> Legends of the Triumvirate
>  by Chlouide
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter I: A Beginning to a Cycle's End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter I: A Beginning to a Cycle's End


 

“This is your fault,” a statue said with a harrumph.
 
“You’re at it again?! What the fuck man? We’ve been over this for who knows how many years. How is it my fault?” another statue said, irritation ever present in his voice. He gave a sigh at his friends antics.
 
“Because it is,” the first said with confidence.
 
“Just because the birds are shitting on you, you blame me,” the second said. If he could move than he would definitely facepalm at the idiocy next to him.
 
“Well they aren’t crapping on you two! Why is it me? I did nothing to them!” the first gave a defeated sigh.
 
“Don’t drag me into this,” a third voice said. “I’m here minding my own business. I don’t want to be part of this tomfoolery. You should at the very least be grateful that Artorias’s wolf is here to protect our fragile forms. Not to mention that we’re still alive.”
 
“Fine, I’ll give you that. I’m still mad that I have to be Raime, why couldn’t I be Vendrick or, or um… what’s his name? That mirror dude.”
 
“We agreed that we would cosplay as characters with real names, and we wouldn’t go as hollows or something, I don’t remember. And that second guy is The Looking Glass Knight,” Artorias spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
 
“Yeah, yeah,” Raime said rather tiresomely. “Sulyvahn, what are you even doing? There’s nothing going on, so how do you have any business going on?” Raime was confused by his friend's previous choice of words.
 
“Simple. I am listening,” with Raime’s question answered, Sulyvahn returned to his listening.
 
“That sounds like a thing Artoias should be doing, not you,” Raim pointed out.
 
In reply Artorias answered when he heard his name, “We switch who’s dealing with you each day, the other wouldn’t have to deal with you. Today is my turn.”
 
“What the fuck you guys?”
 
“All you do is talk. Anyway, I think Sif is coming back from his daily hunt,” Out in the distant a gray blur could be seen rushing past trees, and hopping over bushes getting closer and closer to the three. As soon as the wolf returned he dropped the body of what appeared to be a Manticore. “Good job, bud!”
 
“It’s a shame we can’t enjoy such a delectable and exotic meal,” Raim said. His tone sounding as if he was salivating. “Just put that thing over a fire, get some salt and pepper. Mm, it sounds so good.”
 
“Could you shut up, I think I hear something. And please be quiet Sif,” the wolf gave a silent whimper realizing his meal would have to wait.
 
“It’s okay, Sif. When Pontiff’s done, you get to feast,” the wolf’s tail wagged at his companion's words.
 
“What are y-” Raim was cut short by Sulyvahn.
 
“Shh! I can hear something…”
 

Minutes ago…


 

“Ah’ ya’ sure we should’ve gone ahead like that Scoots? Our sisters and RD aren’t goin’ to be too kind on us just leavin’ them behind,” Applebloom asked as she turned her head back to look at the path behind her.
 
“Yea, I’m the Bloom on this. What if something happens? Rarity, AJ, and Rainbow are going to have to run to catch up, and who knows would happen if they don’t make it on time,” despite the words of caution they continued moving forward. Applebloom’s head turning back from time to time, while Sweetie Belle’s eyes shifted around in caution.
 
“You guys don’t have to be such downers. We’ll be fine,” a smug expression rested on her face. “We’re going to Zecora’s place, it’s going to be fine. We do it all the time,” headstrong she continued on through, her friends following close behind.
 
“Yeah, but that was during the day. Y’know when the sun is high up,” Applebloom pointed with a hoof while trees covered sky. “It’s nearly dusk. The sun’s, ah don’t know: setting. And we’re in the middle of the Everfree!”
 
“It’s going to be fine nothing’s going to happen,” with her words escaping her mouth a gray figure dashed out from the left side of the path. It stood on four leg, and towered over the three fillies. Turning its head to face the three, the dead body of a manticore could be seen hanging from the creature’s mouth. The creature stared at them, while they stood in shock. The creature, dropped the body and gave a quick friendly woof. Despite his intentions the girl’s screamed, forcing him to splay his ears at the pitch. Looking behind them he saw three other similar forms rush towards him. The air surrounding them had a feeling of protection with a dash of anger. Realizing he was surely about to be attacked, he picked up is kill, and hightailed it out of the clearing.
 
“Get back here you!” Rainbow yelled as the creature crossed the path into the forest, watching as the figure ran swiftly and easily through the forest.
 
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack also looked in tandem with Rainbow. “Ah’ve never seen something like that here.”
 
“Who cares what that thing was. If it laid a scratch on my Sweetie Belle, it’s going to rue the day it was born,” rather than look through the forest, Rarity immediately set her concerns upon her little sister. “Are you okay Sweetie? Did it do anything, anything at all?! Tell me!”
 
Rarity squeezed her sister in a hug, unfortunately for the filly the smothering left her unable to answer. “Ra...rity… I… can’t… b-breathe,” realizing that she was suffocating the poor filly Rarity released her sister from her death grip.
 
With a sigh of relief Sweetie answered, “I’m fine, I’m fine Ra-”
 
Sweetie’s answer was cut off by Rarity, who was now fuming,” That retched filth is going down!” as soon as her words were uttered Rarity began trailing after the beast who harmed her little sister.
 
“Rare?! What in tarnation does she think she’s doing?!” Applejack looked on in shock at her friend’s sudden change in mood. “Rainbow, go after her will ya. I’ll get these girls home.”
 
With that said Rainbow gave her signature salute and went after Rarity. Applejack turned to the three girls, looking over Sweetie she realized why the eldest ran after the beast. “Uhh Sweetie, you sure you’re okay? You got a little something on your cheek.”
 
Sweetie’s expression was one of surprise, “I do?” Realizing that a portion of her cheek felt colder when the wind passed through, she brought a hoof to wipe away the fluid. Looking towards her now damp hoof, “Oh… it’s… blood.”
 
“B-blood?” Applebloom looked over in horror.
 
Unlike the other two, Scootaloo’s reaction was as if a glowing lightbulb appeared over her head, “Oh! I know! Some blood must’ve splattered when that thing dropped that dead manticore!”
 
Applejack’s irises shrunk to pinpricks hearing those last two words, “Hold on you two! A’hm a comin!” Applejack sprang into action chasing after her friends at whatever that thing was.
 
The three fillies looked toward one another, “What just happened?” Sweetie asked, her expression baffled.
 
“I have no idea,” Scoots just looked on through the forest.
 
“Ah think we just lost our chaperons when it’s basically now night,” looking up, stars could now be seen. The three fillies were in the middle of the Everfree, their sisters were going to fight a giant animal. An audible gulp could be heard from the three of them.
 
“Should we uh… get help?” Scootaloo’s previous confidence was now gone, a twinge of fear residing in her tone.
 
“Uh… Yea. Help. That ought to be a great idea. Right… Sweetie?” Applebloom’s voice quaked with fear.
 
“Yup! No… uh… objections. Yea, help. We should g-go get help,” squeeks could be heard as she spoke. Soon the three ran off to Ponyville to warn Twilight and the others.
 

Minutes after…

 
“What do you mean by you hear something, I don’t hear a thing,” despite Pontiff Sulyvahn’s request, Raime continued to talk.
 
“If you would just-”
 
An audible scream could be heard in the distance, “Get back here you beast, I’ll teach you a lesson for hurting my sister!”
 
Another scream could be heard, “Rarity get back here!”
 
“Does that answer your question,” Sulyvahn’s tone smug.
 
“Yea. More than anything you said,” as usual Raime’s tone carried irritation by his friend’s smugness.
 
The third friend’s thoughts were racing with several situations, “Oh Sif… What did you do?”
 
The wolf only replied with a cheerful bark. “It’s good to be positive, bud. But if you did something bad, you’re going to be in big trouble. Not by me, but by whoever followed you.”
 
Again, the wolf gave a whimper while laying guiltily on the ground. His meal would have to wait until this matter was resolved.
 
A thought occured in Raime’s head, “Do you guys think that they’ll be able to help us,” the hope was ever present in his words.
 
“Well considering we’re statues and we have no way of communicating, no. And I know what you’re thinking of, as of right now, no. Sif cannot help because those people are mad at Sif. Speaking of which, do you have any idea what he has done?” he asked Artorias.
 
“Nope, not a clue. I have no idea if I should be disappointed though. He’s such a nice pup.”
 
“Did you just call him a pup? Look at the size of him! He’s practically half as tall as the trees!”
 
Pontiff made no comment, but Artorias rebuttaled, “Well we’re like three-fourths y’know.”
 
“Yea! But have you forgotten how tall he was in game?!”
 
“Oh shit. You’re right. I don’t think he’s done growing. Fuck… that’s going to be a lot of hair when he sheds,” the piles and piles of fur crossed Artorias’s mind.
 
“Really that’s what you’re thinking about? Not how much he’s going to eat.”
 
“He can fend for himself. Unlike you who has no-”
 
“Again, everyone shut up, they’re almost here,” with the ever present danger rushing toward them, all they could do was wait.
 
Soon, a white horse burst through the bushes. The mane and tail had leaves and twigs sticking everywhere. Scratch marks for branches were also present as she made her steps toward Sif. “You… Dare! Harm my Sweetie Belle. It was a mere scratch! And for that you will pay!”
 
Sif stood up at the mares words of challenge. He turned to his master’s statue and claimed the sword that was stuck in the ground before it. “Sif! What are you doing?! Put that back! Do not fight her!” Regardless of his master’s words, he continued. “Bad wolf! Stop it! Ah… shit. Mother fucker, this is not going to end well.”
 
“How do you know that it’s a her?” Raim asked as he witnessed what would be a ridiculous battle.
 
“Simple. The voice. You really don’t listen do you? I mean you were fine when we were back on Earth, but now? I think you’re losing it.”
 
“When we get out of this shit, then we’ll see.”
 
“Eh, maybe. For now let’s just watch,” Artoria’s tone carried concern for his wolf and the mare. If I wasn’t stoned, I could atleast be able to use my shield.
 
The wolf and the mare stared one another down. Sif held the sword in his jaws and the mare was charging a spell from her horn. They eyed one another, waiting for the first move, ready to counter in an instance. Rainbow Dash flew to the edge of the clearing and stopped, “Woah… What the hay is going on over here?”
 
At Rainbow’s words Rarity casted a spell causing the ground to release several gems. The gems hovered around Sif, before they cut through the air to impale their target. As they lunged, Sif swung his master’s sword and spun one revolution, destroying many of the flying objects. But destroying many was not enough as some of the shards found their way into his body. Before Rarity could have a moment of triumph Sif fought through the pain and dashed for her. The blade was mere inches from her face, ready to cleave her body in two, but the wolf was knocked aside by two more horses. Sif quickly recovered to face what now became three adversaries.
 
“You okay Rares?” AJ looked toward her friend, concern covering her face.
 
“Yes, I’m fine. It happened so fast. I could barely move,” Rarity was catching her breath, but her moment for rest was gone when Rainbow spoke.
 
“He’s charging again!” Rainbow was only half right when Sif charged forward, after a few steps he jumped over the three of them, swinging mid air in an attempt to down Rainbow Dash. She quickly dodged Sif’s attack, but it followed up into an attack to cleave the other two mares. “Watch out!”
 
Without missing a beat the two mares dodged to either side of the beast, AJ quickly recovered before the beast could. With a chance to strike back, Applejack reared her two back legs and gave her signature apple buck that landed on the side of his muzzle. The hit forced the sword from his jaw, and left him tumbling into a nearby tree leaving him dazed.
 
“Hoo wee! That right there is one tough uh… thing. My legs feel all tingly,” AJ gave her back legs a shake trying to remove the feeling of needles poking her body.
 
“Nice one AJ! That guy can jump, nearly took my head off with that sword,” whilst in the air, Rainbow did her best to reenact the scene.
 
“Speaking of sword, that blade is massive,” the blade was stuck in the ground point first. Similar to the height of the beast it towered over their forms.
 
“To think that that feller over there could swing it!” the three mares stared at the sword as it shone in the moonlight.
 
“Girls!” a voice rang out behind them, “Rarity! Applejack! Rainbow! Where are you guys?!”
 
“Over here Twi!” Rainbow yelled back.
 
Twilight gave a sigh and answered back, “Just because you say ‘over here’ doesn’t mean I’ll be to locate you immediately!” a jovial tone ever present in her voice. Despite what she had just said, Twilight was already making her way over and in a few seconds she was passing into the clearing. “What is going on girls? The CMC came running over to the library yelling. Fluttershy is here with me, is everything alright?
 
“Why yes dear. Everything’s fine. Just a little tussle. Oh! And Fluttershy, I wouldn’t recommend coming any further. It’s a… bit of a mess,” Rarity averted her eyes from the dead manticore. The smell though causing her to gag.
 
Fluttershy stood at the edge of the clearing. She could see the dead manticore from here, next to three tall statues.. Her heart sunk at the loss of life, but understood that life continues so she stood strong. Regardless, those weren’t her primary concerns when she saw the large animal that was downed in pain.
 
“Oh you should’ve seen it Twi. That thing was doing all these crazy moves! It had a sword in its mouth, not to mention how high this thing can jump. It was like that Daring Do book! Y’know the one with the uh… the uhhh. What’s it called?” Rainbow’s excitement and joy was cut short by her inability to recall a memory.
 
“It was called a ‘wolf’ if I do remember correctly,” Twilight answered.
 
“Yeah! That!” the excitement returned in her voice. She looked over the ‘wolf’ and saw Fluttershy was approaching it, “Yo! Flutters careful. That thing is nothing like that manticore we encountered years ago.” Rainbow looked on in caution, ready to act if anything happened.
 
“A-are you okay… uh… Mr. Wolf? If my friends harmed you in anyway, I’m sure I could help. I-if you wouldn’t m-mind?” Fluttershy’s concern for the animal brought her here, but overhearing Dash’s tale made her frightened. Oh… Please don’t bite. Please don’t bite!
 
Fluttershy brought her hoof to touch the ends of his fur, causing his eyes to shoot open. Fluttershy fell back in shock and fear, and the beast stood on his fours looking down upon the mare. 
 
“Fluttershy!” immediately Twilight took action and shot a bolt of magic at the wolf. Out of panic, her spell shot out several more blasts at the wolf. One hit the dirt and casted the two in a cloud of smoke, if one shot missed than what would stop it from hitting Fluttershy. Dread began to pick up in Twilight’s mind, Not Fluttershy, anything but!
 
Rather than hear the crash of a bolt hitting an object, or the whimper of a wolf, or the scream of a friend, the only sound that followed was a loud thud followed by several more. The cloud would settle soon after revealing a tall figure clad in armor a massive shield, larger than the average door rested on his left arm. The sword that was plunged into the ground moments ago was now in his grasp, the point aiming at them. The four mares looked on at the figure who stood more than twice the height of Celestia who was ready to fight them.
 
As the figure held its stance he spoke,“No. You shall not harm my loyal companion any longer. I am Knight Artorias, the Abysswalker, the Wolf Knight, and friend to the Great Gray Wolf Sif. And I shall be your opponent!”
> Chapter II: Knight Artorias, the Abysswalker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter II: Knight Artorias, the Abysswalker


 

Two statues watched as Artorias danced through the attacks of the four horses. The one with wings had taken to the air and attempted to strike at his head, the orange one had taken out a lasso and tried to get it around the knight. The one time she had gotten it though, she was pulled pulled from the ground and was at the mercy of his movements. The other two, the ones with horns, formed spells that Artorias easily dodged, sometimes they would be far off and other times they were mere inches from his face. Despite some close encounters with a blow landing, Artorias kept calm and confident as the four mares attacked.
 
“I. Can’t. Get. A. Single. Hit!” Rainbow yelled in frustration, each word cut off with another attempt at a hit. “Why?! He’s huge!” Rainbow went for another punch, striking down at an angle. Once again, as if it was psychic, it leaned left allowing her to pass. As she passed, she turned her head, getting a good look at the scum’s helmet, Think he’s so cool with his stupid ponytail and hel-
 
Rainbow’s words were cut short when she unintentionally rammed her skull into Applejack’s. Both gave an “oof” at the impact, and they both fell flat to the ground. “Ahhh… my head,” Rainbow rubbed her forehead with a hoof, grimacing when she looked and saw the limb now covered in streaks of blood. “Well that’s not good,” she said as she thought about just happened. Just moments ago she was in flight until… “Applejack!” Rainbow quickly sat up and looked around for her friend whom she accidentally rammed into. It took less than a second to find her now unconscious friend, Oh no! No, no, no, no, no, no! What do I do?! D-does she have a concussion! I don’t know how to deal with that! W-what if it's worse, Oh Sweet Celestia!
 
	“Rainbow! Get Applejack out of here now and don’t come back! We’ll be right behind you!” Twilight gave the order for her friend to run, to run and help their friend.
 
“I- I can’t just leave you guys!” Rainbow argued as she got up. Her face was determined, but the moment she took her first step, she nearly stumbled. Crap! Must’ve sprained it when I fell.
 
“You’re injured too! We need to make sure AJ is fine!” that said Twilight returned to the reality of battle. She teleported back a few feet before Artorias’s shield could bash her face. In retaliation she shot another blast of magic, only to be absorbed by the shield. Again, she was forced to teleport out of the way before the flat end of sword could slam against her side.
 
“What about Flutters!” the other pegasus was not forgotten in the heat of battle. Rainbow’s eyes shifting across the clearing as she searched for her childhood friend. “I can’t just leave her!”
 
“Please dear! Help Applejack, we’ll get Fluttershy out of this, I promise. Listen to Twilight, Rainbow!” this time it was Rarity who answered Rainbow’s words. “Go now! While Twilight’s still distracting the… Thing!” Rarity’s eyes pleaded with Rainbow to go while she had the chance, but being the stubborn mare that she was, Rainbow wouldn’t listen.
 
“No, I’m not going anywhere! I can’t lea-”
 
Rainbow’s pleas were quickly cut off, once again it was Twilight who spoke, “Dangit Rainbow! Just go!” Twilight’s horn gave a bright flash blinding Rainbow, in the instance it was over. No longer was Rainbow in the midst of battle, but instead she was at the entrance of the Everfree. 
 
“No! No! No. No…” Rainbow stood there, tears threatening to pour out. Looking down she saw Applejack lying on the floor next to her. Seeing her friend’s body lie on the ground, she fought back her tears and gave a sigh, “Come on AJ, let’s get you to the hospital.”
 

Elsewhere…


 

“Was about time she left,” Raime said as he continued to watch the battle. “Who does she think she is? Thinking she can do anything in the state that she was in,” irritation and a mild anger was present in his tone.
 
“Indeed. How could she not notice that one of her wings was broken? It was basically dragging against the ground,” Sulyvahn gave a sigh, “Then again like you’re one to talk. In the past you’d fight tooth and nail with two broken arms. I distinctly remember you headbutting a demon general repeatedly. Oh, what did you say?”
 
“‘Your punkass, red-ass, lolipop-licking-ass is getting beat up by a guy with both his arms broken,’ is what I believe I said. While that was happening you and Artorias were basically on the floor laughing,” Raime said with a chuckle.
 
Laughing along side his friend, “Those were good times. Good times indeed.” He sighed, and caught his breath after. “As exciting as this scene is, what do you think triggered Artorias’s breaking free?”
 
“Like the hell I know. I barely know shit about magic, I barely passed high school with you guys.”
 
“Yup, and while we went to college, you did a bunch of vocational training in a variety of fields. It's good to have a handyman for a friend, means I don’t have to search stuff up online.”
 
“Why you lazy ass piece- Oh fuck!” after his mental scream, a boulder crashed into Raime’s form causing him to tip over. “Oh no… I better not break.”
 
Returning to the battle, the two mares who were fighting Artorias were panting heavily. Sweat appearing across their bodies as they continued to dodge the attacks of Artorias. After nearly fighting for at the very least half an hour, the two mares couldn’t put a scratch on Artorias’s body. He blocked with his shield, or cut through with his sword. And despite having every opportunity, none of his attacks were truly fatal. Getting hit by the face of the shield or the flat of the blade would knock the wind out of them, send them tumbling, and leave them sore and bruised. Every swing of the sword could have been a fatal one, and one could not assume the next would also be nonlethal.
 
Their tired bodies were beginning to fail on them, both Twilight’s and Rarity’s magic reserves were dismally low. They tried their best to summon more spells, but Rarity’s last attack sent a boulder off somewhere. Twilight’s magic was drained by her panic teleports, most of which were casted by a faint of Artorias’s blade. He played us so easily. It’s like we’re nothing to him. No… we are nothing.
 
“Have you had enough?” the beings voice was deep and calm. The way he spoke revealed to Twilight how little an effort they were to him. His posture told her that he was taking this seriously, ready to move in an instance. She glanced behind and saw the form of the wolf who was lying down by a tree.
 
Fluttershy!
 
“No! Not until we get back Fluttershy you monster!” Twilight brought forth more magic from her reserves as a last ditch effort to do something. Her emotions were running wild in her mind, I have to save her! I promised. Sparks began to fly from her horn, magic radiating off of it. The atmosphere grew tense, not wanting to risk anything, Artorias raised his shield and prepared for the worst. The spell was almost complete and then nothing. She panted as she realized that despite her best effort, she couldn’t summon enough magic to complete her spell. Looking over to her left, she saw Rarity collapsed. She was unconscious from magic exhaustion, and if she continued to push herself, she too would fall.
 
Artorias saw her glance, “Your friend is right, rest would be beneficial for you right now.” Twilight’s legs were trembling, threatening to collapse beneath her. “Do not overexert yourself young one. Your friend is fine and well. You have nothing to fear,” nothing to fear he said, but where was Fluttershy. “Rest,” at his word Twilight saw the world go black as her perspective shifted from upright to sideways. She had fallen over.
 
“Bravo Artorias! Another battle well fought,” Sulyvahn impaled his two swords into the ground and applauded his friend. “A shame they couldn’t even scratch you. Would be a fair if they at least nicked you.”
 
“Hello Pontiff. How’d you get out, and where’s Raime?” 
 
“During your fight, I believe, and this is a hypothesis. I believe I was draining their mana during the fight. When the uh… purple one tried her final spell, I believe I absorbed the exposed mana.”
 
“Huh, cool. I believe mine was my emotions,” Artorias dug his Sword into the ground as he asked his friend. He began walking over to his companion behind him.
 
“Intriguing, As for Raime, I have no idea. On the bright side, he got hit by a boulder and his currently facing dirt, and we can’t hear him anymore,” Pontiff shrugged.
 
“Well sucks to be him, and lucky for us,” reaching his companion Artorias knelt and patted Sif’s head. “Sif, it’s now safe. Please release the yellow one, I believe proper introductions are in order,” after giving his instructions, Sif stood on all fours revealing the yellow mare. Before moving out of the way, Sif gave a friendly lick to the mare transforming her mane to a towering mess.
 
“He he, don’t do that I… I… I…” Fluttershy’s expression transformed from joy to fear when she saw the armored figure. She began cowering and shaking, she brought her tail up to cover her face as she could no longer hide behind her mane.
 
“Relax little one. I am Artorias and that wonderful pup is Sif. Pleasure to meet you,” his head gave a tilt to the side. “If you don’t mind my asking, what’s yours?”
 
“I...I- I’m F-Fluttershy,” her words were below a whisper, despite that though, Artorias still heard it.
 
“Ha ha ha… It is nice to meet you Ms. Fluttershy,” he patted the mare's shoulder to her surprise. Gesturing to Sif, “I see that my friend has already taken a liking to you, I am sure we will get along,” His tone was jovial, strong, but not harsh. Despite his form, she saw that beneath was a kind soul, and knowing this some of her tension released.
 
“R-Right… Mr…” fear still dominated her tone, which Artorias frowned at. But it was understandable.
 
I did kind of beat up her friends... “Ms. Fluttershy-”
 
“F-Fluttershy is… is fine.”
 
“Well then Fluttershy, there wouldn’t happen to be a town near by would their? I let my emotions get the best of me, and the rest went blank,” not really, but she didn’t need to know that.
 
The mention of her friends had caught her attention, what could’ve happened. “Are they okay? Oh… I hope it isn’t anything serious!” Turning her attention to the knight, “If you hurt them that they’re going to end up in the hospital… Oooo… You’re going to get scolded.”
 
The shift in the mare’s attitude had taken the knight by surprise. From behind Pontiff teased, “Ah yes, scolded. Artorias’s greatest weakness,” he followed with a chuckle.
 
“Very funny Pontiff, could you get those two and put them on Sif’s back. By the looks of it, one of us is going to have to carry Raime… Not it.” Artorias placed a finger on his nose, small chuckles escaping his mouth.
 
“Why you son of a… Fine, you earned it,” Sulyvahn said with sarcasm.
 
Turning back to Fluttershy, “Now as I was asking, where would be the closest town? I’m sure your friends could at least use a check up.” Artorias stood up, and went for his blade.
 
