A brony goes to a convention as Estarossa, he doesn't regret buying Rebellion.
This was my first convention and I chose to go as Estarossa from Seven Deadly Sins. I met the merchant and got the Rebellion blade I was missing for a rather cheap price, I didn't expect the rumors to be true about people disappearing, not that I'm complaining.
3/7/19 Holy shit! Featured if only for a few minutes! 6/25/19 Featured again! 6/22/20 Featured... I don't know how to respond given the timing of this...
So I think I should introduce myself, my name is Jack Griffith. I'm 20 years old currently living with my parents as I save enough money for a car then college from working as a cashier at a grocery store. I have a small circle of friends who help me keep my sanity after a long day of serving idiots, most don't give me trouble, but when one drives you to the point of yelling and insulting them, that was the second time over the course of 7 months that I smoked. I've never been an addict, but both times helped me calm down. Basically what happened was the customer was charged $21.51 and payed with a $100 bill so the change was $78.49, the register opens then the guy tries to tell me and I quote "I give you another dollar that makes it $80", I tried telling him that is wrong and I would actually be giving him $79.49 if he gives me that. He throws a fit and gives up calling me a "uneducated dumbass who can't do simple math, they don't teach you millenials anything in schools these days", I told him "clearly they do a better job now than 50 years ago if they taught you 8+1=10, those same people probably taught that one kid 9+10=21". This continued for a few more minutes before he finally left after he had been told to leave by a manager before it escalated too far. Until his wife laughed when he said I need to have intelligence before he can insult it and said I threw change at her when I dropped it into her hand I wasn't sure who I should pity more: the 50 year old man with no noticeable mental disabilities to speak of and can't read or do simple math or the woman who must have really been scraping the bottom of the barrel when she married him. On a side note I should have picked up the scissors and repeatedly dropped them on the register, if dropping change less than an inch above their hands is throwing it then by that logic I would have been attacking them using scissors as a weapon, let's see how well that holds up in court when there are 2 cameras watching the event unfold.
I'm sorry I let myself get sidetracked, it was recent 3 days to be exact. One of my friends, Aaron, invited me to come with him to a convention in a week that I didn't even know was going to happen. I decided to come with as I would be waiting for Halo MCC to reinstall the same day to try out the new fixed version and had a bit of trouble deciding who to dress up as. My choices were narrowed down to Madara Uchiha, Estarossa, Trusty Patches, Jack of Blades, Nobunaga Oda, and Sephiroth. I numbered each with a die and after rolling it, it landed on number 2 so the winner was Estarossa. I spent I think 5 days looking for the attire in my size as well as the Rebellion blades, but either the prices were ridiculous or were so poorly made that they likely wouldn't even survive the delivery. I had to make them myself, but didn't realize I was missing one until the day of the convention. I walked outside after dying my hair, putting in the black contacts and the marking above my eye and didn't have to wait long for him to arrive. I saw him step out of the car as Mordecai from Borderlands.
"Hey, you ready to go?" he asked me
"Yeah, just about, let me get a drink first." don't know why I didn't grab one sooner
"Can you get me one too? A dr. pepper or a root beer if you have any?"
"That'll be $10 sir."
"Just get me the drink Jack." fine, kill my fun. I walked to the fridge and got myself a coke and grabbed his dr. pepper before making sure I had everything and walked back out
"You have everything you need this time?" he asked me as I handed him his soda
The drive was probably an hour, maybe an hour and a half before we reached our destination. He told me he finally got around to buying an Xbox and was curious as to what he should buy, I told him without missing a beat Halo MCC, Dark Souls, Warframe, Overwatch, Paladins, and Fable Anniversary. He mostly played single player games or MMOs like WoW, Warhammer, or Neverwinter on his computer so because I was mostly an Xbox player as my brother or my dad would be on the computers or PlayStation, we didn't get to play too often. It didn't really help I was working from 3 or 5pm-12 most nights. When we arrived we went our separate ways agreeing to meet back up later. I looked around for a little bit not seeing anything of interest before going to the market stands, there were actually a few things I wanted to buy, but I only brought a few hundred with me and most of what was on sale was for a reasonable price, but I had neither the money nor the space to put them anywhere. After a while I found someone dressed up as and sounded exactly like a certain Agent of the Nine.
"Hello" he greeted me "see what I have to offer, Commandment of Love."
"Hello Xur." I said browsing his wares, it all looks so life like, this guy certainly knows what he's doing, he could probably make a living off of this. I stopped when I saw he was selling the full Rebellion set
"Has something caught your eye?"
"How much just for 1 of these, the- I want to say flamberge, but I'm not sure if that's what this kind of sword would be called (the one used against Escanor)?"
"That will be $20, or the whole set for $100." I think I should be careful as to what else I buy
"Seems fair, you wouldn't happen to have change for a $50 would you?" I asked handing him the money
"I do." he handed me $30
"Thank you, have a nice day."
"Have a nice trip Estarossa."
"Wait, what was that?" my vision started changing color "Okay why do I feel like I'm tripping on acid?" I began falling "OH cool it gets worse!" I said while falling into what looks like a ruined castle from this distance.
This fall is going to hurt, I'm more scared than angry at the moment considering I'm going to hit the ground at terminal velocity and unless I'm seeing things there seems to be some flashes coming from an opening in the ceiling. I noticed I had no trouble maneuvering my body at all and saw darkness engulf my arm for a few seconds. It was an act of desperation, but I wanted to see if I could manipulate the darkness into wings, it took me longer than I would have liked, but it was just in time to change my falling speed and try to fly up enough that I could even myself out. I eventually managed to learn how to fly, but the lift off and landing will have to come later, I've gotten just enough control over this that I can safely crash land if that makes sense.
"WELP, HERE GOES!" I barely clipped the edge on the roof "SHIIIIIT!" I shouted crashing into a wall then landing face first into the floor, interrupting something
"OH MY GOSH!" I heard rapid footsteps "Are you alright?" I heard a quiet, almost motherly voice ask. The only response I was able to give was a high pitched noise like Vegeta in DBZA after Cooler kicked him in the dick 1,000 + times
"FLUTTERSHY, GET AWAY FROM THAT!" did I just hear Fluttershy? I looked up after healing enough to do so and saw everyone and even Nightmare Moon. HOLY SHIT! I'M IN EQUESTRIA AS ESTAROSSA? I'm somehow too excited to feel pain, fear, and rage and I don't care.
"I will be in a minute, I'm going to lay down for a little bit."
"Fools, you should never lose focus on your enemy." I heard Nightmare shout as she tried to fire a spell at us but failed "WHAT! Why can't I use my magic?" she asked now standing low to the floor "Urrrgh, what is this?" I was able to stand back up by now and walked over to her before kneeling to be eye level with her. I may as well get as into character as I'm comfortable with
"I am the Love of the Commandments: Estarossa. Those who stand before me with hatred in their hearts shall be left defenseless, and that includes myself." I said summoning Rebellion "I don't know if that means hatred in general or if that's hatred towards me, but that's not important right now." I raised the sword, everyone looked at me fearfully "I could kill you right now," I put the sword away "but I won't, I have every reason I can think of to want save you and no reason to hurt you, Princess Luna." her eyes shot open then became enraged
"I am QUEEN Nightmare Moon! That weakling Luna ceased to be a thousand years ago. What would you know about her anyway? Her existence has all but been erased by her fool of a sister." her eyes teared up a little before being blinked away
"If she no longer exists, then why were you ready to cry a moment ago? Call yourself whatever you want, but I refuse to acknowledge you by anything but your real name. As for what I know, only what I can speculate and what you over looked. You felt unappreciated, unloved, ignored, no matter what you did it wasn't enough." everyone listened closely, her eyes only became more narrowed "No matter what you did, it was always 'thank Celestia' this and 'thank Celestia' that even when she had nothing to do with it, you who tried your hardest kept getting out shined by your sister who did nothing but sign a few papers and raise what is basically a giant ball of fire. You even asked her to help you, to show you there was someone who cared about you and she basically said no." her eyes almost completely wide by this point "What I don't know about you I can speculate." I looked off where the sun would rise later "If you truly are unloved, why does your enemy choose to try to help you?"
"Silence!" she said quietly
"Did you know your sister has a singing voice that is for lack of a better way to describe it divine?"
"I said silence!" a little louder this time, looking up at me
"That she always sung to you on the night she lost you? Hoping you heard her."
"Hold thy tongue!" slightly louder than me, tears forming
"And a few parts of the song go like-"
"SILENCE! DON'T THOU DARE SPEAKETH ANOTHER WORD OF THIS!" almost there
"Neither had she loved her as she deserved
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
Forgive me for being so blind"
"AAAAAAAGGHHHH!" she's finally crying, I removed her helmet and held her head to my chest wiping the tears away as they formed
"The night was meant to be a time of fun, peace, intimacy, and rest. Did the thought truly never occur to you that the reasons your ponies slept through your night was not out of fear or ignorance, but because they were tired, wanted to bring new life into the world, or they looked forward to their dreams. Need I remind you that dreams are your domain? They trusted you more than you could ever know." she pushed her head into me, her coat changing color slightly "Stop rejecting yourself, you only hurt yourself and everyone around you in doing so." I turned to look at the others to see a few of them wearing faces of uncertainty
"You can use the elements now, don't worry about me."
"But you'll be hit by them too Estarossa!" Twilight said
"C'mon sugarcube, it's his decision." Applejack said
"We can't just use the elements on him, he could be banished too!" Rarity said
"How can I throw him a party when he can't come?" typical Pinkie
"He doesn't deserve this." I think Fluttershy said
"If we don't, we'll never get Princess Celestia back, let's just hit them already!" eager to win as always Rainbow
"As I said don't worry about me, I know how the elements work so I'll be fine." at least I hope so, being an archangel turned demon after all "Besides, worst case scenario your princess can help me with whatever the elements do to me." they all shared a look of hesitation before Twilight looked back to me
"Alright, we'll trust you."
"That's all I ask." I closed my eyes still holding a sobbing Luna before standing just in time to turn to where the sun will rise and "PRAISE THE SUN!" it was too tempting, everything flashed after that.
I'm in a white void, just floating and waiting for something to happen.
"Interesting." I heard a female voice say
"Who's there?"
"Mortal turned fallen angel, but even with the dark flowing strongly through you, you still have no ill intentions."
"Can you please show yourself and tell me who you are? I'd like to know where I am as well."
"All will become clear soon. Before I return you to the mortal realm, I have a gift and a request for you."
"And those are?"
"Protection from the Commandment's corrupting influence, and to befriend my daughter."
"Do I know her?"
"You just met." that makes this easier and pretty much told me who she was
"I accept, but before you send me back, could you give me that magic eye that displays power levels?."
"As you wish."everything became dark
I woke up just in time to see Celestia embrace her sister. I tried getting up, but my entire body was too sore and I alerted everyone. Luna tried running to me, but tripped about halfway making Celestia help her get back up.
"Who are you?" Celestia asked
"There are 3 truths I can tell you, though technically speaking none of them are true."
"Hey, even though you helped us that doesn't mean you get to talk to the princess like that!" Rainbow shouted only to have Celestia raise a wing to silence her
"So I have you to thank as well fo-" Luna sprinted to me wrapping her wings around me, both apologizing and thanking me
"Yes, and to answer your question my name is Estarossa, though all I did was stand there. Her hatred made her a victim of my Commandment."
"What do you mean? What is a Commandment?" she asked
"The Commandments are a small percentage of a great being's power and a curse comes with it. Of the Ten Commandments, I hold the Commandment of Love, any who stand before me with hatred in their hearts shall be left defenseless, but should I hold hatred in my heart I will also be a victim of it."
"What are these other Commandments, and what is this great being you speak of?" everyone leaning closer wanting to hear this as well
"I'd be happy to tell you in a more comfortable location."
"OH OH OH, we can go to Ponyville and I can throw the best. Party. EVER! *GASP* Oh my gosh that's 3 parties: 2 welcome to Ponyvilles, a reunion party, and OH I forgot, a welcome back Princess Celestia party!" Pinkie said
"Very well. I am incapable of teleporting right now so we will have to walk there." Celestia said
"Remember to be on your guard in the Everfree." Luna said
"My Commandment also applies to beasts as well so you'll all be that much safer with me around."
So that all went better than expected, I saved the princess, gained immunity to the mental degradation of the Commandment, I can see how strong everyone is, and I think I met Faust. Now to see whether or not they'll at least tolerate my existence when they find out who and what I am. We made it back to Ponyville with no problems at all aside from a few timberwolves stalking us every so often and a manticore that couldn't really move. Pinkie got to throw her party and while they were having their fun, I sat on a bench just outside and took a nap. A few hours passed and everyone went back to their homes leaving the mane 6 and the princesses. I went into the library with the others before Celestia started.
"I believe you offered to answer some questions?"
"I did, ask away."
"What are you?"
"There are 3 truths to that, but as I know you're not in the mood for games I'll tell you all of them. I WAS a human who went to a convention as a fictional character and after buying one of his weapons I got transported here as him. This character was an archangel, but because a powerful mage used a forbidden spell to rewrite everyones memories including his and even the gods leading to the end of the Holy War, this archangel was for 3,000 years the second born son of the demon king." everyone jumed at that and took up defensive positions
"So you're a demon prince then, and you dare show yourself here?" she said raising her voice
"No, I'm a mortal who was turned into an angel who was pulled from heaven and turned into a demon against his will, and is that any way to treat the one who helped save your sister?" everyone relaxed slightly after having to be reminded of the against my/ Mael's will part, but Celestia still looked ready to blast me
"What are these Commandments you spoke of?" Luna asked
"They are fragments of the demon king's power, he split his power in half then split those pieces among 10 demons so assuming they are all equal in strength they are 5% of his power which was calculated to increase a person's power level by 28,000 each. These Commandments come with a terrible curse that can only be ignored by those with divine protection and other Commandments, not even the bearers are safe from the Commandments unless they take in a second one. I'm probably the only exception because of the former archangel thing. I already told you what Love does, the only others I know the triggers and effects of are Truth, Selflessness, Piety, Pacifism, and Faith. The ones I don't know are Purity, Reticience, Repose, and Patience."
"What about the ones you do know?" Twilight asked writing everything down
"Those who lie in the presence of Truth will be turned to stone, those who stand before Selflessness with selfish thoughts or desires will have their minds wiped clean, those who turn there backs on Piety will have their free will taken from them, those who kill ANYTHING, even something as insignificant as a flea in the presence of Pacifism will rapidly age until they die, and those show faithlessness will have their eyes burned out." everyone looked at me horrified "Basically just having one Commandment on your side is enough to turn the tide of battle."
"HOW COULD ANYPONY LIVE LIKE THAT? WHY WOULD ANYPONY NEED THAT KIND OF POWER?" she shouted
"I can't really answer that. I was given this Commandment against my will, besides some of them aren't too bad. With Love, what better way to peacefully end a fight than making them unable to even make a fist? Or with Truth, is it really so hard to be honest?"
"While that may be the case, you're too dangerous to-" Celestia started
"Now let me stop you right there. Danger is determined not by power, but control and will to use it. I should have you know the elements hit me and did nothing but allow me to meet who I'm assuming was your mother." everyones eyes shot open hearing this "She gave me immunity to my Commandment's corrupting influence, gave me the ability to see power levels which the highest here is you with a little over 2,700 compared to my 32,000 WITHOUT my Commandment which is another 28,000 adding up to 60,000, and she asked me to befriend her daughter who I've 'already met' and I'm assuming she is Luna." her eyes let loose a tear hearing this "How can I do as she asked which I would have done anyway while I would be unable to see her? Now what if another Commandment comes along when the weakest in their depowered base form which was around 60-70% had a level of 26,000 and could be raised for a short time to 42,000?" Rainbow flew up to my face
"That's not possible, there's no way anypony's that strong!" she claimed
"He aint lyin'." Applejack said quietly
"I'm sorry, but what was that?" Rarity asked
"Ah said he ain't lyin'." she said loud enough to be heard, shocking everyone
"I'm not your enemy nor do I want to be your enemy, and considering the power difference and the elements just giving me a vision, I don't think you could do anything to me unless your mother allowed it. So please, don't give me a reason to see you as an enemy, if I am truly as dangerous as you think then why would Faust allow me to go free with just a promise to her? You're smarter than this Celestia, or at least I hope you are." she took a glance at everyone and an extended one on me and Luna
"*Sigh* I will trust my mother, but you will have to earn it Estarossa. We will depart for Canterlot shortly."
"Actually before we go, I want to check something."
"And that would be?"
"Nightmare Moon's armor." everyones eyes shrunk slightly "Since I'm now in what was a fictional world on my world-"
"What do you mean fiction?" Twilight interrupted
"I forgot to mention that? I'll explain later, anyway I want to see if her armor has anything like a Lingering Will and see if it needs to be purged. Preferably saved." Celestia and Luna became enraged
"Why would you want to save that monster?" Luna asked surprisingly
"Nightmare Moon was just a mask, one that may have gained a mind of it's own and knowing nothing but hate, rage, envy, and spite thanks to you, it was just a creation serving it's purpose. Should the creation be punished for doing what it was designed to do, or the creator who should have known exactly what they were getting into and more often than not does?" she looked down shamefully as Celestia wore a look of contemplation before speaking again
"If you are not back in within an hour you will be considered an enemy of Equestria. Understood?" that's plenty of time
"Thank you." I took a step outside before summoning my wings "Let's see if I can stick the landing this time." I took off with no problems
Hopefully I won't fly into a wall or fall face first into the floor
Luna POV
"Can we trust that guy? I mean he is a demon right, they're supposed to be pure evil." Rainbow said
"He said he wasn't a demon though." Pinkie argued
"He did say he was whatever a human was, then was turned into a fallen angel against his will. Applejack even confirmed he was being honest." Twilight pointed out "What do you think Rarity? Fluttershy?"
"He at least deserves a chance." Rarity said
"He can't be all bad. He helped us and kept us safe in the Everfree afterall." Fluttershy said
"Luna?" I heard sister ask, I took a few seconds to think before answering
"I think mother made the right choice. I think we can trust him, we should trust him."
It only took me a few minutes to find the castle again and just as long to find a good place to land. It took me a minute or so to find the room the elements were stored in and I found the remains of Nightmare's armor. I looked around first trying to find anything out of place and after finding nothing I walked over to the armor and summoned all the Rebellion blades to test something. The armor never reacted to anything I did to it, I wasn't expecting anything, but I was still disappointed that nothing remained of Nightmare. I actually wanted to see if Nyx could exist or maybe another good Nightmare, but I'll take what I can get. I grabbed the armor and took flight back to Ponyville with about 40 minutes to spare. When I made it back I saw everyone was still in the library having a pleasant conversation. Time to ruin it.
