Cursed by an undead tyrant, a unicorn wanders through space and time, his life never ending. Will he find a spell to break the curse? Will he ever live a normal life?
Update 03/2018 - Officially on hiatus while I work on my storytelling abilities. Might cancel it and restart it anew (with different setting) if I think it's better. Also, I might also publish other things.
Cursed by an undead tyrant, a unicorn wanders through space and time, his life never ending. Will he find a spell to break the curse? Will he ever live a normal life? He walks, fights and kills, only to spend his days travelling the land, stopping only a few days in the cities. But when he is told that maybe a spell to free him from the curse's shackles exists, he embarks on a journey where once the curse began.
EDIT: added "horror" tag because of gruesome descriptions on chapter 4
2018 update: now cancelled; I'll try to be more active and try myself with some one-shots before thinking of a long fic again
The hooded figure was walking on the dirt road, snow starting to fall, his whole figure covered by a worn out cloak. Every step was a pain, a pain the unicorn was totally used to: no place could accept him, no other pony could share a bond with him, and so he had to travel, covering his own identity to make sure no one could recognize him.
A town was in sight, and he was glad: he could stay more or less a week, eat some warm food and maybe even make some bits with small work. His red eyes saw something strange though: smoke was rising to the sky; there was trouble.
The red-eyed unicorn rushed to the city, seeing the local militia, armed with only crude spears, battered shields and no armor at all, fighting against a much larger and much better armed force. A changeling shock-trooper squadron. A powerful voice stopped the fight for a little while, and a bigger changeling, in full black chitin armor, with a double hand halberd, made his way and stood proud in the main road.
"My name is Karagh, high commander of the third shock-trooper squadron, serving under the great Queen Chrysalis the Third of the Changeling Kingdom. I demand to speak with your mayor."
While the red-eyed unicorn continued to walk slowly, a middle-aged earth pony, the only one wearing a little armor, showed himself: he was smaller than the changeling commander.
"I am this town mayor and the militia captain, my name is Stone Root. May I ask the reason for this attack?"
"It's simple: our great Queen demands to conquer this city and enslave its inhabitants to supply our people. You can choose to join voluntarily, or you will be captured without mercy."
The hooded unicorn stopped at those words, and listened to the answer:
"I'm afraid we can't accept your conditions: I administrate this town on behalf of the princesses, and this territory is under the great Equestria Kingdom. We will fight to the end."
The armored changeling snorted out what seemed to be a laugh and said:
"What a proud little pony. It doesn't matter, anyway: we will slaughter you pathetic militia and will enslave everyone else."
He lifted his halberd, but he couldn't connect the blow: his hand was cut off and fell to the ground. Green blood was starting to flood while the changeling commander started to howl in pain.
"WHO… WHO DID THIS?!"
"I did."
The hooded unicorn decided finally to reveal himself, and took of his cloak: black and red clothes inside a light metal armor that bore the symbol of the once known Dark Tyrant of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra. The mayor looked at the stranger, a red-eyed, dark blue coated unicorn with a black and lilac spiky mane, with a little braid on the left. The changeling continued to howl:
"WHO ARE YOU?"
"Just a stranger in a strange land. But even I couldn't let your action pass."
Karagh started to charge him: that unicorn was a little taller than the mayor, but was still way smaller than that giant changeling. That unicorn wasn't surprised and reacted running against him; Karagh smiled.
'What a fool.'
The unicorn jumped above him, leaving him surprised, and with a swift movement took out his weapon, a bladed whip. Charging the blow in the air, he turned, landing the attack on the changeling neck, grasping it like a noose, only to pull the grip of his weapon, literally beheading the commander. All in just a couple of seconds.
"Anyone else want to share his fate?"
Not a single changeling answered his question: they knew that Karagh was one of the strongest changeling warriors, and it was defeated with almost no effort. They looked at the unicorn, which was totally expressionless, like he did nothing out of ordinary. They started to run away like a cowardly mob. The unicorn turned to the mayor and said:
"You should be safe now, I don't think they'll be back soon. Just report that you saw changelings here and you should receive more money and better weapons."
"You bear the mark of Sombra, but he was defeated almost five hundred years ago. Who are you, and why did you help us?"
The unicorn smiled: "I'm just a nameless unicorn."
"I doubt it… Look. I can't possibly repay you for what you've done today for our town. Just tell me what I can do."
The unicorn put his right hand on the shoulder of Stone Root.
"Well… can you tell me if you have an inn? These bones of mine are a little tired: of course, I'll pay."
After a little chat with the mayor, the unicorn was in a comfortable room, taking off his armor and clothes to start washing in a hot tub. The hot water started to affect his state of mind, leading him in a numb state: after some minutes, he started to sleep.
1000 years before Princess Luna's return – Fall of King Sombra
"Agh!"
"Surrender, Sombra!"
"N-Never!"
King Sombra was fighting fiercely against Princess Luna, exchanging blows with both weapons and magic: she was stronger, but he had dark magic on his side and could turn into shadows to dodge her enemy's mighty strikes. Both fighters were extremely tired, but Sombra was starting to get the upper hand: Celestia wasn't there, and the younger sister was fighting all alone. Turning into a shadow, he said:
"What's wrong? Can't handle me alone, after all? Where is your precious sister, Luna?"