“Oh… It’s uh… this way. I think,” the two giants and wolf followed the mare through the forest.
 

Sometime later…


 

The group found themselves at the outskirts of town. Streetlamps could be seen in the distant, and even a few candles could be seen illuminating windows across the town. To the left of them off in the distance they could see a small cottage. “T-the hospital is uhhh… that way...” Fluttershy pointed a hoof in the general direction across town.
 
During their venture through forest, they exchanged a few words. Here and there questions were asked and answered, even a few laughs were shared on their way through. Fluttershy’s fear of these, “humans” as they called themselves, diminished.  The most effective way of relieving it was through the wolf. She had explained to the two that she was able to communicate to some extent with other animals.
 
“So if Sif and I make our way through town to the other side, we should find the hospital?” Artorias asked as he hopped onto Sif’s back, straddling him. Rarity and Twilight were behind him still unconscious from the battle they fought. He received a nod from the pegasus, “Thank you, I will see that your friend is treated. I would also like to thank you again for guiding us.” He then turned to Pontiff who was carrying Raime over his shoulder, “Find him somewhere decent, please. I’ll see you both later.” With goodbyes made, Artorias patted his companion’s head and they took off.
 
“Wow… I had no idea he was that fast,” Fluttershy stared in awe at the power of the massive canine.
 
“Well considering he’s absolutely massive, I’m not surprised,” Pontiff gave a shrug with his unburdened shoulder. “It was nice chatting, no I’m going to find some place to not cause a panic.”
 

Meanwhile…


 

Sif, along with his master and cargo, rushed past buildings in a matter of seconds. Passing block after block of thatch covered homes, every so often he would leap over kiosks and wagons that stood over his path. Once or twice, they had passed ponies who were still out and about. One was definitely drunk and the other seeming to have bat wings. Regardless of the few they had seen, they had reached the courtyard of the hospital. The building itself was large, and carried more of an air of an elderly home. A glowing red cross could be seen at the top as a center piece.
 
“Almost there. Come on Sif, we need to get these two checked up,” he said into his friend’s ear. They were close, but in their path was a figure. Much like Artorias, the figure stood on two legs, and carried a shield and sword. It faced them and raised it’s shield, ready to fight. Looking to the shield, Artorias realized that it was a mirror, “It’s the fucking Looking Glass Knight. Speak of the fucking devil.”
 
 
Artorias gave a single pat onto Sif’s head, and the wolf quickly came to a stop. He dropped of his friend, and pulled out his sword from the scabbard that rested on his back along with his shield. He looked to his friend, “Go. I’ll deal with him.” No arguments were made, but he gave a howl and rushed past the enemy for the building.
 
The two knights faced one another down, both ready and waiting for the first strike. At first droplets would fall, then a light rain came after. After a few seconds the Mirror Knight raised his blade and lightning shot at it, followed by even more rain, “Well this ought to be fun,” Artorias sprang first. His shield in front and his blade ready to pierce. Nearing his target, Artorias was able to get the first hit impaling his adversary’s chest. As if nothing had happened, the Knight called forth another bolt of lightning to his sword, causing it to crackle. Realizing that his attack did nothing to phase him, he pulled his blade from the chest and prepared for the blow. The Knight’s sword clashed onto Artorias’s armor, the mud beneath him made him slide at the impact. “Did not go as planned.”
 
The Knight was in the middle of another swing with his blade, this time at the end of his swing, several ball of lightning shot forth. They electrified the air, he could feel a tingling sensation throughout his body. Uncaring for it, Artorias gave another charge. The Knight attempted to strike him down, but a block with a shield prevented that. The block would be carried over into a shield bash knocking over the Knight. Artorias brought his sword up to cleave the Knight in two, but the reflective shield would block his attack. Artorias attempted one more strike down, this time two handed, but the result was similar. Rather than try again to fail, Artorias got off and allowed the enemy to stand. Now with his blade one handed. Artorias brought it to a horizontal slash, only to be blocked. The knight tried the same, and ended with the same result. The two traded blow for blow and block with block, neither gaining any advantage. 
 
Tired of the back and forth, Artorias dodged the next attack, and decided to gain distance. This is starting to get annoying. Artorias looked on as he saw the Knight was now kneeling, his shield brought forward. Staring at the shield, he noticed a figure attempting to break free. “Oh… fuck.”
 

	~*~

Prior knowledge of the game before this moment prepared me for what I knew was about to come. I just didn’t know what would come out of the knight’s shield. Would it be a knight like myself? A cleric? Maybe he would’ve summoned a sorceror. A loud burst of glass could be heard, drawing me from my thoughts. Rather than seeing a person breakthrough tall and proud a blonde girl tumbled out of the mirror. She flew out of it, periodically hitting the ground before coming to a stop with her face planted in the ground.
 
I continued to stare off from afar, eventually she stood up wiping the mud and grass off her face. I hadn’t gotten a good look at her face, the distance failing to give me enough detail. Her choice of clothing didn’t seem very well suited for this, it appeared as if she was in the middle of doing a morning or afternoon jog. A camouflage sports bra, camo shorts, and bracelets on both arms. I could care less about the shoes. Overall, she seemed pretty ill equipped to be fighting me, a guy who’s basically nine-feet tall, fully armored and wielding a giant sword and shield. No… I can’t underestimate her. She seems nimble and fast; not to mention, the Looking Glass Knight wouldn’t summon someone who’s not strong.
 
She turned to the Looking Glass Knight, asking for his name, “Hello, uh, mirror guy. What’s your name?” This surprised me a bit as I was expecting for her to charge at me right when she realized what was going on. The knight pointed his sword at me, Probably telling her to fight me… Ah shit… I thought to myself. To my disbelief she didn’t understand what he meant, he even did a couple more gestures at me,“What do you want me to do? I still haven’t gotten your name yet.” What’s wrong with this girl? How can she not understand what’s going on? Screw it! I’m taking this chance.
 
With my mind made up and the girl distracted by the knight, I raised my sword and shield and charged full speed. I was closing the distance fast, the knight was preparing for me, but the girl on the other hand… not so much. She turns around, likely hearing my running, and again to my utter disbelief she runs off behind the knight, leaving him to take the brunt of my attack.
 
My shield rammed into his, a metallic thud ringing in the air. The force being too much, I broke through and sent him to the ground. I dug my shield into the ground, and took my sword in both my hands and began to stab him repeatedly. Each hit impaling him through his armour. There was no blood nor the sound of the blade cutting flesh, just the screech of metal as I my blade passed through his armour.
 
My thought were centered on killing the knight, if I kill him then I don’t have to deal with the summon. The sooner the better after all. Unfortunately, my plan on ending this quickly would falter. The fast pace of running footsteps reached my ears, between the screeches of metal on metal. It was only fair for her to test her mettle on me. I feel the impact of her landing behind me with a thud. With her left arm holding on to my left pauldron, she used her right to continuously pound on my head. As she did so I heard the sound of flying nail ringing through the air to my surprise. They didn’t break through fortunately enough, and I began to try and shake her off as I stood up. My armour prevented me from trying to grab her as she attempted to nail through. There was a sudden pause from the punches and the sound of nails, Is she o- my thoughts were cut short. A pain shot through my ears and mind as a sudden screeching noise echoed through out my helmet.
 
“Arrghh!” I voiced in pain. With one final push of energy, I gave one more shake to throw her off. The force had sent her to the edge of the field’s forest and into a tree. I quickly recovered from the deafening sound, and went to fetch my shield. “Fcuk… God damn that hurt…” With my shield once again on my arm, I turned to face the dazed girl. Time for a little payback. I raised my shield and once again, my target made, I charged. She was too dazed to try and flee like before so I knew she would take the impact. In a matter of seconds I was on top of her. Rather than shove her away from me, I gave my shield a tilt and sent her up at an angle through the tree and beyond. Taking the opportunity, I jumped up to meet her and used the flat of my blade to knock her back down to the ground. I was not out for her blood, I just wanted to end this quickly. The quickest way being the knight.
 
Back on the ground, I turned around to face the knight who was still trying to get up. To my right I saw a blonde lock of hair fall onto my shoulder, thinking nothing of it I brushed it off and went to end the knight. I took my first few steps until I heard the voice from the girl behind me, “You!” The moment I had heard her yell, I turned around catching a glimpse of her now red eyes. As soon as my body was fully turned, she lunged at me, her legs clamping against my chestplate, her… chest in my face. I was about to grab her until she pulled my helmet off along with it’s blue scarf. The moment after I could only yell in pain, as she punched my head. I felt something stab into my skull, followed by another, and another, and another. Each of her punches leaving a throbbing pain. After eight punches or so, I managed to ignore the pain long enough to punch her back and therefore loosen the grip she has on my chest and grab her to throw her off. As she flew, I brought a hand up to my head and pulled out one of the intruders. Looking at my hand, Is that a nail?
 
I brought my hand up once again and pulled the last of them out. I turned my attention back at the girl whom I saw was now running at me. It was then I had noticed her bracelets were now some sort of gauntlets. As soon as she tried to jump for me again I brought my shield up to block, but as expected from her nimble body she hopped over it. Unfortunately for her, I brought the pommel of my sword to strike her in the chest sending her onto the ground. Whilst she was grounded, I brought my blade down to cleave her in two, but she rolled to the side. Rather lift my sword up, I dragged it across the ground in hopes that it would knock her further away. To my dismay, she got out of the way of that one aswell at the same time putting distance between the two of us. 
 
Not wanting to let up I ran at her, as she was beginning to get up and charge at me a brought one of my legs up, kicking her. She flew straight into the Looking Glass Knight, who had finally gotten up from my attack. The knight fell to pieces, his armour than dissipating into dust. All that was left was in the knight’s place was the girl whom I kicked. I averted my gaze as her clothing was rather torn in various places, moreso the chest region as a few threads were holding the clothing in place. Oh… Well… That’s a view… I thought to myself.
 
Looking past all apparel I finally got a good look at her face, her eyes caught my attention. Rather than the fiery red I had seen before, they were now violet. I wanted to give my regards to the fighter, but even she was beginning to fade away with the defeat of the knight. Quickly I grabbed from out of a side pouch a White Soapstone so that she may summon me. I tossed it at her and to my embarrassment it landed between her chest, tearing the last couple of strands. But before I could say a word she was gone. “Well shit… if she summons me this is going to awkward…”
 
Deciding not to dread on future possibilities, I searched for my helmet which I found near the tree that I had tossed the girl into. Wasn’t her name Ya… No. It was Ying… Yea, I think it was Ying. I saw a glowing orb where the knight had died and where Ying was last scene. Is that what I think it is? To my surprise and joy, it was indeed what I thought. The Soul of the Looking Glass Knight. With that now in my inventory, I made my way to the hospital, Hopefully Sif got those two their without much trouble. My worrying would have to wait, as I felt the universe pull upon me. “Fuck.” I said aloud, “I’m being summoned…”
 
A few moments later, my vision blackened. The words “You have been summoned, “ Appeared out of nowhere. Soon after my body rose from the ground and onto the surface. It was the middle of the day or so when I arrived. As soon as I was out of the ground, I looked for Ying, as it turned out she was looking at a far off mountain, which appeared to have just recently have a rock slide. She turned around, the moment she saw, she scrambled back behind a boulder. “Really?” I asked, as I stabbed my sword into the ground and rested the shield against it.
 
I sat down beside it whilst resting my back on the makeshift backrest. “This is the welcome I get after you summon me? You do realize what I had given you was a tool for summoning me when you need help, right?” I rested on my sword, looking up at the blue sky. “Huh, pretty.”
 
I didn’t look over to her, but I heard her, “What is?”
“So you’re asking the questions now…” I teased. “Simple really, you.” I said nothing else leaving a long pause. 
 
“What?” she responded.
 
“You… The trees, the sky, everything really. Was really hoping to get a reaction out of you though. Shame I didn’t…” Artorias gave her his answer followed by a sigh. “So your name is Ying right?”
 
She snickered at what I said, “Yang, actually. And you?” she asked as she climbed the boulder and sat on top.
 
“I am Knight Artorias. My titles include The Abysswalker, The Wolf Knight, and the Companion to the Great Gray Wolf Sif, “ I said with a lazy wave.
 
“So, what exactly happened? I’m still a bit confused about what led up to our fight.”
 
“Ha ha!” I said jumping up from my position. “You see it’s quite the tale, but I’ll give you a synopsis. I ended up fighting several ponies, two shot magic from their horns, another was flying around trying to hit me, and the last was using a lasso.” I made a few gestures mimicking the creatures. “I ended up beating them unconscious, so along with my partner, we brought them back. To be more specific, the two unicorns. That’s when the Looking Glass Knight appeared, after beating him up a bit, he summoned you.” I said as I pointed a finger. “And hopefully you remember what happened, after all it happened maybe five minutes ago for me.”
 
“Oh, yesterday’s events. Yeah, I remember most of it, but after you damaged my hair, things are a bit hazy. I don’t like it when I get angry. Speaking of yesterday, I still need to write up the Carne Den menu.”
 
“So that happened yesterday for you? Interesting.” I brought my hand up to my chin, “I won’t ask about the hair thing, but a menu? Now you’ve caught my attention.”
 
“So, I’ve been here in Equestria for about, oh, a little over two months, I think? I haven’t been keeping track all that much. Anyways, for about a month and a half, I ate what the ponies did. I got sick after eating some Chineighse food and learned that they use a grass based oil in their cooking process and I got sick the next day. I’m more cautious about pony food now, and I avoid eating grass as I always have before. Then one of Rainbow introduced me to a griffon, Gilda, and I went a bit crazy after rediscovering meat. Then Gilda and I decided to make a bar and grill, the Carne Den. It’s still under construction, but should be done soon. It’s going to have meat options and will be the start of Ponyville’s nightlife. Probably.”
 
“Two months… That how long you’ve been stuck here? Never thought I’d meet anyone else who was human. Back in my world I’ve been stuck there for millenniums with two of my friends…” I pondered in thought and I realised a few of her words sounded odd. “Did you just say ‘Equestria’ and ‘Chi-neigh-se’ food?”
 
“Yes. That’s what this land is called, and that’s what that food, which I am not getting again, is called. I am aware of the puns, and even though I’m surrounded by neigh sayers, nobody seems to make a fuss or object to it.”
 
“I see what you did there, and I mildly disapprove,” I said shaking my head. “Anyway, you said that this place is called Equestria, is it a city, a country, a continent, the world?”
 
“Country. We’re currently outside Ponyville. The ponies there are a friendly bunch, if a bit skittish. We’re actually in Diamond Dog area, but considering what I did here a couple weeks after I showed up, we should be okay.”
 
I looked around, taking in more of the detail and realized that the place seemed quarry-like. “Well, if it’s a country then it must have a government, correct? I’d like to see what’s become of the lands of my former kingdom.”
 
“I don’t think this is your world. I’d have to send you back to your’s so you could find out.”
 
“Of course I know that. I’m just wondering if you knew anything about the government.”
 
“Well, the princesses that rule this country are Celestia and Luna, both alicorns. There’s also Twilight, another alicorn, she lives in Ponyville. In Canterlot is a group of thirty unicorns that meet with a princess eight times per year to make laws and legislative decisions. Twenty-Eight of them are, and pardon moi francois, power hungry idiots. The other two are awesome. Those two actually had smart bills that put restrictions on the government and freed up farmers a bit.” Well that’s a bucketload of information, I thought. One thing stood out to me though.
 
“Did you say Twilight? That pony wouldn’t happen to be a purple unicorn? Because if she is, I may have beaten her up before our little skirmish…”
 
“Purple unicorn? Ha! Don’t be silly. She’s a lavender alicorn. Besides, that’s your Twilight, not the one here.”
 
“I’m just asking… I may need to make a profuse apology letter if she is involved in the government in my world. Anyway, thanks for the bit of information. I’m sure my compatriots and I will put them to good use.” I said as I took my shield onto my left arm, and pulled my sword with my right. “Now if you could, I must head off.”
 
“Alright. Go on back to your world. We’re done here,” Hearing her words i prepared for my vision to turn black. Nothing happened. 
 
I looked over to her, “Uh… Try having the Stone in your hand?”
 
“Hm? Oh, right.” I heard her say as I saw he pick up the Soapstone. Again prepared for what I thought would be my way home she spoke, “Hey, could you hold still for a moment?”
 
“Uh… Sure?” What’s she up to?
 
“Thanks.” She approached me from the boulder. To my surprise she jumped onto me her hand on my shoulder the Stone in the other. She then began to write on me with it. What is going on?
“What are you doing?” I looked down at the girl. Her face being a bit close, I turned my head. Those eyes are damn right beautiful…
 
“Now, go back to your world,” with that said, whatever she wrote on me glowed. My vision turning black, I was returning to my world. Last thing I heard though, was a thump of a body hitting the ground. Smooth...

 

I returned to my world, emerging from the ground. Rather than it be the stormy night in which I fought, it was a nice and bright sunny day. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to admire such a sight as heard snarls coming from the hospital building. Sif! I just don’t get any rest do I?
 
I rushed over as fast as my legs would carry me, in the distance I saw two ponies clad in golden armor pointing spears at Sif. Trying to either stab him or push him back. Even more were approaching from the sky, they too had spears equipped. Sif was fending them off as they tried to go in for an attack, but every time the wolf swatted them away. It was when I had finally reached them that a pegasus stabbed Sif letting him cry out in pain. “What the hell do you think you’re doing with my wolf?!”
> Chapter III: Questions of Might and Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter III: Questions of Might and Magic


Celestia soared through the sky at a breakneck pace to the point where her vision began to blue shift, clouds whizzing by and the ground a blurred mess. After receiving a report that her student as well as her friends were injured by a creature, she had sent several squads of guards to apprehend the creature. Soon more reports followed, and she sent three more. But even after sending over a dozen, the creature had beaten them all. With dread of being forced to fight after she had rushed over to protect her ponies.

The moment Ponyville was in view she slowed down, and immediately set her eyes upon the large white building that was the hospital. As she approached, she saw two figures, one on all fours and completely grey, and the other stood on two legs and carried a shield and sword. All around the figure were bodies of her guard on the floor, as well as a few making a perimeter around the two. Even from afar, she could tell her guard was afraid.

Celestia collided into the ground with a great thud at the same time creating a crater in the mud. The guards quickly turned to look at what happened, hope was evident on their faces as they realised who it was. Unfortunately, they left themselves open and a blast erupted from the two-legged figure, and they were sent flying. Celestia stared in shock at what happened, her focus was set onto the two figures who stood between her and the hospital.

The two stared one another down, Celestia in a slight defensive position, while the other two were calmly standing. “I, Princess Celestia, demand that you stand down and surrender yourselves. Otherwise, I shall apprehend you myself,” Celestia’s face was determined, ready to strike at the two in a moment’s notice.

What came after her demand surprised her. The figure stabbed the ground with his sword, and set his shield against it. He walked up to the princess and presented his wrists. The action took Celestia by surprise, but she quickly composed herself mentally. She prepared a spell to apprehend him, but before she could, something glowed in the others hand. In a near instance a lightning bolt shot down from the sky and connected with the sun princess. Before she could recover, the creature punched Celestia square in the muzzle. Her stance faltered for a moment, but that was enough time for her adversary to strike her several more times.

After getting a few in the creature fell back to his sword and shield. He took the shield first, his other hand glowed and he placed it on his shield. The shield began to emit a blue light, and he went for his sword. Celestia, quick to recover from the attack, launched magic bolts at him in attempt to stop him. The bolts collided with his shield and were absorbed. What on Equs did he do to that shield?

With the sword now in hand, he pointed it at Celestia, “I, Knight Artorias, request that you cease your attack. Otherwise, I shall do it for you.”

Is he mocking me? She eyed the figure, and the way he stood. He was on guard, with his shield raised. Casting a spell would be pointless, I’d be leaving myself open. With the thought in mind, Celestia quickly summoned her own shield and war hammer that were suspended in the air by levitation.

Seeing an opening, Artorias quickly maneuvered to close the gap. His shield connected with Celestia’s, and the force of the attack pushed it onto her. Artorias was unrelenting, as he spun around her to deliver a fatal strike, but was blocked by the handle of the hammer. Seeing that his rhythm of attack was interrupted, he immediately backed off.

Celestia took the moments to recompose herself before going on the offensive. She teleported, behind the creature and delivered a strike with her hammer. The strike hit hard and Artorias was sent off to the side, his feet leaving a trail in grass. Celestia rushed forward, and delivered a blow onto his shield. She commited to another that would be followed by another. The force was being absorbed by the shield, not one strike making a dent. She went for another attack, but Artorias used his shield to deflect it. Completing his parry, Artorias went for the riposte.

Celestia’s eyes were wide open as she realised what had just happened. She had tried to get one more strike in, but a second later she was now staring the tip of a blade. The sword was an inch away from her eye, and it stayed there. What just happened?

The sword was removed from its place, and onto the shoulder of her enemy,” We have much discuss Princess.”

Celestia stared at him in disbelief, “Discuss? After you have killed my guards! After you attempted to kill me! After you maimed my student and her friends! We have nothing to discuss you monster!” Celestia was fuming, and she brought herself into a guard.

Artorias on the other hand, returned the favor by staring at her in disbelief, “Kill? I killed your guards? If so, then why is there not a bloodstain upon my blade or the grass beneath my feet. If anything they are unconscious, and fortuitously, they’re right next to a hospital. And I didn’t try to kill you. If I wanted to, you would be dead already. As for your student and her friends, they had assaulted me first. Is it illegal to defend one’s self?”

“Regardless of whatever you say, you are a threat.”
“What of it? I am not here to harm others, in fact I came here to make sure your student received proper medical treatment. After a fiasco, I found some guards attacking my partner, if anyone's a threat, it's you and your guards. These kinds of assertions that you make are unbecoming of a ruler, to think the lands where my kingdom stood are now ruled by you,” though his expression was hidden, the disgust in Artorias’s voice was present.

“What are you talking about? Equestria has stood for over two-thousand years, built on barren lands. What you speak of, is a fabrication. The ponies of these lands ended the Age of Chaos, and brought forth helped my sister and I usher in an Age of Sunlight!”

“Oh and what came before the Age of Chaos little one?”

Celestia payed no heed to the insult, “Nothing came before it.”

“Then you know nothing.”

“And what do you know?”

“More than you would ever know. Does the name Age of Fire spur any thoughts?”

“That is nothing but legend a legend. A story fabricated to create hope for those who had lost their wills. So they could believe that somepony would save them from their suffering.”

“All legends bear some truth,” Artorias turned around and walked to the large beast.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Celestia yelled as she rushed Artorias.

Quick to respond, Artorias met her hammer with his shield and blocked her attack. He pushed back, but before he could recover he saw a shield flying at him. He was tossed back by the attack and readjusted himself to land on his feet. Celestia kept the pressure by once again rushing him, rather than block, Artorias rolled passed her and struck down with the flat of his blade. Celestia slammed into the ground, the air escaping from her lungs. She tried to get up but she felt another force slam her head into the ground.

“I am wasting my time if all you want to do is kill me,” with that said, Artorias took his foot off the mare’s head and ran over to the other creature. Artorias mounted the beast, and the two quickly made their way into the forest.

He got away. Celestia thought as she brought herself back up. She looked over and saw a few of her guards getting up off the ground. A few were already dragging their comrades into the hospital. Indeed, as Artorias had said, none were killed to her relief. Still, the fact that he had bested her in physical combat was disconcerting.  What on Equus is he?

Rather than mull over the thought, Celestia looked over to the hospital. Twilight and her friends were in there and were no doubt being treated, I need to make sure she’s okay. She made her way past the guards, giving a concerned look for those who still hadn’t woken. As she passed them, a few of the guards that were up and about saluted her and continued making sure their comrades were fine.

She made her way through the hospital doors and reached the reception desk. The mare on the other side of the desk had her face in a binder of paper, furiously writing. Every so often she would look over to more paperwork, and continue writing. The room was quiet save for the scratching of quill on paper, “Excuse me.”

The mare didn’t even look up to face Celestia, she simply grabbed a form with her magic and placed it before her, “Fill this out for whoever is injured, and place it in the basket. Celestia looked over to the basket where a tall pile of documents rested.

Oh my, so many were injured. Celestia sighed. If I hadn’t sent them and went myself… She returned her focus onto the mare, “I’m not here for that.”

“Then what are you-” the mare looked to up to face the diarch. “Oh my goodness! I am so sorry Your Highness!” once again the mare shoved her face into the binder, this time in an apologetic manner.

“Relax,” the mare looked up at the word. Celestia finally had a chance to get a good look at the mare. She was haggard, her mane was frazzled, and her eyes almost completely bloodshot. “I’m here for Twilight Sparkle and her friends,” Celestia said with a smile.

The nurse blinked and rubbed her eyes, she stared at the princess, “You’re real!”

Celestia could only give a small light hearted laugh at the mare’s words, “Indeed, that I am.”

