our fates were written since the day we were born and the day we died, but at the end, the joke was not on us, and our destiny had become unraveled, and unwritten, here we are free.
The ancestor sent us to our deaths, and we went willingly, into the darkest depths where we would meet our maker, but as luck would have it, Fate had other plans, and unto our maker, we went, however instead of an afterlife, we were granted a haven, a new chance at life, but it is not perfect, and we must keep our wits about us, danger lurks everywhere, and not everyone enjoys our company, and they make sure we know it.
Here at the end, we stand, in the shadow of a creature so great that a single thought could kill, and it forces the heir to choose one to send into the oblivion, thankfully it was not me, instead, it was the merry jester, half-mad and half-brave, but he's gone now, we fight on, the Leper, once a noble, but now a walking corpse, his strength still is a legend too behold, his crushing blows send this abomination screeching, but soon the paralyzing force holds us, another lamb to the slaughter, and this time I am the lamb.
"Come then, the fate that awaits me, it will be no worst then I've endured," I say as the thing's powers take hold, and before I can even scream, or even blink, I am unraveled, take apart, piece by piece.
"Your trials in this world are over, you've earned a reprieve, go now onto your next adventure." a voice from beyond said to me as I felt myself being remade, and reborn, though soon even in the beyond, I feel my new eyes grow heavy, and then close.
"Hello old boy, something tells me we aren't in that old squalor hamlet, no we be far from the poison denizens of the broke forest, by chance did the power above tell you where exactly we be?" A jovial voice said, seeming to bounce around me, a voice I recognized, seems that the power above did not send me alone into this new world.
"I did not get a chance to ask, it spoke to me, then I'm here," I say as I clutch the cloak to my body, the chains that bind me gently clinking as they shifted.
"well, in that case, let's do the thing."
"be careful, we have no idea where we are or if we even are on earth anymore."
I couldn't see the expression of his companion through the mask that he wore, but the mildew clothed jester simply did a little kick in the air and headed off towards the sun, we treaded in silence, the days spent trekking through the dark depths of various dungeons, it taught us well that we must travel in absolute silence, lest we attract any undue attention.
"Did they defeat that thing, the heart, did they break it?" my companion asked after about an hour of traveling.
"That thing killed me before we got that far, though I would like to think they managed."
He didn't answer, because soon I walked right into him, I was about to ask what it was that stopped him until I looked at what got is attention, in the distance, hanging off the side of the mountain, an exquisite castle in the center of the jewel of a city, closer to our left was another exquisite castle, looked like crystal, the structure made us shudder, its crystalline spires invoking the memories of the damnable farmstead.
"There be our destination, but... Wait do you hear that?" He was saying until he grabbed my arm and threw me into a nearby bush before jumping in himself, luckily for him, because soon a massive Pegasi landed where we were, followed by the teleportation of a unicorn, we watched as they examined the area with the precision of a certain antiquarian that perished because she couldn't keep her hands off things that should be left well enough alone.
"anything here?" the first one said, female-sounding, as she checked the ground and surrounding area.
"No Fyre Bright nothing, whatever you saw, is no longer here." The second guard said to Fyre.
"Well, whatever it was, it looked like nothing that I've ever seen before."
"wait I've found something, Come over here, check this out." the unnamed guard said, holding up a goblet of fine silver.
"huh, well I'll be, doesn't look like any cup I've ever seen, let us take it to Princess Twilight, she will have a spell to seek its origins, good work nexus nebula," Fyre said, sticking the goblet in a sachel, before cantering in the direction of ponyville, leaving us alone once again.
"Sentient ponies, with magic, not eldritch in nature, not enough tentacles, eyes, or mouths, hmmm." The jester mused.
"Well, it isn't the weirdest place we've ever been, should we go meet this Twilight?" I asked my companion.
"If you want to see another cage, go ahead, but we must stay hidden for as long as we can, learn what we must do to fit in, and above all else, we must get my goblet back, its a personal possession of mine," he replied.
I did not ask why, because the patched shroud had a story of its own, that I'll get into later, for now, the jester was gesturing that I follow him, I looked over the horizon once more, and turned to follow him, unbeknownst to me, at the time, a pair of eyes followed our backs, before disappearing into the dense forest brush.
Meanwhile, Fyre bright and Nexus nebula having a two-hour head start, they took the goblet straight to Twilight.