"She'll be here, and when that will happen, you'll be destroyed, and your tyranny will end!"
"What a stupid dream! There is no hope now, she left you all alone!"
The words of Sombra struck hard into Luna's heart: it was true, Celestia wasn't there and she couldn't know when her sister could appear.
"You know, right? You can't tell where she is. You aren't loved like her. You aren't revered like her. People barely thank you for your work..."
Sombra reappeared behind her, without a sound, with a sword in his hand. Luna was on her knees, trying to catch her breath.
"Then why are you still here? DIE!"
The strike never landed: a bladed whip caught the sword. King Sombra looked at the owner of that weapon: a unicorn he knew too well.
"I thought you were doing well in my guard, but you just had to join the rebels and the army of the invaders, right? You traitor."
"I am no traitor, Sombra. I've seen how you treat your people: I just never had the occasion to fight you, and to free them."
"Shrouded Petal… I knew I couldn't trust you. However, what can you do, alone? You know I'm too powerful for you."
The red-eyed unicorn smiled: "Yeah… For me. Not for her."
A powerful light exploded in the room, almost blinding everyone present. Princess Celestia stood now in the center of Sombra's throne room, fully armored and with a sparkling light blue sword in hand; fear started to possess the dark tyrant's heart, as he knew what kind of weapon was that.
"Why do you have that sword?"
The answer didn't come from the Sun Princess, but from Shrouded Petal.
"I told her."
"TRAITOR!"
"ENOUGH!" Princess Celestia shouted, silencing everyone in the room. "KING SOMBRA, THINE TYRANNICAL RULE HAS COME TO AN END. THOU MUST FACE THINE JUDGEMENT: PREPARE THYSELF!"
Celestia attacked with unspeakable fury, swinging the crystal blade; Sombra was being crushed by her fast and powerful attacks, so he decided to retire, merging in the shadows, but Celestia was well prepared for that and with a mighty strike, she stabbed the shadows with her weapon. Sombra screamed in pain, almost dead by the radiant energy of that pure crystal sword.
"You may have killed me… but you will never have my Empire!" Channeling the dark arts with what was left of his life, he cursed both his land and that unicorn. "For a thousand years this Empire will never exist, stopped in time and space, and in a thousand years I'll return, to reclaim the land mine to command! And you, damned traitor, may you never have joy, happiness or love in your life, I curse you to wander this land and to face me when I return! Remember, when I will be back, our fight will be your last act. You will die like the dog you are!"
Sombra vanished, while Celestia took Luna and escaped, flying away to their kingdom.
"So, you'll be back, Sombra? I'll wait for you."
Shrouded Petal walked away, laughing and crying at the same time. "A thousand years… You condemned me to a life of solitude..."
Shrouded Petal woke up: he was still in the tub, so he decided to get up.
"That memory again…"
After dressing, he took his hooded robe and put it on himself; he exited his room and went downstairs: he then asked the innkeeper for a beer and some food, paying for both room and board. Shrouded sat on a table near the kitchen door, and in a couple of minutes he had a plate filled with beets and some smoked pork, with a pint of ale near it. The unicorn took his time finishing his meal, thinking of where he could head next.
Stone Root entered the inn with a strange impetuosity, searching for the unicorn, and after he spotted him, he sat near him.
"So, our dear savior… do you mind telling me your name now?"
Shrouded snorted, replying: "Shrouded Petal."
"Ok, Mr. Petal, now could you tell me where did you get that armor and that weapon?" Shrouded started to tell his story to the mayor: the fall of Sombra, the curse, and his wandering since then.
He didn't notice at first, but when he finished, the mayor wasn't the only one who had listened to his story: many citizens, at first just hungry and at the inn to dine, stopped only to listen to the endless wandering of the unicorn.
"You saved us today, so I want to repay your kindness. I have a friend in Canterlot, he works in the Royal Library. Go to him, tell him I sent you and ask for the dark magic section. Maybe you'll find something."
"I have many places to go, many things to see… I'm not searching for a cure right now. I'll just wait."
Stone Root was taken by surprise: "Are you saying you'll wait Sombra's return? Are you crazy?"
"Not by a chance. I just never back down from a fight."
Present Day (after Nightmare Moon defeat but before Discord re-awakening)
"And so, this is Canterlot now…"
Shrouded stood near the giant gate, with his cloak and his hood. Merging with all the people entering, he managed to get in without anyone clearly seeing him.
"A thousand years, Sombra… Where are you? Where is the Crystal Empire?"
Wandering in search of the Royal Library, he finally found it after two or three hours, and unhooding himself, he entered. Walking with no clue of where the dark magic section could be, Shrouded was stopped by an old-looking female unicorn.
"Need help, young man? Seems like you have never been in a library before."
'Young man?' Shrouded almost laughed. 'I'm way older than you.'
"Excuse me for taking your time, ma'am. I was searching for the dark magic section."
The librarian looked at him with a shocked expression, but after regaining her composure, she asked:
"You have the authorization of the two sisters, right?"
"Er… no?"
"Then you can't. Try getting it, if you want, but I doubt our two princesses will give it to a unicorn who's never been in a library before."
