t happen to know where a town by the name of Ponyville is would you? I believe someone is waiting for me there.”

Gilda froze. This was it;this was her chance. A smile slid its way across her beak as a plan began to form in her mind. She would lead him to Ponyville and offer to stick around for a while to make sure nothing went wrong. She wouldn’t be crawling back, she would be returning with her head held high and if any of those loser ponies complained about it she would just point out that she was helping out a fellow griffon. “Yeah, I know the place you’re talking about. Can lead you straight there too.”

A sly smile had blossomed across his face as he had watched the gears turning in Gilda’s brain. “Excellent!” he crowed. “Ah! Before I forget, you may call me Damien. Thank you for your assistance,” he said as he extended a forelimb.

“Whatever, Damien. I just don’t have anything better to do.” She paused as she regarded his outstretched talon coldly. “Name’s Gilda,” she said as she grasped it with her own and gave it a curt shake. “Now let’s get going before something actually important comes up.” Not waiting for a response she took to the air.

“Of course Gilda, I would never presume to impugn on your valuable time,” Damien replied with a smirk as he shot into the air after her. It looked like he was already scheduled to have a very interesting retirement.