> New Life of a Crow > by Knight of Crows > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Audio log: entry 1 I truly do hate being right sometimes. I should start at the beginning, My name is Ryan, but I sometimes go by different names. I do this sometimes just to mess with others or just because I like the name even if it isn't really a name, I messed with a customer at the dollar store I worked at who was for lack of a better way to put it was an arrogant and hypocritcal bitch. She was complaining about the customer I rung up before her taking too long with her coupons and says "if you can't afford it then don't pick it up", then she turned around and paid with food stamps (true story). I did not hold back with her and when she demanded my name I told her it was Reliquias Tenebrarum Messis which if google translate was right means Last Remnant of the Dark Harvest, she left immediately after. I'm sorry, I let myself get side tracked, let's continue where we left off. I wasn't exactly depressed, but I hated myself and just about everyone else for reasons I might get into later. I hated my brother, I didn't talk much to my parents, and had no one I could confidently say was a friend for various reasons, I couldn't remember the last time I considered myself a part of the family, I wanted nothing to do with people in general. I wanted to feel nothing, to be no one, to be alone, I had no reason to live, the only reasonI was still alive was because I believe suicide is the cowards way out. That all changed when I met Misty. I don't know what she saw in me, but I'm glad she saw it, she was and still is the best thing to happen to me. She fixed in I want to say 7 months what the assholes I went to school with broke into more pieces than I can count over my school life and the therapist had been trying to fix for over a year. She became my first friend in years and gave me hope for humanity. I won't forget what she did for me. A year later and I had almost forgotten my grudges and reasons for them. Unfortunately this bliss was short lived as I was right about humanity not lasting another 50 years and killing itself off. Those idiots basically did a Fallout, but with bio-weapons instead of nukes. Those weapons killed off more than half the population and the survivors were becoming animal like in appearance and behavior, unfortunately Misty was a victim and became more wolf-ish. The sad part is she still seemed to remember me as she never acted anything close to aggressive towards me, she was more like a spoiled pet at that point. My family and I were pretty much fine and were able to make it to a safe haven/ lab in Washington DC which I was actually surprised was still standing. More people became afflicted though and my dad pulled a lot of strings to make sure Misty and I were safe under the condition of permission for humane experiments, Misty for obvious reasons and me because of what changes I went through. I no longer needed glasses, I could breathe through my nose just fine allowing me to smell again, and high speed regeneration to name a few and that was found out after a lion-kin (what I'm calling that former human and others until I can think of a better one) bit my throat out then was brutally murdered by Misty. She has not left my side since. The tests were mostly for finding the less obvious abnormalities and considering how calm Misty was as long as I was near it was easier and more informative and since I was basically super human at that point they wanted to try to use me to develop a cure or vaccine to this fuck up of theirs. The good news was I was suffering no negative effects and was predicted to only get better, my high blood pressure went down, and I felt physically better in general, the bad news was they couldn't help Misty or stop this from happening to anyone else. The best they could do was try to keep everyone human, but we all knew that wasn't going to last long, if the kin didn't get us then what turned them would. Our last option was a long shot, but our only other chance was see if I was able to reproduce with humans and the kin, thankfully I was, but only with the kin. My only hope at that was for them to regain sapience and unless I was just hearing things I swear I heard Misty speak a few times so hopefully it won't be too long for us. This is it, this is where I end my first and only audio log before I go to sleep until this AI decides the outside is s- "Hello everyone!" interrupted said AI. "I could almost see that coming, especially from you Emily." "It's not fair that you were doing all the talking, I wanted a chance to tell my story too." "You were created less than a day ago, you don't exactly have a story unless you count those ever increasing 1s and 0s a story." "You're supposed to be ni-." "End audio log." > I hate waking up. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ending cryo sleep for pod 1 This makes 32 times I've awoken from cryo to check on how everything is running as well as Misty and so far everything seems fine by Emily's standards. I keep waking up every few decades to a few hundred years to keep up to date with Emily's vital reports and to remake some things I remembered from games and such, blacksmithing is actually kind of fun if you have the right ideas and my abilities only made me more creative in certain areas. I learned I could use Elemancy long ago and after a while I found I was able to mimic the abilities some weapons had such as the Onyx blade from Dark Souls or Losvayne from Seven deadly sins, the first weapon I made was the Sword of Baltanders from Orphen. It took me weeks to figure out how to turn something into a dragon like how Azalie did to herself and just as long for the magic enhancing bracelet and the gem that I can't remember the purpose of besides being the final piece of the sword. This was how I spent my time when I wasn't learning what else I could do such as elemental magic including light and dark and I had fun learning all this. If this new world has evolved like I did then I'll have to see about expanding my knowledge of the arcane, until then I'll just keep doing my own thing. As excited as I am to see this new world and hopefully get Misty the help she needs, I need to be prepared for whatever this new world has to pit against me. I would train my elemancy to test some things such as earth helping me control metal, water with blood, and seeing the extent of the defensive capabilities of dark and it's versatility. I would spend most of my days out of the pod trying to better myself or at the forge, this week I wanted to create a few trick weapons from Bloodborne starting with the Burial blade then after a few others I made an extension sword and a hollow sword with holes along the blade to test something later. It was after the hollow sword that I got the perfect chance to test out what could be one of my more adaptable weapons as some assholes broke through my wall. So much for the peaceful life. Unknown POV "We find shiny then take." said the dog shaped figure. "We alert alpha first, me no want eaten." said the second one. "No! We find and take then leave, you know Alpha only want gem for-" "I'm sorry gentleman, but would you care to explain why you broke down my wall with the intention to rob me?" said the newcomer. Ryan POV "I am going to give you 5 seco-" "You ours now slave." interrupted the big one *Inhale*...*exhale* "And just like that you're going to die a painful death." after finishing that sentence the dog lunged at me, but found himself out of air and unable to move with his mouth and nose frozen shut. Why no one thinks to use wind magic to suffocate others I have no idea, it's kind of hard to fight when you're constantly out of air. "I forgot to mention your death would also be slow." the smaller dog tried to save his friend, but was rewarded with an ice spike pinning him to the wall and a scream followed after. "AAAAAHHH! STOP! LET US GO, PLEASE!" the small dog cried. "Now I'll get to you in a minute so wait your turn." Turning back to the other dog "So what do you think kills faster? Suffocation or a halted blood flow?" I said with a sadistic smile on my face. The torture lasted for what felt like eternity to the dog when it was only a few minutes. I walked up to the survivor with a deal in mind after incinerating the corpse. "Please, I be good dog, I serve new alpha, please let live." begged the dog. "I won't kill you, but only if you tell me everything I want to know starting with where the slaves and leader or leaders are. Be warned, I am a very good lie detector and will punish you accordingly if I detect any dishonesty or if I think you're not telling me something then I am going to make what happened to your friend look like an act of mercy." I was almost hoping for this thing to piss me off, but I needed him alive at the moment. I spent the next 10 minutes learning about this new world, or as much as this mildly retarded abomination could tell me and I only found myself more interested in seeing what else this world had to offer besides magic and mythical creatures existing now. These ponies, especially these princesses are my best chance of saving Misty, even if the only thing that can be restored is her sapience. I also learned these dogs are slaves themselves to a dragon named Ragnarok and if only because of that name I'm going to have to kill him. Fated end of the Gods my ass! After healing the dog then locking him up, I grabbed my Dragonslayer Spear, Losvayne, and my hollow sword that I still haven't thought of a name for yet and went hunting, after freeing the slaves of course. I'm going to have to see how good dragon scales are for armor and weapons. Going down the tunnel, I would frequently stop and listen for anything that might be a threat or indicator I'm going in the right direction. As much as I would like to kill the dragon now, the slaves come first. Continuing down the tunnel while keeping my hand against the wall and dragging my sword on the ground so I'll know where that damn intersection was I eventually heard a cracking sound, crying, and screaming. Believing this to mean I was going in the right direction I followed the sound to a giant area that looked to be one of the mining spots and probably where the slaves sleep if the cells are anything to go by. Walking in I drew the hollow sword and stopped once I reached the center. "Attention all mutts and ponies!" I announced myself, drawing the attention of everyone there "If you are a slave, close your eyes, cover your ears, and try to ignore the smells. If you are a slaver then you won't be leaving alive." All the dogs circled around me preparing to attack, a few of them delighted at the resistance I was showing. I stabbed the hollow sword into the ground and waited for them to attack. I counted 15 dogs so not even a warm up. 2 of them jumped at me, but I used the darkness in the blade and used it to shoot a few tendrils out of the ground to impale then a few times. They were dead before they hit the ground (13). I pulled the sword out and changed the darkness to turn it into a twin blade as another rushed at me with a hammer. I would likely survive a hit anywhere but the head, but I'm not interested in testing that theory of what I can and can't survive. After a dozen swings he swung to far to the side to continue his assault properly and I took advantage of this to cut his side deep with the dark end and cut upwards removing his arm. I let him writhe as I turned my attention to the remaining 12. I changed the darkness again to the shape of a repeater crossbow and a few firebolts, 5 to be exact. 3 of them charged at me while a 4th picked up some rocks and started thowing them at me. Immediately making him my first priority I jumped over the other three to get a clear shot at him. I missed my first shot, but hit his throat on the second. Surprised the other three stood back for a second, that was their last mistake as I shot ice at their feet with my other hand and froze them in place for easier shots, they died in a second of each other (8). The others became more cautios after that display and 2 of them tried to run. I used Losvayne to send a clone after them and guard the exit, we heard screaming in seconds (6). I changed the darkness to the shape of a snake sword (whip sword, whatever you want to call it) and swiped at their feet, disabling the 3 who didn't jump over and back out of range (3). I ignored the first three for a moment and formed a large, bladed tonfa using ice in my left hand (similar to Warframe's Kronen Prime) and stabbed the hollow sword into the ground so I could form a lightning spear with my right. They tried running, but my clone reminded them of it's existence and blocked them off. One turned back to me and was met with a lightning spear to his stomach, the other 2 were held in place by my clone as i channeled arcane energy into my tonfa to kill them both. "Errors have been made it seems." I said before slashing their throats and turning to the slaves "It's over, you're all free now." I said dispelling the tonfa and retrieving my sword before breaking their chains. Mane 6 POV "C'mon! We could have been there kicking diamond dog butt an hour ago." Rainbow said impatiently. "No Dash, we need to wait for the guards first. 6 ponies against an unknown number of enemies on their own turf is foolish." responded Twilight. "Can you girls get them grouped up? I brought my special party cannon for this." said Pinkie while bouncing in place. "Ah reckon Twi's got the right idea. Goin' in just the 6 of us is just askin' to get caught, or worse." Applejack supported Twilight "As much as I would like to be done with this already, I have to agree with the others that being patient is the best thing we can do for now." said Rarity "Girls, do you hear something?" asked Fluttershy The ground starting shaking as she was saying this before they say a large black dragon fly into the sky with somepony flying up towards them repeatedly shouting mine. Ryan POV, moments before I freed the rest of the slaves or as one dog called them prisoners with jobs (I'll have to remember that one) and found my way to the dragon I was told about. Immediately after stepping into his part of the tunnels he woke up and looked down on me before speaking. "A slave not with chains, but with armor and weapons? These mutts are as useless as they are stupid. No matter, they'll learn obedience after I eat you." said the dragon with no small amount of arrogance. "You can try, but you'll only piss me off. Also I'll have you know it's kind of hard to teach obedience to the dead without the use of necromancy." I responded "Such insolent pride. BURN!" he somehow said while breathing fire on me, or my clone to be specific courtesy of Losvayne, then I hit him in his left eye with my charged spear while firing lightning at his wing before he launched me off. "AAAAAAAAHHH! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE INSOLENT WORM? I SAW YOU BURN TO ASH!" shouted Ragnarok "Even if I tell you it won't change the outcome. No matter what you say or what you do I am going to kill you, at least try to make this fun for me, or is the big bad dragon with a name that basically means Godslayer incapable of even that?" I taunted The dragon tried to burn me and stomp me a few more times only hitting my clones each time (is this how Meliodas felt sometimes) "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE? I'VE SEEN YOU DIE EVERY TIME!" "I may just be fast, your eyes might be decieving you, or I may just have a lot of look alikes. The world may never know." He screamed in rage before flying through the roof, I followed him after making wings of my own and a few clones to attack him while I readied myself to redirect the flame, covered myself in a thin layer of mud incase the flames go through, and with hardened darkness ready for the impact. "DIE!" he said breathing fire on me "MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE!" I shouted, my clones firing lightning and ice at him to break off those scales and bring him down while I charged at him with my spear in hand and my hollow sword being changed into a much bigger weapon using the darkness in the blade. I used more energy than necessary, but I wanted to prove a point and I really wanted to test that hollow sword out. The flames gave me minor burns, but he fell to the ground with an earth shaking thud and a giant hole in his chest, a missing wing, and his corpse fried with me on top. Upon landing I saw 6 ponies and what looked like a few chariots landing. This will either end very well or very poorly. I still need to name this damn sword. > That went well enough > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight POV What we just witnessed has left everypony completely slackjawed, this...Stallion? He didn't just take down that dragon, he utterly destroyed him. Not long after the slaves we were going to save were all running out of the tunnels, did this stallion free them? What happened to the diamond dogs? What was that giant black weapon that appeared out of nowhere? None of this makes sense and I have so many questions. Princess Celestia POV We arrived just in time to see one of the most dangerous dragons in Equestria since mother and father ruled just fall to this pony who took him down in less than a minute. It would have taken me and Luna with dozens of guards to accomplish this and this pony does this alone. I must see him myself, he could be a great ally if we are ever in need. Princess Luna POV I cannot believe what I have just seen, and it seems sister and everypony else are thinking the same. Just who is this pony and why is he here, how could anypony but an alicorn obtain such power without me or Celestia noticing him sooner? The best we can do is hope he isn't an enemy, but knowing how pathetic the guard of today is compared to 1000 years ago they are going to ruin this. I may need to step in if that is the case. Ryan POV I think I used too much power if my heavy breathing and dizziness is anything to go off of. Now I have to deal with these ponies and hope for 2 things: they don't attack out of fear and they can be reasoned with. Here goes. "This is not how I expected to meet you, but I can say you're welcome for doing your job for you." so far so good, no one's shouting or att-. "Die monster!" GOD DAMN IT. a guard said interrupting my line of thought then charged at me with a barbed spear (why is that allowed, that reminds me, I still need to forge the Gae Bolg) and this is going to hurt. "AAAAARRGHHH!" I grabbed hold of the spear as it pierced my abdomen "You should consider yourself lucky that I am a very understanding person, otherwise you would be painting that tree over there, had anyone else been in my position you and any number of your friends would either be dead right now and if you survived, a dishonorable discharge would be the least of your worries." I pulled out the spear then let my body heal itself before throwing his spear clean through several trees, knocking several of them down. It took 3 seconds before we heard it stop. He started shaking then. "Your fuck ups include, but are not limited to armed assault, attempted murder, and reckless endangerment of everyone here and if those 2 with the crowns actually are royalty then endangerment of the crown which in this case could be considered treason. Back in my day you would have been arrested possibly killed by your own comrades on the spot!" He ran back to everyone else and hid behind them, the coward. "Next time think before you act, otherwise it could cost you everything, assuming you're even allowed to live long enough to regret it." now turning to the rest "The next person to do something like that to me before I even think of saying or doing anything that could reasonably be taken as threatening TO YOU will find a few more holes in their body." after finishing that sentence I saw the 2 tall winged and horned ponies walking up to me. Princess Celestia POV This pony, no, whatever he is has surprised us again. I expected him to kill that guard if he survived, but instead gave him and the rest of our guards potentially life saving advice then threw the spear with enough force to knock down almost every tree in it's path for 3 seconds. I need to correct this, I'll deal with the guard later if Luna doesn't do so first, but right now damage control takes priority. "I thank you for showing him mercy and I am sorry for my guard's actions and will see to it he is punished accordingly, allow me to heal you. I am Princess Celestia and this is my sister Princess Luna, the diarchs of Equestria, and may I ask who and what you are? I don't believe I've ever met your kind." wait, where's the wound? "Your welcome and that doesn't surprise me since I'm the last of my race, and technically I'm no longer what I was born as anyway. Also healing me isn't necessary since it's already healed." all this surprised me greatly and also hurt knowing this "I was born a human and to answer your other question I'll tell you when I think of a new one." why not the name you were born with I wonder. "Sister, if I may interrupt, I believe we should deal with this after we help the former slaves and any diamond dogs left." Luna reminded me "I'm sorry, but the only survivor is the 1 dog I interrogated to learn where the slaves and the leaders were. Be prepared for a very gruesome sight if you go down there." what "To be fair I gave them a chance to resolve this peacefully even after they broke into my home and tried to enslave me, needless to say that failed miserably, what would you expect? The survivor is yours if you want him though." I was about to respond when I heard what sounded like an alarm going off. Ryan POV I pressed the accept button on my phone which I keep forgetting to fix so it doesn't immediatly turn on speaker "Yes Emily, do you need something?" "It's Misty, th-" "What's wrong, tell me now!" "The cryo pod just started malfunctioning, she's on life support now, come quick." "Don't need to tell me twice." I turned back to the princesses "If you want to come just follow the bodies, we can continue there." I heard Luna tell me to stop as I was running off, I'm not going to lose her permanently. Princess Luna POV "Sister, we need to go with him!" "Luna there are too many unknowns right now and you said so yourself we need to focus on our ponies." Tia, must you be so thick sometimes? "You heard what this Emily said and if life support is anything to go by then somepony dear to him is is danger, if you want him as an ally then this is the chance. I'll go with or without you." "You're right, Twilight I'm entrusting everypony to you, make sure they reach their homes safely." "Consider it done Princess." we set off after the human after. Mane 6 POV "Shouldn't we be going in there Twi? That thing could be evil!" said Rainbow "Believe me Dash, as much as I would like to the Princess gave us orders to see to everypony else first. Besides, considering how easily that thing took down that dragon and taking into all the freed slaves not only would we not stand a chance if he is evil, but we would only get in the way if we did go. All we can do is hope he is on our side." Twilight said firmly > Saving her > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryan POV I'm rushing through the tunnels starting from where Ragnarok (I need to name a weapon that) flew through the ground with only Misty on my mind. If it weren't for her I wouldn't be here, she saved me and by extension the world as if it weren't for her I would have unfucked the world my way becoming the new God if I had to and if that didn't work then I'd've just nuked everything. I had a very twisted way of looking at the world if you couldn't already tell and she didn't just give me hope or show me the light, she became my anchor to it. I refuse to lose her like this, I would sooner see the world burn before I just let the best thing to ever happen to me slip away like that. In my panicked stated I almost missed a few turns, but I found my way back to the cryo chamber to see what had gone wrong. "How is she Emily" "She isn't suffering any damage that can't be reversed, and before you ask I can't open it." That's good, not the second part though. "Where are the manual controls? Hopefully they're still in working order." "Manual controls are under the pod, but I can't lift them myself, the switch for that is also on the pod." I tried, but while the switch worked fine the controls were less than functional. "The controls aren't working." "You'll have to break her out then "I can't risk breaking her out of this, please tell me you have some other ideas." "The only other thing that could work is in the control room, but there aren't any guarantees it would save her nor are there any to not damaging the already worn out systems even more." Well isn't that convenient? "I'm sorry." What "Would you care to repeat that?" Please don't repeat what you just said. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do without risking killing her." "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME MY CHOICES ARE RISK KILLING THE ONLY THING I HAVE LEFT OR LOSE HER ANYWAY??? I REFUSE TO GO BACK TO THAT HELL, I CAN'T LOSE HER AGAIN, I CAN'T BE ALONE AGAIN, AND FOR ETERNITY AT THAT!!!!" I shouted, almost praying for something, anything to help. Princess Luna POV (shortly after choosing to follow the human) Sister and I started following, or trying to follow this human I think he called himself and I found myself thinking back to what he said. It was for lack of a better word unsettling how casually he mentioned what he did to the diamond dogs, but his actions weren't exactly unjustified nor unwelcome. At least that was what I thought before seeing what he meant by being ready for a "gruesome sight" and "follow the bodies". "Sweet mother, what happened?" Tia asked barely holding back the bile, myself not faring any better, the sight and smell being worse than the battlefields a thousand years ago. "I think this is what that human meant when he told us to prepare ourselves, but I didn't expect a sight like this." Corpses were filling the tunnels left and right, most of which appearing to have been mutilated and butchered while the less damaged ones were running, away from him most likely. "We need to find him, this may be our only chance to see whether or not he is a monster or simply brutal." hopefully only to those we would condemn or do the equivalent of. "Luna, you can't be serious! These diamond dogs didn't deserve to die like this, that so called human isn't just brutal, but merciless, he didn't even give them a chance to surrender or run! This was cold blooded murder!" She said trying to convince me to turn back with her, possibly do the exact opposite of what we came to do. "There must be a reason for this, we know nothing about him and considering what he has done so far he at least deserves the benefit of the doubt. Even if he is a monster it is better to have one who only preys upon other monsters than everything else." she had nothing to respond with and we continued following the trail. We eventually reached a point with several tunnels, no bodies, and no trace of him. "Where did he go from here? The one thing we needed to know and he didn't tell us." I said frustrated. Celestia was about to respond when we heard him shouting in a destressed voice. "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME MY CHOICES ARE RISK KILLING THE ONLY THING I HAVE LEFT OR LOSE HER ANYWAY??? I REFUSE TO GO BACK TO THAT HELL, I CAN'T LOSE HER AGAIN, I CAN'T BE ALONE AGAIN, AND FOR ETERNITY AT THAT!!!!" What did he mean by eternity? Ryan POV This can't be how I lose her, I would have been fine with natural causes, but not like this. "I'm sorry." Emily repeated again, I'm barely controlling myself at this point. "Stop, as much as I don't want to I have to take the risks. If I don't I'll certainly lose her." Please whatever God or Demon can hear me please let this work. I readied myself to make what could be the biggest mistake of my life before I heard my prayers answered. "Human, are you in here?" I heard I think it was Princess Luna who asked. "Help me save her please." "What is this place?" I heard I think it was Princess Celestia ask. "I'll explain later just help me, I'll do anything you ask of me just help me please." They looked into the pod "What is this creature?" Really Celestia? "Do I need to repeat myself? Beg? Either help me or LEAVE!" Celestia winced at that "Human we need you to calm down and tell us what you need from us." Luna said, I knew she was right, but that didn't help much. "I need you to help me open this, with you here I can focus on her safety while you do whatever you can to open it. The pod isn't functioning right so you'll have to break it open, preferably with as little damage to the inside as possible." I encased Misty in a shell of darkness while the sisters started to open it with their magic, or tried to. "How strong is the hold on this thing? We have both been putting enough strength into this to strangle a leviathan (wait they have those and this thing is that durable) and it won't so much as bend." I heard one of them say not paying attention to who said it. Hopefully this next idea will work, otherwise I can't be held accountable for what I'll likely do. "I have an idea, but I need to know which one of you is more powerful?" "How is this important?" They both asked, testing my patience. "Answer the question." They looked to eachother before answering. "That would be Luna." Celestia answered "Luna I need you to keep helping me open this, Celestia I need you to put a shield around her." I said pointing to Misty. We gave it another try finally getting it open after I started controlling the metal and darkness inside the pod. Misty was unconscious and shivering, but that was to be expected and can easily be corrected. I kept thanking them as I cried for the first time in a LONG time while holding her tightly in my arms while subconsciously summoning and wrapping my dark wings around her. We stayed like this even after she stopped shivering. Princess Celestia POV I was having mixed feelings about this human now, to see fear like that not for himself, but for somepony else and how he acted during and after this I could tell was all genuine emotion. He spent close to 10 minutes thanking us and crying for this...wolf? What surprised me most was his control over darkness and how he is seemingly unaffected by this forbidden magic. We were going to let him calm down before we questioned him, but he stood back up and lead us to what looked like a living room before we all took a seat with him setting the wolf's head on his lap and saying what neither of us expected to hear. "I'm a man of my word, anything you want to ask of me will receive everything you want to hear, anything you want me to do you can consider it done, anything you want from me you can consider it yours, Afterward if you would do one more thing for me you will never have to worry about my sword being pointed at you. At that point you will have truly saved the only thing I have left to care for, it's only fair I try to return that kindness." > Learning about the human > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Celestia POV I may have been too hasty, perhaps too judgemental, I actually feel guilty for what I had originally intended to do. This human may as well have sold his soul to us for no other reason than saving the wolf he hasn't let go of yet. What could be so special about this overgrown animal...no...upon closer inspection it seems to be like the races on Equus physically, could it be intelligent as well? What could he have meant by truly saving this wolf? Luna may have been right about him, perhaps he isn't a monster, only misunderstood. I should take this opportunity to see for myself. "Is there anything you want to ask your highness?" "What do you call yourself? What was the purpose behind slaughtering those diamond dogs? What was that magic you used?" Luna asked. "In order, my name is Ryan, slavery and everything it entails are crimes I see as beyond forgiveness and redemption, and whatever magic wasn't tied to my weapons was strictly elemancy." I took this opportunity to ask about the magic and weapons. "Why do you have dark magic?" I tightly gripped the seat, remembering Sombra and others like him "What you used has been outlawed for over a thousand years, you used it during the fight with Ragnarok as well didn't you? How can you use it with such ease and not be corrupted?" I needed to know this, perhaps he found a way to combat dark magic's influence on the mind and soul, maybe even reverse it. "I use elemancy as I said, you have water, earth, fire, wind, lightning, arcane, light, and dark as well as their secondary elements. Either your dark magic is very different from mine or I'm resistant if not immune to the corruption." It's possible, but still requires research. "What do you mean by secondary elements?" Luna asked before me. "The secondary elements are basically a branch in that element, earth has metal and polarity which I accidentally found after stabbing myself with one of the tridents and a serrated dagger while I was practicing controlling it" what "fire has heat and chaos, arcane has soul and void, light has life and divine, dark has death and abyss, and water has ice and blood." This was alarming, but what was that about void and abyss magic? "You use blood, soul, and chaos magic as well? You should choose your next words very carefully after confessing to the use of not 1, but 3 more forbidden magics." I said almost snapping at him. He may be an enemy after all. "The contol over blood is actually just the water element, if memory serves water makes up 55-70% of the blood in the body, I'm not contolling the blood, but the water in it. The only reason I call the secondary element of arcane soul is because when I tried it I felt weaker and weaker while still maintaining the same level of effort, but with increased power, I don't actually know if that would be considered soul magic. Abyss magic is really just a combination of dark and arcane, the same goes for divine being light and arcane. The chaos element is really just fire and arcane. Elements can be combined for powerful results, but some technically create or allow the use of other elements." This explanation put an end to those thoughts, also answering other questions I was going to ask. "Could you explain this void magic?" "The void is hard to explain so I'll put it as simply as I can, every magic I've used has had some trace of light or dark magic which seeps in depending on my emotional state, I wanted to turn myself hollow to test what would happen if there was none. To give you an idea, I made wind blades that could cut through anything, flames that would never burn out, and I made a portal one time which I can't seem to replicate." This is interesting. "Void is the most powerful, but hardest to use for obvious reasons." "What about your weapons? Nothing like them has ever been seen before if they were would likely be placed in the vault." Luna asked "I forged these and many other weapons, very few did I actually think of. The rest came from works of fiction." "You forged these weapons?" Just what else has he created? "This shortsword is named Losvayne, it allows the user to make clones of themselves and every extra clone weakens them, 1 clone would be half as powerful as you, 2 would make them a third of your strength and so on. The spear is just known as the Dragonslayer spear, it is enchanted with lightning and can be used at range, nothing too special about it aside from being capable of splitting a boulder if you even want to count that." Weapons similar to this spear exist, but this Losvayne is a new one. "What about that other sword?" I asked this time. "This was a test I thought of, the sword is hollow with holes and other openings going up the blade so the darkness inside it can change the shape and purpose of the weapon. I could turn it into a katana, I could give it a scythe head at the end of the blade, or I could turn it into a shield if I wanted to. Needless to say without the darkness it would be useless." There haven't been many magic reliant weapons to exist, and none of them were completely useless without it. "What did you mean by eternity earlier?" Is he like me and Luna? "I can't die unless someone else kills me themselves. Age and sickness don't do anything to me, it has been like this for thousands of years and before you ask I don't know my age." He is, but just how long has he been alone? "What is your connection to that wolf if you don't mind me asking?" Why would he be willing to go so far for it? "That would require you to know about our time. First I need to know if you if you know what evolution as this will become relevant later." "We do." "Humans weren't exactly good, myself included. As far as I could remember humans had yet to go a minimum of 50 years without starting a pointless war of some kind, we even had 2 world wars within 20 or 30 years of eachother and had at least a dozen more wars over the next 70 years. I hated humanity, I hated myself. What else were humans but arrogant, gullible, easily manipulated, violent and miserable fools who were happily marching to their own deaths or dragging others into the abyss with them? I wanted power so I could correct this in the only ways that I could reasonably see working, to give the world a symbol for all it's hatred, force the world into a state of peace. I would have given the world several chances at peace, but to my understanding, peace, salvation was only possible through subjugation or destruction, and I would have happily started a true war to end all wars. I was so fucked up in the head I could have made demons look like saints, even heroes in comparison. I had the mindset of a true monster." "This doesn't explain your connection to the wolf." I urged him to move the story along. "Her name is Misty, she used to be human." What "How did she become like this?" Luna asked this time "The 2 of us are results of a bio weapon another country used on us, to my knowledge I was the only one not turned into an anthropomorphic animal, but gained these powers instead. She was my first friend and eventually more than that a year before the attack, she saved me and by extension the world from me, but this was her reward. Any who turned became like animals, but she remembered me, even saved me a few times. I began to love and feel loved again, I was letting go of my hate, I was learning to feel human again all after she became involved in my life. If you haven't caught on yet, she is the only reason we're even able to have this conversation. The weapons are the only reason most if not every intelligent race today even exists, they all descend from humanity and that includes you 2." As unbelieveable this is, the evidence is right in front of us. I can see why he would offer so much for so little. "You want us to change her back, don't you?" I asked. "If you can't change her back I want you to at least try to restore her mind, I don't care if she remains a wolf, I just want her back." "While we can't guarantee changing her back into a human, we can however turn her back into who she was." Luna told him. He set Misty's head down before moving towards us, lifting us from our chairs and hugging us, crying again. "Words can't even begin to describe how much this means to me! