> The Necron Lord of Equestria. > by The_Deceiver > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Awakening (Re-edited Version) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Necron Lord of Equestria A story that had to be done “Tonight was a quite……. Eventful” commented a dark blue mare, she was adorned with a beautiful set of wings and a sported a wicked horn on her crown, she was standing out of the balcony of her beloved sisters room, staring up into the night sky, the moonlight reflecting off her even darker regalia as she admired her handy work, her mane was an exceptional combination of her regalia's deep navy blue and her coats dark blue shade, what made her mane stand out most was that it looked like it had tiny stars twinkling in it. “Indeed it was sister, I didn't realize that the Changeling situation had become this dire until now" The older mare stated as she took a small sip from her cup of tea "We have to watch our backs from now on, I don’t want to have another situation like today's” she was almost identical to her dark night loving sister with the exception of being more tempered in demeanor and also her coat being a complete heavenly white, her regalia is made out of pure god and was emblazoned with a orange sun which not surprisingly adorned her flank, her mane was also as interesting as her siblings but instead of being a flowing representation of Van Gogh's Starry night, her mane was coloured like a dull rainbow with many streaks of green blues and pink,she pulled a book off of a gold encrusted bookshelf and levitated it onto a small coffee table next to where she was sitting. “Hmmm.. indeed, the situation with the Changelings has escalated ever since the elements were rediscovered and if the Changelings have gathered enough courage to strike us here, who knows who else will, we might even have to increase border patrols” Luna advised, walking back into the well lit room and shutting the doors to the balcony and closing the lush red curtains. “But on a cheerier note, I had completely forgotten about the crystal caverns below Canterlot castle, what will be the plans for it?” Luna inquired, pouring a cup of tea for herself and sitting down next to her sister, she proceeded to peering into the book she had her muzzle in. “No..... I'm sealing it back up” Celestia replied firmly, not once taking her eyes off her book. Luna gave a shocked and confused look before pursuing it further. “W-why? It could be a valuable resource we can’t just seal it back up!” Luna protested. Celestia closed her book giving Luna a quick glimpse of what she was reading, pictures of dark towering figures standing over frightened ponies. “Because ever since Twilight and Cadence came from there a strange sensation has been gnawing in the back of my mind and when she and Shining Armour did the spell that sent Chrysalis and her vile brood away, a chill went up my spine and that strange feeling told me that the entrance should be closed up and both my mind and my soul knows it” Luna was going to rebut but Celestia began to stand and moved towards another shelf that held many items and trinkets one of which was a small chest large enough to be a jewelry box and was covered in scrolls and books, as Celestia lifted the scrolls and books off of the chest Luna could see engravings of roses and a gold lock adorned it, Celestia moved back and sat down beside her inquisitive sister. “What’s in this box is one of the reasons that no one is to venture down into those caverns” at that her horn started glowing with a yellow hue and a small click could be heard from the box as the light enveloped it, upon opening Luna expected something a little...... well more, either it being more extravagant or otherwise terrifying but all that was in it was a crude looking piece of metal that looked like it was snapped off of a piece of old armor, but before Luna could ask Celestia brought out a small knife and stabbed the metal causing a large scratch to form, now more than ever Luna was more confused now than before, she looked up at her sister but Celestia was paying no mind to her, her focus was just set upon the piece of metal as if expecting it to retaliate at her sudden outburst. “TIA HAVE YOU GONE MAD!?” Luna erupted. Celestia wasn’t paying attention but after a few seconds of silence her eyes light up as bright as the heavenly body she governs “There!... right there do you see it?” she announced somewhat excitedly, nudging Luna to take a closer look, as Luna peered at the dull metal she could see exactly why her sister was getting so worked up about and if she didn’t see it for herself she would have thought Celestia was mad, but the gash on the metal was fusing back together. Luna was speechless but Celestia just had a goofy smile on her face as if she had rediscovered an old toy that brang back old childhood memories. “Bu-how?... I don’t understand? What is this..... This thing?” Luna asked as if the metal was an abomination against metallurgy itself. “We don’t know... a few centuries ago we thought about mining the crystals down in the caverns, but the miners started to disappear one by one and soon enough they refused to go into there until whatever was in there was dealt with so I made it top priority to investigate those mines I hoof picked a special team for the job, as well as almost an entire garrison of guards including ten from the Stalliongrad special forces, but to enter that mine was a death sentence because only three got out alive out of sixty plus that went in, one of the survivors committed suicide because of something he saw. Another went completely insane, only one, the original leader of the expedition was sane enough to explain what had happened down there. From what he told me, he and the others moved down deeper into the caverns and the deeper they went the more ominous the feelings got, a few of the guard had said they saw shifting in the shadows or green lights looking at them for a split second before fading away, a lot of them knew they were being watched and it wasn’t too long after that a few of the guards noticed some of the stragglers were missing and a few guards were sent back to check on them but even they didn’t come back either and a lot of the guards swore they could her a low humming sounds like a pulse but their first known casualty was the high pitched screams of two guards being dragged into the shadows when the humming suddenly grew louder and the entire cave began to turn alive with green eyes all staring at them before they could react three guards were struck down by.....by *sigh* green lightning and that was all it took to spark the fire, a few guards stood their ground and tried to fight while the rest tried to flee in terror but as soon as they passed into the shadows the only thing that was awaiting them was a painful death a demise making them shout out in terror causing those poor brave fools to buckle in fear until the creatures were upon them as I said only three made it out alive the captain gave me this piece of metal, he says he found it when a stray arc of green lightning hit one of those creatures and that’s all he told me. When I went to visit him in the infirmary he-he…….he had hung himself in the middle of the night” as Celestia finished her head sank low in shame, tears streaming down her face while Luna just stood there in shock at what Celestia had just explained to her. “What kind of monster has the power to take the lives of highly trained guards not to mention Stalliongrad special force elites?” Luna muttered trying to wrap her head around the grim tale that was shared with her. “I don’t know sister but whatever it is it will not show mercy even if we pleaded for it” Celestia finished before an ear piercing scream filled the night, in an eye blink they were both out the door minus both of them getting wedged in it for a few seconds since they both went through it at the same time. They quickly squeezed through and rushed down the gold encrusted staircase towards where the shriek came from, Celestia the entire time hoping it didn’t come from the chapel, sadly her worst fears came through, bleeding into reality when they burst through the doors of the Canterlot chapel and there lying on the ground was a half burned carcass of a servant who must’ve wandered in at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Luna was struggling to keep the nights feast down “I really shouldn’t have had that extra helping of cake” Luna gagged, holding a hoof over her nose. Celestia just stood frozen on the spot before the doors to the chapel flew open and eight night guard ponies ran into the room followed by six other ponies. A purple unicorn came running to celestia’s side only to back peddle at the charred pony the rest of the troop made their way around the remains of the pony except for one particular canary coloured Pegasus with a pink mane and tail including an ivory unicorn with a purple mane and tail who stayed back as to not whitness the grim sight. Twilight Sparkle a lavender unicorn with a dark purple mane with a light pink strip coursing through it was the first to speak even though she was struggling to talk while trying to keep the bile down “P-princess..... *Gulp!