Chapter 29 - Revelation
"I would have much rather taken the train…" the shaken Rarity spoke with trembling lips as she was being carried high over the lands of Equestria by her midriff by the winged Gai'vahros, his hands locked around her and held close to his body as the group soared through the skies. With Twilight having used the last of her potion of flight to grow wings it only left Applejack and Pinkie pie, whom were carried by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy respectively.
"The train is too slow, Lady Rarity," responded Gai'vahros while using a portion of effort to heave the rather heavy mare through the sky. He was quite pleased that he required no extra concentration on his part where his flying was involved. "This will get us back to town in less than a quarter of the time it would take by train."
"Besides, this is awesomely fun!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, waving her arms in the air while she enjoyed the flight.
"P-Pinkie Pie," spoke Fluttershy, trying to keep her balance in check as Pinkie Pie kept shaking from one side to the other with her flailing, "please don't do that. I might drop you…"
"Oh! Well, that's not very fun at all. Sorry, Fluttershy," apologised Pinkie Pie with an awkward smile.
"Well if the others weren't so slow, we'd already be there by now," spoke Rainbow Dash callously.
"Well sorry for everyone not bein' as fast and flighty as you, Rainbow Dash," retorted Applejack sarcastically. "Some of us have better things to do than to show off all day."
"You callin' me a show-off!?"
"Darn right I am!"
"You won't think so when I drop ya!"
Gai'vahros' patience couldn't run any thinner at this point. "Shut up, both of you!" he cried out as his head whipped violently around to the both of them. The two quickly kept their mouths shut, their lips clamped together as though glued together. "Your bickering isn't going to make us go any faster. Focus on the task at hand."
"S-sorry, Gai…" whimpered Rainbow Dash apologetically.
"I'm not the one you should be sorry to," replied Gai'vahros.
Rainbow Dash understood, knowing in her heart that he was right. She looked down to the hanging pony in her grasp. "I'm sorry, Applejack. I didn't mean--"
"I'm sorry, too, sugar cube," intervened Applejack. "I shouldn't have snapped at ya. We're all just worried about what's happenin'."
"I just hope everything's okay," spoke Twilight, looking ahead of her to spot anything that might give notice to how bad the attack could have been -- smoke, fires, even a mushroom cloud at this point. "One person couldn't have done too much damage, right?"
The elf let out a heavy sigh. "I wouldn't have thought so."
Ponyville soon came within view over the hills after some time -- or rather, its train station did. Quickly the group swooped down from the sky towards the central platform, letting the gravity take them faster as they cut through the air. Gai'vahros' wings dissipated as soon as he touched down on the floor on the train's platform, putting down Rarity. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Twilight soon followed suit, flapping their wings to slow their descent as their hooves touched the platform, releasing their passengers as the party landed safely together.
"Move, move, MOVE!" The steel hand of Gai'vahros shoved and pushed whomever stood in his way out of it, whether or not they had seen him coming or even if they could brace themselves for his surplus force. The crowded platform saw only a trail of gold blitz through a newly-opened path as the blood knight dashed through with Twilight and the others following close behind.
"I just hope we're not too late," exclaimed Twilight, worry overtaking her emotions above all else.
"Sweetie Belle…" murmured Rarity under her breath. Despite being carried back to Ponyville she still spoke as though out of breath -- the sudden strike of panic drove her speech, her breathing and her thoughts into jumbled messes.
"Don't worry, darlin'," spoke Applejack, trying to comfort the distraught Unicorn. "As long as they're all in the library, that death knight won't be able to lay a hand on 'em." Even through her words of confidence, even she could not keep away the thoughts of the worse.
As the lot left the train station, two guards stood in front of them, halting their advance as they stood in opposition of Gai'vahros. "Stop immediately," one of them called out as the two of them held up their forelegs in gesture. "You can't go back to Ponyville! It's far too dangerous!"
A heavy growl erupted from the blood knight as the two guards pushed him back. "Move out of the way," he cursed to them."
"I cannot! It's for your own good that we wait for reinforcements!"
"I said, get out of my way!" A sudden strike from Gai'vahros connected with one of the guard's stomach, striking with enough force to wind him and cause him to collapse. Before the other guard could retaliate, the elf swung his shield to collide with the side of his head. Despite the guard's helmet protecting him from much physical damage, the force was more than enough to knock him out. The girls were in shock seeing Gai'vahros single-handedly take out two guards with no problem, but also from his aggression. "Come on, girls!" he rallied as he sprinted down the path.
The visage of destruction loomed into view even far beyond the village itself. Stopping halfway down the path, the group took in the destruction that lay before them. It was almost exactly the same as they had seen before during the camping trip -- the branches of the trees around them were sheared off, cut too clean to be anything than a tempered blade. The bark of the trunks were shattered from heavy trauma that resembled a hammer or some other large blunt instrument. Charred remains of wood, dirt, soil and leaves littered the path in front of them.