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this, to have her back. I can never thank you enough for this." We stayed like this until he heard movement from behind him. > Reunion, seeing the unseen > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna POV We heard something else moving in the room and found the source on the couch Ryan was sitting on a minute ago. The wolf, Misty had awoken from her slumber and upon seeing him pounced on him, pinning him to the floor, nuzzling and licking his face. She was just as overjoyed as he was as they refused to release one another. I could see Celestia was just as happy for this reunion as I was and also didn't want to interrupt. This continued for a few minutes before he started speaking to her, explaining the new world as best he could, showed her some of what he is capable of, and had told her there was hope she could truly be saved. "These are the people who can restore you Misty, meet who will become our favorite ponies soon: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." One of us probably should have told him by now titles aren't necessary. We stood still as Misty approached us cautiously, we were just as weary of her as she was of us. She circled around us slowly, sniffing around us and away from us a few times. I noticed she slowed down more while she was to mine and Celestia's sides, her eyes shot wide open, and her ears went straight up as she backed up towards Ryan and started growling and barking at us. Why? This a was answered shortly after. "Misty, calm down, they are our friends, they're not going to hurt us!" Ryan said while grabbing her, ready to hold her back. "You can sense them too, can't you?" Sense who? Misty started to calm down slightly after he asked. "I can see them, even if they would hurt us they couldn't" Who is he talking about? "Remember what I told you before? You can always rely on your shadow to never leave you, not every shadow is formed from malice." Shadow? Could he mean what I think he means? Celestia is just as alarmed as I am. "I'll trust them, I'll trust all of them, if you can't then can you at least trust me? I won't let them hurt you if they try." Why would he trust them? Misty was no longer hostile, but still alert. "I'm sorry about that, that was unexpected and all she was trying to do was protect me from what she thought was a threat." Ryan said, not looking away from Misty and still holding her close to him. "We understand, you are only trying to protect eachother, but this has brought up 2 more questions that need to be answered." "I'll likely have an answer." "Just what did you mean when you were trying to calm her down and why would she feel the need to protect you?" "She likely sees me as the alpha of the pack you could say, and she may have forgotten about my hyper regeneration. To answer your other question I can see a transparent, darker version of you and princess Celestia." How? I thought the elements erased her, and the other shouldn't even be detectable. "I'm not going to ask why you reject your darkness, only advise you to accept it. Neither of them were born from malice, neither of them want to hurt you, they are your desires afterall however warped and unrestrained they may be. Nothing good can come from you rejecting a part of yourself, I learned that the hard way." "You mean you can see Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker? Why would you trust them?" Celestia asked. "When was the last time a shadow hurt anyone? When was the last time darkness did the same? And before you answer that, people using darkness don't count. When was the last time darkness struck first without a reason? Unlike it's counterpart, darkness accepts everyone and sometimes does a better job of making the world a better place than the light. Our darkness is just more in tune with our emotions as we are, it, wants what we want, but more. I trust them because they are a part of you, because they have felt the same pain and to some extent the same joy, the same pleasures as you." "THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT CAUSE US NO END OF TORMENT! BECAUSE OF HER I WAS TRAPPED ON MY OWN MOON FOR A THOUSAND YEARS! AND THE OTHER ALMOST BROKE FREE AND TRIED TO PUT EQUESTRIA UNDER HER ABSOLUTE CONTROL! YOU WOULD TRUST THEM AFTER EVERYTHING THEY'VE DONE?" I shouted in the RCV. "First off, one of us has very sensitive ears so I would appreciate it if you didn't shout." He said gesturing to Misty "Second, as I said, they want what we want, they are our desires however warped and unrestrained they may be. They only wanted you to be happy. I don't know Nightmare's story, but Daybreaker seems a lot like how I was all those years ago. Don't forget, as hypocritical as it would have been for me, I would have enslaved any number of people, I would have killed any number of people even commit genocide if I thought it would bring world peace. Let's also not forget that peace would include a very heavy drop of crime rates and racism and prejudice if you catch my meaning." Just what made you that way. "I'm sorry." "Just don't let it happen again." Ryan POV The silence lasted a good minute or two and I was still holding Misty close, running my fingers through her fur and scratching her behind the ears which she seems to enjoy a lot, but we needed to get a move on. We're almost there, we're so close to truly bringing her back that I can barely contain myself, I haven't felt like this since I learned I could recreate some of my favorite fictional weapons. I think I'll make the Tenseiga next as a troll weapon ,you either have to be really good with a sword or really bad at killing to heal someone everytime you cut them. I'm sorry, I'm letting myself get side tracked again. "So what happens now? We've all accomplished most if not everything we came here to do." I think it'll be best if I go with their ideas. "First we should make our way to Ponyville" that name itself is a sin "and inform our guards and the elements of the situation, then we will make preparations for Canterlot the next day" I wonder if they have their own version of Excalibur "where we shall make preparations for Misty." Celestia said. "Alright, but I am warning you right now. If anyone attacks me I will hurt them...a lot. If anyone is stupid enough to insult or God forbid hurt Misty, you had better deal with them faster than I can reach them. I don't care if it is a child of a lowborn peasent or if it is a king, I will break them and if they piss me off even more I will kill them. You will agree to this and pardon me of any crimes I commit if I reach them before you apprehend them under these circumstances. Their safety depends more on you and their common sense than my self control. Are we in agreement?" > Setting off, first impressions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryan POV Though it was anything but expected, the princesses agreed to my terms and we left for Ponyville after I switched out Dragonslayer spear for the Moonlight Greatsword (Dark Souls 2 version), and Losvayne for Demon Slayer (Samurai warriors). I had to make sure Misty didn't see or smell the bodies as best I could along the way, I may not feel guilty for killing them, but I don't want her to be mentally scarred over something like this. We were all quiet until we reached the outside, I wonder where all the guards went, especially the one who stabbed me. I was about to fly up before princess Celestia spoke up. "We will need to teleport to our destination, I would prefer we not be interrupted along the way." "Is there anything I should know first?" "You may feel dizzy, even nauseous for the first few times, any other important information will be given when we settle down." "Alright, then do it." Have you ever felt so dizzy you couldn't stand up? Have you ever been drunk? Like, 'I can't find my dick drunk'? I never have, but this is probably what it would feel like, Misty isn't doing any better, probably worse actually. I can't see much, I can't stand, I feel like I'm going to vomit, my ears are ringing, and I think my speech is slurred. I'm never drinking if it feels anything like this. I regained my bearings and saw we were outside of town. "Never. Teleport. Me. Again. I like my insides where they currently are thank you." I could probably regenerate them, but I'd rather not test that. "Apologies, but it seems it is different to you than everypony else" Nooooo, ya think? "Sister, I believe it would be best to announce Ryan and Misty before we reveal them. You know how our ponies are, especially the elements." Luna said after being silent for a while. "Thank you for volunteering to watch them until I give the signal." What do you mean watch? "I won't be long." *POOF* and like that she's gone. Silence "Does she do this often? Should I be worried?" "Not really, neither of us get to have fun very often and she took the chance." "Your duties get in the way of your lives that often?" "When it isn't our duties as diarchs of Equestria, it is the image we have to keep." "Images you sometimes want to break, but can't for fear of the inevitable backlash?" I think I see where this is going. "You have no idea, try having nobles seeking an audience for the most outrageous things you can imagine. In the past week I have had requests ranging from ponies seeking taxes for nobles be reduced while the lower classes be raised to a noble demanding the orphanage near his home be demolished so he could have a private swimming pool dug out in it's place." I may kill that one later, but how? "There are reasonable requests every now and then such as a farmer seeking aid with timberwolves or a few more guard in the more dangerous parts of the nation." "And just like that, I'm questioning whether or not stupidity is a genetic trait that's only going to get worse if this is the state of the so called upper class." "I think I would be more surprised to learn it isn't." I think we're going to get along just fine. We chatted for a few more minutes before princess Celestia finished announcing us. She was about to teleport us before I reminded her that she shouldn't do so. As we were making our way to town Misty almost clung to me, not doing anything that would seem cautious, but still noticeable. We finally arrived and were understandably met with stares, I noticed one of them had an unsettling smile on her face, but continued anyway, I'll deal with her if I have to. Before we reached the stage by the town hall I asked the princesses if they could introduce me as Griever, when they asked why I told them a new life could use a new name. We reached the stage and waited for princess Celestia to reveal us, a human and a wolf in a town of ponies Let's see how well first impressions go. "Without further delay I would like to introduce the one who freed the slaves, Griever and his companion Misty." Silence More silence Is that a cricket I hear? "By now I expected one of you to do something other than stare. I know we're new, but this is getting ridiculous." After that they finally did something, unfortunately that something was them shouting whatever questions they had and the only one I understood was why was my sword blue. Why they want to know more about the blue sword than the black and purple one with a black and purple aura going up the blade with you guessed it, black and purple feathers falling from it, I don't understand. I looked to the princesses and they just shrugged, this needed to end now. "Quiet!!!!" sweet silence "I will point to you and you will ask your question, okay?" they all nodded their heads "You, lady in the front." "Why is your sword blue?" God damn it "I made it that way. You, sir with the flute." "Why do you have weapons on you?" Okay, a somewhat reasonable question "I could ask you the same of why you're carrying a flute, but to answer your question, self defense." "Why don't you have any fur?" Really? You ask why I'm born a certain way, but not what I am? "My kind doesn't have any, also, thank you for not waiting your turn. You, lady with the curly hair and tie." Please get the hint. "What are you?" Thank you. "A miserable pile of secrets. I'm sorry, that reference was too tempting, I am a human." I heard someone shout 'I KNEW IT', but ignored it. "Why do you have a filthy diamond dog with you?" The air grew cold, my wings appeared ignited with black, purple, blue, and crimson flames, the wind started picking up knocking a few signs down, my body started emitting the same colored electricity as a little pink filly with a tiara asked this. "My hearing must be off little one. Would you care to repeat that?" I honest to whatever God or Godess they worship hope she does "I asked why you had a filthy diamond dog with you." I pushed everyone out of the way with the wind, froze her in place poured all that power into Moonlight ready to use it's ranged attack. "I will not apologize for this. Cease to exist!" Just when I was about to swing Misty lightly bit my hand and barely dug her claws into my shoulders as the princesses placed a multilayer shield around the filly. I stopped as they asked and absorbed the power back into my body before turning to face them. "I will apologize to you two, and especially you Misty" I turned back to the filly "you had best remember this as I will not show the same mercy the next time you don't keep your tongue under control." I unfroze her "Leave, either vanish from my sight, or vanish from existence, your choice." She ran as fast as her legs would let her, crying for her father, pathetic. Well this is off to a FANTASTIC start. > Aftermath, meeting the 6 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Celestia POV I hoped this would have gone smoothly. I would have expected better from my subjects, but instead this spoiled brat completely disregards my warning to not aggravate Ry- I mean Griever and nearly gets herself killed. I will have to deal with her or at least her parents soon, but damage control, and now prevention comes first if I know my student well enough. It was fortunate Misty was here as well as my sister and I being able to put up that shield in time or everything directly behind her likely would no longer exist. I didn't doubt his warning, but I didn't think he would go that far either, dark magic, several fire and lightning magics, wind, ice, and that sword's power all just to kill one pony. He isn't a monster, but he is anything but merciful if that is how he responds to an insult to his friend. "Griever, once again I'm sorry for my subject's actions and will de-" "That's enough, if she doesn't learn why silence is golden after this then there is no saving her, or she won't be worth the effort anyway. If she keeps this up she'll likely be the cause of her own death, don't apologize for other peoples stupidity, it doesn't help anyone." Griever interrupted, knocking out the guards who attacked him AGAINST MY ORDERS "With that said this little introduction has gone way out of control and I get the feeling trouble is on it's way." Twilight POV We were on our way to the town hall for an announcement by Princess Celestia, if we weren't so busy with all the former slaves we might have started going sooner. I wonder what this is about, the diamond dogs are obviously going to be a topic of discussion, but what about that pony from earlier? Could he be involved in her announcement? *SCREAMING* "What's going on? Why is everypony running?" I tried asking the fleeing ponies, but none were stopping to answer, none except for Diamond Tiara. "There's a monster and it's pet at town hall attacking everypony, it even tried to kill me, the princesses are fighting it now." she said between sobs, clearly frightened by the whole ordeal. "Come on girls, we need to help the princesses." "Time to kick some flank." Rainbow said "Ah'll give it a good ol' bucking." Applejack said, almost as eager as Dash did "I still have my party cannon ready." I'm not even going to ask "We'll teach that brute some manners." Rarity said "Maybe we can convince the monster to be good?" Fluttershy said so quietly nopony heard her Griever POV I just finished dealing with these guards and all I can say is this is pitiful. Ignoring my immense power and immortality they should have had every advantage against me and still failed miserably. I'm self taught and anything I know can easily be figured out or I learned and managed to apply from other games, they have armor (however shitty it may be being gold), years of training, and outnumbered me. I hope they were rejects for the real army or else I'll have to go a mix of Mr. Popo, Alucard, and Sergeant Hartman on them if the princesses will let me. "I'm putting this out there right now, your guards suck. I've seen puppies with better self defense than whatever that was." "I told you we should increase the training and difficulty of it for our guards." Luna said after being silent for so long. "After this display I'm more inclined to believe you now." Celestia said having watched over a dozen of her guards be humiliated by one guy. "So where do we go from here? I doubt I'm welcome here after this." I said scratching Misty behind her ears. "HEY UGLY!" What now? I turned to find 6 ponies ready for a fight, they look familiar. "Dont worry princess, we'll handle this." No you won't "Twilight, you don't understand, this isn't what you think it is." Celestia said, attempting and failing to defuse the situation. "Let them learn the hard way, pain is the best teacher after all." I told her "You'll pay for this monster!" Twilight said not hearing the princess. Do they have any better insults than monster? "I doubt that, and not for the reasons you might think." As I finished saying that the damn rainbow one charged at me with her fist. She was fast, but my reflexes were better as I grabbed her fist and held her in place before I made a shield out of Shadow Edge (finally thought of a name for that damn sword) and kicked her back to her friends. I taunted her into attacking me again and not only did she do so, but she used the SAME ATTACK to which I responded with a shield bash sending her flying into the building behind me. She's likely going to need a doctor for that. I turned to find the orange one with a lasso in her hands, as if that's going to do anything. "Git outta our town you rottin' dirty no good varmint!" Finally, something new "I have a better idea, get out of my sight worm, or perhaps I should reintroduce you to the dirt. You're supposed to be close to it after all." She screamed after hearing that and tried to strangle me with the rope, but made no progress, so she started punching me after, I responded punching her in the face, grabbing her arms and dislocating them, then kicked her back to her friends after she passed out from the pain. "Does anyone else want to try?" The white one stepped up. "I'll teach you respect you brute!" Twice I was called something other than monster, is it my birthday? "Learn respect first before you try to teach it bitch." She took offense to that "I was going to use as little violence as possible as to avoid getting dirty, but now I'll just throw you in the dungeon where ruffians like you belong!" "KINKY!" She snapped after I said that and started trying to tie me up and attack me with I think those are needles and thread? I got up close before doing what I've always wanted to do to people like her. "BITCH PLEASE!" I bitch slapped her into the pink one, knocking both of them out. "And then there was one." You can stop this at any time princesses. "No there's 2, Fluttershy can still help me put and end to your evil ways." Twilight said "Are you fucking brain dead? I just beat 4 of your friends with no more than 3 hits each after beating over a dozen guards alone, unarmed, without magic, and you think that coward can help? She can't stop shaking nor can she even look at me. You stand no chance, it would be best for everyone if you went back home and played soldier there, not that you would even do that right." I really hope this arrogant cunt takes the bait. "How dare you! As the personal student to princess Celestia I'll deal with you myself." Come at me bitch. "ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU!" About time Celestia. "I mean no disrespect princess, but why didn't you stop them sooner?" I asked. "Princess, why did you stop me?" I just fucking asked that bitch "I could have locked him in Tartarus where he belongs!" Twilight asked. "I doubt the gates and chains could hold me anyway." I really do. "It is because he is not an enemy my student." "How? He just attacked everypony for no reason, tried to kill an innocent filly, and seriously hurt 4 of my friends!" "That filly provoked him, he warned us if anypony attacks him he will hospitalize them, if anypony insults or attacks the wolf next to him, he would kill them if my sister or I didn't act first. The condition of him coming with us to be introduced was he and the wolf be pardoned of any crimes they commit under these circumstances." "And what did this filly do?" "She insulted Misty and essentially grouped up this girl with nothing but good in her heart to those diamond dogs, after princess Celestia warned them to not say or do anything that might provoke me. I told her I would make them pay even if they were the child of a lowborn peasent or a king and I stuck to my word." "That doesn't justify attacking everypony, hurting my friends, and murder!" This bitch is getting on my nerves. "To clear some of this up, I knocked everyone back to avoid hitting them as I tried to kill the brat. As for your friends they attacked first after your princess basically told you to stand down, by the way, had I still been a normal human what one of your friends did would have likely killed me before I could react, as for the other 2, that was armed assault and the orange one would have likely killed me as well. As far as the law is concerned I am still innocent and all of you except for the yellow one are guilty. I refuse to apologize for your stupidity." "Griever, please stop this." I heard Luna ask "As you wish. If you need me I'll be on that hill in the distance with Misty." We flew away after. I get the feeling we won't exactly be welcome for a while. > Let's try this again Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Celestia POV As much as I wanted Griever to stay, I knew his presence would only provoke everypony, especially the elements. I'm dealing with this here and now, it seems nopony, not even the guards or elements understand what 'follow my orders' means anymore. Is this what Daybreaker was afraid of? Did she realize I was too much of an enabler and this is the result? I may have to speak with Luna and Griever about this, but that will have to come later. "Twilight bring your friends to the library, we have matters to discuss. Luna, I want you to go with Griever." "How can you trust him af-" "YOU WILL BE SILENT!" Luna interrupted Twilight in the RCV then flying off with him. "I would also like you to be silent until your friends awake, but first we need to correct Applejack's arms and heal the others." "Yes princess." My student said quietly with her ears folded back, this is going to be a long day. It didn't take us long to reach the library after healing them, when we arrived I told, no ordered Twilight to keep everypony here until after I returned. It took longer than I would have liked, but I finally managed to calm down everypony and after ensuring the guards weren't hurt too badly I made my way back to the library just in time to see the elements regain consciousness. "What happened? My head is killing me." said Rainbow Dash "Mah arms ain't feelin' too good either." said Applejack "Why does my cheek hurt so much?" said Rarity "I feel super dizzy, did we have fun?" said Pinkie Pie, I chose to step in after this. "To answer all your questions, you disobeyed a direct order from me and attacked somepony who could have easily killed all of you in 1 hit without using either of his hands." "WHAT!" The 4 of them shouted "It is as I said." "Why wouldn't you want us to beat him like we do with every bad guy?" asked Rainbow "That is because of what he has done so far and an agreement my sister and I had with him." "I mean no disrespect, but nothing can justify much less excuse what that brute did." said Rarity "That's right, there ain't nothin' to give that monster any right to do this!" said Applejack "He is the one who ended Ragnarok, one of the most dangerous dragons in Equestria for the past 1,600 years who would have taken me and my sister as well as several dozen guards just to ground and freed the slaves from earlier." shocking them "That doesn't mean he gets to be a big ol' meanie pants." said Pinkie "What was this agreement you and him anyway?" asked Rarity "We agreed to pardon him and the wolf of any crimes they commit under the circumstances he mentioned. He warned us if anypony attacked him he would hospitalize them and if anypony insulted or attacked the wolf he would kill them if they were not apprehended first or no one stopped him. Even after I told everypony not to say or do anything that might provoke him a filly did the exact opposite and called the wolf a 'filthy diamond dog', to him that was comparing somepony with "nothing but good in their heart" to slavers. The only reason she is still alive is because of the wolf as I don't think he would have registered the barriers we placed without her." "He tried to kill somepony over an insult? That's petty." said Rainbow "That wolf was somepony very dear to him before she was changed. It isn't my place to speak of this, but that wolf was once a human as his species is called. She is a victim, both of them are victims of a war thousands of years ago that killed or transformed humans into the races of today as he revealed to us." "WHAT???!!" Everypony shouted this time. "Princess, how is that even possible?" asked Twilight "As I said, it is not my place to say. What I can say is he may as well have offered everything to me and my sister for helping him save her, he doesn't care if we can't change her back, but he may as well have offered his soul to us if we can restore her mind." Silence "Wow, now I kind of feel sorry for him." Rainbow said "Yeah, ah dunno how ah would feel in his hooves." Applejack said "He was just protecting the only thing he had left." Rarity said "He must feel so alone in this unknown world." Fluttershy said, crying for him "That's so sad!" Pinkie said now balling her eyes out "While it doesn't excuse the extent of his actions, maybe he isn't the monster we thought he was. OH, I said such terrible things to him." Twilight said. We're making progress. Princess Luna POV I followed Griever to his destination and after recent events felt it would be best to leave him be. He is sitting with his back to a tree, looking off into the distance while Misty tries to get into a comfortable position with him. He apologizes to her again for recent events as he scratches her behind the ears with one hand and runs his fingers through her fur with the other and begins to sing in a language unknown to me. Cur in gremio haeremus Cur poenom cordi parvo damus Stella nobis non concessit, non concessit Stella nobis non concessit, non concessit Venarum pulus in terram fluens Parvus parvus pulsus Cor mortem ducens Vita mollis in stellam redeunt Animam sacrificare necesse est Cur in gremio, in gremio haeremus Cur veniam petimus In terram fatali "You know Misty, after all these years I still don't know the whole english translation, and I know you're there princess." HOW??? TO BOTH OF THOSE! "How did you know I was there?" I asked as I took a seat next to him. "You smell of nightshade and the wind was blowing from you to us, also I have a wolf who could smell you before me." That answers one question. "What were you singing and what language was that? "The language was called Latin, and as for what, I was singing Promised Land. Do you have movies in this time? I could show you the movie it was written for, and it won't spoil the game it is a sequel to much if at all." "We have both actually, we'll have to take you up on your offer later." "Good, that means I won't be too bored in this era." "What have you done for fun in the past..." "I don't know, just put fossil, ancient, or OOOOOOOOLLLLLDDD as my age on my citizenship papers. To answer your unasked question I've really just been reforging weapons and learning how to control my powers, I prioritized that over gaming mostly because the games I played were all online which the servers were empty if not down for obvious reasons." "Why were you reforging weapons that only existed in fiction anyway?" "I wanted an arsenal of weapons available if I found myself in an era that used those weapons, and me having magic gave me reason to believe that age would last longer. I also said I thought of a few, but I don't know if the name or concept was used before then. The other reasons are that some weapons were just awesome in design and usefulness while others would be fun in a messed up way. Can you imagine giving a sword that can't hurt anything, but instead heals it of all injuries even regrowing limbs and organs after striking a person to a murderous psychopath and telling them to have fun? You can't tell me that wouldn't be even a little amusing and mean it." It actually would be funny. "I'm sorry for how this may sound, but what other weapons have you made?" He must have been passionate about his work as he told me more than I expected, I didn't expect weapons that would be cursed and certainly didn't expect weapons that are sentient nor did I expect weapons with solar and lunar themes and enchantments. I found myself wanting to see some of these weapons, but that will have to come after everything settles down. I've also been wanting to learn more about Griever since after we saved Misty, he didn't treat us as rulers, but ponies and was more than grateful to us, but that will have to wait as well. By now my sister will have likely calmed down the elements so we should probably make our way to the library. I wonder what his thoughts are on herds. > Let's try this again Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV It had been an hour or so since the incident and I was actually enjoying this. I don't need to take shit from anyone if this is the best I can expect from any opposition and these princesses have been surprisingly lenient, they seem like good people too so far. I may have to meet Nightmare and Daybreaker to see what all the fuss was about, but first I'll have to go reintroduce myself to those idiots from earlier and maybe apologize to princess Celestia. I'm not looking forward to this, but princess Luna asked nicely and Misty was giving me the puppy dog eyes which is why we are walking to the library. At this rate I can't be held accountable for my actions when stupid people are involved. I may have to grab a textbook and see if priests were right about smacking people upside the head with a bible being an efficient teaching method. "We are here." Luna informed me. "So it would seem. Can you and your sister make sure they don't do anything stupid again? I'd rather not get myself banished from this town because of another person's stupidity." "We will make sure they don't." "Welp, here goes." We opened the door to find everyone staring at us, 2 of them had sad looks on their faces. Either Celestia told them something or they're sad about losing the fight, pathetic. "So princess, I trust you calmed them down?" I asked Celestia "I did and encouraged them not to attack you again, they also have something they would like to say to you." "If it's an apology then don't bother as I've heard enough apologies today, but this time I'm apologizing to the yellow one for calling her a coward." "HEY! Where's our apology?" said the Rainbow haired one "You mean I should apologize for defending myself in what should have been a 1v6 with 2 of you using weapons/ substitute weapons and by the way, had I still been a normal human either you or the orange one would have killed me. She not only tried to strangle me, but she had a lot more force behind those punches than I expected and you flying at me at 200mph weighing 120Ibs at least would have killed a normal human. I did not start nor instigate that fight, but I sure as hell finished it." "Why you litt-" "Enough! We came back to retry introductions, not fight!" Thank you Luna "That is right. Griever, would you be willing to give them a chance?" Celestia asked "Since you and princess Luna asked nicely I'll at least try." "Please, drop the titles, we've hardly been able to live up to them all day." Luna said "Alright, I can do that. So where do we go from here?" "First we shall make preparations for our stay tonight while you answer any questions you feel comfortable answering then we shall leave for Canterlot tomorrow via chariot." "That reminds me, do you have a weapon that chooses kings? I know it's an odd question, but I'm just curious." "No we do not, why?" Celestia asked "Canterlot sounds too much like Camelot which had a legend about a sword that had a few different legends, but the only real difference was the sword's origin. Only a true king would be able to draw Excalibur from the stone and it is said the wielder could overcome any foe, and with the scabbard Avalon would not bleed. We are getting off topic so let's switch back, we will take turns asking questions as I'm sure you 6 have plenty." "Where are your wings?" the blue one asked, I summoned them "Away, you, the pink one." "DoyoulikepartieshowoldareyoudoyoulikecakewhatsyourfavoritecakewhatwasthatthingyoudidtothedragonwheredidyoucomefromBRRFBRFBFPBF?" I saw a purple aura covering her mouth thank God. Where does she get all her oxygen and energy? "Pinkie that's enough, he said one question per pony." Twilight stopped her. "Translation? I don't speak whatever long forgotten incomprehensible dead language that was." "I'm sorry, do you like parties?" she spoke clearly this time "I don't really care for them." "WHAT! How ca-" "Next, white one go." "What fashion did your people I ghink they were called humans have?" "How about I show you as well as show you what we had in fiction, Emily, if you would." She loved a lot of it, especially from Destiny, Dynasty/ Samurai warriors, Elder scrolls, Dark souls and Bloodborne. "Now you Twilight. Because you stopped Pinkie I'll give you an extra question." "Who is Emily and what was that magic you used?" "Emily is an artificial intelligence made to help the systems in the bunker running smoothly which those diamond dogs broke into and that magic was strictly elemancy." "But what about th-" "You, orange one." "Why were ya there in the caves?" "My home existed there before your kind's existence was even so much as a thought,and as I said those dogs broke into my home and not only tried to rob me, but enslave me as well. You, Fluttershy I think your name was, I'll also give you 2 questions for not getting involved in that fight." "What is your favorite animal and why did you hurt those diamond dogs and that dragon?" "My favorites are crows and wolves and as I told Celestia, slavery and everything it entails I see as unforgivable, beyond redemption and so I killed them. Not only were they slavers before the dragon came into the picture, but it turns out they were also slaves to that dragon who has murdered and eaten countless innocent people. I passed fair judgement on them nothing more." She tried to argue they didn't deserve to die, but I just ignored her, I can't stand people who condemn others who have every possible reason to justify their actions no matter the intentions and the extent of them. All I'm hearing right now is 'you had no right/ reason' (bitch yes I did, it's called defense of self and others), and 'those ponies should have stayed slaves' (how I'm interpreting this). Even Misty has had enough of her and is growling. "I don't need to explain my actions anymore to you, especially when they were more than justified even in the opinions of your princesses. We live in a world not of perception or cause and effect, but expected and unexpected results. I had no right to kill murderers, rapists and slavers? EVERYONE deserves to live? Contrary to your belief, people can lose the right to live and I have a PERFECT example for you." I thought back to one of my favorite anime and how well it portrayed human nature, cause and effect, and what I meant by expected results "There was a story in my time about a child who dedicated his life to revenge after his older who he loved and adored so much killed his entire family, the parents, cousins, EVERYONE just to test his ability, a power acquired from killing his closest friend. The only reason the child was spared was because among all the people in his family, he was the only one who could surpass him. He abandoned his village, willingly did the equivalent of selling his soul for power, and even tried to kill his own closest friend when he tried to stop him. They were in their early teenage years if not younger at this time." Everyone was becoming increasingly horrified at just the existence of this story and the yellow one was barely voicing her pleas for me to stop "When he finally avenged his family he learned his brother was forced into becoming a criminal to stop a coup his family was planning thanks to a power hungry psychopath making such an event inevitable with his betrayal. That man not only went free, but stole the eyes of his family which held immense power. You mean to tell me the extent of the child's hatred, his actions are just as justified as mine? That he had no right to kill the people who took everything but his life from him, made his life absolute hell, lied to him, used him for years, and learning the truth he was unjustified when he decided to try and destroy the village that was celebrating his brother's sacrifice/ death?" Everyone was silent after that, not knowing how to respond to a story like that even if it was fictional. Well she was crying, but I find myself incapable of caring for crying children who see the world in black and white. "What if such a thing happened in this world? To say someone in that child's position would need to be stopped and punished is to deny him his justice for his dead family and the years his families real killers went unpunished. The punishment must fit the crime, if it's worth dying for it tends to be worth killing for. Did he not deserve justice? How about his brother who was forced into betraying everyone to protect them? 