* is that a-a pony?” she asked but her mentor wasn't responding though when Twilight looked upon her, her coat was a prestine white but at the site of one of her subjects killed in such a Brutal way left her a sickly white. A cyan coloured pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane and tail with a cutie mark that was a cloud with a rainbow coloured lightning bolt coming from it, that had came with the other group that wasnt with the guard, had recovered from the shock and gritted her in both fear, disgust and anger but her face showed that of more disgust than the other two. Twilight, gaining enough of her composure cleared her throat to gain everyponies attention “listen up everypony I don’t know what’s going on but as the Elements of Harmony, it’s our duty to make sure the citizens of Equestria and we're going to do everything in our power to stop it... any questions?” she proposed, puffing out her chest proudly. Fluttershy shakily raised her hoof which caught Twilights attention “yes, Fluttershy!” Twilight Announced pointing her hoof at Fluttershy who squeaked at the sudden rise in volume targeted at her “Ummm………w-w-well…..that is if you don’t mind Twilight…….. shouldn't your brother be dealing with this?” she shakily asked, Twilight just huffed and continued “Shining Armour and Princess Cadence are off on their honey moon, and I'm quiet confident in our abil-” she was stating but was cut off by Celestia suddenly coming back to reality “NO!... WE NEED EVERY ABLE GUARDSMEN TO COMBAT THIS THREAT!” she Rumbled quickly turning around to face her student “I'm sorry my faithful student but this threat is far greater than anything you’ve ever seen” she lowered her voice to explain, Twilight however was frightened by this sudden outburst from her mentor if there was something that can get her this worked up then it is far greater than she originally thought. “Then we need to get a message to Shining Armour now!” Twilight demanded “I’ve already sent him a message, he and cadence are returning to Canterlot as we speak and I’ve already scrambled the guard, Night and Day Regiments, I’ve also had a few guards go down to the inns and hire mercenaries, thieves, assassins basically anypony who can fight” Celestia finished taking a sharp breath of air, Twilight was taken back by the sheer amount preparation she's made not to mention the lengths she’s taken to ensure that whatever is out there will be swiftly doubt with. “I'm also going to collapse the tunnels so no more of them can come out” she explained looking back towards the hole that leads to the crystal caves. “Wait? who are "Them"? You haven’t told us who “They” are yet” Twilight pointed out. Celestia hung her head low and began to confess. “I don’t know what they are”, Twilight was sceptical by now but wasn’t able to continue, as shrill scream cut through the dark that seemed to have came from the town. “Oh no, it’s already in the town, QUICKLY GUARDS FOLLOW ME!” Celestia ordered. all the guards just nodded and followed her as she galloped out the doors with her sister and the elements in pursuit. As the group made their way out of the castle and into the town. The streets were crawling with guards except one street which seemed ghostly empty except for two guards standing over another charred pony body as princess celestia approached the guards shot to attention as Celestia inspected the body “it’s the same as the one in the chapel” she sorrowfully stated as she was inspecting the body, as she was inspecting the cadaver closer a silhouette of a unicorn coming from an intersection down the street caught her attention, the unicorn who had a light blue coat and a light green mane and tail came running from the intersection, she saw princess Celestia and stopped and opened her mouth to speak “HEL-“ was all she screamed before a bolt of green lightning shot out from the street that she was running from and struck and cut through her like a hot knife through butter scorching her body, Twilight swore she thought her body was disintegrating, the unicorn slumped to the ground a huge streak of blood strewn across from where the bolt struck her. Seeing one of her precious ponies cut down in such a manner stirred deep anger that burned furiously from inside her, her eye’s began turning white hot and her mane was whipping around like a burning inferno, she wasn't there to protect those unfortunate souls from those creatures all those many years ago but now she's here and this time it will be different she looked back at the guards and elements (including her sister) “FOLLOW ME!” she boomed while the rest of the troop just nodded with fierce determination and followed her lead and galloped at full speed down the street the bolt came from. Down the street was another body but shown no marks of being struck by lightning instead it looked like it had been diced up by a sharp implement like a sword. The entire area around the body was covered in blood but Celestia was confident that the creature was still down here since it was a dead end alley way (note I said it was a street and fucked up there) all that was around were some bloodied rags and crates, Celestia slowly walked further into the alley and closer to the body she was flanked by two guards and Twilight to accompany her, when she approached the corpse she noticed the guard to her left was shaking uncontrollably she went on to reassure the frightened guard but the guard was cowering and muttering to himself “it’s coming for us, it’s only killing us……I-I-I’m next!” Celestia grew ever more concerned she turned towards the guard on her right and told him to escort the other guard out as the guard turned to nod she saw his jaw hung low and his pupil became non-existent and the hairs on his back stood up in sync as he was staring up above Celestia, she quickly whipped around just long enough to see a large spear with several serrated blades cut through the guard on her left a few crimson blood drops splattered on her pristine white coat and up her face she looked up to see green eyes staring back at her and all she could do was freeze ‘all the stories are true those……eyes those terrible green eyes they are completely emotionless she thought her coat was white but it now resembles that of a ghost, her mouth hung open out of fear but she couldn’t bring herself to scream. “PRINCESS RUN!” the sound of Twilights voice shattered through the dead silence she was experiencing, she quickly snapped back to her sense and unfurled her wings and used them to push herself back next to Twilight. She looked towards Twilight and she noticed she had tears down her face, "Twilight stand back i'll deal with this monster!" she growled through gritted teeth. Twilight reasured by her words nodded and ran to her friends to watch as the scene played out. once Twilight was safe she quickly turned her focus towards the shadow where the creature was hiding, a great rage bellowing up in her she had allowed herself to be weak and it costed her the life of one of her guards. “SHOW YOURSELF MONSTER! I WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE BEFORE I SEND YOU TO WHAT EVER HELL AWAITS YOU!” she threatened causing Twilight and her friends as well as the guards to stand back giving themselves a much larger space between them and Celestia, Celestia waited for a few minutes before yet another chill was sent through her spine. “Threats will do you know good Princess Celestia of Equestria, you have no power over me and you lack the ability to kill me which makes you weak” the cold voice sounded metallic and completely void of emotion Celestia found herself in another silence but realised all the ponies around her were cowering upon hearing the hollow voice, what seemed like an eternity passed before it spoke again “But if you want to see my face... I will grant you your final wish” the cold voice declared. Celestia managed to speak even though she could feel her vocals contort as if not wanting to reply to this…… whatever it is “W-whatever you are i will not let you harm anypony else” she weakly proclaimed but silence ensued for 5 minutes before a shuffling of metal came from the shadows then the voice spoke again “you wish to know what I am?” it clarified as it stepped out of the shadows the figure stood at least 3 feet taller than Celestia (minus the horn) and was completely made of some kind of dull