“Oh… uh… uh…” the nurse was now flipping through the pages of the binder searching for the ponies the princess was here to see. She quickly raised her head, “They’re in Twenty-Two One-B. That would be the second floor, in the hall on your left.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said with a smile. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Pink Cross, your highness.”

“It’s a pleasure, and I was serious about relaxing. Instead I strongly encourage you to take a break and get some sleep. It looks like you’ve been at it all night,” with her advice said, Celestia made her way to the room.


It was only a few minutes walk through the halls, and Celestia found herself at the door of her student, as well as her friends’, room. She gave a knock, “Come in.”

“Princess,” Twilight said as she quickly got up from her bed. The motion was much for her body and she quickly came to regret her decision.

“Don’t push yourself, Twilight,” Celestia’s voice was quiet as to not disturb the others who were sleeping. “How are you?”

“In pain, and tired,” Twilight let her body fall back onto the soft bed. “What happened out there? There are guards all over here, and there was a large flash and… and…”

“Hush Twilight,” Celestia brought a wing up to quiet her student. “Just relax. What happened is that I had sent the guards to handle two creatures that stood outside the hospital. It wasn’t enough, so I stepped in.”

Twilight’s ears pointed up in shock at this, “Did you end fighting him? Are you okay?” Again, Twilight winced at her movements.

“Yes we did, unfortunately, he had gotten away. And as for your concern, just a little battered, nothing I can’t handle,” as per usual with her student she gave a motherly smile.

Another knock came at the door, followed quickly by a mare walking through, “Fluttershy! Are you okay?” the unicorn once again flinched at her movements. Which would be quickly comforted by Celestia’s gentle wings.

“Your highness,” Fluttershy gave a bow. “Hi Twilight,” she moved beside the princess and looked toward her battered friend.

“Don’t ‘Hi’ me! How’d you get away?” this time Celestia held her student down. “Did you get us to the hospital?”

“Oh no… I don’t have the strength to do that Twilight. It was actually Artorias and his friend Sif that brought you two to the hospital.”

“What? No, just no. He was the one who beat us up.”

“Well you guys did kind of beat up his friend…” rather than comfort her friend, Fluttershy decided to be as blunt as possible. Despite her efforts, she shied away behind her mane averting her eyes from Twilight.

“That’s because the wolf attacked the Crusaders.”

Fluttershy was quick to refute Twilight’s claim, “Actually, he didn’t. Sif’s such a sweetie, he would never do that. According to him, he said hello, and then Rainbow, AJ, and Rarity came after the poor pup,” a saddened expression formed.

“A pup? That wolf is already massive, are you telling me he’s going to get bigger?”

“He’s too playful to be full grown Twilight.”

“Fluttershy, you seem to know a lot about Artorias and the ‘wolf’ Sif,” Fluttershy gave a nod at Celestia’s statement. “Would you tell me what you know?”

“Uhm… well there are two others, one of which is still a statue. Apparently they were turned to stone after there uh.... Council?” Fluttershy gave a quick pause. With an affirmative nod, she continued, “Their council turned on them. And… uh… that’s all I know,” Fluttershy pondered for a moment if there was anything else they had discussed on their way back from the Everfree. “I didn’t get that many opportunities to ask them any questions princess.”

“That’s quite alright Fluttershy,” with an exasperated sigh, Celestia resigned to the fact that she maybe in the wrong. She turned to Twilight, “Twilight, if you ever encounter any of them again, do not engage them in combat again. Try talking first, I’m sure it will work,” She gave her student the most gentle hug possible, “I have business to attend to in Canterlot, the media will surely blow this out of proportions. Goodbye Twilight, Fluttershy, and I wish your friends a swift recovery.”


Days Later…


Twilight slammed the library door shut as a crowd of cameras and ponies greeted her as soon as she opened it. For the several days the headline of the Equestrian media surrounded the events that had recently befallen ponyville. Journalists and reporters alike flooded the small town in search of stories, information, some even trying to track down the creatures. Most articles were speculation or interviews, and others seemed extreme to say the least. After she and her friends were discharged from the hospital the onslaught started. It was a mild annoyance at first, but quickly escalated into what was outside.

“Ugh!” Twilight groaned as she fell onto her bed. “Just make it stop!”

“You okay Twi?” Spike chimed in as he was reshelving a couple of books.

“They’ve been at it all day!” she screamed into her pillow. Lifting her head, “Can’t a mare just get some milk? How about a nice stroll through the park?”

“W-Well I-”

“No! She can’t!” once again Twilight’s head collapsed onto her pillow. Twilight’s despair continued on for over an hour. She was brought out of it by and oddly harsh knock from the library door. To her surprise as she cautioned the door, the sound of reporters and or journalists was gone. She contemplated this, Maybe they went home? She looked at a clock that hung on a wall, No… at this time? It’s way too early.

	Once again, Twilight thought about what was going on, but another knock at the door caught her attention. Just who is it? It could be one of the girls. No… they’re busy at this time. Not to mention, the press… ugh. The knocking at the door, wasn’t growing impatient, in fact it was as if the pony on the other side knew for a fact that she would answer the door.

Reluctant to open the door, Twilight braved the few steps that was left between herself and the door. She took the door handle in her magic, ready to close it in a moments notice. Taking a deep breath she opened the door, “Hello, welcome to the Golden Oaks Library.”

“I didn’t expect to meet someone so… chipper?” the being passed on the last word. “Oh well regardless, I am here to see the collection that is stored here,” The being offered its hand to Twilight. He was given no response as she continued to stare. “Excuse me, I’m sure I must introduce myself. I am after all the ‘foreign’ one here, I am Pontiff Sullyvan. Feel free to call me Pontiff or Sullyvan, Pontiff is just a title by the way.” Once again Sullyvan offered his hand in a friendly gesture.

With her mouth agape, Twilight took a hoof and placed it upon Pontiff’s hand. Immediately, the tall creature bowed down and placed his forehead upon her hoof. “Uh… Right…” Twilight managed to say, “Why don’t you come on in.”

“Thank you,” Pontiff ducked under the door frame, and made his way inside. Immediately he made his way for the history section of the library. Twilight stood off to the side, erring on the side of caution as he scrolled through book after book.

Is he really reading, or is he just skimming. If I had the ability to read at that pace then-

	“Excuse me is this your entire history section?” he said as he closed a book.

“W-wait, you’re already done?”

“Yes, if that’s all do you have a science section?”

“W-well there are a few more history related texts in my room upstairs. I uh… can go get them.”

“Fantastic! I must tell you before you go, this Starswirl seems like an amazing person. So if you have anymore information on him, I would love to get my hands on it.”

“Yea… right,” with her confirmation, Sullyvan began looking through more books. Whilst he did that, Twilight made her way upstairs to both collect the books as well as herself. What in Celestia’s name is going on?! Why did I let one of them in! Why am I helping it?! I need to tell Princess Celestia.

With her mind made up, Twilight quickly summoned a scroll of parchment paper and a quill with ink. She quickly scribbled down what was necessary and would have Spike-

Spike! Oh… Where is he!

No, he’s going to be fine. He’s probably went to Rarity’s while I was wallowing. Twilight looked at the clock that hung above her bedroom door,  I better hurry!

Twilight quickly used her magic to gather the books she had mentioned. When she returned she saw Sullyvan staring at a chalkboard. The moment she had made it to the ground floor Sullyvan spoke up, “Pardon my prying -Oh, I also reorganized the books for you. Besides that, a quick question. Is this a spell algorithm for creating a window to see anywhere and anywhen?”

Twilight was taken aback by the question, nopony she had ever met, not even her professors, were able to figure out what she was working on unless she told them. Yet, this creature was able to figure it out from a barebone rough draft. She wasn’t even done writing out the rest!

“Yea!” she said a little louder than she would have liked. “Yea… its a Chrono Inter-Dimensional Window. It should be able to do what you just said.”

“Would?” Pontiff turned around to face the mare.

“I haven’t been able to complete it yet. It’s basically kind of like combining two spells, time manipulation and teleportation,” She walked up to the board and began finishing what she had so far. “The two spells, just don’t want to connect. They have the same variables, but something’s missing.”

Pontiff stared on as she finished her work, only when she was done writing did he speak, “Well what type of magic is it?”

“What type of magic? It’s arcane magic.”

“Define arcane.”

“Nothing really distinguishes arcane magic from any other type of magic, the only real difference is the catalyst used to conjure the spell.”

“Well that’s your problem,” Sulyvan took a piece of chalk from the board. “You see, magic has a funny way of surprising you. One thing can do something else when you wanted it to do another. Algorithms are also funny.”

“How so?” Twilight was curious at Sulyvan's seemingly odd phrasing.

“Well, just because you combine two spells, doesn’t mean it will end up being the same type of magic that they were formed out of. You see, because of that you end up with a whole new plethora of problems. What your people fail to understand is algorithms, I know because I read all your books here.”

“I have all the most advanced spell books known to ponykind, from actual spells to theory. How can we not understand algorithms?”

“Simple, because you don’t know how to use those algorithms. Your ‘way’ of doing things is to get your spell to do everything at once. When you shouldn’t treat it as such, every spell have steps.”

“Of course we know that, we have a bunch of spells that require multi-level casting. Do you-”

“Let me finish. What I am mainly referring to is situational spells, or spells that have many confounding elements to them,” Pontiff then began drawing a diagram. “In statistics there is causation, correlation, and confounding. The first, one thing causes another. The second, the two are affected by the same thing. The third, there are too many variables that contribute to something. You treat every spell as if it were causation.”

“That’s because that’s how spells work, you do something to create another,” she began pacing around the room.

“And that can be true for some spells, but not all. You have to take in extra variables. The spell you’re attempting to do and quantum mechanics don’t get along because you didn’t account for variables.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Twilight gave up on pacing and fell onto her couch that was in front of the chalkboard.

“It’s a simple fix really. The window that you try to create collapses because it’s unable to handle infinite information.”

The words ‘infinite information’ caught Twilight’s attention, “Go on…”

“It’s a simple matter of the ‘Many Worlds Theory’ or other dimensions, I suppose. Your window is unfiltered, if you filtered it to this dimension alone then it should work,” he spoke as if this meant nothing to him, but to Twilight, this meant the world to her.

“You’re telling me, that my spell is peering into other dimensions,”he gave a nod. “And that the reason it's collapsing is because it’s unable to handle the infinite amount of information from an infinite amount of worlds,” the creature gave another affirmative nod. “And all I need to do is somehow filter this world from the rest,” He gave one final nod.

“I could kiss you right now!” Twilight was practically skipping around the room now. Suddenly, to the surprise of Sullyvan, Twilight jumped and gave him a hug. “I’ve been working on this for so long! You have no idea what this means to me.”

“You’re right I don’t,” he said as he patted the back of the lavender unicorn. “By the way.”

“Yea?”

“Are there suppose to be cameras outside the window taking photos of us?”

Twilight jumped away from him, “What?!” She ran over to the door and rushed into the outside world. As Pontiff pointed out, there were cameras looking through her windows and behind those cameras were the reporters and journalists who trapped her inside her home.

“What in the name of Celestia do you ponies think you’re doing?!” Pontiff could tell something had snapped in the mare's head, she was after all on fire.

I’d hate to be them.
> Chapter IV: Fairytales and Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter IV: Fairytales and Dreams


Luna quickly traversed the halls of the Royal Castle, an aura of urgency surrounding her. The castle staff and guards were forced to quickly step aside for the princess who nonchalantly apologized for the trouble. Something had been picking at Luna’s head, her sister had not been there to greet her for her breakfast and her sister’s lunch. But that wasn’t the problem, the problem was that her sister would never do such a thing without giving her a reason, be it in person or through telegram. Today, her sister did not appear, nor was there any message of any kind. After her breakfast she focused on her sister’s magical signature, and set about locating her.

Her tracking led her to the Royal Library, to be even more specific the Forbidden Archives hidden within it. Having been through the archive many times already, she had grown accustomed to its many twists and turns. Eventually she made her way through the labyrinth of book shelves to her sister who was surrounded by mountains of books. “Sister! What art thou doing?” Seeing Celestia indulging herself in this amount of books was quite the surprise.

A slight jump could be seen from Celestia, the few words surprising her back into reality. Looking up from her book she found her sister slowly approaching her with a face of concern. “Luna… Is it this late already? Have I missed our…”

Bags could be seen beneath her sister’s eyes. Her expression revealing she wasn’t entirely there, “Indeed, but that be no matter. What on Equus art thou doing dearest sister? There may be a pile of books the size of a mountain.”

“I… have been… researching, Luna,” she said as she slowly closed the books she was reading.

“Researching what?” the fact that her sister was researching was... new. Usually her sister knew already of most of the happenings around Equestria and beyond. The fact she had read this many books meant that she knew nothing of a certain subject. A glance at a few of the titles of the books surprised her even moreso. “Sister art thou researching… Fairytales? Tall tales? Old foal’s stories and lullabies?

If that were so? Why wouldst thou require to research it? Certainly thou should know many of them by heart?” Celestia had read thousands of fairytales and this was concerning. Nostalgia? Boredom? Failure to remember a certain story? None of these thoughts made sense to Luna, her sister wasn’t the type to revel in nostalgia, be bored, and had a sharp memory.

“I wish it was so… I’m sure you heard in the news recently that Ponyville had been attacked again,” she placed a hoof upon the book’s cover, wiping off a small amount of dust.

“Well of course, but that is not new sister. The small town has always been plagued with these oddities.”

“This time it’s different, sister. This time it’s something completely new.”

“And thou art searching among foal’s tales? Hardly seems resourceful,” Luna picked up several books from the pile in her magic. Looking over each one with a critical eye.

“Well it seems to be our best lead, afterall; he claimed to be from the Age of Fire.”

At this Luna bursted out with a laugh, “Certainly thou did not take this creature’s words as serious? The Age is Fire is a mere foal’s tale Celestia. Tales so old that we may have never heard of them if we hadn’t ventured into that one old castle as mere fillies.” Luna’s laughing slowly calmed down, but when she looked to Celestia, her sister continued to hold a serious face.

“That is what I believed to Luna, but all the puzzle pieces seem to fit eerily perfectly,” Celestia levitated a particular  book to her sister.

“Legend of the Old Wolf Knight and his Companion, Sif, I remember this tale. A nameless knight along with his beast companion fought back a tide of demonic creatures. After defeating the army he established the first ever kingdom on what is now present day Equestria,” Luna skimmed through the old text, pausing every so often on what she remembered to be the best parts.

“Well it seems that he may be no foal’s tale, Luna. That stallion, Artorias, may have been a real figure,” Celestia brought to her another book. After flipping through a number of pages she paused at a specific page depicting the knight.

“What art thou saying? That he is real?” she walked closer to her sister, close enough to peer into the book.

“All fairytales hold some truth. This Luna, is the knight I fought a few days ago… and lost,” Luna quickly stepped away from her sister all the while her sister continued to stare at the image.

“You defeated sister? Absurd! Thoust lie! A game of Maks!” as she continued to stare at her sister, that one word began sink in. Somepony she once thought of as invincible had lost. “Why tell me now?”

“I wanted to be sure what we were up against. More importantly, I didn’t want you going off on your own. He was powerful Luna, similar to that of the tales. And there is not only one, but three.”

“Three?!”

“Yes. There is Artorias, the Wolf Knight. Twilight recently informed me that another one of them has appeared, Pontiff Sulyvahn. Lastly, after reading through all of these books, a knight closely associated with these two, the Fume Knight,” she brought down another book from the pile to show her sister. After turning a number of pages there was another image depicting the three sitting together.

“Well if they are out and about, are they not heroes like the tales?”

“Indeed they are...” Celestia gave a heavy sigh and once again stared at the page of the three.

“I am sensing a ‘but’ sister.”

“But they are heroes of a time far in the past, in fact they are older than us by several thousand years,”

“Then surely they art a powerful asset for the good of Equestria,” Luna began pulling to her more books. Opening each book and skimming each one, she reveled in the old foal’s tales she once thought were fairy tales. These old heroes she aspired to be were real, creatures whom she can learn from.

The mare before her was not as excited. Celestia already knew that they can be of use for the sake of Equestria. And certainly these heroes wouldn’t go about an destroy her kingdom, but still, they were uncontrollable. Much like a certain draconequus that was safely locked away. “I’m am not sure about that Luna. We have no read on them, they themselves carry several advantages. Surprise. Strength in both brawn and magic. Ancient knowledge.”

Celestia began pacing back and forth, stepping perfectly between the piles of books around her. “Yes sister, but we have knowledge of them as well. If these books are true than certainly we can obtain something about their character. Weaknesses. Maybe even more!”

“But that’s just it Luna! They are merely stories. We have no way to verify if they are true or not. The writer would most likely have been biased while writing the exploits of their leaders,” Celestia was once gain skimming through book after book. By the time she had put one book down, she had already another three.

“Very well then. I shall confirm thy suspicions tonight, while the moon is high and they lie in their sleep I shall pounce upon them!” she gave a proud and fierce pose which had caught Celestia’s attention.

Small giggles had formed, Celestia cracking a smile at her sister’s antics,”There is no need to be dramatic sister. I have complete faith in you that you’ll complete the task.”