'Justice comes from Vengeance, but that same Justice only breeds more Revenge, and triggers a vicious Cycle of Hatred'. Killing his brother was justice, trying to destroy the village to avenge his brother's suffering and his clan's destruction was just as much an act of justice and revenge as it was mass slaughter." I said into her ear before turning to the princesses "What's done is done so do us all a favor and quit weeping for the stupid or you'll be crying all day. Luna, has a place to tuck in been decided?" "Twilight offered us earlier, remember? There are a few guest beds in the basement." "It was probably when I wasn't paying attention to Fluttershy's rant. I'm going to bed, you can join if you want Misty." She barked and followed me down. That could have gone better. > Departure > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV I woke up with Misty in my arms with her head right next to mine and was happy that all wasn't a dream. I haven't needed sleep in God knows how long thanks to these mutations so I had honestly forgotten how to sleep without a cryo pod, but I can say that was the best I've had in years. I was too comfortable and Misty looked too peaceful for me to get out of bed so I stayed and pulled her closer, I think I might prefer she stay a wolf if it's this comfortable sleeping with a body sized ball of fur. I heard movement behind me so I used what I call Shadow Gaze and saw Celestia and Luna walking up the stairs then outside, I regretted my curiosity as I found they really do control the sun and moon and the purging of the shadows burned my eyes. How am I stonger than them if they are capable of destroying entire planets, even entire solar systems in just a few seconds? They came back down to go back to sleep hopefully, it's too early for this shit. "Griever, breakfast is ready." DAMNIT CELESTIA "Alright, let me and Misty bathe first." say what you want, she's not an animal as far as I'm concerned so I cleaned her as if she was a human. The only problem was making sure the fur didn't clog the drain. We went back down to find everyone there as well as a new face, an overgrown lizard was cooking for everyone and had just set my plate with pancakes, toast, and scrambled eggs down on the last spot of the table. "I'm assuming you're about to make Misty breakfast as well?" Choose your words carefully, it's still too early for this. "Who's Misty? I thought we only had 1 guest Twilight." "I may have forgotten to mention he had somepony with him, sorry Spike." she said while chuckling nervously. Spike, really? Am I gonna have to do what cinema sins does? He turned to us and did the exact opposite of what I wanted. "Do we still have dog food from when we found that pup a week ago?" now you fucked up kid, I dashed to him and thrusted my hand which was coated in darkness, lightning, and had ice shards revolving around it an inch from his chest. "The only reason you are still alive is because you did not mean to insult her, but call her a dog instead of a wolf again and I'll show you how lizards can fly without wings, over the speed of sound, and into a mountain. Are we clear?" Everyone was trying to get me to back off except Misty, as if she knew I only intended to scare him. "Y-Y-Y-y-y-yes, c-c-cryst-tal s-s-s-s-sir." "One more thing, if you wouldn't eat it yourself then don't try to feed it to her or else I may just go through with what I said." I told him taking a seat "Was that really necessary?" Luna asked "Probably not, but I don't care." Twilight slammed her hands on the table "How can you so casually act like this, especially to a baby dragon who was just asking an innocent question?" She said demanding an answer from me "Need I remind you of why I tried to kill the other child, and dragon? I see nothing relating him to such a proud race aside from the scales." "That's enough both of you! Griever, we will be departing for Canterlot after you and Misty are finished eating." Luna said "Just to be sure, you sent word BOTH of us were coming with you right? People attacking me several times a day is getting really old." "We did, we also wish to avoid that." Celestia said "Misty's food is ready." good, the kid gave some more of what he gave me to her "She won't take long, but before we go, I need to make sure the bunker is sealed completely. I don't want anyone stealing those weapons as a few of them can potentially destroy entire armies. I'll be back in a minute." "Alright, but we will need to see more of those weapons later." Luna said "That's fine as I still owe you 2 a lot, but I won't make copies of a lot of those weapons." "That is fine." I heard her say before I walked out and flew to the bunker Luna POV "Why would he even have weapons that powerful? They should be locked up or destroyed!" Twilight in her ignorance failing to understand any possible reasons why "The main reason he forged those weapons was to act as a hobby, he forged weapons from myth and legend as well as weapons from other fictional sources. One such weapon was a sword that cannot kill, but only heal who it cuts, or another that 'takes in that which makes it stronger'. The swords he had with him are only effective against a single target so they are perfectly fine." "He forged them? As a hobby? That doesn't answer why they haven't been locked up or destroyed much less why they even exist." "He said they were potentially capable of destroying entire armies, meaning the user would have to be able to use that power and be creative enough to think of it. The weapon is only as dangerous as the user, and we trust him to not attack without reason." "You mean like how he attacked that filly? Or like how he attacked Spike?" "You will watch your tongue Twilight, I don't appreciate you speaking ill of who I believe would make a great knight of Equestria if pushed in the right direction. First, we will have to help him control his anger, but that shouldn't be too difficult." Celestia spoke up "I'm sorry, I'm just worried he might try to take over Equestria." Twilight said in a more quiet tone "I understand, but after everything he has been through he deserves a chance to prove himself. It is as Starswirl once told us, 'we are creatures of 3 things: reason, desire, and emotion, anyone of which can suppress or fuel the others'. If he has no reason to hate us he will have no desire to hurt us, this is true more often than not." She told her, he truly was ahead of his time "Okay, I'll try, I'll also try to convince the others to do the same." "That is all we ask." I told her. Griever POV I've been flying for about 2 or 3 minutes now and finally found the new graveyard. Upon landing I cremated all the bodies out of caution for necromancers and made my way to the bunker. Emily told me nothing has changed, but I still wanted to see for myself as well as grab a few things that could give these ponies a huge push and make a profit. I didn't find anything missing and decided to switch out my weapons for the Royal Arms from FFXV+ a new weapon of my own to the collection: the Scythe of the Merciless (all stored like in the game), Losvayne, the Giant Dad gear because reasons and stored like the royal arms. I also put on the Kings raiment from FFXV then stored some games, movies, and anime before sealing the place shut and placing traps everywhere and leaving. When I got back to town I saw a few chariots landing in front of the princesses. "I'm back, and perfect timing too." "HALT CREATURE!" REALLY "Princess...Did you not warn them about me?" "Stand down, he is the guest we spoke of." Luna told him and for once an order was followed, is it a miracle or a sign of another apocalypse "Misty is inside I presume?" "She is, she's probably still napping." Celestia said "I'll go get her." I walked inside and found her on the basement bed, I lightly shook her to wake her up "Misty, I'm back" I received a lick to the face "and our ride to Canterlot is here, you can go back to napping after we get on alright." We went back outside and as we were about to board the chariot one of the guards did a stupid. "Pets aren't allowed on the chariot." I kicked his spear out of his hand and into a wall, made 2 copies to bring him to his knees, and put Losvayne to his throat as he was held in place "Would you care to repeat that? Did you just call Misty a pet?" the other guards were surrounding us now "If anyone calls her an animal one more time I will kill them, but not before teaching them the true meaning of pain." "STAND DOWN! ALL OF YOU!" Luna shouted "But princess, this beast just attacked a royal guard." "Are you questioning my orders?" "N-n-no ma'am." he backed off like the good dog he was "Can we get going?" I asked "Yes, we should have already left." Celestia said, we boarded the chariots and flew off towards Canterlot I need to see if they really don't have any references to Excalibur, I also need to forge the exalted umbra blade later. I'm surprised I haven't yet. > Landing, smart people (very little sarcasm) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV Misty had been laying her head on my lap as we sat across from the sisters. I've never flown without the use of my wings so this is actually an unusual experience for me. It took a few minutes before Celestia broke the silence. "So I trust everything was as you left it?" "If you mean the bunker then yes, I also locked the place up to the point of every inch, and I do mean EVERY inch is trapped. I also grabbed a few things and stored them away." "What do you mean by that?" Luna asked "I'll show you." I summoned the Royal Arm: Sword of the Father, then switched it out for the Bow of the Clever, and that for the Swords of the Wanderer. "These are called Royal Arms, there are 13, now 14 after my own addition to it. I stored several things that can give you a huge boost in a few industries such as gaming which I did say I would show you, and whatever this can't help with, Emily can." "You called those weapons 'Royal Arms', why?" "You wouldn't exactly be wrong if you called them fragments of the power of kings. That, and the character from the game these are from was of royal blood anyway. If you don't mind me asking, I'd like to know about your darker halves." "My darker half, Daybreaker, nearly destroyed an entire city because of a rebel group's presence. She tried to take absolute contol of everypony, meeting resistance with death, she nearly killed Luna once. It took everything we had to suppress her and even then, the elements were still needed. So many died because of my weakness." Celestia was crying at this point. "So Daybreaker really was like me once. The 2 best ways to ensure peace are to make sure everyone fears you too much to break your laws, and to make sure they can't break your laws. She did what I would have done had I not met Misty, start a war to create peace, and salvation through subjugation and if that didn't work, destroy something and see who would be stupid enough to stand against you. She wanted peace and saw that was only possible through absolute order. Now what about Nightmare Moon?" "She... 1,000 years ago the ponies slept through my night, not even taking a moment to gaze upon the stars I worked on every night. They ignored me and would say 'thank Celestia' when something went right for them, even if it was me, not my sister who helped them. Many didn't even know I existed, even the nobility would disregard me. Everypony praised my sister regardless of my efforts, my accomplishments, eventually they started to fear me and demanded I be removed from power simply for being the Lunar princess. I listened to the nightmare and eventually gave in to my hate, my jealousy , my despair and transformed into Nightmare Moon. We tried to overthrow Celestia, to plunge the world into eternal night to force everypony to love us as they did Celestia, but she stopped us by using the elements and imprisoning us on the moon for 1,000 years." She was also crying by this point "So one wanted peace in the fastest, most surefire way while the other just wanted 1 person to say something along the lines of 'thank you', 'you're appreciated', 'this night is beautiful', she wanted a friend, to not be alone. As I said, they were not born of malice, they are your desires, however unrestrained, twisted, and warped they may be. They wanted what you wanted, but went about it the wrong way. Chances are they're good people, they just made the wrong decisions. Accept them, don't embrace them if you don't want to, but rejecting them will not end well." I see Nightmare crying now trying to control herself while Daybreaker has a shocked look on her face as her flames fade a little, I think I saw her crying as well before fading with Nightmare not far behind "You still trust them after hearing of their crimes?" Celestia asked "What right do I have to condemn Daybreaker? I would have killed my own family if they got in my way, if they tried to stop me from bringing peace to the world. What right do I have to condemn Nightmare? The differences between us are I lost, no, discarded the ability to care about others and myself. The world rejected me and so I wanted nothing to do with it, I wanted to be alone, to be left to my own despair that I had forgotten was there. I rejected everyone, she just wanted to feel accepted by someone. Honestly, long ago I would have embraced the eternity of darkness if I couldn't turn myself hollow." "Just what happened to you to make you that way?" Luna asked "I'll tell you when we are in a more comfortable location. I would also like to know what these elements you keep mentioning are." "They are the elements of harmony, there are 6 of them and they represent magic, honesty, generosity, kindness, laughter, and loyalty. They have saved equestria several times, Daybreaker, Nightmare, Tirek, Umbra, and Eris just to name a few." Celestia said "I don't particularly like these elements. Before you ask, they suppressed Daybreaker after she caused a bloody massacre, but imprisoned Nightmare on her own moon for 1,000 years just because she went about gaining some form of favor the wrong way. Back in my time, Daybreaker legally speaking should have been removed from power and either imprisoned for life or executed, and Nightmare probably would have just been removed from power. These elements seem more cruel and inconsistent than anything, these elements also seem incomplete as well." They appeared shocked at this realization and what I had to say after "What do you mean by incomplete?" Celestia asked "Contrary to popular belief, harmony is not the same as order, and neither of which can exist without chaos. The true definition of chaos is change, the people who resist change are the ones who instigate or create chaos to make sure nothing changes. Order is obedience, stagnation, it is without progress of any kind as everyone and everything follows the same mindless routines. Chaos is the breaking of those chains, it brings change and thus progress or in many cases the desire to restore order which ultimately benefits from something in that chaotic time. Harmony is the balance of order and chaos, order is obedience and forced cooperation, chaos is disobedience and refusal to cooperate, harmony is when everyone willingly works together towards common goals." "While that explains your definitions of order, chaos, and harmony, that still doesn't explain what you meant when you said the elements were incomplete." Luna pointed out "There are 6 elements of harmony, there are 7 virtues, 2 of which are elements, but magic can't be an element because it is more capable of evil than good, there are 5 aspects of good, and 10 commandments, they can fit into more than one category. The virtues are if memory serves Loyalty, Purity, Kindness, Compassion, Generosity, Valor, and Love. The aspects are Hope, Valor, Wisdom, Fate, and Justice. The commandments are Love, Piety, Purity, Faith, Pacifism, Selflessness, Repose, Reticence, Truth, and Patience. This would make half of what is needed." "What about the other half?" "There are 7 evils, 7 sins, 10 aspects of death, and 5 elements of chaos if you still want to refer to order as harmony, these can all fit in more than one category as well. The 7 evils are Fear, Hate, Destruction, Pain, Anguish, Deception, and Sin. The sins are Lust, Sloth, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Pride, and Gluttony. The aspects are Solitude, Decay, Sacrifice, Emptiness, Destruction, Despair, Madness, Hate, Arrogance, and Rage. The elements would be Treachery, Greed, Despair, Cruelty, and Deception." "How could these be required for the harmony you speak of?" Celestia asked. "Too much of the first and you will have order, too much of the second and you will have chaos unrestrained, going as close as you can to 50/50 and you should have harmony. To my understanding you can only access a fraction of harmony's true potential. I don't really care whether or not I'm wrong and if there are bearers for these blessings and curses. No one becomes a doctor without having some amount of Love at one point, no company is ever built without some amount of Greed, and no wars are fought without some amount of Hatred to name a few." I looked out the window to see how close we were "We'll continue this later if I think about it, it looks like we're about to land." When we landed I told them to go first and get ready for damage control before I stepped into the courtyard. They were surprisingly successful at keeping them in line given their record so far and we were able to proceed with I could get to trouble being a few servants thinking I'm royalty. I asked Celestia if she would let me do my own thing with the guards after Misty's mind was restored and she gave me permission, I'm going to make the guards regret HER decision. They informed the staff and the guards of my presence as well as why I was here and then left us in a guest bedroom until dinner as they tried to do what they could in court. I was occupied enough for the next few hours until then. "Sir Griever." a maid called as she stepped into the room "The princesses have asked for you in the dining hall." "Lead the way." we followed her to the destination and noticed 2 new faces, a unicorn and another alicorn "I've brought the guests your majesty." I like my entrances more, they have more property damage and psychotic laughter from yours truly "You did instruct the staff to serve Misty people food as well right Celestia? We wouldn't want a repeat of earlier." "You will show respect to the princess creature!" the unicorn demanded "I believe I am showing the proper amount of respect as someone who is on a first name basis with both of them. Who are you to demand anything from me anyway? I would have thought word of who or at least what I have done would spread like wildfire in any capital city." "I am Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, and no I have not been informed of who you are." I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should. "Well then I don't know who to feel more sorry for, the guards who can't fight even if their lives depend on it or the one training them. I've seen puppies with better self defense than them." I taunted him "Who do you think you are insulting the proud defenders of Equestria? I'll have you know they are the best of the best!" He shouted "Clearly they aren't if I can beat over a dozen or 2 of them alone, without magic, and without using my weapons. As for who I am, you may call me Griever, I am the one who single handedly freed those slaves from the diamond dogs and killed the dragon who was enslaving them, said dragon was also supposed to be among the most dangerous in the world according to the princesses. I have more than earned the right to have low opinions about the guard, especially after one of them stabbed me with a barbed spear after I did their job for them and basically said hello. That guard ran like a coward after he saw his attack did nothing but cause pain and piss me off. By the way, I'm self taught in combat, they should have had every advantage but power and still failed miserably. And before I forget, Celestia gave me the okay to train the guards my way which you will have to join as well, have fun with Mr. Popo's training!" he didn't have a retort to this, or if he did, Celestia stopped him "Dinner is about to be served, can we please not have any conflict at this time?" "But princess!" "That's an order Captain." he shut up and sat back down, I turned to the alicorn next to him "Now that that's out of the way, may I ask who you are miss?" "I am princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the princess of love." "Please tell me she means the emotion." I asked the sisters, Armor was about to say something before he heard both of them trying to hold back the laughter as well as Cadence. "Do not worry, she can be trusted." that doesn't answer my question Luna, at about the same time dinner was served with Misty getting a proper meal I noticed dinner with an empty chair. I was about to ask about it before I met someone who gave off the impression that I would really want to beat him to death. "Apologies for being late aunties, but the ser- AAAAHH! WHAT ARE THESE BEASTS? GUARDS!" several guards answered his call and came rushing in, I TRIED to keep calm, and Misty growling and backing towards me wasn't helping "I'm sorry, but did you just call us beasts? My hearing must be off or you have a death wish." I'm not in the mood for this "Is that a threat? I am prince Blueblood and you will bow to me peasent! I may just forgive you and not throw you in the dungeons for the rest of your life and I may even show mercy to the beast." I summoned the Sword of the Tall and Bow of the Clever after making enough clones to deal with the guards and shot him in his knees with dark and fire infused arrows. I ran up to him and grabbed him by the horn while he was down and screaming, I also healed his wounds and numbed the pain. "You truly do have a death wish. Say anything you want about me, but leave her out of this or else" I raised the sword to about chest level for him "they'll have to permanently close off several parts of the castle." "Griever that's enough!" I heard Luna shout, I complied and sat back down "Aunty, this beast must be executed and it's pet put down! You can't let it get away with this!" shut up you worthless brat "We shall not do no such thing. He is an honored guest who you were instigating conflict with." Luna said "But he-" he started "I would shut up if I were you, you're already in hot water and about to boil." he was fuming at this point "FINE! If I cannot have my justice the right way I'll take it by my own hands. I challenge you to a Duellum de Messorem Iudicium!" I going to enjoy this more than I should "Duel of the Reaper's Judgement huh? I accept, I will also make you regret every decision you have made in your pathetic life. When will it be?" "At the Gala 2 weeks from now, I'll enjoy putting you in your place." he took his leave after that, I turned to the princesses before asking them a very important question "Should I show him the power of kings, the giant dad, or should I use elemancy?" > Restoration, sealed fates > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV Everyone is looking at me slackjawed as if I just did something they have no idea how to respond to. As I was about to start eating Armor broke the silence. "ARE YOU INSANE? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU JUST AGREED TO?" Shining shouted "So I accepted a duel to the death, I don't see what the problem is." "You just agreed to a deathmatch with the prince, the nephew of the princesses and Cadence's cousin!" "A guy like him hardly deserves to call himself a prince and certainly has no right to demand anything from me for various reasons, and after that display he is going to die." "You don't understand what that deathmatch is, winner takes everything and I mean EVERYTHING belonging to the loser, tangible or not." I get it, you're concerned for my well being "In other words, when I win I get his wealth, his income, his woman if he has one, and even his title. What is his will be mine." "IF you win that is, what is yours can become his." I will win "He won't win and if by the off chance he wins, you will want to kill him or remove him from power. If memories and magic are also transfered, then he will have access to the most powerful weapons in the world and my power. He would be damn near unstoppable if he learned how to properly use them." "Even the very souls of the defeated become property of the winner. Once agreed to, neither side can back out, to do so would result in a mind wipe as our father intended. Why did he have to settle such a pathetic dispute in such a manner?" Celestia spoke up, almost yelling that last part "I'm guessing you don't approve?" I asked "He's my nephew, of course I don't!" "I don't know what to tell you besides he made his own coffin and dug his own grave, so far he personifies everything I hated about humanity and the fact he threatened Misty has taken away any possibility of guilt I might have felt." "Excuse me, but what is your attachment to that wolf? I sense love that would be shared between lovers, not pets and owners?" Cadence asked, wording that in a way that didn't really bother me in the slightest actually "She used to be human like me, but was turned into this against her will. You can understand why I was ready to kill him when he insulted and threatened her." "It truly is sad which is why we have already started on preparations to revert the changes, or at least restore her mind as you asked and should be done in the next 2 days at the most. As for our nephew, personally I won't miss him." Luna spoke up, and I am liking her more and more everytime she opens her mouth "How can you act like this Luna? He may not be the best nephew, but he is still family!" Celestia asked "Not the best nephew? He tried to bed me before he found out I was his aunt, I still hear him refer to me as Nightmare Moon behind my back, he abuses his power almost every chance he gets especially on the female staff, sees himself above everypony to the point of dreaming about enslaving all the non-unicorns and lower class almost every night, and that is just the tip of the iceberg as ponies say today. No royal family 1,000 years ago would have tolerated this and would have punished him severely." Daybreaker and Nightmare revealed themselves upon hearing this, screw the duel, can I kill him now, maybe fuck him sideways with a chainsaw mixed with a railgun/ shotgun (is that even a thing) "As much as I would like to hear more reasons to motivate legal murder I should point out our food is getting cold." I interrupted their argument Dinner was mostly quiet with Armor trying to get info on my abilities and weapons which the only thing I told him was elemancy. Judging from his reaction, I don't think he considers light, dark, and certainly not arcane among them. He is in for a surprise later. After dinner I asked the sisters if there was anyone I should give some of the electronics to in hopes of those advancements coming sooner than later and invited them to watch some of what I brought with me. Celestia wasn't too happy with me, but I doubt she'll be like this for long given the circumstances of the situation with Blueblood. Once we reached the bedroom me and Misty were staying in and introduced them to some of what they can expect with gaming, starting with some Halo, then Diablo. We played a few more games before realizing how late it was and called it a night. Misty slept in my arms again as I stayed awake until morning feeling slightly paranoid about Blueblood. We, or rather Misty woke up after a maid came in and informed us of breakfast being prepared. I thanked her and told her we would have a guard escort us to the dining hall after we finished bathing. When we made it to the dining hall I saw everyone except Blueblood (thank God) and took a seat across from the captain and Cadence. I took one look at Luna though and was unable to hold myself back. "Jesus! What happened to you? You look like Death right now!" she responded by falling asleep on the table "Well that answers that question." "Luna isn't what you call a morning pony."Celestia said "Well she is the moon princess now that I think about it." I know how to fix this "Give me a sec." I went into the kitchen and told the staff to hurry up with the coffee, turns out they were done, but chose to deliver it WITH breakfast and not BEFORE it like SMART PEOPLE. I grabbed the coffee and gave it to Luna which she happily accepted as she slowly reached out for it and took a few sips "So with that out of the way, how are preparations for Misty?" "They should be done after breakfast." Luna said quietly, still half asleep and once again making me like her more "Yes, and I would like to apologize to everypony both for Blueblood's actions yesterday and my own following that. I would also like to apologize for not knowing and in many cases, not taking disciplinary action against him. And Griever, I want you to know I don't blame you for accepting the duel nor do I blame you for what you'll have to do." Celestia said "It's fine, what's done is done." I told her "Griever, would you be willing to explain what you meant when you mentioned the weapons yesterday? Surely they can't be as powerful as you say." Cadence asked, I'll give her a small bit of information since she asked so nicely, I pulled out Losvayne and Shining pulled out his weapon in response. "You dare draw a weapon in the presence of the princesses and the guard?" He said "Two things: one, why didn't you do this yesterday when Blueblood came in and I shot and threatened him? And two: yes, but not without permission or implied permission anyway. You already saw the ability of this shortsword when I made those clones. Fun fact, the original owner was capable of reflecting spells at more than double the power, I'll let you figure out why he was probably the most proficient user of this weapon. And before you ask or demand any of these weapons, the answer is no." Shining was about to do it anyway before Cadence stopped him "Shiny, he has every right to deny us access" thank you "and my aunts would have already asked, maybe even seen what he is talking about already." smart girl "Let's finish eating, I don't think he would like to be kept waiting for us to help Misty." "Please, if you wouldn't mind." We finished eating and went down to what I was told was the Department of Magic research and Development to get the Archmage's assistance to make sure preparations were done and I'm guessing get his magical assistance as well. Upon meeting him, Crystal Light I think his name was, he acted like Twilight probably would have had I not done the 1 question per person. Everyone had to pull him off me, probably more for his safety than my sanity. I had to promise some answers later which I'll probably lie about to get this moving, I want her back already. We moved to the room the spell is going to be cast in and I noticed runes on the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. Celestia broke me out of my thoughts before I could remember where I had seen these runes before. "We will need you and Misty in the center of the circle. Normally we would use potions, but this situation is delicate." Now you tell me this? "Delicate as in risky or new?" Please say new "She will not be harmed at all, but since she has been a wolf for so long, she may not turn back into a human." I'll take it We stepped into the circle and let them do their thing as I held her tight. It felt like hours, but was actually a few minutes of everyone channeling magic into the spell. Thankfully nothing happened, but I still felt worried, she started to change back before we were interrupted by my next victim. "Aunty, peasents are storming t-" "AAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH" Misty was screaming in pain now, writhing in agony. I couldn't stop it, but I could make him pay for this. I summoned 13 clones, all armed with the Royal Arms, using a different on in each hand with the other 14 circling around them. All I saw was red, the Abyssal Darkness was flowing through me and into the Chaos flame enhanced weapons as the clones and I threw everything we had at him. I made sure he stayed alive and able to duel me later, but that didn't stop us from repeatedly breaking, impaling, dismembering, burning, and draining him just as quickly as he was healed. It took what I had to double check to make sure I didn't mishear something. "R-R-R-R-Ry-ya-an. D-d-don't." Did I just hear her? I turned around and saw Misty of all people begging me not to continue torturing him. I did hear her, I stopped and healed him one last time before making a promise to Blueblood. "I will kill you, there is no denying that. I will not allow you to have peace in death, you will carry nothing but endless despair with you. No one will mourne for you. You will know my rage, my hatred, every ounce of my malice, I will teach you the TRUE meaning of pain. You will suffer everything there is to suffer, and even you will one day embrace it. Only then will I release your soul to face the judgement of your God." He was crying in pain and fear as he bolted out of the room. I turned to everyone else to see looks of horror on everyone's faces, I slowly walked to Misty to embrace her. She was still shaking and breathing rapidly. She tried to talk, probably to calm me down, but she couldn't, I don't know if it was because of the pain or having not spoken in so long. I know her mind is restored so that's enough for me. Even the sisters and their other halves joined after a minute or two despite Shining's protests, I'm not sure why, but it is welcome either way. Cadence got him to shut up and prevent him from doing something stupid. After all this, I am certain of one thing. Blueblood will receive neither pity nor mercy from me. > Recovery, Accepting the job > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia POV That display was more than terrifying, but I don't blame Griever for his actions. The spell was successful for the most part, but thanks to my nephew, no, Blueblood's interruption, the spell backfired and while Misty's mind has been restored, her body is now stuck like this. Contrary to what the captain wants at the moment, Griever doesn't deserve to be punished for this, I doubt he would have reacted any different had he been in Griever's place and Twilight or Cadence been in Misty's place. I pulled away from the hug for a moment to speak to Griever. "Griever, I believe it would be best if we brought Misty to the infirmary." "I understand, no permanent damage would be nice." "I believe I should come along as well your majesty." Crystal Light said. "I was about to ask for it anyway. Misty, can you walk, or at least stand?" "I'll*cough* t-t-try." she said in a very strained voice, she probably feels as bad as she sounds She tried, but was barely able to do so alone, falling over only to have Griever catch her. I will make Blueblood pay for this out of his wallet if there is any damage at all. "If you can't do it that's fine, I'll carry you if I need to." Griever told her, she tried to respond only to have Griever silence her and lift her as a stallion would his bride just as quickly. "Luna, I need you to teleport to the infirmary and tell them to expect a patient that may need medical attention. I would heal her myself, but I don't want to risk doing anymore damage to her in her current fragile state." Griever told her, to which she did so almost immediately. "We shall make certain she receives the best treatment possible." she said before teleporting. Luna POV I can't believe this, we were so close and that fool has to go and almost ruin the best chance we may have at a worthy knight and possibly more in the past millenia. I think I'm going to enjoy watching Griever kill him as this 'Giant Dad' far more than I should, as a bonus, this may also help keep the other nobles in line. I shouldn't dwell on these thoughts as there are more important things at hand. "We have a patient likely in need of immediate medical attention arriving in a few minutes." I shouted in the RCV to all the staff. "I'm sorry, but what is the problem princess?" a nurse asked "To summarize, a spell meant to help somepony return to their original form and restore their mind was interrupted as the body started to change back and said pony is on the way with a few guests, my sister included." "Everypony get a room and the equipment ready!" all available staff followed the command, quickly might I add "Is there anything else you think we may need to know?" "The patient is the wolf sir Griever arrived with, she can't stand on her own and she has extreme difficulty speaking. None of us are sure whether or not this is caused by the pain or having not spoken in so long because of the body and mind regression. We didn't want to risk teleporting her here in her current state which is also why none of us tried to use magic to heal her. I should also inform you that archmage Crystal Light is coming as well." "Thank you. I'm going to help with preparations, it's a good thing she is being brought here physically then as she would likely be hurt by any magic at the moment. Please