"G… Gai…" stuttered Rainbow Dash, shifting her eyes all around her. A deep chill raced down her spine and made her fine hairs stand on end.
Gai'vahros shifted his gaze from the ground to the sides, eyeing the bark of the trees. "I know, Rainbow Dash…" Carefully he stepped forwards, caution being the only thing on his mind for the moment. His hand gently touched the bark of one of the trees, his fingers running across the grooves that were carved deep. "The same as before. Undeath, lifelessness, corruption. We'd better hurry." Again the elf made haste back to Ponyville, running as quick as he could down the path.
With every second they spent along the trail the worse the damages got. Gai'vahros tried not to pay much attention to the destruction around him. He knew that this destruction was out of character for the death knight that he knew, that they would not have rhyme or reason to destroy anything that wasn't a living creature. It was about sending a message.
At long last the tail opened up into a large clearing upon the north side of Ponyville. But, what they had found was much worse compared to the desecrated trail. Chunks of soil were kicked up, likely from the mad rush of ponies running in terror. Scrapes of charred grass spread over the lawn and pavement, leaving only the faint smell of burned flora and patches and streaks of black. Paving stones were smashed, shattered and scattered across the streets as though artillery fire had been shot from the skies. Shattered doors, windows and even roofs could be seen with their debris strewn about the proximity of them.
"This --" Rarity's voice almost broke from the sudden shock of seeing her hometown in such chaos. "-- this can't be real… Please, please tell me this isn't real…!"
"Gai'vahros…" the whimpering voice of Twilight crept to the elf's ears, "this wasn't done by one person, right? Right…?"
He didn't reply. He couldn't reply. His eyes began to blur and shake in their sockets as he kept gazing from one patch of destruction to another. Flashbacks of Quel'Thalas flooded his mind -- high elves struck down by the blades of skeletal onslaughts and the hatchets of abominations appeared with such clarity that it felt like he was reliving that time again. The images fizzled from his sight as suddenly as they appeared much to his relief, but he instead noticed many ponies collapsed on the floor within the streets -- something that he never thought would be more dire than seeing his kin fall. Gai'vahros' eyes took a glimpse of one of the stallions trying to move, struggling to push himself along the ground.
The blood knight rushed over to him, kneeling down by his side. "Hey," he called out to try and get some sort of response. One hand rested on the stallion's side while the other was used to lift his head up, cradling his neck with whatever comfort he could. "Are you alright? What happened here?"
The pony's eyes opened slowly, squinting as the light obstructed his sight but he knew who stood before him. His gaze shifted to the elf. "You… you're back…?" His voice struggled against the pain and exhaustion, barely having the energy to even lift a leg. "Everything… I thought everything was lost…"
"Who did this? Who attacked the village?"
"It was her… the dark knight…!" A violent cough erupted from the stallion, hunching forward suddenly. "But… that young filly saved me…"
"Young filly? You don't mean--" Looking up, Gai'vahros couldn't see what should be in the distance -- a large bubble-like dome over the library. "--Oh no." Quickly, Gai'vahros lay the head of the stallion back onto the ground and pressed both of his hands on the deep cut on his leg. A veil of gold light flowed from the tips of his fingers and spread over the wound. In moments the laceration closed, fully healing with not so much of a scar left. "You'll be fine, but I have to leave you. Can you stand?"
"I…" A burst of energy spread through the stallions body, giving him the effort to move his legs as though he'd not been attacked at all. Quickly he got to his hooves and shook each one. "I can stand… but what did--"
"There's no time to explain. Get whoever you can and take all of the injured to whatever medical facility you have. I have to go check on the library." Before the pony could respond, Gai'vahros had already bolted towards the library. A bad feeling fell over his mind, trying to figure out how or why that barrier came down.
The tree house came into perspective fully as soon as Gai'vahros sharply turned the corner, hopping over the fence instead of circling around with the path. Violently he burst through the front door, almost knocking it clear off its hinges and bracing himself for the worse. But there wasn't anything to brace himself from except from the sudden screams of Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Spike. The noise settled as soon as they all took in the situation.
"G-Gai!" Apple Bloom cried out. "Don't scare us like that!" Despite her irritation, the young filly galloped to the elf and hugged his leg tightly. Her head looked up to meet with Gai'vahros' eyes. "Where's everyone else?"
"Apple Bloom!?" cried out Applejack as she brushed past the blood knight, scooping up her younger sibling in her forelegs and holding her tight. "Oh, sweet Celestia, I thought I'd lost ya!"
"I-it's okay, Applejack," Apple Bloom wheezed through the bear hug. "but ya crushin' my ribs…"
The rest of the ponies quickly gathered inside the library from behind Gai'vahros, all of them far more than grateful that no one was hurt. "Oh, Sweetie Belle," spoke Rarity, running to give her own sibling a huge tearful hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"We've been fine all along, Rarity," the young filly responded.