grey metal, its form roughly resembled that of the skeletons of Great Apes west of the Zebrica, but it stood more upright and had many visual differences like it had huge metal shoulder plates, the one on the left she noticed the left one had a large chip cut out of it the overall shape looked quite boxy while only a few parts like its head and chest were more rounded and smooth, on it’s back was a long tattered cloak that swayed lazily with a strange symbol in the middle which looked like a circle with lines coming off of its side and from the bottom, the top however was a simple semi circle. The middle of its rib cage also bore the same mark but glowed a dull green the most peculiar part of its skeleton was the large vertebrae that made up its spine, but the head was the most frightening part out of it, despite the large four pronged spear it was holding. The blade was grey but visibly saturated with blood, the staff however was gold a colour but also had blood dripping off of it, the spear however stood at least a foot higher than the wielders overall hieght, but in between the blades and what seemed to hold the blades together and fused them to the shaft of its weapon was a thin tube that glowed green and crackled with green sparks, that would explain the lightning. averting her eyes off of his crude weapon spear she looked up to its head and felt her blood run cold as she stared up at the death dealing foe. Its head was similar to that of a primate but held a far more flatter shape a more dignified look if you will, but its head was small and the eyes were the only thing remotely life like about it, but it held no fear no remorse and so devoid of emotion as they bore holes into Celestia's very being, and with a voice that seemed like it could stop stop time and freeze the wind it simply spoke out. “I..... am Death” > Meet Raigel The Harbinger > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Necron lord of Equestria A story that had to be done Chapter 2. Death at Celestia’s doorstep and Raigel The Harbinger “I am Death” The creature (who will be known as Death for now) made a looming step towards Celestia and reached out with one of his metal claws. Twilight watched in horror as Death reached towards her mentor, the one mare who acted like a surrogate mother to Twilight in school while she still had her own outside of school and studies she couldn’t even bring herself to cry but couldn’t work up a tear or draw her eye’s away from the scene that was currently unfolding all she could do was try to shut her eye’s and never open them but a soft feeling of a hoof on her shoulder made her turn around to a blue maned stallion wearing gold and purple armour symbolising rank in comparison to his fellow guards ponies. “I know what you are princess Celestia and I’m not going to let you harm my Tomb or my people” Death stated. His claw reaching closer almost touching her face. As his longest finger inched closer a purple light lit up the dimly lit alley but Death took no notice to it until it was too late he was struck by a purple beam, the force of the impact sent him stumbling a few good metres as purple flames washed over his metallic form but all was futile as the flames ceased their vicious assault luckily Celestia was able to regain control of her body and move back towards twilight luckily Shining Armor appeared when he did or who knows what Death would’ve done. “Captain! Perfect timing” Celestia announced feeling her confidence return now that Shining was here; the tides have turned she thought. “Princess your horn!” Twilight called pointing her hoof at Celestia’s horn which had a large scratch caused by Deaths stumble when his claw was suddenly thrown back. “I’ll live Twilight which is more than what I can say for our friend here” she assured returning her gaze back at Death who finished snuffing out the last of the flames, Celestia’s gaze was ineffective against Death for he just stood there unfazed with the amount of angry glares thrown his way. “Now monster! we end this now, you can’t hope to defeat all of our combined power!” she shouted trying to intimidate him. At that moment another alicorn one with a pink coat and a mane and tail of purple, gold and pink landed next to Shining carrying a blue chest with different coloured gems covering its surface in a pink hue of magic. She landed next to shining and opening the chest revealing five golden necklaces and a golden tiara which magically flew to their respected elements and connected to them with a bright flash which didn’t faze Death one bit he just stared at them not expressing anything not even twitching just emitting a low humming sound. Once the light show of the elements ended Princess Celestia stood firm flanked by Princess Luna and Princess Cadence, Shining Armor stood next to Cadence while Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stood next to Luna and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity Stood next to Shining the entire group stood in a cone shape ready for the charge which wouldn’t be necessary for what they were planning. “NOW MONSTER YOU SHALL FACE OUR WRATH!” Celestia Boomed the sheer volume of her voice shook the foundations of the buildings in the alley yet Death still stood unfazed even when a small pot plant fell off a ledge and struck his head. The entire group started to hover and their eyes started glowing, white with mist of white flowing lazily out of them. “YOU SHALL TASTE JUSTICE!” they all yelled in unison and a rainbow streamed beam shot forward towards Death who didn’t make any decision in moving and stood firm. The beam moved at a startling speed that would make Rainbow Dash jealous and made contact with its victim blasting through causing a large light show even in the demise of another as lights shot of in every direction the rainbow beam cut through many buildings including the castles outer walls. As the mist and dust started to settle and the group descended back to the earth gasping and panting at the sheer amount of power that was thrown at Death Celestia was the first to respond. “After so many years you have been avenged for my mistake” she whispered quietly. “Princess…… *Huff*…… You have a lot to explain” Twilight said between breathes. “In the Morning my faithful pupil we’ve had a long day and an even longer night I good night’s sleep will make things clearer” Celestia reassured her. As the group made their trek back to the castle Rainbow Dash noticed Fluttershy was still locked in her pose facing the carnage in front of her “Hey Flutters we’re going now c’mon” she waved a hoof signalling Fluttershy to follow but she was unresponsive but Dash was cut off before calling again by Fluttershy speaking. “Most impressive even out of phase you were still able to hit me I may have underestimated you” her voice was cold and emotionless which sent a shiver down her spine, Dash hovered in front of her eyes were full and her pupils were small almost non-existent her face no longer bore fear but nothing no fear or joy nothing she was completely devoid of emotion. “Flutters snap out of it” Dash said shaking Fluttershy. “You can’t save her she is……. Mine” she muttered making the last part heard which caught the attention of the rest of the troop. “No, no, no” Dash Argued. “Yes, yes, yes but have courage in this….. She wanted to be strong for her friends and not shy away from danger……..” Fluttershy muttered as the group began to surround her “……. And I gave her the power to do so” he finished making sure his words were sinking in to the rest of the group. “YOU MONSTER! WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A HORRIBLE THING?” Rarity shouted tears streaming her face. “Because she asked me to help her……… actually that isn’t completely accurate she asked openly and I responded” Fluttershy responded as Rarity began to wrap her hooves around her. “Why would you do this? What do you hope to gain from this?” Twilight cried hoping that Death would respond. “Gain? I hope to gain nothing from this-…” Fluttershy said before being cut off by Celestia “Then why have you done this? all this needless bloodshed and possession? What could possibly motivate somepony to do such an act?” said Celestia before Fluttershy continued with a hint of annoyance lining her voice “it’s not polite to interrupt. But as I was saying I have nothing to gain from nor was I seeking such mediocre things. all I was here to do was cleanse these abominations from these lands and to retrieve my relics” Fluttershy concluded. “Relics? Abominations? What are you going on about?” Celestia responded. “Those wasted bags of flesh that lay on the ground” Fluttershy responded pointing a hoof towards the two diced pony carcasses that lay on the ground luckily the bodies weren’t disintegrated by the groups spell