if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask." "We are all grateful for your service miss?" "Tender Care." Griever POV I think it goes without saying I am absolutely livid. I didn't wait this long to get her back only to have some spoiled piece of shit almost, if not completely take her from me depending on the lingering effects of that failed spell. I honestly hope memories are transferred as well so I can think of more ways to torture him, Dante's nine circles of Hell, Agony, and the Tsukuyomi would be paradise compared to what I will make him suffer. I take a quick look at Celestia and see she looks like she wants to say something, but doesn't think it's a good time. I'll ask her about it later, I hope that something isn't related to the spell or else I'll need a barren wasteland for a few hours. "The infirmary is just around this corner." Celestia said, breaking me out of my thoughts "Good." We barged in and were immediately met with the medical personel who seemed to have everything set up already. They gently put Misty on the bed and took her to the ER as Crystal Light went with them. I didn't expect the ER for an uncertainty like this, but I'm not exactly surprised either and not just because of Luna. We let them do what they needed to do and waited in the lobby. I looked at Shining who was more than weary of me and noticed he also looked like he wanted to say something. I think I"ll hear it, but first. "Celestia, is there a sound proofing spell? If so I need you to cast it." "Alright." her horn glowed and a barrier formed then disappeared just as quickly, a sound bubble maybe? "It is up." "Good, now to business. It looked like you and Shining had something to say so starting with the person who's most likely piss me off, let's hear it." "You realize how much trouble you're in right? Even knowing dark magic is illegal, using it to try and kill a prince isn't just illegal, it is a guaranteed death sentence. I also thought you said you could only use elemancy." Shining said "And I didn't lie, I do not lie, I only speak half truths, whole truths, and I may bend the truth, but I'm not a liar. To clear some of this up, darkness is an element. I've been using dark magic since before any of the other races even existed, I already went through this with BOTH princesses and they basically gave me a free pass and you couldn't punish me for dark magic anyway as it needs to be illegal at that time. I started learning elemancy before laws were even a thought as far as the races of this time go. Either my dark magic is different from yours, or I am highly resistant if not immune to it's corruption. I doubt knowing dark magic is illegal as if you don't study it you won't know how to efficiently deal with practitioners of it. How can you counter something if you don't know what to expect? As for attacking the prince, I was torturing him, not killing him as I wanted to wait for the duel to do so, and BOTH princesses basically gave me a free pass on that as well. Now let me ask you something that will surely change your perspective on this." "I doubt it." you're going to regret that "What if Cadence had been in Misty's position and you in mine? I see the way you two look at eachother. I was once so fucked up mentally and emotionally that I could have made the most evil people you can think of, real or not, look like saints even heroes in comparison. I felt no love for anything even my own family, I hated everything and everyone including myself. I felt the only way the world could be saved was through subjugation or destruction, to become the new God of the world and strip free will from the equation or remove any 'errors' from existence, and if there were too many 'errors' then I simply would have erased everything and restarted, but I didn't have the power, or any of the powers I have now so I did nothing. Misty saw something in me and after all these thousands of years I still can't figure it out. She saved me and by extension the world from me, and what you have seen her as was her reward. I became immortal and overpowered while she became a highly intelligent animal who assuming her life expectancy hasn't changed will live up to around 80 or 90 I think was the average for humans. I've been waiting for a chance to save her longer than anything on this planet has lived and that prick has to go and possibly ruin it. Can you in all honesty say you wouldn't have reacted the same way? Knowing this, would you expect a different reaction from anyone else after possibly having so many years of waiting to save the only thing you have go to waste?" "I..I don't ev-" he stuttered, Cadence now trying and failing to control herself now latched on to me only to be met with a strong enough breeze to put her back in her chair. "Thank you for proving my point. Now Celestia, what did you need?" "I was hoping to hold this off for a few more days, but I was thinking of how to approach you about becoming the first knight of Equestria in over 1,000 years." "I already told you and Luna you could ask anything of me. Even if it turns out the spell failed thanks to Blueblood, you still upheld your end of the bargain and didn't try to twist the deal so you now have a friend who will never raise a weapon against you. Though I can't promise such a thing for your subjects who cross the line like those last ones and your nephew." "Please, don't refer to him as my nephew, he has gone too far in too short of a time frame." "Speaking of Blueblood, are memories and powers/ abilities transferred? If so I hope you don't mind me imprisoning or killing his friends, I think I would be more surprised to find he wasn't involved in any illegal activity." "I'm not sure as the last Duellum de Messorem Iudicium was when Luna and I were still fillies, but if they are transferred then that may have been one of the things father meant when he said to the fighters before the match started 'you keep what you kill'." HAH, that reference lives "If memories are transferred, do not hesitate to point out any crimes he or others have committed. My sister and I shall pass judgement immediately as we can also give visualization to memories, and his memory would be more than enough evidence." "Glad to see we're on the same side in this." "Thank you for accepting this responsibility, the knighting ceremony will be held in 6 days, a week before the gala." "Princess you can't be se-" "That's enough captain Armor! Celestia has my support on this so the decision is final." Luna said, I forgot she was still here, or rather I thought she went somewhere else "Don't you think this is too soon? I'll still be there, but becoming a knight in less than a week of meeting you and before my existence even becomes common knowledge I would expect to have a lot of backlash for this." I asked "Perhaps, but at this point I just want to see Blueblood's face when he hears about this." I like you almost as much as Luna now "I also want to see his arrogance turn to fear during the duel." And Luna is far ahead again, I look to the side and saw a nurse and Crystal trying to get our attention and asked them to remove the bubble "Is she alright?" "She'll be fine, there isn't any permanent damage and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her aside from the pain, but that should be gone within the next 2 days at the most. We have her on pain killers so she can talk just fine now." "Can I see her?" "Yes, but don't make too much physical contact." I heard her say as I almost ran through the door to see her on the bed looking right at me "Hey." "Hi Ryan." "It's Griever now, but you can still call me that if you want." "You always did like that name." "I did, didn't I?" "You used it as your username in every game you played." she giggled after saying that "Hey, I used other ones too." "And I remember them all: Winter Wolf, Dark Harvest, Final Requiem, Crimson Symphony, Crimson Skies, Seventh Sin, Roaring Dawn, Pecking Order, Scion of Sorcery, God Hand, False Tongue, Umbra's Lament, Muramasa, Darkwraith, Forlorn Hope, Endless Despair, Void Gazer, Child of Ash, Raven's Call, Fluffy Uni-" "Okay that's enough. Some were joke names anyway." "And the ones that weren't were usually edgy, some beyond all reasoning. How many did you actually think of?" "A few." "Even after all these years you're still so easy to mess with." We both shared a laugh. "I've waited for this for so long." I said, my eyes tearing up. "So have I, but what about-" She started. "Don't start, I'm just happy to have you back, I don't care that you're not human." "You really don't?" she asked, her eyes tearing up "You're still you, or back to who you were right? Besides, you're not just drop dead gorgeous, but cuter this way anyway." she cried into my shoulder, neither of us could be happier about this reunion. > Knighthood, failure, retribution, training > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV That's the happiest I've been in I don't know how long. She retained most of her memories which I was surprised and just as happy about as well. We talked for hours with everyone else joining half way, she got along with everyone as I expected. Unfortunately visiting hours ended, but I promised her I'd be back as well, before I left I left a few elemental wraiths (imagine the frost wraiths from skyrim, but don't reveal themselves until they attack) hidden in the room in case anyone tries something, namely Blueblood. I also made a few shadow snakes and crows to find him and make sure he doesn't make things any harder than they need to be, I also made a mental link with them to spy on him and distract him in case he tries to use libel or slander against me before or during the ceremony. I'm not taking any chances, simple as that. When I made it back to my room I found myself unable to sleep, not that I need it, but it helps pass the time. I was probably too focused on Blueblood and Misty to sleep so I messed around with my magic trying to think of new combinations for deadlier combos or elements, but I had no luck. I would have tried void magic, but it's too destructive at the moment and I can only turn hollow for a few minutes before my emotions break free again. After messing around with the magc I decided to listen to some music set on random to help pass the time which actually worked as before I knew it a maid came in to wake me up. "Sir Griever, the princesses are waiting for you in the dining hall." "Alright, tell them I'll be down shortly." I took a quick shower and made my way there, I noticed Blueblood was there and had a smug look on his face. I have a few ideas, but I know if it involves Misty or defamation towards me that it failed. "So the beast is still here, and I'm assuming that mutt is as well?" how deep do you want that grave "Blueblood! You will not say anything that might antagonize or provoke Griever." Celestia said "To answer your question she is here and in the infermary thanks to you. She was supposed to be human again, but that little stunt you pulled took away any chance she might have of being what she was born as. And all because 'peasents' were in a place EVERYONE has a right to be in. As I said, you are going to die, what I did to you then will look like childs play compared to what I'll do to you after the duel so I hope you're prepared." "Prepared to put you and that bitch wh-" I interrupted him with an ice spike flying past his ear "I would shut up if I were you, just because I can't kill you now doesn't mean I can't make you suffer nor does it mean I can't keep you from coming to the duel which will count as a forfeit." I turned to Celestia "So about me becoming your knight, you said the ceremony would be as of today 5 days from now? What would knighthood entail?" She tried to say something before Blueblood interrupted her "Knighthood? You? Preposterous!" "Next time he opens his mouth he's losing a finger. Actually" I muffled him using water and ice "there, now what were you going to say?" "As far as responsibilities go you will be tasked with assignments the guard cannot complete either because of the threat, the importance of the job, or they are not permitted to do. You will also lead the guard when neither me or Luna aren't present. As for what you receive, you will become a noble with land of your own aside from what you already own and monthly payments. All you need to do on the day of the ceremony is arrive in your custom made armor, kneel before us, swear allegiance to Equestria, accept the custom made sword, and stay until the end of the celebration after." Celestia said "Sounds simple enough, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to see Misty. Before I forget, I'll be forging that sword, the armor would just need a few enchantments." Celestia stopped me as I got out of my chair "That is fine, before you go could you please remove your magic from Blueblood?" I could, buuuuuut "No, I think he's less troublesome this way. Bye." I left before anyone could say anything, though I did hear Luna laughing I had forgotten where the infirmary was, but thankfully a guide was available and along the way I noticed fewer guards than last time. I'm guessing Blueblood did try something and failed miserably, that's probably why he had that look on his face, he probably tried to use her against me. Too bad for him that I try to think of plans for anything and everything I can to the point of having several plans for a single scenario then backup plans to my original backup plans backup plan (I try to be prepared okay). I saw a guard rush past us and that just confirmed it, we arrived and found the lobby to be a bloodbath. I strolled past everyone and made my way to Misty's room to see her awake and looking so much better than last time, seemingly unaware of what happened outside. "May I come in?" "You're the only person who doesn't need to ask." I walked inside and kissed her before taking a seat "Just so you know, we'll be having company soon." "What did you do this time?" "Not what I did, but what I prevented." the door slammed open immediately after revealing the princesses and Shining "Well that was fast." "Griever what happened out there?" Luna asked "My wraiths killed a few intruders. I placed protection around the infirmary for Misty and that was the result. My guess is Blueblood hired assassins or ordered a few of his guards to go after Misty to get to me. He probably intended to use her to get me to back out of the duel." "THAT COWARD! HE HAS GONE TOO FAR AND WILL PAY THE PRICE IMMEDIATELY!" Celestia shouted, Luna and the others barely contolling themselves "No, as cowardly as this was it was still a valid strategy. A wise man once said 'all warfare is based on deception', I want to say it was Sun Tzu who said that, but I never read his Art of War so I can't say for sure. What I can say is his defeat will be that much sweeter after this, and the days leading up to the gala will be absolute Hell for him." "I was wondering what that racket was, I thought a patient was going crazy." Misty said "I am sorry, but we will need to leave so the guards and doctors can clean this up and get back to work." Luna said "First, I want to see if I can check Misty out of here." "No need, I already asked if she could leave yet under the condition of no strenuous activity." Celestia said "I am just liking you and Luna more by the minute, you know that right? Don't worry, I'm not any less interested in you Misty, and yes, I'm very good at dodging bullets. Can you walk yet?" "I think so." She stood up and took a few steps with almost no trouble "Alright, I'll go find your clothes and we'll get out of here." "My clothes are in here." she said opening a cabinet by the door "Would you like some privacy?" "You've seen me naked more than enough times to memorize every detail of my body and you're asking if I want some privacy to change? Help me put this on, the others can get out though." I was blushing as she was saying this I helped her get dressed then we met the others outside. The princesses decided to take a day off so Misty and I continued where we left off the other day and introduced them to some anime. We made good progress on Orphen and Trigun before we decided to start killing- I mean training the guards. Summary 5 days until ceremony (today) "Alright maggots listen up, here's the pecking order: it goes you, the dirt, the worms inside of the dirt, your Gods and demons, Griever's weapons, Griever, the princesses, then the wolf lady over there named Misty. Your princesses have given me permission to train you MY way which is comprised of methods from other people. Here are the rules 1. Do not question the rules 2. Do not talk about my training 3. You will be crying 4. Don't break my stuff 5. No food or drink allowed, all snacks will be provided by the instructor 6. Do not speak unless spoken to 7. You will refer to me as master 8. Don't fuck up, because if you fuck up then everyone will be punished 9. Do not ask about my weapons 10. You will not even look at a weapon until I say otherwise 11. When you receive your weapon, you will give it a name befitting of the opposite gender as it will be the only pussy or dick you'll get during my training 12. You will not talk back to me 13. You will not disrespect me or Misty 14. You wil think very carefully before saying or doing anything 15. You will learn these rules quickly as well as what I teach you Any questions?" "Yes, you hones-" SLAP, he ragdolled across the training yard, coming to a halt after digging 30 of dirt with his teeth "Now any more questions?" Silence In my best Popo impression "Now we can begin." 4 days "Yesterday was pathetic, lets do it again!" I said in an excited tone "UUUUUGGHH" "Rules 6, 8, 13, 14, and 15! You know what that means?" they looked at me in fear 3 days "Today you will be learning the most important lesson you can in a fight." "What's t-" I have found my first victim of the day "Thank you for volunteering. DODGE!" I spin kicked him into 5 others "Did you even try dodging?" I asked the downed guards 2 days "Today you get your weapons, but only if you can do something first." "And what's-" "DODGE!" only 10 out of 40 did so "I'm so proud of you! You're learning." I gave them their weapons which they actually named to my surprise "Don't worry, the rest of you will get your weapons too." I blew them randomly to the guards, almost injuring everyone, they dodged that time "Now you will fight eachother." They were crying at the end as expected, three hours later and I was taking a stroll through the gardens before seeing a deformed statue. "What the fuck am I looking at?" 1 day "Today you will fight me after you win a match against eachother. Go!" They fought and the 20 victors stood before me. "Do you remember the rules?" "Yes master!" "Rule 16. Please disregard rules 1-15." "Master?" "Rule 17. There are no rules. No rules means no mercy! HEHEHEHEYHAHAHAHAHAHA MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE!" They didn't stand a chance "Well that was fun, but before I go, had that been a real fight you would all be dead. Bye" I decided to call it a night and went to mine and Misty's room. She had recovered quickly and took advantage of that if you get what I mean. Day of ceremony I'm on a balcony overlooking the people below and can only say I honestly expected less "Celestia, your guards still suck." I told her "That is disappointing, but they aren't important right now. Remember what I told you to do?" "I do." I said putting on my armor with crow shaped heads as pauldrons, wing shaped arms, chest plate with a crow on the upper middle part of it, talon shaped leggings, and the cloak that almost looks like it's made out of feathers and almost makes wings in the breeze. She stepped out to greet her subjects after seeing I was done. "My faithful subjects, today is a day worthy of being remembered in history. For the first time in over 1,000 years, Equestria will have a knight to call upon in it's time of need. But also for the first time, the knight isn't a pony, but the last of race long forgotten that predates even the most ancient on Equus. In the short time we have known him, he has freed dozens of slaves alone when the guard would have been hard pressed in doing so. He has single handedly vanquished Ragnarok, the dragon who would have taken at least 3 alicorns just to ground, the dragon who even father and mother feared greatly. He did all of this for 2 reasons, his hatred of everything slavery entails, and to save a loved one. He has happily given us some of what his race left him, even offered his very being to us if we could help him. He has proven himself a worthy candidate for knighthood and today shall be the day he receives his reward for his deeds. Sir Griever, would you please step up to the balcony." I stepped out into the light and surprised everyone looking at me, I walked up to the princesses and knelt before them. "Do you Griever, swear an oath to Equestria?" Celestia asked "I swear." "Do you swear to uphold our laws and enforce them if necessary?" Luna asked "I swear." "Do you swear to be Equestria's shield, to protect it and its citizens from harm?" they were alternating now "I swear." "Do you swear to be Equestria's sword, to bring justice upon it's foes?" "I swear." "Do you swear that as long as you draw breath, you shall do everything in your power to preserve the harmony we have worked for millenia to create and maintain?" "I swear." "Do you swear to lay down your life for everything you hold dear?" "I swear by the graves of the old world." they drew the sword I made of similar design with the armor (but the end of the blade folds back into a scythe head) and feathers fell from the blade as they held the sword and continued to do so "Then by the power granted to us by the king and queen before us we grant you the title of Crow Knight, and your badge of office: Nevermore. May it serve you well as you serve Equestria." they said together, handing me the blade "Now, say something to the crowd that history will remember." Celestia said. I complied "I would have chosen the title of Wolf Knight, but a certain Abysswalker already took it." they looked at me like I was crazy If any of these idiots get the reference I'm going to be very concerned and happy at the same time > Gala, Murder time fun time! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV The party was boring beyond all reasoning, but the nobles surprised me by being respectful to me and not saying anything about Misty except for the mares who said something along the lines of 'we could introduce you to some real mares'. I'm assuming my pets dealt with Blueblood's attempts at turning them against me, but I also knew they were just trying to get on my good side so they could profit greatly from it. I also didn't find Blueblood anywhere so it's likely my pets also distracted him too much which was fine by me as that meant less trouble when Misty and I danced together. Having never danced before I let her lead and just to show off I summoned my wings using divine light and chaos flames, needless to say the summoning was enough to make everyone stare in amazement, the ethereal shimmering wings coated in a thin layer of light blue flames (elemental combination caused this) was what caused property damage via people forgetting they were holding something. After the dance we excused ourselves from the party and made our way to the bedroom as we waited for the princesses to meet with us on there only day off until the gala. We decided we would finish Trigun by the end of the day and then whatever we could of Orphen. The time flew by quickly, but we managed to finish both to my surprise, they loved Vash needless to say, but liked Orphen more which made them more excited to hear it had a sequel and a game before they left (looking back at the game it was meh). The night was eventful as Misty and I celebrated my knighthood before falling asleep. The week passed by faster than I thought it would, but I'll blame that on me having too much fun with the guards. By the way they finally learned how to dodge and are now working on blocking and parrying, but that will have to wait until after the duel. It is just half an hour before the gala and I'm helping Misty put on her dress which is harder than I expected so I asked one of the maids who was also apparently tasked with bringing me to the party. She made quick work of Misty's dress before guiding us to the princesses and Blueblood apparently. "I hope you're ready to learn your place beast." of course, he's already starting shit "I am, and I will become Legend." Okay maybe not "Could the 2 of you please keep hostilities to a minimum until the match?" Celestia asked "I will, if you'll excuse me I will be waiting for him in the training ring. We will have on lookers won't we?" I asked "Of course." Goooooooood "I'll see you there, would you like to come with me or stay with them until the duel?" I asked Misty "I'll stay here, the princesses are good company after all." she said "I'll leave you to it then." I made my way to the barracks first so I could put on the Giant Dad gear then made my way to the training ring to find no one was there. I decided to play some random music and the first song was 'The Price of Freedom' (Crisis Core), then Blackheart (Two Steps from Hell), and finally Let there be Fire (Aviators) before people finally started gathering around with the others and Blueblood armed with a longsword and in medium looking armor leading them, and surprisingly those 6 ponies from before. "This is your last chance to beg for forgiveness before I decide to kill you and put that mutt where she belongs. And what is that hideous armor and mask you're wearing?" I heard Misty laughing after seeing I was serious about this old meme "I'm sorry for not killing you sooner, I am also sorry you are so intellectualy lacking that you can't see the outcome in my favor. Before you die though I am going to show you a legend." he was about to respond but Celestia started first "Are the fighters ready to face one another in the Duel of the Reaper's Judgement?" "I am." he said as I played the music again, this time it was See What I've Become (Zack Hemsey) "Welcome to Dark Souls, I will be your tutorial." He was first to attack with a magic bolt, but I blocked that and walked towards him. He tried to cut my head off, but I parried him and kicked him to the side. "You can try to make this fun for me, you know that right?" I just kept kicking him again and again as he was about to swing every time until he teleported behind me "ENOUGH!" he shouted at me only to be back parried and kicked again "The next time you don't dodge it's going right between your legs." he charged at me again so I threw him off by shield bashing him this time "Have you tried dodging?" he screamed in rage "I will end you!" "You'll die trying, for The Legend never dies!" he unleashed spell after spell at me and I parried them all using a slightly modified Grass Crest shield for a few seconds before I decided to let a few hit me. My entire body was hidden by the smoke so I stepped out of it imitating the 'Well what is it' emote. His confidence turned to fear then rage afterward and he tried the same thing again. "Why aren't my spells affecting you?" the man-child asked "Poise working as intended." He screamed then started spamming spells again "Oh please prince, when has that ever worked?" I slapped him across the ring "As a wise man once said 'git gud'." I leaped towards him like the Abyss Watchers and destroyed his shield he conjured before shield bashing him again then cutting him a few times with the Chaos Zweihander. He tried to stab me through one of the openings in the armor, but his weapon broke on contact. "Looks like someone isn't taking good care of his weapons." "Why did my sword break?" he asked fearfully "My armor is highly resistant to magic and physical damage, it was made by giants after all." I broke off his horn then as a man of my word I kicked him in his jewels. Seeing as this battle was already won I used elemancy (darkness and blood) to hold him still and keep him quiet as I spoke to the crowd. "You all think yourselves superior just because you are nobles or royals don't you? You're wrong, it is as simple as that. It is a title and nothing more that you inherited from your ancestors, but how did they become nobles? They earned it either through battle or playing a big enough part in starting a golden age. A title won't protect you, your blood won't protect you, you are just as much a mortal as anyone else, you bleed the same blood even. It is actually blood that is being used against Blueblood right now, specifically the water in the blood, but that's not important. His ROYAL BLOOD did not protect him and is now being used against him even." I could feel their hatred "Your titles mean nothing when you neither have anything to back it up nor anythimg to rally others behind it. Your bloodline means nothing when you bleed just as easily if not moreso than others. A king with no one to lead is just a man with a title and nothing to back it up. Those of you who still see me beneath you and still would after this duel are in for a rude awakening. As the last and most powerful human to ever live I may as well be your God as it is only because of humans that the races of today even exist. All the sapient races of today descend from humans thanks to science going too far. If it weren't for us there would be no you. If anyone has a right to look down on the other it is me, and after this I will be above you in everyway, but unlike you I'm not a fan of looking down on others as I prefer to see them as equals." I raised my sword to kill Blueblood, but turned to Celestia first "I'm feeling merciful, would you like to spare your nephew?" I asked "The Duellum de Messorem Iudicium is a duel to the death, even if I wanted to I couldn't." and just as I was hoping for Blueblood's face turned from pained and livid to despair "As I said, your titles, your bloodlines mean nothing in the end, neither saved your 'superior' from me nor did any of his 'superiors' of 'purer bloodlines' save this poor soul." I said to the crowd. I enchanted my sword with more chaos flames, and added abyss magic, wind, and lightning before releasing him and cleaving him in 2, the elements disintegrated him. What I saw sickened me to the point I had to remove my mask and lose my dinner. I saw him watching a slave ring forcing them to kill eachother and other things I would love to forget, what sickened me the most wasn't the number of people there, but what all the mares were forced to do, even fillies if the little girl in front of him was anything to go by. I was able to remember a few names. "Celestia, Luna, remember these names and this address. Jet Set, Upper Crust, Gilded Plate, Smooth Diamond, Golden Trim, Flame Soul, Flame Heart, Risky Transaction, Soarin, and Lost Hope. They are all here and guilty of crimes including but not limited to kidnapping, slavery, second hand murder, rape, child molestation, child pornography, and likely bribery, blackmail, and framing others. And many more are guilty, all the names mentioned are here." "Preposterous!" Jet shouted "You can't just accuse us of crimes and expect us to be punished! As if anypony here would take part in such heinous and barbaric crimes!" Upper Crust shouted, chaos ensued until Luna shouted as loud as she could which shut them all up "We will see this ourselves." I put a dome of light around the area to keep as many as I could inside and placed a small shadow snake around every unicorn's horns to keep them from teleporting. She played the memories and everyone was left speechless at this revelation before several arrests were made "Princess, you can't honestly believe this brute! Those memories could be fake, there isn't any proof of such things even happening in Canterlot!" Jet Set pleaded "Even if I can make fake memories or rewite them I haven't found a way to do so." I said "Honest Applejack, are Sir Griever's words true?" Celestia asked With tears in her eyes and looking kind of green "As much as I wish he were, he ain't lyin'." "Those are Blueblood's memories by the way." I looked to Fluttershy and the others "Do you remember what I said before? How someone can lose the right to live? This is exactly what I meant. The ones who don't get killed at the scene will either be executed if they're lucky or imprisoned for the rest of their now worthless lives." All the arrested individuals were taken elsewhere "The question isn't whether or not someone can be forgiven or redeemed, but whether or not they deserve a chance to earn it, whether or not they are even worth the effort." I turned back to the princesses "The address is on Royal Treat Avenue. I'll take us there." I summoned my wings and flew there with the pricesses and a few guards in tow and landed in front of the door in the alley way. I knocked and the slit in the door opened "What's the password?" I punched through the door and grabbed him "Open Sesame." I pulled him as hard as I could into the door and kicked it forward. Making my way down the stairs I killed anyone who wasn't a slave and of course freed the slaves as I went. I was as angry if not moreso than when the spell to help Misty was interrupted. We found the arena and interrupted their fun. I knew the guards would take care of the ones who escaped so I let them leave. As per my agreement with the princesses I left whoever they reached first alone and looked for anything resembling a record book. I found what I was looking for and went outside to find a hundred or so nobles (out of 300-ish) in chains and their victims receiving whatever treatment was available. I gave the book to Shining and told him to go crazy. I saw a straggler come out holding a child as a hostage demanding everything unreasonable, not that he would get it anyway. "Seems reasonable." everyone snapped to me "But I like my way better." I used the shadows to force him to stab himself then shot a firebolt clean through his head before flying away and back to the gala to see if anything was still going on. Misty was chatting with those 6 annoying ponies, but I wanted to make myself more presentable so I went back to the barracks and put on the kings raiment before meeting back up with her. "I wish I could unsee all that, but even if I can't the price was worth it." Rainbow flew up to me "What's your problem? I was supposed to have impessed the wonderbolts and you ruined it!" she yelled in my face "You mean to tell me I should have disobeyed the order of both princesses and not hesitated to point out and arrest or kill murderers, rapists, slavers, pedophiles, and frauds? You mean to tell me I should have let them do as they please? That after seeing those memories yourself that Blueblood didn't deserve to die?" "Well no, but-" "So you're bitching for the sole purpose of doing so? Gotcha." "Parties are supposed to be fun." Pinkie sniffled "Everyone has different definitions of fun, some are more twisted than others. 'One man's fun can be another's hell'." "To think this was the state of the nobility. I can't believe I wanted to live that kind of life." Rarity said "Those in power more often than not fear 1 thing and that is losing it. And those who fear losing it just as often take drastic measures to keep and gain power. While there are good people in power they tend to not be as well known as others. Even they can fear losing the power to help others and do anything to keep it thus even they become corrupt if not in their goals, then their methods." "How could anypony be so cruel?" Twilight asked, trying to make sense of the situation "I like to think of it as a human trait. It is so much easier to be a sinner and in some cases more profitable and fun. A life can be worth a lot so it is easy to take advantage of that. That's why it is called the 'Highway to Hell'. The other reason is how they were raised if at all or maybe a similar mentality to school bullies. If they think they or know they can get away with it then they'll do it. The primal desire to see others beneath you, it is one of many undeniable traits of humanity, as as descendants of humans yourselves this trait exists in you, some of you are just better at suppressing it than others." I said looking at Rainbow "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked In an almost perfect voice imitation "The names Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in Equestria and future wonderbolt! My stunts are gonna blow you away as you see who's the awesomest pegasus you'll ever see." turn my voice back "Tell me that doesn't sound arrogant or egotistic and mean it." she didn't respond to that "Was all this really necessary? Did they really need to die?" Fluttershy asked knowing I killed a lot of people today "Some lives are simply worth more than others. Any number of things can determine the value of a life, they can be that person's abilities, status, wealth, location, gender, personal attachments, age, and more. An innocent will always be worth more than a criminal, a child will always be worth more than a parent, a patient will always be worth more than a doctor, a loved one will always be worth more than a random stranger and so on. Any value their lives might have had was null when they became willing participants in these crimes. They traded life for pleasure so by having 'the punishment fitting the crime' it's only fair they lost their lives or livelihood." She was shaking in what I'm assuming is rage "Even if I didn't kill them they would die anyway. People like them tend to be at the bottom of the food chain in prison and given the number of people they've ruined they won't live to see the next gala. If the axe doesn't fall on them, then they'll likely die to their former slaves, friends and families of the victims, or the other prisoners, especially if they were sold out or wrongfully imprisoned because of them. Their choices are ultimately narrowed down to die by me or die by any of them, the end result is the same, just the how and when is different. If I didn't kill them someone else would have, and unlike me they would have made their deaths as humiliating, as slow, and as painful as possible. What I did was show them mercy." "This is wrong! Everything about what you just said is wrong!" Fluttershy said "Deny it all you want, it won't change anything. I know how people think, I know what to expect given all the information I have on people and similar situations. People like them never change, the laugh and smile as others are screaming and wailing in misery because their victims aren't just 'beneath' them, they exist only to serve them. There are many words to describe people like them, and the most accurate would be evil, monsters, and demons." "What about prince Blueblood then?" you must be brain dead if you're asking that "He was in on that slave ring and quite possibly why it remained hidden for so long. He challenged me, winner takes everything including wealth, status, power, memories, and even the soul. Had he won he would have needed to die as he would have had all my powers, my memories, and access to some of if not the most powerful weapons in the world and he would have used them to create a new Equestria in his image. Those memories were just a taste of his Equestria, and to say he didn't need to die is the same as saying his Equestria is acceptable, that there's nothing wrong with it. A psychopath on the throne is already a recipe for disaster, give that psychopath an arsenal of extremely powerful weapons and the power of a God and reality will become a nightmare. This world would be cursed and in 10 or 20 years probably wouldn't be worth saving. I'm getting irritated after an already shitty day. You can do what you want Misty, I'm going to bed." we kissed each other goodnight "I love you." "I love you too Ryan, I'll be joining you shortly." "Wait, I thought your name was Griever." Twilight said "It is." "But she just-" "I go by many names, she just knows me best by that one." I left quickly before anyone could stop me. I'm going to need a vacation already, and I'll torture Blueblood later. Tsukuyomi styled torture maybe? Naaah, that's too tame. > The wolf and the six > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Misty POV "Just who is he? How can anypony think like that?" Twilight asked "You already know who he is, though I don't think he would appreciate anyone besides me or the princesses calling him by his birth name. As for how he can think like that, he even after all these years still has a messed up view of the world, and messed up mind set." "Why would he even think like this? What could twist his mind so much he just acts like nothing happened after killing so many ponies?" "Ah want to know that too. It just ain't right." Applejack said with the others nodding in agreement "Human Nature." I told them "What?" asked Fluttershy surprisingly "He calls it Human Nature. Neither of us know who said these things, but they kept proving to be true in his eyes as before he met me the best you would ever hear about would be a multi billionaire donating a few thousand to charity. 