"I FOUND NOTHING!" I shouted making them jump and then glare at me
"You could have just said you're back, and why do you have Nightmare Moon's armor?" Twilight asked
"This armor is likely worth a lot, even in pieces. It's historical value and the quality still looking new and well made even after 1,000 years despite it being broken, and let's not forget it survived the elements once adding to that value. Museums and collectors will be offering quite a lot for the real thing even in it's current state."
"So you looted the castle?" Applejack asked, sounding like she's accusing me of being a thief
"No, that would imply I took something that was originally in a ruined castle which because of the 'ruined' part, that means everything is up for grabs. Unless the princess says otherwise, nothing in that castle has an owner."
"In any case, we should be departing for Canterlot now that you're back." Celestia said
The princesses and I left the library and made our way for the town hall, when the chariot came into view the guards immediately got ready for lift of and saluted the princesses. When they noticed me though I got a good laugh.
"HALT CREATURE!" one shouted
"I surrender, don't hurt me." I got on my knees and they dropped their weapons. They tried using magic only for the spells to not work or in one case somehow set himself on fire. The princesses stepped in after one hurt himself and explained I was a guest and helped stop Nightmare Moon. They tried picking up their weapons, but only 2 of them were able to. I apologized, but they looked at me wondering why I was doing so. The 2 that were available hooked themselves up to the chariot and we stepped inside.
"Mhmhmhmmmmahahahaaha, oh my god I haven't laughed like that in a while. So how long is the flight going to be?"
"About an hour, now after your trip I have 3 more questions for you." Celestia said
"Ask away, first put up a sound proof spell since I already know at least one of those questions."
"As you wish." her horn lit up and the chariot did so as well " Now, how did you go to and from the castle so fast, why did you want to examine Nightmare's armor, and what did you mean by 'being in a world of fiction'?"
"In order, power levels play a big role in determining speed, and the other 2 sort of share the same answer. Multiverse theory, my world watches yours starting from Nightmare's return an-"
"You mean to say your kind watches us? How is that possible?" Luna interrupted
"Imagine a book getting a visualization using pictures and people speaking when the characters do. It was the same thing with the series of the character I became."
"You said it was starting from Nightmare's return, does this mean you have knowledge of the future?" Celestia asked
"Yes and no, I only watched each episode up to date once, the only things I feel I can safely say are Twilight's ascension, the gala, the Empire's return, a wedding, and something about 2 prisoners." I'm not going to tell them about Discord and Tirek "All in no particular order. However, my unwilling arrival and inevitable involvement could have changed anything. With that said, I'm going to apologize in advance for if I screw anything up." they looked at me unsure of how to take this, Celestia especially, she was the one to break the silence though
"And Nightmare's armor?"
"I wanted to see if she was alive. I've already implied there are other Equestrias, any number of which could have been created or written about while they already existed. From gender swaps or other physical changes to something as dark as Equestria being enslaved or destroyed whether it is justified or not. I wan-"
"How could that be justified?" Celestia nearly shouted slamming her hoof down
"Ponies being the 'Master race' or the 'Perfect beings' and mindlessly slaughtering or enslaving other races, you or your sister fucking up badly and making an enemy out of the wrong guy after inflicting every kind of pain on them for years, or your subjects doing so for no other reason than not being a pony. There are 6 alternate Equestrias I can think of that your enemy is more than justified, in those a person either leaves to come here willingly or is taken from their homes sometimes by you and enslaved, wrongfully imprisoned out of paranoia, experimented on, tortured, even raped and killed. Luna usually doesn't learn of these crimes you and your subjects commit until after this person breaks free and kills several ponies in their mentally and emotionally unstable states in self defense and you make them out as the villain. In one I can think of a human walks into Ponyville, immediately gets labeled as a monster, attacked and driven out of town by the element bearers and the rest of the town, finds a place to rest in your old castle, and gets a visit from Luna in his dreams and demands answers. He claims to be innocent and tells the truth, but Luna calls him a liar and casts a spell on him so he will have nightmares for the rest of his life. Rejected, labeled a monster, and tortured for being born different, it's no wonder he waged war against Equestria: the land of hypocrits and xenophobes who see the world in black and white." they looked at me horrified, but I couldn't tell who looked more so
"To think there are Equestrias that have fallen so far, and you watched these happen?" Luna asked
"Watched? No. Read? Yes. As for Nightmare's armor, she sometimes survives. She could be a shadow, taken to another world which is my world more often than not, she could be another sibling of yours, or in a few cases a little filly. More often than not she finds genuine happiness in the form of a lover, maybe a second chance at life sometimes without her memories, or if she isn't saved or redeemed she is purged. I wanted to see if she was still alive, to give her a fair chance at living her own life, preferably free of the negativity that created her, or destroy her if necessary. Call her evil if you want, but just remember she was as the world intended in every way."
"So the real reason you went back was to save her? You didn't care about the armor at all did you?" she asked
"Basically. I'm the Commandment of Love now so I may as well try to live up to it as comfortably as I can. If becoming your enemy meant she would be able to live her own life I would have done it, maybe she would have become a hero eventually. But what's done is done so there's no point in dwelling on it, just move on." they shared thoughtful looks before turning back to me
"You truly have no ill intentions, you truly want to help Equestria?" Celestia asked
"I have no reason to want anything bad to happen to anyone here except maybe Blueblood if he's a prick in this Equestria, but yes, I do want to help Equestria. What other reasons do I need than Luna being best princess and almost always having a good reason to shout praise the sun?" Luna began to blush after hearing best princess, time to have more fun
"Oh my god she's blushing! She's so adorable I want to give her all the hugs." her blushing intensified and Celestia shocked me
"OW. Okay I deserved that, I'm sorry for making you so uncomfortable Luna. But in all seriousness you are my favorite pony and in most cases impossible to hate even a little. I'd like to be your friend if you'd let me." she looked ready to cry hearing this, probably would have jumped on me had we not been in the chariot, Celestia's gaze becoming more gentle by the second
"I would like that. I would like that very much Estarossa."
I probably would have fainted if I were still human
We spent the rest of the flight mostly in silence until I turned on my ipod when there was about half an hour left and they were more than curious. I confessed to Luna about the song I mentioned and played it for them, but as it turned out Celestia actually did sing Lullaby for a Princess on the night of her banishment. I let them have their moment before I pressed random and got Here come the Ravens (Aviators), Two out of three (Meat loaf), Come Monday (Jimmy Buffet), and a few others before we landed. I forgot to ask them if they accounted for my Commandment taking effect in the city of people who hate eachother, people who WILL hate Luna, bigots, xenophobes, hypocrites, and in general people who will be affected by it. I'm sure I'll get a good laugh though, I can see it now: an assassin who can't pick up his knife or guards who try to arrest me under a noble's or Blueblood's orders only to drop their weapons and be scolded by the princesses, or Celestia specifically. I don't think they'll obey Luna and some might even take hostile actions against her, I'll use Full Counter if they can attack, I wonder if I can get the 7 Rebellion blades to do what Losvayne enabled Meliodas to do to that Albion.
"So how should we go about this? I doubt mine or Luna's receptions will go well." I asked Celestia who got out and announced us, the guards looked confused as to why she introduced me as the Commandment of Love, but would receive a very subtle hint as to why. I got out after Luna and just stood there for a second waiting for something to happen.
"Are you coming Estarossa?" Luna asked
"Lead the way." apparently day court was supposed to be in session and we made our way to the throne room with the occasional guard dropping his spear. Aside from that we didn't really have any trouble with anyone until we reached the doors to He- I mean the room none of us want to be in. I'm not even going to ask why she's bringing Luna to day court before getting her situated or when she hasn't reintroduced her to Equestria.
"Day court is now in session!" Celestia said with I think I heard pride, though I doubt that's what it was. The doors opened revealing Blueblood as the first of many, son of an emerald whore!
"Aunty, has aunt Luna re-"he took notice of Luna then myself "Good day, I don't think we've met before." he turned back to Luna "You are princess Luna yes? It's a pleasure to finally meet you! Aunt Celestia used to tell me about you all the time when I was a colt. Let me be among the first to say welcome home." he finished before trying to hug her, but she backed up enough for him to get the hint "My apologies, I should have known better than to try such a thing so soon." he turned back to me with a look of curiosity "As for you, I'm curious as to who and what you are."
"That's a long story so I'll just save it for later, I am named Estarossa, I accidentally became involved in Luna's return." I said trying to be as polite as possible to someone I'm not sure how to deal with, he's not being affected by the Commandment so he has to be somewhat trustworthy "I don't think you've told either of us who you are other than saying you're royalty." he realized I was right before apologizing
"My apologies again, you're right. *ahem* I am prince Blueblood, nephew to princess Celestia and newly returned princess Luna." holy shit either he's not a prick or he's a REALLY good actor "And please, just call me Blueblood, I feel you've earned it after your service to my family and Equestria." and just like that he's not a prick
"Blueblood, while I'm happy to see you and see how welcoming you are to Luna, we have other matters to attend to. We can all meet up later, I believe Cadence will be back soon from her trip to Zebrica so you'll have somepony to keep you company until then." Celestia spoke with a loving motherly tone
"I look forward to it, hopefully day court won't be too much trouble." he said on his way out, I turned to the princesses
"Remember what I said about wanting something bad to happen if he was a prick? He's not a prick."
"I thought you would want to see for yourself." Celestia said with a grin before turning back to the doors "Send in the next one." I saw 2 ponies who often get arrested or utterly humiliated: Jet Set and Upper Crust. Celestia did not look like she wanted them anywhere near the castle
"Thank you for seeing us your majesty, we have a request of the utmost importance and must be *huff* dealt with *huff* immediately." Jet said while he and Upper were being affected by the Commandment and were now barely able to stand, amusing Celestia just enough for me to notice.
"What is it you need my little ponies?" she asked
"*huff* The orphanage across the street to our home must be demolished! *huff* We can hardly get any peace with all the racket those brats keep making. We would also *huff* be able to build our private pool in it's place." and just like that I want to kill him, and his bitch of a wife
"I apologize but-" Celestia started before I tapped her shoulder to get her attention
"May I?" I asked, to which she nodded in approval "Apologies, but such a thing is out of the question." they looked at me like I just slapped them
"And who are you to *huff* make such a decision in her majesty's place?" Upper asked
"I am the Commandment of Love: Estarossa, second in line to the Osmium Throne of Brittania and third strongest of my race (what? I can't tell them I'm an archangel/ demon prince hybrid, I will spout as much bullshit as I need to), you would have never heard of it as I am not from this world." they looked at me knowing they fucked up
"And why would *huff* such a thing be out of the question?" Jet asked
"It would create more problems than anything. You do realize they would be losing their only home, source of food, education, and health care right? If the orphanage goes then they will be living on the streets. They are too young for work so they will be forced to scavenge and if they are truly desperate, steal. We can all agree that foals don't have as much control over their emotions and don't have as much of an understanding of morality. What do you think they might do if they find out they lost what little they had because a noble didn't like them, that said noble wanted to have a pool dug out in place of their home? Those foals will have been forced into becoming criminals because of you, had mentalities drilled into their very young and impressionable minds similar to 'only the strong survive', 'it is yours by right if you can take it', or 'they took everything from us so it's only fair we do the same' by the very same ponies that detest such thimgs and would naturally swear vengeance against you and princess Celestia. 'You reap what you sow' as they say, and legally speaking they wouldn't get in much trouble at all until they are old enough to be tried as adults assuming they can even be held that long. The ones who wouldn't focus on survival would make your lives and other nobles absolute Tartarus if not kill you, and you would have no one to blame but yourself." I tried reasoning with them, but apparently they are very stupid or have selective hearing
"How dare you threaten us like *huff* that you beast! I will-" Upper started
"First off, I did not threaten you, only tell you what I would expect the victims of your greed and ignorance to do should your request be fulfilled, and you will what? Have you already forgotten who I am? It's bad enough you would insult a prince, but you would dare threaten him in the presence of both your princesses? I would choose my next words very carefully if I were you." they backed off a little before Jet spoke up again
"Both princesses? I only see *huff* her majesty and-" he finally took notice of Luna and immediately scowled as if he already knew who she was "What is SHE doing here? How can you let that *huff* monster Nigh-mmmmhmmnhhhhm" I dashed towards him and covered his mouth with my hand and lifted him up to eye level before turning to Celestia
"Would you have a problem if I drop kicked them off the highest balcony in the castle?" I asked, Upper backed up fearing the worst
"I would prefer you don't. Drop him and the guards will escort them out of the castle." she said with a noticeable amount of contempt, and as if on cue 3 guards moved towards them after I dropped the little shit. He threatened me again, but I ignored him and moved next to the throne again. After he and his wife I heard a sniffle to my left and saw Luna crying, I wiped away the tears and spoke to her
"Just ignore them, you're not the Nightmare anymore and you know that. C'mon, a lady should only ever be crying tears of joy." Celestia watched to see how I would handle this as did the remaining guards "Besides, you remember when i met you as Nightmare I'm sure. Yes, you and Nightmare made a mistake, but there are 2 things I can tell you that prove neither of you were very bad." she looked up into my eyes "Nightmare cried Luna. The so called Queen of the Night cried into the chest of her enemy when he did nothing but talk about how much Celestia missed you, how much she loved you. That black fur was slowly changing to a dark blue, the elements might not have been necessary at all. That's all the proof you need Luna. Fuck anyone who chooses to ignore you, or hurt you over stupid shit!" she giggled at that last part "Both figuratively, and quite literally if you're into that kind of thing." she's laughing now and everyone smiled at the sight before Luna finally said something
"Thank you, I needed to hear that." she turned to Celestia "I think I shall be in my room until supper."
"Alright, one of the guards will escort you." she said before turning to me "Thank you for that, would you mind going with her? I feel she would be more comfortable with you around."
"You don't even need to ask." I said following Luna before Celestia spoke again
"Estarossa." I turned back to her "Please keep her safe."
We followed the guard to what I'm assuming is the Lunar Wing of the castle and I can already see why. The halls are all night themed and Lunar guards are everywhere, once we reached the Luna's new room the guards opened the doors and the one who lead us here left. Stepping into the room it looked like Celestia took everything into account, no signs of dust, a great view of the city, a telescope, anything Luna probably liked before was already here and somehow even up to date gaming systems from Earth with a lot of the good games. Oh the things me and her are going to do if she is a natural.
"Estarossa." Luna said turning to me
"Yes?"
"I don't think I can ever say this enough," she wrapped me in a hug again "thank you."
"I don't know what you're thanking me for this time, but you're welcome." I said bending down to return the hug, I let her decide when to stop as I ran my fingers through her mane and scratched her behind the ears. She seemed so content to stay there that she almost looked like she wanted to fall asleep while standing, but she let go eventually to see what her new room had to offer. She noticed the Xbox One and PS4 (still amazed they even have these), but decided to hold off on them as she saw a chess box.
"Are you familiar with chess?" she asked
"I am." we set it up on a table near the fire place, I she let me choose the black pieces and we flipped a coin to see who would go first with her being the winner.
Luna POV
"How experienced would you say you are?" I asked before starting
"I would say I'm still a beginner. Every time I've played was with people who were probably as inexperienced as I was and somehow I haven't lost once. I don't even plan anything which is the sad part, I just wing it until the king dies." he said and I began
"May I ask you something?"
"You just did, but go ahead." he move his pawn to keep mine from advancing
"You said you became Estarossa who used to be an archangel, yes?" I moved another pawn to be beside the first
"He was called Mael, he was the strongest and weakest assuming his Grace which each archangel had didn't increase his base power." he moved a pawn forward once to ready to deal with the my second pawn and keep the first still "He was feared as the Angel of Death. As the sun rose he would become more powerful capping at about a 150,000 increase to his base 32,000." how could he be that strong "While he was supposedly very kind and gentle, he was merciless to demons even if they were non-combatants, a learned hatred from his brother and the Supreme Diety. To be honest, he's one of 2 I fear right now." I lost focus on the game hearing this
"Why would you fear him?"
"Estarossa is really just Mael who had his Grace ripped from him and brainwashed into believing he was the Demon King's second son. It goes without saying that his hatred of demons only grew as he was forced to watch as the new him slaughtered so many people with a smile on his face, he admired his new older brother to the point of wanting to become him especially after he 'took the woman he loved from him'. He was forced to watch as he took in the Commandment which was slowly corrupting him over the course of 3,000 years to the point that when he finally got his body back he absorbed 3 more Commandments adding to the corruption and mental degradation, tried to kill the Fairy King for being friends with the doll that helped cause his suffering, and killed 2 of the other archangels." he tapped his head with a finger "If he is up here, what do you think he'll do to me if I look like Estarossa when he sees me, or if Estarossa is up here, what do you think he'll do to him? I was either turned into Estarossa or I am hijacking this body and one or both of them might be here as well, if one dies what will happen to the other 2?"
"NO! I won't let that happen!" I will do everything I can to stop this if what he says is true
"I hope your dream magic is very powerful then. If power levels are the same there as the real world then I'll be the only one with a chance at victory. Assuming I'd be facing them as I am now and not a human, that's 2 people with a level of 60,000 and a person with 32,000 assuming he doesn't somehow have his Grace wouldn't be affected at all by one with a current level of 1,300. The real Estarossa would win because of experience and unless Mael has his Grace he will lose, if I could weaponize Light I might be able to win, but having no combat experience myself while fighting someone with resistance to both Light and Dark is still a disadvantage. Having a teacher who I can one shot just by punching the air and if they hit me with the hammer would break it instead of my rib cage isn't what you'd call ideal. The best I can hope for is neither of them are here or for Mael to be reasonable." tears threatened to escape once more, how can he be so lax about this
"Its not fair! I might lose my first friend in the past 1,000 years just because of some stronger being's obsession with revenge, revenge that has nothing to do with him." the tears finally going down my face, he looked hurt just seeing me like this
"I really am an idiot." what "I made a promise to myself I wouldn't make you cry and here I go with practically no effort at all doing the exact opposite of that." he said pulling me close to him "There might not be anything to worry about at all, besides I doubt your mother would just let such a thing happen anyway."
"That doesn't make me any less worried."
"I didn't expect it to, but it was worth a try." he said looking back to the chess board "I think I've soured the mood enough so let's choose a better topic, before we get to that I've already forgotten who's turn it was."