earlier. “What do you mean? What’s wrong with them?” Celestia asked. “Don’t let your eyes deceive you Princess; you can’t trust them when looking for them?” Fluttershy said lowering her hoof. “Princess the blood!” Twilight shouted pointing her hoof at the splatter of Celestia’s coat. Celestia looked at her coat the blood that’s tainting her coat was shifting from a dark crimson to a sinister dark green colour, upon seeing this she shifted her gaze back towards the fallen bodies where her eyes went wide of shock the bodies were shifting back to a creature that she knew all too well they had black carapaces with long jagged horns, down their figure towards their hooves holes formed along their legs as well as their wing turned a transparent blue colour like that of an insect and their face had long sinister protruding fangs and light green eyes with a slit pupil but the other body had light blue lenses covering half of one eye. “Changelings!” Celestia exclaimed. “Indeed Celestia, this was my plan all along to destroy these abominations and to reclaim my relics” Fluttershy explained but Celestia wasn’t going to believe a creature like Death. “Somehow I don’t believe that those are the only reasons here and even if they were I still wouldn’t believe you” Celestia stated bitterly. “A wise decision if I were in your position I wouldn’t believe me either. But those aren’t my only reasons but I'm not at the liberty to discuss them with you” Fluttershy said. “I'm also going to assume the others were…” Celestia said. “Changelings as well, I haven’t taken any of your subjects……… yet” Fluttershy Finished. “But you have, a long time ago you killed a troop of soldiers sent to explore the caverns” Celestia stated angrily which took everyone else by surprise even Death. “Did I? Hmm….. I’d think I would’ve remembered something like that……” Fluttershy paused “ah I remember now the heathens that desecrated my crypts and stole my relics, I'm just sorry I didn’t kill them as soon as they entered the crypt” Fluttershy said with a hint of malice at the end. “Heathens?! That can’t be right they were honest soldiers and they didn’t say anything about any crypt?” celestia said her mind jumbled by the new found information. “They weren’t soldiers that raided my realm they were workers of some sort, luckily when they were running of with my treasures I was able to capture one for information” Fluttershy explained. “A-a-and what did you do with him?” Twilight stuttered. “I did what I always do when I need to find information quickly” Fluttershy paused watching the groups eyes were glued on her before she continued “I gave him to the Flayed ones” she finished expecting to see a bigger reaction but they didn’t know what a Flayed one was. “W-what’s a F-flayed one?” Twilight asked and Fluttershy looked her in the eyes. “To put it in words you’ll be able to comprehend they torture creatures in the foulest ways imaginable for example this worker was…. How to say it ‘Filleted’” Fluttershy bluntly stated and judging by the reactions of the groups especially Rarity who had to run to a nearby dumpster for some bodily reason. “You sick son of a-” Shining angrily said before being cut off. “I don’t understand why you’re getting so worked up about he was caught stealing and suffered the price for it” Fluttershy simply stated. “BUT YOU TORTURED HIM THAT’S JUST WRONG!” Shining shouted he looked just about ready to punch Fluttershy regardless of who she is. “Shining please don’t, at least he died quickly after it right?” Princess Cadence spoke up trying to calm Shining. “as much as I would have wanted to he didn’t give us any information since he was driven mad the mere sight of myself and the flayed ones and the Flayed ones don’t allow their ‘Toys’ to break to easily” Fluttershy said and the rest of the group just stood there in shook. “What do you mean they don’t allow their ‘Toys’ to break easily?” Celestia asked. “Meaning after they were done they do what they always do…” she paused “they skinned him alive and listened to his screams as they echoed through the Tombs” Fluttershy finished. “W-why would they do something so horrific to another living creature; don’t they have any compassion for another living creature?” Cadence cried but the comment if Death was able to would be either laugh in her face or destroy her out of anger. “No, none of my kind do especially the Flayed ones all you can do for them is pity them” Fluttershy explained “Why pity them if they don’t deserve it?” Cadence persisted. “Because they Envy the living even though they made the choice to give up there mortal bodies, their minds weren’t able to comprehend what they gave up and it eventually drove them mad” Fluttershy explained with a hint of sadness in the voice which Cadence picked up on. “Why would they give up their own bodies if it did all these horrible things to them?” Cadence asked which almost sounded like plea. Fluttershy was silent for several minutes before speaking again “you can have her back now” She finished before Fluttershy’s body went limp and fell to the ground luckily Twilight caught her in her magic. Cadence looked back to a darker part of the alley and saw a metal claw and green eyes through the darkness before fading into darkness and disappearing, this made Cadence think for a minute before Shining put a hoof on her shoulder and nuzzled her affectionately. “C’mon we’re taking Fluttershy to the infirmary” he said quietly and nudged Cadence to follow him out of the alley with the rest of the group but she couldn’t help but glance back at the shadow. “Sister you should go get ready to raise the sun, I will begin to lower it when we reach the infirmary” Luna said breaking off from the group to tell Celestia. “No I should go with you to make sure nothing more happens-” Celestia said as she was cut off by Luna. “You’ve done enough your main priority now should be raising the sun for our subjects” Luna finished. With a sigh Celestia conceded in defeat “okay Luna you win, but why is it that in a crisis your always more level headed than I am” Celestia asked in a matter fact like tone. Luna turned to face her sister but stopped half way and smiled “I work better under pressure that doesn’t involve paper work” she smiled and turned and trotted after the rest of the group leaving Celestia with a smile on her face and to contemplate her siblings answer, after thinking for a minute she conceded to her thoughts and flew off towards the palace to get ready to raise the sun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile…… As Luna re-joined the group they made their way towards the Canterlot infirmary, as they neared their destination Cadence pulled back with shining and told the group they’d catch up later. “Cadence what’s wrong? You haven’t said a word since last night?” Shining said a sense of worry growing within him. “I…. it’s just that……” she paused and looked away from Shining “when that creature paused and released Fluttershy….. I just think there was more to it than what he said” cadence finished. “*sigh*……. There’s no telling what his motives or what he’s thinking about all I know is that he has an agenda that he isn’t telling us about, which worries me” Shining explained Cadence just nodded. “Well there’s no need to dwell on it anymore c’mon lets go to my parents’ house it’s just around the block” he smiled warmly and cadence smiled and walked beside him as they walked towards his family home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile in the Canterlot infirmary….. When Cadence and Shining left the rest of the group made their way into the infirmary where Fluttershy was placed into her private room while her friends waited until she awoke Rarity was sitting on one of the infirmaries chairs nursing a cup of freshly made coffee why Rainbow Dash was taking her anger out on a defenceless wall, pinkie pie however was taking the worst of the shock her coat was darker and greyer In colour than her usual bright colour and her mane and tail lost its bouncy attitude and just slumped down to the side of her head, Applejack was just sitting next to a window facing the city and castle but not saying a thing, Twilight was doing what she always did in this kind of situation and paced a grove in the ground while trying to figure out what it was that Death wanted but her musing was cut short when she walked past Fluttershy’s door and saw her Rousing from her sleep, Twilight took it upon herself to go check on her friend and as she neared the bed Fluttershy became more and more distressed until she eyes shot open and she lunged at Twilight, but on quick instincts she caught Fluttershy in her hoofs as she collided with her. “Fluttershy calm down you’re okay, noponies going to hurt you!” Twilight said trying to calm the squirming Pegasus from