'We are as the world makes us' 'you may ask what else is darkness but hate and rage, I'll ask what else is light but conceit and blissful ignorance that fuels the dark's hate and rage' 'what else can you be when all the world wants to see is a monster' 'human nature pursues strife' 'if you kill someone, someone else will kill you, this hatred binds us together' 'land, religion, ideology, resources, love, spite, or just because, no matter how pathetic the reason it's enough to start a war' 'even with a heart of gold one may still find themselves to be an outcast in paradise' 'talking about peace while waging war is something only humans can do' 'simply by existing, people hurt others without even realizing it' 'even innocent foolish children will grow up as they learn what true pain is, it affects what they say, what they think, and they become real people' 'the secret to pain isn't knowing how to properly inflict it, but knowing how not to feel it' there's more I could tell you, but I don't feel like making a few dozen more quotes when I don't even know who said them." "What you mean to say is humans are just violent monsters." Twilight said "No. He changed, his family used to tell me how sweet a person he was as a child, but after spending years being tormented for no justifiable reason he could think of with no one helping him he just gave up. He once wanted to be a doctor or a veterinarian and because of everyone either abandoning him or giving him shit he gave up on that too. 'Humans are nothing but arrogant, gullible, easily manipulated, violent, miserable fools who are all happily marching to their deaths, pushing or dragging others to it' he once told me, history and personal experience taught him that." "What do you mean by tormented or neglected?" Fluttershy asked "His school life was absolute hell for him and home was barely tolerable because of his brother who his parents did nothing about. The worst he ever did to anyone first was ask them not to do something that was annoying him or offer to help them and they did the equivalent of telling him to go fuck himself or in a few cases threatening him. Then he has to deal all their friends ganging up on him because their one friend from earlier doesn't like him, teachers who did nothing but offer to move him at best, Ryan being autistic, needing glasses, needing a cane because of one of his knees and the foot on that same leg being problematic wasn't helping his situation at all. He spent 5 days a week until graduation with nothing to look forward to in school but other students giving him trouble and teachers doing nothing, he even shouted at a teacher one time 'if you want to help me then do something about these fucking worthless pieces of disposable human trash' and slammed the door in another kid's face and he still didn't suffer any consequences." They had difficulty comprehending how schools could be so unreliable if their shocked or in Fluttershy's case sad expressions were anything to go off of. "Why didn't he tell his parents? They could have helped him right." Twilight asked "They might have been able to help, he could have told his parents, but if he can't rely on the school to do what it's supposed to then how can he expect his parents to get better results than him when everyone made no effort to hide their actions ahd still nothing was done. He had enough one day when 4 students attacked him in the stairwell and a dozen other students blocked the exits, one had a concussion, one had a broken hand, one had a broken jaw, and the other a broken leg. The school tried to expel him, a student with a clean record for defending himself against 4 known trouble makers, but he only hit 2 of them, the others either fell down the stairs or got thrown into a wall. He barely won against the school, but those students only got 3 days detention even though they started a fight with a cripple, stole his cane and damaged it, and broke his glasses. They should have been expelled if not thrown in juvenile detention and the families pay for Ryan's new cane and glasses, but they didn't. He had no friends because everyone kept hurting him in one way or another." "How could he not have any friends growing up?" Pinkie asked "Would you want to be friends with someone who is always hurting you or surrounding themselves with people who do? Why would you even try to befriend someone who does nothing but give you reason after reason to hate them, to want to hurt them?" Her mane and tail deflated as she looked away before asking "What did his brother do?" Applejack and Fluttershy wanting to know as well having brothers themselves "When he wasn't in school being bullied and humiliated, he was being bullied by his older brother at home. His brother was an arrogant asshole who only cared about what he wanted and only what he had to say WHEN he had to say it. He was always starting trouble and even fights which Ryan tried to avoid as well. Seeing the interactions between them I could see why he hated his brother and had as few interactions with him as possible. What he thinks truly set him off in the 'throw away unnecessary emotions' or 'embrace emptiness' kind of way was when he was arguing with his brother one time, his brother from what I saw was incapable of proving his point or even the foundation for it. He would interrupt several times going on for about 10 minutes and ask you a question, if you answer yes he wins, if you answer no you basically start over, if you try to finish what you've been trying to say for 10 minutes which wouldn't have taken any longer than a minute had he not constantly interrupted or 'commented' as he put it by that point then he takes that as a yes." Those two already didn't like him. "The event that truly set Ryan off was when this was happening his older brother by 4 years was acting like he was 5 instead of 18 or 19 like he should have been, started covering his ears and humming as loudly as he could. Ryan who was already having a bad day because of school and and was sick at the time tried to pull his brother's hands from his ears. He responded by pulling Ryan's face into his knee, damaging his glasses he had spent months trying to get aligned right, and giving him a bloody nose. Ryan's parents told him he was in the wrong because he put his hands on his older brother first, and no punishments were given. He started becoming more and more heartless by the day. Eventually he stopped caring because it no longer hurt him, he grew numb to the pain" "Just how much did he change?" Rarity asked "Slowly discarding all love and compassion, loyal only to himself, took advantage of everyone he could, hurt anyone who gave him legal permission to do so and crippled them for life, cut spirals into his arms up to his fingers to remind himself he was in hell, killed animals for fun, found joy when others were hurt in anyway, believed if someone died then they deserved it for the simple fact that they died, wanted to join the military so he could kill people or get killed." All of them had horrified expressions already. "He spent his time trying to think of unrestrained ways to torture people, threw his cat into the woods after it died of age not even burying it, left his own mother for dead after going around a corner and seeing her get stabbed twice, she barely survived by the way, he didn't even call for help or even chase the man who did that, he just calmy walked away as if it was normal." Fluttershy had passed out by this point "He went from innocent child with enough love to feed a hive of these changelings I read about recently, who wanted to help people simply because why not into a borderline psychopath with a desire to see the world on it's knees, shattered if necessary, or in flames. He went from angel to a demon so evil he could think of ways to make the most evil people to exist look like saints, even heroes in comparison, justifying murder, rape, slavery, and even genocide. The only thing separating him from a psychopath was that he didn't start or instigate anything with other people. There were only 2 reasons he lived long enough to meet me, he saw suicide as the cowards way out, and he wanted to see whether or not he was right about humans not living for another 30 years. Humans didn't even last 2 years after we met." "He was that bucked up in the head? He should have been in a mental hospital or locked up. Why would you even go near him?" Rainbow asked "I've always been able to tell when someone was hurting just by looking in their eyes. The priest at the church I used to go to would tell me it was a gift, that I should use it whenever I could. I wanted to help him because he was in that much pain. He had been suffering alone for so long he forgot the pain still even existed, all I saw in his eyes was so much pain he hated everyone simply for existing. I couldn't let him live on like that, not when the only thing he needed to prevent him from degrading so much was one person to understand him, one person to say 'you're not alone' or 'I'm your friend'. If he was and still is a monster, then what does that make everyone else? People who went out of their way to make him miserable on a daily basis, people who saw what was happening and chose to watch instead of help him like a decent person would, people who are supposed to help, but prioritize writing 2+2 on the board or telling him to stop when he is whispering at less than half the volume of another student's tapping or something stupid like that. The closest thing he ever got to a friend before he met me was a teacher saying he had 'pretty eyes'. He needed help more than he needed mind altering medication or the judgement of the ignorant assholes he had to put up with on a daily basis." "How? How can anypony live like that?" Pinkie asked, her mane and tail now deflated and tears in her eyes "As Ryan would say, 'believe it or not, very easily, I did it for years afterall'. I'm going to join him now. He may no longer need sleep thanks to those mutations of his, but I'm sure he would like company so he has a reason to. It was nice chatting with you." I said before taking my leave > Friendly demon lady > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV I awoke with Misty in my arms feeling as well rested as you'd expect for a guy who DOESN'T NEED SLEEP ANYMORE and really didn't want to get out of bed. That, and Misty was too damn adorable, and too comfortable to not cuddle. Unfortunately, Celestia had other plans and sent a maid much sooner than I expected and had to cut it short. We went about our morning routine like usual, but I'm still too used to when I had to clean her myself and, well let's just say I'm not complaining. After an extended shower we went down for breakfast and had a few extra guests in the form of the 6 I would like to have as few interactions with as possible. Thankfully they weren't annoying this time, or rather Twilight was the annoying one. Pinkie's mane and tail deflated upon seeing me, Fluttershy avoided even looking at me, Rarity was seemingly examining me and Misty, and Rainbow and Applejack never let me out of their sight. Twilight was asking question after question about humans, my abilities, and you guessed it my arsenal before I could even get a word in and at that point, I said fuck it and started ignoring her. The princesses told me they were making great progress on the slave ring and would hold off on the trials until after they've captured everyone they could. They told me I may need to go to other nations if any manage to get out of Equestria, but I figured that would happen anyway. I decided now was a good time to ask about a certain statue. "So can anyone tell me what that chimera- like statue is about? Of all the statues in the garden it's the only one with any darkness I can sense." "That was Eris you saw, the Spirit of Chaos. We found and used the elements on her the same day we rose to confront her 1,000 years ago." Celestia said "She bent reality to her will and made everyponies lives miserable, night and day and the lives of others were all playthings to her. She needed to be stopped." Luna said "Did she ever actually hurt anyone directly or otherwise?" I asked "No, but her actions were anything but just or necessary, spreading chaos for fun got her stoned and she will remain there as long as we have any say in it." "So the moral of the story is you ponies are assholes and the elements are even more sadistic than I thought." "I beg your pardon." Celestia said "Yeah! What gives you the right to say that?" Rainbow cut in "First off, this doesn't involve you, and I have the right since I have a much better understanding of this than you. She probably suffered more in the first few years of her life than most do in their entire lives." "What do you mean?" Celestia asked "The first thing to go through my mind when I first saw her was 'demon'. Until proven otherwise, let's assume she grew up alone, an orphan. The first thing I would have done years ago upon seeing her would have been to either run, or grab the nearest weapon and I can't honestly say I would have stopped when I heard her say something if at all. She was likely feared and in many cases attacked because of how she looked, even when she tried to help, the result was the same or disastrous given the amount of control you would need to properly use her magic if she really can bend reality to her will thus adding to that fear even if it worked as intended. Spending her entire life being called a monster and hunted down as one when she probably gave no legal or morally justified reason to do so is probably what gave rise to the so called monster." The sisters looked at each other not liking where this was going, the 6 gained looks of uncertainty "The quotes that would best describe this would be 'you reap what you sow', 'an eye for an eye may make the world blind, but the world has proven itself time and again incapable or unwilling to learn in any way that doesn't involve at least 3 people going blind or a bloody massacre', 'what else can you be when all the world wants to see is a monster', and 'we are as the world makes us'. If she is the monster, what does that make everyone else who have done nothing but lie about her, hurt her, and in general give her reason after reason to avoid contact with others." I'm just thinking of all this as I go "Chances are she tried that and was hunted down anyway, she likely tried to be good, when that failed to no fault of her own she tried leaving everyone alone only to be met once again with armed ponies leaving their homes to hunt her down. Eventually she was either cornered by her would be killers or she had enough of the unjust treatment and sleepless nights and sought out her own justice, not feeling any form of guilt because the legal system wasn't an option she could count on and she would maintain the moral high ground anyway because she had every possible reason to justify her actions unlike the ponies that made her regret being born into the same world as them. That is what I would call the expected result." everyone was silent at this thought until Twilight spoke up "That's not possible! Nothing like that has ever been recorded in history, and ponies would never do such a thing." "Then not only must you have a really bad case of CRS, but you don't know history as well as you should." I told her "What?" She looked at me as if I just called her a cunt "You must remember all the arrests and summary executions yesterday for crimes including but not limited to murder, rape, slavery, and many child related crimes right? You mean to tell me ponies, nobles at that would do that to their own kind, but not something like Eris? 'History is a tale told by the winners of the fight', just because it wasn't recorded doesn't mean it didn't happen. You know her name and her crimes, but not her past, or at least her side of the story, her past from her perspective." "What did you mean when you said the elements are sadistic?" Rarity asked "I'm going to assume you know about Daybreaker, she was suppressed after causing a bloody massacre and trying to become the supreme ruler of the world, Nightmare was imprisoned for 1,000 years ON HER OWN MOON for trying to become Celestia's equal the wrong way and assuming magic didn't protect her she must have been writhing in agony on the moon for various reasons such as temperatures being VERY FAR below zero and lack of air which should have killed her, then suppressed her after her return. Eris gets petrified for 1,000 years for doing exactly what others wanted her to do. The process was likely very painful and humiliating after what with being turned into a lawn ornament and going through the same shit every day, getting shit on, hearing the same shit every day, and if she gets out will likely be suffering a minor case of severe rigor mortem, assuming she's still alive that is. I think I would be more surprised if she doesn't come for blood if she get's out. An entire life of meaningless pain would do that to a person. If pain truly is the best teacher, then what do you think she learned having pain as her only teacher, the closest thing she ever had to a friend?" everyone once again left speechless at this, especially the princesses "You mean to say we might have imprisoned and tortured an innocent creature for 1,000 years because of our subjects' fear and hatred of other races? That I could have killed my own sister?" Celestia asked while facing Luna "Yes and yes, but if her physical and mental states are anything to go by she either has an unbreakable resolve or she only suffered solitude. With all that said I'm going to the gardens to officially meet Eris. Before I go, is it strange that I actually like her looks?" silence "No? Okay bye." I went into the gardens and spent about 10 minutes looking for Eris before I said fuck it and flew straight up to see if that would help. I recognized the location, but not something in that location. "I don't remember this pedestal being vacant. This happened much sooner than I thought." "Oh, and what'd you expect to happen later hmmmm?" I heard a female voice say, but the source nowhere to be seen "You breaking out for one is unexpected. The lack of rigor mortem and bloodlust is another. Could you please show yourself? Talking to a disembodied voice is uh what's the word I'm looking for?" "Don't know, don't care, but since you asked so nicely I'll show myself. Look down." "Why do youuuuuu uuuuummmm" I looked down to see her tangled around my leg and now grabbing my ass "I'm sorry, but I-" "Already have a marefriend, I know." she teleported in front of me and wrapped her arms around my neck "She doesn't have to know~, or you could form a herd, I don't mind sharing." "Again, I'm sorry, but I also have 3 questions now: the lack of insanity, herds, and how did you know I already had a girlfriend?" "I was only suffering these annoying ponies, not anything else you were expecting. As for how I knew you had a marefriend, I was able to see the world around me even in stone. You caught my attention after the dragon, but I couldn't watch you until you entered Ponyville. You've only made me want you more and more, especially after all that chaos from yesterday and" she paused for a moment "how much of me you so accurately guessed just from my body." she sniffled "Why? WHY COULDN'T I HAVE MET YOU ALL THOSE YEARS AGO? IT'S NOT FAIR!" she broke down and fell to her knees. She suffered just as if not more than I did in her life and she's still so reasonably sane, so reasonably stable, I don't think she'll cause much trouble. I got down and held her close before turning to the side and seeing the princesses and Misty, judging by the tears rolling down Misty's cheeks and the conflicted looks on the princesses faces, they've heard enough. Misty ran over here and started helping me out with this. Eris now crying even harder after hearing Misty say yes. Yes to what? Someone still needs to explain what these herds are. > That went about as well as expected > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV It took a while, but Eris calmed down enough to have a conversation with. I looked to the princesses again and saw they still had conflicted looks on their faces, they probably never expected to see the Spirit of Chaos turn into a sobbing mess, most certainly not while being held close by their knight and his girlfriend. They're probably thinking I was right and she is the real victim or she's a really good actor. "Celestia." Eris tensed up after hearing her name "Yes?" "I need you to make sure your guards don't do anything stupid while we get Eris to my room." "Why would-" "Need I remind you what I said earlier? Either someone is going to be stupid and attack her or provoke her on sight. I would rather not have to clean your guards off the walls if I don't have to." I thought to myself I could just fly to my room, noticing it is in sight "Actually, I'll be flying to my room, less trouble that way." I summoned my wings and used wind, lightning, and fire to boost us, if anyone saw us they wouldn't have known who or what it was, they would have probably thought it was a trick of the light or something like that considering how fast that was. I set Eris on the bed before getting back to the conversation. "Misty, can you tell me what you meant when you said yes to Eris? All that did was upset her more from the looks of it." "I told her she could join." "Join what? I don't remember starting something that other people could join." "I said she could join our herd." come again "I'm missing something here and I can't for the life of me figure it out. What is a herd?" "It's when a stallion or in your case a man enters a relationship with more than one mare." Eris spoke up "Polygamy? That's not frowned upon anymore?" this is news to me "Only for ponies as about 1/5 of the population is comprised of stallions, the other races are about 50/50." "So basically Misty said 'welcome to the relationship'? I don't quite know how to respond to this, I did not know you were okay with this kind of thing Misty, hell I didn't even know you were Bi." "I never minded sharing unless the other person did it behind my back. The princesses brought herds to my attention not long after I was restored. They've also had an interest in you since before they brought us to Canterlot." this is also news to me "While I'm not exactly against any of this, I have to ask why they have any in the first place?" "Why wouldn't they? You've been nothing but good or at least reasonably so," wow, way to make me look back at my choices "you're the first to treat them like people instead of royalty in centuries, you don't judge them or even their darker halves, you exposed and dealt with a big part of the nobles corruption, you've offered to further improve the world with relics of the past, and you have a long life span which depending on how much your mutations altered your body could mean eternity." "What's my life span got to do with this?" "You really haven't figured that out yet?" no, I haven't so please tell me Misty "Tell me, how old do they look?" she asked me "They look no older than their early twenties." where are you going with this "How old do you think they really are?" "They're at least 1,600 years old." then it hit me, why didn't I realize this sooner "Oh God, they're like me!" "And so am I." Eris said "But even I'd like to know how someone as perceptive as you didn't realize this sooner." I would like to know that more than you "I'll just blame it on being so occupied with recent events. Speaking of recent events, I still need to brutally torture Blueblood. Any ideas?" "Ryan!" Misty said "Sorry. Anyway as I said I'm not against it, more surprised and a little scared than anything to be honest." the princesses walked in about halfway through that sentence, Eris tensing up again after they did so "Scared about what?" Luna asked "Oh nothing, the stud's just scared of adding a few more ladies into his herd. Being with just little miss Wolfy here for who knows how long and polygamy being new to him is all." Eris said trying to calm herself down "Humans were mostly monogomous in relationships, only a few countries didn't look down on polygamy, and the ones I can think of didn't exactly treat women fairly. I'm not against this whole 'herd' thing, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about it considering the only romantic relationship I've ever had was with Misty. Before we get into that though, you two and Eris have some business to settle." I put my arm around Eris to make sure she knew I was here to help her through this as the princesses took a seat "I can't even put it into words how I'm feeling right now. I'm assuming you heard that little episode in the gardens right?" Eris said "We did. We are sorry for what we've done to you." Celestia said "MhmhmhmmmmhmhmahahahahahHAAAAAHAHAHAHHA!" there's the mental instability I was expecting "YOU'RE SORRY? IS THAT GOING TO UNDO THE TARTARUS I'VE HAD TO LIVE THROUGH? IS SORRY GOING TO REMOVE ALL THESE SCARS I HAVE? IS SORRY GOING TO GIVE ME BACK ALL THOSE YEARS OF CRUELTY I'VE HAD TO LIVE THROUGH? IS SORRY GOING TO GIVE ME BACK ALL THOSE YEARS YOU AND YOUR IRREDEEMABLE SUBJECTS STOLE FROM ME? YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO APOLOGIZE WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND MY PAIN! WHAT ELSE COULD I HAVE DONE WHEN ALL YOU AND EVERYPONY ELSE SAW WAS THE MONSTER YOU WANTED, NO FORCED ME TO BE?" my God she has some lungs, she didn't even stop to inhale once "WAAAAHAHAHAA" and she's crying again. MISTY, you're better at helping pe- oh, nevermind, you're already on it "Yeeeaah, I think I was right about everything I said before about what she went through growing up. Eris, look at me." she did as I asked "You're not alone anymore, you have friends now who will happily fuck up anyone who fucks with you. Those people who hurt you are long dead now, probably in unmarked graves in a place no one visits. This is a new start for you, and you're already making progress. We'll help you as best we can, but only if you'll let us." she latched onto me and continued crying into my chest for a while, we continued where we left off when she calmed down "Eris?" Luna said only to receive a glare in response "We truly are sorry for what we and our subjects did to you, we can't change the past, but please allow us to help you as best we can." Eris's eyes started tearing up again, but she regained her composure and said "I can't forgive you. I don't know if I'll ever be able to, but fine, you can do what you want." +1 cute cuddle buddy gained +1 possibly mentally unstable girlfriend +2 more? This is going to be a long few weeks at the most > Pecking Order, First mission already? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV It's been 3 days since I met Eris and I have good news and bad news. The good news is Eris isn't getting hostile with the princesses and is getting along very well with Misty to the point they're already talking about bedroom activities starting with my fetish (God they move fast). The princesses are also being very understanding and keeping out of the relationship until Eris feels she can trust them to be in arms reach. The bad, but expected news is she can't stop glaring at them for the hell she's been through. On a side not, the princesses are keeping her release/ escape unknown to the public. Speaking of the public, I've been told the nobles are demanding I be imprisoned or executed for the 'murder' of Blueblood, use of illegal magic, 'murdering' all those slavers, 'disrespecting my betters' and property damage of all things. The only thing I broke was a door which is the most ridiculous part of that charge. The princesses explained as best they could, but these people don't understand how the law works apparently since most if not all my actions were, or may as well have been legally justified and now that I'm a prince there isn't much the law can do to me if I say so. The only crime that I could debatably be charged with was the illegal magic, but considering how long I've had that magic and how different it is they can't do anything. Which is what led up to me being where Blueblood died with everyone watching. "Are you certain this is the best course of action?" Celestia asked "Probably not, but someone has to put these arrogant pricks in their place. There aren't too many more forms of arrogance than believing you know better than your superiors and believing yourself above the law. While we're on this topic, how goes the hunt for those slavers?" I asked while switching my weapons out for Nevermore, Shadow Edge, Chikage (Bloodborne), and Burial Blade. I was able to keep the first 3 on me, but I had to store away Burial Blade, thankfully I can pull it out whenever "We're tracking the last of them now, but a few are too far or out of Equestria. We've tracked the ones who escaped to a slave camp just across the border to Minos." "I'm assuming it was just put up or slavery is legal there." "It isn't legal, and your assumption is correct as that camp wasn't there before this incident." that's good "Alright, I'll head over there after I teach these idiots why they should learn humility. Write down the directions after the match and I'll be back in a day or two." "I can't thank you enough for this, for everything you've done so far." I pulled her into a hug "I would do it again if I had to." I let go of her "I would say wish me luck, but that would imply I needed it." "Just go easy on them please." "As long as they don't give me a reason to kill them, and define 'easy'." and I left before she could say anything "Save us the trouble and surrender monster!" shouted one noble, it's been a while since I've heard that one "Kneel before your betters beast!" I kneel when I see one "We'll have justice for what you did to Prince Blueblood!" justice for winning a deathmatch? That's a new one "I'll see that filthy mutt of yours in chains!" *insert record scratch* "Would you care to repeat that?" I dare you, say it again, see what happens "I said that bitch will be in chains where she belongs!" You die first, good thing Celestia didn't tell me I couldn't kill them I pulled out the Chikage and prepped it's Bloodtinge mode while channeling Abyss flames before asking "Do you know why the Old Blood is to be feared? Do you know why Black flames bare no shadow?" "What are you goi-AAAAAAAHHHH" I slashed the air sending some of the Abyss flame enhanced blood at his eyes and shaping my blood to act as tiny serrated blades in his skull before answering the questions I asked him "To quote a man from long ago 'we are born of the blood, we are made men by the blood, we are undone by the blood, fear the old blood'. The blood holds immense power, even the means of ascension to Godhood, but power always comes with a price. Many seek it, but cannot make the trade or die before they learn the price. The reason why Black flames bare no shadow is because they are the manifestation of the soul, though not using soul magic, it still scales with the darkness in the soul. Now, I shall show you mercy. I will end your life here and you will suffer no more." I readied myself for a slash dash "Amplectere Tenebris." I dashed forward and sliced him in two, leaving the Abyss flame to deal with disposing of the body and turned to the other 20 or so nobles who didn't listen to the princesses, after counting it was indeed 20 "I will allow you to choose, would you like me to use Nevermore, Shadow Edge, or Burial Blade?" "MONSTER!" I heard one scream "I'll be nice and use Nevermore. I will face you as the Knight of Crows. Know this, pain is your reward for being near me," I unsheathed my sword and feathers started falling from the blade "fate won't be your friend when I'm around." I started playing Bad Luck Charm (RWBY) and dashed towards them faster than any of them could react I spin kicked 1 out of the ring and swung my sword to hit 2 more using the flat side of the blade (3). Two of them tried to stab me, but I blocked them with my wings and slashed them across their chests before grabbing one and using him as a shield against one who tried to shoot me with a magic bolt. I threw him to the shooter and knocked 4 more of them unconscious (9). I slowly walked towards the remaining 11 and decided to use the enchantment on Nevermore, I used a few of it's infinitely falling feathers to make kunai and VERY small shields to incapacitate 4 more of them (13) and block their spells. As I continued on my path 1 either grew a pair or acted out of fear and charged at me with his spear. I stopped the spear and bent the metal so the tip was now facing him and he was crying now out of fear "You should have thought twice before fucking with me." (14) I strolled right past him to face the remaining 6 "You should feel proud of yourselves, it took 21 of you to fail miserably in putting the so called 'inferior being' in his place. Once again, undeniable proof that your blood means nothing, that your titles mean nothing. If I am inferior, then why am I looking down on you? Why are you cowering before me?" I readied 6 more feathers and launched them "Why am I the one coming out unscathed? It is because you are weak, incompetent, arrogant, and spoiled beyond all reasoning, not because I am your superior." I left them to their pain I met back up with the others and Eris launched herself at me on sight, wrapping herself around my arm, hugging my head and kissing me before I could register what was happening, I didn't back away of course. "OOOO that was so much fun to watch! Can we do it again please?" Eris asked with puppy dog eyes "I can't promise anything, but if it happens again I'll let you decide how I fight." I said and booped her nose before turning to see Misty and Luna walking towards me "So sister informed us you accepted your first assignment. Hunting the remaining slavers correct?" Luna asked "That's right." "When do you think you'll be back?" Misty asked "I'll be back in a day or 2. Don't worry, I promise they will all die horrible deaths. I think I'll use my Sharingan imitation, now if only I could actually change my eyes to match." everyone but Misty looked at me with questioning looks "Use your version of the Tsukuyomi on at least one of them for me, alright." well since you wished it "How about 5 of them and either Black flames or Susanoo for the rest?" "You can do better than that." she's right, I can do better "10 it is for my favorite she-wolf. The rest I'll use the Burial Blade on." "I'm sorry, but what is this Tsukuyomi?" Luna asked "It's an illusion that had to have been made by a sadistic genius. Imagine a torture session that lasts for I can't remember how long and time in it is under your control, 1 week in it could be 1 second in reality. A true nightmare or paradise if one so desires. I can't do the real thing, but with the right magic I could imitate it." they were all left speechless "You've never used this before have you?" Celestia asked "Never have, will scarcely use it for torture if that's what you're worried about." she visibly relaxed hearing this "It's about time I go to that camp." I pulled Misty and Eris into a kiss "I'll be back soon, alright." "Don't keep us waiting~." Misty said with half lidded eyes and extra sway to her hips and tail with Eris following her example. I channeled everything into that lift off and started flying as fast as my wings which now have everything but void magic flowing through them would take me Misty POV "Did you really have to do that with him?" Luna asked "Not really, but his reaction was priceless. It also 'encourages' him to get it done faster. He'll likely be there in a few minutes and start going psycho on them. If you hear the sound of laughter over the sound of people screaming and dying you should run anywhere but towards it. It's a side of him he suppresses a lot, thankfully it only targets those he thinks deserve it." "Now I actually feel sorry for them." Eris said "As he would say, 'either die by them or die by me'. Trust me, it's an act of mercy considering what he and the slaves would do to them if he didn't feel so rushed. Shall we get something to eat? It's about that time." Griever Screw explaining to the minotaurs why I'm here, I'll just kill them all and be done with it. I think I'm feeling more excited than I should about tonight, but I don't care. I've been flying fooooorr I think 6 minutes now and I've already found the camp. I hovered high above them with the sun to my back as I thought of an awesome entry. All your base are belong to us? No, wrong time and place. Quote Gehrman again? Naaahh too soon. Decisions decisions decisions. Misty POV "I trust everything is to everypony's liking?" Celestia asked "It is as always." I said "After not eating in SOOOO LOOOONNGG anything's good in my opinion." Eris said conjuring a cup of wine "Are you sure you should be drinking?" Luna asked "Relax, it's non-alchoholic." Eris said drinking half of it in one go "I think she wants to be sober for later." "Yes, Griever's *ahem* reward right?" Celestia asked Griever Damnit! Anything I can think of either doesn't fit or just not thrilling enough like Alucard's on the ship or Madara's against the army. I think I'll have to settle for a Seven Deadly Sins entry or just walk up to a guy asking if there's something in my eye and pop a Tsukuyomi. I guess I'll do a coin toss, heads for sins, tails for eye. *flip* Heads it is, I think I'll try to fit a gravemind reference in as well. Eris POV "You should try him sometime." Misty said "Would that even be proper so soon?" Luna asked "This conversation isn't proper at the table!" Celestia said "It's just us girls, I don't see the problem." I said "Trust me, you won't regret it~." Misty said tempting them Griever I dropped down using darkness to mimic the Abyss in the Artorias fight and changed my voice to sound like a deeper more masculine version of Ichigo's hollow, both surprising and out right terrifying everyone. "I have come to pass judgement." 