"As have I." putting the pieces and the box away before turning back to 2 small black box shaped items "What are these?" I asked him
"Those are gaming systems, basically allows you to take control of fictional characters in various scenarios, strangely enough we had these same exact games back home. Let's see what you got. Halo MCC, Halo Reach, Halo 5, Destiny 1-2, Mass Effect 1-3, Fable Anniversary-3, Dark Souls Remastered-3, Dynasty 9 (had so much potential) and Samurai Warriors 4, Elder Scrolls 4- ESO, Naruto, Bloodborne, Kingdom Hearts 1-Dream Drop Distance, and more. Just about all the good games, Celestia really wasn't holding back, I think I would be more surprised to not find a circle dug out somewhere around the castle!" he said getting a laugh out of me
"Which one would you recommend we try first?"
"The only ones we can play together are Halo, Fable 2 or 3, Naruto, and the Warriors games which are actually based on human history just with a 1 vs thousands feel for the player. Since I'm sure you would rather play these games in order Fable is out leaving us playing against eachother in Naruto and Halo, or playing with each other in Halo and the Warriors games. Anything else with co-op requires more than one of the same console so it's up to you." trying to be a gentlecolt
"While the thought is appreciated, I believe I asked what YOU would recommend."
"Alright, I guess we'll put in Naruto, dibs on Sasuke and if we already have him, Madara." I don't know who Sasuke or Madara are, but they sound strong
The game started and he chose versus mode, 3 rounds, team battle.
"Choose who ever you want first, the controls are easy to figure out so don't worry too much about that. Just get the timing for using your items, supports, substitutions, and character swaps and you'll be fine" I chose Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai. He chose Sasuke, Madara, and Naruto. He got the first strike and used his supports to the fullest. He was able to keep me at a distance to restore his energy with Naruto holding me in place and blasting me away while Madara did the same thing. I almost took out half his health before I sprinted into his ultimate on the first round. The second round I hardly touched him at all only getting him below half before used a transformation and finished me.
"Alright, I'll admit I play somewhat unfairly, but it was still a lot better than I'd expect from someone who's never played video games before. Give it one or two more and you'll probably be able to beat me in this game mode. Until then, let's do single battles since they're more skill based." as he was about to start a maid came in to tell us it was time for supper
"Shame, but it was fun while it lasted."
"Agreed." he said with a smile on his face
Estarossa POV
We let the maid guide us to the dining hall and I let my eyes wander elsewhere. The stained glass I'm sure looks better during the day, but it was around 5 or 6 in the evening and the sun wasn't in a good spot to shine through. The paintings were nice though, or well made anyway, I don't know any of the ponies in them except for Celestia who didn't have many with her in them anyway. I let my gaze fall on Luna and even after I think 5 years I still can't decide if I like her current form or the later one more, one is adorable while the other is gorgeous. I've wanted this kind of thing for almost as long and I still can't believe I'm here and so close to living the dream.
"Enjoying the view?" Luna said breaking me out of my thoughts
"Pardon?" Is she doing what I think she is
"Enjoying the view from behind?" I could feel the blush, two can play at that game
"I have been for years." it was her turn to blush "I always did find you more attractive than others in this world, and more approachable than Celestia, even when you were Nightmare." she tensed up a little, need to fix this "If you ever need anything, you need only ask. An ear, a shoulder, a hand, name it, let it go and forgive yourself. None of the important people blame you at all. As I said, fuck everyone else." I whispered into her ear and scratched her behind it helping her relax more and push up against my hand
"What did I do to deserve a friend such as you so soon after my return?" she asked
"I could ask the same thing." I said just before we entered the dining hall. Celestia, Blueblood, Shining, and Cadence were all here having a pleasant conversation.
"Luna, Estarossa, it's good to see you could make it." Celestia greeted "Did you enjoy each others company?"
"We did indeed. It also seems you went overboard according to Estarossa, he said he would be more surprised if there wasn't a circle dug into the ground somewhere on castle grounds." Cadence giggled as if she knew, Celestia's poker face cracked a little, and Shining and Blueblood had looks of amusement
"So you're the one who helped save aunt Luna?'" Cadence asked
"Yup, more like I appeared at the right time, but I wouldn't change it."
"What do you mean? Surely you're just being modest." Shining said
"Did Celestia tell you anything about me?" please say yes
"Not yet she hasn't." Blueblood joined in
"As the Commandment of Love, those who stand before me with hatred in their hearts are punished severely as there defenses become non-existent. She became unable to fight, not that she'd have been able to beat me anyway."
"How can you be so sure about that? She had no problem defeating princess Celestia at all." Shining said as dinner was served to all of us, I got salad and garlic bread with cheesecake for dessert
"Two reasons actually, Celestia was weakened and not even at half her power, and I have enough power of my own. I can see power levels and in order from strongest to weakest: me with 60k, Celestia with 2,700, Cadence with 2,000, Shining with 1,500, Luna with 1,300, and Blueblood with 800." all except Celestia and Luna looked at me slackjawed
"Two questions. First how do you know our names when we never told you and second how can you see power levels?" Cadence asked
"In order, multiverse theory is true and this world is a fictional story back home, and the second is a gift." I said picking into my salad, this is actually pretty good
"There's no way anypony's that strong! Why would anyone need to be that strong anyway?" Shining asked
"First off, I have no reason to lie to you, second there is always someone stronger than you if not in this world or reality than another. Who's to say those places are as peaceful as Equestria? The bigger the threat, the more power is needed to overcome it, and until one side throws in the towel or is wiped out they'll keep driving each other to be stronger."
"I guess that makes sense." he said backing off and I turned to Luna
"Why don't you go and officially meet your niece and nephew, I'll be right here if you need me."
"Alright." she said nuzzling me before moving to them leaving me with Celestia
"My sister has grown fond of you." she commented
"It's like a dream come true to me. Of all the characters in this world I once thought was fictional, she was my favorite in more ways than one."
"Would you care to elaborate?" I might have worded that wrong
"She was the most relatable and was actually voted best princess with about half the votes. When she first appeared as herself she only had 1 or 2 lines so her fans were fans of Nightmare Moon, Nightmare Night and everyone said best princess. Add in all the fan art and yes 'that' art is included, and all fanfics featuring her as the fun princess and/ or love interest and it only grew. Even as Nightmare she wasn't all bad more than half the time."
"You truly care for her don't you?"
"Why wouldn't I? Just about everything that can be right about her is so. A personality to match her looks, fun to be around, relatable, worthy of her title, what's not to like? She was one of those characters you never wanted anything bad to happen to unless she willingly made demons look like angels in comparison." she smiled in my direction
"Then I'll trust you to not hurt her. Ever."
"I will never do so intentionally, if I do you have my permission to send me flying into a mountain."
"I will hold you to that."
"You will hold him to what?" Luna asked coming over to us
"Oh nothing, just something I told her she has my permission to do, nothing serious." I answered "So what do you think of the others?"
"I feel lucky to have family such as them, it's great our family grew if only slightly."
"Glad to see you're not at all displeased *yawn* I think it's time to turn in. I've been up since 4 or 5 in the morning on my world since I couldn't go to sleep and it's been about 18 hours since then."
"I shall have one of the guards escort you." Celestia said
"Could you perhaps have him sent to one of the guest rooms in the Lunar wing?" Luna asked
"As you wish." Celestia said with a smile on her face while signaling a guard over "Please escort sir Estarossa to one of the guest rooms in the Lunar wing."
"Yes ma'am. If you'll follow me sir."
The walk was shorter here than Luna's room, only by about a minute or two. Entering the room I felt like I was in a 5 star hotel room with how luxurious it looked. I got into the bed and the only thing that was going through my mind was how comfortable it was, I felt like I was falling asleep as soon as I got in. I was able to get into a comfortable position first before that though and fell asleep almost immediately. I became aware in an endless black void and as my original self, I saw something in the distance but couldn't make it out until I got closer. It looked like one of the platforms at the start of Kingdom Hearts with me walking towards the light with my arms out in the center and extending in the same directions as Mael to the left, and Estarossa to the right.
"The demon's Love..." I heard a voice say
"Who's there?" I asked
"And the angel's Hatred..."
"Can you please speak in a way I understand." this is getting irritating
"Both shall be yours, your burdens to bear..."
"Okay, ignore me then."
"Neither can live without the other, but neither can live with the other." Mael and Estarossa appeared on opposite sides of the platform on their knees and in chains
"Oh shit."
"Forgiveness and Redemption must come for the Light."
"This had better not be going where I think it is." fear is all I feel right now
"Acceptance and Compassion must come for the Darkness."
"Fuck me sideways with a flaming radioactive chainsaw why don't you?"
"The Two become One, a world saved from itself." come again
"Wait, what wa-" I heards chains moving to my left and moved towards Mael who was just waking up "Woah, slow down."
"Human, where am I?" he pulled the chains "Why am I here?"
"What do you remember?"
"Gowther and Derieri" he said with venom "A giant, a fairy, and-" he paused before he gained a look of despair "Tarmiel and Sariel... By the Supreme Diety, what have I done?"
"Nothing anyone else wouldn't have done in your position. I agree with you on having every right to take your revenge, but not in that state. The Commandment was eating away at your mind and soul for 3,000 years so obvious mental instability was expected, taking in 3 more and that made it worse. You had to be put down from the looks of it, by Meliodas most likely."
"So this is my punishment then."
"Maybe, maybe not I don't know. I would think of this as the beginning of a second chance."
"What?"
"I doubt anyone blamed you at all, Ludociel and the Supreme Diety likely feel as though they failed you, Elizabeth likely mourns for you and the others, Tarmiel and Sariel as well as Monspiet, Derieri, and Gowther if the last 3 mean anything other than death marks to you I can guarantee have forgiven you. Hell probably even the Demon King pitied you, Meliodas and Zeldris certainly had mixed feelings for you after loving you as their brother for so long."
"I don't care for the demons sympathy especially Gowther and the Demon King and certainly not that vile Meliodas, but I don't deserve it after all I've done." he said with a look of rage then sorrow
"Some higher power would beg to differ, otherwise you wouldn't even be here. You would be paying for your crimes, or you would be enjoying paradise. I didn't answer your questions did I?"
"No you haven't."
"To start off then I am Jack, and we are in our head. I may and I cannot emphasize this enough, may have accidentally hijacked your body while you were in the form of Estarossa against my will."
"WHAT?" he shouted
"Basically I'm from another world without any of the races from yours except humans, magic doesn't exist, your world is basically a fictional book series where I'm from, I went to a convention dressed up as Estarossa, bought a replica of one of the Rebellion blades, got pulled from my world into a new one as Estarossa, and this world doesn't have those races including humans."
"What?" he said confused
"Your second chance is in another world and a human is yours and if you'll look behind me, his unwilling parol officer." I said pointing to Estarossa who was still sleeping "I guess it's my second chance as well since I was either transformed into Estarossa or my soul was ripped out and somehow placed in your body giving me control. Either you two are tag alongs or I'm an unintentional body snatcher."
"Why is he still alive?" he asked with hatred
"If that voice I heard was true, then if any of us die so do the others. I know what you're thinking, don't do it." please don't
"I'LL KILL HIM! HE NEEDS TO PAY AFTER ALL HE'S DONE! DEMONS HAVE NO PLACE IN ANY WORLD!" he shouted before breaking his chains and launching himself at Estarossa
I really should have seen that coming, it's like he truly doesn't care anymore unsurprisingly. Time felt like it slowed down as Mael lunged for the currently defenseless Estarossa and I tried to stop him, apparently I'm still benefiting from the Commandment and found myself in front of Mael with Rebellion in my hand and blocked him.
"Why do you stand in my way human?" he asked before kicking me back and assaulting me now
"I already told you, now stop this." I said remaining on the defensive
"I won't rest until he is DEAD! Arrow of Salvation!" is shouting our attacks really necessary I thought while dodging and using the other 6 Rebellion blades to block when necessary
"I don't want to fight you Mael!"
"Then stand aside and let me eradicate this demon." he said now lunging at me pushing me back
'Blackout' I thought encasing his head in letting me get some distance "I can't do that." I sent 2 of the blades to him to distract him before he broke out of it and tried using Ark on me, but missed
"Then why can't you let me pass righteous judgement on this filth? Arrow of Salvation!" shit did those arrows get faster
"I made a promise to someone precious to me in this new world." deciding I've had enough of playing defense I lunged at him while repeatedly attacking him with the other blades
"You would spare a demon over a promise? What kind of madness is this?" he said almost effortlessly dodging all my attacks and grabbing me by the throat "You are no better than them." now he's punching me in the face and my ribs
"Maybe you should look in the mirror." he became enraged
"You would compare me to those evil creatures?" he said before kicking me near the edge and slowly walking towards me "I'll ask you again, why do you stand in my way? I would also like to know why you can control darkness."
I coughed up some blood before answering "I promised I wouldn't make someone cry, letting you kill me or Estarossa would result in that." I struggled to stand but did so as he was closing in "That's also for your sake as if you kill Estarossa, everyones attempts to save you would have been for nothing." 'killing saucer' I held it in my hand "Gowther, King, and Diane's efforts would have been for nothing, Derieri's death would have been in vain, Tarmiel, Sariel's deaths as well, Ludociel and the Supreme Diety would never forgive me for letting you fall back into Darkness if I ever meet them, and Elizabeth would have truly lost you." he dashed towards me knocking the killing saucer away and punched me in my gut before grabbing my throat again
"The demons can burn for all I care, they can rest easy once the demon is dead and Elizabeth never cared about me, she always had her eyes on Meliodas instead of me, now answer my other question!" his grip getting tighter
"The Commandment is in me, but unlike you I have protection from it's corruption." I struggled to get out "Stop this before you do something you'll regret." he punched me hard enough to send me flying back and I spoke again "What would the others think? What would they do if they were in my position? Derieri, Tarmiel, and Sariel tried to save you and stop you from killing Gowther and you mercilessly killed them all, what makes you think this would be different?" he paused for a moment before walking towards me "What would Ludociel do if he found his long lost brother willingly throwing away his life and killing a human who had nothing to do with the war for vengeance?" he paused and had a look of pain and contemplation before continuing "What would Elizabeth do if she found someone especially someone she cares about trying to throw away everything even their own life and soul for revenge?" he became enraged once again and shot his Arrows at me causing me to start writhing in agony and fall on my back
"She wouldn't care at all." he said coldly "She's probably happy with Meliodas right now anyway." he raised his fist and channeled light into it "Farewell human, I wish we could have met under better circumstances." just as he was about to hit me my eyes shot open and I swung my sword and 2 of the others
"FULL COUNTER!" he got blasted back after getting hit by 6X the power in that punch, the light still hurt, but he was breathing heavy now and on his knees
"What was that?" he asked in a strained voice, I ignored that question and stood up
"You really are dense, you know that?" I said walking to him "I've seen what revenge does to people. At it's best it truly is justice, at it's worst it's a vicious cycle of hatred that only breeds more hatred and thus gives rise to more who seek vengeance. This cycle can slow d-"
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LECTURE ME AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE SUFFERED! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I'VE LIVED THROUGH?" he interrupted with an attempt to kick my teeth in, but in his current mental and physical states he was open and I took advantage of that by thrusting the pummel of Rebellion into his gut and blasted him back with darkness
"That right there is one reason why I'm standing in your way. You aren't doing this for justice or to 'face your demons', you're doing this for revenge. Remember what your desire for revenge did last time? Two of your closest friends died so you could have your revenge Mael! If you kill me or Estarossa you'll truly die again. Our lives are tied together you idiot, if one dies so will the others."
"It will be worth it if the wor-"
"So sacrificing your sanity, trying to kill the woman you loved and still love, killing King's friend Oslo, and killing Tarmiel and Sariel was worth it? Throwing away any chance you had to return to Heaven, regain your Grace, save Elizabeth from her curse of reincarnation, and even your life was worth it?" I readied another killing saucer and used hellblaze on my sword seeing him getting back up
"Of course not!" he covered himself in light then changed it to form a halberd
"So how is this any different? You're trying to throw away everything and kill an innocent again for revenge. You're supposed to be better than this Mael. This, right here, right now, is what got you here in the first place." he fired a few Arrows at me which I blocked easily this time and threw the saucer at him with a ranged hellblaze behind it. He jumped into the air dodging both and lunged behind me to fire another arrow which was blocked with Rebellion again, he leaped over in front of me and fired two more and swung his weapon to my side. I narrowly dodged the arrows, but had to block the halberd which broke through my guard forcing me back
"Who are you to judge me? Who are you to deny me this?" he asked continuing the assault and forcing me back on the defensive
"Who am I? Someone who wants to live for one. Why should I let you fall back to darkness and kill all 3 of us? What gives you the right to make me break the promises I've made? What gives you the right to hurt my friend by killing me when neither of us ever had anything to do with your suffering? Who are you to decide how many people need to die so you can be sate your bloodlust? This is just another reason why Elizabeth chose Meliodas over you." he started becoming more relentless in his attacks as they became more erratic
"Leave her out of this." he growled
"You want to know why she chose him? He also saw the war as pointless. She saw meaning, value in every life, if she saw someone in need she would help them regardless of who or what they were or what they've done. She saved Derieri and Monspiet from their Indura transformations and protected them from the other Archangels when they were defenseless. She kept as many of her comrades alive and kept casualties to a minimum on all sides, she was respected if not loved by just about everyone even demons as many left their battles just because she asked nicely. Just as Meliodas was a worthy successor to the Demon King, she was a worthy successor to the Supreme Diety. If I could describe her in one word, to say she was the embodiment of something, she would be benevolence, hope, or forgiveness personified. Believe it or not she still thinks of you as family. Even she tried to save you, shouldn't that be enough proof." with a scream he finally hit me with the halberd then got me in a deadlock
"I said leave her out of this!" he shouted
"Then stop trying to kill us all and stop giving me reason to use your past against you." I kicked him forward and rapidly spun the other 6 blades while using hellblaze on them, I need to end this fight quickly
"We may die, but it's better than that monster breaking free." he said coming to the same conclusion as me
"Why did it have to be like this?" I asked, but didn't get a response. I tried to use the other blades to reduce the momentum in his charge, but he held them in place with Ark leaving me with one left. I made a small killing saucer again and when he was in range he shot me in my leg and my right shoulder with an Arrow, but while my hellblaze was no longer active I was able to fight through the pain and use Full Counter on his thrust and threw the saucer into his left arm. We both fell to the ground panting and bleeding a lot. I got up and limped over to him, he looked to me and asked
"What did you say your name was human?"
"Jack, Jack Griffith."
"I see... It is one worth remembering." he felt something drop on to his face and found me crying "Why?" he asked
"This didn't need to happen, we didn't need to fight, and now I doubt I'll be able to keep my promises." I fell to my knees then fell onto my side "I swore to the Goddess of this world I would befriend her daughter, I swore to the daughter and myself I wouldn't make her cry, I swore to her sister I would take care of her. Hmph, easy to make those promises."