“Of course I shall there is no Mistress of the Night, but I. Only I shall be able to complete such a daunting task to save the sanity of mine sister who slowly goes derange by the hour. Oh woe is I, but a humble princess to do in such a predicament. Stay by my sister’s side, or venture out for the cure and not be by her side!” Luna struck several more poises in her scene until she gave a bow toward her sister who applauded quietly.



~~~


It was late into the evening with the sun having set hours ago. Two large beings, a large wolf, and a statue surrounded a campfire. Pontiff had returned from his venture into the local town and had brought back a plethora of books. Compared to being at the library, he took his time reading the books of fiction.

“Quite the last couple of days hasn’t it?” Pontiff asked Artorias, breaking the silence.

“Yea. Could have gone better. Ended up fighting one of the leaders of the country we’re in.,” the knight sat back up and faced his companions. “What took you so long in town by the way? You’re trip should have taken a minimum of an hour, but you spent quite a bit more than that.”

Sulyvahn looked up from his book, “Well besides the books that were there, there was  our lavender friend. Turns out she runs the library.”

“Interesting, anything else?”

“From what I was able to garner from her, her friends that you beat up, specifically the orange one the blue one, are still in the hospital. As for her, the press is currently preying upon  her for the next big story I suppose.”

“Sucks to be her. If I know anything about the press they tend to do that,” looking to one of the nearby piles of books Artorias reaches over and grabs one.“The Age of Fire, huh. Would you look at that, it’s labeled as a fairytale.”

Without looking back Sulyvahn responds, “Indeed. A shame that our exploits were reduced to fiction rather than history. But I guess that’s what a couple thousand years does to you.”

“I guess it does,” Artorias then opened the book in his hands. After reading the first couple of pages he looked back up. “When do you think Raime gets out?”

“Don’t know, don’t really care. Been in there for more than a thousand  years, what’s a couple days?”

“Ouch. You hear that Raime. Good old Sully knows you’re A-okay!” after placing the book back into its pile, Artorias began stargazing once more. He could make out some interesting constellations, constellations that seemed more vivid than the ones he had seen in the past. As if they were purposely put there. A yawn soon escaped his mouth as he made out more and more shapes among the stars, his eyes grew heavier and heavier until the night sky bid him a good night's rest.

A strong wind enveloped the campsite, the fire fading rapidly as it continued its cold onslaught. Artorias swiftly awoke and stood up, but by the time he was standing the site had gone pitch black. “Sif, Sulyvahn you guys okay?” he called out, but no responses could be heard.

In the dark he was able to make out his sword and shield that barely shone. He cautiously made his way over to them, grasping them in their respective hands. Something definitely peculiar about the situation he was in, no wind should be able to blow out the fire they had made. It was enormous for the average man, one could call it a bonfire. Not only that, but the shadows that enveloped him seemed thicker like tar or slag. He felt the cold wind puncturing his already cold armour, he felt a ominous force watching over him. Rather than allow the darkness to linger any longer he grabbed the talisman on his waist and casted Cast Light.

Once more the forest was visible, but despite the use of the spell a tinge of shadow continued to envelope the world. What on Earth is going on?! Artorias remained vigilant as he scanned the forest that surrounded him. Eyes began to form in the shadows, watching his every move. “What do you want?!” he spoke his tone dark and threatening. The only thing he got in response was the eyes blinking simultaneously, “Well isn’t that just creepy.”

Another presence made itself  known, emerging from the shadows was a night blue pony and much like the white one he had seen earlier in this week, this too had a horn and wings. “Quite an interesting dream We must say, or tis a nightmare? In terms of dreams, this one rather grey. Tis a dream? Tis not. Tis a nightmare? Tis not. A thought perhaps?” She continued to stare at her surroundings paying no heed to the creature before her.

“May I ask if this is your doing? And judging by your appearance, you must be Princess Luna, am I wrong?” Artorias asked calmly as he stood on guard.

“There be no reason to be so tense, We are just here to observe our new... friend,” she gave what could only be described as a pleasant smile, but the underlying threat was also made present by her tone. “Thou can tell alot about a pony, about a griffin, about creature, and for thyself, about a human through their dreams.”

Artorias visibly flinched at hearing the word human, but what caught really his attention was the word dreams. “You’re telling me that this is dream, its rather realistic is it not?”

“That is what thy mind wishes thou to believe,” is all she said before continuing her inspection of the dream. “Rather stable for being neither dream or nightmare.”

“Well if what you say is true, tell me; what do you know?”

“And lay out my hoof before the first card of the river has be flipped? I would do no such thing. Afterall, as you said there is much to discuss, though my sister will not enjoy it, she is willing to participate though. But that is for a later matter, right now We are here to, as we have said, observe.”

“Observe what exactly?” Artorias took a new stance. This time his shield was up, but his blade was aimed at the princess.

“Thou and thy dreams, thy character, thy motivation, what thou believes to be thoust purpose. Very simple things, truth be told,” she said as she continued to prod at the dream.

“You’re not searching for secrets?”

“Even if We wished to do so, We cannot. The mind of another shall only show what it wishes to show. And right now, for the most part, We are not allowed to see it because We are not welcome here. Tell Us, does thou believe the weight of the world rests upon thy shoulders? Just a question from one leader to another,” she never ceased to prod at the dream as ripples began to form all around.

“I wish it weren’t so, but yes, I do. As a leader those without look to you for guidance, for strength. Often times it is hard to find the strength in one’s self so by looking to another one kind find temporary strength. And eventually they too will form their own strength.”

“An excellent answer, We must say. We do not entirely agree, but for the most part We do,” her prodding ceased and she turned toward the knight. “Tell me, why in many of the stories do you not take up the title King?”

“I reserve that only for my kingly duties other than that I have no need for it. I do not take pride in being a King, I take pride in being a protector,” Artorias began dropping his guard. His thought reaching back in time when he fought back foe after foe for creatures who he did not even know.

“Another splendid answer by a thoughtful warrior. Now, let Us ask a few more question. Why art thou answering Our questions, are We not the enemy? And why art thou not asking Us questions, we are trespassing among thy mind.?” sensing that the tension in the atmosphere was dropping she made a few step toward the knight. He made response back and she continued forward.

“A simple reason, you can learn alot about a person by the questions they ask. For example, why are they really here. What matters most to them. Even their character,” she was no a few steps away from him. He was looking down at her, and she was staring back up. The height difference forcing the two to turn the necks sharply.

“I suppose any creature who has lived thousands of years would be able to do such a task. Thou hast exceeded Our expectations a hundred fold, Knight Artorias. We would happily invite thou and thy compatriots to Canterlot to speak with Us as well as Our sister, Celestia.”

“Thank you Princess Luna,” Artorias brought himself down to knee thanking the princess in turn. “I have much to apologize for for the few days I have been alive within your kingdom.”

“That can wait til the ‘morrow. We ask that thou obtain some rest as the journey to Canterlot is long,” with that said Luna’s body turned ethereal before completely vanishing into thin air.

A ray of light found its way through the trees and foliage, its aim set right on Artorias’s eyes. The warmth hitting his face caused him to stir awake, but the moment he opened his eyes the sun met with him head on. “Holy shit! My eyes! They burn!”

Next to him his wolf, Sif, woke to his master’s yelling. He seemed unimpressed and went back to sleep. Across the burnt out fireplace was Pontiff who stared in amusement at his friend's plight. “Good morning dear friend. I trust your sleep was peaceful.”

Rubbing his eyes of eye boogers and the itching of the sun. “Yup, until that happened,” his thoughts turned back to last night in his dreams, “Hey by chance, did a blue pony with a horn and wings speak to you?”

“No. Sounds like you had an interesting dream,” now looking at Sulyvahn, Artorias saw he was reading a book.

“Well I think I found our next lead from that interesting dream,” he stood up brushing of the dirt that accumulated on him.

“And what may that be,” he said as he turned a page.

“The capital of Equestria. Canterlot,” grabbing his sword he raised and pointed it at the sky.

“... You look ridiculous.”

“You’re not even looking up.”

“That’s just how ridiculous you look.”

“...”

“...”

“Fuck you.”
> Chapter V: Journey to Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5: Journey to Canterlot


The sun was barely a quarter above the horizon when they began their preparations for the journey ahead. A mist had formed around them over night that was beginning to clear up revealing the lush foliage that was the Everfree Forest.

They strapped Raime’s petrified body onto the back of Sif with a line of rope. Along with Raime were several bundles of firewood. They had recently regained their ability to move around again, and so they had few possessions. The few things they did have were light and few enough to store on their persons. With the few things they had packed, and ready to go, they made sure their bonfire was out, and set off for Golden Oaks Library.

They calmly made their way out of the forest they had inhabited for thousands of years in stone. Today would be the day that they would set off onto an adventure like they had done so in a previous life.  When they had arrived in Ponyville the ponies who were out and about quickly fled for safety as the trio strode on by. A few ponies to their surprise gave a sigh or a roll of the eyes, and calmly found their safe haven in their own homes. “I was not expecting this,” Sulyvahn quietly said leaning to Artorias.

“Them fleeing or the few fleeing as if this were a normal thing?” Artorias didn’t care about the fact that the civilians fled. In fact, it was a good thing. If another fight were to break out then at least the inhabitants would be slightly safer.

“The latter of course and a bit of the former. I was sure that the media here would have already spread the news about me.”

“Wouldn’t that be a bad thing,” he gave his head a slight tilt toward his friend.

“Well I helped the young Twilight Sparkle with a spell she had been working on. She attempted to make a spell that would fail no matter what. A few minor adjustments and I’m sure she can figure out how to fix it, or that it’s completely impossible. One or the other,” he finally said with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders.

“Cold as ever Sulyvahn, cold as ever.”

“What?” disbelief present in his tone. “Oh, we’re nearly there.”

“Let me guess: the Golden Oaks Library, is the giant tree.”

“Spot on! You were always the quick one to catch on,” he wrapped his arm around his friend’s back.

Sighing at his friend, “I don’t need your sarcasm. Let’s just hurry up already. Royalty has invited us to the capital and we still have no idea how long the journey shall take.”

The trio made their way over to the library door. Pontiff knocked on the door like he had before, and Twilight’s voice called out, “We’re open!” but under her breath she muttered, “Why does everypony feel the need to knock? I live here and all, but it’s still a library.”

The two looked to one another, shrugged, and made their way in. Artorias looked at Sif which is all he needed to do to tell Sif to stay outside. Going through the door the look on the lavender pony’s face was priceless as her jaw fell and her body froze. Sulyvahn comfortably walked in, but behind him Artorias managed an awkward wave, “Uh… hey?”

She quickly snapped out of her shock, “H-hello,” she tried to act strong, but there was no way of covering up the fear that she had. “The… uh… Princesses have sent me a message that you have uh… been...” she gave an audible gulp. “That you have been invited to Canterlot. She... asked that I make… accommodations. I really hadn’t expected you to come to me, but here we are now… heh heh heh...”

Before their eyes Twilight had disappeared in a fraction of a second only to return in another fraction. In her magic she levitated over two bags of bits over to them. “These should handle your guys’ finances for the most part.” She knew what she was about to ask next and was afraid of the answer, despite the fear she gave an audible gulp, “So… is there anything else you guys need?” In the back of her mind though she thought, Oh please no! Just go, leave! Please leave!

“Truth be told, it’s the reason why we came here,” Sulyvahn answered. “We require a map of the country, Equestria.”

What do they need a map of Equestria for! Plan invasions! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I can’t just say, no! The Princesses asked I make them accommodations! Does this count?Huh! I have it! I’ll give them an old copy! That way they can’t take complete advantage of our geography! Ha! As if they could take Canterlot anyway! With the debate settled in her mind, she quickly set off to finding a their map of Equestria, “That should be easy!”

A minute later she gave the two a map of Equestria, she purposely gave them a map that depicted none of the railroads of Equestria as well as the old more dangerous routes between the major cities. “This is the best I could do!” it wasn’t a lie, it was just that her best was put to a different goal.

“Well I would love to stay around and help you two out with anymore problems, but other duties call to me,” she levitated over a saddlebag onto her. Slowly and cautiously she made her way through the two creatures. After passing them she quickly picked up her pace, opening the door she shrieked at the sight of Sif happily waiting for his master. Twilight teleported behind the pooch and quickly galloped away. Artorias and Sulyvahn peered through the door to see the kick of dust from her hooves.

“Well that was interesting,” Sulyvahn said slowly and unsurely.

“Uh… sure?” Artorias looked over to the table in the middle of the library. He quickly set about making the plans for their journey by setting down the map and grabbing a a nearby quill and ink. “Let’s get to planning!”

“Of course,” Sulyvahn stood next to Artorias.

Geographically Canterlot wasn’t that far from Ponyville. In fact, if the scales on this map, which the legend displayed as a line segment of time rather than distance, were accurate than getting there shouldn’t take more than a day. Even by taking the most scenic and direct paths getting there should be fairly easy. The real problem would be scaling the mountain to the city.

“Astounding,” Sulyvahn pointed at the capital. “They built a major city on the side of a mountain, and by the looks of it, it looks like it’s floating!”

“Well I’m sure it will be a sight to see when we get there. It doesn’t look like there are any stairs though by the picture here, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. In order to get there it looks like we won’t need the firewood, saves Sif a bit more energy. I say we travel up stream. It looks like the river in Ponyville connects to the waterfall in Canterlot,” his finger following the path of the river.

“Agreed. It’ll give us plenty of drinking water too. Provided the ponies of Canterlot do not defecate in their own water supply.”

“It wouldn’t be likely, the ponies here in Ponyville seem to made their home around this segment of the river. We’ll just need a bundle of wood to purify the water, I’m sure even without it we should be able to forage for some more.”

“And for food?”

“We’ll be traveling for less than a day, we could probably figure something out along the way.”

“If you say so,” he shrugged.

“Alrighty then! Let’s go!”


~*~


As they had planned their journey, Twilight had met up with her group of friends at the Ponyville Train Station. “Twilight! You’re finally here! So, we going to find those scumbags?” Rainbow Dash  wish a smirk gave a few punches mid air followed by a high kick before settling down to the floor.

“Indeed darling, it’s not like for you to be late like that. It’s been two minutes! A few seconds sure, but minutes? It must have been something dreadful!” Rarity brought a hoof to her forehead.

“Sorry Rainbow. We’re not going to look for them,” Twilight pulled out a bag of bits of her own from her saddlebag.

“Wait what?!”

“There’s been a change of plans. The reason I’m late you see, is that they met up with me at the library.”

“Darling... “ Rarity tried to comfort her friend, but she was to busy to care.

“This pushes our schedule ahead of time, meaning we can take the next train to Canterlot,” she placed a few bits onto the ticket box’s counter and was given a ticket.

The other mares followed suit and began a mere hour train ride to Canterlot. Thank Celestia for the invention of trains. I wonder what it would be like taking this journey on hoof. Twilight idly thought as she sat down on to her part of the car.

As Twilight and her friends eased the journey to Canterlot by train, Artorias, Sulyvahn, and Sif with Raime on his back had already begun their long journey to Canterlot. Compared to their previous ventures in the past this one would be a walk in the park. But from Artorias’s experience the easier the journey the higher the last hurdle, and he was praying that it wouldn’t be the case.

Over three hours of walking and in the far distance they could say the silhouette of the city. “It’s just hanging right off,” Sulyvahn often found himself staring at the city again and again saying the same thing. Truth be told he was dumbfounded by the impossibility of such a city.

“Uh huh,” they found themselves in this pattern where Sulyvahn would say something that Artorias would half hear and idly agree to. By the time they believed they were their half way point, a prominent bend in the river, they decided that taking a quick break would be best.

“Well isn’t this a journey!” sarcasm was present in the Pontiff’s voice. He was sipping warm water from a metal cup. They managed to get a pony to talk to them and sell them a few items, a pot and a few cups.

“I don’t need your sarcasm right now,” with his helmet off, Artorias pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He gulped down his own sup of water and began packing their supplies.

“No need to be such a sourpuss, just having a little fun! It’s not like you ever need it.”

“Because you suck with sarcasm. I never saw you as the type to just have fun. In fact, that was never your style, why the sudden change?”

“This is how bored I am…”

“Then help me clean up and we’ll be there in a jiffy.”

Another few hours of walking in silence and the trio finally reached the beginning of the river and the end of the waterfall. They looked up at the massive city that casted the ground below them in darkness. The only things surviving under the city was bioluminescent fungi and plants. They took a few steps into the darkness, crunches beneath their feet were heard and they stirred thousands of glowing bugs from their slumber. The awakened insects flew around casting the surrounding darkness in more light. This would go on having severe repercussions as the light from the bugs revealed the awful truth of this beauty.

Bones as far as they eye can see were all over the ground. Some were half buried or more while others rested right on top of the ‘fertile’ grounds. Artorias casted his spell Cast Light which revealed even more horrors. Before them was a massive statue of bone that the bugs failed to illuminate, and above the bones was a massive snake the coiled its body around the pile.

“You said you were bored… Look what you’ve got us into,” Artorias unsheathed his sword and took up his shield. “I wanted to this to be a nice and easy quest.”

“Sorry? And when did we ever have a nice and easy quest, oh right. Never.,” Sulyvahn gave a nervous chuckle and unsheathed his own two swords. They cautiously approached the beast, the bones around them were everywhere and a particular crunch from Sulyvahn awoken the snake. “Shit.” The snake screeched in anger the sound reverberating off the mountains side and the city above them.


~*~


As for the above city of Canterlot, things had been going well today. Ponies were out and about going from place to place and handling their duties whether it be a job, school, or relaxing. As for Twilight and her friends things couldn’t be further from the atmosphere from the city. Things had been going smoothly for the most part when they arrived, but after several hours had passed, there was no word from the guards at the Canterlot station. They expected to see the knight and the pontiff along with their wolf any hour now.

Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow had been waiting for them at a nearby cafe. Periodically switching off with Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, “Where in Equestria are they?!”

“Relax darling, maybe they are having difficulty with the train ponies back in Ponyville,”
Rarity gently patted her friend’s back.

“For over nine hours? Not to mention Celestia had personally written a letter to them stating that they should be allowed to travel on the train!” strands of hair began fraying from Twilight’s hair. Rarity quickly sprung into action a summoned her trusty brush to use.

“Maybe they’re going by hoof,” Rainbow lazily waved her hoof in the air, and began to drink her coffee.

“That’s ridiculous Rainbow. Even if they did, the station is on the direct path to Canterlot. The only way they wouldn’t have gone that way is if their map didn’t display that information…” Twilight’s voice slowed down as she finished her sentence as revelation struck her.

Her friends looked toward her when she went oddly silent. “Yo, Twi. You okay?”

“Girls…”

“Yes darling?”

“I think I may have made an error,” questions for the lavender pony would have to wait as a violent screech echoed from beneath Canterlot causing the city to shake violently. Rainbow quickly flew up and hovered above her friends. As she did so tableware from all over the cafe began falling to ground. The ponies who were sitting or standing fell over as the shaking intensified. Not long after would trembles subside.

“What in the name of Celestia was that? An earthquake?”

“No Rainbow, if it was an earthquake we would have felt something from the ley lines beneath the mountain. And even if it was, Canterlot has vibration dampeners all across its connection to the mountain,” She yelled over the sound of panicked ponies as the three made their way outside.

“Even so darling, what was that?”

“Yea! It sounded like a screech from a bird,” she looked up for a possible source, but not even a pigeon could be seen, “Figures…”

“It couldn’t have been a bird Rainbow, it came from beneath Canterlot,” they were closing in on the edge of the city where a wall only half the height of a pony sat.

Rarity was taken aback by the vigorous running through the street of ponies, “B-but darling, nothing is down there for a good two miles.”

“Exactly… that’s what worries me. Meaning there are two possibilities, there’s either a giant creature seating beneath Canterlot right now, or there is something incredibly loud down there.”

“Though it’s be cool fighting a giant monster Twi, I’d prefer the latter. I mean what if it’s something two miles high. Or more!” Unfortunately, many of the creatures across the entirety of Equus have failed to realize not to challenge the universe.

Shortly she had said that black stream flew up above them. Looking up they saw two glowing eyes staring at them. It’s behemoth maw opened up revealing two fangs that were taller than the average house. Another screech would follow soon after, but unlike the first one this one was different. And now the cause could be seen as the beast thrashed its head about trying to get something -someone- off. Its effort would prove to be fruitful as the figure was thrown off and tossed onto platform below.

“What the?! Twi! What is that thing?!”

“I- I have no idea! There’s no record of there ever being a snake this massive, not even in old pony mythos,” thinking quickly Twilight looked to her two friends.”To the castle! We have to inform the princesses.”

As soon as they would make their first few steps, the figure that had attacked the snake was standing and it was none other than the Wolf Knight. “You!” Rainbow quickly stalled in the air, eyeing the creature warily. A blue gleam could be seen in his eyes for a split second, and the moment after he was rushing them.
Twilight closed her eyes in fear but rather than feeling a blow from a sword, she was tossed aside by a gust of wind onto her side. Looking back Artorias had blocked the snake’s headbutt with his shield. “Get out of here! Now,” he yelled.

Rather than flee, the three were stuck in shock. They had nearly died because they feared him, but he had saved their lives. They stared in awe as they saw Artorias, by himself, locked in battle with a creature that was probably taller than the mountain they were on. Another shadow flew from behind the snake. The figure was much like Artorias, but rather than a sword and shield he carried two swords. Pontiff!

Sulyvahn landed on to the snake’s head as Artorias timely disengaged. The force from the impact caused the snake’s head to crash onto Canterlot’s outeredge. Cracks were swiftly forming all across the ground beneath them, some parts even beginning to chip off. Sulyvahn had driven his two swords through the snake’s head, whilst still plunged in, he casted to separate spells. One caused the snakes head to burst in flames, the other emitted a pale purple light that caused the serpent’s eyes to burst out from their sockets.

Sulyvahn stood triumphantly over the creature as the rest of the flames took the snake’s body, “Jesus fucking christ! I thought I was going to die!”

Next to the snake’s head was Artorias, “Nice job there bud! Knew you could pull it off!”

Sulyvahn quickly jumped off from the head, “What kind of plan was that! ‘Use the snake’s tail to launch you and stab it in the head.’ Why do I even bother?! Only you could come up with something that stupid!”

“Hey! Don’t argue with results,” he said as he pointed at the snake that was now on fire.

“Fine, fine. I won’t. But still… Fuck you,” he said as he struck his two swords to the ground beneath him a raised his two middle fingers.

“That went better than I thought though. I mean he barely put up a fight…” Artorias patted his compatriots back, praising their work as realization hit him. “Shit.”

“You’re a dumbass,” the dead serpent’s body began to writhe as the flames over took it. The scales began folding out releasing hot steam. Spikes began erupting from the snake, each one twitching and clawing their way out. They pried open a hold on the carapace to reveal a skeletal millipede.

“Ugh… He has a phase three?! Phase two was just annoying, he just turned bigger. But now look at him! He’s and undead millipede thing!”

“Centipede, Artorias. Centipede. Millipedes are the tubular ones, not the flat ones.”

“Foolish creature! I cannot be killed, I am the eternal Centipede! I will consume this world and-” the snake’s head was completely obliterated in an instance and this time it wasn’t either Sulyvahn or Artorias who had flown up to destroy it.

Twilight and her friends could only look on in awe as they saw the rest of the skeletal remains go limp and they began their descent to the base of the mountain. What in the name of Celestia just happened!Had they awoken some ancient beast to destroy us?! No, no, no! Then they wouldn’t have destroyed it!

“Hey Twi, you okay?” Rainbow hovered next to her friend and gave her a light tap. Twilight quickly shot up from her daze, she looked over to what had tapped her and it was only Rainbow and Rarity.

“Ah! Oh… it’s just you Rainbow. You scared me. You okay Rarity?” A nod was all she got from the white mare. Twilight brought her self up to a standing position. “We need to get to the princesses, now!”
Before they could hightail it out of the scene, another entity, or rather entities, made themselves known. The clouds that once loomed over the battlefield gave way to two alicorns, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The two of them looked down at the havoc and destruction and one thing caught the eye of Celestia. “You!”

With a single flap of her wings Celestia was before Artorias in the blink of an eye,”My sister and I invite you to Canterlot! Not only do you come hours late, but you cause damage to the ponies and city around you!” A gold hue began to envelop her horn, whilst at the same time her eyes began to glow white, “I should not have trusted you!”

“Throwing a tantrum I see… Celestia. It’s a shame that you didn’t get to see the giant millipede-”

“Centipede,” Sulyvahn happily chided behind him.

“Apologies,” he disgruntledly said. “I mean centipede in all its glory, or was it a snake? Either way it was below your capital.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sister! Artorias speaks the truth, thou must see the scale of this creature!” Luna had flown down at a slower pace than her sister. The broken wall had caught her attention and one glance told more of the story.

Celestia made her way over to the edge after trading stares with Artorias who refused to waver. Looking down it was clear that the centipede was indeed massive, the skeletal frame was easy to make out from the edge.

“I hope you have a somewhat better idea what happened. Controlling the destruction of a city is no easy feat,” Artorias stood now stood at the edge of the wall looking at the remains below.

“Then I must thank you then. My sister and I could have handled the beast, but we had not arrived in time. Thanks to the two of you, my ponies can rest in peace,” she said looking over to her pupil and friends.

“Of course, your Highness, though I must make one correction.”

“And what is that? Did my pupil and her friends assist you?” Of course they did, she is my star pupil after all. And Rainbow can be feisty.

“No. But you were on the right track.”

“What?” Are you trying to take all the credit? What’s your game Artorias.

“Myself, Sulyvahn and Raime slain the beast,” Artorias pointed over to the Pontiff, but no third member could be seen.

“We don’t seem to understand Knight Artorias. There be only two of you before mine sister and I.”

“Well he’s in the crater to your right… unconscious,” indeed there was a massive crater to their right. Smoke continuing to stream out as they all approached. Lying at the bottom of the crater was a figure in black armour. A shield on its back, a sword to its left, and a massive oblong rock to his right.

“Rainbow flown over to inspect further, “Is he dead?” She gave a quick poke. No response. Another poke. No response. On the third poke a loud growl came from him.