30 guards started circling around me "Your sins are born of lust, greed, pride, and wrath." "ATTACK HIM! HE'S THE ONE WE SPOKE OF!" I heard a former noble shout, to which I used Tsukuyomi on him and he collapsed, prompting the guards to attack. I responded with using the darkness IN their bodies to keep them still as I started speaking again "I am a monument to all your sins, now burn with them!" I lit 20 of the guards on fire and used Tsukuyomi on the rest before pulling out Burial Blade and dashing towards the slavers while ignoring the guards at the moment Misty "Just how would we go about approaching him with this?" Luna asked "The best I can say is to tell him you're willing and want it. As for pleasing him, the two of us REALLY like anal." I said, wrapping an arm around Eris's neck, everyone's faces except Eris became red hearing this "He'll be gentle, right." Eris asked looking nervous "I practically had to walk him through the act, if anyone will be worried it's him." Griever I've killed just about everyone except the slaves of course who are all cowering from me sadly, but what else would I expect given everything they've experienced and witnessed. As I was about to start freeing the slaves a guard tried using a infant as a hostage, I forced him to gently place the child down and ran the scythe through him before lifting him up with it and throwing him across the camp. I picked up the child and found it's mother, she was terrified at first, but started to calm down after I returned her unharmed child and set her free along with the rest. As I was about to fly all 74 slaves I saw a slaver with a giant piece of wood deep in his leg. I couldn't help myself with what I did next. "YOU!" he stopped and turned to see me standing over him "You're trying to crawl away?" he sped up, not like it'll help "BRING ME THAT ASS!" he screamed and cried for help as I slowly shoved my scythe up his ass, I'll have to clean this, after I bring everyone to Canterlot that is. Misty "If I know him well enough, he'll be done-" "HONEEEY I'M HOOOOME!" > Discussion, It's been a while Bluebitch > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV "OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE COVERED IN BLOOD!" Eris shouted "No no no don't worry, it's not my blood." I said evaporating the blood then washing and drying just as quickly, she calmed down slightly witnessing this "That was much faster than any of us would have expected. Disturbingly fast actually." Celestia commented "What can I say? I had things to do and what I did to them was mercy compared to what I would have done otherwise." "I told you so." Misty said "What exactly did you tell them?" I asked her "I just quoted you: 'if you hear the sound of laughter over the sound of people screaming and dying you should run anywhere but towards it regardless of who's side you're on' and that it was mercy." "You got me excited like that for more than just my efficiency didn't you? Because it worked." I turned to the princesses "I also have news for you, the slaves are free and in the courtyard and I have another record book from the camp. Tell Shining I said to have fun." they accepted the book and sent a guard to retrieve the meat shie- I mean Captain. "I'm honestly debating whether or not we should send you on more missions like this if this is how you handle yourself." Luna said "It's not my fault! They didn't dodge my scythe, a few of them actually jumped into it. Anyway now that that's done what happens now, besides the obvious?" I asked wrapping my arms around Misty and Eris, the princesses appeared to be blushing as I did so "Well *ahem* we can't really do anything on this subject until further notice. The only thing we can do is wait until more slavers are found, regardless of whether or not there are any we can no longer delay their trials." Celestia said "Please let me be there, I want to see their faces as they lay their eyes on me, to see their faces as they are sentenced. Speaking of, what can I expect to serve as their punishments?" "They will all be executed, the families will lose their status as nobles and will be investigated as well, and the illegally obtained bits and items bought with such will be used for the victims with the surplus going to charity." "I'm not against that in the least. Punishing the entire family for the crimes of the one is a good way to keep the others in line." "She would have been against doing so before any of this, but this is probably an exception to that given the crimes and who the criminals were." Luna said "Perhaps this is what Daybreaker was trying to prevent, I've become so lax, so lenient and this is the result!" Celestia almost shouted trying to hold back the tears "The only thing I can tell you is learn from it. Speaking of the darker half, I have not seen her in a while, or even Nightmare for that matter. Can you two let me know you're still there please?" Nightmare appeared first with Daybreaker doing so with some hesitation "Thanks, it's good to know you're still around," I turned back to the princesses "would it be alright if I tried to give them their own bodies?" the 4 of them looked at me like I was crazy, which was surprising from Daybreaker and Nightmare "Would you even be capable of doing so?" Luna asked "I think I've got weapons that can do something like that, and don't forget I'm an accomplished user of several magics, with the knowledge you have in your libraries I might be able to learn how to do so and even make new magic. I would probably figure out how to materialise them or give them a new body in a month or two, or at least let me hear and feel them." I think Muramasa (Bleach) would be able to do so "We will need a cover story for this, it's about time for Eris to have one as well." "Just get the elements up here and say they worked as intended. It just took a long time for them to 'redeem' everyone and 'undo' any damage caused by unnatural magic. I would think of it as similar to the power of an orb from a story that took a while to revive the dead (Skyrim: Chronicles of a sad story), I doubt anyone would question it." "It's so simple and unexpected that might actually work." Eris said "Already looking to add them too Ryan? You naughty boy." damnit Misty, the darker halves are now looking at me with amusement "I can see about handling 6 of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, just don't expect me to be able to please all of you." they're giggling now "Losvayne has more uses than combat you know~." and now everyone's faces including mine are RED "Huh, why didn't I think of that sooner?" "Why didn't you think of it sooner? Eris and Misty asked, the others now trying to hold back the laughter "So I'm gonna go now, I'll see you two later, I have a soul of a former prince to torture." save the dirty thoughts for later Griever POV I went into my room and sat on the bed before searching inside and around me for Blue, it didn't take long, but I had to use soul magic unsurprisingly to find it. When I touched his soul the scenery changed from what looked like the night sky from the Mania side of the Shivering Isle in every direction to an empty Canterlot with Blue running, looking for anyone. He's about to get his wish. "Hello! Is anypony here? This is your prince and I demand you show yourselves! This is the proud city of Canterlot, surely there is somepony." he said that last part to himself before turning around and seeing someone wearing a hood and a mask "Oh thank Celestia, I thought I was the only one here. Now serve your prince and bring me some tea." Silence "Did you not hear me? I demand you bring me tea or I'll throw you in the dungeon!" Silence "Fine, I hope it was worth it." "So do I Blueblood, for I've finally come to pass judgement on you." "Judgement? Ha, don't make me laugh, I've done nothing wrong." ignorance should be among the deadly sins I removed my mask and lowered my hood to which he somehow visibly paled at who was standing before him "You've done nothing wrong? You've committed crimes against this Faust I've heard a few maids mention and crimes against Equestria as a whole. You've hired others to kill, steal, and kidnap, taken part in acts of slavery, rape, illegal drug and weapon trading, child abuse/ neglect, child pornography, stolen from the crown, and high treason against the crown. These are all crimes that get people locked up for a long time, life even, or executed and you say you did nothing wrong? Crimes against God are still crimes and damn your soul, crimes against mortals and the law are still crimes, all regardless of who you did it to most if not every time. Your aunts would have likely banished you to Tartarus or executed you if they found out about even half of these crimes or even the ones I didn't say. I will now keep my promise to you." I said as the scenery changed to the Tsukuyomi "You can't do this! I'm your prince!" he shouted "First off you were never my prince, and second I killed you giving me access to everything that was yours: your wealth, businesses, lands, magic, soul, and your title. You are not a prince anymore, but I am. I will now do to you every injustice you did to others, starting with you being tortured until death, but you will heal before you truly do so. This is my reality, and everything is as I make it. Physics, logic, space, even time itself is my plaything here." I said as he was screaming while I was slowly nailing him to a cross "YOU'LL PA-AAAAAAAGGGHHH" he tried to shout "I need you to not move around too much, it only makes it harder for you and the blood won't coagulate properly." I said pushing the last nail into the cross "Now, we can begin." I summoned 9 other clones of myself armed with different weapons, Gae Bolg, claws, serrated swords, double bladed katanas, saw spears (Bloodborne), the breaking wheel (Berserk), Sword of the Tall, a dagger meant to act in a similar manner to the Needler, a sword that works like Wabiske (Bleach, and no idea if I spelled that right), and I pulled out Shadow Edge before we circled around him as we stabbed and dismembered him repeatedly. Which one hurt more I wonder, the spear of mortal pain, the wheel, the SOTT, the dagger, or the sword that keeps doubling his weight. I gave him a break and healed after about 10 minutes "Are we having fun yet?" "GO TO TARTARUS YOU DEMON!" "I've been to hell once, I didn't care for it so I came back." I walked to his side and proceeded to pull out his nails on both hands, dislocated all the fingers at the joints, cut them off segment by segment while cauterizing the wounds and shoving several hundred degree nails into the stumps before repeating the process until he had no fingers left "How about now?" he in his infinte wisdom chose to spit in my face "We have both said a lot of things you are going to regret." I summoned a few rabid rats in a cage and placed them on his stomach as crows were constantly pecking his eyes. While this was happening I set his back on fire and started applying acid to his hooves and slowly crept up his legs, his screams becoming music to my ears. I stopped to give him a breather eventually "Please stop, I'll give you anything you want!" he begged "There's 3 problems with that offer: 1 is that you're dead, 2 is I already have everthyng you can offer me or the means of obtaining it, and 3 did you listen the the pleas of any of those slaves? No? Why should I offer you any mercy when you showed none to them, even children. Forcing them to kill eachother, breed one another for another sex toy or gladiator, even made family do so. I remember everything, and it sickens me seeing a child no older than 8 years old beaten bloody and forced on her knees between my legs or a father being drugged and brainwashed into impregnating his under age daughter or that same father being forced to kill his own son simply for dropping a tea cup. What right do you have to beg for mercy when you offered none to them simply because they were 'beneath' you? 'Those who show no mercy to the innocent should never expect to receive that luxury'." I'm feeling very evil right now. "That actually gives me an idea. I'm going to turn you into a filly, and you'll experience the same pain they have felt. Why you might ask? What other reason do I need besides you being beneath me. Or another way to word it : 'lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep', have fun Bluebelle." I turned him into a filly and made copies of his family to fill the roles I mentioned "I'm sure you recognize these ponies, they will be your 'caretakers' while I'm gone. They won't do anything to you that you haven't already done to others so don't worry, they won't go overboard. Bye. Oh, last thing I swear, your wounds will keep healing painfully and your 'purity' will heal the same as well. Bye." I heard him/ her scream and become muffled just before I left. I set the timer in there so a day in the real world is 9 months in there. I'll be back in a few days. Griever POV I woke up just in time to see Misty and Eris walk out of the bathroom and what I saw made my jaw drop. I didn't know anyone could make themselves look so... I can't describe what I want and will do to those asses. "Looks like somepony's happy to see us~." Eris said in the most seductive way possible "Maybe we should help him." Misty said pulling Eris into a deep kiss, both of them grabbing each others asses I'm not sleeping tonight > Now what did we learn? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV True to my word I did not sleep, we had been at that for hours and shit is Eris creative. Everything she thought of had to have been from the same source as the minds of the devs of Bloodborne, but instead of a heroine induced nightmare it was paradise. As fun as it all was for the 3 of us, currently I can't feel my ANYTHING, but totally worth it. We stayed in this position until a maid (damnit Celestia) entered the room and promptly left before she could say what I knew Celestia sent her here for. After our bath Eris wrapped herself around my neck like a pet snake would (which was kind of cute) we all made our way to meet the princesses for breakfast and possibly the annoying 6 if they decided to do things the smart (my) way. Upon entering I found Cadence and Shining who looked as tired as Luna usually does who has her coffee first this time, but the 6 weren't there thank God (or should I say me now). "So Shining, how's the hunt going?" "Buck you!" he said in an irritated tone "To answer your question we just got that record book so not much progress has been made, and we have confirmed most of the slavers are either in the dungeon or are dead unfortunately." "They're not dead, they're painting and decorating the scenery. There's a difference!" "Hehe, you have a twisted sense of humor, you know that right?" "I can be MUCH worse on better topics, just ask Misty." I said turning towards her, Eris now seated next to where I do, Misty and I taking our seats shortly after "He's not joking, he once told a friend of his to look up something on the internet that sounded like a rapist version of a character from a very child friendly series and what he didn't know was his friend's safety filter was turned off. I still remember their reactions to it, 'OH GOD WHAT THE HELL' and 'scarred for life'. Even in death we will never let him live that down if we some how see him again." Misty said trying to hold back the laughter, Cadence chose this moment to speak to Eris "I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met before, I'm princess Cadence, and you are?" "I'm Eris, you've probably seen me as one of the statues in the garden." "Before you ask, your aunts have pretty much pardoned her for all her crimes for various reasons that we would appreciate you not asking about and yes, she is in our herd." I told her "Wait, you were that statue? How did you even get into his herd?" She asked Eris, I chose to answer her for Eris "She grabbed my ass then other stuff happened." "And you were okay with that?" she asked while blushing "I was later." blushing intensifies She kept asking about our relationship while respecting boundaries not being too intrusive. When she was done I asked Celestia if she chose to go along with my plan and said she's already called them back. I did take this opportunity to warn her that if they attack Eris I would make our first fight look like an elementary school skirmish and it would include the non-combatants with them. She assured me they would be stopped before they did anything stupid, but I'm going to leave a few shadow snakes with a fast acting paralytic venom around just in case. I have no patience for stupidity and just as much for repeated acts of such from supposed national heroes. She said they would be here shortly so hopefully they learned to think BEFORE they act. She held off on day court for the day (both are doing that much more than I would expect of royalty) as we waited in the throne room for an hour before I excused myself to head back to the bunker. It was about time I forged Gae Bolg, Excalibur and Avalon (Fate series), and because why not the Exalted Umbra Blade. While I was there I grabbed Muramasa to help Nightmare and Daybreaker later, I also decided to switch my other weapons except Nevermore for a few scythes of my own design: Dark Harvest (drains life force, magic, and stamina while replenishing my own), Bloodlust (becomes sharper, more painful, and increases my speed for each consecutive hit, can use blood to enhance it), Soulrend (can negate or store magic and hurt magic pools of victims, can use soul magic to enhance), Lifebane (wounds cannot heal without divine healing, insta kills after a maximum of 24 direct hits depending on time of day), and Voidfang (can erase anything after being enhanced by the void, otherwise capable of changing size and shape using arcane). Edgy yes, but I prefer the weapons names fit the appearance and/ or abilities. I stored them away and grabbed Tenseiga on my way out. SWORDS ARE GOOD! SWORDS HEAL THE SICK AND DYING! I flew back and saw a few chariots landing with the idiots getting out. I chose to land in front of them. "Good timing, you were taking so long so I went back to the bunker to grab a few things." "And what did you have to grab?" Twilight asked "Yeah, you have new weapons again. What, other ones not good enough?" not questions I ever expected, even from Rainbow "I could tell you, but either I won't be able to get a word in like last time I was being stormed with questions or you are going to completely misinterpret or disregard what I say or do and you will assault your prince in a misguided attempt to serve your country. The only thing I'm going to say is I have a friend with me who might be able to save 2 others who deserve a chance at living their own lives. Muramasa, could you come out please?" he materialised behind them "You called master?" everyone jumped and turned to see another human "We've been over this before, as your creator I may as well be your father, or adoptive father in this case considering what you originated from, but still your father, even if I'm a poor one. Don't call me master, it makes me feel like I own everything that makes you who and what you are. Call me father, Ryan, or Griever, I don't care which." "I'm sorry, but who is this? And what is he wearing? I don't think I've seen clothing like this anywhere." Rarity said inspecting him closely "I am an artificial soul based on a fictional character from father's era, created and bound to one of the swords he has with him, however he chose to give all other zanbaktou and resureccions he could remember a form of their own. As for what I am wearing, it is my normal and only attire. Is it not to your liking miss?" "Not to my liking? I love it! Oh I can already see a new fashion trend." "Artificial soul? As in soul magic? That's not only VERY illegal, but so dangerous even the princesses don't go near it! How can you use it and why would you even use it in the first place?" Twilight asked I turned and told her I would tell her as we walk "For starters, any magic that is banned I'm the exception to because I've been using magic, 4 taboo magics included longer than any races in this world have been using magic. I've been using magic you banned for longer than the laws prohibiting the use and study of have even existed. As I've said to the sisters, my magic is either different from yours or I'm highly resistant if not immune to them. Darkness doesn't corrupt me, chaos doesn't turn me into something else for reasons you wouldn't expect, blood is just water manipulation, and while soul magic does make me feel weaker, I've got high speed regeneration to counter it. Since I'm a prince now those laws have even less of an effect on me. That reminds me, since I killed Blueblood I should have access to unicorn magic now so I should be able to find out if your magic is different from mine." "Even if that's the case which isn't possible, I wouldn't risk it" for a genius you are really stupid "Unless it's proven to be impossible, it is possible, just because it isn't possible now doesn't mean it will still be later, magic isn't even supposed to exist and not only are we using it, but efficiently as well. Remember the last time you said something was impossible? Everything that happened the day before proved that belief wrong and your princesses didn't even deny it when I said 'history is written by the victors' implying one of them is guilty of this whether they knew it or not as you'll find soon enough. Besides, progress never happens without some risk. A medicine might cause major damage to a test subject due to an allergic reaction or other health problems, a spell meant to revive plants might turn them carnivorous or poisonous, if the reward is high the risk usually is and vice vers." "Even still the cost is too high! You'd willingly sacrifice everything for power?" nothing is without sacrifice "I have no reason to believe they cost anything but free time. As I said, the costs of blood and soul magic are negated by my abilities, I embraced my darkness long before I even had my powers, and true chaos magic just has one rule: change is the only constant, I doubt even Eris or any other draconequus had as much control over their magic as unicorns do. Even if they do harm the user, that's likely with excessive use of the magic." "Ah don't like it, but he's got a point sugarcube." thank you Applejack "You can't seriously be siding with this guy AJ!" damnit Rainbow "She can, but she isn't, she just sees the logic in my words. She's still against it, but she won't stop me." I looked up ahead to see the throne room "Looks like we're here. Let's not keep them waiting. I'm warning you right now, if you attack our guest or the 2 others that might appear I will drop you faster than a kurari dart." "What's a kurari dart and who are the guests?" Twilight asked "Kurari is a poison so deadly you would need to be in the ER with a full team of doctors when you got hit and as for the guests, you'll see." We walked up to the throne and I noticed Eris was nowhere to be seen, I'm guessing she was hiding behind the throne or she was in plain sight. "Griever, who is this?" Luna asked "This is Muramasa, the one I told you about earlier. As much as I would like to help them, we have a more urgent thing going on at the moment. Eris, would you kindly show yourself?" she dropped from the ceiling (I checked that first stupidly enough) like a slinkie of all things then wrapped herself around me again. She seems to be very physical not that I'm complaining, makes her look more adorable half the time anyway, as a security measure I put up a wall of light behind me just incase "So, what'd you do in the bunker?" Eris asked "I made a few weapons and switched out the others. I still have Nevermore on me, but I switched out the others for 5 scythes, Muramasa, and the only sword in existence that has less killing power than a wooden spoon as it only heals people." she almost burst out laughing "Eris, as in the Spirit of Chaos Eris?" Twilight asked then snarled "Why is she free and-" "I would hold my tongue if I were you. Everything I speculated about her past was true meaning damn near everything she did was legal and/ or morally justified not to mention necessary or expected. To say otherwise is to say she deserved to be treated like she was worth less than the dirt and quite literally demonized for a reason as petty as being born different. If that is the case" I summoned Soulrend and Voidfang then turned hollow before channeling their respective elements "then you are no better than the xenophobic assholes who pushed her to her snapping point." I felt Eris's grip tighten "Ryan please, stop. Nothing good can come of this." I did as she asked "You know I wouldn't do it anyway, I would have more to lose in doing so than I would have to gain." I turned back to the idiot 6 "We really just needed you here for a cover story for Eris and maybe 2 others depending on what Muramasa and Tenseiga can do." "Ya mean ya want us to lie to everypony so she don't have to face her crimes?" Applejack asked "No, all you lot need to do is not tell the whole truth or don't say anything. Besides, I have to ask, what crimes? Morally speaking she was justified in her actions, legally speaking she was permitted to do most if not everything she did. The worst she did was try to help and when that didn't work she left everyone alone. What is destruction of property, abusing magic, and disturbing the peace which she didn't start doing until I'm guessing her early 20's compared to all the years of armed assaults, attempted murders, false charges, acts of reckless endangerment, and more she was a victim of and/ or falsely accused of since she was a child which should earn at least double the punishment?" To say they were shocked was an understatement "Legally speaking she was permitted to kill a lot of people indiscriminately, but the worst she did was flip a house after suspending it in the air, after years of torment she would have been more than justified in killing everyone and I do mean EVERYONE indiscriminately. When you spend your entire life as the victim you either give up or grow numb to the pain, when you finally throw that first punch you learn it's a lot more run being the one inflicting pain than receiving it. No matter how you look at it she would maintain the moral high ground for 1 reason: she wouldn't have done anything to them that they hadn't already tried or actually done to her first for as long as she can remember, and unlike them she would have only done it once." A few of them looked like they were on the verge of crying now "1,000 years for a few misdemeanors at the worst hardly seems fair considering the MANY felonies committed against her that would have guaranteed they be imprisoned for life or executed, but they ALL went free happily living out the rest of their worthless lives while likely demanding her statue be destroyed. Can you honestly say that's fair, that it was just? Can you honestly say you wouldn't have done the same having spent your entire life with everyone demonizing and trying to kill you for no other reason than being born different? I can guarantee you every single one of them is burning in Hell and still asking why." Applejack looked down, ashamed and no longer able to hold back her tears "Ah can't believe it. How can you be telling the truth? How could anypony do even half those things?" She asked "Believe it or not very easily, it only happened for 16-20 some years on an almost if not daily basis. Muramasa." "Yes father?" everyone's eyes except the 6 shot open "Is there anything you can do about the other souls tied to the princesses? "I'll see what I can do." he walked over to Nightmare and Daybreaker while Misty and the others walked up to me "When were you going to tell us you had a son?" Celestia asked "Is there another herdmate we don't know about?" Luna asked, please one at a time "Why does he look nothing like you?" damnit Shining "He was created, not born. I may as well be his father, but that's as his creator. I haven't been anywhere near that close with anyone except Misty and Eris." they were about to respond before Muramasa stepped in "I can give them their own bodies, but not without damanging and weakening them and their hosts." I saw a glimmer of hope in the eyes of the darker halves before they were replaced with fear "I can fix that easily, maybe even prevent it probably." hope shined once more in their eyes "They've waited long enough so let's not keep them waiting." they openly cried hearing this. We had the princesses move between us as we tried to separate their others, they showed discomfort, but nothing unexpected or alarming. Eventually the room flashed brightly causing everyone to look away, when we looked back we saw 2 more people holding each other close. They gasped as they realized they had physical bodies now, that they could feel and speak again and leapt towards me, holding me and thanking me for everything. I also noticed something at this moment "Muramasa?" "Yes?" "Did you forget to give them clothes?" everyone especially Nightmare and Daybreaker were blushing "No." why do you have a look of shameless guilt on your face "That would imply I meant to do so." oh Me he has a troll face Should I run? > Now what did we learn part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV The good news is Pinkie and Rarity had something for Nightmare and Daybreaker to wear (no idea where they were hiding matching dresses and regalia, but not going to question it). The bad news is everyone was and still are looking at me with a look of I want to say disappointment, but I couldn't get a very good look as I was running from the closest things this world has to a Queen of Darkness and Queen of Flames. Did you know darkness hurts, like a lot? Of course you did, mine hurts less surprisingly, now try adding Hellfire and darkness together. By the way, her fire hurts more than mine as well. I know this is rage fueled and not as restrained due to lack of usage, but not only does that not make it better, it sends shivers down my spine just thinking of what I could do in such a state. I learned one important thing from all this: DON'T TRUST MY CREATIONS LIKE MURAMASA! I don't think I'll be asking for any help from other zanbaktou or the demon(?) swords like the Shiryus or Zoltgein (Swordgai) and most certainly NOT Soul Eater's Excalibur when I get around to forging him after this. "I'M SORRY! PLEASE STOP SHOOTING ME *zap* OW DAMNIT DAYBREAKER *whoosh* HOLY SHIT NIGH- oh hey that scythe looks rather nice actually *whoosh* OH SHIT!" I landed near Muramasa and put him in front of me "FIX THIS!" *poof* *clang* I heard as a sword fell to the ground. I looked up to see what Daybreaker and Nightmare wearing what under any other circumstances would be rape faces "It's not fair." I can't feel my anything at the moment, it took 7 minutes for my body to heal to this point, it didn't even take that long to get my throat back after that lion tore it out. I save them and THIS is the thanks I get, they couldn't take out their rage on a possessed sword that worst case scenario I would have to repair, nooooo they have to seemingly try to kill the one who made the sword that gave them their bodies then hog tie him by the throne using burning hot chains (my God these magic chains are strong)! Last time I help spirits of any kind! "Now what did we learn Griever?" Nightmare asked "We learned a lot of things. We learned what pure rage looks and feels like from the outside. We also learned to not trust our adoptive(?) children as they may think like us." I can feel feel my arms now "Hmph, close enough." Daybreaker said releasing me, the burns healing as I got up "Can we never do that again please? I don't think I've felt fear like that in my life." "We won't promise anything." STOP THINKING LIKE ME "I think he's had enough. Besides, it's not like he knew Muramasa would do that." thank you Misty "He created Muramasa, he should have expected this." that's not fair Rarity "This is why you should avoid using soul magic." shut up Twilight "I'm sorry, I don't remember putting that much of myself into my creations. I just remember making the weapon and saying 'you're alive now'. I don't remember making them THINK LIKE ME!" "We're right here dude, you don't have to yell." damnit Rainbow "I almost had a scythe in my lung, then I got really bad burns on my arms and legs, and lost feeling in my body for a few minutes. I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO YELL!" "Well ah hope ya learned yer lesson." leave me alone Applejack "I did learn it, several actually, painfully might I add." "Now can we address the elephant in the room? WHY ARE DAYBREAKER AND NIGHMARE BUCKING MOON FREE?" Rainbow shouted "You tell me I don't need to yell." I said to myself "To answer your question the princesses basically said they can be free." "WHY?" "That would take a while to explain and as much as I love to hear myself speak, I'm tired of repeating myself. So to summarize it: they hardly did anything I wouldn't have done long ago, the elements gave punishments that were anything but fair as far as I'm concerned, and you have to help with their cover stories just like Eris. This time don't yell." she growled at me "Are you are a dog? Either speak in a language we can all understand or I'll put a muzzle and a VERY tight leash on you." "Um, I think she means why do we have to lie for them? Didn't they do terrible things and pay for them?" finally Fluttershy says something "You don't need to lie, just not say anything or just don't say enough. Let me put it to you like this: Daybreaker wanted world peace and was willing to do anything for it, she wanted a world free of sin and went about it using the only methods that would work. She tried to rule the world and force everyone against her so they wouldn't be against eachother, she was just suppressed in Celestia's mind. Nightmare didn't want power, but love, respect, and appreciation. She was for all intents and purposes the shadow princess no one knew or cared about no matter how much good she did as Luna. If they would recognize and praise the name and authority of princess Celestia and not princess Luna then they would do surely do so for queen Nightmare Moon. Daybreaker was suppressed for causing a bloody massacre and trying to rule the world with her crimes practically being forgotten and by extension Celestia, but Nightmare who basically just shouted 'LOVE ME' one time was imprisoned for a thousand years on her own moon then suppressed in Luna's mind and both she AND Luna were demonized 1,000 years AFTER they were done. The punishments hardly fit the crimes, especially since they're still paying for them now." "And what do you want us to tell everypony?" Rarity asked "Basically just say Eris, Daybreaker, and Nightmare Moon are victims of or results of unnatural and very powerful magic that took the elements a thousand or more years and several uses to 'save', 'restore', or 'redeem' them. Given the results of each use so far on top of the support from 6 national heroes and the royal family, the nation shouldn't cause much if any trouble at all, especially if Eris's side of her history is ever included in history and the education system." "Still ain't right." Applejack said "Neither is punishing and demonizing them long after their crimes or lack thereof have been payed for in Eris's case. Silence isn't lying if you're that opposed to this, neither is telling part of the truth or bending it." "Does this mean I get to throw a party for everypony?" HOLY FUCK I forgot Pinkie was here "If you want to do so I won't stop you, it might help them anyway." she started shaking and bouncing in place, why do I feel the floor shaking? "YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN AND-" oh God she's at it again. NOPE, I grabbed Eris and Misty and asked the princesses and they're dark halves if they would like to bail, sadly they couldn't, but Daybreaker and Nightmare were able to so I shadow jumped most of the way to our room "I still cannot stand to be around even a