"And you blame me for this?"
"No, because I can't honestly say I wouldn't have done the same in your position." just as he was about to respond, I heard a voice shout
"Estarossa?" was that Luna
"Who was that?" Mael asked
"A friend if you would let her." I saw Luna land looking to Estarossa then to us
"What happened and why is my friend in chains?" she asked angrily
"First off it's nice to see you too Luna, and second this is what I looked like before I became Estarossa." she looked shocked before asking
"How do I know this is true?" she said coming closer
"Fuck all the haters, both figuratively and quite literally if you're into that kind of thing." she looked at me with disbelief then the opposite just as quickly
"Oh mother of me it is you, let me heal you." Her horn lit up, numbing the pain and closing the wounds
"Can you heal him as well?" I asked turning to Mael who looked at me like I was crazy
"He did this to you though didn't he?" she asked glaring at Mael
"Remember what I said earlier when we were playing chess? I was right." she looked at me as if hoping it wasn't true, but accepted it anyway
"Very well, after you though." she said focusing on me, after healing me she went to Mael and started healing him
"Mael." he turned to me "Can I trust you to not endanger us all?" he didn't answer for a few seconds, but I was satisfied with his answer
I woke up not long after Celestia started raising the sun and probably the moon if Luna wasn't able to do so and took a moment to look out towards the city after letting my eyes adjust. The lighting was just right for this view to be burned into my memory, I felt like just staring out as the sun continued to rise.
'So this is the new world you spoke of? It's beautiful.' looking around to find no one I asked out loud
"Is that you Mael?"
'Yes, and I'm sorry about before.' that was unexpected
"It's fine. I doubt anyone else would have reacted differently anyway." I thought to see if he could hear my thoughts
'Thank you.'
"You can thank me later, right now we have more important things to deal with and likely some things to prepare for."
'Such as?' he asked curiously
"For starters telling the princesses about the situation, being the shoulder or punching bag for at least one of them, and the possibility of other Archangels or Commandments appearing." just as he was about to respond a servant knocked on the door
"Sir Estarossa, the princesses wish for you to join them for breakfast." the servant said revealing itself to be female then leaving
'Why did she ca-'
"I look and sound like Estarossa with all his power and possibly yours remember? I figured I may as well go with the name as well and try to do something good with it all." I thought walking out to meet the sisters
Walking in I found only Celestia and Luna at the table, their conversation coming to an end immediately after they saw me.
"Estarossa, would you care to explain what my sister was talking about?" Celestia asked as I was sitting down just in time for the food to be distributed
"Basically THE Estarossa and Mael are trapped in our head, Mael tried to kill Estarossa to have revenge, and I had to intervene as if one of us dies so will the other 2. I was a normal human again if you ignore the Commandment's power when I stopped him from killing an unconscious Estarossa. On a side note, I can hear Mael speaking to me." this shocked Celestia more than Luna
"Who are you really then and why was Mael trying to kill you both?"
"I think I already told you my original name was Jack, as for your second question I know I already answered that when we first met. Archangel turned into a demon prince and forced to take countless innocent lives with the rest of the world trying to kill him, and thanks to the Commandment's corruption eating away at his sanity for about 3,000 years assuming time in the Coffin of Eternal Darkness flows the same as the real world, he absorbed 3 more Commandments, killed 2 of the other 3 Archangels, and nearly made himself an enemy of anything and everything that can hold a weapon. He tried to kill all 3 of us to avenge himself and all his victims and to ensure Estarossa doesn't decide he wants to play." the sisters looked, well I don't think there's a word that can accurately describe how sad they look
"How and why w-" Luna started before I interrupted
"I also told you about this. The demon Meliodas betrayed the demon clan and really tipped the war in the goddess clan's favor, seeing this as an opportunity they also recruited the other races: the fairy, giant, and human clans. The former Commandment of Selflessness, Gowther selected Mael to be the one to restore the balance as he was the only one capable of matching Meliodas who with his Commandment had a level of at least 180-190,000 and without had around 160,000. Gowther used a forbidden spell that rewrote everyone's memories including the Supreme Diety and the Demon King, the spell worked, but Gowther died and the result turned Mael into Estarossa and forced the goddess clan to end the war by sealing themselves and the demon clan away. However the real reason the war ended the way it did was the Supreme Diety and Demon King punishing Meliodas and the goddess Elizabeth for their love for each other. That's a story for another time though." Celestia took on a look of rage when the reason Mael was selected was said
"You mean to tell me, that an innocent person had to suffer a-" I interrupted her as well
"There are a few other reasons I can think of. Gowther didn't want to be a Commandment nor take part in the war, but was forced to indirectly, he saw an opportunity to end what he thought was a pointless war and took it. The other reason is a long shot, but likely given Mael and his brother Ludociel's merciless nature towards demons, even towards non-combatants, even against demons who didn't even try to defend themselves and begged for mercy." I could feel Mael listening closely as he was even more curious than the princesses "Gowther had a lover once and when she died, he made a magical doll that looked exactly like her, but was male so he wouldn't feel any attraction to it. My guess is Mael was the one to kill her, he killed the only thing Gowther cared about so Gowther decided to kill 3 birds with one stone. By turning Mael into Estarossa he would have had justice for his lover, spited the Demon King who forced him into the war, and ended the war." this shocked them being reminded such a powerful spell existed and someone was capable of using it
'Did I really do such a thing? Did I cause this?' Mael asked, believing he might have sealed his own fate
"You've seen yourself that demons are just as capable of good, just as capable of love, just as capable of mercy, and just as susceptible to pain as anyone else. Fraudrin is a decent example of such considering how he died, and Meliodas, Derieri, and Monspiet were perfect examples. Need I remind you how Derieri and Monspiet saved that one human's soul from you, how Monspiet sacrificed himself for Derieri, or how Derieri died trying to save you and the others from yourself. You commited an unforgivable sin so you were turned into something worse than what you hated most." I thought to him and not having a response chose to remain silent
"-rossa!" I heard Luna shout
"Huh what? I'm sorry, I was talking to Mael for a second, did you say something?"
"You told us how Selflessness was activated and it's effects, but something doesn't add up. How was this Gowther unaffected?" good question actually
"As I said, I can't remember if it was selfish thoughts and/ or actions that triggered it, but my guess is he either found a way to make himself immune or he had so much control over his thoughts and actions that he was able to accomplish his goals without putting himself at risk. It's kind of hard to call it revenge when you have neither hate nor desire to hurt someone, especially when you are entirely focused on ending a pointless war."
"What kind of world did they live in if they had to make sacrifices such as this to end a war?" Celestia asked fearing the answer
"A world that is only going to get better if the Demon King has been cast down and if necessary the Supreme Diety. Meliodas, Elizabeth, and the rest of the Sins should be able to make sure of that. Now I have something that just came to my attention that requires your guards to be vigilant and extremely careful." I got their undivided attention
"And what might that be?" she asked with a noticeable amount of dread
"Mael and Estarossa are in my head. Mael's no longer hostile, but Estarossa will be a problem when he wakes up as he will likely try to kill us both. He is twice as powerful as me and Mael, him with the 60,000 and each of us having only around 30,000. Either the elements or Faust will have to intervene if he gets violent. That is the first thing to worry about."
"I thought you said you had 60,000?" Luna asked
"In the dream I was human, I didn't have the Archangel body like I do now so I was a human benefiting from the Commandment which was just enough to challenge Mael's approximate 32,000. The second thing to worry about will be the possibility of others from that world appearing. Best case scenario Elizabeth, the Sins, other Archangels if we can prove to them Mael is alive, and former Commandments Gloxinia, Drole, Gowther, Derieri, and Monspiet appear. Worst case scenario it's any other Commandment, though Zeldris and maybe Fraudrin would be fine. To put it simply, if anyone looking similar to me, a blue 4 armed giant, a red armored demon, a purple demon with a giant mouth on his chest, or a giant mass of darkness with several faces appears you NEED to hear about it and tell me. If you don't any number of ponies will be in danger. I kept my Commandment, who's to say the Archangels didn't keep their Graces or the demons their Commandments?" they both looked at me fearfully, getting a basic idea as to what they might be up against
"Yes, I can see why you would be worried about such a thing. I shall have all guards across Equestria as well as the other nations watch out for this." Celestia said
"Thank you." I turned to Luna and saw she wanted to say something "Let it out, I know you want to." she teleported to the other side of the table and somehow slapped me shocking Mael as even he had to ask how she did so with a hoof
"You idiot." oh shit "You bucking IDIOT!" I need to stop making her cry, this is 3 times now if you count Nightmare "Do you know how scared I was, that I might lose my first friend in over 1,000 years? I- I can't even-" I reached behind her head and pulled her close
"I put myself in danger so I could stay here. If Estarossa died me and Mael would have died as well. I'm sorry for making you worry, but I would rather do that than break the promises I made to you, Celestia, your mother, and myself. I hope you can understand why I had to." she sniffled as she looked up at me
"I do understand, but that doesn't make me any less worried." she said nuzzling my neck
"That just means you care. Besides, I doubt I'll have to do anything like that again any time soon except with Estarossa (please don't jinx me Discord) so there's no need to worry."
"What should we call you then if you have HIM in your head?" Celestia abruptly changed the subject
"I guess just keep calling me Estarossa. If my eyes change that will likely mean Mael is taking over, if you don't see me send a weak black pulse then that's likely the real Estarossa. There's hardly any point in calling me Jack if I am neither human nor do I have any of my old features." she looked at me with understanding as we finally started eating
I'll probably have to help Mael reconcile with the others if they appear, and hopefully the rest won't be hostile. Galand, Grayroad and Melascula are guaranteed, the rest especially Zeldris are uncertainties.
I have to say, the castle food is some of the best I've had in my life. The conversation switched to better topics after the sisters got all the information I could give on the Archangels and Commandments. Starting with the Archangels the only information I had on them was the Graces, the Domain of God which if they don't have their Graces should be impossible, and speculation on Flash and either it's extreme speed or partial time control, I couldn't remember too much about Sariel, Tarmiel, or Ludociel. The Commandments I had enough info to work with, but that info made them more terrified of the Commandments. Personally I think the only ones we'll need to worry about are Ludociel, Galand, Melascula, Grayroad, Karmaldios, Zeno, Aranach (those last 3 may come back), and maybe Fraudrin. Drole, Gloxinia, Derieri, and Monspiet won't be a problem, but Gowther and Zeldris are uncertainties. After explaining what I knew and who to be cautious of they became visibly relaxed until I told them about Grayroad and Melascula, they became even more adamant on me dealing with them if necessary. We had finished eating and I decided to explore and find a few places to be alone as I have business with Mael. I eventually found the gardens and took a seat by a noticeably deep pond before starting what I need to.
"Mael, we need to talk." I thought to him
'What do you need?' he asked
"I need a few things actually. Help with the other Archangels if they show up and if possible I need you to train me to use light. We both know I'm going to need it."
'What makes you so sure you can even use light?' he asked as if such a thing was unreasonable
"The simple facts that I'm in control of your body right now, you were able to use light when you had 4 Commandments meaning 20% of the Demon King's power, and our souls being tied together like this. I can't always rely on the Dark and I know you in your now mentally stable state will actively refuse to use it. While the power will be nice, if the others see us as Estarossa I may not be able to hold back, especially if they are as merciless as Stigma or Derieri from 3,000 years ago." I said as a bird was already landing on my arm and letting me scratch it's head
'What did Stigma do to warrent this level of caution?' he asked shocked as if he really doesn't know
"Derieri's sister was murdered by Ludociel after he mistook Elizabeth's attempts at peace for a chance to eradicate the demons filling Derieri's heart with more hate than you. 3,000 years ago a person sized demon who didn't want to fight was found injured and treated by a village of humans, Stigma left only a handful of survivors for this act of kindness and those humans betrayed everyone when Melascula and Gowther were turning the Light of Grace against Stigma. There is a fine line between justice and revenge, this act drove Gloxinia to betray Stigma as well."
'We only added fuel to the flames didn't we?' he asked after several moments of silence
"To quote someone from my world, 'each man's death is of their own making'. You and the rest of Stigma sealed your own fates and by extension the war when you killed Gowther's lover, Stigma when they massacred that village, Drole when he gave in to fear, Gloxinia when he gave in to his hatred, Gowther when he tried to use that forbidden spell, the Supreme Diety and Demon King when they attacked Elizabeth and Meliodas, and Fraudrin when he killed one of Elizabeth's reincarnations right in front of Meliodas. Tell me I'm wrong."
'I wish I could.' I could feel him lowering his head 'May I ask you something?'
"Go ahead."
'Why do you think I'm here still? Why were you so reluctant to fight me?' I thought of how to answer that for about a minute
"As I said, some higher power thought you deserved a second chance, Estarossa as well probably since he's how you would have been had you been born a demon. You were not in control as Estarossa so it would be unfair to punish you for his actions even if you are partially responsible for his creation. You were merciless, but your kindness towards others seemed to be a defining trait if that was the last thing Tarmiel said, you hated the demons, but you prayed they would be reborn with righteous souls. It's easy but foolish to judge others based on their actions and appearances alone, the how and why are just as important. A lot of people wanted to see Estarossa get his teeth kicked in and got what they wanted when Escanor met him, but started changing their perspectives as more facts and inconsistencies came to light. It was probably for your own protection too now that I think about it."
'Alright, 2 things: 1 why did Escanor have my Grace and 2 who would I need protection from and why? I was dead anyway.' you haven't thought of this Mael
"To answer the first question the Grace probably had a mind of it's own and chose the best candidate among the races when it might have sensed the second Holy War. To answer your second question the Demon King would probably pity you yes, but would still kill you, probably better than the Supreme Diety though." he growled in response
'Why would I need to be protected from Her? Such a thing is unthinkable, choose your next words carefully human.'
"She cursed her own daughter to keep being reunited with and inevitably fall in love with Meliodas and have her die after 16-18 years or so, living for only 3 more days after remembering her past lives, all because of who she chose to love. In doing so she helped the Demon King punish Meliodas by making him watch her die 100+ times now screwing up the war 3,000 years ago by throwing away her 2 most powerful allies, one of which would regress back to his old self as his emotions are taken every time he dies. She sentenced her own daughter to a fate worse than death and sabotaged the Holy War simply because of her daughter loving a demon, what do you think she would do to you for Estarossa's crimes, killing 2 Archangels and taking in more Commandments? What do you think she would do to me after taking over your body and taking in a Commandment?" I would have expected you to put 2 and 2 together
'Surely she wou-'
"I have no reason to believe she wouldn't make our lives absolute Hell if not kill us. As much as I want to believe she is good, her actions only prove that 'angels are really just demons with white wings'. No one like her deserves to have any power much less call themselves a parent. Parents who neglect and abuse their children show more love than her." I interrupted
He tried to say something, but he couldn't come up with a response, he couldn't think of anything to deny what I said. He receded back into my mind to sort all this out leaving me to think on how to deal with the others. The biggest problems among them would be Ludociel, Grayroad, Melascula, and Galand. Ludociel might be capable of reason, but Grayroad would need to die before he can break anyone into being a slave or demonizing best case scenario, Melascula before she raises an army of undead, and Galand who won't stop even after I die. To my understanding this might just become one huge shit show, but right now the best I can do is prepare, problem is there isn't much I can do to prepare for these.
"Damnit. I've got nothing better to do for now so I guess I'll see how the sisters are doing, word about me had to have spread like wildfire so the foreseeable future should be fun to say the least." I said getting up and started making my way to the throne room.
Celestia POV
Where did I go wrong in my rule, all these nob- no, these foals do is complain about the smallest things or right now try to buy me into their herds or demand I banish Luna again (thank mother Luna isn't here right now). Sometimes I feel like I have too much self control and it. Doesn't. Get. Better.
"Surely you can understand why us nobles should pay less in our taxes and the lower classes pay more your-" Please mother if you can hear me make it stop. Oh she finally stopped talking, still holding her head up high with an expectant smile on her face.
"I shall take this into consideration, you shall have my response within the week." Just as she was about to respond I heard screaming and what sounded like metal falling on the floor
"HALT CREATURE!" A guard shouted as he 3 others held their spears to the door. I saw Estarossa walk in with an amused and confused look on his face
"Word about my existence traveled slower than I thought it would." Estarossa said as he sent a dark pulse ensuring it is the good one and one of the guards attacked him in response
"No stop!" I shouted too late as his spear was thrust into Estarossa's chest only to have it shatter into pieces surprising us all, he lowered himself to eye level with the guard and tilted his head a little
"How does it feel knowing my skin is stronger than your best weapons? I should also have you know I can practically shit out better and lighter weapons." The guard fainted and seconds later the other guards dropped their weapons, possibly victims of his Commandment "Okay Celestia, this is getting old and quick." He said standing back up and walking to me
"Is there a reason you're here right now? Not that it's unwelcome." I asked
"Do I need a reason to say hello to one of my favorite ponies? Besides, I'm bored anyway, this seemed like a good bit of fun." You have no idea how wrong you are
"You could always spend time with Luna, she certainly enjoys your company."
"I could, but she's likely in the middle of something right now, but I'll check on her if you want." He offered "I'm guessing she'll be in the library or her room right now?"
"She's in the library at the moment trying to catch up to current events and other advancements in the past 1,000 years."
"Makes sense, I should probably learn this world's history among other things while I'm there, thanks." He said on his way out
Now back to this Tartarus
Elsewhere
"How could he do this to me? We were supposed to be on the same side damnit!" A tall creature shouted swinging it's double edged voulge like weapon in rage "No matter, he may have my Commandment, but he failed to kill me, and he will regret it." This creature said marching off in a random direction cutting down everything in it's path
It took longer than I would have liked to find the library, but that's my fault for not asking the guards for directions or see if a servant would be able to guide me. It only took a second to find Luna and join in, I figured I should probably learn about this world while I'm here and help her where her... Tutor? Teacher? Whatever, I helped where the teacher was lacking and Luna was not only learning everything noticeably faster, but seemed to enjoy herself as well. The teacher on the other hand was less than pleased and walked out on us, not that either of us cared. Time flew by faster than I would have thought as we seemed to have missed lunch and it was already time for dinner. I never thought learning would be so enjoyable when you had someone with you. Celestia decided to take the rest of the day off and spend time with Luna so I excused myself only to have Celestia tell me to stay, hours flew by again and I decided to call it a night, not before hugging Luna of course who was also noticeably tired. I hadn't heard from Mael after earlier so I decided to check on him personally, assuming I even have a choice in meeting him.