Thanking the woman and exiting the Royal Library, Shrouded went straight to the castle, which was easy to spot and to reach.
'I made you a favor a thousand years ago, Celestia. I need to have it back now.'
Slowly walking to the castle entrance, hooded by his cape, Shrouded noticed a female unicorn running to his same direction: she had a fiery red and yellow mane, and an amber coat; quickly passing past him, she approached the guards with haste, and quickly they let her go in.
'Must be simple to enter, then.'
Thought Shrouded, still walking slowly towards the gate. As he stopped near it, two guards immediately noticed him and pointed their spears to him; their armor was good but not heavy: yes, they had a metal cuirass, with reinforced shoulder pads, elbow and knee protection, but underneath that they only had a light mail coat and hardened leather clothes; the biggest problem wasn't even the weapon, a heavy spear, deadly against slow enemies, but their big tower metal shields.
"And you who might be? Unhood yourself, state your name and business before my men get serious."
A big earth pony, almost seven feet tall, appeared behind the two guards: his equipment was better, since he had a hauberk covered by a scale armor, a medium sized round shield, which granted more mobility compared to the tower shield used by the guards, and a deadly heavy flanged mace, weapon capable of penetrating every kind of armor to inflict huge damages to bones and internal organs.
"I need to see Celestia, as soon as possible."
"Who are you, daring to speak Her Highness name so informally? I think you don't understand your position: I am in charge here, and you will obey to my commands."
"I quite don't think so: I'm not a mindless puppet as your pitiful guards. But I'm in a rush, so if you please…"
As he tried to advance, both guards made a lunge with their weapons, while their commander smiled.
"Well, if you want to make this the hard way…"
Shrouded was going to take out his weapon, the bladed whip, but then he preferred not to kill them: they were doing their jobs, and killing them wasn't certainly going to help his cause. So he decided to use is other weapon, a rapier, unsheathing it: since it had only one cutting edge, he could easily disarm then with fast strikes and offer them to retreat, or, in the worst case, he just had to hit them with the blunt side in sensible spots, to knock them out.
The commander started laughing:
"You sure about your weapon choice? Bringing a knife to a serious fight?"
The use of rapiers went down after Sombra's rise to power, and almost stopped after the Crystal Empire disappearance, since it was the closest country that could provide Canterlot with fine rapier users: other countries used them, in particular Prance, but they were far in comparison to the Empire. Other types of swords were developed through the centuries, from two-handed swords, still used on the borders of the Kingdom of Equestria to repel occasional changeling or diamond dog attacks, to the much shorter falcatas or gladii, used by the army; nobles, instead, used classical longswords or even bastard swords, shorter but larger than actual longswords.
The moments immediately after that joke, both guards let their spears fall on the ground, with a stunning rapidity from the cloaked unicorn. The commander made a serious expression and charged with the shield towards Shrouded, to stun the stranger with a shield bash and then knocking him out with a mace blow, maybe even breaking some bones. The unicorn charged himself, jumping to evade the commander's attack, to quickly finish him with the blunt side of his blade. With a loud noise, the commander went down on the ground, coughing, while Shrouded, sheathing his rapier, said:
"Sorry about that. You should be able to walk in fifteen minutes, maybe even ten, judging by your muscles, and your subordinates will probably be able to pick up their weapons in the same time. I can't stay here now, see you later."
Opening the gate with his magic, the unicorn entered the palace, while a dark figure up in a tower, looking at him, said:
Slowly walking through the corridor, Shrouded felt strange: where were all the guards? Celestia couldn't be that much of a fool to put only three guards at the entrance. The echoes of every step resounded loud in the huge hall, giving at the whole scene an unusual eerie feeling of tranquility; the unicorn knew something was strange, and he rapidly put his hand on the hilt of his rapier, expecting a surprise attack: but nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the great doors leading to the throne hall opened slowly, inviting Shrouded to come in.
Entering the new hall, the cloaked unicorn found the Solar Princess on her throne, watching him without any expression on her face.
"So, you are the one who easily disarmed my guards."
"I am deeply sorry Princess, but it was my only way to get past them: I absolutely need to talk to you."
"Well, I'm not. Every attack on my guards is like an attack to myself. That's why my champion will bring you down."
A pink-maned unicorn mare with a rapier in her hand prepared an attack, saying, with a strong Prench accent:
"En garde, you coward."
"I would've preferred a peaceful solution, but if you insist…"
The two started a deadly dance with their weapons, dodging or parrying every attack of their enemy: she was clearly the best duelist he had ever battled against, but a few centuries of experience and training made his technique unmatched. After a flurry of attacks, they paused, studying their next strategies to win the duel.
"You are good, étranger. And judging from your accent before, you are not one of my compatriots, n'est-ce pas?"
"You are not wrong, my lady."
"Then how can you be so skilled with a rapier? Answer now!"
Shrouded made a small laugh and sheathed his weapon.
"Celestia knows why. Am I wrong, Princess, or did you forget about me, and about the fall of the Empire?"
The Princess of the Sun rose from her throne, and told to her champion to put down her weapon with a small sign.
"I can destroy him, just give me time…"
"No, you can't."