“Great! Now he’s asleep. Let me get Sif to carry him and we can talk Princesses.”

“Yes. We would very much like to begin discussions,” unbeknownst to many of those around Celestia, her eye gave an involuntary twitch. By whatever means, I am going to get down to the bottom of this!
> Chapter VI: The Princess and the Knight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter VI: The Princess and the Knight


The moon had risen and the sun had departed beneath the horizon. The ruined portion of the city was blocked off long ago by the guard and a reconstruction team had begun their plans. Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow had gone to their room to meet up with the rest of the elements. Sulyvahn had asked if he could see the library. Luna had to deal with the political aftermath during the Night Court. And alone in the banquet halls of the Royal Castle were two beings of unimaginable strength. They sat before one another drinking tea, the only thing that divided them was a small dining table. Artorias had set aside his helm revealing a somewhat pale creature. His hair was long, and his eyes were an ice cold blue. Despite being a fierce adversary, and older than Celestia herself, Artorias’s face seemed to be quite young.

“Not the largest fan of earl gray, but it’s still a fine tea. Can’t say I remember the last time I had it, so it’s a nice change of pace,” Artorias sipped more and set it down.

Despite her many years and experience, battle was not her forte. And compared to Artorias she was a novice. Despite that she knew she had several things over him. The first was magic, sure he had strength, speed, and a some knowledge on magic, but she out classed him in every way. The second was knowledge. Artorias had been cast in stone for thousands of years and so his knowledge was incredibly outdated. But this was a double edged sword to balance upon. Though she may have more “recent” knowledge, Artorias carried with him knowledge before ancient knowledge. The third was conversation. Over the years as a leader she honed one of the most powerful weapons, speech. The ability to command ponies, negotiate, deceive. She mastered it, and made it a strategic weapon.

“Understandably we got off on the wrong hood Artorias. Allow me to apologize for my… rash thinking,” her first goal was to see what his ambitions were. For that to happen she had to make sure he harbored no anger.

“It’s in the past, not like it matters,” he set down his teacup onto its platter. “Tell me Celestia, how long has your kingdom stood? I am curious.”

“With this capital, over a thousand years. With the incursion of the Everfree Forest, we moved location,” she took another sip.

“Interesting. Was there a large serpent when you built this at the base of the mountain.”

“No, if there was such a creature, we would have dealt with it. I must say though the handling of the situation was rather quick,” she said as she poured herself another cup.

“Myself and Sulyvahn were a bit rusty, so it took longer than expected. If we were in our prime, I’m sure we could have mitigated the damage further.”

“No, no, no. It’s fine. Truly. We are grateful that you had slain the beast. In fact, no ponies were injured. You must tell me of your time from before your petrification,” Celestia knew that heroes and knights loved to boast about their accomplishments. This was just a segway.

“There is not much to say, there was war, disease, famine, and as a result of those; death. My kingdom was not so different from yours. It stretched from coast to coast, from the tallest mountain, to the deepest pits. And it all came crashing down,” silence took over the room. Not even the noise from outside could permeate the walls. And Artorias sat there, motionless. He stared at his tea, his reflection stared back.

“I didn’t expect glory when I had founded the kingdom. I didn’t expect respect. All I wanted was peace and prosperity.”

“I am sorry Artorias. I had no idea,” He isn’t lying, if he was my spells that I had casted earlier would have detected it. Even if they weren’t able to detect it, no creature could recreate sorrow in his eyes.

“We should move on. I’m sure when you asked that, you were expecting more glorious tales. I suppose I could tell you one,” he downed his cup and set it aside. “Long ago, even before my kingdom, were three men. They were far shorter than I, and they had aspirations and dreams. One wanted to change the world by governing. Another wanted to be a well respected scientist. The last, well he just liked to make stuff.”

“As with any story with a moral, I’m sensing a ‘but.’”

“Right you are. The three of them had their choice in life stripped away and they were thrown into an unforgiving world full of hate and destruction. They weren’t completely helpless, the entity that thrown them in there had given them strength and power. They lived their lives and became heroes, but that dream they held within that had burned brightly faded. Is it isn’t obvious enough, I am talking about myself and my compatriots.”

“So you're telling me you are not originally from this world?”

“Not quite, I am not from this dimension. My friends and I had lives before this one. Honest, hardworking lives. You could say we were reborn into this world. Nonetheless, here we are now. Once again, we have been reborn, or rather, revived. I know not why, but I do know that this universe play games,” he stood up and grabbed his helm.

“What do you mean Artorias? What games?” worry had spread across her face. Even he was defeated, and his kingdom was destroyed.

The two were off to the side of the room, Artorias had worn his helmet and equipped his sword and shield. The princess was pleading for Artorias to explain, but he didn’t listen. He began to approach the princess with sword in hand. He can’t possibly mean to attack me!

He was right in front of her, his sword at his side. He knelt down on one leg, his icy eyes staring into her. He bowed his head. “I, Knight Artorias, do solemnly swear to follow you to the ends of the world. To battle any obstacles that interfere with your goals, as your goals are mine. My sword, my shield, my magic are yours to command, I give you my life.”

Celestia was caught off guard by this display. She could tell that Artorias was a warrior, she knew that he was a great leader. For such a legend to bow to her, to give her their life so suddenly. He barely even knows me!

The two of them remained motionless as time passed, the only thing Celestia could muster was a “Why?”

“I too was once a symbol of peace and prosperity, but I had failed and my kingdom had fallen. Even during my rule, my kingdom suffered. But you. You succeeded. You’re people do not die of hunger, disease or war. Sure there are a few things here and there, but that is natural. I am no longer fit to rule, so I will follow those who are.”

Celestia backed away from the knight, this was truly frightful. Thoughts of herself falling victim to failure and her own kingdom flashed in her mind. It wasn’t Artorias that she feared, but what had become of him. He was noble, proud, strong. But he fell. Would she become the same? No! I won’t let it. The ponies of Equestria look up to me.

Celestia laughed a little at her antics, she was afraid. Afraid to fail, afraid to lose everything. Her imagination had run wild and meeting Artorias only worsened it. It was similar to the time when she was about to send Twilight off not too long ago. “Artorias, I Princess Celestia of Equestria, bestow upon you knighthood. But more so I ask of you to become my protector,” she used her magic to lift his sword and tapped each shoulder. “It’s not much of a ceremony, but I suppose you can now officially call yourself a knight.”

“Indeed, I suppose by the state’s eyes, I wasn’t a knight,” he stood up and sheathed his sword. He took off his helmet once again, “I look forward serving you your Highness.”

“Celestia, please. I still want you to think of us as equals, and besides I think it would be more beneficial to our friendship. Speaking of which, what tea do you prefer,” she smiled, remembering his dislike for earl gray.

“Red tea, I also like adding a little honey.”

“I’ll keep that in mind then. Tomorrow my sister and I will be having breakfast, I hope you will join us as well as your compatriots.”

“I’ll see to it you- I mean Celestia.”

“You didn’t seem to have trouble earlier when you weren’t my protector.”

“That was before I swore myself to being your protector.”

Celestia gave a small yawn, “It is getting quite late, and I believe our conversation went successfully, wouldn’t you say? I am heading off to my chambers now,” she began making her way out of the room. As she did so, Artorias bowed his head as she passed by. It was only when she reached the door that she stopped and turned back. Her mane covered one of her eyes as she turned to look at Artorias, “Are you not going to escort your princess? I would much enjoy your presence as we made our way to my room.”

Shivers found their way up his spine as he heard his princess’s sultry voice, “Pardon?”
> Chapter VII: Pontiff in the Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter VII: Pontiff in the Night


The last news pony was finally kicked out of the throne room, and the doors slamming shut and, it's sound echoing throughout. Luna gave a sigh, night court was a stressful event to say the least. The nobles and the press who would usually pester Celestia came to her after the havoc that was earlier today. She wasn’t ready for the sudden attention from the ponies; after all, during  her normal night courts rarely, if any, ponies showed up. Aside from when she first arrived in Canterlot, this was the only other time she had so much attention.

Luna stood from the throne and stepped down the dias and out the throne room. These damn nobles and press! They storm in to Our court yelling and complaining like foals! What has become of Equestria in Our absence? Her thoughts ran through idea after idea. Onlynow, when it is a crisis do they come to me! Only now! She gave both a mental and verbal sigh. And just after she felt her forehead and horn slam into an obstacle.

“What on Equus?!” She quickly jumped back from the doors. Her horn glowed with a spell ready to strike her attacker. Even if it wasn't an enemy, it would surely set fear in the pony who stood in their princess's way. The spell quickly fell apart as she blinked at her opponent. “‘Tis a door?”

Luna looked around where she was, in her thought and angerful walk, she had brought herself to the Royal Library. She approached the doors and inspected it, looking a little up she grimaced at a small dent caused by her horn, “Hopefully, none shall notice this blunder… Of mine.”

Seeing as she was already here she decided to enter. It would serve as a pleasant time killer as well. She pulled the door open with her magic and stepped through. The musty scent of old scrolls and books attacked her nose as soon as she took her first step. Before her was the front desk without its librarian. And next to it were ranks of bookshelves that seemed to stretch off into darkness. Even the height of the shelves stretched all the way to the ceiling.

Luna strode next to the shelves, every so often stopping and reading the shelves’ categories. Every so often she would even pull a book to skim through to determine whether the rest of the books should be of interest. After passing shelves after shelves, she finally settled on one subject: myths.

She grimaced at seeing some books and scrolls of Nightmare Moon, even more so when she saw books on a certain draconequus. She pulled a general mythos book titled, Myths Before the Age of Sunlight. She skimmed through it, it covered everything from Nightmare Moon to the story of the three tribes. Just before reaching the end she noticed one page had flipped out of rhythm. She quickly flipped back to the page. Looking at it, it displayed one picture colored using only black ink and the parchment itself. Three bipedal creatures all sitting on their own separate thrones, one clearly more elevated than the others. At the middle one’s feet was a dog like creature, and below all of them was a drawing of a ribbon strand that read, The Triumvirate.

Luna eyed it with thought, looking at the spine of the book she noticed several pages ripped out. It was evident that this was done years ago by the folded pieces of torn paper. Looking to the past she remembered her favourite story, The Wolf Knight. Putting the pieces together she found that he, Artorias, was part of the Triumvirate.

It made sense really, from what Celestia had previously told her, Artorias was a leader from a time even before her. If the story of the Wolf Knight was true and this Artorias was him, she realized that they had just gained a valuable asset. Not to mention, he was essentially her hero in her times of need, especially when Celestia wasn’t around. But that had changed when she became the Nightmare. She quickly threw her mind from that thought, ‘Tis best not to think about such events from the past.

She brought her attention to the book and flipped the page only to find another story. Damn! She was caught up in her thoughts that she forgot that the book’s pages were torn out. She began casting a spell, a spell that would turn back time and return these pages temporarily. As the pages formed, the book shot lightning at here horn, dismantling the spell.

Luna dropped the book in surprise, she looked down at the book as it began to turn its pages. Page after page, it flipped and flipped as if it had an infinite number of pages. Much like those flip book animations that she had seen before, words appeared and shifted. The first word she read was, None.

Shall.

Ever.

Learn.

Luna stepped back in terror, the magic from this book was wrong. In fact there was a lack of magic that disturbed her most. As she backed away, the book rose and turned to face her. The words repeating again and again. None shall ever know. None shall ever learn. None shall ever know.

Luna’s ears splayed down, the written words began as a whisper. The page began to speed up even faster and faster, the voice growing louder and louder. The book was berating her, the pages turning up wind around them. It grew closer and closer to Luna, it was an inch from her muzzle before she broke.

“Cease!” she yelled with Royal Voice.

She pushed the book back from her with her telekinesis and it slammed against the shelves. Continuing her counter attack she pulled the book closed and summoned a chain to bind it shut. It struggled to rise again, to open, but the chain kept it down and shut. It’s oscillations began to slow down before it came to a complete stop.

Luna breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the book. She slumped down to her haunches, her breathes were long and deep. What matter of magic was this?! There was no essence felt at all!

Ideas ran through her head, there was no magic that had no read on it, and yet what had just occurred was real. There was no magic that could be detected!

“Princess! Princess! Where are you?” The voice was feminine and had a tinge of age with its tone. Must be the librarian, she thought. She turned her head to the left where there were more book shelves and in between them was a mare in her, what Luna assumed to be in her fifties, given by looks.

“We are fine Amethyst,” the mare’s name Luna recalled from her many visits to the library. She stood up to face the pony and levitated the book to the unicorn mare. “Please, have this book brought to the Royal Archives, specifically in the Black Room.”

“Yes, your Highness,” she took the book in her magic. “May I ask why?” she eyed the book curiously.

“‘Tis a book that should not be allowed ever resurface again. ‘Tis a... disturbing book, likely it was mistakenly put there,” Luna couldn’t reveal what was truly hidden in that book. It had disturbed her and if did that, what would it do another normal pony?

“Of course, I’ll have this brought over immediately. Secondly, I would like you to know that Pontiff Sulyvahn is in the North Wing of the library, he is studying magical theory,” Amethyst quickly set about securing the book now turned artefact.

While Amethyst set about, Luna pondered, What is the Pontiff doing? With a glow of her horn she began her teleportation spell. She reached out in her mind searching for the North Wing, once she had found it she picked a position. She grabbed the air with her magic and switched places with the air. All of which happening in less than a second.

Luna looked around at where she was, confirming her position. She set about looking for the Pontiff. Searching for him wasn’t hard as there was a mountain of books all across the floor. Sitting on top of a makeshift chair of books was Pontiff. Luna’s mind quickly thought back to the previous picture she had saw of the three humans. Her mind then switched to a couple days ago when Celestia was holed up in the Royal Archives.

She brought her mind out of her thoughts. Luna flew up to the sitting creature, Sulyvahn was skimming book after book. Looking around, she noticed he was almost done with all the books in this section, “Good evening, Pontiff Sulyvahn.”

Sulyvahn, was half way through skimming a book. After finishing it, he closed it up and turned to Luna, “Greetings, Princess Luna. How goes the night?”

“The Night Court was unpleasant to say the least. I see that thou hast been reading, magic theory is it?” Luna levitated a book over to her, opening it and skimming through it herself.

“Yes, yes I have. It's quite interesting really,magic seems to have changed, I suppose. From my time it was very different. If I had to compare them, my era was a more brute force application of magics. All things considered, my time was one of endless war,” Sulyvahn pulled upon another book and began to skim once again. “Compared to now, there is more of elegance when it comes to magic.”

“Is that so?” Luna also pulled another book to skim as she continued to flap her wings. “Seems to be a boon as well as a sign of peace then.”

“Yes, indeed. But then again, the question you should now be asking is how long it shall last,” finishing a book, he opened another.

“What dost thou mean by that? Couldst thou please explain?” Luna stopped reading the book, and set it down.

“It’s simple, really. Let me explain what I believe to be the first rule of the universe. All things come to an end,” he shut the book closed, bringing to him another book at the same time

“Even immortals?” Luna raised an eyebrow at this statement, she recalled several theories, books, and scrolls, “Even magic itself? Equestria’s current theory is that magic is a universal constant.”

“Yes, even immortals. Afterall, the first rule of immortals is that they too shall die. Quite odd and idea, but true nonetheless.”

“How can that be possible?”

“Immortals think of themselves as indestructible. They believe that they have a life without end. Some even considering themselves gods. But in reality, they are just another living breathing creature, they just haven’t discovered what can kill them yet,” Pontiff closed the book he was reading and turned to face Luna. “What do you consider yourself?”

“We consider ourselves as an immortal, undying,” Luna was growing wary of Sulyvahn. For all her life she was taught that alicorns were immortal, endless, undying, essentially gods. They carried powers that no pony would ever be able to surmount. To hear that this was a sort of facade, tore into her views. Canst this be true? Surely not? Our sister has survived a thousand years… In peace.

Luna concealed her thoughts from being expressed on her face, and waited for Sulyvahn’s thoughts. Maybe it is a simply a philosophical view.

“All I can say Luna, is that you should not ever believe that you can not die. Because when you least expect it, the world around you will crumble and fall. You will be left with nothing,” Sulyvahn began shifting the books beneath him, back onto the shelves that had once housed them. Each book hitting with a soft thud.

The pile of books was reduced to nothing in a matter of seconds the both of them floating down to floor to meet one another, “Pray tell, how dost thee know of all this?”

“I speak from experience Princess Luna,” he began his departure from the library with Luna following suit. “Has Celestia or Artorias spoke to you of our kingdom?”

“We have not been given much information.”

“It’s a sad tale of betrayal to say the least. You should have them tell you it sometime.”

“Canst thou not tell us?”

“I’m not much of a person to revel in the past. To learn from it, yes.”

“We see, thou dost not wish to talk about poor memories. We… understand.”

“Thank you,” the pair had finally reached the library doors. He pulled the door allowing for the princess to pass through with a nod of gratitude. Sulyvahn followed behind, but stopped as he passed the doors, “Princess Luna.”

The princess turned around to face the pontiff, truth be told, she wasn’t comfortable with being behind her, “Yes?”

“Allow me to extend my services to you. Though we both seem to have the same problem, we come from different eras.”

Luna took a step forward slightly baffled, “How did thee know?”

“Considering your speech pattern and I’ve read a couple books, it doesn’t necessarily take a genius to put the pieces together.”

“Ah… I see,” she turned away a tinge embarrassed. “We offer thanks for the offer. Hopefully, we shalt not need thy experience in combat Pontiff Sulyvahn.”

“Of course not, I would hope that this peace would never cease as well,” Sulyvahn raised his hand and rotated it in a circle. Following his hand was a spark, as soon at the circle was complete a portal had formed. He began to step through before he remembered. With one foot through the portal he spoke, “Maybe, it depends if magic is truly a fundamental force. It could rely on other variable after all.”

With a wave of his hand he stepped through, the portal closing behind him. Luna gave a small grin, The antics of this Triumvirate is interesting to say the least. Even We had forgotten that question… We- I should really put and effort into fixing mine dialect…

Tonight was better than it was before, it was now only a couple hours till sunrise. I still must attend to the dream realm. Luna gave another mental and verbal sigh. The night may have been better, but it was still long.
> Chapter VIII: The Canterlot Slums
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


	Chapter VIII: The Canterlot Slums

Canterlot is known for its tall whimsical towers, the roofs that curve to a point, the use of marble in its buildings, and most notably the way that buildings seem to merge into a maze of paths and bridges. The appearance of the capital of Equestria was elegant, regal, magical. The bricks that pave the roads were accompanied by lacy lightposts and pristine sidewalks. The home of the princesses and their dear subjects is a beacon of hope and prosperity. Banners of gold, silver, midnight blue, and white hung in the wind. Nearly all of Canterlot was this perfection. Nearly all of it. 
The Canterlot Slums, an area not ventured by anypony but the lower-class, was its unspoken counterpart. Trash bags lined the walls of homes and stores, buildings were boarded up, and few citizens walked the street as night fell upon this district. Many efforts to restore what was once a bountiful market on a narrow street was reduced to tattered remains of a neighborhood. Paint chipping of the walls alongside the graffiti once placed there and potholes in the road that the city would never notice to repair. Living here was no longer an option, it was a matter of survival.
A cloaked individual trotted down the sidewalk, heading further and further into the slums a thick fog slowly building up behind him. He was tight against the wall as a few others walked past him, avoiding to gaze. As he would pass alleys he would pause, check around the corner and around him. After the first couple of alleys his pace picked up, check and go, check and go. His head wildly turning around, up and down, left and right. Where? Where? He was galloping, trying to find it, he had to find it. He had been walking for hours and hours. He just couldn’t find it. His gallop slowed to a trot, his trot to a stop, and he leaned against the wall he had been clinging onto for the last few hours. Just one more try. He peered over the corner, just barely in the fog he could make it out. Spray painted onto the wall were a spread of wings with a circle around them. His eyes lit up with joy, and he saw through the fog, and the faint yellow glows of a building could be seen. He went on a sprint, rushing forward to his home. He was finally here.
The door slammed with a thud, the jingle from the bell above followed. The cloaked individual leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief, bringing a hoof up to wipe the sweat off his brow. It was then that he noticed the look he was getting from the others who sat down at tables and at the bar. He quickly got off the door and bowed his head and the rest went back to their business.Home was a small tavern. It had faces that he had seen, and faces he hoped to never see again, but home nonetheless. The place had a warm feel to it. The oak floor and supports, glowed from the orange of the candles that illuminated the building. The sea of light conversation made for good background noise, and the drinks served to warm you up even more from the inside. He sat down in a booth in the corner of the room. He could finally rest.


~*~


“For the last several years, to be precise two, the Garden has been trying to receive additional funds for infrastructural improvements. Now, I’m sure you are wondering why we are lobbying for such funds of forty-five-thousand and five-hundred bits, your Highnesses,” a pudgy, old stallion paced back and forth before the princesses as they sat on their thrones. At the bottom of the dias stood the earth pony, and behind them a table of councilmen.
“Yes,” Celestia replied.
“Thank you. The Garden is completely outdated to the rest of the city, your Highnesses. We still have cobblestone roads, compared to the brick ones which make it hard on our citizens’ hooves,” he turned back to the table where several nodded in agreement.
“Uh-huh,” Celestia sighed.
“Our light posts are absolutely dreadful. They are thin, straight pieces of old architecture. The Garden really needs these funds to modernize,” he bowed to the princesses as he finished his statement. A soft applause behind him.
Another council member stood up from their chair, “The council agrees with this proposal, your Highnesses. For too long we have let this district fall behind with the aesthetics of the city, to not do so would be a crime,” the member sat back down as his colleague applauded.
“We see thy worries chairs of the council, and tis’ an issue that should be addressed in the near future,” a sentence Luna had been using far too often ever since retaking her place as a princess.
“And you council members, are all in agreement on this matter?” Celestia asked as she stood up and walked down the dias. “You all agree that this is of the utmost concern for the city of Canterlot?”
“Of course your highness,” the proposer once again bowed down. “The giant snake creature has brought a perfect opportunity to do so, rebuilding the community is of utmost importance after all.”
“Is it now?” The entire chamber turned their heads to the door to see that Artorias stood there with paper and pen ready at hand. “I’m sorry, actually I’m not, your proposal is absolutely ridiculous.”
The council members stood up in shock and anger, “Take that back beast! You know nothing of the intricacies of Canterlot, go back to slaying monsters,” yelled one of them.
“Well I would, but can’t. Kind of got a stack of papers in my hand for all of you guys,” he then proceeded to pass them around. “So I got to read your proposal, Mr…” he pulled a flashcard up, “Mr. Quil. And I must say, aren’t you the cheekiest little shit.”
“Artorias,” Celestia stated curtly.
“Fine, fine. As I was saying, yes, the district does look somewhat different from the rest of Canterlot, but that can be said about many other districts in Canterlot. Not to mention, the sense of uniqueness that each of those districts provides is vital to the overall aesthetics of Canterlot. And also, the Garden is not the only district to be affected by the attack,” Artorias leaned over the table.
“What is your point?” Quil seethed.
“My point? I thought you’d never ask. After doing some critical thinking, I suggest you guys try it, I did some math and determined it wouldn’t cost half of what you’re asking! A mere fifteen-thousand ought to do it. So, Why would you need another thirty-thousand just for the Garden district?” Quil’s eyes shrunk to the size of pin pricks. “Any guesses? No? It’s all simple if you look at the plans that he left out of his presentation, but all cleverly hidden under a bunch of technical jargon, isn’t it?” Artorias began pacing back and forth in the main foyer. “ What a wonderful idea! Building a beautiful hotel there, near the edge to see the horizon for miles. But, I wonder who would end up owning it? Oh, I know. The man- I mean stallion -who came up with it all. Nice try, sir, but you wouldn’t last an hour in my court, much less congress.”
Quil stood there dumbstruck as Artorias railed into him and his proposal, beat after beat, the man didn’t stop going in depth into what Quil had planned. RIght there in court before the princesses and the rest of the council he had been humiliated. “Y- you have no truth to what you say! Lies, I say. Lies! I have been serving this council for ten long years! You have no authority, much less permission to even be here right now you beast!”
The room fell silent, the deep breaths from quil filling the room. No one could have expected that coming from the old stallion, his demeanor from a few moments ago suddenly gone. Artorias didn’t speak, he relished in the silence as he victoriously smirked. “Anyway, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, as your official right hand to the throne,” He paused. “I offer my proposal in this folder,” walking around the table of council members he handed over the files over to Celestia.
“I believe with that council members, we shall call this meeting to a close,” Celestia ordered. The members quickly stood up from their seats, each one hurriedly walking out of the courtroom. She then took the files in to her magic, and teleported them to her room to review later. “Did you really have to embarrass Mr.Quill like that?”
“Let him off easier than that? Scum like that deserve to be treated as such. Not to mention between all the meetings and documents, let me tell you, I needed that. Today has been such a fucking week.”
“Indeed, sister,” Luna spoke as she made her way down the dias. “As Artorias said, today has been quite the… week? I am not sure I fully understand the phrase if what you mean is that today has felt so long it is comparable to a week. If so, that is quite the phrase,” Luna raised her head, giving it a slight tilt as she brought her hoof to chin in thought.
Artorias bowed his head, “Thank you, Princess Luna.” He then proceeded to peer down into his clipboard, a stack of papers ready to burst from the clip that held them in place, “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, aside from the proposal, each of you now have an hour of free time to do whatever you please since you called this meeting short.”
“An hour… That is both plenty and not enough time at all to do anything but take a break wouldn’t you say Luna,” Celestia’s magic enveloped the table and chairs that sat in the middle of the courtroom. They bent and stretched until out of them formed a smaller circular table and three chairs.
