> Invictus and the Bishop of Sin > by CommanderInvictus > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Exile > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Courtroom 5, Canterlot. Case: Invictus V Royal Army High Command. The judge slammed the gavel on the wooden table. “Invictus, you stand accused of insubordination during the rebel group Blanche’s attempted occupation of Canterlot. The record states that you killed Blanche’s commander when you were given orders that explicitly stated not to so they could be questioned. Can you confirm this?” Invictus sighed, rubbing one of his eyes with a hoof as his red coat glistened in the light. “Yes, Your Honor. However, it was them or me. I acted in self defense and I’m being PUNISHED? What is this nonsense?!” The judge proceeded to scowl at them, their blue eyes locked on Invictus’ green eyes. “Now Invictus, I believe the Generals of the three Guard divisions, Generals Tidal Wave, Midnight, and Solar Flare, have agreed to compromise on your sentence, but you’ll need to cooperate. You do understand what the sentence for a violation of a command from the highest level would normally be, correct?” Invictus nodded slowly, his green eyes hardening. “I understand. I’d prefer to avoid several years of jail time, so I will gladly cooperate.” The judge nodded slowly, relaxing a bit. “Now Invictus, the generals have agreed that instead of jail time, they are willing to exile you from Canterlot and the military. You will be forbidden from engaging in any militaristic actions for the duration of your life unless told otherwise by the princesses. Are these terms acceptable to you?” Invictus nodded again and the judge slammed the gavel again. “You have been sentenced. You have 48 hours to leave Canterlot. This court is dismissed.” Everypony else in the courtroom except Invictus left, leaving him alone to his thoughts. “Celestia be damned!” Invictus kicked the wall in anger. “How could I have been that stupid? I should’ve taken the prison time.” He glanced at his cutie mark, a helmet typically worn by a Spartan from ancient Equestrian times.  “The military was my life, it’s what i'm good at, my only talent. So why did I think that exile from all military activities was a good idea?” He sighed and stalked out of the courtroom, heading for the train station. About an hour later, the train rolled out of the station, headed for Ponyville. Invictus sat alone in an empty train car, watching Canterlot shrink away in the distance. He sighed, as a dark figure materialized in the back on the car, in the shadows. The dark figure smirked as they watched Invictus and thought, "He will make a good pawn...." > A New Beginning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The train rolled into Ponyville Station and Invictus trotted off, inhaling the cool morning air and smiling. “I was never one for rural life, but I could get used to the quiet.” Invictus trotted off the platform and into town, looking around in curiosity at his new environment. He eventually walked into an alley and sat down. “This place is nice and all, but it isn’t Canterlot.” He sighs, and a dark purple pony walks into the alley, frowning. The dark pony says, “Get up, Invictus. You can’t sit around doing nothing all the rest of your life.” He spoke softly, “Who are you?” The stranger smiled evilly, their horn glowing a deep blue. “Invictus, who I am is not important right now. What is important is that you settle into your new life here. We can’t have you dying, now can we?” The unicorn vanished as Invictus shot up to his hooves and trotted away. “Now, that was strange…..who was that?” He trotted into the Everfree Forest, unaware of the dark blue brand on his chest that was applied by that strange purple unicorn. As Invictus observed the forest, a small green vine started to wrap around one of his hind legs tightly. The vine pulls him straight up, and he yelps in pain, his horn glowing a deep grey and drawing his weathered sword to try and hack at the vine. The vine tightened around his hoof, causing huge pain and forcing Invictus to drop his sword. The sword clattered on the ground as another vine wrapped around Invictus' neck and squeezes. His face slowly turns blue as he begins to black out, his last thought being Oh no..... before he blacked out. The vines squeeze tighter before rapidly releasing him as a unicorn stumbles upon Invictus' blacked out form, and gasps, picking up Invictus. "Hey, are you OK? What happened?" The unicorn, their green coat glistening as the galloped back to Ponyville, their light blue mane flapping in the wind as they ran. > A Stranger Arrives > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Invictus woke up in a hospital bed, with the unknown unicorn watching over them. Invictus tried to get up, but couldn't, the unicorn holding him down. The unicorn spoke softly, "Please don't try to get up, you are lucky to be alive! That vine almost killed you." Invictus frowned and relaxed, noticing a darkening shadow behind the unicorn. Invictus said, worry edging into his voice, "I think there is something behind you, please turn around...." The unicorn turned around, and stared into the eyes of a dark purple unicorn. Immediately, a giant purple spike appeared through the body of the green stallion, vanishing a few seconds after, the green stallion with it. Invictus' eyes went wide with fear. "Who are you? What did you do to them? What do you want?" The purple stranger sighed, "One question at a time. For one, my name is Vivid Loss. Everything else you just asked me is irrelevant to why I'm here and as such, I won't answer those questions." Vivid Loss ran a hoof through her mane, grinning evilly down at Invictus, her blue eyes staring into his soul, making him shudder in fear. "Now you, my young little stallion, are another matter. What did you do to end up in a place like this, and why shouldn't I kill you right now?" Invictus snapped out of his reverie, speaking slowly, fear creeping into his voice with each word, "I got attacked in a forest, and killing a veteran of a war may invoke the wrath of some powerful ponies, so I would be wary of what enemies you make today, mare." At his words, Vivid Loss smirked. "You think I'm scared of the Princesses? You are naive, to say the least," She put a hoof to her chest. "I work for Cadence and Shining Armor, in exchange for my....freedom. Now you, are beneath me." Invictus swallowed, his eyes growing hard with fear. "Fine, what do you want with me?" Vivid Loss smiled, her horn glowing. "You, are going to come with me. I don't care if you are willing to come or not. You have 5 days to prepare." Vivid Loss vanished, leaving Invictus alone to begin his preparations for his forced adventure.