The pink-maned unicorn asked why: she knew she was the best fencer of the whole continent and one of the best of Prance, and she could easily defeat every opponent her Princess could send to her. Celestia stopped and watched her, telling her again to put down her weapon, as he was not an enemy.
"So you do remember me, Princess…"
"Me and my sister left you alone after retreating our army: when we came, the Empire was gone and you were missing. Then the whole problem with my sister came on and… well, I think you know how it went."
"Well… I suppose I can't blame you."
"Let me just ask: all this time I continued to receive reports of a lone warrior sending away enemies from the borders of the kingdom; it was you, right?"
"It was my only way to contact you while still doing my… guard… duty."
The towering alicorn was taller than him, and when she asked him to take off his mantle, the unicorn did it without hesitation.
"Red eyes, black and lilac spiky mane with a little braid on the left side, dark blue coat… it is really you. And you are still wearing that armor."
"I can't forget my past, Princess. I'm the greatest traitor ever existed, I condemned my home to disappear through space and time, I'm the last of the Crystal Empire Guards. I may have helped you defeating my King, and I was cursed with his last breath. I'm now starting to know how you alicorns live, without showing emotions. I was made immortal until His return, and a thousand years have almost passed. I just want to live a normal life, again."
He knelt before Celestia, asking nothing but two things:
"I feel his curse, and by feeling it I feel his magic: Sombra is returning, more powerful than he was before. I ask you to let me fight him, and to be granted access to dark magic sections of the library: I want to be freed of his curse, and I want to die honorably in battle to save the Kingdom… and the Empire… one last time."
Celestia was about to reply, when a voice said, in the most aggressive way possible:
"Bullshit."
The Sun Princess and the pink-maned unicorn turned their heads to see the Princess of the Night in full battle-armor, with her sword in hand: "Luna, what are you doing?"
"I'm not going to let him fool you, Tia. I bet he now just want to learn every dark secret to lift his curse and flee. He has not the will to fight to death."
Shrouded watched her, and laughed.
"You desire a challenge, oh dark maiden?"
He took off his armor and his shirt, revealing his well toned muscles, and threw his rapier on the floor, with the bladed whip in his hand.
"As you wish."
He leaped towards Luna, striking hard with his weapon; but the princess managed to dodge it, and counterattacked with a mighty swing that grazed his torso. He didn't care, and engaged in close combat, inflicting minor cracks on the plate armor, while Luna, with her longsword, couldn't possibly dodge or parry all his blows, until she pushed him back with a powerful magic burst. Thrown to the ground, Shrouded had no way do block Luna's charge, and soon the blade of the princess found a way inside his heart.
"Luna, what have you…"
"I've done what was necessary. You have grown too soft."
But when she tried to remove her sword, she couldn't. She then looked at the male unicorn face, making a smirk, while his hands were holding her weapon deep into his heart:
"Told ya. Can't die. Sorry, I guess?"
"Let it go, you damn freak!"
His red eyes gazed upon her, and he said:
"Tremble."
Looking puzzled, Luna tried to reply, but suddenly her armor broke into a million pieces.
"How did you…"
"You really thought I was stupid enough to face a princess using no armor without having a few tricks up my sleeve?"
Swiftly, with a clean movement, he extracted the sword from his chest, assaulting a surprised Luna with a combination of rapid punches, ending in a wheel kick, sending her on the ground.
"Swordfall."
Ten magic blades appeared near Luna, floating in the air, and when Shrouded smashed his fist on the ground, the swords did so too, ending near the princess body. When he raised his fist, the blades disappeared, and he walked towards Luna, offering her a hand.
"I do not wish to fight you anymore, princess. What I said before was only the truth: I want revenge. Otherwise, I would've never come here, asking for your and your sister's help. I hope you can believe me now."
Luna accepted the help and got up, with only the vest she had under her armor.
"Well, I now believe your will is real. Still… why did you let me stab you? You could've dodged it, parried it or even used your magic to shield it."
"How else could I prove my immortality?"
"You've got a point. Another thing… what were those spells?"
"My own way of fighting. One or two swords are always useful, but if there are more, you can trap or eliminate an enemy more swiftly… and with more spectacle. I started doing it when I realized that taking out the leader of a raid gang was more efficient and fast than slaughtering every raider. Fear is one of the greatest weapon we have… and Sombra knew that well…"
Celestia interrupted the two, and said:
"Well, now that he has your approval, Luna, do you mind if we get both of you to the royal medic? We certainly don't want anyone ending up hurt, right?"
"Of course, sister. But I have something to tell you, and it would be better if we're in private."
"Sure thing. Fleur, could you?"
The pink-maned unicorn nodded and told Shrouded to follow her.
Following the pink-maned unicorn, Shrouded couldn't help but wonder why a Prench duelist would be at Celestia's service.
"So… I didn't quite catch your name."
"I never told you."
"And… may I know it?"
She stopped, unsheathed her rapier and pointed it at his throat.
"I still don't know yours, and I'm frankly disappointed our fight before was interrupted."
Shrouded chuckled and snapped his fingers: in a flash, two swords made of pure magic were pointed at the female, one at the heart, the other at the chin. She gulped but stood still, while he grinned.
"You know you can't win, but you try anyways. Heh… you remind me of my sister."