"You're not hurt, are ya, Scootaloo?" asked Rainbow Dash with a great amount of care for the young Pegasus.
"Course not!" she spoke with feigned bravery and fearlessness. "Just… y'know, protecting everyone else! Heh…"
Whipping the handbag from around her neck onto the ground, Twilight galloped to her trusty assistant, embracing each other. "Oh, Spike," cooed Twilight as she held the young dragon close. "Spike, what happened? Why is the barrier down?"
Before Spike could respond, Apple Bloom stepped forwards. "It's… it's my fault, Twilight…" She dared not look her in the eyes, fearful of seeing her expression.
"What d'ya mean, Apple Bloom?" asked Applejack.
"Well, it happened like this…"
The death knight growled under her breath, annoyed by the revelation that Gai'vahros was no longer in Ponyville. Releasing the shadow, she let the stallion crash onto the ground in a heap. "You've been a great help -- for what it was worth. You've earned your rest." The terrible, cursed blade of primordial saronite loomed over the stallion -- ready to deliver a swift execution.
"STAHP!"
The knight's eyes shifted to one side as the piercing cry of a child-like voice garnered her attention. She turned slowly, tightening her grip on her cursed blade, and saw what could only be described as a baby pony. Despite her cold heart she found some sort of admiration for the filly. It wasn't every day that she had found someone who would openly oppose her. If she did, she wondered if that person didn't know who she was or if they were just looking to die.
"Why ya gotta go around hurtin' people?" Apple Bloom scowled at the death knight without any regard for her own safety. The heat of the moment and the fire in her own heart forbid her to back down.
A cold, echoing giggle poured from the death knight's cold lips like the echoes of a spectre, carrying with it the sound of despair. "Oh, how cute," she patronized. Heavy steps of steel made their way to Apple Bloom, and with each step that thundered on the cobblestones, the less confident the pony felt. "You want to play the good girl, hmm? Well then, stop me." Twirling the axe upside down, she spearheaded the point of the weapon through the pavement, piercing the concrete in front of Apple Bloom. The filly jumped back in fear as her eyes gazed upon the dark skull on the side of the axe's head. "What's the matter? I thought you wanted me to stop? So, stop me."
"I-I…" Apple Bloom's heart raced so fast that she could feel it beating against her own ribcage. She felt the blood rush from her chest to her head with such pressure that she began to feel lightheaded and dizzy. Her eyes kept shaking, shifting from all around her, then back to the death knight. "W-what do you want from us…?" Her voice began to tremble even more so than her body at this point.
"I'm only looking for one elf, child. He isn't too hard to miss -- tall, blonde hair, walks around in a suit with more gold than the auction house." Shifting her eyes to the library in front of her, the death knight gazed upon the magical dome surrounding the library, not even aware of its existence beforehand as she had tunnel-vision on Apple Bloom. "You're hiding him in there, aren't you, pony?"
"No! He's not even here! He went to Canterlot to warn the Princess of you!"
A dark snicker burst from the death knight before a torrent of wailing laughter followed. "Oh, please. And what will your little "Princess" do to stop me? Her worthless guards have already been defeated. What chance does she think she has against my power?"
"Well… Gai will beat you when he comes back! You'll see?"
"Oh? So you know him personally, do you? Then, runt, tell him this--" Violently she grasped hold of Apple Bloom's mane and hoisted her into the air. The filly kicked and screamed as the knight's grip tugged at her roots painfully. "--that I will not rest until I find him. Tell him that I will be back here by tomorrow's fall, and if he doesn't turn up… Well, I'm sure he can guess the consequences." Treating her like a ragdoll, the knight tossed Apple Bloom back through the bubble and smack against the front door.
"For your sake, runt, he had better show up…"
"Then, after that, she left on some bony bird thing. But, I was my fault the barrier went down… I didn't wanna see her--"
"It's okay, little Apple Bloom," comforted Gai'vahros, kneeling down and petting her mane with gentle strokes. "What matters most is that you weren't hurt. Well, not as bad as you could have been. But, what you did was reckless and stupid--" Apple Bloom turned her head away "--and brave. You willingly put yourself in harm's way to save another. And that was very heroic of you."
"You really think so…?"
A nod and a smile was all the reply that Gai'vahros needed to give, and all the reply that Apple Bloom needed to see. Standing to his feet, the blood elf turned to the door and made his exit to the front lawn.
"Gai, darling," spoke Rarity as she followed him with a turn of her head, "where are you going?"