Dream world
Landing as a human in the same scenery as last time I saw Estarossa still sleeping and chained and Mael sitting down and staring off into the abyss. I felt something different on my face so I summoned Rebellion and viewed my reflection to find my left eye is now black and I have my own demon mark shaped almost like Meliodas's in assault mode and leaving a sort of scar half way down my cheek. I'm guessing this means the Commandment's bond with me is strengthening or something. After thinking on it for a little I joined him and the scenery somehow changed to what looked like islands floating over the clouds and a giant ring shaped space in the middle.
"It's beautiful." I commented
"Whenever I wanted to be alone, I would always come here and Elizabeth would kindly comfort me. I burned this image into my heart because of it." He responded
We just sat there for a while in silence, I was enjoying the view as he was reminiscing about the past. The silence eventually came to an end as Luna dropped in and had the same reaction as me.
"This is a wonderful view." She commented before noticing the new addition to my face "Was that black marking on your face last time?"
"No it wasn't, I'm guessing the Commandment's bond to me is becoming stronger or something like that and this is probably a side effect. So decided to check up on me?"
"I did." She said giving Mael an uneasy look "Is he truly no longer a problem?"
"I can hear you, and no. I swore to not do anything like last time." Mael said
"How ca-" I chose this moment to interrupt them
"I think I'll step in and prevent this from escalating, so with that said." I picked her up bridal style getting an 'eep' out of her "How's my favorite princess? I didn't expect to see you so soon." She didn't look amused
"Could you please put me down?"
"Now why would I do that? I've always wanted to hold you and you want to take that away from me? I thought you liked me!" I said with mock hurt in my voice and set her down getting a thank you from her. I sat back down and Luna joined me, wrapping a wing around me as we leaned on each other. Mael just looked on with a light smile and barely noticeable sad look in his eyes, probably thinking about Elizabeth again. I figured I should probably get his mind off of what he probably can't have and get an answer for earlier.
"Have you thought about what I said Mael?" I asked, he shifted his gaze back to the view before us and replied
"I have."
"And?"
"I've decided to try and teach you how to use Light, however there are no guarantees that you will be able to use it if not because of the Commandment then your human soul." Something is better than nothing I guess
"Hopefully Dark will suffice. If not then I don't know what we should do at that point. For now though let's just admire the sights before us." Luna agreed and pulled me closer and I just closed my eyes enjoying this feeling. I don't mean to sound like a teenager driven by hormones, but I doubt starting a relationship with her will be too hard if she's this comfortable around me
Creature POV
Where the hell am I? I would try to fly, but losing my Commandment seems to have had a bigger impact than I thought and jumping only showed trees for miles. Damn that Estarossa, as if Meliodas betraying us wasn't bad enough, but him too? I won't stop until I see him dead at my feet.
"RRRAAAAAAHH!" Another tree down in this seemingly endless forest "I need something to kill and fast." I looked up and barely saw smoke in the late night sky "Looks like I found my first victim, hehehe." I said with a smile on my face and picking up the pace
Finding out there was something to kill improved my mood enough that I started taking my time heading there and stopped cutting down every tree in my way. A few miles away from the mountain the smoke looked like it was coming from I turned around seeing light quickly approaching me
"GAAAHH MY EYES!" I shouted, looking around after my eyes adjusted I saw no one, but somehow the sun was high in the sky "What is this sorcery? It was nighttime mere seconds ago!" Nevermind, I wouldn't understand it anyway, I think I'll just move along and kill whoever's at the top.
Estarossa (Jack) POV
I'm kind of disappointed the dream had to end, but then again I could experience that same comfort in the waking world as well so silver lining. I took my shower and made my way to the dining hall to find no one here, I was about to peak into the kitchen to see if anyone was here until I heard the door open again with Celestia entering with Luna.
"Morning, I hope you slept well Celestia." I greeted them closing the kitchen door and sending a dark pulse
"'I did thank you, now what about Luna?" Not working Sunbutt
"Of course she slept well, she was with me after all." *insert record scratch*
"Would you care to elaborate?" She said with a smile that promised murder
"Uuuumm let me rephrase that. She came into my dream and the most intimate thing we did was I want to say cuddle, but we weren't sleeping with each other so I think the word I'm looking for snuggling?" Even Luna was blushing (so adorable) and at a loss for words.
"Very well then." Finally we all sat down and the servants were filling up the kitchen quickly "I have a task for you after we are finished with breakfast should you choose to accept."
"Sure, can't be that dangerous."
"Not for you maybe, but for young Sparkle and her friends it will be." Luna said, I don't remember this in the show, now you have my undivided attention.
"Alright, I thought it was serious considering I was going, but them too? What do you need?" I asked
"Considering you have to ask, I think it's safe to assume you didn't notice that smoke cloud near Ponyville?" Okay red flag, I don't remember it being this soon in the first season. Hell if it is on a weekly basis for the events episode 3 shouldn't have even started yet, which ever one it was.
"No I haven't, but I think I remember what's causing it. You want me as protection then?"
"Correct, if diplomacy fails then strength will usually get a dragon to back down, or respect and see others as equals. I trust the strength part will be no problem for you though." Celestia said as breakfast was served.
"If events play out like in the show then strength won't be needed, Fluttershy the angel she is will talk the dragon down after Rarity and Rainbow in their infinite wisdom decide to try stealing from the dragon and attack it in that order. Speaking of I think you should speak with them after this, the show meant for young children I can almost guarantee will be very different from this one and this one will be much more violent and bloody." I warned them
"If events happen as you think they will then I will, otherwise such a thing may not be necessary."
"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there." And with that we finally dug into the food
"Come back safe alright." Luna said to me in the courtyard after Celestia went back to day court
"I would tell you don't worry, but we both know you are anyway. How about I promise to be back safe and sound instead?" I said scratching her ears causing her to push her head against my hand
"You had better keep that promise or else Tia might have to go through with her threat." Great, now you have a smile that promises murder
"While I doubt it would hurt, I don't want to test that theory. I'll see you later alright." I said calling the dark to form wings and knelt down enough to hug her
"Goodbye for now." She said hugging me back and nuzzling my neck. We let go and in a massive burst of speed I jumped high enough to see Ponyville and started my flying lessons again (hopefully I won't land like the first time)
I reached Ponyville and at least in my opinion it took me too long to find everyone. I mean how hard is it to find 6 ponies near the foot of a mountain? Turns out they were about to start. I would go down and climb up with them, but I need to confirm several things first and getting directly involved might make it worse. Episode 3 shouldn't have started yet and we are already on Dragonshy whichever one that was so that definitely raised some alarms. Best case scenario the episodes weren't in order, worst case scenario time fucked itself and went in all directions after downing a gallon of LSD. Hopefully I won't need to intervene, but I will if it gets too dangerous. I don't remember anything about this episode except for Rainbow's attempts to leave Fluttershy behind, Fluttershy's panic attack over a leaf, and the confrontation. On second thought, I think I'll at least make my presence known.
"So who missed me?" I said sticking the landing this time and startling everyone
"Estarossa? I didn't expect to see you so soon." Twilight said being the first to regain her composure
"The princesses sent me as protection if anything becomes too dangerous. Before we get started I would suggest grabbing the elements."
"Why would we need them? We're just trying to convince the dragon to leave." You are too naive Twilight
"Besides, I doubt we'll need you either! We'll have that dragon out in no time." Rainbow said glaring at me
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. If that dragon decides to get violent me and the elements will be your only chance of surviving. Pinkie's cannon will just annoy it, your punches will piss it off, Fluttershy will probably be too scared to move, Applejack's bucks and lasso will get the same result as your efforts, Rarity isn't a fighter, and unless Twilight can one shot or pacify it you'll all die by fire, digestion, dismemberment, or you'll be crushed." All of them looked down thinking what I said might be true "If it helps, I'll be flying high above unless the danger increases too much."
"While I understand what you're saying, I still think the elements won't be necessary." Twilight said
"*sigh* That mentality, that foolishness of yours will get someone you care about hurt or worse. I hope you'll be able to carry that burden with you when it does. In that case before I go, if I tell you to run, just do it. Don't ask why, don't look back. I need you all to promise me this." All of them agreed (Rainbow reluctantly did so) even though they were confused as to why and then I flew high enough to not be involved.
Honestly, I forgot for a moment that time skips were a thing. Thankfully I had some music to listen to while I was waiting for anything important to happen. I thought Crusade by Voltair fit this situation well enough so I decided to listen to a few of his songs first before putting it back on random. So far we've passed the chasm Fluttershy was too scared to traverse so now I'm just waiting for the avalanche and see if I'll need to step in. The location looks close enough so now I'll need to wait for Fluttershy's little panic attack, it's amazing how clearly I can see from this distance, I can even see the leaf that'll fall on her in 3...2...1...
"AVALANCHE!" Fluttershy shouted, causing one and forcing everyone to try and avoid it. Things are definitely different because I don't remember a rock heading right towards her and no one helping her, I had to go down myself
"LOOK OUT!" I shouted landing right in front of her and using a giant killing saucer to split it in half forcing it to miss us both. I looked back to her to find she looked ready to pass out so I stood by in case she did.
"Shy!" Rainbow shouted flying up to her "What were you thinking just standing there? You could have died!"
"I'm sorry. I was so scared I couldn't move" Fluttershy said while barely keeping whatever passes for composure in this case.
"So I think Imma take my leave until we reach the dragon. Bye." I said flying back up. I thought I saw something enter the cave, but I figured it was the dragon moving around. Could have sworn the cave was deeper.
Creature POV
So this is what was making all that smoke, I'd've never thought it would be a dragon much less a sleeping one. If I wasn't so hungry right now I would have woke it up so my prey could actually fight back, the hunt is never fun without resistance. Still this will go a long way to restoring my power.
"You should feel honored that it took Galand of Truth to kill you beast. Know your soul will be put to good use." I said to myself and accidentally waking the dragon in the process. As his eyes found me I slashed it's throat and stabbed it's heart causing it to thrash around clutching it's wounds. A futile effort, but amusing to say the least. After it stopped I pulled out it's soul and started taking my time devouring it. I had forgotten how delicious dragon souls were.
Estarossa (Jack) POV
That was a lot of noise just now even from a sleeping dragon. Like it was struggling just a moment ago.
"Mael, do you think that was the dragon." I thought while summoning Rebellion
'I'm not sure, it would be best to be on your guard anyway.' Mael said as I continued to observe everything. It won't be long now before everyone reaches the top so I may as well land now.
"What in tarnation was that?" Applejack asked as I was landing
"I think it was the dragon." Twilight said with uncertainty on her face, I decided now to step in
"I'm not too sure. That sounded more like a struggle than the dragon shifting around. With that said I want you to remember your promise to me to run if I tell you."
"Okie dokie loki." Pinkie said still bouncing around
"If you deem it necessary then alright darling." Rarity said
Fluttershy tried to say something, but Rainbow talked over her saying 'yeah yeah whatever'. That attitude, that pride is going to get someone hurt, one of several reasons why I never liked her. I stayed near Fluttershy the rest of the way up and when we got to the entrance I stopped everyone.
"Let me go in first."
"But why? I thought you were supposed to be our protection." Twilight said
"There are 2 red flags here: The noises from earlier and the lack of smoke. I don't think the dragon's sleeping anymore and wor-" I stopped after hearing what sounded like armored boots moving toward us. My eyes shot open after seeing a red hand stick out.
"Everyone run now!" I nearly shouted and what are the odds no one listened.
"Well well, I didn't expect to see you so soon after your betrayal Estarossa hehehehehehe." The demon before me said
"Estarossa, who is this?" Twilight asked
"WHY AREN'T YOU RUNNING?" The ponies flinched as I shouted
"And I see you've made some new friends outside the Commandments. How long before you betray them as well I wonder, not that you'll be able to after I kill you like that dragon in there." Everyone but Rainbow looked absolutely horrified hearing he did this with no attempt to hide his pleasure "To answer your question horse, I am Galand the Truth of the Ten Commandments."
"What are you supposed to be doing?" I asked the group
"What? They all asked with shaky voices
"I asked what you're supposed to be doing." Trying my patience
"Ru-" Twilight tried to say
"FUCKING RUN ALREADY!" I shouted
"This is unlike you Estarossa, no matter, you'll die here and now." Galand said readying himself for a charge
"This guy's a Commandment? There's no way a small guy like him could be as strong as you made them out to be. I'll take him out in ten seconds flat, eat this freak!" Rainbow shouted and charged at him faster than I could react. No sooner than she got in range of Galand's weapon did he step to the side and slice one of her wings off sending her flying to the edge of the cliff. Time seemed to slow down for a moment as we watched her skid at high speed to the edge.
"RAINBOW!" Everyone but me shouted, it took every ounce of self control I had to do what I did next.
"If you'll hold off for just a moment Galand, I would like to do something real quick." I said picking up her wing and going to her.
"Make it quick then!" Galand said impatiently.
When I got to Rainbow she looked up at me with fear in her eyes. "I told you to run, you couldn't swallow your pride and this is the result. I hope it was worth it, throwing away your hopes and dreams and nearly getting yourself killed for glory of all things." I whispered into her ear before using a weak Hellblaze to stop the bleeding causing her to cry out in pain and lose unconscious. I carried her and her wing back to the others with suppressed rage.
"Contrary to what you might believe, I just saved her life temporarily. Run, hospital, princesses, NOW!" I shouted giving them to the others and finally getting rid of everyone leaving me with Galand.
"Finally, I get to have my revenge. I hope you've made your peace traitor!" Galand said
"I'm not the Estarossa you know, I can be so much worse, not that you would care much less believe me. I've betrayed no one." I said enchanting Rebellion with Hellblaze and summoning a killing saucer in each finger on my free hand. I took a moment to look at his power level to see it was higher than before. It was 26k before Critical Over raised it to about 40k. His current power is somehow 38k even without Truth with an estimated 57k in Critical Over. I should end this fight now. "I will be more than happy end your life here, but first allow me to teach you the true meaning of despair." I felt the symbol on my head change like how it was in the dream and a thin cloak of darkness cover my body as I let my rage flow through me.
Sometimes the Truth hurts. Love hurts more. The Truth can shatter dreams, hope, especially the hearts of men. Love can drive us to do the unthinkable, and turn to poison giving rise to Hatred. Pure and unbound Hatred and Malice.
I think I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should considering how easy it should be. Galand has never demonstrated the use of magic unless you count him using a named barrage of attacks as such. I decided I'm going to toy with him until he uses Critical Over so I extinguished the Hellblaze and dismissed 6 of the Rebellion blades and the cloak. I'm only going to use one blade and the occasional killing saucer until further notice.
"What, accepting your fate already or do you intend to fight me like that?" Galand asked in a cocky tone.
"Why would I accept a fate that will never come to pass?" I asked plainly.
"What happened to you? You've rarely ever shown any emotion yet you've shown more in the past 2 minutes than you have before and after we were sealed." He asked curious and disturbed.
"As I said, you wouldn't care nor believe me. However if you must know I am a human who was forced into this body against my will and the Estarossa you know is asleep right now."
"You honestly expect me to be-" I rushed at him and punched his head down, kicked him up past the top of the mountain, and thrusted the pommel of Rebellion into his gut sending him crashing back into the ground. I landed beyond the reach of his weapon before speaking again.
"Are you done? I thought you were going to kill me." I mocked getting a rise out of him.
"Have it your way!" He shouted swinging his weapon wildly. With the massive difference in strength I was easily dodging his attacks "Ahahaha all you can do is dodge! Well let's see you dodge this, Chaotic Judgement!" The attack sending debris flying everywhere with an explosive gale of slashes. Does he really not understand the difference in power I thought before grabbing his weapon by the blade, stopping it in place.
"You may be powerful, but there were so many better choices for the Commandment of Truth such as Bellion for example. As long as they didn't lie they would've had nothing to worry about. All you're good for is causing mindless destruction." I said and pulled him to me before kicking him into the cave. He lunged at me a moment after he hit the back of the cave and I stepped a little to the side to uppercut his chin sending him high up and waited for him to land.
"Fight me already you coward!" He shouted after a hard fall.
"But why would I fight you when pissing you off is so much more fun? I'll fight when I feel like it." I taunted him.
"Gggraaaahh! I will not stand for this! I am Galand of T-" *schlick* I interrupted by stabbing him finally and blasting him back with darkness.
"You know, it's kind of hard to take you seriously when you do nothing but shout and wildly swing your weapon. If you're not going to fight seriously then I'll just kill you now. Need I also remind you Truth is no longer in your possession?"
"F-f-fine, you want me to fight seriously? I'll give you what you want 'human'. Wretched Scatter Strike!" Why does everyone shout their attacks I thought blocking and parrying his rapid thrusts. Once again only good for destroying the environment, EPA would have a field day with him. I made 2 killing saucers to hold his weapon in place as I cut off his arms then fire them both through his legs.
"Mmmhmmhmhmmhahahaha! Oh that was good!" He shouted while using darkness to reattach his limbs and heal the new holes in his body. "But you're still holding back! Actually fight me like you mean it!" Galand said clenching his fist.
"If only because your annoying me so much I'll grant you the death you seek, or rather one you're worthy of." I summoned another Rebellion blade just to mock him some more.
"Ggggrrr THAT'S ENOUGH! CRITICAL OVER!" He shouted finally using his magic ability and raised his power to 57k "CRITICAL STRIKE!" This one I actually had to dodge.
"Finally you're getting serious, I suppose it's only fair I do the same." I summoned the other blades and enchanted them with Hellblaze.
"Ooohh, you've never done that before. Come on and show me what you can do Estarossa!" Are you ever going to stop shouting? "Chaotic Judgement!" I couldn't dodge this, but blocking was still an option and with 7 blades was easier.
"I will once I'm given a reason to." I fired a killing saucer at him again which he effortlessly deflected.
"You honestly thought that w-" I interrupted him again with a short flurry of swipes from my swords setting him ablaze.
"If you spent half as much time fighting as you do talking I might have actually attacked with the intent to kill by now. But because I'm still bored as hell I'm just going to finish this now." I said as he extinguished the flames and healed himself once more.
"Fine, I'll give you what you want. CRITICAL STRIKE!" That's it, and the end.
"Quiet down." I said using Full Counter, cleaving him in 2 instead and he fell to the ground. He was somehow able to heal himself, but he was no longer at his strongest.
"NO NOT LIKE THIS! I REFUSE TO LOSE TO- AAACK" He tried getting up, but I pinned him down with 4 of my swords and his weapon piercing his abdomen.
"It was boring to be honest. I expected more." I said looking down on him.
"No wait! I'm sorry, please don't do this! Not again Estarossa!" Wow that is pathetic, especially for you Galand.