Looking puzzled, the other unicorn lowered her blade, and he made the swords disappear with another snap. The situation went on like this for a while, both of them looking at the eyes of the other, as in a sort of mental battle. The pink-maned unicorn was the first to talk:
"You have a sister?"
Noticing a hint of sadness on his eyes, she regretted a bit saying that.
"I had, long time ago. Now she's no more… You know, it's funny. Have you ever thought about being immortal? Seems nice at first, because you will never die, so you can do everything you want, you can accomplish all your goals, fulfill all your dreams. Well… it didn't go like that for me. When the sisters attacked Sombra, he sacrificed almost all the inhabitants of the suburbs to power up his dark magic: they were slaves, they were expendable. My family was there. My father, my mother and my sister… all dead, and for what? For nothing. They vanished like that."
She interrupted him:
"Then why you had the armor of Sombra's dark guards?"
"Simple: even if I had almost no respect for a leader like him, a guard job was better paid and more safe than being a miner, every day mining for crystals and gems. Every day, from morning until evening. My parents were miners, you know? And they still had been able to send me or my sister to magic school; I let my sister go, while I enrolled in the guards. Males who could afford it, had a choice: army, school or mines; for females only school and mines. That's why I refused, to assure my sister a better and brighter future. Even if that future never came."
She sheathed her rapier, and made him a gesture to follow her, while saying:
"I can't possibly understand what you've gone through, and I'm really sorry to have brought up that discussion."
"Don't be. Everything now is only a memory, but painful as it is, it can't change the reality. All my family, all my friends, everyone and everything I knew… is all past. To say it clearly… all my bitter past, now has turned to dust… Name's Shrouded Petal, by the way."
She stopped near a door, turning to face him.
"I guess now it's fair if I tell you mine. Je suis Fleur Dis Lee, Duchess of Vanhoover and personal guard of the Princess of the Sun herself."
The red-eyed unicorn seemed to ponder, until he said:
"Dis Lee as in Louis Charles Dis Lee?"
"He's the founder of my family, how could you possibly…"
"He was sent to study in the Crystal Empire for 3 years as page of an ambassador, and we sort of trained together when he were both free. I knew he returned to Prance, but didn't know he became a noble."
"After he came back, it is said that he made fortune during wars to defend Prance, and that he became the Dauphin de Prance, rising to the noble class. When he died he left every possession to the Roi, even the title of Dauphin, only asking for a fief and to maintain the noble status from his family. He is remembered as a warrior of pure intentions and of noble integrity, and the Dis Lee house has always been held in high standards to the Rois de Prance; it is also known that one or two of my ancestors were married into the royal house."
"But you are here. I suppose something went wrong."
"Not really… My fate was to be married to the Prince, but I didn't want to marry that fat and pompous brat. So I exiled myself, without saying anything, and came here, asking for the Sisters' protection. While Princess Luna was hesitant about this, Princess Celestia took me in as her champion, after seeing my ability with the blade. Probably now in Prance they know where I am, and will try to get me back. I'll fight with all my might to never go back there: I'll rather impale myself with my rapier than to get married to that kid."
"He must be quite the physically and mentally horrible foal, I guess. Oh well, as you didn't mean to bring back my past, I do not wish to bring back yours."
Both of them remained silent, walking through the corridors with occasional regards offered by maids to Fleur, kindly accepted by the mare: when they arrived to the royal garden, though, it was clear there was going to be trouble: standing in front of them, the guards previously beaten by Shrouded were talking to their captain, a white unicorn with blue mane.
"It's him, captain!"
Said unicorn advanced to meet the other two unicorns, saying:
"Lady Dis Lee, why are you siding near the infiltrator?"
"Because, even if I didn't believe it at first, he seems to be a personal acquaintance of both Princesses. And he is enough skilled to force me in a defensive stance and to beat Princess Luna in a fight. Though maybe Luna wasn't trying so hard… Anyways, would you kindly let us pass?"
No answer came from the captain, but his horn illuminated, conjuring a magic cage, imprisoning Shrouded, who just started to laugh.
"Why are you laughing, you scum!"
"Your magic is strong, captain, but you only used arcane magic: no matter how strong it is, it can't compete with elemental magic. You could have done a better work with this cage, if you used both arcane and elemental magic."
Shrouded regained his composure, and then started chanting, with great surprise of the others.
"As I stand below this sunlight, and I pay for all my crimes, I pray you for all your might, and for your deceiving lies."
The unicorn seemed to turn into a pitch black entity, with smoke coming off his figure, as he walked right through the magic cage; he took his blade and continued chanting:
"Shadow blade of the greatest sin, grant me power to duel, may my enemy never win, and forever I'll serve you well."
He charged his blow, aiming for the left shoulder of the captain, but suddenly a wall of fire surrounded him.
"Little flame of my heart, expand yourself into the field, cut my enemies apart, and only burned they may yield."
Shrouded interrupted his chant, regaining his normal form, and sheathing his sword.
"So there is actually someone who can use elemental magic besides the princess here. Maybe I'll test you... Through ember and flames, I've walked my path, only ashes on your graves, will remain after my wrath."
As fire started to rain down on the garden, suddenly all the spells were dispelled by a simple word:
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone turned to the door, where they saw her majesty, Princess Celestia.