running away . “NO TWILIGHT NOPONY IS SAFE WITH RAIGEL (Pronounced: Ra-I-Gel) ROAMING AROUND!” Fluttershy screamed tears streaming down her face. “Fluttershy please stop who is Raigel?” Fluttershy stopped flailing when she realised where she was. “I-I'm in the Infirmary?” Fluttershy asked all of the gang soon piled into the room when they heard Fluttershy’s cries. “Please Fluttershy who is Raigel?” Twilight insisted as she placed Fluttershy back on her bed. Fluttershy sat there quietly as her friends surrounded the bed waiting for her answer, she then looked Twilight in the eye and began to speak “Raigel, The Harbinger I-is……w-well I mean that is if he is a he I mean but he’s s-something called a N-N-Necron” she said, her friends gave her a confused look. “Necron? What in Celestia’s name is a Necron?” Applejack asked. “That big metal thing is a Necron, and from what he told me he was here because of Princess Cadence” Fluttershy said. “Cadence? Are you telling us that Cadence created that thing?” Rainbow dash asked. “N-no I didn’t say that, Raigel is older than cadence……. Actually he’s older than Princess Celestia and Luna as well” Fluttershy finished, Twilight giving her a sceptical look “it’s true, though he didn’t say how old he was he just said he was sleeping for I think fifty or sixty million years I don’t quite recall” she explained blinking a few times seeing that her friends jaws had dropped. “S-s-sixty million years but that can’t be? It must be a lie, it must be……. Pinkie pie stop that!” Twilight said trying to think but was distracted by Pinkie pie scratching her left foreleg knee, with a burning vengeance in her eyes. “I can’t help it Twi? My knee is pinchy” Pinkie said before biting at her knee. “Wait?.......... Ain’t a pinchy knee a pinkie sense?” Applejack asked, pinkie stopped biting her knee to answer. “Yeah, it means something scary is about to happen, and believe me it’s going to be a dozey” pinkie pie said before going back to biting her knee. “Oh sweet celestia….” Fluttershy paused and began to hyperventilate as her pupils shrank “Twilight I just remembered something very important that you need to hear….” Fluttershy said grabbing Twilights forelegs, which caused Twilight to stare at her. “….. Your parents have something that belongs to Raigel and he is heading to your parents’ house……… Twilight if he gets there and your parents are there he’s going to kill them” Fluttershy cried. Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing, her own parents are in danger and what’s worse she heard Cadence and Shining were going there, she couldn’t believe this, she didn’t want to believe it, but she had to believe it. “Okay…….. We are going to confront this Raigel and stop his plan” Twilight announced the rest of the girls nodding in response and following after Twilight as she ran out of the room. ‘Don’t worry I'm coming, and I will make sure that this Raigel doesn’t harm you or so help me Celestia, I will make him pay’. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well that’s chapter 2 done and I can’t wait to see the comments, actually I want there to be more comments like the first chapter, all the hate ones mainly because tough love is needed to make a successful story. Next chapter: Chapter 3. Resurrection Orb and misunderstandings. > Resurrection orbs and Misunderstandings > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Necron lord of Equestria A story that had to be done Chapter 3. Resurrection orbs and Misunderstandings Raigel’s Morning: “………. I had better keep my eye on that one…… I can’t let her know my plans, and I feel as if she will somehow interfere with them” Raigel pondered as Cadence and Shining started walking towards Shining’s parents’ house “Wait……. I know her………” Raigel paused “ahhh…. She is the one who awoke me from my slumber……. No matter she will serve her use soon……. But for now I think I’d better start collecting my relics” Raigel moved his hand towards a scorch mark on his chest from where the spell had hit him “another spell like the one in the alley and I might have to pull back for repairs, and for once time isn’t on my side” he said before tapping the bottom his staff on the ground and disappeared from the roof top that he stood on. When he reappeared on another roof top he was facing a white stone building with a few pot plants hanging from one of the buildings and a welcome matt at the front door but much like any other building in the city but this one was different from the others this particular building had a strong energy field around which to Raigel was quite alluring, he tapped his staff again and disappeared and then reappeared on the target building but began to stagger as he reappeared. “That was definitely strange……… maybe it’s gained too much excess energy that it can’t expel…….” He pondered again “well that’s certainly going to change, but I can’t teleport in with this level of interference but I must gain access to the structure Hmmm………….” He thought but a wooden door caught his attention and if he was able to he would be grinning from ear to ear (if had those as well). Raigel walked over towards the door and then realised that the doors was a good metre and a half smaller than he was but that wasn’t before he got wedged in the door and ended up ripping the door off its hinges, but he managed to get in albeit awkwardly squeezing his way down the small hall way and nearly breaking another door off its frame. As he made his way through the door he entered another hallway and to his luck was roomier than the previous, though he still needed to side step his way through since the hall wasn’t wide enough for his shoulders to clear it but he was able to stand slightly and move around quicker he managed to find a stair wall leading down stairs. As he made his wall slowly down the stairs he had to make sure he didn’t fall down them as he made his way down he noticed picture frames on the wall of various ponies for instance a frame of a dark blue stallion with a darker blue mane in some sort of formal garment and a white coat mane with violet and white streaks in her man and tail, but for some reason the mare reminded Raigel of someone but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it, but thoughts aside he progressed down the stairways and noticed another picture of the same mare and stallion and a smaller white colt with a blue mane and tail but the mare was in a bed of some kind holding a smaller lavender……. Foal was it? With a dark purple mane and tail with a pink highlight in her mane, then it clicked. “This must be the mares birth parents home…….. this may complicate things” he stopped and pondered “no matter there’s no way around it” he progressed once more and spotted and photo that looked recent as the two children are now fully grown but the two ponies and their parents were standing in front of a large greenish black sphere. ‘Wait was tha-’ he said before his feet caught on a missing section of the stairway and he came in contact with foe older than time itself, gravity. He came tumbling down the stairway in a less discrete fashion but if he was going down he was taking something with him and on instinct he grabbed hold on a small table lining the wall and he and his new companion made a bee line to the bottom, if he was able to feel pain he would be unconscious, he eventually made contact with the bottom with an audible crash “urgh….. that was less than an elegant landing” as he picked himself up and dusted himself down he knew if the mortals taking resident would definitely be awake now . “Did you trip on stairwell again dear?” a female voice cooed, if there was a word that would describe the situation he was in he would be using it right. “I think the Mon-keigh have a word for this situation ‘Shit’” he said pushing himself against a wall the mare was on the other side the sound of sizzling sound and stirring “must be some ritual of some kind” he said moving towards the corner that separated him from her. He was about to turn the corner when he realised he didn’t have his staff, he then realised he left it up on the roof “how did I not realised that I dint have my staff” he said face palming himself. “What was that?” the mare called, she sounded worried and the clopping of hooves echoed through the house. ‘I'm sorry but this has to be your fate but know this your death will serve a greater purpose’ he thought to himself while readying his clawed hands, as he saw her hoof pass the corner he was about to lunge but luckily she was saved by the bell literally. “COMING~” she called, she turned and trotted towards the door luckily Raigel is nowhere in sight of the door ‘that was to close, I don’t want to escalate things any further than they already have been’ he thought to himself as he began to move upstairs