"Begging is unlike you Galand. Tell me, did you show mercy to that dragon? How about that mare you disabled? You took away what made her a pegasus, you took her pride, her hopes and dreams, and even her home which she needs her wings to reach. What right do you have to beg for the mercy you lack? You, who relishes in battle and destruction would dare to beg?" His hopeful look turned to fear and despair.
"Seeing that arrogant smile of yours turn to despair." My mark changed again and I changed my voice like how Meliodas did when he killed Fraudrin to help the fear factor "Nothing could make me happier." I said with a smile on my face "Hellfire Tempest!" I shouted setting the entire mountain top ablaze using the remaining 3 blades to spread and swirl the flames around.
When it was over there was nothing left of Galand but that purple jewel or whatever in his chest. I pulled out his soul, deciding to hold on to it and see what the princesses say I should do. Right now I have a hospital to go to and dumb bitch to slap.
This is bad, really bad! Rainbow needs help and fast, but Estarossa's fighting that monster on his own. Galand of Truth, and Estarossa used to be friends with that monster? No, Rainbow comes first! We need to get to a hospital now!
*clang* *clang* *rumble* We all heard and felt that from here.
"What in the hay is goin' on up there?" Applejack asked
"I don't think any of us want to know." I said
"Do you think they will be alright Twilight?" Rarity asked
"I don't know." Estarossa, you were supposed to protect us I thought as tears started pouring down my face even harder than before. You did this, Rainbow might die because of you. I'll never forgive you!
We got about halfway down before another earthquake hit causing me to drop Rainbow, thankfully Pinkie caught her.
"What are you doing? We need to go!" This is the most serious I've seen Pinkie, but understandable given the circumstances. No! I need to stay focused! Rainbow's life depends on it.
The run down ended at about the same time the noises and earthquakes stopped. Just seconds before we made it into town we felt a strong gust of wind from the direction of the mountain. Turning around we all saw a giant black flaming tornado and we lost our balance from the force. Wasting no time getting back up we ran into town and pushed our way to the hospital. Once inside it took no time at all for Nurse Redheart to see Rainbow's condition and get her to the ER. We all collapsed right there, but I still needed to do something.
"Girls." They turned to face me "I need to alert the princess about this as soon as possible so I need to get to the library now."
"Don't worry about it sugarcube, just get back here right after." Applejack said while the others nodded in agreement
"Thank you girls. Please be alright Rainbow." I said the last part to myself while leaving the hospital. I ran to the library as fast as my hooves would let me and nearly collapsed again upon entering getting a concerned look from Spike.
"Are you alright Twi?" He asked
"No, I'm not. Where are some quills a-" He tapped my side to show he was ready to send the letter "Sorry Spike, but I need to write this myself. Why don't you go read your comics or something?" Please take the bait.
"Well alright." It's a good thing he's only a colt at times I thought.
Dear Princess Celestia
The dragon isn't going to be a problem anymore, but not for the reasons you might think. Once we reached the top we encountered a monster calling itself 'Galand, the Truth of the Ten Commandments' and it killed the dragon before we got there, reveling in doing so. Rainbow tried to attack it not believing it was very strong, but it cut off her wing. That monster knew Estarossa and seemed to have a grudge against him for some kind of betrayal. Speaking of Estarossa he said you sent him as protection and he FAILED! And if Rainbow survives she might never fly again because of his negligence!
I'm sorry, I'm too overwhelmed right now.
Sincerely, your faithful student
Estarossa (Jack) POV
'Have you calmed down Jack?' Mael asked
"I think so. That was all surprisingly therapeutic, and that's one less threat we'll have to worry about." I thought to him
'Even so we now have other matters to attend to and prepare for. Starting with those fools from earlier.' I am not looking forward to this
"Honestly I'd rather not go, but if I don't now I'll regret it. Well I've nothing better to do at the moment so I may as well." I summoned my wings and stored away Galand's weapon, I figure it'll have some use later and if not I'll hang it on my wall.
Flying up it only took me a second to see Ponyville and a few seconds to reach it. I had already seen the hospital on my way here so finding that was easy as well. Upon entering the staff and patients froze up until I asked where Rainbow was. When I think her name was Redheart asked me who I was and my relation to Rainbow I told her I'm the only reason Rainbow lived long enough to reach the hospital. She immediately got out of her seat and took me to the room, but I dismissed her and waited outside after hearing Celestia's voice. From the sound of it she just got here too.
"Twilight, what happened?" Celestia asked
"My letter said it all. Estarossa failed to protect us from HIS friend who killed the dragon before we got there." Wow way to pin the blame on me bitch. I decided now to step in and saw Rainbow was conscious. Not sure if that's a good thing so soon.
"Well that's funny if you think about it. I seem to recall suggesting you grab the elements, your only effective means of self defense and you said you didn't need them. From the looks of it none of you packed any medical supplies at all as well. I also seem to recall warning you and Rainbow about what might come to pass due to your naivety and her hubris. Did I also not tell you all to run away 3 or 4 times only to have you ignore me and in Rainbow's case break that promise? I also seem to recall stopping Rainbow from bleeding out by cauterizing the wound. Maybe if you all listened she might still be able to fly."
"You were supposed to p-" Twilight started but I interrupted her
"Did you or did you not make any preparations for self defense? Did you or did you not prepare for injuries of any kind? Did you or did you not do the exact opposite of what I told you to do? The answer is no to the first 2 and yes to the last. Why you all stood there like deer in headlights until Rainbow in her infinite wisdom lost her wing is beyond my understanding. I can't protect you from your own incompetence much less your own stupidity! What's not to understand about 'run away'?" Everyone tried to argue but Celestia stepped in before everyone started shouting
"Enough!" Celestia shouted herself "I am very disappointed in the 6 of you! Estarossa did more than he was required simply by trying to prepare you for the worst." She turned to Twilight "Yes he was supposed to protect all of you, but me sending him should have warned you of the dangers you all might face, dangers you took no precautions for!" She turned to Rainbow "And as for you Rainbow Dash there is a reason why Pride is among the Seven Deadly Sins. I hope that regardless of whether or not your wing can be reattached that you'll take this lesson to heart and gain some much needed humility. Come Estarossa, we're finished here." She turned to the doctor that was about to come in "Please send the bill to the crown." To which he nodded, I turned to Rainbow then back to the door just before I left.
"There is a saying where I'm from: 'You reap what you sow'. I hope it was worth it, risking everything even your life to prove yourself. Take this to heart, glory doesn't put food on the table, glory doesn't pay the bills, glory doesn't save lives, glory is nothing but bragging rights. I can name a lot of things worth more than glory: Your life, your limbs, your job, your home, your dream of being a wonderbolt, and more importantly your friends. If your life and the lives of those around you, especially your friends truly mean so little to you then you are not worthy of the element of Loyalty. If the lives of others and yourself truly mean so little to you then." I summoned 1 Rebellion blade "While I would prefer to not do so, I may have to kill you myself as your actions today have proven you to be a threat to yourself and everyone around you." And with that I think I made my point and broke her if her sobbing is anything to go on.
If you're as 'awesome' as you think you are you should have no problems turning this around. Prove to me there's something redeemable about you besides your loyalty.
"Estarossa." Celestia called as we started walking to the entrance of the hospital
"Need something?" I asked
"Do you think I was too hard, too cold with them?" She asked looking down with her ears flat against her head. I reached behind her ears and started scratching them.
"I think you handled th-"
"Hey!" Twilight interrupted
"I thought we were done." I said with no attempt to hide my frustration
"Not until you fix Rainbow you monster!" Oh monster am I
'I know what you're thinking, don't do it.' Mael said
"Don't worry I'm not." I thought to him "I can't fix Rainbow, not without great risk anyway." I told her
"Twilight that's en-" I put my hand on Celestia's head and shook my head telling her to let me handle it
"By the way, that monster insult. I know how I can be so much worse, if I wanted to I could make Galand look like a saint even a hero in comparison." I said with a small intent to get a rise out of Twilight
"You're supposed to be an angel, an Archangel! How and why can't you help her?" Twilight, it's a shame all that intelligence, all that talent is being wasted right now
"Correction, I am a human controlling the body of an Archangel that has been turned into a demon or at least part demon because of the Commandment." I reminded her
"That doesn't answer my question!" You are dense, has anyone ever told you that
"It means that using Light as all angels can use may be impossible for me if not because of my human soul, then the Commandment which resides in me thus making it even more difficult if not impossible. The only way I could help her has so many risks it's not worth trying."
"So you can help her and you choose not to? What could possibly make it so dangerous you won't even think about it?" Careful, curiosity killed the cat after all
"The last time someone messed with demon blood, a lowly red demon's blood specifically, the survivors were eventually turned into rampaging demons. Before they did so they became much more powerful, but became much more prideful, aggressive, and sadistic. While I may not be a full demon it doesn't change the fact that angel, Archangel blood at that may have several risks as well. Add in the Commandment which is about 5% of the Demon King's power turning anyone who isn't a demon INTO a demon or part demon and you've got a recipe for disaster." Her face became more hopeless by the second
"Then remove the Commandment and you shouldn't have any problems right?" She asked hoping for a good answer
"Did you not hear what I just said? Even if I knew how to remove Commandments it wouldn't change anything. Best case scenario she recieves my blood, gets her wing perfectly reattached, becomes more powerful, but feeds her ego and her mentality and moral compass make very noticeable changes before she becomes a demon that if we can't find a specific 'spore' or whatever it was called will need to die. Worst case scenario she paints the hospital room red if you catch my meaning." Her face took a look of horror
"There has to be something, ANYTHING you can do." She begged
"I'm sorry, but I'm a 'monster' remember?" I said with spite "Besides, the only things I can do are what at this point would be a mercy kill or if EVERYONE including the princesses, your brother, and Mael all agree on the demon blood. The only thing I can and am willing to do at the moment is nothing." She now has a look of despair
"*sniff* I can't believe this." She turned to Celestia "Princess?"
"As much as I want to help, there is nothing I can do, and I certainly won't force Estarossa to make a decision that could cost the lives of my subjects! I'm sorry my student." Celestia said unable to look at Twilight. Twilight broke down just seconds later and ran back into Rainbow's room. Celestia herself looked like she wanted to cry, but she didn't want her subjects to see her like this so she quickly made her way out of the hospital. She flew off immediately after she left the building and found a clearing away from prying eyes in the nearby forest to let it out with me right behind her. She collapsed, but quickly regained her composure while still laying down and started talking to me again.
"Do you still think I wasn't too cold with them?" She asked
I shook my head "No. There are times when you need to be a friend, a teacher, and times you need to be a ruler. You were able to do all of them." She looked at me confused
"How?"
"You were a friend by paying for Rainbow's bills and your genuine hope she'll make a full recovery, something the elements can hopefully do if the doctors can't. You were a teacher when you tried to make them look at the situation logically and realize their own flaws and mistakes. Finally you were a ruler when you took my side right there and chose not to mess with things neither of us understand and risk the lives of any number of your subjects including the element bearers thus ensuring the safety of one of Equestria's best lines of defense. You couldn't have handled that any better." I said placing a hand on her shoulder or whatever it is in horse anatomy
"Then why do I feel like I could have done more? I've had to deal with this feeling, this helplessness since Luna and I started ruling so long ago." She looked like she wanted to cry again
"The crown is heavy on the heart though light upon the head. So many covet the crown, but don't think of the price, the responsibilities that come with it. You have the heart of a ruler who wants a peace everyone can enjoy, a mind that can think of the best ways to maintain that peace, and the resolve to see it through. I can't think of many rulers or potential rulers from my world that were or would have been truly worthy of the crown, but of I can think of several rulers from what I once thought was fiction that are worthy. To start with my world: Nobunaga Oda, Cao Cao, Ghandi, George Washington, Lincoln, and if he was a little less brutal and merciless maybe Vlad the Impaler. For what might not be fiction after all there is The Ivory King and his wife Elsanna, King Vendrick, King Bartra of Liones, Meliodas and Zeldris, the Hero of Albion, and High King Torygg just to name a few." She looked up at me
"Do you truly believe such things?"
"You've held it together for 1,000+ years, I would think that alone is proof you are one of the best choices for a ruler, I doubt I'd make 2 years before I went mad or worse." She giggled at the thought
"I can see why my sister is so fond of you." Finally, a chance to be a narcissist
"Of course she is, I'm me, what other reason does she need?"
"Careful, you might become the new Discord if you keep that up." She gained a serious look "Tell me, did anything like what happened today happen in the Equestria you knew?"
"No, I could have sworn today happened much later anyway. Each episode happened on a weekly basis and ended with Twilight sending a 'friendship letter' to you. If each episode was a week apart then episode 3 shouldn't have happened yet, but somehow we're on I think episode 7. The worst that ever happened in the series was broken bones and other temporary injuries. Nothing serious."
"Then dark times may be ahead of us."
"That's not all, I took the liberty of taking Galand's soul. He was somehow more powerful than when he had Truth, maybe because of that dragon's soul, but still almost 50% more powerful than when he fought Meliodas." I said showing her his soul "What do you want to do with it? We can be better and let him pass on, we can imprison him and possibly risk someone like Melascula bringing him back, we can see about killing his soul, or if Mael let's me I can eat his soul and gain more power." I could feel him trying to get away, but it's a futile effort. She stared at him with I would say hatred, but she's not being affected by Love right now.
"I believe my sister should hear about this first. Come, let us return to Canterlot." She got up and flew off, not going to ask why she isn't teleporting or letting me get us there.
The flight gave me time to think on recent events and what the future holds. If Galand was able to appear then others may do the same, but two things are bugging me to no end. Why did he recognize me as Estarossa and how did his power increase so much? If he had Truth I might have been in trouble considering that's at least 38k+28k=66k and Critical Over raising it to at least 99k. I want to say that was the dragon soul, but I doubt that and the power increase from Commandments was inconsistent if Estarossa went from 60k-88k-126k-200k. If he was this powerful without a Commandment I'll need to learn how to use Light and soon, otherwise I'll need to somehow give Mael control so he can do so. That reminds me.
"Mael?" I thought to him
'Do you need something?" He asked
"How effective is Light at healing and reattaching limbs?"
'It would have no problems unless a sufficient amount of Darkness was used. You plan to reattach her wing if the doctors can't don't you?'
"For a pegasus to lose the gift of flight, especially one like Rainbow, would be similar to if not worse than a unicorn losing it's horn, a bred warrior losing his arms, or an Archangel losing his Grace. The only things she has left are a limb that no longer has any purpose, friends, family, and her life. She certainly lost her pride and may have just lost her job, her home, her future, and more. All those years she spent trying to become the best flyer in Equestria so she could fulfill her dream and it's taken in a second by a battle hungry maniac with a smile on his face. As I said, killing her may very well be an act of mercy at this point, that's if she doesn't decide to attempt suicide first. Besides, my hellblaze might have done more than I thought."
'The hellblaze didn't do any damage a low class angel couldn't heal. *sigh* And what kind of Archangel would I be if I didn't help?' So we are in agreement then
"Now what about Galand's soul? I doubt you'd just accept me eating it and I'd like to avoid the possibility of necromancy on powerful beings like him. Especially considering his power without Truth. The power from it would be useful sure, but losing your body and having a Commandment is bad enough for you I'm sure."
'Do what you must. I had just about reached my limit around the time I was given Sunshine. I would prefer to avoid eating his soul, but if other threats like Galand appear then we may have no choice. Perhaps we could seek help from the Goddess of this world?' I suppose we could
"Maybe. I feel like we'd be pushing it though. She already made me immune to the Commandment's corruption and gave me the magic eye in exchange for befriending Luna. I would expect some kind of task in exchange for transferring Galand's power or making a sort of bank out of it (imagine the Hundred Healings Jutsu Tsunade and Sakura used against Madara and Kaguya). I still think it'd still be best to have Celestia and Luna's input on this anyway."
'If there is a task to be done then it would be in our best interest do it. If others especially brother or Zeldris appear you'll need it.' He pointed out
"Hopefully it won't come to that though. It might not though since Galand recognized Estarossa instead of you. My guess is because he died before the spell Gowther casted was broken, if that's the case then our list is narrowed down and less to worry about. It could have been random chance or Galand being an idiot again. The former would leave Drole, Gloxinia, Monspiet, and Fraudrin as the only ones to see Estarossa. The rest should see Mael." This might get confusing and fast
'Which should mean less trouble from the Goddess clan at least leaving Monspiet for attacking him and Derrieri, and Zeldris assuming you're right in how Galand was excluded from the spell's release.' Less on my plate that's for sure
"This is a lot to think about so let's pick this back up some other time."
The flight continued in silence, probably for the best considering what we have to deal with right now. My fears have come true and one of the elements may be damaged in more ways than one if not useless now, I'm still trying to make sense of how and why this happened. Do promises from Loyalty herself mean nothing? What about the others? Is Twilight really this incompetent? What wasn't to understand about 'run away'? No. I'm putting this off for now, I have better and more important things to do than try to understand and do the equivalent of trying to cure stupidity. Upon landing the guards saluted us(?) and surprisingly no weapons were dropping this time. We quickly made our way to Luna's room as we expected her to be there or in the library right now, if the noises in her room sounding like mobs being slaughtered in one of the Warriors games are anything to go by then we were just saved a trip. Opening the door and I was right on both parts.
"Sister, we need to talk." Celestia said after a long pause. Luna paused the game and saved while turning to us with a concerned look on her face.
"Is something wrong?" Luna asked getting up and coming to us. Celestia took a moment to calm herself knowing she would need it.
"I....I don't know where to begin." She said shaking
"Maybe it would be best if I told her." I offered
"Tell me what?" Luna asked, Celestia didn't respond so I took that as the okay to do so
"Long story short, my fears were correct and Galand the Truth was in Equestria, and was somehow more powerful than when he had Truth." She became shocked and immediately turned to terrified "He killed the dragon and cut off one of Rainbow's wings after she attacked him even though I told her to run after she promised she would do so." Luna looked like she was shaking in rage, restraining herself and trying not to shout "I killed him, took his weapon, and took his soul. What to do with it I'm not sure." I pulled out Galand's soul and no sooner was it in Luna's view did she summon her scythe and attempt to kill his soul, but Love stopped her and I caught her as she lost her balance.
"What did you have in mind for him?" Luna asked after calming down enough to do so
"Our choices are release his soul, kill it if possible, or I eat it and gain more power as a result, but there are a few possible drawbacks to that choice. Our last option that Mael thought of is to see about your mother helping with this. I'm going to need the power if his strength surpassing when he had Truth is any reason to go on, but I might be weaker in the long run, and I might lose the cooperation of Mael if I eat it." She and Celestia looked at him with I would say pure hatred in Celestia's case, but she doesn't appear to be affected by Love so that's a no probably. They took a few minutes and shared a few looks before coming to a decision.