Luna and Celestia stood in the throne room even after both unicorns went away. The Princess of the Night spoke:
"Sister… This is no mere sign of His return. The prophecy was true, and we are not ready!"
"We have some powerful allies now, Luna. And the only one who was brave enough to oppose Sombra is with us too: this was also a sign. We can use him as a bait: Sombra cursed him with immortality, but eternal life is not so easy to control, even with dark magic. He didn't age, and he can’t be killed: that is not a simple immortality curse or spell, that is the real sign. Sombra was preparing the ritual for eternal life, but he was interrupted by us and by him; knowing that we are eternal, he did the most logical thing before being banished, using the ritual on Shrouded. He is merely a vessel for that ritual, a recipient for Sombra to open when he'll return, consuming him and all the things he has learned, becoming horribly powerful. So, Luna, tell me: what can we do now?"
Asked the Princess of the Sun with a devilish smile of her face. The younger one tried to think, but suddenly an idea came to her mind:
"We make it backfire. But how?"
"Simply: we must use dark magic to perform a curse shield on Shrouded. When Sombra will try to absorb him, he will absorb the curse shield too, breaking the curse he used to activate the ritual: this way he'll be weak and we'll overcome him easily."
"Shrouded would die in every possible case."
"Little sacrifices have to be done to accomplish the greater good."
Luna said nothing in response, but that wasn't her sister's way of thinking: she must have been truly desperate to propose a plan like that, and Luna could tell. Celestia never tried to sacrifice anyone, nor kill for someone or something else sake: she was banished, same it could be said for Sombra, Discord was petrified, Tirek imprisoned. Suddenly, a guard came in shouting:
"Princesses! We found the intruder! He's taken your champion hostage and he's battling against the captain! They're in the garden!"
Both princesses almost facepalmed, running through corridors and halls to get there before everyone could get hurt.
Celestia's dispel was absolute: no-one of the fighters could even think to try another spell without angering the ruler of Equestria.
"Captain Armor! I demand an explanation!"
"Your Majesty, the front guards told me everything and when we found him…"
"Was he holding Miss Dis Lee hostage?"
"Your Majesty, I acted as a captain of the…"
"WAS HE?"
Celestia abruptly ended that quick exchange to put pressure on the captain by simply shouting.
"I can't say that, or at least I don't know."
"Good. Shrouded Petal, were you holding my champion as an hostage?"
"No, Princess. Miss Dis Lee was escorting me to the royal medic quarters."
Celestia saw a red and yellow tail ducking behind the captain of the guard, and said:
"Sunset, come out. Now."
The girl, without any other choices, stood up and say:
"Er… Hello, your Majesty?"
Celestia was definitely pissed, judging by the glare she gave to Sunset.
"What did I say about fire spells in my garden?"
"I know you said not to use them, but he was using dark mag…"
Shrouded immediately corrected her:
"Shadow magic. There's a huge difference."
"Mh, shadow magic users are quite rare. We must speak again later. But what I dispelled was a high grade fire spell. Usually normal mages specialize in arcane magic and in only one elemental magic type, rarely in two…"
"Let's just say that my long life has been useful: I had the time to learn every type of elemental spell, when I wasn't fighting, of course."
Celestia was about to speak again, when a lightning-fast pegasus arrived on the scene.
"Princess! Fort Ravenwall in under attack! An entire diamond dogs army is circling the walls! We need immediate backup!"
Celestia seemed to ponder for a moment, then she said:
"Sunset, Captain Armor, Fleur, Shrouded. You are all deployed now by teleportation. Other soldiers will arrive later, just give me some time to assemble some reinforcements. You, pegasus, go with them."
She casted a teleportation circle, and then said again:
Fort Ravenwall was probably the biggest and powerful fortification ever built by the Kingdom of Equestria; once it was known as Camp of the Ravens, and it was the stronghold of a mercenary raider group called The Ravens. Clad in black armor, with weapons of the same color, they were probably the best warriors one commander could have at his orders. During the great wars between Equestria and the Gryphon Empire, they sold their services to the Princesses before, after turning back to accept a better offer made by Krysov the Bowmaster, also known as the late Krysov I of Hawkgrad: the reaction of the Night Knights of Luna was savage, and The Ravens were literally destroyed, a new fortress built then on the ashes of their camp. After this display of power, the Princesses and Krysov I came to an agreement to end the war: the Princesses gained the lands near the Frozen North, now bordering the Crystal Empire and the small but powerful Duchy of the Diamond Dogs, while the Gryphon Empire was confirmed all its other conquered lands, with the single exception of Yakyakistan, made a vassal state. Fort Ravenwall was the symbol of that peace and of the new alliance between the two states, since it had a garrison shared by the two: half ponies, half gryphons.