again to keep himself concealed if she decided to make her way back to check out the place “Oh!... good morning Shining, good morning Cadence” she greeted her guests ‘This isn’t my day’ Back to twilight and co: Twilight and her friends quickly made their way through streets as the city began to wake up. Fluttershy insisted to come along despite her state, she basically countered her friends arguments with she knew this Raigel better than anypony else which despite what twilight thought she couldn’t turn away any help no matter who it was and also they needed Fluttershy to use the elements of harmony. “I still don’t see why I can’t go ahead? In can show that tin can whose boss!” Rainbow dash huffed. “Because none of us stand a chance against him alone, we all need to be together if we can use the elements to trap him then we can deal with him from there” Twilight explained. ‘I just hope that they are all safe’ she thought, a small tear creped down her face. Back to Raigel: The three ponies were talking about last night’s events, (minus the Necron lord massacring changeling spies) but the explanation of the two ponies wedding the night before, even if it was brief and not very detailed. Raigel did learn a bit about the ponies even though he would rather butcher them take what he came for and leave, but he would then have to deal with their “Princesses” and they do control the heavenly bodies somehow and despite that fact he would rather see every living creature here dead he isn’t to found of living in a frozen wasteland in pitch black darkness. “But what happened last night? There were guards everywhere, and there was this dreadful scream. I……. just can’t make sense of it all….. Do you two know anything about it? And shining don’t lie to me, it would have to be something important if you had to be called away from your honeymoon” Star Sparkle asked giving cadence a look that would make any child confess. “Well……. You see- you know the hole that Twily and cadence came from when they confronted chrysalis? Well that cave is-” shining stuttered trying to force the words out. “What he means to say, some creature from the caves escaped and murdered five ponies who until later appeared to be changeling spies.” Cadence bluntly stated. “Changelings? I thought you and Shining sent them packing at the wedding the other day?” star asked. “that’s what we thought, but apparently they are still here and possibly keeping an eye on us” Cadence replied hanging her head worriedly. “luckily we don’t have to worry about them anymore” she finished. “Because of this creature you met?...... if it is truly evil then why did it spare you and the princesses as well?” Star asked, Shining and Cadence looked at each other for a moment, ‘it was true it had no remorse or mercy towards the changelings but he basically just looked at us and laughed (figuratively speaking) besides the entire Fluttershy possession thing he showed no signs of retaliation even when we attacked him……. It can’t be from the goodness of his heart (if he even had one of course) he must have a secret agenda otherwise why would he bother?’ Shining thought. ‘Because you’re not worth my time’ a voice echoed through Shining’s head like somepony dragged a fork across a chalk board. ‘Wha-what are you doing in my head?’ shining asked. ‘because I grow tired of you and your spouse’s rambling I would prefer to move around without dealing with you……. So be a good little pony and take you “Wife” with you’ Raigel said trying to sound patronizing, Shining’s eyes shot wide open ‘you’re in my parent’s house aren’t you?’ shining asked trying to remain calm less Cadence caught on, a low clap echoed through his head obviously signalling he stated the obvious. ‘congratulations on figuring that out your parents must be proud to have such a ‘simple minded child’ Raigel bluntly stated causing Shining to furl his brow. ‘but seriously I would much appreciate it if you take your wife and leave’ Raigel simply asked. ‘NO! I can’t leave knowing you’re here with my mother, I know you said you wouldn’t harm anypony yet but I know what you are……… you are a deceitful monster who couldn’t care about if someone lived or died’ Shining angrily stated, causing Raigel to laugh but his laugh sent shivers down Shining’s spine, the laugh was hollow and emotionless. ‘of course that’s exactly what I am, I'm the monster your mothers and fathers tell you about to make you behave, I'm the monster that has spread fear all over the galaxy and soon……. OUR TIME WILL COME AGAIN TO RISE FROM THE CRYPTS AND TURN THE GALAXY INTO A FIESTING GROUND FOR OUR MASTERS!’ his voice echoed through his head and a strong surge of pain ran through his head like someone bucked his head into oblivion. ‘NO! I won’t allow your kind will destroy everything in sight and that’s why you’ll never understand what lengths we would take to stop you, even if it takes us an eternity we will do everything to stop you!’ Shining rebutted biting his lip. Raigel was silent for a moment ‘……… you remind me…… of myself when I was young, full of courage and so, so blind to the inevitable truth of what is going to happen. But in the end it will just cost you everything……… I lost something precious to me long ago because of my pride’ Raigel said. ‘Hmph……. A monster like you wouldn’t understand what it’s like to lose anything’ Shining Bluntly stated which something he will soon regret. ‘What was that?........ I don’t know what it’s like to lose something?’ Raigel said his voice building hiding some long forgotten hurt. Which caused Shining to gulp? “I LOST EVERYTHING TO BECOME THE MONSTER YOU SEE HERE!” Raigel shouted busting through the wall causing star to jump half way across the room in fright. Twilight’s morning: Twilight’s heart nearly skipped a beat when she heard a scream coming from the house she was raised in, she proceeded in a fast gallop quickly overtaking Rainbow Dash. “HURRY GIRLS! OR WE MIGHT BE TOO LATE!” Twilight shouted behind her soon she was joined by her friends as the distance between them and the house grew shorter. ‘I'm coming please, please be safe just for a few more seconds’ Twilight pleaded to herself Raigel’s morning: Raigel was furious with this arrogant colt he just wanted to crush him beneath his heavy feet, but found himself unable to act since he was deeply confused ‘anger?!...... I haven’t felt anger in millennia how can I be angry it’s impossible…… this can’t be happening?!’ Raigel thought, he looked at his metal hands and let out a horrific scream of confusion and anger and buried his head in his hands. Cadence was being hit hard by this sudden rush of powerful emotion, in fact the emotions were driving her to a point of passing out. ‘he’s so angry and confused it’s hard to point out which is stronger…’ she thought, then it suddenly hit her ‘he’s confused because he doesn’t know where this anger came from’ she realised. Raigel soon calmed down and slowly turned towards the three ponies that opposed him and realised his mind was being violated, he quickly stomped his foot on the ground causing the building to shake dangerously. “I'm here for my orb, give it to me or suffer my wrath!” he firmly said balling his hand into a fist. Star realised what he was talking about quickly and glanced over towards a small pillar which had a small crimson pillow with golden embroidery covering it, but on the pillow was the more valued piece a large blackish, green orb which seemed to grow a stronger electrifying green colour at the sudden appearance of its master. “No you can’t have it, it’s been in our family for nearly a thousand years!” star cried running over to the orb and grasping it in her hooves. “Is your life worth more than this orb? Would you so foolishly throw it away for some piece of glass (if she doesn’t give it to me soon I will make her death a painful one for making me say such disrespectful things about my most powerful relics)” Raigel tried to reason. “That orb is mine by right and your family have stolen it from my crypt….. you should be lucky I don’t exterminate your entire family for your crimes” Raigel said towering over her holding out his hand to receive the orb. “Please star!, just give him the orb what would happen if you died here what would happen to Crescent and Twilight if you were killed…... they’d probably go seeking revenge and end up dead alongside you and I don’t want to lose a mother, father and sister because of a silly orb!” Cadence pleaded, tears streaming down her face with each word. Star thought for a moment and saw everything she said was true her death would be a waste if she was killed and the mere mention of her husband and beloved daughter following the same fate was too much to bear, “please…… take it. If it’s going to cause needless bloodshed, then I don’t want it anywhere near