"As much as I would enjoy ending his existence here and now I can see why one isn't an option, the second almost as bad, the third possibly being more problematic, and the fourth would require the elements or the tree they came from." Luna said not looking away
"Unfortunately after Galand's attack, the elements are out of commission for the time being, especially if Rainbow does become a threat to herself." Celestia said with regret on her face
"So this leaves your mother's help as the first option and soul consumption as a last resort. However if neither the doctors nor the elements can help Rainbow then I'll need to learn how to use Light and soon. I had to use hellblaze to stop the bleeding so they might not be able to do anything because of it. It may have been weak enough for a low class angel to heal it, but it may have still done a lot of damage and I don't know how low class angels compare to you or the average pony." They both shared looks of concern knowing what I'm saying may very well be true, Celestia looked to me after a few moments of silence
"I have something to ask of you, as a friend." She said
"Ask away."
"If you can't learn to control Light, if the doctors and elements can't help Rainbow Dash, but you do learn to remove Commandments and everypony else agrees on it, will you share your blood with her?" Come again
"Mael!" I shouted out loud, catching the sisters by surprise
'Goddess blood is safer than demon blood, but since it's our blood it may not end well.' He said, good to know, but damnit
"So Mael basically just said no, so Light and the elements are the options most likely to work with the fewest consequences."
"Understandable, but not unexpected." Luna said. I walked to the door, but Celestia stopped me
"Where are you going?" She asked
"The Everfree, we'll have results from the hospital within the day and regardless of whether or not she can be helped by them or the elements I still need to speak with your mother about what we just discussed. She might also have a solution to Rainbow's problem soooooo yeah." She accepted this answer and turned back to Luna
"Very well, do what you deem to be necessary." Just as I was about to open the door, Luna stopped me
"Estarossa?" She said
"Yes?"
"Come back soon alright." She said smiling.
"You know I will. How about when I come back I introduce you to some of the other games Celestia bought you?" I would have asked her out, but I'm broke and I still feel it's too soon.
"I would like that." Her smile got a little brighter as she said that
"Alright, be back soon. Bye!" I said and flew off deciding to mess with everyone in the hallways. I wonder how much damage this will cause, worth it.
So I actually spent a bit more time in the castle embracing my 'inner Alucard' and tilted all the paintings in the hallways as well as scaring everyone with 'demon shadows' or whatever you want to call that kind of shadow puppet. Mael scolded me after, but it was worth it. Flying up I expected to see Ponyville immediately, probably needed to get higher so I flew straight to the top. After spotting the town I chose to ask Mael something that's been bugging me for a while now.
"Hey Mael, quick question about the Commandment." I said out loud after checking that we were alone.
'What do you want to know?' He asked.
"When you got your Commandment, did you become weaker? I know losing Sunshine took a lot of your power, but I should clarify. Taking into account Light and Dark counteract each other hence neither being able to actually heal the other and your mental degradation, did your base power without Sunshine decrease?" I asked feeling like I should already know the answer.
'No, my base power was higher than without Sunshine or Love, but it's not a price I would pay willingly.' Mael responded.
"I doubt anyone would after everything that's happened. Power may come with a price, but that price should only be paid if it's obtained out of desire, not necessity or if it's forced on you." I said, flying over Ponyville.
I kept my wing size as small as I could manage with the altitude I was at. After everything that's happened today the last thing I need is to be spotted and guilt tripped by Pinkie or God(dess?) forbid Fluttershy. Okay, maybe none of them would do that, but I'm not taking chances anyway. I honestly don't know where I'm going, I don't think the show ever said which edge of town the Everfree was at and since all these trees look the fucking same, I'm stuck looking for something else. Since I can't remember where we left the forest then, that leaves the only landmark I do remember. Finding the castle after around 20 minutes of looking I finally landed (not crashed) where it all began.
I kept walking with Rebellion in hand as I looked for anything important along the way outside. I'm not going out of my way to explore, but I'm still going to take quick glances along the way. Not finding anything of value along the way I reached the bridge that no one wants to cross. Fun fact, I'm scared of falling, which now that I think about it is actually a little ironic coming from a guy who can fly at the speed of sound. It's actually amazing how I didn't panic the entire time I was falling then. Moving on, I jumped over the gap and made my way into the forest.
I wish I knew where I was going, I would try to ask any of the animals, but I didn't see any the first time nor am I seeing any now. After about an hour of searching I heard something behind me. Looking back I didn't see anything, not that it would do any damage to me. I kept moving forward looking for either giant pits leading to caves or any animals at all. Having no luck for a while I thought of the possibility that I may have been going in circles, I cut an X into a tree to confirm it, but I didn't come across that tree again.
'We are being followed.' Mael informed me.
"I thought as much. It's not a threat as of yet though, it could just be a curious animal or a predator deciding if I'm a threat or not." I thought to him as to not avoid scaring off a possible lead to the tree.
'Be on your guard anyway, animals don't usually track prey for this long unless already injured, unknowns even less so.' He warned.
"I had no intention of lowering my guard anyway." I responded.
Continuing my search for a few more hours I was starting to lose my patience, how hard is it to find a 20 ft deep 50 ft wide pit WITH STAIRS and a crystaline tree in a damn cave? It's already about the time the castle chefs would get started preparing dinner.
"Maybe I should call it a day, start early tomorrow." I said out loud.
'Nothing said you need to find it today.' Mael reminded me.
"Still would have helped a lot. If my math was right, you and the others should have been at around 60-70% of your base powers when you killed Meliodas. Galand likely proved that with his power being 12k higher than with Truth, though the dragon soul most likely played a part in that. He was at what I believed his base power would have been with Truth so he was actually at about 55% before, not to mention the possibility that Commandments empower Demons more than any other race especially Goddesses. How strong will the others be if I'm at least 30-45% weaker than I'm supposed to be WITH that power?" I pointed out.
'You may still have Light to call upon.' Mael once again reminded me.
"You've got me there, though there's no guarantee it will do anything more than just give me more to work with. My point still stands though, if other Commandments appear we'll be in more trouble than we originally thought if the weakest among them was able to surpass us in raw power. Zeldris would probably have a power level of at least 84k without Piety if my math is right, let's add at least another 28k to that if he does have Piety, God forbid Indura Derrieri or Monspiet!" I'm not helping myself here.
'You're not helping yourself with all this thinking, perhaps you should hurry on back. I'm sure Princess Luna is eagerly waiting for you.' He recommended.
"*sigh* You're right. We'll continue the search tomorrow." Just as I brought out my wings I heard movement in the bushes. Keeping still for a few moments I saw a fox slowly pushing it's head through. It looked at me as if ready to run or fight at a moments notice. I slowly put away my wings and knelt down just as fast as to not startle it. After about a minute it took slow steps in approaching me until it was just out of arms reach, I removed one of my gauntlets and extended my arm to allow it to sniff my hand. It looks like I made the right things since after a few minutes of keeping my arm in place it lightly pushed it's head against my hand.
"Hey buddy. This might sound like an odd question, but you wouldn't happen to know about a tree in a cave would you? One that looks like it's made out of crystal specifically?" I asked softly. The fox nodded and signalled for me to follow.
"Mael, conveniently intelligent animals are convenient." I said, following the fox.
'You don't say.' Mael responded almost like that meme.
The fox lead us to the tree, but not without having fun along the way. Turns out foxes can be pretty mischievous when they want to be. Maybe foxes and kitsune have more in common than appearances I thought, not that I knew much about kitsune in the first place other than mostly being female, having 2 breeds, and the name Inari. Shaking my head of these thoughts I approached the tree in the hope of contacting Faust. Having no luck with anything I did, I had 2 ideas left.
"Mael, I'm going to see about giving you temporary control." I said out of the blue.
'What? How? Why? You do realize we are still being followed right?' Mael asked in shock.
"I trust Light more than Dark being in contact with this tree. I can't use Light yet so I'm going to take a step back and let you do it. And yes, I know we're still being followed." I don't know how I did it, but my vision sort of faded out and I woke back up in the dream. I never did find out the name of this place, but I see Estarossa is still chained and I can view the world through a sort of window.
So this is how he sees the world.
Mael POV
Collapsing on the ground,
"Damnit Jack." I said out loud.
'Hey, you should be enjoying this! You have your body back if only for a little while.' Jack said.
"How do you expect me to contact Faust?" I asked, choosing to ignore his comment.
'I don't know, maybe make a link or something out of Light between you and those giant gem slots in the tree?' He suggested.
"Why do you believe that would work?" This is unexpected, especially for you Jack.
'It's this or Darkness. Everything I thought of including prayer and hugging the tree didn't work and I don't know about you, but my final idea involves intimacy with a crystal tree. And I see no holes.' You're mind is disturbingly creative Jack.
"Alright, but we're not doing THAT with a tree, or at all with anything while we share a body!" I relented.
'Sorry, my body now so my rules. If me and Luna become intimate like that then tough luck for you because I'm not holding back!' Jack said, not backing down.
"Do you want my help or not?" I asked impatiently.
'Yes please.' Finally.
I reached for my Light, though it was more difficult now than before when I had 4 Commandments. Perhaps 3 souls or personalities and a Commandment in the same body have something to do with it? Finally grabbing hold of my Light I did as Jack asked and made links to the sockets he spoke of. Moments passed and nothing happened.
"It didn't work." I said bringing back in my Light.
'I guess we are calling it a day then.' Jack said disappointed as he retook control.
Estarossa (Jack) POV
We found the tree at least so that's something. Though that's not helping much with this feeling of frus- no, anger. I didn't just come this close only to have it slip away. First the timeline fucks itself, then Galand, Rainbow, Twilight being more of a bitch than Rainbow, and now my only means of obtaining power that won't screw me over, just screwed me over. I summoned Rebellion and kept throwing the blades enchanted with hellblaze straight into the air as they detonated and reappeared in my hands so I could continue.
"WHAT THE HELL FAUST?" I shouted as I stopped throwing Rebellion. I looked back at the tree with only one thing to say.
"Maybe your help just isn't worth it. You know if you wanted me to eat Galand's soul you could have just said so!" I said pulling out the demon's soul and just as I did so it slipped out of my hand and into the tree. Panic immediately found it's in me as the tree shined so bright I had to cover my eyes and moments later I felt myself collapsing as I blacked out.
Waking up in the same place I met Faust the first time I was greeted by three sights this time. First was Faust actually having a body this time and laughing, the second was there were a lot of souls, and the third was Galand's soul becoming a toy to Faust.
"I was wondering when you would figure it out." Faust said calming down enough to have a conversation. She saw everything... And she did nothing... WHAT THE FUCK????
"... Words... Cannot... Begin to describe... How frustrated I was." They really can't.
"Words don't need to, your tantrum did so well enough." She said while giggling.
"I'm trying to prepare for threats that can and are likely enough to try to ruin this world and you're just sitting there laughing???" I nearly shouted in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, you are right. So lets get to the reason you sought me out." Faust said, regaining her composure.
"Yeah, minor (major) problem with Galand which means several problems are more than po-" I started.
"I'll be able to help with your power problem, giving you some now and some later. You'll receive the other portion when you help Loyalty." Faust offered.
"How can I help Rainbow then? You've basically just confirmed the doctors can't help her and I can't use Light as of yet." Seriously, how?
"Learn to use Light, then help her. You only other option is finding a way to remove your Commandment and treating her with your blood. I would ensure she survives." So option 1 then.
"If I gave her my blood she would be getting the easy way out, not to mention I would essentially be rewarding her for what she did. Say what you will, but I'm going to make her wait. The only way she'll learn from this is if the feelings of despair and fear are burned into her memory, the time it takes for me to learn how to use Light should be long enough." I said coldly.
"The choice is yours, as long as you help her you'll obtain the power you think you'll need." Not going to ask about that 'think you'll need' part.
"So about Galand's soul?" I asked.
"He'll be going to Tartarus soon enough, the Demon King will have a field day with him." What?
"Come again? Did I hear 'Demon King'?" Oh God no.
"Don't worry, he's nothing like the one you know. The resident demons of this world keep the worst criminals and the souls of the damned in Tartarus, they mostly keep to themselves. Though kirin, thestrals, and umbrum are results of the occasional demon leaving." She said, bouncing Galand's soul on the ground as if it was a ball.
"Sorry, that's not what I was going to ask though. I was going to ask about how he was that strong? I doubt the dragon's soul was worth THAT much?" I asked.
"The magic in this world, losing a Commandment basically left a 'void' in his power that the soul and the magic filled up. If he received a different Commandment though it would have done the same thing." That's disturbing, and good to know.
"So what you mean to tell me is I can get as strong as Mael was with 4 Commandments while only being in possession of 1? That is bullshit and I love it!" I said with excitement until my vision started becoming discolored.
"It seems our time is up for now, you'll wake up with 20% more power and the other 25% after you help Loyalty." Faust informed me.
"See you next time then." I said losing my balance.
"Oh, one last thing. I brought a fellow Commandment to this world a few years ago, be prepared." WHAT???!!!
"WWWWWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT??????" I screamed loud enough Canterlot had to have heard it.
Luna POV
"HUZZAH! We ran out of medals again!" I said after getting my second one in a row in Destiny 2.
"HAAAAAAAATTTTTTT???!!!" I heard something shout.
"What was that?" It sounded like Estarossa.
Celestia POV
"I'm sorry Ms. Golden Crust, but banishments from the castle against Jet Set and your daughter Upper Crust are final. Now I must ask that you le-"
"AAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT???!!!" A voice that sounded like Estarossa's shouted.
Estarossa (Jack) POV
'Jack calm down!' Mael shouted.
"How do you ex-. You know what? Fuck it." I brought out my wings and flew back to Canterlot. Luna was waiting in the courtyard and I immediately calmed down. I landed and she wasted no time tackling me, even though she can't knock me down I still let myself fall.
"I got you." I said, trapping her in my arms and scratching her behind her ears.
"So how was it?" She asked nuzzling me, not caring about our position.
"Your mother is a troll, but I got the power and more on the way after I unfuck Rainbow's fuck up." Whenever that will be.
"So you didn't have to resort to THAT?" She asked hopefully.
"Nope, now I believe I did say I was going to-" my stomach growling interrupted.
"After dinner then?" She asked/ offered.
"After dinner." I let go of her and followed her to the dining hall. Some of the guards were smiling at us(?), none were dropping their weapons. I looked up at the doors and was terrified for a split second during their shift change. One guard with a light brown coat and what looked like the roman numeral for 3 as his cutie mark had a PL of over 70k. I looked back and he was gone.
Dinner went by quickly, though Celestia had to return to day court minutes after me and Luna sat down for our food. I was at least able to tell the sisters of the current situation and Faust's little stunt. Turns out neither of them knew of this world having a Demon King nor did they know about demons commingling with ponies to name a few. They were alarmed to say the least when they learned another Commandment was already here before me. I told them about what I thought I saw before we entered the dining hall, but both thought the same thing I did and said I was probably just seeing things after a stressful day, though Celestia knew of a guard with III for a cutie mark and said everyone calls him Mr. Third. I've heard strange names, but that's a new one. No one else was able to tell me his name, though Shining said his sister did have a small crush on him.
I spent a few days trying to confirm at least the existence of this guard, it's possible I thought I saw 2 more zeros than there were, but if there is a guard with a PL of 7,000 or 70,000 I need to know. Not even Sariel or Tarmiel were that powerful with their Graces and none of the Commandments were recorded to be that strong except Meliodas with his demon mark. Even if he isn't that strong, if he really is at least 2X stronger than Celestia at her base power which I'm assuming is 3,500 tops then something's wrong if he is serving her as a mere guard. Moving on I had no luck finding him so I decided to have a chat with Celestia about possible employment. My little "I am second in line to the Osmium Throne" stunt sort of threw a wrench in that plan though. We decided a small allowance (bits for a few day's worth of food a week) and to just tell anyone who asks that she pays me upfront for any requests she has. I figure after I learn to use Light I might ask Luna out, until then it's obvious what I'll be doing a few hours a day.
Speaking of Luna, I followed through with what I said before I left and holy fuck what just happened is the only thing that went through my mind several times. I saw her playing a warlock in Destiny 2 and not only does she already have Last Word and a god roll Tatara Gaze which I was tempted to call bullshit, but she was wiping the floor with a 6 stack of Not Forgotten, Dust Rock, and Wardcliff. After that match when she went 56-1 and won the match for her team I said to her "I want you on my team". She got a lot of hate mail needless to say, but that only made it better. We switched over to Halo MCC and played a few levels on that before she decided she wanted to play custom games, I got my ass handed to me once she got the sniper.
I think a week give or take a day after Galand's fuck up Celestia got a letter from Twilight, basically it was expressing her concern for Rainbow's mental state among other things, especially since Rainbow got a letter from Gilda saying she was coming to Ponyville. The timeline has officially fucked itself in every hole and proceeded to make new ones so it could fuck itself again, also I don't remember anything about a letter so there's that too. I'll probably have to go down sooner than expected if only to explain to Gilda why she won't have a flying buddy for a while.
I've actually been going back to where Galand died for different reasons than you would think. I remembered the cave full of treasure after my "employment" and I also thought it was as good a place as any to try to learn how to use Light a few hours a day, well there was that and disposing of the dragon's body and what little remained of Galand's. Unfortunately it hasn't come to me nearly as easily as Dark did. I'm sorry, let me correct myself. "Hasn't come to me nearly as easily" would imply some amount of success, no, I've made no progress at all and it's frustrating to say the least.
'I believe we might be approaching this at the wrong angle.' Mael said, stopping me.
"Ya think? Sorry, I didn't expect it to just come to me, but this is getting ridiculous." I said out loud since we were alone.
'I think for the moment we need to focus on your demon powers, one specific part. Control.' He said to my surprise.
"I'm going to need a bit more to go off of." I can already control my demon powers, at least so far it feels like I have.
'The Commandment is bound to this body, turning it into a hybrid of Goddess and Demon. It also seems the Commandment has formed a "bond" with you if your human appearance is anything to go on. Moving on, the Light is there, but I believe most of the problem lies with a human being in control of this body.' I kind of already knew that though.
"What exactly are you getting at?" I asked after taking a seat.
'I believe most of the problem comes from your level of control of the Commandment's power in this body. If you suppressed your Demon power you might have an easier time learning to use this body's natural power.' Mael said.
"... Huh. That makes sense actually." I said slowly.
"Unfortunately Mael, I haven't needed to suppress it once. That might be easier said than done for me."
'We could try it another day considering how much our sessions have taken a toll on you.' Mael suggested.
"*sigh* May as well, not like I have anything important to do today." I stood back up and got ready to fly back.
"HELLFIRE BIRD!!!" I heard someone shout from above me.