“We agree sister, a break would be most effective of our time. Shall thou be joining us Sir Artorias?” Luna sat down at one of the chairs, an obsidian pot appearing before her as well as several jars of tea leaves. Celestia was also sitting down at the table as she brought forth her own glass pot.
Artorias stood there flipping through papers, making sure he had enough time to fully partake in a cup of tea. He paced back and forth reading through his tentative schedule. He now had an hour to take a break, or he could advance his schedule by moving things around. The maid that was pushing a cart of treats wasn’t sure how to get past the quick-pacing, tall individual. Moving forward one moment only to back out as Artorias’s large body overshadowed her.
“Artorias, the food?” Celestia was eying the small cakes on the cart.
No response.
As Artorias was walking back and forth in front of the maid’s way, he stumbled over as an invisible force began pushing him toward the tea table. His clipboard falling out of his hands, a few papers falling out just before a magical grip could be seen catching it. His feet now sliding across the floor, as he was being pushed to the princesses, “Really? What if I tripped and snapped my neck?”
“Then thou would have been bested by the the floor,” Luna said as she levitated over to him his clipboard and documents. “Thou also became a barrier for mine sister’s delectable treats.”
“Your indecision Artorias, has caused me to make a decision for you. That decision being for you too to take a break from this week long day.” The cakes and sandwiches finally made their way past Artorias and onto the tea table, “Thank you, Feather.”
“Of course your Highness, may everyone have an enjoyable break,” Feather made her way out with the cart as Artorias begrudgingly sat down alongside them.
“Fine, if I could get the usual that’d be great,” setting aside his clipboard, he began picking out sandwiches he could eat. “Thank goodness, you have carnivorous dignitaries that visit.”
“Yes, well Equestria isn’t the only country to exist on the face of Equus,” Celestia spoke as she spooned several leaves into her pot.
After finishing a bite of some cake, Luna spoke, “In these times it is also much easier to do so. Aside from eating habits Sir Artorias, We are curious about thy proposal. Wouldst thou give us a preamble to your work?”
Artorias was just moments away into having the first bites of his sandwich as Luna spoke, “Well, um, sure. The proposal is a very transparent document listing where each amount of funds is going towards. This is all out of fifty-seven-thousand by the way. I’ve already got several deals going on with some local businesses to help some job growth,” With his spiel out of the way, Artorias took his bite.
“Did you say fifty-seven-thousand, Artorias? That’s more than Mr.Quil,” Celestia was intrigued by Artorias’s budget proposal. After his analysis of Mr.Quil’s plan, any budget over fifteen-thousand would be preposterous.
Artorias brought a napkin to his mouth and wiped it clean, “Yes, it is more, but it does do more. My whole plan is to reconstruct not only the Garden district, but also to help the other districts with their identities. As I said earlier, not all districts are fully in line with the rest of Canterlot Main. I believe it to be of great importance to keep them like that, it will help with navigation, as well as citizen pride. To know that you are part of a unique portion of the city makes you feel special.”
“I see, but I’m sure we could allocate much less than that Artorias.”
“We could, we really could, but we need to do our best now rather than later. I did a bit of research, and the place that needs help the most is the Marketfest, now known as the Slums.”
“Tis’ a location that sees the darkest of nightmares. We agree that it is an issue Sir Artorias, but that area has resisted many attempts to help it,” Luna said as she took another bite of cake.
“I would dive more deeply into it, but then I’d be repeating myself in tomorrow’s meeting, if you could wait until then I’m sure I could deliver you more details. Not to mention, everything is laid out in the folder.”
Celestia levitated over a cup of red tea to Artorias, “Well, I’m sure it can wait until then. How are Sulyvahn and Raime doing by the way? I haven’t seen Sulyvahn around the castle, and though I haven’t yet met Raime, I heard he’s up and about.”
“Thank you,” Artorias said as he took the cup in hand. “The both of them left earlier in the day. Sulyvahn heard some stuff going in town and went to investigate. Raime tagged along, and I believe Twilight and Applejack are with them.”
“Seems like quite the adventure wouldn’t you say Tia?” Luna said as she lifted her cup in magic.
“I’m sure they will be fine, afterall my pupil is with them,” Celestia brought her own cup to her mouth.
“I’ll go ahead and get the medical papers ready then, way to tempt fate,” Artorias stood up from the table, the two princesses spitting out their tea and their eyes wide.


~*~


The sun finally finished its rise over the horizon, its rays illuminating the morning sky of Equestria and the ground below. Sulyvahn sat outside on one of the many balconies of the castle, the sounds of beeps and respirators sung behind him as he took his morning tea reading a newspaper. It’s been too long since I’ve held a newspaper, I wonder if they have… He quickly flipped through the pages until landing on absolute gold. They do have a sudoku section! Finally, something I didn’t have to make up. He earnestly began to solve the puzzle, making notes of where numbers could land, and picking out the easy ones. I might be a bit rusty, but I should be able to finish this in thirty minutes!
Time flew by for the scholar, his many cross outs and scribbles filled the page until he brought another sheet of parchment out to make another attempt. His enthusiasm reached a bitter end as he tossed the quil aside on to the table, crumpled the sheet of parchment up and threw it into the wind, “Damn you editorials and your unsolvable puzzles!”
A quiet voice spoke from behind, “Uh… um… Mr- Dr- Pontiff Sulyvahn, your friend Raime woke up…”
Sulyvahn quickly spun around with a hunch to his back, his head slightly deflated, “Oh, Ms. Fluttershy. I am so sorry, I must have startled you with my poor puzzle solving skills. Try as I might, and though I love them, I can never seem to finish one.” Sulvahn bowed his head before the pegasus who in turn flew up to pat him on the shoulder.
“Oh, I’m sure with enough time you’ll get their Sulyvahn. Afterall, I’m still working on things too,” She flew back down to the ground and put on a smile.
“Your kindness is too much for an old bag of bones like myself,” Sulvahn brought himself, dwarfing the young pegasus in height. He quickly picked up his tea and downed it in one go, “That’s unfortunate, it’s quite cold. Now, why don’t we make sure that another certain pile of bones doesn’t make a mess.”
The two made their way back into the infirmary. Curtains for the ill and damaged dangled from the bars, and the machines whirring were much louder inside. Nurses were moving about in their morning routines with breakfasts on carts being pushed about, and performing hygienic practices for the patients. Fluttershy and Sulyvahn moved through the flow of nurses with ease as many of them avoided walking in the path of the behemoth. “How is your morning Ms. Fluttershy? Mine was quite relaxing and peaceful until I saw that sudoku puzzle.”
Fluttershy flitted up to the height of Sulyvahn giving her easier access to speak with him, “It was fine, Twilight woke the girls and I up early to have breakfast. Afterall Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had to leave earlier than us to get back to work.”
“And why not head back yourself?”
“Well, Twilight and the princesses believed that it would be best to have me around to speak to Sif whenever Artorias wasn’t around. He can understand us, but he isn’t able to speak directly to us. Even Artorias can only understand him instinctually, so that leaves me as our best translator.”
Sulyvahn looked to his left ast the pegasus as she hovered next to him, eying her up and down, “What an interesting gift for a pegasus. You would think that an earth pony would be better suited, maybe even a unicorn. But a pegasus, that would have been my last guess. You are astonishing. Your friends too.”
Fluttershy adjusted her head to be a little higher, “Thank you for the compliment.”
The pair finally made it to Raime’s corner of the infirmary. Secluded from the rest as he needed the most room, and as to not disturb or scare other patients. He sat alone on the bed looking out a window. His dark brown hair in contrast to the pristine white of the sterile infirmary.
“Good morning Raime,” Sulyvah gave a slight tilt to his head and a small wave as he stood oblique to his friend.
“Its too fucking bright,” Raime fell back onto the bed, stretching out his arms. “Everything is… colorful and shit.”
“Well is that good or bad?”
“I don’t know, man. We’ve been stuck as statues for thousands of years, I feel like I’m suffering through some information overload or something. Y’know, like cats or something?” he yawned. “Anyway who are you, buttercup?”
“I’m… I’m Fluttershy,” she said, stuttering as her face hid behind her hair.
“A quiet one, huh? I like that, I like quiet. Haven’t had a good taste of it in a while.”
Sulyvahn then proceeded to make his way over to Raime, his head obscuring Raime’s vision of the ceiling, “Then I am sorry to have to ask for your assistance.”
Raime shot up from the bed, looking at his reflection in the mirror and giving a few shadow boxing punches. “Yeah, yeah, beat it up and I’m done, right?”
Fluttershy reeled back at the idea of fighting, “Beat up?”
“Yeah, y’know give the good ol’ one-two,” Raime gave a jab with his left and a hook with his right in quick succession. “I know I said I like quiet, but that’s good in like moderation or something. But I love a good brawl.” Raime looked at one of the curtains and gave a few more jabs in to the air, and the air then pushing the curtains that hung a few feet from him. “Yikes, a bit rusty.”
“Yes, yes. Now get changed, your gear is in the closet next to your bed. Now that you’re awake, I need to report this to the princesses as well as to Twilight. Would you like an escort to your room Ms, Fluttershy?” Sulyvahn then bowed once more to the pegasus.
“Oh, you don’t have to,” Fluttershy brought her hoof up to cover the blush that was now forming.
“It wouldn’t be a bother, in fact, I insist. Afterall your room is near your friends. And as for you Raime, please meet me in the garden, you can’t miss it if you ask around,” Sulyvahn and Fluttershy began making their way out of the infirmary leaving Raime alone.
Man, these ponies are fucking cute.


~*~


Twilight swiftly made her way through the halls of the castle, each turn she made was swift and precise from her years of running around as a young filly. She received a letter via Spike from Pontiff, who informed her that Raime, the last of the Triumvirate, had finally awoken. With Applejack by her side, who was a little less sure of where she was going, but confident in Twilight’s navigation skills. “Ah’ know you know where yer’ goin’ Twi, but how do ah’ know it too?”
“We’re heading to the gardens to meet up with Pontiff and Raime,” Twilight then levitating a clipboard in front of her to jot down questions and notes to ask Raime.
“Ah’ know that, but ah’ swear I’ve seen the same painting and vase four times Twi,” she frantically swung her head around looking for any more of the same painting.
“I do agree that that is a problem, you can thank the decorating team. They thought it’d be funny to do that about four years ago. Aside from me, you’re the only other pony to notice. Anyway, we need to be ready to meet Raime, and get as much…”
“Twi, stop!”
“Information out from him as-” Twilight was quickly cut off as she walked into what felt like a chitinous wall. Looking up from her position, Artorias stood there helmetless with his arm out as if he was holding something.
“Fucking hell!” Artorias yelled as he dropped down onto his knee to start picking up his clipboard and documents that had flown out. “I am so sorry. I was looking over my schedule, and well I didn’t notice you,” Artorias looked up at Twilight doing the same as him. Several documents were floating around her as she double checked each one to make sure that they were her’s.
“No, no, no. I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention as I was writing down my notes and questions.”
“Well, we wouldn’t be having this issue if I read my schedule ahead of time.”
“No, I should have prepared these beforehoof.
The two of them looked up at each other as Twilight’s magic held one end of a sheet of paper, and Artorias the other. The both of them determined to point the blame on themselves. A silence grew over the halls as Applejack stood there baffled at the apology contest. “Uhh… guys?”
“I will come out of this victorious Twilight Sparkle, I will not rest until I have apologised fully.”
“You think you’re the one at fault? We’ll see about that.”
The pause took over once again, Applejack a bystander. The silence held until the two of them began to show the crack of a smile followed by chuckles which grew into full on laughter. The two of them let go of the blank sheet of paper that separated them, as they both held their stomachs. Applejack’s confusion not following what had just occurred she just stood there dumbfounded.
Artorias stood clipboard in one hand as he offered Twilight his other hand, who graciously accepted. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Real fast, you think you could point me down the chamber of commerce? I got a meeting,” Artorias asked as he scratched the back of his head with his off hand.
Twilight gave a thought to their whereabouts, “Three intersections down the hall then left, two intersections then right, second door to your left.”
“Thank you. Also, Suly and Raime, are in the gardens. Something about going off to investigate an issue in the newspaper,” with that said, Artorias quickly began walking.
“Thanks for the heads up Artorias,” Twilight gave a small wave.
Looking over to her friend Applejack spoke up in confusion, “Ah’ thought you two didn’t get along.”
“I wouldn’t say that, we just got off on the wrong hoof. Now that he’s working with the princesses, he’s been really productive,” Twilight and Applejack began walking once more to the garden.
“Whatever ya’ say, sugarcube,” a slight look of doubt crossing over Twilight’s face.
With a few more minutes of walking down the maze of hallways, they found themselves under the morning sun, a soft breeze rolling over their coats. The scents of flowers flowing through the wind as they ventured in deeper. The garden had many statues and fountains about, each surrounded by a variety of colorful flora. Out there, standing by an all too familiar statue of a certain draconequus, were Raime and Sulyvahn who were leaning all over it as they conversed.
“Have I seriously been out for three days?” Raime asked, his face contorted in confusion.
“Indeed, it’s currently a Monday too,” Sulyvahn turned his head away from his friend and towards the statue they were standing by, “That’s odd.”
“What is?”
Sulvahn brought his hand to his chin in thought, about to open his mouth he heard a familiar chipper unicorn.
“Good morning!” Twilight quickly walked up to the too humans with Applejack in tow.
“Mornin’!” Applejack looked over to Raime who was now squatting down to give a handshake.
“Hi there,” a huge grin was on Raime’s face as he shook the hoof of Twilight. “I mean no offense, but you guys are like really small.”
“Well, yer’ as tall as an apple tree!” Applejack her head up in pride, as well as to stare up to Raime.
“It’s good to see you Ms. Twilight, Ms. Applejack,” Pontiff gave the two a quick bow. “I hope your morning has been well.”
Twilight’s gaze quickly switched from Pontiff, as he asked his question, to the statue behind him, “Uh… yeah! It’s been great so far! Heh, heh, heh… You know, times a’ ticking if you know what I mean, let’s go do that thing you want to do Pontiff!” A wide nervous smile was now resting on Twilight’s face as the two of the humans looked at her.
“Why yes, of course Ms. Twilight, daylight should not be wasted. Speaking of which, I’m sure you have many questions for my friend here, why don;t you ask away venture out of the castle and to our place of investigation.”
Raime nodded his head in agreement as Sulyvahn spoke until he heard the word questions, “Wait, what?”
“Come along Raime, with due haste!”
As the party made their way out of the gardens and back into the castle, Sulyvahn glanced back at the statue in the garden. He quickly faced forward once more, his hand facing backward gave a quick flick. A faint blue wisp leaving his hand, as he gave a quick witted remark to Raime’s dismay.
The group of four made their way through Canterlot, finding themselves close to the mountainside. Tall lurching buildings covered the afternoon sun leaving them in a deep shade. Trash and litter were about the streets, and a few homeless ponies wandered about. Twilight and Applejack covered their noses as they made their way through alongside Sulyvahn and Raime. 
Raime surveyed the area as they walked, “Seems like even this paradise has its problems.”
“Ah’... ah’ had no idea there were ponies who are livin’ like this in Canterlot of all places,” Applejack's eyes fluttered about as she felt guilt flowing over her.
“Neither did I Applejack, I had been living here for almost my entire life. I… I had no idea,” Twilight refused to look fully up at the situation before her, opting to mainly focus on the road beneath them. She felt a soothing few pats on her back.
“It’s okay Ms. Twilight,” soothed Sulyvahn. “Utopias can not exist without a dystopia. It’s all a matter of perspective. If you really want to think about it, there are individuals out there in the world who have it worse.”
“That doesn’t make it right,” Applejack spoke up as she stamped her foot in the ground. “How can we allow something like this to happen?!” tears pooling around her eyes as she stopped behind the group. Twilight and Sulyvahn turning around to wait for her.
“Politics,” Raime spat out the word in disgust. He continued to walk down the street, taking in the entirety of what was around him. He would be the witness.
“Oh… Seems like Raime is having a bit of a memory lapse. I know!” Sulyvahn knelt down to the height of the two ponies, and looked over to Twilight. “This might be the best time to ask more questions, he’s a total open book when he’s distracted like this.”
Twilight stepped back, a little distrubed by Pontiff’s suggestion. “You can’t be serious! That would be incredibly rude.”
“Trust me, he needs a distraction from his little lapse. You asking questions might help.”
“Then why don’t you do it?!”
“If I were to start interrogating him, he’d get mad,” a chuckle escaped Pontiff’s lips. “Trust me Ms. Twilight.”
She turned her head back and forth between the distant Raime and Applejack, a pleading look adorned her face. “Look sugarcube,” Applejack raised a hoof onto Twilight’s shoulder. “You got this, I don’t think Pontiff here would put you in harms way on purpose.”
Twilight gave a reluctant sigh, “Fi- fine, I’ll do it.” She said a few words in a whisper to herself, and mustered as much courage as she could and began catching up with Raime. I’ll get something out of him yet!
Sulyvahn gave a little wave as he watched Twilight quickly trot on over to Raime, “Now, Ms. Applejack, I have a few questions.”
“Pardon?” The two began walking side by side, both of them keeping an eye on the pair up ahead.
“Well, there’s a small detail I need to confirm about the Canterlot gardens.”
“And what might that be? And why not ask Twi?”
“That’s a simple, Ms. Twilight seemed flustered when around it. You though, not as much. So I thought I’d get a more controlled response from you,” Pontiff tilted his head down to look at the earth pony.
“Ya’ mean to tell me, ya’ sent her over there just to talk to me?” a stern expression rested on her face.
“If I must be honest, yes. So if you could, I’d like some details on a certain draconequus statue.”
Applejack’s motion paused for less than a second as Pontiff mentioned the statue, her eye momentarily shrinking at the thought. Her breathing became a bit faster as she continued to walk, “Well ya’ see, that statue wasn’t a statue a long while ago.”
“You mean to say it's alive?” Pontiff’s intrigue grew, the presence he had sensed earlier wasn’t a fluke.
“Y- yes, he… is,” Applejack sighed, the thoughts of Discord’s brief reign over Ponyville, plaguing the corners of her mind.
“Judging from your tone, was he bad?” Pontiff’s voice became softer. From what he gathered from Applejack's response was that of fear.
“Ya’ darn tootin’ he was,” Applejack tried to shift her tone to being more jovial, an alteration that failed to be effective at hiding her emotions. The fears came to a pause though, as a yell could be heard from further down the street. Raime was waving the two over to get them closer.
“Don’t worry about a thing Ms. Applejack. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I’m sure I could ask the princesses if this is too much of a burden.” With a firm nod from the orange mare, the two made their way over to Twilight and Raime. “What’s going on?”
“Well Suly, I ain’t much for modern art, but are these the pony statues you were talking about in the news? The ones that were popping up around the slums?” Raime ran his fingers over the statues in question.
“Why yes, indeed. I thought them rather strange, and thought checking them out would be interesting. Afterall, they only started coming around when the fog started.”
As the two humans talked, Twilight began analyzing the statues with magic. With the soft glow of her magenta magic enveloping the statues, her studious concentration transformed into horror. She stumbled back from the statue and into Applejack behind her.
“Everything okay, Twi?” she asked in a hurry as she checked to make sure Twilight was unharmed.
“They- they were alive! The petrification magic that was used on them is similar to that of a cockatrice!” the words quickly fumbling out of her mouth caught the attention of the two humans.
“You sure, Twi? There ain’t none of those varmint here in Canterlot,” Applejack held on to the exasperated unicorn.
“I’m sorry, did you say petrification magic?” Sulyvahn knelt down beside Twilight offering gentle pats to help soothe her.
“Yes, petrification magic. It’s chaotic in nature, and is forbidden by the Mage Academy here in Canterlot. The only way for it to occur is if there’s a cockatrice around, or a rogue mage,” quick breathes left Twilight’s mouth. The thought of a cockatrice sending shivers down her spine.
“Well, sorry to interupt your guys' magicky talks, but there is a fog rolling in. Should I also mention its the middle of the day? Cause this shit i really fucking dense,” a thick yellow fogged began to emerge from the sewer drains. From under them the scamppering of a slimy creature could be heard.
“Thick fog and statues?” Sulyvah muttered to himself. He took a few seconds to piece what should have been an easy correlation. “Basilisks!” he yelled as he began conjuring a miracle. Words left his mouth at a breakneck pace, cylinders of radiant surrounding each of the party members. His spell coming to a stop, the cylinders collapsed onto their host leaving them glowing faintly.
“What was that Pontiff?” Twilight looking herself over. The feeling of Pontiff’s magic interacting with her own, was further from different.
“Let’s talk about it later! They’re coming,” a silhouette from the fog rushed out at them, with his long sword ready, Raime thrusted his sword into the bobbling eye of basilisk. And with it still lodged inside of it, he lifted it over him and threw it onto the ground in between the group.
To Twilight and Applejack the creature in question looked like an oversized salamander with softball sized eyes that protrude out of the skull like a snail’s.They quickly brought their sights up from the now dead basilisk and onto the fog where several more silhouettes could be seen. The croaking of the creatures could be heard all around them, their wet footsteps getting louder as they got closer. The group was huddled together, back to back, covering all sides. They were surrounded on all sides.
> Chapter IX: A Storm Without Rain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter IX: A Storm Without Rain



Known for their ability to crawl on water, and more infamously known for their curse, Basilisks are often found in swamps or the unclean sewers of a town or city. Their most prominent feature are the two false bulbous eyes that stick out of their forehead. These eyes do not provide any benefit to the creature, other than intimidation. Their true eyes are located just above their toothy maw. 


Wherever they stay, a tinted yellow fog secretes from their body. Not only does this obscure them and their attacks, but also their true weapon: the pertification curse. From their maw, they breathe a deeper yellow fog which curses anyone who stands within it. After a few seconds without any protection against curses, a creature will be turned to stone: petrified. 


This effect can be cancelled and even reversed by a purging stone, an uncommon artifact that has the ability not to directly stop cursing effects, but to absorb them. These artifacts were and are commonly used by non-magical and low-magical, by nature, peoples. 


It is best when fighting or encountering this creature to not keep a medium distance away from it. They have the ability to jump such distances and attack you. Rather one should avoid it if possible, but if conflict is unavoidable, it is recommended to keep as close as possible as their cone of attack will be tight and not spread around you. 


When encountering a group of these creatures, do not allow yourself to be cornered as this allows them to surround you and engulf you in their curse. The best strategy is to have them on one side of you as to keep them all in view.




Monsters and Magics: Misconceptions and Facts by Pontiff Sulyvahn



An orange earth pony rested in a booth, his coat orange, his mane a dark grey. Rusty Anvil was stirred awake, his head resting on a table as he was sitting down in a booth, to his right was a blurry barkeep. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves taking in the rest of the bar, no longer were the sounds of conversation filling up the room, the clinking of drinks, or the music of bards. Other than him and the barkeep, the place was empty. “Huh… what? Where is everyone?” his tone groggy from his long slumber.
The stallion set a glass of water down on the table. He was a tall and old stallion, his gruff voice commanded the empty room,”Well, they left. It’s about closing time, can’t keep this place open twenty-four-seven.”
“Wait, already?!” and after downing his drink he quickly stood up and approached the stallion who was now wiping down the bar.
“Well, it’s four in the morning. A pony’s got to get their sleep, even if they work this late.”
“Can’t I get a room upstairs?” Rusty began searching through the saddlebags he had hidden under his cloak.
“Take your hooves outta’ there,” he leaned over to give Rusty a hard pat on the shoulder. “I don’t want to waste your time with that, but we’re already full. And, when I say full, I mean full,” the stallion put a hard emphasis on his last word as he went back to wiping.
“But- but, like you said, it’s four in the morning! Surely, you can make a quick exception,” It was Rusty’s turn to lean over the bar to the barkeep’s dismay.
“Get yer’ hooves off! I’m cleaning!” Rusty was waved off by the barkeep who began to clean the part where Rusty had his hooves on. “I really mean that we are at full capacity, sonny. I can’t do a thing. You’ll have to find some other place to stay.”
Rusty’s head deflated at the news, he stepped away from the bar after thanking the barkeep, and made his way outside. The alley he had sought to find was still obscured in fog, The whole place is probably still fogged up. I better get some place to stay fast!
The orange stallion began to hug the walls of the alley, barely able to make out anything in the thick fog as he walked along. The sounds of his hoofsteps hitting the wet ground beneath him echoed throughout the alley way. Finally, after reaching the end of it, the graffiti he had searched for was resting on the wall above him, he looked over the corner of the building he leaned against. Nothing, but more fog. Not a single light post could be seen illuminating the street.
With his hoof touching the wall, he turned the corner and continued to walk further into the slums. He dragged it against the wall so as to not get lost in the fog, he could feel each brick as they were separated by mortar. A few times he’d feel the wood of a door and check to see if it belonged to an inn. So far, no luck. Most of them had been boarded up buildings rather than actual doors.
His movement came to a quick stop as the croak of a frog could be heard echoing across. He uselessly swiveled his head around as he attempted to locate the source in the dense fog. His back against the wall he used for safety, he dragged himself across it looking for any building he could enter. With each step of his heavy hoofsteps he splashed water onto his cloak.
With each feeling of wood against his body he attempted to gain access only to find no answer from the otherside. The croaks were growing louder as he traveled down the one street that made up the entirety of the slums. A large gasp escaped his mouth as he felt cold metal drag across his right side. He stopped to cover his mouth, he was now between a dumpster and the wall. He listened for what felt like eternity. The croaks had multiplied in number as they got closer to where he was.
Wet slaps echoed across the walls of the street. Rusty’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks as these sounds quickly moved past him. It sounded as if there were dozens of the creatures in the fog. Minutes passed after the sounds fully passed him, he breathed a soft sigh of relief when he could no longer hear them. Now was the time to get out of here, he thought. He shuffled back from where he encountered the dumpster and back onto the street. He galloped as hard as he could away from the sounds that were once following him. He was going to get out of there he thought as he began to see what looked like a light post with two bulbs that seemed to shine. Reaching the light post he leaned on it taking a quick breath. He felt the droplets fall from the sky onto his shoulder, The rain might help in clearing the fog. His relief then began to grow in confusion as he realized the droplets were seeping through his cloak. They were warm.
He looked up to find the two bulbs of the lightpost were just a hoof length away. Two pupils were staring at him. Fear had paralyzed him in place as all he could do was stare at the eyes before him. No, not paralyzed, he couldn’t move at all. He looked down at his hooves, up to his knees they were grey and heavy as he tried to lift them up. He looked back up to see that the eyes were just inches away, the salamander-like head now visible. The stiffness he was feeling was rising up to his torso as he struggled to move. As he did so, he saw the creature’s mouth widen, a grin from ear to ear adorned its face.
Rusty’s thoughts were enveloped by fear, was he going to die? So many thoughts began to race through his head at the situation he was in, thought after thought. As the stiffness he felt reached his neck, his thoughts began to slow, his vision becoming greyed. This was it. He tried to scream for help, but he couldn’t produce anything.


~*~


Raime was further up ahead of us as we ran through the thick fog using his massive square shield, a scutum if I recall, as a battering ram. There were dozens of these creatures, basilisks, Pontiff had called them, all around us. From this population size, the Slums must have been having this infestation fester for months, maybe even years. 