me or my family” she said with teary eyes and levitated the orb into Raigel’s hand. As soon as it meets his hand, sparks of green energy started sparking off the orb. As the sparking died down, Raigel felt the powers of the orb surging through him, he fumbled with the orb because of the over whelming power it had stored. “a wise decision, it would have been a waste to dispose of you and your family if you kept resisting.” He turned to Cadence “and thank you for reasoning with her, your help here today has saved fragment of lives today……….. for now” he finished, reaching his hand out a small black portal with green mist flowing from it formed on the floor scarring the stone around it and from the portal his spear emerged from it and he grasped his spear and with the combined power of both his staff and the orb sent a wave of power through the house making all within the house wince in pain of the sheer amount of power. “Now I must take my leave the last event prior to my awakening have been sudden and I must rest……. but we shall meet again soon” he finished tapping the bottom of the staff on the ground and disappearing in a cloud of green and black mist. As he disappeared the door of the house flung open and six tired mares charged into the room “MOM! SHINING! CADENCE!” she shouted as she saw some of the most important people in her life scattered across the room she used to read and play in, on one side was Shining cowering in the fetal position with his hooves wrapped around his head, on the other was her mother lying in the remains of her families treasure pillar, she was lying there sobbing to herself, in the middle of the room was Cadence sitting on her haunches with her head hung low. Twilight started to quake in anger. “I will make him pay for this!” Twilight said to herself which caused the three ponies she came to save shoot up with angry glares in their eyes, “Twilight Sparkle! Don’t you even think of going after him we only managed to get away from him and to spare the rest of family!” Star sternly announced causing Twilight to snap back to her. “But he can’t be allowed to get away with this, and he stole our family treasure!” Twilight tried to reason. “What’s more important a piece of glass or our lives?” Shining rebutted. Twilight was silent for a minute knowing her feelings were foolish and would ultimately lead to her own demise if she pursued them. She felt a watering sensation welling up in her eyes as she realised her family was nearly torn away from her, and she rushed over to her mother tears in bloom as she embraced her mother. “Well this was a total sob feast” Rainbow muttered which earned her glares from the 4 mares remaining. Princess Luna’s morning: ‘I can’t believe they all rushed off without even informing me of where they were going’ Luna huffed as she soared across the open skies of Canterlot. ‘Maybe they picked up a lead from Fluttershy…… if so then they should’ve informed me it’s far too dangerous for them to be by themselves with that creature’ she thought then realising she had shortened her sentenced from should have to should’ve ‘yay those boring lessons are finally paying off’ she smiled as she drifted lazily through the sky clopping her hooves together. As she was drifting through the sky she noticed a green flash on one of the roof tops and then another on another roof then another then another, the flashes were progressing towards the castle, she then proceeded to a quick fly to catch up with the flashes. As she neared the castle walls she saw another flash on a rooftop she had calculated the flashes were slowing down each flash she then reached the roof of the last flash was on and hid behind one of the chimneys of the house. She poked her head around the chimney and was wide eyed with fear, standing a metre from her was the creature she had faced last night, she quickly withdrawed her head and felt her heart beating so fast she thought it was going to leap out of her chest. ‘okay just calm down he hasn’t noticed you yet, you could get the drop on him while he isn’t looking…… no, no that won’t work he didn’t even get fazed from our attack last night what makes you think we can defeat him…….. Dammit! All those lessons for nothing’ Luna angrily grumbled, and then realised she was supposed to be watching the creature that was standing but a mere metre from her…. And wasn’t even moving? ‘Why isn’t he moving all his jumps were calculated even though they were slowing down, but he should’ve teleported by now?’ she thought curiously, and then a sharp chill ran up her spine. ‘Because “He” is wondering why you are following me’ said a cold voice that echoed through her head. Luna was taken aback by this, there has never been anypony that’s was powerful enough to intrude the sanctity that was her mind besides Celestia. ‘You? why have you entered thy mind?...... DAMN IT ALL AGAIN!’ she said, Raigel was a little confused by her outburst but saw it nothing but being a strange mortal habit. ‘I should be asking why you have been following me, but I will amuse you for a short time’ Raigel said as he turned to face the princess (who was still behind the chimney). Luna sighed and took a deep breath and tried to step out from behind the chimney but found her legs weren’t responding to her orders. ‘Why can’t I move?’ she thought quickly growing more frustrated with each attempt. ‘Because your instincts are much wiser than your mind’ Raigel proclaimed. Which raised a “Huh?” from Luna, ‘to put it simply….. You’re frightened to step out of whatever cover you have and your body cannot move because of petrification’ he stated. Luna managed to forcibly move her legs forward and step out of the protection of the chimney. “Alright then if you’re going to answer my questions then I would first like to know who and what you are?” Luna bravely spoke but found that her voice broke but the end of her sentence. “You’re taking a large gamble confronting me young one, but since you sought me out with no regard for your own safety, I will humour you for a small moment.” Raigel said scanning the skies for Pegasus guards. “very well for the first half of your question…. I am Raigel The Forsaken Harbinger of the Void Dragon” he said. ‘Void Dragon? I wonder if it’s a sub species of a black dragon?’ Luna pondered. Raigel was confused by this he didn’t know what she meant by his C’tan master being a “sub-species” but progressed, “and as for your second half of the question I have already told what I am….. I am Death, a harbinger of souls, and a servant for the C’tan, our number is legion for we are many.” Raigel finished. Luna was less confused now but still “you haven’t told me what you species are yet? I know that there are others of your kind.” She paused for a moment to recall what he said the night before “you mentioned the Flayed One’s they must be a separate part of your kind?” Luna pressed on. “Those are questions for another time if we ever run into each other and it happens to be on neutral grounds…… but until that day it is farewell for now” Raigel said before turning away from her and before she was able to protest he tapped his staff and disappeared into green mist. “Great, he’s gone and all he told me was his name and his master….. and he has a superiority complex and doesn’t allow others to speak for themselves” Luna huffed and stomped her hoof. ‘he was heading towards the castle but if I know my sister them she will have the hole guarded and if Raigel is true to his word he will stay clear of it unless he wants to….. no he doesn’t seem like the type to go back on his word’ Luna thought struggling to make out the cryptic explanations that were given to her. “well this will be a good story to tell Tia and the elements at least” she chuckled to herself before flapping her bark blue wings and pushed off the roof and took flight towards the castle to catch some much needed rest. Raigel’s afternoon: As Raigel left Luna he was lucky to have appeared inside the castle walls but still thought about how the foolishness it was for the pony to have approached him…… but was it foolish? Or was it bravery. “I must be losing my touch” Raigel thought to himself as he walked towards the window outside the Canterlot chapel. As he peered into the window he noticed several armed guards ponies protecting the only entrance back into sanctuary. He stood there for a moment contemplating his next move, he could force his way to the hole, but the probability of the guards becoming injured or worse was far too high. ‘No I will just have to make do with the surface for now’ he told himself as he began scanning his environment noticing a large supply of flora and fauna in the area he was standing in, with a large population of living creatures roaming the area began to unsettle Raigel as he made his way through