"Wait, wha- OH SHIT!" I panicked, deployed my Darkness and launched all the Rebellion blades at the flaming projectile, unfortunately that did nothing and I was still burned. Thankfully my Darkness took I want to say 80% of the damage I would have endured, nothing that I couldn't heal in a few seconds. A pony of all things landed in front of me and he looked PISSED. He looked exactly like the guard I thought I saw and he was just a little weaker than me.
"Estarossa... Mael... Or 'Jack'... You'll pay for what you did... I'll kill you for what you did to Derrieri... A monster like you shouldn't be allowed to exist." He growled.
"Monspiet?" Never thought I'd say this, but I'm probably screwed.
His eyes narrowed and Darkness was seeping out of him, he charged another Hellfire Bird and added Darkness to it.
'Something is probably wrong with him. He is acting nothing like he always does.' Mael said.
"No, what gave you that idea?" I asked out loud.
Faust, I think you fucked up. That or something is off about him.
"Mael, any suggestions? You know besides fight a berserk Monspiet which I never thought possible?" I asked out loud, letting myself get distracted and not dodging the attack properly, causing my left arm to get hurt pretty bad.
'That is about the only thing you can do.' Mael responded.
"Stop ignoring me and fight!" Monspiet shouted, black flames spreading out around him as he stomped his hooves.
I only had enough time to think 'Faust is a troll or fucked up badly' before he used Trick Star to switch places with a boulder behind me and attempted to punch me in the back with a Hellblaze hoof. I barely sidestepped just in time to grab his leg and throw him up into the air. My hand took a lot of damage, but I got him in the air where I needed him to be before I flew up as well.
"Mael, something's definitely wrong if the mid- long range mage is fighting relentlessly at close- mid range against a specialist in that department." I said out loud again while dodging Monspiets barrage of Purgatory Flame Birds and Hellblaze punches.
"Stop talking to yourself, that act isn't fooling me!" Monspiet said from behind me. I didn't account for the possibility that he could use Trick Star on any of his projectiles and got nailed on both sides, knocking me out of the air.
Standing back up was a struggle to say the least. I'm still able to use Darkness to heal my injuries, but the pain lingers, and feeling the pain of second or third degree burns on wounds that no longer exist is pretty distracting. Okay think damnit! Monspiet isn't in the right state of mind if his reckless abandon and the way he's speaking are anything to go off on and depending on how often he can use Trick Star will determine whether or not I can dodge. Even then I can't block very well since his spells are strong enough to destroy any shields I make and knock away any of the Rebellion blades. I guess my only option is to destroy the small projectiles and attack fast enough to prevent more.
I summoned all the Rebellion blades as Monspiet landed. I know he was a master pyromancer, but I still need to test something. New body could mean he no longer has the same resistances as demons so I enchanted Rebellion with Hellblaze and used Darkness to extend the blades.
'You know that will drain you faster right?' Mael asked.
"Two, maybe three minutes. Hopefully I can beat him or talk some sense into him." I said quietly. I looked at Monspiet.
"Monspiet, is this really what Derrieri would want?" I asked. He launched himself at me with Flame Birds not far behind him. Thankfully I was able to destroy the birds with the other blades, but his punch barely grazed my face and cut it, the fire hurt like a bitch too. I kicked him forwards as I was pulling a blade back to him. It cut him deeply and set him ablaze, but that small victory was short lived as he dispersed the flames and healed himself while I was pulling the others to me.
"You have no right to speak her name." He growled.
"Out of curiosity, have you been watching me at all? Have I acted anything like Mael or Estarossa?" He stomped his hoof into the ground again.
"Enough with your games Estarossa! No, Mael! GGGRRAAHH!" Monspiet clutched his head in pain.
"Well that just about confirms something's making him act and fight so differently." I thought to Mael.
'Agreed, Monspiet has never once acted without thinking and certainly never spoken in even a raised tone.' Mael responded.
"I will take that as a yes. You must have heard me call myself Jack at least once right? A human from another world controlling the body of a fallen Archangel, I had nothing to do with her death." I said to Monspiet, getting a Hellfire Bird for it and thankfully I was able to throw a few Rebellions at it.
"Enough with your twisted games Est- Mael- DAMNIT!" He shouted, clutching his head again.
'Keep talking, it might break him out of whatever this is.' Mael said. No later though did Monspiet launch another Hellfire Bird, this one I had to jump into the air to avoid. Unfortunately this one was tracking me, but it's turns were slow enough for me to go right over or under if I needed to. As I was dodging it though Monspiet launched more Purgatory Birds as I was avoiding this one.
'You can't keep this up forever Jack, this will only become more dangerous as you let him keep shooting you.' Mael said.
"That's kind of my plan." I said as I let go of the Rebellion in my hands and kept adding more Hellfire to it and the others.
'Are you insane? Adding Darkness to your weapons to extend their range was already draining enough, adding Hellfire and using it against one of the most powerful flame users the Demon race had is suicide!' He shouted. I ignored him for a moment as I changed the shapes of the Darkness to better suit the flames.
"You know there's a chance to see Derrieri again in this life right? I technically died and am controlling Mael's and Estarossa's body, Galand came back, you came back, who's to say anyone else won't?" I shouted to Monspiet. He stopped his assault for a few moments which is good for both of us considering what I'm planning.
"Derrieri loved you back you know? She forgave Elizabeth and Meliodas, even forgave Estarossa and Mael if her desire to save, not beat, SAVE Mael from the 3 Commandments he had taken in is anything to go off of." I need to wrap this up, I can feel the drain Mael was talking about.
"Do you think she could look at you the same if you kill me? Whether I really am just another lie in this head or I really was a human is irrelevant. Do you really think Derrieri before she died would support killing someone in my position just to satisfy her own bloodlust? Bloodlust you never had once in your life?" I started diving to Monspiet and threw a few killing saucers at him to catch him off guard and to make a small barricade while one digs a trench.
He dodged backwards as I hoped. I flew behind him close enough that Trick Star wouldn't accomplish anything really. He can't switch places with all the Hellfire and Purgatory Birds and if he switches places with me he still has to deal with the explosions from his projectiles and my weapons attacking him rapidly as they're also burning him. He can be hit by a modified Hellfire Tempest on one side that's also protecting me from his attacks that are also hitting him, or he can switch with me and he'll just avoid getting hit directly from his attacks while also getting hit harder by mine. I'm in a position where I'm protected either way and he still takes massive damage. My attack protects me or I hide in a trench that's protected.
In his newly enraged state he tried to use an attack I didn't remember, Ash Dragon, but there wasn't enough time as he seemed to have forgotten about all his attacks coming his way and took every single one as he was flown into my attack. If he hadn't been mysteriously enraged like that I'm sure he would have been much closer to beating me. I got knocked back a good distance and I think I lost consciousness for a few seconds. All I do know is after I reopened my eyes the entire mountain was burnt and several of the trees were around it were no better. I checked myself over and saw my plan worked, I was fine for the most part, Monspiet not so much.
The cuts were bad enough, but to be hit with that many pyromancies from both sides was sure to do serious damage even to him. He was still alive and healing himself, but now he looked confused as well as in pain.
"What just... Where... When?" He asked on the ground.
"So you're not about to throw another bird at me are you?" I asked getting his attention. He turned his head to me and started backing away. I'll take that as a no.
"Monspiet, you have me confused with another psychopath we both know, if I wanted you dead I would have already done so, especially with now being the best time. Now what the Hell was that about? Why wait until now to attack me?" I asked hoping to get something out of him.
"I... I don't know... A pony who's power I couldn't sense or read with the magic eye approached me and showed me what happened to Derrieri... I can't remember much between then and now." He said clutching his head in pain.
"Okay I'm not even going to ask why you let some random stranger with an unknown power level that somehow has knowledge of your world to even approach you. With everything else wrapped up do you believe me now about being Jack and not Mael or Estarossa?" I asked as I sat down. He thought to himself for a minute before answering.
"I still have my doubts, but at the very least you've proven yourself to be nothing like Mael or Estarossa. Speaking of, why do you still call yourself Estarossa?" He asked.
"Never thought about that really. Estarossa sounded cooler than Jack for one. I'm no longer human and if my appearance in the mindscape is anything to go off of my soul isn't exactly human anymore either. New body, modified soul, new world, new life, I probably figured 'why not'." He looked at me like 'are you serious'.
"Do the princesses know?" He asked.
"Could have sworn I already answered that, but yes. Luna came into my dream after I fought Mael to protect the real Estarossa, for reasons I can only guess we were around the same strength." His eyes shot wide open then narrowed just as quickly.
"You expect me to believe a 'human' fought off the Angel of Death himself to protect that psychopath?"
"As I said, reasons I can only guess. I had to anyway since apparently if one of us dies so do the others. Estarossa was and still is asleep and restrained thanks to a bunch of chains. When he'll wake up I don't know, but needless to say my life will likely be getting a whole lot more hectic after. And that 'human' bit, Escanor of the Sins wiped the floor with Estarossa. Ban by now probably could, Merlin until officially mentioned otherwise is another human who could if only because of Infinity."
"I suppose that makes a reasonable amount of sense." Monspiet relented.
"So are you going to tell the princesses? I want to see the looks on everyones faces after learning they've been giving orders to one of the Demon King's chosen. If you don't I will." I said resting my head on my hand.
"No point in hiding that now I guess, especially if you follow through with that." By now our injuries have completely healed and Monspiet brought out his wings.
"Things are about to get interesting." I said doing the same thing as Monspiet. And took off after he did.
Unknown POV
It's not surprising "Mr. Third" lost, though that doesn't mean we wanted Estarossa to emerge victorious and certainly not with both surviving. No matter, everything will proceed as planned until we are ordered otherwise. Our goal is in sight now, and not even the false Goddess or the Pretender will stand in our way.
"So what have you been doing all this time?" I asked after taking flight with Monspiet to Canterlot.
"Well after you- Estarossa killed me, I was brought back into a new body by Faust, apparently this was an empty vessel already in service to princess Celestia as a guard." He answered.
"I'm beginning to think she can see the future to some extent." I said to myself. "So how long have you been in this world?"
"A few years before Nightmare Moon, rather princess Luna's return."
"I imagine me coming here was a shock to say the least?"
"If by 'shock' you mean fly down to the old castle as fast as I could with the intent to kill you then yes. That did change with the events that followed, but I still followed you for signs of it all being an act."
"I figured. There's more I'd like to discuss, probably Mael as well, but that's enough for now." We were nearing the castle now, apparently it was already on high alert if the several guards in formation outside the gate are anything to go by. My guess is this is a drill or they witnessed all the commotion. Maybe they were contacted by Twilight? Eh, one way to find out. We descended and quickly found Shining Armor directing the troops, surprisingly no one paused or even noticed Monspiet with his dark wings flying near me.
"Seems like there's a lot going on here." Monspiet said.
"I'm tempted to just let them do their thing if they're mobilizing for what I think they are. If that is the case though they're going with the dumbest course of action possible. Assuming we're the reason why, they should be focusing on evacuation instead of preparing to attack people strong enough to solo world domination." Shining noticed us and quickly closed the distance.
"There you are Third! We'll be moving out shortly." Yeah, we're going to be changing that name soon. "Estarossa? Good. We could use the help."
"Let me guess, the location I've been training, lots of explosions? I've already dealt with it, just got back." He looked surprised to hear this, and is that disappointment I see?
"Is that so? Then it looks like all this isn't necessary then." He turned to everyone else. "That's enough everypony! Things sorted themselves out! Pack everything back up then get back to your posts!" He shouted. Turns out ponies are faster at putting everything away than pulling it all out.
"So am I safe in assuming the princesses are in the throne room?"
"You'd be safe in that assumption. What do you need?"
"I have some news for them that they'll certainly want to hear, you should probably come too."
"I can't, somepony has to oversee things around here and the only other pony I'd trust is out of commission right now. I'll be sure to ask about it later though."
"Suit yourself. Well I guess I'll be on my way." I turned to my side and noticed Monspiet wasn't there. I never saw or heard him move. Cool! He could be a Weeping Angel or SCP 173, but potentially worse! "See you later."
"You too."
What to do, what to do? No plans for later. Continue Light training tomorrow, but what about the rest of tonight? Tell Celestia and Luna about Monspiet. ??? I'm at a loss. I guess I could show people how it's done on Overwatch if this world has it, though I could never get the aim settings to how I want, too used to playing Destiny and Halo I guess.
"You realize you just walked past the throne room, right?" Monspiet asked, snapping me out of my thoughts, and causing me to jump.
"Jesus Christ! Where'd you come from?" I asked.
"I've been following with Trick Card a short while after we landed." He answered.
"'Trick Card'? I don't recognize that, I wonder if any of the others have abilities that weren't listed?" I said to myself. "Whatever, let's get moving." Opening the doors to the throne room, we were greeted by a dispute between a griffon and a unicorn noble.
"Princess, surely you can see why he should refund me?" The noble said.
"I'm truly glad there weren't any Demons like him, or any of these nobles really." Monspiet said quietly.
"Our agreement was that he pay half in advance for the workers, the tools, supplies, and the other essentials. He would also pay for any ore or gems we found, but would pay the rest if we got what he asked for. What he didn't tell us was that monster would be there which costed us quite a few workers and halted our efforts. Now not only is he refusing to buy anything we have dug up, claiming it is his, but he's refusing to offer any form of protection or hazard pay, and he's demanding a refund because we can't move forward!" The griffon explained.
"As if I were to know there would be a monster there." The noble said in a way that just screamed he was well aware of the monster.
"If I may." I stepped in. "If you knew about the monster then that could be considered third degree murder, otherwise it's reckless endangerment if you had reason to believe the monster was there. By the way, the act isn't convincing anyone." I saw sweat forming on his face. "They may be employed by you, but that doesn't mean everything they dug up is yours. You didn't deny the claim that you would pay them for what they dug up which means you acknowledged that nothing was yours, that would be theft and fraud I believe." His eyes shot open as he started sweating more. "Last I heard, refusing to offer the necessary forms of safety in a job like this is also illegal. By all means sue them if you want your money back, but just remember, they can sue you for a lot more and the law wouldn't let you enjoy that money anyway." He became angry with me, the griffon looked pleased.
"Who? How dare you interrupt this trial! Don't you" He started.
"Don't care. The griffon's right, you're wrong, and you haven't denied anything I said. If it were up to me, you would be put in a cell until you're proven innocent or until the princesses demanded your release. I know what you were going to say, so let me spell it out for you so you can understand. Prince outranks noble, I don't care who you are because you're another piece of shit, you're just another spoiled brat flaunting around his rank and wealth, thinking he knows better than everyone else."
"Know your place!" He tried to cast a spell, but it fizzled out as he fell victim to my Commandment. "Wha- what's going on? Why can't I move?" He shouted as he panicked.
"And now we have assault, or the attempt anyway." I said, bored with him. I turned to the princesses who looked less than pleased. "So what happens now?"
"Guards, please escort the plaintiff out for the time being, as for the defendant, you are dismissed. We will have our verdict soon." Celestia said. The noble protested as he was dragged out and the griffon thanked everyone for the results so far before he left.
"You're back earlier than usual, did something happen?" Luna asked.
"You could say that. Tell me, do you know this guy?" I asked, gesturing to Monspiet.
"'Mr. Third' I believe most ponies called him." Celestia answered. "You've been a guard for quite some time I believe, no bad marks, above average performance, a model guard." She said to Monspiet.
"So you know of me then?" Monspiet asked.
"I try to keep track of the good ones." She answerd, then turned to me. "Now what brings you two here?"
"I have news. I have good news, I have more good news, I have bad news, and I have awesome news. Which would you like to hear?"
"I'd prefer we start with the bad news." Luna said.
"Okay. There's someone with an unreadable power level that knows about the Commandments and the world they originate from, apparently he can control people to an extent. Third was one such victim." I started.
"Is that pony still out there?" Celestia asked.
"Unfortunately yes. Now on to the better news, obviously I stopped Third and beat some sense into him, but you'll never guess what makes this better."
"What is it?" Luna asked.
"Celestia, what if I told you that this guy was not who you think he is? What if I told you that he's easily one of the strongest in the world?"
"I would ask who he is and how you know this." She answered.
"Celestia, Luna. What if I told you that for the past few years, courtesy of your mother, that one of the Commandments was working for you? Don't answer that. Say hello to Monspiet."
"..."
"..."
"I know, he looks nothing like me. Monspiet, I'm apologizing in advance for what I'm about to do."
"What is it you're-" I lit his ass on fire, causing the princesses to shout in rage and shock, more so from Luna. Two seconds later, the flames died down almost instantly with Monspiet unfazed, if slightly annoyed. "I was honestly expecting something else."
"You're unharmed??!!" Celestia said in a raised voice.
"Fire, especially Hellfire isn't all that effective against me." Monspiet said.
"He was known as the most proficient fire magic user in the Demon race, top it off with being I think the third strongest Commandment after Meliodas left and you wouldn't be wrong if you said he was the best fire mage in the world. Probably only Meliodas and the Demon King could actually burn him." I commented.
"Did you really have to take such measures to introduce somepony?" Luna asked.
"Probably not, but I thought it'd be amusing."
"No one's laughing." Monspiet said.
"I never said anyone else would be laughing. So Celestia, how does it feel knowing that for several years, you've had one of the Demon King's Generals as a lowly guard? How does it feel knowing that a lowly guard is probably your best scout, strategist, and your second best powerhouse? I'd say someone's due for a promotion." I saw looks of realization on Celestia and Luna's faces before they both started laughing. "Am I missing something?"
"Oh nothing, it is kind of funny though now that you mention it." Celestia answered before turning to Monspiet. "With new information coming to light, I think it appropriate for a mandatory evaluation, what comes after is your decision Third- I mean Monspiet."
"Honestly, it makes no difference to me. The real Estarossa is my only concern, my rank won't change anything really."
"Regardless, you deserve a rank befitting your experience and power, should we be unable to lead, you would be the next best option." Luna said.
"Hey what about me?" I asked.
'Do you really want that responsibility?' Mael asked.
"Nevermind, I'd probably be better off doing my own thing anyway." I responded.
"It is decided then. You will be evaluated and placed accordingly." Celestia said. Monspiet was about to say something, gut I beat him to it.
"Remember what I said during our fight? Yes, you can sense power from miles away, but this could help you find Derrieri along with other Commandments if they show up. You know them as well if not better than me or Mael, you'd have an easier time planning accordingly if someone like Greyroad or God forbid Melascula comes here. Actually only the other Estarossa, those two, and maybe the original Gowther would be problems, Fraudrin is a maybe. Problems for later." He took a minute to think over what I said before giving his answer.