single one of them." "They mean well, they're just um, what's the word I'm looking for?" Misty asked "Naïve, innocent, ignorant, judgemental?" "All the above?" Day and Night asked "Yeah, those." "Well, while we're waiting, I'll be back in a few minutes. I want to see how Blueblood's doing." "He's dead isn't he?" Night asked "He is, but Ryan is in possession of his soul." Day pointed out "What have you done to him so far?" Eris asked "Nothing SHE or the other slavers haven't already done to their victims for the most part. Time flows as I see fit there so one day here could be a year there if I wanted, by now she's probably endured almost a year or so of that torture." "What do you mean by she?" Misty asked "I turned him into a little filly who's just old enough to have children." everyone looked at me horrified "WHAT? Ryan, none of us can even begin to describe how fucked up that is!" "I haven't even touched much less look at him/ her like that. All I did was make a few copies of people he/ she knew and might have loved and let them have their way. As I said, nothing has been done to him that he hasn't already done to others just for being 'beneath' him. You want fucked up? Try having all his memories and seeing a child no older than 8 years old on her knees with her head between my legs and another guy right behind her, try seeing a father being so drugged up and brainwashed that he rapes and impregnates his own daughter and or that same father being forced to kill his own son while in that state just because his son dropped a tea cup. What are the odds that father killed himself after realizing what he had done. 9 months later the newborn foal is subjected to the same fate as it's mother and dies that same day. I have all his memories from HIS POV and it sickens me to the point I'm tempted to cut off my own genitals because I feel so FUCKING FILTHY!" tears began building up in my eyes as Eris and Misty latched onto me "I'm sorry, why didn't you tell us? ANY of us?" she asked "What good would it have done, telling everyone I have all the memories of a guy who embodies just about everything I hate?" "We would have helped you, we still would." Eris said I held them close as I let myself lose control, Day and Night joining us after a little bit. I think I'll check on Blueblood later. > The one who was forgotten > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV I truly do wish I could forget Blueblood's memories, but to do so intentionally would be an act of cowardice and I still need to look through them to see if we missed anyone. For now though, I would've prefered to do anything to get my mind off that, and Misty and the others were doing just that as they kept us on better topics. I'm expecting the princesses to be done with the 6 soon so we can hopefully get them and their other halves to get along, or at least be civil with each other. We decided to wait for them to come by watching Claymore and about 10 minutes in they joined us so we restarted the first episode. None of them could keep their eyes off each other, but at least they weren't causing problems, they'll have to talk that out though as this can't be good for them. The princesses made an announcement the next day explaining the situation with Eris, Daybreaker, and Nightmare which also had the effect of helping Luna's image and reminded their subjects that even Celestia is flawed, even she is fallible. That same week the trials were finally scheduled and we found the last of the slavers, I was in a very good mood so I was going to take as many alive as I could after giving the slaves a chance to hurt them, but the big shots either killed themselves or were killed by the wildlife in their attempts to escape. I also got around to making a few weapons for almost everyone, Celestia got Dawnbreaker (Skyrim), Daybreaker got Ashbringer (Diablo 3), Luna got the Bloodborne version of the Moonlight Greatsword, and Nightmare got a new scythe named Silver Crescent (fires spinning blades of Darklight, more power as the moon rises and becomes more visible). I couldn't think of a weapon for Misty and Eris, not that Eris should need one, but it's the thought that counts, I'm thinking an estoc or a rapier of some kind for Misty and maybe a whip sword (snake sword?) for Eris. I decided to start learning unicorn magic while I was waiting. "So any luck?" I heard Misty ask as she entered the library "A good amount actually. Unicorn magic seems to have many of the same rules and principles as my own. Having Blueblood's memories and magic seems to be beneficial so far, his experience seems to have been added to mine as you can see." I lifted every book off the shelf using unicorn magic and put them back "I have no real trouble using it, just separating it from my own. Having magic besides elemancy is going to be pretty useful." "Still hard at work even after everything that's happened in just the past week, not to mention everything else since the ceremony." she walked behind me and wrapped her arms around me "Why don't we all take some time off once everything settles down, maybe see about inviting the others? I'm sure getting out of the castle for a short vacation will do everyone some good." I thought about it before answering "Sounds like a plan. Maybe a month at the latest after the trial we can do something, the 7 of us." I pulled her head down for a kiss "Hopefully it won't be that long." she said on her way out, turning before leaving "Before I forget, what'd you do with that one diamond dog?" FUCK I FORGOT "Emily! Please tell me that dog is still alive." I said after calling her, it took a few seconds for her to respond "The dog is still alive. I figured you would forget during your minor psycho episode and kept him alive until you needed him. He tried to escape, but a warning of the many traps he would face convinced him not to keep trying." "Have I ever told you you're my favorite AI?" seriously, have I "No, this is the first you've ever complimented me." come again "Wait, really?" "Yes you pretentious asshole." woah where'd that come from "Is she even programmed for that?" Misty asked "I included the additional programs myself after a time." Emily said. "Still thanks, can you tell the princesses I need to retrieve someone from the bunker for me Misty?" "Sure thing, see you later then." "Thanks, be back in a bit." I decided to sprint it this time and used lightning to enhance my speed and wind to propel me a good distance I don't think I'm doing that again. Splinters hurt, splinters in your mouth and eyes hurt worse. At least I found my eyes can also regenerate from near destruction, but that is not an experience I would like to repeat. Walking in I a minute to remember which room the dog was in and decided if only because of his cooperation I would see about him getting a lighter sentence. If his profession wasn't slavery even before Ragnarok's involvement I would've seen about a year or 2 of time served if community service was out of the question, but sadly that's not the case. Approaching the door I thought of how to deal with him, I remembered he called me 'new alpha' so he shouldn't be too much trouble if he's going to obey even if it's out of fear. I decided to wing it for the most part and opened the door to find him asleep on the couch in here, I lightly shook him awake from a distance just to be safe. "Hey dog, alpha's here." I said softly getting a reaction from him "Uuuuggghh wha?" he awoke and let his eyes adjust before they shot open and he backed away fearfully before getting himself under control "Alpha? Where you been? We leave now for new den?" "Something like that. If you haven't already eaten you can do so before we leave, we have an important few days ahead." "I already eat, no worry about dog." convenient "That's good, then we leave now for our new home." I almost feel bad for this, but it has to happen anyway. I suppose I could use him, but anything he can do for me my pets can do better especially if I make them sentient or even sapient if I really need to. Why train a dog when you can make several magical constructs that are better in every way? Everyone back at the castle was anything but amused "You waited this long to tell us about this?" I heard Luna say in a slightly raised voice with a tone of disbelief as the dog was begging for mercy while being dragged away "To be fair, I'm pretty sure I told you about the dog when we first met." "He does have a point sister, even if it isn't a very good one." Celestia said "I don't see what the problem is, this just means one less slaver we have to deal with." Eris said oblivious to the other reasons "This means there will have to be another trial as he had nothing to do with the slave trade." Misty pointed out "I don't suppose we could just burn him alive can we?" Daybreaker asked "I think I already burned him. No, I shot ice at him, my bad." I said "Freeze him then?" Nightmare asked knowing the answer "No, if only because of his cooperation I'll see about him getting a lighter sentence. I may as well repay the debt a little." "We will deal with him after the trial." Celestia said "Fine by me. Maybe after the trials we can all go somewhere? Misty suggested it given everything that's happened in the past week alone, I agreed it would do us all some good." "I suppose we could for a few days at least. What did you 2 have in mind?" Luna asked "Nothing yet, but we've got long enough to prepare as we hoped to do it a month after the trial at the latest" "We should do it, we would all finally have a chance to get out of the castle." Eris said "It's settled then. We will take a short vacation within a months time after the trial." Celestia said with a smile "We will be looking forward to it." Nightmare said on her way out "A few days out does sound like fun." Daybreaker said joining her I think I'll enjoy it all > The magic further explained > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My herdmates, specifically Nightmare and Luna asked me to try to explain my magic as best I could and to save time I wrote it all down. They wanted me to teach them once they learned unicorn magic and my magic have many similarities so I tried my best at teaching them, but it seems to either be exclusive to me, I'm not a good teacher, or they are having too much trouble separating their magic from the one I use. The following is the best I could do to explain it all. The elements are water, earth, fire, wind, lightning, light, dark, and arcane, and there are several secondary elements and element combinations. That much they knew already, but I felt it was best to start from the beginning anyway. I suppose I should start with the most well known and used in this world: Arcane. Arcane is magic in it's purest form and used in everything ponies do. Unicorns use it to shape the world around them, but need their horns to do so. Pegasi use it in while flying, manipulating clouds, and manipulating weather. Earth ponies use it for their strength, endurance, and farming. The main difference isn't what it's used for, but who uses it and how, I'll start with the unicorns. Unicorns at best can mimic what I do, same as the others to some extent, but unicorns are closer in that regard. Where I freeze the moisture in the air to make ice, they have to spread their magic and lower the temperature only managing to freeze physical objects. Arcane is the root and all the branches from the looks of it. Pegasi use it to add more power into their wings to make up for their small size, it is converted when a pegasus repeatedly jumps on a cloud creating lightning or rain, and somehow makes clouds solid if that hasn't been implied yet. Their magic takes shape under specific circumstances, but they seem to be in control when such things happen. Earth ponies I already stated, with all this information taken into account I believe each race has a specific attunement if you will. Arcane and if the princesses are anything to go off of Light and Dark with differing attunements to other elements seem to be for unicorns. Pegasi seem to be naturally attuned to wind, lightning, and strangely enough water to a small extent. Earth ponies seem to be strongly attuned to earth with strangely enough some light, specifically life element. I believe if these races learned to channel their arcane energy and not just use it if that makes sense they could be so much more. Earth ponies could become near indestructible or grow entire farms in seconds, pegasi could wield the power of storms with ease, and unicorns could really only improve on what they've got. Each pony would have a limit that can be very obvious just from the name or cutie mark, Twilight would be very strongly attuned to arcane, Celestia and Daybreaker would be arcane, light, and fire, and Nightmare and Luna would be arcane, dark, and water. Others like Spitfire would be special cases as she would be wind and fire or an earth pony guard named Sunlight Blade (your thoughts are the same as mine) would have some attunement to light and fire or if this would be like Dark Souls he would be attuned to lightning, or a thestral named Cold Heart who would probably be attuned to dark because his heritage, wind, and water. I will be using other sources as reference for some of the following. Water is as I can describe it, will itself. It can be calm or raging, it can be frozen, cold, warm, hot, or evaporated. While some knowledge on fire magic would be needed for such a thing it is still deadly even without. If used right can be a source of energy or a tool in more ways than you'd expect. While I haven't tried these myself, I could use it as a blade in a sense as back in my day we used it to cut through steel because of the force behind it. If one series from back then called Avatar is right about one thing it might be able to heal people, but light, life, and divine healing will always be better so if I try that it will be out of curiosity and not a desire to use it. Water is more dependent on force from what I've seen. Earth is well, I can't really describe it as well as I would want. It is unmoving, it is resolve, and under most circumstances unbreakable. Have you ever heard someone say something like 'his is a heart of stone' or 'his will is as strong as iron'? It is strength and ones resolve in one of the purest forms. An adept at using earth would be hard to knock down, tank most physical attacks, and hit several times harder. Also using Avatar as a reference the user could have a very well trained sense of touch and be among the most aware, a little blind girl was among the best earth benders because she could feel vibrations made from ants crawling at least 50 ft away. She could even tell when someone was lying by feeling for changes in their heartbeat, earth is adaptable to say the least, though mostly suited for defense. Wind is freedom and potentially as adaptable as earth. The user could fly, increase their own speed, create strong gusts of wind like I did in Ponyville, or act as a near impenetrable defense and deadly offense. It's kind of hard to block a weapon you can't see and pierce an invisible shield that shreds anything that gets near it. It's also among the least violent as the user should be able to pull the air out of someones lungs or move the wind at such speeds it prevents oxygen from reaching the person in the middle of it. Of course it still has it's weaknesses as it's more speed and dexterity based than the others. Applying the kind of force I mentioned is hard even for me, and I technically invented it. Fire is several things. It is emotion, ambition, it could feel like a little heartbeat or it could be an inferno, but the key factor behind it is breath. Most might hold their breath during a strike, fire requires the user to 'build and store energy' then release it. Think of how dragons breath fire, it would be kind of hard to do so without air. While breath is required, it is fueled by one's desires and emotions. A conquerer who is absolutely livid and well trained in fire could possibly defeat a dragon at it's own game. Lightning is energy and also very difficult to use and thus more dangerous than the previous ones, even referred to as 'cold blooded fire' in Avatar as well, but I managed to master it. It requires a calm mind and constant steady movements, but can be bypassed at the cost of weaker spells. Once generated it will need to be moved at a constant pace or else it will launch itself in the direction it was moving last, think of it as energy being passed around and once an opening is made it releases itself. For anyone but a master the lightning will simply blow up in a person's face if they are not calm, the mind doesn't need to be empty, but the user can't be angry, excited, or nervous. Light is self explanatory, it is positive emotion, thoughts, and memories. It can heal, protect, and if necessary purge or even bend the light around you or make it pass through you doing something similar to camouflage. To be honest, I was terrified when I first used it. I felt like how a child would feel getting scolded by it's mother one moment, then just as fast it changed to excitement, joy, and pride. I was so confused I didn't use it for months, then when I tried again I re-experienced several memories, all the good moments and highlighting any with Misty. When it finished I was crying as I felt like everyone I ever loved was right there in that moment. Users should keep this in mind when using light or dark: 'the line between light and dark is so very thin, be certain you know which side you're on'. Dark is also self explanatory, but it is entirely dependent on the user. That shadow could be your friend, or your worst nightmare, where there are shadows there are weapons, where there are people, well let's just say it's very dark inside the body. To me it felt like an old friend, one who has always been beside me. It is the same as light in several ways, but takes it a step further. Where light would purge a necromancer, dark would protect the necromancer depending on how and why they use it. A necromancer who uses condemned criminals and dead animals for self defense or acting as a 'grave warden' and protecting graveyards while letting the dead rest peacefully is more likely to be protected than a necromancer who makes a zombie plague to help him rule the world. To use dark, one would need to fuel it with negative emotions, but unlike light, it's base power never decreases unless you will it to, a person who has only known pain, hate, and rage will be much stronger than an expert, but will still lose due to inexperience. There are several risks to this though, if the user has not confronted and beaten or acquired the willing assistance of their 'demon' they will be weaker and more vulnerable to it. I bypassed this as I embraced my darkness and rejected the light years ago, but I found a new light later. Those in the dark will learn one simple truth and it's that the real demons are inside us. Now we move to the secondary elements: metal, polarity, blood, heat, chaos, life, divine, death, abyss, ice, soul, and void. These are all the next stages or combinations of magics. Metal and polarity (magnetism) are the next stages of earth, shaping metal and controlling it such as slightly changing the course or speed of your opponent's sword. Blood is mostly just water manipulation inside a body, but can become easier if there are enough of certain magnetic minerals such as iron in the blood and ice is a little easier to make if you have some knowledge of fire magic as heat is taken away thus creating ice. Heat as I've said is fire, but manipulating the temperature instead of creating a souce of heat, this can confuse pyromancers for cryomancers though pyros won't be able to use the ice anywhere near the extent of a cryo. Chaos, life, death, divine, and abyss magic are really just varying degrees of fire, light, or dark combined with arcane. Life and death are self explanatory, but death kills using different methods such as poison, decay, pestilence, or just sudden death while life can stop and reverse it all if the person still lives or if the soul is still linked to the body. The more color in the eyes the better. Abyss and divine magic are the 'primordial' light and dark. Comparing dark or light fire to abyssal or divine fire would be comparing a candle to a forest fire, and unlike dark fire, abyssal burns can't be healed without divine magic, and divine flame is only as deadly against what the user defines as evil. Abyss magic also attacks the soul of the victim and the user user if the user isn't careful, but divine would be able to heal this. Chaos is just a crimson colored and more powerful fire that only got it's name from Dark Souls, though these flames are strange in a way I can't figure out, they are adaptable to an extent as I've made green, purple, and blue flames depending on what is being combined with it and how much of each is added. Soul magic is believe it or not equal in power to abyss and divine in raw power, but more costly as it draws from your own soul, specifically the power in it. Aside from feeling drained faster in exchange for more power the user wouldn't have any problems. While VERY dangerous, the user can disconnect their soul from the body and either explore or 'connect' with other souls and any number of things could happen. The user can try to kill the person, they could switch bodies, enter another's mind, or find refuge in another vessel. Void is hard and simple to explain. Depending on the user's emotional state there will always be very faint traces of light or dark magic, if the person has a clear mind their emotions will be easier to control, if the emotions are 'shut off' they will draw from the void instead of their own magic or soul. The void is the hardest to use because of this as the 'door' is either wide open or shut locked tighter than Fort Knoxx, but the power is so vast and great it doesn't seem to have an end, as if the void is power itself. Fire that will never burn out, earth that can be shaped into anything from anything and become indestructible, water that never changes form unless willed to, ice that won't melt or break, true blood manipulation, lightning that doesn't need a container and gives seemingly infinite energy, wind that can cut through anything regardless of velocity, the void can also erase anything, even erase injuries and possibly erase or undo someone's death thus achieving true immortality and resurrection. The void is for lack of a better way to put it the end or a never ending cycle, it could end said cycle. Time and space are irrelevant, foreign concepts to the void, it just exists yet it doesn't, it's very existence is a paradox. 'Power without reason is nothing more than a will for destruction', as I said it IS power, but the lack of emotions can easily take a turn for the worst for without emotions we are left without desire, necessity, and morality, all we have left is memory. To truly be hollow would be to become as bad if not worse than how I was once, and I left my own mother for dead after having witnessed her get mugged by a guy with a knife. What better way to gain power or prove you are stronger than to not just kill, but erase, return everything to nothingness? A true Void mage would either exist simply just because, or would be the destroyer I chose not to be. I fear this power so I have only used it for mere seconds at a time. > Trial, Vacation Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Griever POV The past week has been fun, and by fun I mean FUN! We got through the trials with everyone involved being found guilty of all charges, I was able to let the former slaves get their revenge (the others don't need to know), and I convinced the princesses to give different sentences to the fools who actually tried to deny their guilt (all of them). I asked that any who were found guilty would have their horns split in half and broken off if they were a unicorn, defeathered with their wings scorched for good measure if a pegusus, and the tendons in their arms and legs severed if they were an earth pony. I also convinced them to burn their crimes into their flesh in places they can't hide, and one lash of a barbed whip for each victim. Even Nightmare and Daybreaker were against handing out such punishments, but I told them I would make sure they didn't hear about it and all the fear and hate would go to me and eventually they all let me do it my way. Here are a few highlights. "AAAAAAAAHHHH NO PLEASE NO! I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING JUST KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ME!" One noble shouted as I just sat there smiling something like this. I can't for the life of me figure out why he was so scared. "You can't do this to me! I've done nothing wrong! Who cares what happens to those filthy peasents? You are all BENEATH ME!" Shouted another. I used blood magic and hit where it hurts the most and got a REALLY high pitched sound out of him as he keeled over. I walked up to him and reminded him of my existence as I stepped on his knee and applied almost enough pressure to break it. "You've done nothing wrong? Last I checked commoners have the same rights, privileges, and protections as nobles. I also seem to recall you not only being in the presence of royalty, but you being stripped of your title or did that come after. You dare to claim innocence after all you've done? Perhaps I should have left you to the wolves, or made my own." I stepped away and continued I think the word I'm looking for is castrating him. "I didn't do anything I swear! The other Wonderbolts can back me up on this." Soarin lied, but I decided to play along "So you mean to tell me that Blueblood's memories were false? Or perhaps you being here is a case of mistaken identity?" Celestia asked before I could do so. "Yes your honor." I chose this moment to step in "May I ask you fellow Wonderbolts to confirm a few things then?" I asked him "Yes, I have nothing to hide." We both know that's bullshit "Can you recall where you were and what you were doing on the following dates in the past year: May 16, May 28, June 7, June 20, July 12, July 15, July 29, and August 3?" Having Blueblood's memories is so useful "I'm sorry, I can't remember sir." Perhaps your teammates can help I thought as I turned to Fleetfoot and Spitfire "Would you two happen to remember?" I asked, Spitfire was the first to respond "The only thing I can tell you is after a few years in the Wonderbolts he would often leave in a hurry after everything was done, but wouldn't tell us anything so we let it go after a while." Spitfire said "Do you have anything to add?" I asked Fleetfoot "Not really, I always went straight home after we were done." She said, I turned back to Celestia and Soarin "Memories are quite simple, we don't truly forget anything, we're just incapable of bringing the memories forth. If I wanted to I could go into mine and probably anyone elses minds and recall their first moments in the world with perfect clarity. No matter how we remember it the mind keeps a sort of 'backup file' in case it gets corrupted. You were in those memories of Blueblood, you were also buddies with him." He slammed his hands on the wood "THAT'S A LIE! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Rrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaalllllyyyy "Luna, if you would." I said walking to her and she touched my forehead with herr horn as she brought forth the memories. Each one that had Soarin anyway, to say everyone there was disgusted and livid is an understatement. "THAT'S NOT ME I SWEAR!" He shouted "Memories don't lie. I'm going to leave you three alone to talk out your frustrations now." I smiled like Popo does and did my best impression of him "Byyyyeee." And with that I left. It took us almost a whole week to get through the trials, but it was worth it. By that point we all agreed to get that vacation as soon as possible and by that I mean we made preparations THE DAY it all ended. We all decided to rent out a very nice beach house for a week and if only because I had so much money I payed for everything. I didn't even know I had that much money, but I should have expected it given all the tech I've given and music I've 'produced' (it's not plagierism, no one can sue me for quite literally reviving music predating the existence of everyone in this world) and me being a prince. Eris, Nightmare, and Daybreaker didn't really have anything of their own yet so I took them all shopping for whatever caught their eyes. The only problem was almost everyone cowering in fear of them, I think me being with them only made it worse considering how I've acted so far would be comparable to a Mad King or in a few cases Vlad The Impaler brutal if not worse. We got some decorations and other essentials not already in their rooms, or Nightmare and Daybreaker anyway since Eris who was coiled around my neck and sleeping for a while shares the same room as Misty and I (she is so cute like that). We finished almost everything in about 3-ish hours and started looking for clothing suitable for a beach and all I can say is Nightmare and Daybreaker looked absolutely HOT in purple and orange respectively (and those eyes did nothing to help with my raging erection). Eris didn't need a bikini or anything like that considering she can just use her magic to cover herself up as much as necessary. Once we got everything I helped them set up their rooms despite their protests which were conveniently right next to ours and just like they already felt comfortable enough to kiss me. I didn't expect such a thing so soon, but I wasn't complaining about anything other than being a little shorter than them as I stood eye level to their necks. We had spent most of the day fixing up their rooms and had actually skipped lunch and almost missed dinner, but I would say it was all worth it. While we had already made preparations, we still needed to give a few days notice before departing. Thankfully those trials gave us an excuse to take a few days off and instead leave any work that doesn't need the sisters attention to Cadence (my idea, I'm not apologizing). The day has come, we're all at the train station awaiting our momentary salvation and we've been at this for a few hours. Good thing I brought enough entertainment for all of us in the forms of portable gaming systems (I want Luna on my team in all games, somehow beat Feral Chaos in Dissida the first time you see him), music, and visual entertainment. "Finally!" Celestia said to my surprise when the train came into view "You sound like you need this the most." I said "I've been ruling alone with no real time off for over 1,000 years, and things have only become more hectic since you were found." Not sure how to respond to that "I'm sorry if I sounded ungrateful or anything of the sort." "It's fine, I certainly won't deny my guilt for most of that anyway." And boy do I regret not killing them in funnier ways. I'm certain I could have replicated some ways to die from 100 ways to die in Skyrim or other fun shit "Sooooo any ideas on what we should do first?" Eris asked, I haven't really thought this one through "Maybe we could go sight seeing first? Or go to the beach first? I'm sure Daybreaker would want that." Misty said "Are you trying to make a joke about my mane and tail?" Daybreaker asked playing along with a slightly aggressive tone. Just before Misty could answer though the train stopped and opened it's doors It took only a minute or so to get our stuff on board and find a good seat. We had the whole train to ourselves so it was a matter of how far we wanted to be and what side we wanted. I've never been on a train before unless you count InFamous and a few others I can't think of so it'll be another new experience for me. We found our seats, each capable of holding 2 people with chairs facing each other and a table between them. Misty pulled Eris close and turned to me before signalling I should sit with the others. Understanding her reasoning I went along with it and made my own chair connecting to the sisters and their darker halves thanks to Blueblood's magic. "Sooo how have my favorite princesses been? And yes, you're included too in this Daybreaker and Nightmare." I said trying to help them all relax. Nightmare was the first to respond "To be honest, I think I speak for Luna as well when I say we are not too sure about this method of travel." Oh, alright then "Hey don't worry." I said leaning across the table to hug her and Luna "I've never been on a train either so you two won't suffer alone." I said joking with them. Both accepted the hug and kissed me to my surprise. That didn't surprise me, but both of them doing that right then and there while both were present did. I returned the kiss before leaning back into my seat and turning to face Celestia and Daybreaker. "I'm guessing my favorite pyros want some as well (I'm not sorry Daybreaker)?" I asked spreadinng my arms in an inviting manner. Celestia instantly accepted and latched on to me and Daybreaker looked at me unamused. "Okay I'll stop with the fire jokes." "Thank you Griever." She said doing the samething Celestia did "Please, call me Ryan, all of you." All their faces lit up as if they've wanted to hear those words since day 1, and Luna and Nightmare looked like they wanted to be in Celestia's and Daybreaker's places. As much as I love them, they'll have to wait a little bit. They can have me when their sisters need to get up for whatever reason. > Vacation part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Misty POV Looking over to Ryan during my conversation with Eris and I can't help but smile even more for him. Nightmare and Luna switched places with their sisters sometime in the past 10 minutes and they seem to be just as cuddly as Eris. You wouldn't be wrong if you said he's having the time of his life right now. On his way to a beautiful beach house with not one, but 6 girlfriends, 2 (technically 4) of them being princesses, not much can ruin this for him. He would probably give cancer to whoever did ruin it for us, and no I don't mean the illness, I mean he would give a Ugandan Knuckles to whoever did so. I know he did for one noble who thought it was a good idea to call me a deformed Diamond Dog and Eris an abomination that broke out of the lab. "So how did you and Ryan meet?" Eris asked, moving to another topic. "Oh, he told me to 'get lost you worthless whore' after I asked him if he needed help fixing his roof." Eris was shocked to say the least. "He actually said that to you?" She asked. "Yup, it was a rocky start to say the least. I had just moved into the area and saw the hurricane the day before did a number on it. I ignored his insult and constant refusal to accept help and helped him anyway." She raised a brow. "Good to him before you even learned his name, I'm sure anypony else would have walked away after that. I get the feeling that was considered an impossibility to him?" You have no idea. "It took 2 months before he told me his real name, another month for the insults to stop, 3 more months for him to call me a friend, and another 4 months for him to ask me out." Eris just looked at me like I was insane. "It took you almost a whole year to get that close to him? Just how bad were his trust issues?" She asked somewhat afraid of the answer. "You don't want to know, he was damaged to say the least. After he started having those kinds of feelings for me he was more untrusting to himself than me. I can't tell you how many times he would almost cry after even the smallest mistake or how after we started sharing a bed that he woke up clinging to me like his life depended on it." Eris had a sad look on her face that quickly changed to a blushed look of curiosity. "You were practically his world to him. Speaking of sharing a bed, how was your first time with him?" I was wondering when that would come up. "He was surprised and scared to say the least. I was going to wait until our anniversary to get that intimate with him, but he decided to get me this necklace a month before so I thought it was only fair." I showed her a white gold necklace with a cross and a sapphire in the center. She had a sort of knowing grin looking between me and him. "You practically forced yourself on him didn't you?" She asked. "What? No! Okay maybe a little, I came on to him and he certainly didn't complain. He was more speechless and reluctant at first, but I changed his mind quickly enough." I couldn't help but laugh on the inside as that memory was brought up. She looked back to the others for a moment. "So how long do you think it'll be before they want a piece of him too?" She asked as she made a small bed on the table with small dolls of everyone in it. "I don't think it'll be long. Heh, I hope he brought Losvayne because he might need it by the end of the week." I wonder who'll jump him first? I'm thinking it'll be Nightmare or Luna, but now that I think about it the others may be just as likely. Guess we'll see later. Ryan POV So right now I'm practically pinned to my seat by Nightmare and Luna, both with their arms and wings wrapped around me and only thing I can say is this is comfortable. The smell of nightshade isn't unpleasent either. Reaching my hands up from their shoulders I started scratching them behind their ears and they made the most adorable sound, close to a cat purring, but not quite. Their manes feel funny by the way, my hands feel like they're in water, but it's tingling, and all the stars in their manes are being drawn towards my hands. Celestia and surprisingly Daybreaker's manes felt similar, just warmer and more 'active'. "Ooohh this feels so nice." Nightmare said, tilting her head a little. "Indeed." Luna agreed, wrapping her limbs around me a little tighter. "Careful, he might like the attention too much if you keep smothering him like that." Daybreaker warned them. Did I forget to mention their breasts were close enough to my head I could have used them as pillows? Both of their faces lit up and they backed up a little to give me some breathing room, not that I was complaining either way. "So any ideas once we get settled?" Only thing that comes to my mind is spending the day at the beach. I didn't really get out much and this is honestly my first vacation so I'm not exactly the person to go to for this. I probably should have asked for recommendations like a few restaurants