what is apparently a garden of some sort. Raigel felt eyes on his back as he made his way through the garden, he spun around with his staff tightly gripped in his hands but saw no one in the immediate vicinity except for a large statue of a creature just short of Raigel's height if it stood completely upright, but the creature that the statue was supposed to be eluded Raigel but it did remind him of a Harlequin with their mismatched patterns on their armour and suits, but the creature’s miss matched body parts almost reminded him of the flayed ones with the different skins that adorn their figure. Paying the statue no mind he continued down a cobblestone path until he reached a small pond which had a bridge covering its length which judging the distance the bridge was from the bank he wondered why they built a bridge if they could’ve more easily have continued the path around the ponds edge, he pondered this as he crossed the bridge stopping momentarily to peer over the sides to see 4 rainbow coloured fish swimming but then dispersing as his shadow crossed the ponds surface. One of the fish swam parallel from Raigel and he watched it as it did so and continued following until it was completely out of sight, all thanks due to the glare of the sun, looking up from the pool he noticed a Farley large bush of some sort scaling half way up the tower it was growing from, Raigel also noticed the area was cornered from the tower and branched off from the main wall of the castle. Raigel slowly walked over towards the plant and noticed there was a small entrance inside the bush. ‘I guess this is as good as any place to rest for now’ Raigel thought to himself as he made his way inside the bush whilst trying not to break the plant of the wall but managed to drag his spines across the marble coloured stone walls with an ear piercing screech. He managed to get in the middle of the bush and laid his staff up against the wall, but kept the resurrection orb clutched tightly in a death like grip. ‘…… that blue pony…… was she?.... no impossible there hasn’t been any trace here,….. I will need to take a better scan, when I return’ he concluded with himself. ‘Today was certainly interesting to be sure……. Cadence, I will have to remember that name’ he noted before resting his head back against the wall, “Tomorrow” he said as his body went silent and the dull throb of the eldritch energies subsided and all that was left was a grey metal statue. Grounds keeper Greenhooves’ and Dusty’s Afternoon: “welp, ah I think it’s high time to remove that old bush, don’t you think dusty?” an old stallion with a light tan coat and wispy grey mane and tail said to a young light brown Pegasus maid with a tri coloured mane of three different colours of brown. “I don’t know Mr Greenhooves, I mean that bush has been there since…… well I don’t know how long it’s been there for I noticed it when I first started working here” she stated. “I know, it’s like removing a part of the castles history, since it was here when I was but a wee lad walking through the gardens although looking at it now it hasn’t really grown much since I was a colt” he reminisced and then sighed “but it needs to go its roots are digging into the wall and tower foundation and is causing a lot of damage” he bluntly said grimacing at the thought of removing a plant from the gardens. As they reached the bush in question they both studied the bush on the best way to remove it. “Hrmm….. I think we should remove it from the roots since that’s the best way to remove any plant isn’t that right?” Dusty pondered before asking Mr Greenhooves for his opinion. “Ah’ don’t think so Dusty, this isn’t your average bush you see….. It’s more of a creeper vine but much bigger, I think the best way to remove it is to remove it like a carpet, rip it out quickly and pray it all comes out on the first try” Greenhooves stated as he went up to the bush “ok young’un I'm going to need you to fly up to the top of the bush to tear down from the top all the way to the bottom” he said, Dusty nodded and flapped her wings then flew up to the top of the bush and looked down at Mr Greenhooves. “Okay what now?” she called. “ON THE COUNT OF THREE WE PULL!…..ONE!” he Called and began to grip the bush with his mouth “......TFWO!......THREE!...” he called back to Dusty gripping the buses base harder and began pulling, Dusty also started pulling at the top of the bush, and much of the worn tower mortar and dirt came down with it. It had taken roughly half an hour to fully uproot the bush from the tower and now they were just about to tear the rest from the base of the bush. Greenhooves gave a relieved sigh as he wiped his brow of sweat “I haven’t done this much since I was a young lad, but we are nearly done here.” He said causing Dusty praise Celestia, which in turn elicited a chuckle from Greenhooves “The sooner we’re done the sooner I can go home and have a bath” Dusty cheerily exclaimed, Greenhooves made his way over to the main body of the bush which had been half torn out already, Greenhooves inspected what was left and moved to grip the main body of the bush with his hooves while Dusty took to the air and mimicked Greenhooves by grip it from the air. “Okay youngin’, ready?” Dusty nodded “Good, alright on the count of three, one……. Two……. THREE!” he shouted before pulling back as much as his old body would let him. Before long the bushes roots were starting to give up and give in to the inevitable, and about 5 minutes later the entire bush gave way and came flying out of the ground whipping up grass and dirt and long dead foliage with it, Greenhooves gave himself a pat on the back for job well done while Dusty thanked Celestia that it was over and started to trot over to Greenhooves to see if her job here was done here, but something glistening caught her eye, which of course distracted her from looking where she was going and ploughed into Greenhooves. “Careful there yougin’, I'm not as young as I used to be” Greenhooves smirked, Dusty jumped off blushing slightly. “I'm sorry Mr Greenhooves but I saw something coming over there” she said as she pointed a hoof towards where the bush used to be, this piqued Greenhooves curiosity and he made his way over to where dusty had pointed (whom promptly followed), whatever it was covered in leaves and vines thanks to the creeper, he moved closer and removed some of the vines and was surprised to see a large statue made of some kind of metal. “Well I’ll be who knew that there was a statue hiding in this old bush” Greenhooves whistled lightly taking in the details of the statue, while dusty just gave it an odd look. “it looks really old, but what’s it meant to be?” Dusty said curiously. “not a clue, but it’s a statue and needs to be treated with some respect” Greenhooves said sounding a bit miffed that someone left it here to fall to pieces (if only it could), he sat down on his haunches to think for bit while Dusty’s maid instincts took over and she began to clear the leaves and vines away, and then became irked at how much dirt was actually on it and began to clean off the millennia old dust and dirt and dried blood (but she doesn’t know that), soon she came to his shoulders and saw a small flower lodged in between his neck and shoulder (probably from last night’s pot plant incident) she plucked the flower out and examined it, the plant looked like a moon flower of some sort but had a strange colouration she had never seen it was pitch black while the inside was neon green and the further to the core of the plant it got the lighter the green became it also had neon green colouration on the underside of the petals and the stem had needle like thorns on it and was a sickly green colour despite the oddity’s the flowers was rather beautiful in a dark kind of way, dismissing the oddity’s she placed the flower in one of the gardens that housed moon flowers and went back to cleaning the statue. As she returned she noticed Greenhooves was still pondering. Greenhooves couldn’t think of a way to move the statue without busting a gut, either he had a small army to move it or he found a unicorn to help him, and with luck so happen a unicorn guard returning to the barracks from his night shift walked past and Greenhooves gave a toothy grin (if he had teeth that is) “HEY! BOY!” he shouted which got the guards attention. “COME GIVE AN OLDSTALLION A HOOF WILL YA!” he shouted, and with a sad sigh the guard trotted over to help him. TO BE CONTINUED! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW UPDATE!!! As some would say, sorry that I hadn’t posted this sooner but when inspiration is fleeting it tends to take some time to get the motivation to finish or keep writing, please forgive me and if not oh well. Also note any mistake please and leave them in the comments below