Prologue Edited
I feel the kid’s knife run across my chest, my eyes widening in surprise from both the sudden pain as well as the fact that I was caught off-guard. The ketchup I ate earlier spilling out on the floor. I see a smile on the kid’s face while I grab my chest, “..., … So I guess that’s it, huh?” I look down at my chest, away from the child bearing a knife and a dust covered blue and violet striped shirt. “Just… just… don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I stand up, ketchup leaking from my mouth while it continues to pour from my chest. “Welp,” I shrug, “I’m going to Grillby’s.” I limp away while the kid just watches me, after a minute the kid just walks away. I go over to one of the white pillars, stained gold by the light of the setting sun. I lean back on the pillar and start to slump down it slowly, until I hit the floor. “Papyrus, do you want anything?” I say out loud. Everything is starting to get dark, “So… I guess the kid isn’t going to use his time power this time. Heh.” Dark, darker, yet darker. It’s getting hard to keep my eyes open. “Even though I knew I would eventually lose… I thought I could win… avenge you… but in the end,” I close my eyes, “I couldn’t…”
“beat the unknown.” everything is going numb, until…
I’m waiting at the castle entrance to greet Twilight and her friends. It’s been a week since Tirek had attacked Equestria and has been resealed in Tartarus. It turns out the Tartarus gates were broken and must be rebuilt. We are still not sure how or why they were broken, but we do know that it was someone other that Tirek. It had to have been someone else, because not only were the gates shattered, which would take a substantial amount of power, which Tirek did not have at the time, but Cerberus was found injured not too far from the gates. That’s why we are having this meeting here at the castle. Luna and I are planning on sending the elements to see if they could assist with re-enchanting the gates and tracking down one one who broke them. We might actually have them moved closer to ponyville so they can be guarded by the elements. The gates are just a portal, after all.
My sister or Cadence would go by themselves, but they are still recovering from our reserves being drained by Twilight from her battle with the centaur. I’ve only just recovered two days ago myself, and I can’t go since I must watch over the repairs to the castle, along with managing all the other repairs around Equestria. I let out a stressed sigh. I can’t be everywhere, and this is something I need eyes personally on, especially if we decide to move it. I’m still surprised how my student, even after losing everything, still had the determination to beat that monster along with her friends. I’m so proud of them. Even after Discord’s betrayal…
I hear the castle doors open and I look towards them, I feel the cool morning air sweep in and see my sun just coming up over the horizon, it’s been a hour since I reset the spell that keeps it on its path. I then look slightly down and see my student and her friends come in through the entrance. Twilight ran up to me and gave me a hug, one I returned in kind as all of her other friends approached and bowed. Twilight releases the hug I look over at the other Elements, “What have I told you all about that? When we are alone like this you don’t have to be so formal.” I tell them with a slight frown.
Pinkie Pie springs up from the ground and giggles, “Sorry Princess, it’s force of habit!” she says with the usual Pinkie Pie energy behind every word.
“Yeah, what Pinkie said.” Rainbow Dash exclaims while hovering in the air.
The others also apologised as well. “You also don’t need to call me Princess either, just Celestia will do.” I give them a smile
Applejack tips her hat at my, That’s mighty kind of ya Prin- I mean Celestia, so what’ve ya called us up here fore?” asks the earth pony mare in her southpony accent.
I smile. I turn around and start walking, “Come to the throne room, I will tell you there. Please, I would like to hear what you all have been doing this week.”
We make our way to the throne room, and they all told me what they have been up to. They’ve been helping with the clean up in Ponyville, along with sending supplies to other settlements. Tirek did more damage than we had initially thought. He drained the magic from everything, even the plants and animals. He also destroyed many of the food storages on his raids with Discord, causing major food shortages at the moment. Even when he was imprisoned again and all the magic had returned, not all the crops had sprung back to life. Most of them are still recovering, and Ponyville was the only town to retain it’s food storage, so Applejack and Pinkie Pie have been trying to help out other towns nearby. Rainbow dash and Rarity have been helping with rebuilding and design. The collateral from Twilight and Tirek fighting, along with Twilight's library being blown up, caused major damages to both buildings… and Ponies. Fluttershy Has been helping the animals recover, while also helping others at the hospital heal from their injuries. Twilight, meanwhile, has been managing the entire operation in Ponyville. Twilight has also told me Spike has, and still is, exploring and documenting everything within their new home.
We make our way the the throne room doors, which have no guards posted outside.
Rarity seemed to take notice to this, “Excuse me Pri- I mean Celestia, but why are there no guards outside the throne room?” she asked with confusion.
“After Tirek's attack, many of the guards were found injured.” I respond, “All of the injured are being treated in the medical ward. The few unharmed guards have orders to help with the repairs to the castle and Canterlot. I’ve sent detachments around Equestria to assist the other towns as well, as you have probably noticed in Ponyville.”
Fluttershy spoke up, “Do- doesn't that leave you completely unguarded?”
I smile “Yes, but that doesn't leave me defenseless. I can protect myself you know.” I say with a hint of pride… or was that arrogance?
I open the throne room doors and we all look inside. It is an all white marble room with a red carpet leading up to the raised throne. The sun was just coming up so the room had a peaceful gold tint to it. There are banners holding both my cutie mark and my sisters, and one in the center that hold both the sun and the moon on it. there's also some creature under the left middle pillar with it’s front appendages in it’s blue coat’s pockets...wait, that’s not supposed to be there.
I hear gasps from the girls while I just rack my mind about where this thing came from and how it got in.
Twilight grabs my attention, but I don’t look away from the thing in the room, “Celestia, what is that!?” she asks with surprise in her voice.
“I don’t know, but we need to get a better look at it. You girls should stay behind me.”
We make our way over to the creature slowly, we are now a few feet away from it and we discovered it’s not a creature, it’s a skeleton. Judging by the length differences of it’s rear and fore limbs it’s bipedal. It is wearing a blue coat with fur lining the hood. Under the coat is a white shirt of some sort. It’s also wearing long black shorts and white sneakers, with socks underneath judging by the cloth coming up it's ankle. It’s face though is strange to me. Like its body, its face is quite big and rounded, but where the eye sockets should be (or at least were a ponies should be) there are two slits that look like tilted horse shoes. Its mouth was also puzzling since it looked like it was frowning even though it is a skeleton. It’s white under shirt has a rip in it, one that looks like a cut mark, and looking through it we can see a crack.
“Wh-what is this thing Celestia?” asks a frightened Fluttershy.
“I’m not sure Fluttershy, but whatever it is, I’m sad to say it’s de-”
“Ugh, my chest…”
I didn’t see it, but I know all our eyes widened in shock when we heard the skeleton talk and show expressions, even though it’s face is nothing but!
“I think I have a fracture… It hurts a ton.”
We watch it as it opened it’s eye sockets, and inside are black pupils and white irises. It’s looking down at its chest. I think it’s male, judging from it’s voice. It’s face then formed a smile, a painful looking smile, but a smile nonetheless.
“A skeleTON!” Heh! *cough*”
I was actually surprised, and slightly amused by the bad pun he just made. but behind me someone else apparently had more trouble holding in their amusement. I look back and see everyone staring at Pinkie Pie, who currently had both her hooves over her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter.
“Ummmm…”
I look back and see the skeleton looking at us with a look of shock that I must have been mirroring. We just kept staring at each other until he scratched his cheekbone.
“Hey there,” he took his right hand (It resembles a minotaur's hands) out of his pocket and held it out, his palm facing the throne “The name’s Sans. I would tell you a bone joke, but many people don’t find those humerus!”