The Fort was also known for being inexpugnable, since every single attack against it failed: it was build on a strategic position which made every time of attack besides frontal assault impossible to make; even the ground, made of granite and basalt, was almost indestructible without long term planning, enough manpower and powerful machines. The diamond dogs tried many times to conquer the position, and the defender knew that losing Ravenwall basically was dooming Equestria and the western parts of the Gryphon Empire in becoming a total battlefield, since diamond dogs were infamous for pillaging and plundering everything on their path; thankfully, every assault was denied. After the death of Krysov I, his son, Krysov II took the seat of power, but soon died too by sickness: the Gryphon Empire was without a guide and to defend its closer borders, the Gryphon Council offered almost all the western part of the Empire to both the Kingdom of Equestria and the Yakyakistan, formerly ending the vassal treaty to a mutual defense treaty. For twenty years Fort Ravenwall did not see a gryphon member in the garrison, since they were all called back to prevent other powers to strike on the most important cities. A young gryphon general, which was nominated supreme commander of the Empire in that time of need, after two years since the death of Krysov II, was asked by the council to sit on the throne, and took the name of Roderic I. He was a brilliant leader, and after defeating the enemies a the border of the Empire asked the Princesses for an enclave near the Fort: to help strengthen the mutual relation of trust and to rebuild that pact made by Krysov I.
The age of Sombra came, and Fort Ravenwall sustained a siege for almost five months before the arrival of the Equestrian army to relieve them and to defeat the forces of Sombra. But now, Fort Ravenwall was facing probably the biggest army ever put together by the diamond dogs: thousand of people clad in full but crude plate armor, armed with heavy shield and battle cleavers, backed up by heavy crossbowmen; in their first lines, also clad in the same armor, four or five rows of soldiers armed with glaives. If was a terrifying sight, all of them roaring and barking at the defenders.
"I remember this place. Didn't change a lot in all this years."
The pegasus looked Shrouded with a strange expression, before saying:
"I've never seen you here before, and I'm serving here basically since I was a foal. Are you a deserter?"
"Not of this army. Now, can you show me how to arrive on the walls?"
"I think the commander would like to see you first…"
Shining Armor said, interrupting the two:
"Take us to the walls, we need to see how much big is the diamond dogs so we can think how to deploy the reinforcements when they'll arrive. Then you can call the commander to join us."
Ten minutes later, they were up on the walls, seeing the enormous size of the enemy forces. Sunset was shivering, while Fleur was speechless and Shining was thinking. The messenger excused himself to go call the commander, while Shrouded, after a quick look, closed his eyes and just let the cold air blow on his face. Not much time later, a gryphon in medium armor greeted the four visitors.
"Good morning, soldiers. At least, it was a good morning."
"Gilda?"
The gryphon saw a streak of red and yellow hair behind Fleur, and such streak suddenly appeared with a face.
"Sunset? What the hell are you doing here? Not that I don't miss you, but this is the last place I thought I could find you! Pleasure seeing you too both, Lady Dis Lee, Captain Armor."
The two made a gesture with the head, while Sunset asked:
"You instead, I heard you went back to the Gryphon Empire, what happened?"
"Simply put, the big guys on army asked someone who was familiar with the Kingdom to stay in Equestria, and suddenly I find myself up here with a couple hundred soldiers at command. So far so good, and then this damn huge army shows up. I was expecting reinforcements, but not so few."
Shining Armor said:
"Well, we were sent here more or less as a recon team while both Princesses mobilize the army. But seeing this… I highly doubt we can hold."
Shrouded was silent until then, but then he said something that seemed having no connection to the discussion.
"The wind is changing. They are never going to win like this."
All the presents looked at him like he was mad and he simply added, asking:
"How many unicorns here?"
Gilda looked at Sunset and asked:
"Friend of yours?"
Annoyed by being ignored, Shrouded put a hand on Gilda's shoulder and said:
"Listen, you want time to survive all of this? I can provide it. Just tell me how many unicorns you have here."
"A couple dozens I think but…"
"More than enough. I need all of them on the walls to set up a magic barrier as soon as possible."
Gilda looked at Shining Armor, then to Fleur and Sunset, that simply nodded.
The bigger diamond dog turned to see his second in command entering his tent.
"Nuthin'. Thinkin' of about that wall goin' down."
"Well boss, you mighta want to come out. Ponies and griffins doin' somethin'."
The two diamond dogs looked, together to their army, at the massive magical barrier that was being created to reinforce the wall.
"THOSE PUNY BASTERDS! BRING THE SIEGE ENGINES!"
Catapults and trebuchets were brought from the back lines, while the diamond dogs' commander continued to shout.
"FIRE THEM! FIRE THEM! BRING DOWN THAT WALL!"
Rocks started to hit the magic barrier, with minimum damage, as the second in command, clearly a little less raging than his superior, ordered:
"Fire everything we got! Crossbowmen, all ready!"
Hails of iron bolts were shot, with the same, if not less, damage done to the barrier.
"Use flames! Use everything! Bring it down or we will never be able to attack!"
Small cracks were seen only when the army started to use flaming ammo, but now the night was coming, and continuing that assault was too foolish even for the diamond dogs.
"Enough!"
The commander stopped it all: he started to think that maybe that assault was only a waste of bolts and rocks, so he ordered to his second:
"Tell them all to prepare the stairs. We're goin' up tonight."
All the unicorns, extremely tired by that strategy, interrupted the magic barrier. Gilda, still not sure of what Shrouded was trying to achieve, asked:
"So… what was that plan? Never caught your name, by the way."