"Well I'm sure as hell not waiting for tomorrow," he replied. Slowly he kneeled down on both knees on the grass, hands placed flat a top of his thighs. "The sooner we get this over and done with, the better." His eyes closed slowly and his breathing began to slow but relax. His body slowly began to spawn a faint silvery glow, coating his armor is a bright shine and sparkles. Quickly the light erupted skyward in a column of spiralling silver streams, dancing around one another as they headed endlessly to the clouds above.
"What in the world…!" gasped Rarity, her breath taken away from the sudden display of magical prowess from the blood knight.
"What kinda magic is that?" exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she marvelled the sight before her. She hoped that either Rarity or Twilight could enlighten her with a shower of knowledge of all things magical.
"I've… I've never seen anything like this before," admitted Twilight. Despite her own wealth of knowledge to all things phenomenal, even she had no clue as to what kind of magic the elf was displaying, though she quickly accepted that this was more of Azeroth's unique magical powers.
"Maybe…" started Pinkie Pie, a hoof on her chin. "Maybe this ain't even his final form?"
"I highly doubt that's the case, sugar cube," replied Applejack.
The silver light began to dissipate slowly. The column began to narrow and shrink back down towards Gai'vahros and the glow began to fade from his armor, eventually disappearing entirely as though it began to seep back into his armor. His eyes opened as the colour of fel green shone through his eyelids. Slowly he rose back to his feet, giving a gentle sigh. "She should be here soon," he spoke out. His eyes shifted to the skies above him.
"Gai'vahros, what did you just do?" asked Twilight as she walked up to him from behind. "What was that light?"
"A beacon," he responded as his head turned to show his attention to the Unicorn. "She knows that it belongs to me. She'll definitely come."
"How… how long?"
"Seconds. Minutes--"
"-- Or now?"
A dark, bony shadow raced across the fields as the large skeletal gryphon flapped its cold, hardened wings through the air. A top of the beast sat the death knight with an ever-growing grin across her lips. A dark chuckle echoed down upon the group. "Oh, Gai'vahros. Making new friends, are you? I wonder how long it will be before their deaths because of you."
The blood knight showed no sign of animosity or anger as he would have usually displayed when so much as thinking about the death knight. His head tilted up, gazing his eyes upon her own frozen pupils of glowing icy blue. "To think that after all this time, we would meet like this. I expected something more favourable, death knight."
"Hah? "Death knight"? Is that how you would refer to me after so much time apart?" Lifting one leg over the saddle of her mount, the knight hopped from her minion and to the ground before. A heavy thud filled the air as her heavy greaves struck the soil with great impact. "Always the rude one, you were, Gai'vahros."
"Gai'vahros," spoke Twilight, pressing forward and keeping her stance beside the blood elf, "she looks… she looks like an elf…"
The grin soon turned into a smile of hysteria before the death knight burst out into a fit of wailing laughter, sending a cold chill through the ponies. "You mean to tell me that you have not told them exactly who I am? That hurts me… brother."
If her deathly voice and howling cackle didn't send a cold wave through their bodies and minds, then the revelation of the death knight sure did. The entire group let out a collective gasp of shock. It was so much for some of them that they dared not begin to believe what they were comprehending from the death knight's words.
"Yeah, right!" cried out Rainbow Dash, hovering to the other side of Gai'vahros, remaining close to him. "As if you could be related to Gai! For one, Gai is cool AND awesome! Second, you're --"
"-- Correct," interrupted Gai'vahros. Rainbow Dash could hardly believe -- and neither could anyone else -- that he was confirming her notion. "This death knight… she is Liliandra Dawnbreaker -- my younger sister."
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Oh shit.
2814329 I dunno what's more "oh shit" -- Liliandra's reveal, or the fact that you've already read the chapter o.o
well damn she's quite F'd in the head ain't she
2814403 She's incredibly callous and vindictive, yush. Death does that to you.
2814337 lol gotta point there. But anyway, there's gonna be BLOODSHED. Glorious, glorious bloodshed.
and again...
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/195/379/1320452774001.png
besides...pixel77.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/BE_Death_Knight_by_slipgatecentral.jpg
and...wallpaper4me.com/images/wallpapers/deathknightseal-107418.jpeg
hope you guys like those
2814638 Erm... thanks?
2814642why not XD
Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
aww fuck...
DK's are so much better then Pallies xD
One: OH FUCK!! Two: Gai... poor bastard... Three: How is he supposed to fight her without Quel'Danas? Afair, he didn't find it. And to emphasize it again: OH FUCKING FUCKER FUCK!
2818229 One: Yup. Two: Uhuh. Three: With great difficulty, and no, he hasn't found either of his weapons yet.
Err...
I may have misinterpreted this scene, but a stomach strike seems like it would be more trouble than it's worth against a pony standing on all 4s.
2821667 Huh. I guess you're right. Eh, it kinda works.
i bestow some of my powers so he can beat her up to death
4848384 But she is already dead