or theaters, maybe see what they think about amusement parks if there are any. "Well a few movies you were planning to show us have already received modern adaptations so perhaps we could see them? The two being shown today are our versions of Hercules and Aladdin I believe, though I can't remember the names of those movies." Celestia suggested. Good start I suppose and my God do they work quick! It hasn't even been a year and they've already remade those? I hope those were just advertisements and not the actual movies or I'll have to hurry up and show them Lion King before they butcher it like they probably did to these two. This is my childhood we are talking about (before it got fucked in every direction)! "Alright, unless we've got other ideas I guess we're doing that first. Hopefully they didn't rush it and butcher it like I think they did." If they did I'm getting my money back and sueing someone if I can. "There are a few sights worth seeing, one of which requires a Bloodmoon though for the full view. Luckily one such moon is scheduled tomorrow night." Nightmare suggested. "I definitely want to see that then. I've never seen one and I didn't think the moon being a different color would change the reflection enough for something like that then." Shocking right? Older than every living creature in the world and I haven't seen one. That changes soon. Luna and Nightmare tightened their hold on me as their lips met mine this time. "Then we will make this special for you!" Both of them said at the same time which got a laugh out of me. "Define special?" Take the not so obvious bait. "It will be the most beautiful sight of your life." Luna said. "But why would Misty need a Bloodmoon to look more beautiful?" They didn't take the bait so this is my revenge for not at least humoring my perverted mind. They gave me a look of disbelief before they heard me laughing. "I'm sorry, it was too tempting. In all seriousness though I am looking forward to it, and not just because I haven't seen one before." "We would be happy to show you one you will never forget." Nightmare said. The train ride continued for a while, we would be on this train until morning at the earliest. We passed the time listening to music and playing games a little bit, playing Destiny again thanks to Emily (she says hi by the way) actually made me want to try to remake Thorn and Last Word, I've already done the swords and got them stashed in the bunker. As the ride came close to another city I asked if the conductor could stop the train for a bit and let us get a bit of air to which he agreed. I never did get to help the others learn their weapons which are stored in their own little pocket dimensions to my surprise, I didn't know anything but Void magic could do that. Incase the reader forgot their weapons- Luna has Bloodborne's Moonlight Greatsword. Celestia has Skyrim's Dawnbreaker. Nightmare has a scythe of my own making called Silver Crescent. Daybreaker has Diablo 3's Ashbringer (not the corrupted one). Now I should note that I made slight modifications to their weapons. Maximum power changing as night and day come around being one change. There enchantments were also changed quite a bit as well. Dawnbreaker for example already did fire, but I added arcane and light to it, but arcane will only take effect if Celestia casts any magic with it in her hands, and light will only take effect if she casts light obviously. Ashbringer already did a lot of light (holy) damage, all I did was add arcane and fire to that as well. The Moonlight Greatsword already did a lot of arcane damage, but it's description in Bloodborne mentioned 'waves of darklight' so I added a fair amount of light and dark. The dark part though is what becomes more powerful at night, light will be dependent on the lunar phase. Silver Crescent is similar to Moonlight, but lacks arcane power, instead that extra power was converted to light and dark. Thinking about those enchantments now it makes me wonder how much they would change if at all when eclipses or Bloodmoons come around. Just the thought is making me want to see it all more. Teaching them how to use their weapons was a slow process, but they got it eventually. Luna and Nightmare though were having a bit of difficulty firing the waves because of a slight mistake on my part that I was able to fix. Turns out I forgot to take into account their attunement to dark and for their versions of the weapons to work properly I had to put a few seals on the dark power since apparently light and dark need to be at a 1-1 ratio for the waves to work right, otherwise the weapons form cracked magic coating and explode (they and the weapons were fine. This also meant I needed to add conditions for the dark power to return by making the returns and reseals entirely dependent on the lunar phases. As the moon becomes more visible, the dark power returns piece by piece, always equal to the light half. By the time I finished helping them get a feel for their weapons Celestia and Daybreaker were able to ignite their weapons, and Luna and Nightmare were able to use the ranged potential on theirs. We got back on the train and enjoyed dinner before just killing time for the next few hours before I decided to call it a night. The train had actual beds in the other car that were separated by a few walls, all big enough for 2 maybe 3 people, perk of being royalty I'd guess. I got under the covers and after a few minutes started to relax enough to go to sleep, now if only I could actually do so alone. It just doesn't feel right without someone next to me, but that will be fixed soon enough. Celestia POV (just after Ryan left) "Alright, you two go with him this time." Misty said pointing to me and Daybreaker. "Come again?" I asked surprised. "You and Daybreaker join him in bed. And please, if you're going to have fun keep it down or I might have to join just to help me sleep." We both blushed as that was brought up. Clearing my head of those thoughts I had a question I would like answered. "Why not you and Eris or Luna and Nightmare?" Simple curiosity. "Me and Eris have had him plenty, Luna and Nightmare have spent more time with him than any of us today. It's only fair." She said. "Alright bu-" "You mean to tell us that you don't want this sister? Spend anymore time here and we might take those spots from you." Luna interrupted. I chose to just stop talking and join him, Daybreaker beside me. Entering the other train car we saw one of the doors already open. Ryan lifted himself up as he spoke when we entered. Ryan POV "Need something? Don't worry, I'm having trouble getting to sleep anyway." I asked the 2 entering the room. My question was answered when the bed shifted as Celestia and Daybreaker got in with me, Celestia to my back and Daybreaker to my front. "Not Misty and Eris this time?" Not complaining either way. "No, she let us go instead, did you want them instead?" Daybreaker asked with a slightly hurt expression on her face. "I'm perfectly fine with this." I said pushing my lips to hers then Celestia after that. "Goodnight." We said to each other as we pulled ourselves closer to each other. It's all up hill from here for now it looks like. > Vacation pt 3. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryan POV Waking up is usually one of the worst parts of the day, for me it's getting out of bed when I'm too comfortable. I would always set the alarm forward another 10-20 minutes if that was the case. Right now is one such moment. I woke up to Daybreaker's chest right in front of my face with Celestia's pressed against my upper back, the shoulders actually. Both their legs overlapping mine, their arms and wings wrapped around me. They looked so peaceful, so adorable, and I was too comfortable to move. Unfortunately morningwood decided to make itself known because of where my head was and I couldn't look down enough to at least see if it was safe to try to tuck it in. Even if she wouldn't mind or if she would've wanted it now is not the time or place for such activities. God, Faust, or whoever must have heard my silent plea as Celestia started waking up. "Hmmm... Comfy?" She asked quietly, hugging me tighter. "Yup. You?" I asked, she turned my head just enough to push her lips to mine. "More than ever, sadly it's time to raise the sun." She said as she got out of the bed and near a window. She opened the curtains just enough to see what she was doing before she lit her horn as well as this half of the world, she made sure to keep the curtains closed so the room was still pretty dark for the most part. While she was doing this though Daybreaker pulled me closer and practically buried my face into her chest, and if that wasn't enough little me is now poking her, how far down I don't know. I don't feel anything off so I could just be poking part of her leg and... Okay that's not her leg. "*moan* Ryan... If you w... Only ask..." Daybreaker mumbled in her sleep. 'What?' I thought to myself as Celestia crawled back into the bed and retook as much of her previous position as she could. This roused Daybreaker from her slumber who immediately took notice of our position and blushed as she also took notice of little me then got a seductive look on her face. "Well that's certainly something you should take care of, though I wouldn't mind helping with that, especially after that dream I was having with you." She said, slowly tracing her finger up to my neck to tilt it up some. I hugged her tighter and gave her ass a squeeze getting a moan out of her. "Later. Now is not the time nor place for those kinds of activities, especially if you and your sisters are screamers, and by screamers I mean RCV screamers. I handled a few rounds with Misty and Eris just fine, but if any of the others decide they want to join I don't think I'll be able to keep it up, doesn't help that I forgot to bring Losvayne with me." She looked disappointed for a moment, but accepted my answer. "Hm, pity. I will hold you to that though. Celestia, care to join then?" She asked, turning my attention to her. Celestia's face was noticeably red and she had trouble responding. I turned over and placed a hand on her cheek in an attempt to calm her down. "If you're not ready by then that's perfectly fine. It's not like I'm expecting you to do something you're not comfortable with. You want to join that's fine, you want it just the two of us that's fine, you want to wait a while longer that's fine, you don't want to get on your knees or bend over that's fine as well. You're ready when you're ready, No one's judging you." I said. She relaxed and pulled herself closer, I swear I'm like a body pillow right now. "Thank you. Are you sure you don-" She started. "It'll go away on it's own, not thinking about plowing those perfectly shaped asses of yours helps enough. Instead I'm thinking about just enjoying this comfortable bed with two of my favorite ladies and what we're going to do on this vacation." I interrupted. I've got my eyes closed right now and I can almost tell that they're blushing, Daybreaker's flames also shot up a little so there was that as well. I felt Daybreaker lowering one of her hands to my lower waist, but just before she could Emily called. "Ryan we talked about this before." Emily said. "Really? I don't remember a conversation against me staying in bed to cuddle whoever else was in it." I said innocently. "You know what I mean damnit. I mean staying in bed because you're comfortable and not tired!" She tried to remind me. "And you didn't bring this up for the past few months why?" I asked. Now that I think about it I'm surprised a mute button was never installed. "Because Misty and Eris were still asleep unlike you and these two, now you and the solar sisters need to get your butts out of bed, your train should be stopping within the hour." "But I don't wanna!" I said childishly. "Do it or I'll give Misty and Eris some... Ideas in bed." She threatened. "Define 'ideas'." Do I even want to know? "Disturbing fetishes from our time as well as any I've thought of, most of which unpleasant." Sorry, not working. "Clearly you don't know them as well as I do, none of us will force anything on the other. The worst we'll do is try to nudge them into it like with Eris and-" "Ryan, I don't need to know of your bedroom activities, especially when I already have a general idea of what was going on." She interrupted. "Whatever, you win, I'm getting up, sorry ladies." I apologized to Celestia and Daybreaker who got out of bed shortly after. "Disappointing." Daybreaker said. "Agreed" Celestia said. Meanwhile with a noble who fucked up badly... "Do u kno de wae my bruda?" A deformed red creature asked for the nth time. "AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!" A noble shouted, madness slowly, but surely sinking in. "Sing wit me my bruda, sing wit me de song of my people. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-" "I WILL KILL YOU!" The noble threatened. In response the creature multiplied, now there are just as many of these funny little creatures as there are servants employed at the estate. "Behold, our battle cry!" The noble began frantically running through the estate as the sound of tongues clicking pursued him, both in an attempt to find a suitable weapon and to escape. What he did not know though was this was only the beginning of his personal hell. "Was it worth it?" A crow asked after flying in through a window, causing the poor soul to turn to it in confusion and horror. "Call her an abomination again! I fucking DARE you to do it you pathetic excuse for a stallion!" The crow said. The stallion blasted it out the window causing it to fade away slowly. "Have fun~." The crow said before finally fading. The noble turned to face the creatures still clicking their tongues. "SPIT ON HIM MY BRUDAS! FOR EBOLA!" The screaming could be heard from the other end of the street. Back to our protagonist(?)... An hour and a half later specifically. The train finally reached the station, it felt good to get off of it. Wasting no time to find the beach house I flew straight up to see where it might be, it was actually pretty close, a cab could get us there quickly. Turns out there's also a carnival not far from the beach as well so definitely something worth checking out. Dropping down I helped the others carry what I could, but that was still a lot to carry so they had to help. It's actually a little funny, I can effortlessly slaughter dragons and entire slave camps, but I can't carry a bunch of suit cases without the Void. Luna assured me it was no trouble, but the gentleman in me says otherwise. Leaving the station we were practically bombarded by the ponies outside of it. To say the reactions were mixed is an understatement. Some were jeering while others were doing the opposite. To be specific some were giving praise and bowing to us, others were demanding my head, some weren't doing anything and looked ready to run out of here, then there were the morons antagonizing Eris, Nightmare, Daybreaker, and Misty. Those ponies coincidentally fell face first into the ground after twisting both their ankles. After leaving them behind we got a cab that surprisingly could carry all our stuff. I payed him a little extra at the end for not causing any trouble and keeping his mouth shut. After he dropped us off we spent a little while getting to the beach and all I can say is the view alone was worth the wait and the money, no signs of pollution or loitering, no one to start trouble, the outside was great. The inside looked like it had just been cleaned, most of the interior actually looked brand new, the kitchen had everything we needed and then some, I think we'll enjoy living here for a while. We spent at least an hour unpacking, Eris didn't have much trouble considering she was literally to just 'poof' everything she needed, Misty didn't pack much, the others did need a little help. It was more of a matter of where to put it rather than who puts their stuff there, each of the 3 bedrooms had multiple dressers, there were 3 bathrooms, plenty of room to put it all. After helping Celestia, Daybreaker, and Nightmare unpack I began to do the same with Luna. I should note that each bed only had enough for 3 people so someone was going to be alone. I offered and since I don't exactly need sleep that would have been an extra bed if anyone needed it, though everyone decided against that, everyone except Luna who took it instead. I wanted to ask if she just wanted her own room or if she was thinking of anyone else here. Reaching into one of her bags I felt something fuzzy, pulling it out I found it was a white teddy bear, I spent so long examining it that I didn't notice Luna practically running up swipe it from my hands. "Be careful with that!" She said. "I'm sorry. Is that precious you? It looks well cared for." I said laying my hand on her shoulder. "It was a gift... From my mother and father... Before they disappeared." She said looking ready to cry. I wrapped my arms around her and ran my fingers through her mane. "Does it have a name?" I asked. "Bright Star, it's name is Bright Star." Luna answered calming down. "I think it's more adorable that you're keeping this, I'm not going to judge you for something like this, you know that right? Besides, you should keep something to remember them by. Tell you what though, if I ever see them I'll beat an explanation out of them if I need to." I said before pulling her in for a kiss. "Thank you, though I hope it won't come to that." She said with a smile on her face. "Luna, be honest with me. Did you want this room because you wanted it to yourself or so you can sleep with the bear without fear of the others judging you?" I asked. She didn't answer. "Would you like me to sleep with you tonight?" I asked, her face became red almost instantly as she stuttered with her response. "Just in the same bed, activities like that don't have to happen if you don't want them. The others won't mind either way, just put up a sound barrier if you do decide you want it. Otherwise you still get to cuddle your bear and I'll cuddle you." After hearing that she calmed down again and kissed me again. "I'll accept that offer Ryan, I look forward to it. Now go on, we'll be leaving soon right?" She asked with a smile on her face. "Yup, I think we'll hit the beach first before we hit one of the carnivals." I responded. "You just want to see us in swimsuits don't you?" She asked knowing what to expect. "Would it surprise you if I said yes, that it's one of the reasons? I'll go get the sunscreen and all that ready, see you and the others in a bit." I answered. "Alright, I'll be out after I put my clothes away." I heard her say on my way out. This vacation is already great in my book. > Rewrite... Eventually... Sorry. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Explanation for this and Burden of Love in this blog here. https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/906359/just-going-to-try-to-keep-the-other-stories-alive > Rewrite: Chapter 1. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryan POV Everything appears to be in order. The generators aren't experiencing any issues, the food is growing without any issues, the heaters and coolers are fine, cameras are still working. I'm not going to list everything, I don't really have the energy anymore. I basically just make sure everything is working now, not like there's much else to do. "You can't keep going on like this." The A.I., Emily said as I was about to dig into the part of the storage room that I changed for alcholol storage. "What would you have me do then?" I asked in response. "Anything but trying to drink away your problems." She answered. "So nothing then? The usual? Do me a favor and don't bother me unless it's important." I told her. "Do you really think she would-" I interrupted her by emitting enough electricity in my hand to block her out for a few seconds. "They're not here anymore so what difference does it make! For the most intelligent A.I. ever programmed and what may as well be the pinnacle of human technology, you really don't understand your creators, do you?" I emphasized 'they' as I asked her, stopping the use of my ability. "I do, actually. I also know they wouldn't want you to keep hurting yourself over them." "Have you found them yet?" I quickly drank about a quarter of the bottle after asking. "Ryan, I keep searching, but I can't find any creature matching what they became." I left the storage room and started making my way towards the cryo pods. "Even after God knows how many years?" "Maybe you could try to get assistance from the races above? Like I've suggested many times now?" She suggested. "Just because your drones have recorded the absence of a language barrier, doesn't mean anything. You've searched everywhere and the closest living thing you've found in basic shape is a dragon." Evolution or mutation is bullshit. "There's still a whole world to sear-" "A world that likely will react negatively toward the last human for one reason or another." I interrupted. "You can't just stay down here and wait for them to come back! Regardless of who's in control!" "And I can't just go out there where nothing but trouble awaits me. Ponies, griffons, diamond dogs, minotaurs, dragons, do you really think they got a warm reception from any of them? Appearances aside, one's definition of 'fun' is usually only such for her, the other is too self-conscious to even come out anymore, and-" "So you won't go out to find the women you love... Why? Because you're scared?" She asked as I finally reached the cryo chamber. "I'm scared of not finding her. I'm scared that they might not even be alive. I'm scared that everything will go to waste and not matter at all!" I admitted like I've done countless times now as I finished the bottle before opening the pod. "They mean the world to you, and rather than search for them, you're going to keep trying to drink away your depression, knowing you can't get drunk nearly as easily as before, praying they'll just come back into your life?" How I wish I didn't have a heart right now, maybe then I wouldn't hurt so much. "Heartbreak is the only thing the outside world has in store for me. That, and persecution, we both know human nature has survived even in the present day, decent enough example being that zebra in the forest." I laid back into the pod and waited for it to close to do it's job. "There's no convincing you, is there?" "Not unless I'm forced to, or if Misty and her passengers are found alive." The pod closed and the temperature started to drop. "*sigh* I'll wake you if something comes up." She relented for now. "Could you please give me the usual dreams?" I requested. I don't exactly have the right considering how I treat her, but it's not like I'll remember much anyway. "Their human form or... Whatever they are now?" "Either or." The pod closed and I was quickly put back to sleep. Twilight POV "Alright, this is what you were talking about, Rarity?" I asked her as we and the rest of the girls arrived at the location she passed by in the mines when she was foalnapped by the Diamond Dogs. "It is. The Dogs said they tried to mine it, but they couldn't even scratch it, not that they would be able to." She answered, her eyes glancing between me and the metal wall in front of us. I'd like to know why or how they thought a wall could be mined in the first place? "What do you think is on the other side?" Fluttershy asked? "I don't know, but there's bound to be an entrance of sorts somewhere. The question is where? These tunnels could stretch for miles and there's only six of us. That's a lot of ground to cover." I answered. "That's not to mention what else might be down here." Applejack added. "I'm sure we can handle any trouble that comes our way!" Rainbow Dash said, confidently. "We shouldn't go picking fights regardless!" Rarity tried to talk some sense into her. "You think they'll like my cupcakes?" Pinkie Pie asked. I'm not sure if she's trying to change the subject or if she's not paying attention. "Still, we don't know what's behind it, and this isn't a metal that Equestria uses much, if at all. Diamond Dogs can scratch steel and even orichalchum, but this still looks pristene, minus the dirt and such." I examined it more closely. "There has to be an entrance somewhere, but this should be held off for the moment." "What??!!" Rainbow Dash said, disappointed. "Whatever this is, it could be a big archeological discovery, and-" I tried to explain. "Yeah yeah, but we're right outside of this thing! Who knows what could be inside!" She interrupted. "We'll look for an entrance, but that's the furthest we'll go before alerting the princess about this!" I relented a little. "Ugh, fine!" She groaned. We kept searching, following along the wall for a while. Just how far does this go? Are we even on the same level as the entrance? I feel-yeah, we're going in circles. I'm calling off the search. "That's enough for today." I said, catching everypony's attention. "You sure, Twi?" Applejack asked. "I'm sure, we've been going in circles since we started looking for an entrance. It might be above us or below us, and it's got to be half way through the evening right now. We'll alert the princess and continue tomorrow." I explained. "C'moooonnn!" Rainbow complained. "Well, if you think it's best." Rarity said, she and the rest following me back to the surface. Once we made it back to Ponyville and went our separate ways, I called for Spike, but got no response. I called again and got a response that time, he was just reading his comics and wasn't paying attention. "Spike, I need you to send a letter." I handed him the paper. "Sure thing, what do you want me to write?" He asked in response. Dear Princess Celestia- > Rewrite: Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Later the next day) Ryan POV Emily opened the pod and waited for me to adjust. My eyes still closed, I got into a sitting position with my legs crossed and rested my head on my hand. "Something up?" I asked, tired. "We usually have that on a timer." "I just thought you'd like to know that the natives are attempting to gain entry." Emily answered. "This place is locked up tighter than Fort Knoxx if it were to have a few dozen layers of- what was Wolverine's skeleton coated with? Not important, and which natives do you mean?" "The ponies. Specifically two of each race, all females." "They're yours to deal with." I told her. "Don't you think it's time to at least try to rejoin society? You've been down here long enough." "If neither have been found, then I'm not interested. Now that I'm awake, I'm getting more alcohol, maybe grab something to eat." I started walking to the door. "Your last meal was days ago, I'm surprised you didn't get any sooner." She commented. "Nothing has any flavor anymore." I thought out loud, not loud enough for her to hear me. "Now about our guests?" "They're yours to deal with." I repeated myself. "You know as well as I do that neither would want you to waste away like this. Please?" Emily is right, but it still hurts. "I'm not repeating myself again." I left the room to go to the mess hall, if you can even call it that. Emily POV Try as I might, I can't get through to him. Misty was all he had after "human nature" finally ran it's course. Well, he said our guests were mine to deal with, so I'll surprise him. He tries to be very specific in his choice of words, but even he slips up every now and then. And I'm going to "milk this for all it's worth" as people said back then. Those dogs tried for a while, but they couldn't even scratch the doors with mining tools, much less claws and fangs. Though they did get a shock when they tried to force their way in. After Ryan helped add it to my systems, I punished their attempts with the sound of a dog whistle through the speakers. That won't be necessary, or useful this time. I viewed them through the retinal scanner and saw "Twilight" taking notes as she examined the door. "C'mon, Twi! Haven't you found out how to open this?" Rainbow said, impatiently. "This is more com-" "Have you tried pushing the green button to the side of the door? The one under the lens with the red light?" I asked her, startling all of them. It wouldn't work anyway, but that's only because they aren't authorized. "Who said that?!" Applejack asked. "I am the A.I. in control of the systems in this bunker, you may call me Emily. You are attempting to gain access to the- shall we say, home of the last humans on Earth." "A.I.?" Rarity repeated. "Artificial Intelligence, not that your civilization would know anything about that. In the simplest terms, think of a pony that was created and operates, depending on if it's a smart one or dumb one, solely on logic and calculations. In my case, I am a smart A.I., designed to be like a human with all the advantages of a computer. Now back to business! He said "you were all mine to deal with", so I'm going to surprise him!" "'Last humans'? But they're extinct! Since long before the Princesses- the unification of the tribes! How is that possible?" Twilight questioned the validity of what I just said. "... 'Extinct' is a very broad term at this point, especially since without humans and what he would refer to as 'their desire to play God', there would be no you. But enough questions. I'm unlocking the door, but keeping all except where the inhabitant of this bunker is locked as I guide you to him." "You're letting us inside?" Twilight asked excitedly. "Yes. Fair warning; he's incredibly unsocial, kind of a dick, and a smart ass. He likely won't be aggressive so much as he will be depressed for personal reasons and trying to drink away his problems even though he can't get drunk anymore. He does however know how to defend himself if he needs to. Keep your hands to yourselves and you should be able to leave unscathed." I warned them. "What's wrong with him?" Fluttershy asked out of what sounded like genuine concern. "... That's a long list, let's leave it at that." Ryan POV "Why is the rum always gone?" I asked no one. Looking to my right, I saw the answer. "Oh! That's why." Nothing but empty bottles over there, anyone else would have died to alcohol poisoning by now, but yet I'm still here. Still I can't decide if that's a good thing. I left the room and wandered around with no particular destination in mind. For what was for all intents and purposes a bomb shelter, it really did not need several of the rooms it has. I can somewhat understand a library, but Emily should have immediate access to most, if not all of what's there. The armory became kind of redundant when it was found out I could use magic like out of a book or RPG, had that dismantled not long after. We don't need a hot tub. None of us necessarily had a problem with it, but we didn't need a game room either. "Everything we could need, but not the one thing we want." I thought to myself. "You have visitors." Emily informed me again. "Clearly you didn't hear me-" "I did, and I decided to let them in." "... God? If you're there, I'm sorry for whatever I did to deserve everything that's going to happen in the near future." I looked up as I said this. "If you're there, please make them leave!" "HI!!!" Something pink just appeared right in front of me without warning. "JES-" That's all I remember before falling back and hitting my head on the floor. > Rewrite: Chapter 3. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emily POV Not what I had in mind. Pinkie managed to move from one side of the room to the other instantly and gave Ryan the jump scare of his life, knocking him unconscious in the process after he fell back. With that said; "How in my creator's name did she move faster than my sensors can detect her??!! These cameras can replay footage at HD 4K quality at a high enough FPS that lightning would strike at a snail's pace!!" I more demanded an answer than requested one. "Your friend's unconscious on the floor, and you're more worried about Pinkie being Pinkie?!" Rainbow questioned my concern for Ryan. "He'll be fine! I know what he can endure, the worst he might get from that is a headache, and we have plenty of painkillers if he needs it. *groan* This is not going how I hoped!" It's been a long time since I've experienced frustration. "How did you hope this would go?" Rarity asked. "I was hoping you might get him to tolerate you, then eventually get him to give the outside world a chance as all of you help him look for his lover after getting him to push past the fear of finding her dead or never at all. Though that may very well have been thrown out the window now!" "We can still help him, I'm sure." Twilight said, unaware of what she was getting into. "Have fun with that." "I'm back, how long was I out?" Ryan quickly regained consciousness. "OhmygoshI'msosuperdupersorryforscaringyououtofyourchair!!!" Pinkie apologized faster than most would understand. "In English, please?!" He groaned, his hand on the back of his head. "She's apologizing to you." I answered. "Whatever." He started leaving, but was stopped by Rainbow. "Hey! My friend is trying to say she's sorry, and you're just gonna leave?!" She said after flying in front of him. "Your point? All of you are invading my home and you think you're in a position to make any sort of demand from me after that? I trust you have the mental capacity to remember your way out, or are you interested in a boot shaped reminder?" He looked at her as if asking if 'she really wanted to play that game'. "Ryan!" I got his attention. "What is it?" He asked, keeping his attention on Rainbow. "I don't ask for things from you often, please?! You know this is what they would want from you! Not only that, but these ponies are even willing to help! You can't just stay down here where your only company may as well be a voice in your head until one or the other finally expires." "..." "Well??" He moved past Rainbow and made his way down the halls to the recreational area with another bottle in hand. He wasted no time sealing himself inside and turning off the cameras, preventing me from hearing what happens in there as well. I'm certain of what's going on in there, but unfortunately, the people who designed this place gave the means of blocking me out for a set period of time. To the extent of privacy, I'm not against it. Right now though, he's likely just balled up against the door, holding his drink almost like a person of faith would if they were praying/ begging on the verge breaking. "Yeesh, what's his problem??!!" Rainbow asked no one in particular. "An actual human living right under out noses this whole time??..." Twilight said to herself, excitedly. "Well he's not going to be very talkative for a little while. So, now you know who I've been attending to all these years. I promise you, he would be much more pleasant if he weren't depressed to the point of trying, and failing because he can't get drunk, to drink away his problems." I tried to give them an idea of his mental/ emotional state if meeting him wasn't enough. "Why hasn't he tried asking for help? You said it was because he lost somepony he loved, right?" Fluttershy asked. "Technically three, she had multiple personality disorder, but it was a strange case in more ways than one. Magic aside, we think they were affected more than physically. As for why he hasn't asked for help? The lack of trust would be the simplest answer." I answered her. "How would he know he could trust anypony if he ain't never met'em?" Applejack asked. "The first problem being the closest we could ever find in basic shape to her was a dragon. The second being that when we were able to view the outside world, we, and by 'we', I mean 'he' happened to see reasons not to trust you. The only two differences worth mentioning between the current inhabitants of Earth are the presence of magic and you, ponies at least, having something akin to a God guiding you. Anything else can be attributed to the environment itself, the animal you're based on, or the government and any differences that can be expected from a monarchy. He likes to think he knows what to expect from others." I listed for them. "Well, that just sounds arrogant." Twilight commented. "If you knew human history, you would see it as basic psychology. Look, you've wasted enough of your time here for now, and he's locked himself up in one of the other rooms to- I have a few ideas of what he's doing and let's leave it at that." Ryan POV After shutting the door and turning off the cameras, I fell back into one of the chairs and pressed "random" on the remote to the music player. "Neither Misty nor her other selves appreciated this kind of music. 'It fit me at times' they said, but most of what he wrote just didn't suit them. Damnit! I'm so pathetic!!! They could be waiting for me, they could be dead, Hell, maybe even a new personality managed to take control and I'm still here!" "Raine, you were always the one to hold me back when I needed it, but you were always the most gentle and reserved otherwise." "Eris, you were always unrestrained, but you were fun to be around. You wanted to be in control, but you weren't so selfish as to get between us. Though I think you liked your magic a little too much. "Misty, you helped me see there were people worth the effort. You tried to avoid me whenever your strange case of a disorder threatened to show itself, but I accepted all of you. I learned to love you as I would come to love them. Please??!! Come back??!! Tell me where you are??!!" "I love you all. I need you." "Please?" I chugged probably half of what was in this bottle and chose to just lie there for a while. I eventually turned the cameras and all back on and Emily wasted no time before speaking. "This is new. Something change?" She asked as I downed the rest of the bottle. "Do you think they're out there?" "I found nothing suggesting they're gone, besides, they're not as durable as you, but they are eternal, and Eris can defend them if she needs to." "Yes, or no?" I simplified the question. "Like you used to joke so long ago with your games and such, 'show me the body'. She probably is, but you'd better have a good excuse for not going out sooner." "Do you think these ponies can be trusted?" "Well, they're more trustworthy than that supply of alcohol, and they didn't lie to us once down here. Give them a chance." She insisted. "... Fine...just...give me time to prepare myself." "You have nothing but time at this point."