"My name is Shrouded Petal, commander Gilda. And that plan was useful for two reasons: the first, they wasted tons of ammo and brought on the front lines the siege weapons; the second, now they are enraged, and will try something really stupid: a frontal attack with stairs."
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"They are not as intelligent as other races, so they compensate with raw strength. Plus, battle them for as much time I did, and you learn their modus operandi. Now, if you excuse me, look there."
Barely shining in the moonlight, many soldiers were carrying ladders.
"They can't run too fast, or they might trip on the rocks they throw or even injure themselves on the bolts. Heh, easy targets now. Sunset, I need you to come with me. You all can come too, if you don't have a weak stomach."
They walked on the walls only to stop at the center of the fortification, above the reinforced gate; there, Shrouded asked the young mage:
"How much did Celestia taught you about fire magic? You casted the Fire Wall, a medium tier spell, can you do higher?"
"Not really, even if fire magic is my best type of magic, sometimes I have problems of controlling it, and they end up being too powerful. Why?"
"Because right now I'm gonna show you a high tier spell, and you have to learn it. You ready? Just watch and learn."
Sunset nodded, and Shrouded began chanting:
"Oh grand pyre of destruction, I ask you for my turn, the future's ashes are my action, now all the world will burn!"
Nothing seemed to happen for a couple of seconds, but then columns of flames erupted into the battlefield, finding easy prey on the unmanned siege weapons and on the wooden ladders carried by the diamond dogs, burning them alive; sustained by the wind, the sea of fire created by the spell went directly into the camp: too slow to run, with heavy crude iron armors, many of the diamond dogs were engulfed in that raging fire, until it stopped, when rain started to fell. Sunset was stunned by that spell, and was barely able to move, until Gilda and Fleur shook her by the shoulders. Babbling, she asked the question:
"What… was that… thing?"
"That, Sunset, is a spell called Inferno, and it was the quickest and most powerful way to fend off this attack. Though I miscalculated the weather, and it started to rain too earlier. Otherwise, there would not be a single diamond dog alive."
Shining took Shrouded by the shoulders and pushed him against the wall.
"What have you done? That was not simply a way, that was a bucking genocide!"
Shrouded broke free of the hold and answered:
"Tell me, o brave captain of the Royal Guard, do you ever fought against diamond dogs?"
"What are you…"
"Did you?"
The calm but frozen sound of Shrouded's voice clearly asked for a quick answer.
"No."
"Well, I did. Many times. Do you know how diamond dogs fight? They don't fight to kill, they fight to hurt and maim their enemies. And why is that, do you think? Because they like the taste of bucking fresh meat. I've seen them eating gryphons, ponies, almost bucking everything that live. They take their prisoners of war, and kill them in various ways: they can impale them only to roast them later, or they can boil them, heck, I've even seen them eating alive prisoners! Alive! They don't deserve any kind of pity, any kind of mercy, because you wouldn't receive it either. So now you can slam me against that wall again just to make some useless righteous speech about the right way to fight or you can come down with me and finish that monsters. Anyone with me?"
Sunset, while Shrouded described the horrible ways of the diamond dogs, puked, and was assisted by Gilda and Fleur to stand back again.
After that, she asked:
"Before you go… tell me. How much of that is actually true?"
"All of it. I don't like to kill and destroy arbitrarily, but they… they must be destroyed."
Gilda and Fleur volunteered to go down with him, as did Sunset too after regaining some composure: almost forced, even Shining Armor agreed. As they walked upon the battlefield, now turned a burnt graveyard, they saw the bodies of the diamond dogs, now only abnormal fusions of charred bones, burned meat and solidified iron. On the camp, they found no-one alive, but there were tracks.
"They fled… buck it. I doubt they'll attack again soon, but it would be wise setting a fast travel portal inside the fort, and maybe double the garrison. Let's return, we'll have… I'll have to explain all this to the Princesses."
In the middle of the night, they returned inside the fort, getting two rooms, one for Sunset and Fleur, and one for Shrouded and Shining, to spend the night. While Fleur drifted off to sleep easily and Sunset was reading a bit, Shining was having trouble.
"Hey, killer."
"For the love of Celestia, I've got a name too!"
"Don't really care right now. I'm… thinking. You did say that you fought diamond dogs before, but this was the first serious attack in… heck, I think I wasn't even born to know of others. You sounded so sure about that though. Why?"
"Both princesses and Fleur know that so… you saw my armor, right?"
"Yeah. It's a replica of the late Sombran armor."
"It's not. It's real. I've been around for this thousand years."
"Wait a second, are you the traitor who helped the sisters? I thought that was just a myth to tell the foals that normal people can become great too!"
"Well, it's not. I committed high treason, and I was cursed. Everything I held dear died with the Crystal Empire and with Sombra's fall. The dark king cursed me as his last act, and I will hold this curse until his return."
"What do you mean return?"
"Didn't this part of the myth be passed down? In a thousand years after his fall, the dark king will return. I showed up in Canterlot only to warn the princesses. To help them again; I did so in this centuries, I defended the borders, learned all the magic I could, just to wait for his return. Now please, let me sleep. I'll have to explain all that mess to the sisters when they arrive."
Shrouded started to sleep, soon joined by Shining; what they didn't know was that Sunset listened to all of that.