My thoughts on the situation had to be put on hold though as I heard Pontiff speak, “Ms. Twilight, we need to inform the princesses and Artorias of the situation here. The amount of basilisks that have nested here is alarming to say the least, and who knows if there are more running around in the sewers.”
My breathing was rapid as we raced through the unseen, “Yes, the princesses should know what to do.”
“Well I feel that the solution is quite obvious Ms. Twilight, the eradication of these creatures is the simplest, of course. Jokes aside, we must get out of here. Raime and I could handle maybe a few dozens, but I fear that the situation is much more dire below ground. My miracle will only last us a few more minutes.”
“Only a few minutes!” We had already been traveling through the Slums for a good hour before the creatures appeared. Running, we might get out in about thirty minutes if we’re lucky, and from my calculations it has been only ten!
“I’m afraid my strengths lie in sorcery and pyromancy, not so much miracles. Artorias always did the miracle stuff.”
“Ah’ hate to cut in on yer’ guys’ conversation, but how long is a few minutes? Cause I’m seeing a bunch of eyeballs all around us,” Applejack had worry written all over her face as I too began to notice that there were even more basilisks lurking in the fog.
I could hear the splatter of these creatures hitting Raime’s shield as he acted like the locomotive of a train in motion, every so often Pontiff would also take one of his swords and swipe into the fog. A screech piercing my ears as he killed them. What in the name of Celestia is going on?!
Fear. It was all I could feel as we ran as hard as we could. We needed to get out of here as fast as possible. Afterall, even Sulyvahn himself said he could only handle a few dozen! What was this? A few hundred?
My fear became terror as I saw a dark form appear from the fog over Raime’s head. It's form enlarging as it gets closer and closer. I could make out the bulbous eyes that seemed to dominate their foreheads. It’s mouth opened and even darker vapor seemed to rush out of it. I halted. Time was moving in slow motion as I could feel it’s breath envelope around. I could feel the curse flow over me, I felt so stiff.
But soon, the complete opposite feeling flowed through me. The feeling of flight and terror as Sulyvahn threw me further than I could ever hope to teleport. He yelled, “Both of you, go! We shall slow them down.”
It was then that I noticed Applejack as we both tumbled across the cobblestone. I tried to scurry up onto my hooves, and with Applejack’s help we were back to running in seconds.
“How much further ya’ think?”
“I’d say just a few more minutes until we’re out of here. If I could then I would teleport us,” I could feel the magic of Sulyvahn fading away. Even the faint yellow glow around Applejack started to fade in and out of existence. But it was the home stretch now, the fog seemed to have been thinning out as we continued to push forward.
“There, Twi! Ah’ think ah’ can see the gates,” I could see AJ take on her classic form as she tucked her head down and under her hat. But a moment later, in a blur, she was no longer running just ahead of me.
“AJ!” I yelled as I slowed to a stop to look around.
“Go, Twi!” I could hear her, but I couldn’t see her. This damn fog!
With a heavy sigh I turned around. What?! Where is it? The gate, it was right there. There was nothing but more fog all around me. In my moment of panic I lost sight of it and the fog seemed to have capitalized on it.
I stood alone in the middle of the street, not a single sound but the sound of my breathing. I was close. I had to be. If I could just figure which direction the exit was, I could just run. My ears flicked to the left as I heard the slapping of webbed feet hit the ground, they were close. Knowing they were close, I mustered as much magic as possible into my horn. The light didn’t seem to illuminate much I noted, the fog seemed to be reflecting it right back.
It was risky, as more footsteps could be heard approaching me. Soft croaks became louder and louder. I looked around, their huge eyes could be seen through the fog. Just a few more seconds, just a few more. Their silhouette’s all jumped up in the air from the ground, my instinct overpowered me as I winced and closed my eyes in fear.


~*~


In the courtroom of the castle, the tea break was coming to an end. The small gathering grew to four members as two new individuals joined and one of the original gatherers left for a nap. The break was a relaxing departure from the stresses of the day, as each member could finally ease their mind for a brief moment and not worry about a thing. But each knew, in the back of their heads, such a calm was always followed by a storm.
“Thank you Fulttershy, it was wonderful of you to join us,” Princess Celestia took the final piece of cake into her mouth, her face gleaming at the delicious taste.
“Oh, no. Thank you for having me,” Fluttershy was sitting at the table a large grey and furry creature behind her which gave a small howl.
Artorias looked disapprovingly at his lifelong companion, “You too, Sif. Now, hush. We get it. You’re bored,” Artorias said as he looked over to Celestia’s teapot which was full of red tea. “Also, you gonna finish that?” he said pointing.
“No, you can have it,” Celestia’s food joy simply became that of surprise as Artorias grabbed the pot, lifted the cap off, and drank straight out of it. He would have finished it all if the sound of a loud pop disrupted him, causing him to spit-take over his armor and table.Celestia laughed at the sight of the now aromatic knight. 
“Go ahead, laugh it up,” he said as he patted himself down with a napkin. “What the hell was that?”
Artorias was answered by his wolf who gave a quick quiet bark in the direction of the popping sound. In the middle of the court room stood Twilight. The mare’s head scrunched into her torso, two of her legs raised up in a wince, and her eyes closed with a look of terror everywhere else. “Twilight!” Fluttershy yelled.
Twilight’s eyes flickered open at the voice of her friend. She looked around the room in a hurry to find the sound of Fluttershy who quickly walked up to her. With the yellow mare in sight, Twilight ran up and gave Fluttershy a tight hug. Tears flowed from her eyes as she embraced her friend who reciprocated in kind.
The sight of her pupil crying was not a sight Celestia saw often, worry washed over her as she thought about the causes of such strife. The pure and raw magical energy that burst forth from Twilight was equivalent to that of her mishap when she was a filly. With all options weighed, she looked over to Artorias who seemed just as worried. Well if either of the other two did anything, at least I know he isn’t involved.
“Twilight,” Celestia leaned down to her student to give Twilight a hug. After a few moments of reassurance, she leaned back, “What happened? Why did you cast a long-range teleportation spell? And where are the others?”
Horror dawned across Twilight’s face, tears threatening to return as she stumbled back. She began to speak only for nothing to come out. Open and close, nothing seemed to come out but the faintest of breaths. Twilight’s face contorted in fear as she couldn’t seem to let the words escape her. It was then that Artorias knelt down.
“I hope you don’t believe that you lost your ability to speak,” he gave Twilight a few pats behind her neck. “You are simply under shock, I’m sure that whatever ordeal you had gone through was truly terrifying.”
An audible gulp from Twilight echoed throughout the court.
“Now, give deep breathes in. Five seconds in, eight seconds out. Got it?” Artorias gave the mare a thumbs up who nodded in return. 
After a few moments of careful counting, the panic that enveloped Twilight grew less and less. No longer was there cold sweat keeping her cold, she could finally focus, “Basilisks. They are all over the slums.”
Panic was once again growing in the mare. Memories surged of Sulyvahn and Raime throwing her out of the action and Applejack being tossed back into the fog by one of those creatures. Celestia approached her student, it was her turn to try and calm the mare down as Artorias took a step back to be with his wolf.
“Twilight, listen. I need you to listen, carefully. I need you to breathe,” as Twilight looked towards her mentor she felt more at ease. Her muscles relaxed in the presence of her mentor. Seeing her student relax she asked, “What are these basilisks you speak of?”
“The- they’re like cockatrice, Princess. They’ve been turning poor ponies into stone! The whole of the slums are infested with them and the fog is everywhere!” Twilight’s breathing became frantic once more, but this time her eyes weren’t shrunk down to pinpricks. A paper bag appeared before her and she levitated it over her mouth.
“Guards!” Celestia ordered. Two guards came through the main doors of the courtroom, each stepping in time with one another and gave the princess a salute. “Have Twilight brought to her room along with Fluttershy, and have a royal physician see Twilight.”
The guards gave another salute and began to escort the two ponies to Twilight’s room all the while Fluttershy attempted to console her friend.
Looking once more over to Artorias and Sif, “I trust that you know what a basilisk is?”
“Yes Princess,” he said as he strapped on his helmet, and his tone became much more serious than earlier. “Please, if you could, take me to the best vantage point to see over the slums.”
The princess, the knight and the wolf quickly traveled the halls of the castle with Celestia in the lead. They had found themselves traveling up with a darker theme than that of the rest of it. These few minutes felt like hours as the knight and princess hurriedly deduced the best location to survey the slums.
Celestia and Artorias looked over the vast city of Canterlot, each district but the Slums making themselves known with their individual themes. “I see what you were saying Artorias, but where on Equus is the Slums?” Celestia’s worry could be heard as her voice gave a subtle quiver.
“They’re close by the mou- God damnit, that fucking room!” Artorias quickly stepped back from the balcony and out of the connected room. Before him were two thestrals who were guarding a pair of large walnut doors. He walked before them and up to the door where he was met with two crossing spears.
“Sir, you are not allo-” the guards' warnings were cut short as Artorias grabbed each spear in his way and bent them away from him. Looking on in horror, the guards watched as Artorias broke through the doors into the room.
“What in the name of Equus art thou doing?!” Princess Luna rose from her bed, a pink night cap adorned her head as she hugged a white, small, fluffy wolf plushie. She quickly rubbed her eyes, “Sir Artorias!”
Luna brought her hooves up thrice to rub the sleep from them, each time to check if Artorias was really there, “Why art thou trespassing upon our slumber!?” she exclaimed upon squeezing her plush in annoyance.
Artorias didn’t seem to pay her any mind, nor did Sif who followed behind. The two made their way over to the balcony doors which were covered by curtains. The knight quickly spread apart the curtains, Luna recoiling under the blankets from the light which was blinding her. With Artorias opening the doors, a cold wind introduced itself causing Luna to shudder.
Celestia quickly made her way over to her sister’s side, “I am so sorry, Lulu.”
“Tia!” He is right there!” Luna peaked from under the sheets. “Please tell me that thou hast a good explanation for the sudden intrusion.”
“Matter of state security?” Celestia gave a sheepish smile to her sister who groaned and slunk into the bed.
Turning back to the balcony where Artorias now stood alone, she walked on over making sure to close the door behind her. “Did you really have to? And, where’s Sif?”
“He’s fetching a bow, and what did I do?”
“You mean bone? But more importantly, you seem to be so focused on the matter at hoof that you had no idea that you waltzed on through my sister’s bed chambers?”
Artorias turned his head to the alicorn, “No, I mean bow. And, bed chambers?”
“I see… And, yes. She will also surely seek repayment,” the two looked out near the base of the mountain. The sight was ghastly to say the least, plumes of fog could be seen erupting from the slums, a few more smaller cases could be seen in neighboring districts.
“Oh… That is really not good,” Artorias took off his helmet to massage his temples.
“What’s wrong? I see nothing but plumes of smoke.”
“Not smoke, fog,” he sighed. “Basilisks, secrete this vapor to hide themselves. And judging by how thick and massive it is, they've got to be a few hundred.”
“A few hundred?!” Celestia was not one to be surprised often, but for this one case her mouth was left agape.
“If we really want a chance at getting rid of them, we’ve got to thin out that fog,” Artorias felt a massive migraine coming. How the fuck are there so many?!
With her head tilted in thought, Celestia quickly came up with an idea. “I believe I can get some pegasi to devise a way to remove the fog.”
“Can they also shoot arrows?”
“Most certainly Artorias, they wouldn’t be much of guards if they couldn’t”
“Well that makes it all the easier.”


	~*~


Canterlot was in a partial state of panic and confusion as the guards of the crowns marched through the streets. Their destination was easily telegraphed as corporals ordered and organized their subordinates toward the cause of alarm, the fog. The massive plume of fog erupting out from the Slums had caused several reports to be called, and with more smaller plumes sprouting in the neighboring districts action had to be called.
By the order of Princess Celestia even the Wonderbolts who were called from Cloudsdale were here to assist in the issue at hand. Their shadows racing over the city as they flew in formation to their designated positions at each of the plumes. Captain Spitfire looked down at the oddity that was the thick, yellow-tinted fog, it was unnatural. She called over to one of her subordinates, “Soarin, got any idea what the hell fog is doing in the middle of Canterlot?”
The light blue pegasus hovered closer to his captain, “I would say an odd weather request, but considering the fact that we were called on over… An attack, ma’am?” Soarin gave a shrug and a salute.
“Ha! An attack on Canterlot? Only an idiot would try that!”
“To be fair, ma’am. There was Discord just a few months ago…”
“Yeah, but from what I remember, isn’t he the ‘King of Chaos’ or something?”
Before Soarin could correct his officer in command, a blaring horn sounded throughout the city from the streets below and echoing off the mountainside. Several banners could be seen raised up depicting two alicorns circling the sun and moon. With the signal to start the operation a go, the Wonderbolts dove down to their respective plumes. The plan was in motion.
The pegasi began to create several huge vortexes in an attempt to pull the fog up from the streets. Their efforts produced slow results for the thick fog despite having done these kinds of maneuvers several times over. But their efforts seemed to have been working, slow they might have been, the fog began to collect inside these vortexes. The collected fog rose above the shingled roofs of houses, a thundercloud looking structure obscuring the mountain. With the cover of the fog receding into these vortexes, the basilisks fled further and further into what was left.
One basilisk in particular was slow going as it scurried across the streets and walls, its webbed, sticky feet providing ample support. Unlike many of its brethren, this one was caught far on the edge of the fog’s protection, and with it now receding quickly, the basilisk was exposed to the sun and pegasi. It wouldn’t reach the fog like some of the others.
The pegasus guard flying above the slums released his hoof from the string of the bow, an arrow that was once resting on the pegasus’s other hoof was gone in a fraction of a second. The arrow flew down, whizzing through the air as it gave off a faint whistle, and came to an abrupt stop as it found its new home in the skull of a basilisk.
Even more pegasi were firing arrows from the sky, teams strafing over the districts in turns. It was a massacre of the basilisks. Even more guards rushed through the now open streets, stabbing any stragglers or downed basilisks with swords and spears.
Major Shining Armor, the shield bearer, led his squadron through the streets of the Slums. There weren’t many other squads in front of them as the others were checking alleys and abandoned houses. Their formation was tight, each guard covering every possible angle of attack as they made quick work of the leftovers.
Marching on through, several statues could be now seen of ponies. Each statue had looks of horror, many of them in poses that saw them running away from something. In the middle of the cobblestone road, Shining Armor saw a stone mare on the ground wearing a cowboy hat. Sheesh, didn’t go down without a fight I see.
The squad moved cautiously and when an alley would come up they’d stop and check their corners. As they went deeper into the Slums, and as they approached a swirling mass of fog they stopped. The number of basilisks had dropped significantly, most of them having scurried deep into obscurity, “Alright, guys!” The squadron halted for their major who turned around to face them, “It doesn’t seem like there are much more of these basilisks around here, we’ll wait for the Wonderbolts to finish pulling the fog up. Afterwards-”
“Sir, watch out!” One of the ponies yelled out as they dove in, knocking Shining out of the way of a mass of dark fog.
Shining Armor, getting up and out of his stupor, looked on at the fate of his soldier. The fog dissipated in the wind, revealing the form of a guard pony with an outstretched hoof. The guards, alongside Shining, stepped back from the fog where several pairs of orbs looked at them from the fog. The motion to retreat was signaled with a hoof gesture from Shining, but as they turned around even more fog could be seen pouring out from the gutters.
Fog was pouring out of the doors and windows of abandoned buildings. The bodies of basilisks crawled on the walls, their mouths plastered with ear-to-ear smiles. Shining turned back to look at the mass of fog full of basilisks, and on cue, the basilisks jumped out from hiding with their maws open. Shining instinctively brought a shield up around the group and several thunks resonated across it as the bodies bounced off. A small look of relief washed over Shining’s face as he protected himself and his squad.
The creatures didn’t seem distracted by this, instead they continued to exhale more curse from their toothy maws. The black fog, pooled outside of Shining’s barrier, and ever so slowly penetrated with small wisps of dark vapor. The group huddled together in an attempt to get themselves further away from the vapor all around them. Come on you dang birds! We really need some help!
Shining’s request was answered not by the sound of flapping wings, but by a loud, earthshaking explosion which was followed by a beam of light on the opposite side. As the dust settled they saw a massive spear-like object penetrating the ground. All around it were street rubble and the remains of several basilisks which were flung about. Some even splattered and stuck against the walls. On the opposite side, the street was slightly molten red. Smoke rose from the ground, vaporized and molten remains of basilisk’s were all that was left. Shining looked at the direction from which the spear had come from, the Castle.
Standing on the balcony of Luna’s bedchambers stood Artorias and Celestia. In his left hand he held upright a massive iron bow taller than him with an end resting in the balcony itself. In his other hand he held a massive spear-like arrow, and on his left, resting against the frame of the door, were a few more arrows. Celestia stood next to Artorias, her horn glowing with bridled, magical energy. The look on her face was fierce as she protected her civilians.
“I could easily make quick work of these basilisks, as you call them, from up close,” Celestia shot another beam from her horn, undoubtedly vaporizing a few more basilisks.
“We both know that Princess,” Artorias loaded another arrow and aimed. “But I would hate to use your own petrified self as your memorial.” He let loose his grip. The arrow was gone in an instant, the steel wire that had launched it oscillated for a few seconds before coming to rest, and a few moments later a loud blast could be heard as the arrow broke the sound barrier. “Would you say that’s poetic or mobid?”
Celestia rolled her eyes at the question, Why is he trying to have a conversation while we are in the middle of a district wide extermination. She held back her instinctive thoughts, “Regardless of the answer, Sir Artorias, what idea do you have for after this surface endeavor? And what of the petrified ponies?”
“I’d like to set fire to the sewers,” another arrow launched from his bow, “but having the explosions tear Canterlot apart from underneath seems like a bad idea. We’d have to send in several small squads to take care of them.” He paused as he grabbed another arrow, “Sorry, one moment.”
Setting aside his bow, Artorias raised the final arrow up into the air, and with his other hand, he carried a small, white, cloth talisman. He whispered a heroic tale of a long forgotten sun god, and from the sky the universe answered. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sun overhead, its energy coursed through the arrow.
Celestia stepped back from the show, the sound of thunder following right after reverberated off the mountain. What?! Lightning from the sun!
A faint knock from the doors behind them sounded, and Luna in her sleeping gown and hat stepped through, “Though, We do not care which of thee had called forth the rolling of thunder and the light of electricity, We are trying to have a nice slumber!” Bags hung from her eyes as she sleepily glared at the two.
“I am so sorry, Lulu,” Celestia tilted her head down towards her sister in guilt.
Luna gave a sigh, “Please, make it quick…”
“Just one more,” Artorias spoke as he loaded his final arrow onto his bow.
The two alicorns looked on in awe as the knight assumed proper form with his massive bow and arrow. His left foot rested just behind the bows end that stuck into the balcony, his right foot in line with his body. He kept his bow arm steady and straight as he pulled the arrow back on the wire. The steel groaned as tension built up in it.
The strong breeze from this altitude gave a soft howl, and the crackling sung from the arrow as lightning danced across it. Artorias pulled a deep breath in as he listened to the wind. Seconds passed as he stood there, waiting.
Without warning, Artorias exhaled as the wind stopped for a few moments. He shifted his aim a few degrees to the right and let the arrow loose. A shutter resonated throughout the castle, cracks could be seen forming where the bow rested. Lightning hung in the air forming a trail as it followed the massive arrow. The path that the arrow had taken wasn’t straight as it took an all too large, crescent turn from the balcony to the Slums. The arrow shrunk in the air, it’s distance growing more and more.
Just as soon as the Wonderbolts finished clearing out the fog, the arrow struck at the epicenter of it. Basilisks were thrown from the huge blasts, as those who were not caught on it looked on. Suddenly, from the sky, a bolt shot down from the sun and onto the arrow. Small bolts of energy darted and bounced across the surface, each finding a basilisk to fry. Without rest, in the surrounding area, more bolts of lightning shot down in a thunderous show. The radius of strikes grew for a few yards, and came to an abrupt stop.
The last few echoes resounded as the two alicorns and humans looked on, “Like I was saying, for the second issue, I’m going to need Suly.”
Artorias gave the balcony rail a quick pat with his hand which crumbled apart, “Ah… Shit.”
Luna coughed for the attention of Artorias, “Well, seeing as thy issue has been handled, We shall be using thy canine companion as a body pillow. The wolf seems to have already found that Our bed is comfy, and We shall use him as he seems incredibly soft.”
The lunar princess gave the two a telekinetic push from the balcony to inside. From inside, the two saw that a large fluff ball of a wolf was sleeping on Luna’s bed. The two were given another push as the doors of the bedchambers opened as they stumbled out.
Regaining their posture Celestia called to one of the guards, “Have Major Shining Armor return to the castle with the rest of his squad.”
The guard gave a quick salute and ran off down the hallway to retrieve the major as soon as possible. Artorias leaned over to the princess, “Is this about his wedding as well as his promotion?”
“Yes, I would hate to use his petrified self as a memorial,” a light giggle escaped her. “Now, let us prepare for the inevitable political aftermath.”
Artorias gave a quick bow and followed alongside.
> Chapter X: A Week's End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter X: A Week’s End


The week had been an exciting affair since the first incident occurred. The giant snake-like creature that destroyed several districts was defeated by three heroes. In less than two days, two of those saviours had received favour from the diarchs themselves. One of them being incredibly proactive in the workings of the government. And lastly, the handling of basilisks in the slums was being swiftly resolved as guards swarmed the sewers on a hunt.
Word had spread quickly through the high courts of Canterlot, and all the way down to the grimiest of streets. Three heroes had saved the day twice now. Their feats passing and flowing by word of ear.
“My dear, have you heard of the knights?” a mare whispered over the table to her friend as they sat for brunch. The establishment they sat at had an outdoor veranda that the mares had to have for their weekly outing. They could spare the few extra bits.
“The whole city has been talking about it! How could I not? I hear they’re not even ponies!” the friend said as she then sipped her tea.
She watched as the mare gasped in shock as she nodded her head affirmatively. Bringing her cup down slowly to the table with a smug expression, “I’ve even seen one of them.”
“Who? Who?” the mare couldn’t hide her excitement as the friend ate it all up.
“It was the Wolf Knight, Archer,” the friend swooned back as she thought back.
“No,” the mare held on to the word in disbelief.
“Yes. Indeed!” the friend shot back. “Just after the snake had attacked, I saw him cut the head off! It is such a vivid memory, the horror I felt! Luckily, I and the rest of the bearers were saved!”
“I can’t believe it!”
“Would I lie to you?! You’re my best friend!”
The excitement within both the mares could no longer be contained as they squealed out in joy. The soft grunt  of a waiter waiting to take their orders stopped their high pitched assault of the nearby patrons.
Nearby in the dense foliage, Discord shot a crackling bolt of chaos magic at the Wolf Knight who barely managed to dodge by the skin of his teeth. The knight ran through the brush and past trees, his escape from the draconequus was foiled as a dark figure appeared next to him. Nightmare Moon flanking him on his left, she came down to strike at him with her savage fangs. A near fatal blow if it  hadn’t been for his friend. The fangs came down hard as the Fume Knight took his massive sword to block the fiend, his obelisk-like sword bending from the pressure.
The villains swiftly backed away from the two knights to regroup and collect their breaths. Their attacks were wearing them down, but they had already expended so much. The heroes weren’t looking any better, they were keeled over, their breaths seemingly hampered from the onslaught they had endured. And just behind the two knights, stood their ultimate goal, their revenge, the princesses.
“You can’t defeat us heroes!” Nightmare Moon proclaimed as she rose her hoof triumphantly. “We will have our revenge!” her ethereal magic burst forth from her mane and tail, enshrouding the area around them in darkness.
“That’s right,” a smug expression rested on Discord’s face, his arms crossed as he stood, losing a little balance as he did so. He regained his stature and spoke with an echoing voice that came from all sides, “We have the elements, and we will have our revenge on those two. Step aside..” As Discord pointed behind the two knights, there was Celestia and Luna who cowered in fear from the adversaries before them.
“We will stop you Discord and Nightmare Moon! Your evil shall come to an end!” the Wolf Knight held his sword up and charged.
The Fume Knight followed his friend, “What he said!”
The two pairs charged at one another, each yelling a battlecry of their own. And, as the onslaught continued between the heroes and villains a mare and stallion sat in the park as they enjoyed their meals. They watched over the young fillies and colts who were playing Heroes of Equestria.
“Look at them go…” the stallion happily sighed at the joyful sight.
“Right?” The mare held up a sandwich for the stallion who grabbed it out of her hoof. “It’s good to see them playing again.”
The stallion looked up from the sandwich as he heard a much heavier sigh come from his companion, “Hey… It’s alright.” The stallion held a hoof on the mares shoulder as he took the sandwich into his magic. “It’s alright. All the kids are safe.”
The mare looked back to the kids as they played, “But the orphanage...”
“Will be rebuilt,” the stallion finished. “Not to mention, they’re staying at the Blueblood Manor until all of this blows over. It’s like a home away from home.”
A small smile crept on the mare's face, “Yeah… Good thing they are already huge contributors too.”
“See! There’s that smile I know and love,” the sentiment was there. The words on the other hand, not so much as the stallion had stuffed his face with a sandwich.
She gave a chuckle at her friend’s antics, “So, what have you’ve been up to? You haven’t had a lot of time to volunteer lately.”
“Oh, you can blame our heroes over there,” he nodded over to the kids. “After the whole basilisk fiasco in the Slums, Celestia called a bunch of researchers to help the Pontiff guy.”
“Who?” the mare filled with confusion.
“The guy who wears all white?” No response. “Yeah… Can’t blame ya’. The guy is a total introvert. Anyway,” he continued. “He needed help with something called ‘purging stones’ to help all the petrified ponies. He had a couple already from one of his other friends, we just needed to copy the effects.”
The mare leaned over and whispered, “Are you supposed to tell me these things? Aren’t these state secrets?”
“Ah, shit. You’re right,” the stallion received a sudden glare from the mare. “Right… kids. My bad…”
“Ahem…”
“Oh, right. I guess what I can tell you is this… Twilight Sparkle and the whole rest of the royal researchers have such an admiration for that guy…” the stallion whispered to his friend, all the while making sure no one was eavesdropping.
“Again, who?”
He quickly leaned back, “For the love of Celestia girl, keep up with current events!”
“...I try,” the mare said, having a half guilty expression.
Another sigh escaped his lips, “Anyway, it’s not really that surprising.”
“How so?” she asked as she took a small bite from her sandwich.
“Well, he comes from a vastly different time! A different perspective of magic and science, what’s there not to be fascinated about?! You can see the gears turn in his head as he’s trying to combine the theories of magic we have, and his own. I would be surprised if him and Celesta’s star pupil didn’t publish a research paper in the new future.”
The mare rolled her eyes at the excited unicorn before her, “Sounds like you’re in love.”
“Ha. ha,” the stallion stated dryly. “Very funny, but you know I have somepony. Speaking of which I almost forgot! You have-”
Bells tolled off in the distance catching everyone off guard. The stallion’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks as a memory jolted across. He rapidly stood up and began to pack all of his items, “Sweet Celestia! I am so sorry, girl! I need to meet up with my stallion!”
“I am so sorry for taking so much of your time! Please! Get out of here before that bird rips your head off!”
“You know it!” he exasperated. “I love that stallion to bits, but he can have a stick up his ass every once in a while.”
The mare watched on as her friend ran off with all his things. She really wanted to ask when the wedding was too after she had noticed the gold bracelet, but she was too caught up in nostalgia and the idea of the three of them hanging out once more. Another sigh escaped her lips, hopefully her last, “Hope that stupid politician would find some time like his boy- fiance.”
On the outskirts of the park, a unicorn quickly glared at the fillies and colts disrupting his concentration as they played their game of heroes. This was going to be his big hit that he was going to be debuting across Canterlot with. His journeys had finally led him here, and he was not going to waste this opportunity that he had been striving for ever since the day he left his home behind.
No, no, no, he thought. Heroes are nothing like that! The imagination of children is so straight forward! Where’s the drama? The melancholy? The struggle? The pain?!
The stallion’s flamboyant purple attire that complimented his flank with tightness could be seen a mile away as it’s glitter shone in the rays of sun that pierced the canopy. He was writing down ideas for a new song to sing to the masses that would be sure to turn a pretty penny. They’d be tossing him bits left and right. Tossing bits… tossing bits. Yeah… Tossing bits!
The stallion stood up from the rock that he was sitting on, he gave one more glance to the kids playing, “Oh~ Toss a bit to your saviours, oh ponies of plenty! Toss-”
The bard’s inspiration was quickly cutoff, he stumbled back and reeled in pain. He brought a hoof up to his nose to inspect the damage. His beautiful snout seemed to be fine except for a slight bruising. He looked down to inspect his attacker. A cardboard sword -if you’d call a square with a hilt and handle a sword- that was bent rested on the ground before him. It had bite marks all over it as well as slobber that had soaked into it. 
Looking around to find its owner, he could hear the cry of the group of kids as they looked around for the prop. And as he scanned, he saw the most beautiful mare he had ever seen assisting the fillies and colts. He picked up the mangled prop in his magic along with his lute, and proceeded on over to the chaperon. A dopey smile was plastered across his face. The two exchanged a few words, he even got her to laugh. Things were going great for this stallion today.
The deeds of the guests had resonated with some of the population of Canterlot. Many ponies talked on and on about what they had seen, some going as far to say they have met these overnight celebrities. All was well in Canterlot as bards wrote their songs, children played, and mares gossiped about. The week was coming to an end.
The week had been long and grueling since the first incident. The giant snake-like creature that destroyed several districts was supposedly defeated by three interlopers. In less than two days, two of those outlanders even had slithered their way into ranks by the noble diarchs. One of them being all too nosey in the workings of the government. And lastly, the infestation of basilisks in the slums were going too slow for comfort.
This week has not been a good one for poor Brass Quill. His hotel plan ruined, the humiliation in court, and the loss of his job posed incredible obstacles for his future and his family. In his study he sat on his velvet chair before a hearth, his mind racked with the weight of the situation he was dealing with.
“What am I going to do?” the old stallion held the sides of his head as he grumbled. “With those creatures playing advisors, the whole of Canterlot will be turned!”
As Quill wallowed in his sorrows he heard a knock on the doors to his small manor. His butler’s hoofsteps echoed through the hall as the stallion made his way to the door to greet the sudden guest. A few moments later the butler returned with the guest in tow, “Sir, Mr. Gold Hoof is here to speak with you.”
“Just Hoof is fine,” the stallion spoke as the butler left.
Quill turned around to see his former apprentice. The stallion had grown quite a bit since they had last seen one another. A grey streak of hair cut through the slick black of his mane, his coat a vibrant orange, “Hoof! Oh, it is good to see you… though not as the best of times.”
“Of course it’s not,” Hoof grimaced. “You’ve been stripped of your ranking as a council member! By those damn interlopers too!”
“I know, I know… The outlets are already all over it, damn. It’s a real shame too, I was so close to my retirement plan,” the old stallion sighed.
“The hotel? Oh no… You’ve been trying for that for as long as I could remember!”
“It would’ve been good too… Being a politician isn’t really enough these days. Don’t look at me like that.”
Hoof was shocked by the stallion’s words, “What do you mean? Is it not enough? You should be set?!”
Quill turned towards the flabbergasted pony, “Well… recently, the crowns have decided to cut certain budgets. As one of the only members -former members- who relied on it as their primary job, I’m in a bit of a pickle…”
“Hey, hey, hey! I can help you out! I can talk to some of my connections. We can have you as the branch manager of something! Everypony is always looking for a great manager,” Hoof attempted to raise the old stallion's spirit with lucrative deals with the finest in Equestria.
“As good as that all is, I’m not in my prime. I can’t handle running anything anymore. Being a council member was starting to become too much. I just want to spend time with my grandfoals before they leave for college or university. I’ve been saving up for them for years now, I’ve only made it three-quarters of the way though.”
“So you just need money for that...” Gold’s mind churned at the possibilities he could use to help his oldest friend. His brainstorming came to a stop as an idea sprung forth in his head like a spring, “How about I give you twenty-five percent of my company?! That should be more than enough!”
“What?! Twenty-five percent?! Never, my pride would never allow such a handout! Not to mention ridiculous! You aren’t even selling any of it at the moment.”
“Well we are now! And it’s not a handout you old coot,” Hoof calmed the outraged stallion down. “You’ve done so much for me, it’s honestly the most I can do for you without completely ruining myself. I could literally do way less.”
Quill looked at the smiling stallion. A grin was plastered on his face wider than Neigh-agra falls. With a relenting sigh, he gave in, “Fine… Only twenty-five, and if I have any more after I use what I need, you’ll take it back! I’ll also make sure to sell my portion to those I trust.”
Hoof chuckled at Quill’s small antics as he spoke with such vibrato, “Alright, I get it. I get it. Now, what you should be doing is getting things for you and your family, got it?”
“Thanks again Hoof,” the old stallion embraced the younger.
“No worries, old man,” stepping back, “Anyway I gotta go deal with some other stuff.”
Gold Hoof left the small manor. Determination was ever present on his face as he made his way into his personal carriage. Inside was his assistant, Quick Note.
“Hey, Quick…” the stallion sat down, the carriage beginning to move forward with a tap of his hoof.
The mare was ready at a moment’s notice with a quill and clipboard in her magic, “Yes, Sir.”
“After this next meeting, cancel everything. I think I need to have a conversation with some more council members and judges.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll have word sent out that other plans have come up as soon as we reach council member Comet Frost’s offices.”
The carriage rolled down the cobblestone street with great speed as it picked up dust and litter. Nearby, a group of ponies got caught in the street dirt as wind pushed it into the crowd. Overlooking them was an earth pony mare who stood on a box, “Ponies of Equestria! Hear me! Do we need more heroes?! Do we need more demons of the past coming to us because of revenge?!”
The sea of ponies nodded in agreement, “We already have the Princesses! Not to mention the Elements of Harmony! Laughter! Loyalty! Honesty! Generosity! Kindness! Magic! These are the defenses of ponies!”
The group cheered for the pony who stood before them, “We don’t need griffins, minotaurs, or diamond dogs! Much less three creatures from the Everfree!”
“Yeah!” the group yelled out chaotically.
“You know what I heard?! They were turned to stone once!” gasps sung throughout the crowd. “Indeed, my fellow ponies! They once were stone! They were petrified! How can we trust them? Discord is evil and chaotic, and he is now stone thanks to the elements. Are they truly any different?”
The mare stood on her hindlegs, “And now! And now! They sit by the sides of our princesses?! The nerve! The blasphemy! Do you think it is a coincidence that these so-called, ‘heroes,’ just so happen to be around just in time?! I think not!”
Murmurs swept over the crowd, “It is not the creatures who attacked us that are the true enemies, but rather the defenders! Look no further than one of the so-called knights who rose all too quickly to being an advisor! How about the ponies who worked diligently to rise in ranks!”
The murmurs grew to outrage as the mare spoke out against the injustice that she felt that was occuring. The mare stepped forward once more to speak her mind, but the sound of a projected voice beat her to it.
“What’s going on over here?!” a guard asked as his partner stood beside him. But before he could get a response out of any of them, the group casually scattered. “Wait, we just need you guys to move onto the sidewalk,” the white stallion grumbled.
His partner gave him a pat on the back, “Next time, bud.”
In a nearby alley a white cloaked figure rushed off away from the scene. The mare panted heavily as she came to a stop on the other end where another street opened up. It was a close call she hadn’t expected, after her previous scoutings she was sure there wouldn’t be any guards. She removed her hood, a horn slowly appearing from it’s base to tip as her magic slowly faded. The mare that now stood was no longer an earth pony, but instead a light purple unicorn whose dark purple mane had a teal stripe running through it. With her looks restored, Starlight Glimmer quickly turned the corner and onto the street. With everypony on high alert from these heroes, I’ll have more ponies come to my soon-to-be little hamlet. Where I can finally create a perfect community!
	By using the heroes as an excuse to cause descent among the masses in Canterlot, her request to start a new town far away from the creatures would surely be approved. And her plan was going swimmingly so far. Several small groups were starting to form in opposition to the three outlanders, and more ponies would follow.
The plotting came to a halt as she bumped into a wall, and onto her rear. The shadow that now loomed over her offered her a hand. The mare’s expression of thankfulness quickly shifted to that of shock as what stared down at her were the three tools she was using to spark pandemonia. The mare quickly stood up from the ground, getting caught by these three would lead to a much worse fate than what the guards could ever do to her and her fear mongering. Her horn lit with magical energy and within a second she was gone.
“That was weird,” Artorias said as he patted Sulyvahn on the shoulder.
Bring his hand back from his unrequited offer, “Indeed.”
“Yeah, yeah. It was weird. Can we get this shopping thing done already? I want to check out that doughnut place,” Raime said with a yawn.
As the three walked down the street, every so often looking into windows of stores, the reaction they had seen from ponies were mixed. Some ponies swooned at their sight which they found all too weird. Others ran up for autographs for pictures they had of the three going about their business. Of more concern were those who gave them disgusting looks, some going as far as too yell profanities and slurs at them. Those who ran into their homes hurt the three the most as they knew that those ponies who ran saw nothing in them but something to fear.
Artorias gave a sigh, “Let’s get that stupid doughnut.”
“Agreed, the outing mood has become distasteful…”
They turned back to look at Raime who was glued to a display window, his breath fogging it up. “Just as soon as I get this camera.”
Their purchase quickly made the trio set off to the castle with more questions than goods in hand. Hopefully they could find the answers they wanted by speaking with the princesses. A lot of things were coming up in the following month, most prominent was a wedding.
Within the walls of the castle sat a pegasus in his office, he was waiting on a Mr. Gold Hoof. The stallion was their best bet at getting the slums fixed up under that one knight’s plans to fix up Canterlot. He scoffed as he thought about the creature who was now assisting Celestia. After all his hard work with dealing with the aftermath of Nightmare Moon and Discord, he was sure he’d have a promotion.
He sighed as he turned his swivel chair to look out his window. The full expanse of Canterlot could be seen from this point, a view he had earned with hard work unlike some, Frost, you shouldn’t be thinking these things… Maybe the princess had a good reason.
Trying to reason things out in his head didn’t go as well as he thought, the idea just seemed to infuriate him more. Was he not working hard enough? Had the creatures brainwashed the princesses? Were they their boyfriends from an era long passed? Questions filled his head that didn’t seem to make him feel any better.
Just one more hour. After this meeting I can finally see that nerd of a stallion, he relaxed back into his chair.
Not a moment later the pegasus began banging his head against his table. Why can’t the other members pick up any of the slack.
	“Oh, I’m sorry Comet. I can’t do it, I have a meeting with Griffinstone. I have a business meeting. Ah, I can’t. I have something stupid to do that doesn’t require any mental effort on my part, good luck Comet.”
The stallion droned on with statements and poor impressions he heard from the other members, all excuses on why they couldn’t seem to bother to help, “Ugh… With Quill gone, it’s just me and Prince,” his face once again met the cold surface of his desk. His anguish and loathing of the other members simmered down as he heard the sound of a knock, “Come in.”
Gold Hoof came through the door, a business smile adorning his face as he then took a seat. The office he sat had many bits and bobs of pegasus history, a collection of books eclipsed the wall behind them, a model of Cloudsdale was by the door, and a bunch of sports souvenirs eclipsed the wall opposite to the books.
“Hello, Mr. Hoof. I’m sure you know why I asked for you to meet with me here,” Frost went straight to the business of the meeting as he slid over the folder of documents. He wanted this done as fast as possible.
“Hello to you too, Council Member Frost. I do, and I would love nothing, but to get down to business. Afterwards, I have a quick inquiry.”
“As long as it doesn’t take too long, I’m a busy pony, Mr. Hoof,” Frost wasn’t happy hearing that last bit, but he needed Hoof’s construction company for this all to work out.
“Of course.”
The two ponies quickly read through the initial contract, Gold Hoof marking various parts that he would have questions on. But more important were the details he marked that he didn’t see as fair. Frost noted these notations that Hoof was making, a mental list forming in his head of the items that Hoof would probably be making counter offers for.
They bounced ideas back and forth on what needed to be done first in the Slums. Of course, they agreed that the main street needed to be repaired after Artorias’s and Celestia’s onslaught of attacks. They decided the entire length would have to be redone if the district would be returned to a public market place. Much of the other details involved smaller improvements that would be made throughout Canterlot.
After finishing up clearing any confusion around the nitty-gritty details that Hoof had concerns about, it now came down to the bits. Both stallions put down counter offers and counter-counter offers that they saw as fair, “I don’t see how twelve-thousand bits is unfair.”
“Well Mr. Hoof, we had an independent engineering firm give us estimates of all the plans we have going on. For your contract, we had an estimate of ten-thousand bits.”
One of Hoof’s eyes twitched, the deal should have been easier to close than this. Of course they’d have an independent firm check.
	Seeing his adversaries irritance, Frost added, “Not only did we ask the independent firm for estimates, but also the Equestrian Corps of Engineers for a second opinion. They had roughly the same numbers. In fact, the amount we offer is the higher of the two estimates.”
Hoof looked down at the two extra documents that Frost slid across the table. The E.C.E’s estimate was in fact higher than that of the E.S.E’s.
“Ah, I see you had the Equestrian Society of Engineers check as well,” he wanted to spit the name out. Ever since this new group started up in Manehatten, getting deals that would heavily benefit him had been falling through. No… I need this. If not for me, then for him.
“How about eleven-thousand? We’ll even put up a small firm in Canterlot to help stimulate the economy here,” the stallion before him raised an eyebrow at the idea of more jobs.
“Well, Canterlot wouldn’t need the extra stimulus,” his mind spun as he thought. He opened the drawer of his desk and fluttered through the files held within. “There it is.”
“Is everything okay Mr. Frost?” the business pony leaned over the table just slightly. Something was happening, something good he was hoping.
The politician brought the file up onto the table and opened it, “There is a town a little south of Canterlot and next to the Everfree that could use some extra business. There’s been a spike in the population since the last census, and the need for a construction firm there would be much appreciated there.”
“By the Everfree you say?” Both interest and fear battled for control over his face.
“Yes, and with all the damage reports we get from the town, your business will definitely be booming there. If you can do that, we’ll accept your offer.”
“Then it’s a deal Council Member Frost,” Hoof stood up from his position to offer his adversary a hoofshake who quickly accepted. “Oh, and before I go, that inquiry.”
Comet Frost wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, this meeting had gone on long enough. And if it were to go any further, he’d be late. Again. “Yes, what would you like to know?”
“What’s your opinion of those three… heroes?”
What a stupid question, of course he didn’t like them, “Well, they certainly are heroes. I’m not a fan of their positions. Their deeds? Yes.”
Gold Hoof grabbed a pen and piece of parchment from the table, “I hope you don’t mind.”
Of course I do! “Oh, not at all, go ahead.”
Finishing his scribbles, Hoof slid the small piece over, “I’d like to have a small discussion with you and a few other compatriots. Again, Thank you for your time.”
“I look forward to working with you,” the two shared a nod as Hoof made his way out.
Frost watched as the business pony left through the doors of his office. He turned away to dry heave nothing into the trash can next to him, “Oh, sweet Celestia. If that hadn’t gone well, I would’ve had my head on a pike.”
He glanced over to the piece of parchment that Hoof had left him, “Talk with me, huh?” Looking over the small document he found an address and a date, and given the numbers it was somewhere in the Garden district sometime next week. Before he could check the exact address with his assistant outside, he heard the bells toll far off in the distance. His wings shot out in a panic, without thinking he grabbed his saddlebags and stuffed the small piece into it. With it secure onto his back, he rushed over to his window and opened it. With ease he hopped out the window closing it in the process.
The pegasus was quickly overcome with gravity as he began to fall. He looked back to his wings that were still scared stiff from the tolling of the bells. He tried to flap his wings to no avail. The pegasus bounced off of poles and awnings that jutted out from the castle. His descent was slow and painful before he came to a stop in a bush.
The destruction caused by the three outlanders caused panic among many of the ponies in Canterlot. Many ponies dealing with the aftermath, some even taking advantage of it. Canterlot was a mess as ponies plotted and planned, sought new jobs and homes, and were caught up in the wave of pandemonia. The week was coming to an end.
A year is but a second in the life of an immortal, a week even less so, but this one week in particular had felt longer than her entire banishment on the moon. The feelings she had felt when she returned to Equestria as her pure form paled in comparison to the frustration she was feeling now. To copy what a certain knight had told her, this week had been such a millenia.
The sun had fallen below the horizon a few hours ago, and as usual, no pony had yet to show up to the start of the Night Court. It didn’t make sense to her. Why would any busy pony who has so much to do during the day, not have something that needed to be addressed at night? Meetings ran long as she had learned. Traffic slowed travel down. If they couldn’t make it to day court, and the subject was of urgency as they had all called it, why not speak with her? Urgent affairs should be dealt with the day of, not tomorrow or day after. Do they really have such time on their hooves that it could wait?
It didn’t help that after what occurred this week, she had been incharge of the whole situation. Celestia thought it would be a good idea to help build her reputation more, and if she were the one in charge, then more ponies would come to Night Court. But once more it was an empty throne room save for her on her throne and her guards posted about. She wanted to call it over, but it had just started. It wouldn’t look good for her reputation either if a pony came to court and there was no princess. It was a time for her to connect with them, not avoid them.
The princess was brought from her melancholy and questions when she heard a few hoofsteps approach the doors to the room. Her mind was flooded with anticipation. Maybe it was a legal dispute of a contract. A widowed mare looking for advice on loss. An admirer. The range of possibilities seemed infinite in this one moment, ranging from the mundane to the fanciful. She continued to watch in baited breath as the door slowly opened.
A white unicorn with a well-kept blonde mane and tail entered. He adjusted the red bow tie that wrapped around his neck and double checked that his white suit was pristine. Prince Blueblood walked down the red carpet that led up to the large dias. Sweat dripped from his brown as he bit his quivering lip. He had never been to the Night Court, the emptiness of the room spoke volumes to him of a figure that commanded nothing but perfect order.
It was a noble that had finally stepped into her court. Definitely a noble. Was this her chance to earn some favourable reputation with the upper echelons of Canterlot? If so, she couldn’t afford to mess it up. Ever since she had come back to rule, nobles seemed to avoid her when possible. This was the first to actively speak to her. She always put on a show in public of how confident she was with herself, but every single time she got away she’d panic in her room. Bradley, her stuffed companion, had been proven to be an effective friend she could speak to about her woes.
Blueblood now stood before the dias of the princesses, Princess Luna’s presence beared down on him. He slowly knelt down, his body stiff. Behind him was the sound bugles that nearly made him jump, followed by the announcer’s voice, “Lord Prince of the Blueblood household, and Council Member.”
“Thou may rise!” Luna gave a mental wince as her nervousness had caused her to use the royal voice all too loudly. You idiot!
The shock wave had caused Blueblood’s mane to flip from one side to another. He grimaced at the slight uncomfort that he felt, like a cat with its hair stroked backwards. The royal voice was something that he had only heard about. It only added to the authority that Luna possessed.
“Thou may speak thy quiry,” Luna managed to pull back her voice. She was still speaking with an old dialect, but that was all too common when she was nervous. A habit she would have to rectify. You got this, you’re a princess for crying out loud.
	“O-Of course your highness,” Blueblood gave a deep breath to try and cool his nerves. “It has come to my attention that many of the nobles of Canterlot d- d- do not a- agree with your h- highnesses’ decision in having Sir Artorias, Sir Raime, and the Pontiff assisting the both you in r- ruling.”
Luna was unaware of the stallion’s nervousness as he spoke, she was too caught up in the issue. In fact, her nervousness was beginning to recede to that back of her mind. Political upheaval was not something she had a good relationship with given previous events, but perhaps being on the winning side would lighten that feeling. The excitement was building, never before had a pony wanted to tell her something that others didn’t want her to now. Much less a noble. And now, one was in front of her who wasn’t acting snobbish.
Her magic quickly flared to teleport a side table and tea set to her side, all the while she used it to cover up the fact she was using her magic to check if this all wasn't a dream. Yes! Good things do happen Luna! I can’t wait to tell Bradley! Maybe even Sif if I can find and steal him from Artorias’s side.
“We thank thee, Lord Prince, for bringing such information to Us. We take it that thou does not have such issues? And do these nobles have a plan?” Things were spicing up for the alicorn, perhaps this would become a legal battle? A coup? A war? She tossed away the rambunctious ideas. She leered at the stack of books she had accidentally teleported with her tea, she had read more than she had been dealing with ponies in court.
“It is only the right thing to do your highness,” so far so well the stallion thought. “I have no issues with either your highness’s decision or Princess Celestia’s. Al- Although it was a sudden change, Artorias has been incredibly helpful to lighten the load off of Princess Celestia. I have also heard that many of the royal researchers admire the Pontiff. And Raime, well… I actually haven’t heard much about him.”
“Well, the blame rests upon Our shoulders. We insisted that Our sister allow these three a chance to prove themselves as valuable assets. We did not realize how she would interpret this, but We do not have an issue with that. And despite recent issues, they have been swift to assist by any means. We do not understand the nobles’ qualms.”
“I agree, your highness. With respect to your concerns for the nobles, and to answer your second question, I have been given an address and date to meet with some of those nobles. At your request I am willing to go and take note of the events to transpire,” espionage was not something Blueblood excelled at, but he was more than experienced with dealing with the gossips that nobles had. This would hopefully be like that, save for the intensity of the topic. It seemed like borderline treason. “I wasn’t actually planning on attending, but I could move my schedule around.”
“Prithee, Lord Prince. Thy contribution is welcome, and thy information as well. The ongoings of the nobles behind mine sister’s and Our’s backs are most disturbing. Fie! They are disturbing!” Luna’s dialect slipped to that of the royal voice as she let her disgust for the plotting take over. She knew what was going to happen, as Nightmare Moon she had seen it all. The back stabbing, the lack of sympathy. There were many monsters in the world and dreams, but nothing compared to just the common pony. “Pardon Our outburst.”
Blueblood was getting a feel for everything that was in the room. He almost felt comfortable. But now, he was scared stiff once more. His voice quivering slightly as he spoke, “W- W- What o- outburst?” Come on, get a hold of yourself.
Luna hummed in thought as she poured some tea for herself, “Is there anything else that thou would like to bring up?” It felt good for her to ask that, it felt ruler-y.
“No- no. That- that would be all your highness,” he said as he gave a shaky bow.
“Very well. We bid thee farewell, and good luck. When should We expect thy presence again?”
“The same day next week, your highness.”
“Sleep well, Lord Prince.”
“Have a good night, your highness,” with the goodbyes said, Blueblood quickly and shakily left the throne room. Luna’s presence and authority had weighed over him, and leaving the room he felt his breathes begin ease. The feeling of being stricken with fear, and the suffocation he felt, was new. He would have to visit again, maybe weekly. Then again, he could always go daily. Or would it be nightly?
Luna sat alone once more on her throne, no longer was there another voice to fill the void of the room. She gave a deep sigh, and sunk into a position that felt more comfortable. Nobles plotting something behind the monarch’s back, it was a plot she was all too familiar with. She looked over to her stack of books as she sipped on her tea. The question was which one was most similar to her current predicaments. 
Her question remained unanswered as the sound of confetti poppers popped all around the throne room. Streamers shot out and dangled from pillar to pillar, balloons fell from the ceiling, and a large cake rolled through the doors. She threw her cup of tea in shock. She was standing on the dias, her magic now ready for any attacks.
None came. Save for the tea that splashed onto her back causing her to yelp in pain. A quick spell cleaned her up, and she could now inspect the room. Her guards had not reacted to the sudden change in decoration, an act that Luna couldn’t determine as commendable. She looked up at the banner that stretched across the room that read, “Luna’s First Night Court Visit Party!”
There was only one pony she knew of that could pull something off like this, the Element of Laughter was true to her ability of being able to throw any sort of party. The fact the pink mare was able to plan for such an event given her lack of knowledge about the princess was worrisome. Kind in a certain way, but still worrisome.
This millenia of a week, though long and eventful, yet short and boring, was coming to an end for the princess of the night. Sure she thought, a year maybe a second to an immortal. A week, but a moment. But this moment would be one she would remember for a long time. The week wouldn’t end in more tears as she hugged Bradley, and rested her head upon the stolen pet of Artorias. Rather, it would end in a smile.
The week had been a mix of emotions for everypony after the first incident. The giant snake-like creature that destroyed several districts was defeated. In less than two days, three individuals of an unknown race and from an era long passed had made themselves known.They tried their best to serve, a service that some wish would have never occurred. And lastly, monsters that nopony ever heard of had infested Canterlot.
The week was long, it was grimey, it was exciting. Everyone was glad it was finally over.