"Hey princess, are you home?!" Nexus called knocking on the doors.
"Yeah she's here, but she is in the Library, need me to get her for you?" Spike answered.
"Take us to her, we have something she may want to see." Nexus replied.
"Sure," Spike said before opening the door all the way, letting them in.
Neither had seen A castle quite like twilights in the entire time they have been in the guard, an entire castle that seemed to be made from living crystals, the reflective surfaces making them feel as if they were going mad, the almost infinite reflections of the corridors and its doors, their walking now autonomous, they felt themselves getting lost in the endless mirror maze, that is until spike shook them to get their attention.
"we're here, by the way, protip, don't stare at the walls," Spike laughed as the guards shook their heads.
"Princess, I saw something like nothing else near the path, there were two of them," Fyre informed Twilight
"did you get a good look at them," Twilight asked
"one had a cloak, looked like leather, so he had to be foreign, but he also had chains and manacles, they were spiked with skulls, a prisoner, the other had simple jester clothes on, nothing more."
"if you got that good a look at them, how did you fail to reach them in time?"
"The jester, he saw Nexus, his gaze froze him in place, he kept him frozen until a cloud from the everfree obscured his view, I was busy trying spells to unstick him, by the time I look back they were gone, but one of them did leave this," Fyre said, holding up the goblet in a red magic aura.
"We're pretty sure you have a spell that could grant us some insight," Nexus said.
Twilight thought hard about this, that is until she Teleported, again and again, soon she had three spellbooks around her.
"Princess, what are you doing?"
"Well, if its a treasured family heirloom, there has to memories on that thing, so I'm gonna try to lift the memories, or at least try theorized memory ghosting."
Twilights horn lit, and soon the Goblet was glowing until, finally A girl, or at least the ghost in front of them looked like an extremely attractive girl, but she looked so young, and she was see-through.
"Where am I?" she asked, looking around the room.
"You're in Equestria, and I think you're dead," Twilight said to the girl.
"Duh I'm dead, the ancestor murdered me, or at least murdered my body, left my mind in tack, fate worst than death." the little waif said.
"The jester murdered you?!"
"No, the man that carried my vessel around, he's a hero, he freed the many souls that the ancestor twisted into monstrous horrors, and in return, we owe him an eternal debt."
"Alright, what about the chained one?" Nexus asked.
The girl's face fell at the mention of him, a deep sadness seemed to surround her, as she recollected what she learned about him since her defeat.
"A misunderstood man shunned for a curse he didn't ask for, but still choose to face down the horrors, whether, for money or redemption, he didn't have to stand up to the horrors, but he did, and they hated him for it."
while Twilight questioned the girl, the guard's questions for Twilight were piling up, but they elected to wait until after she is done.
Twilight could not believe her spell had worked as well as it had, she meant only to lift the memories from the cup, but an entire soul, that demanded to be written down, but something tugged at her memory, the girl was so young, what had caused her to lose her life?
"Hey, I noticed that you seem like a teenager, barely into your twenties, how did you die?" Twilight asked the waif.
"my death is not for the faint of heart, but since you asked, here it is," she answered, before clapping her hands together and raising an orb above her head, where it opened on a scene from the girls perspective, they were down at the docks, from her viewpoint they saw a young man, his features sharp, and stoic, almost handsome, but the creatures below him, they were nightmares made flesh, their sharp needle bloodstained teeth, large soulless eyes, and scaled flesh, he was making a bargain with them.
"I need treasures from your domain, to bring forth your god, in return, I'll hand over the treasured relic." The man, who Twilight assumed was the ancestor, said.
"We require something more if you're going to bring about our god, we need a suitable female body, do you have the stomach surface dweller?" The lead fish said, in a watery garble.
"I have the sacrifice right here, its been watching us, I also have the relic." He said, as a strong pair of hands pulled her hands behind her back and bound them in chains, pulling her forward, into the light of the moon, the Ancestor smiling as she was bound to a strange stone, and with a small push, the Icy water closed in around her head, and then the memory cut.
"I drowned, but that did not stop them from Cursing my dead body, and trapping my soul inside it, bound to carry out their twisted machinations until I was defeated at the hands of the jester." The waif said, her bright eyes filled with hatred for the ancestor.
The implications of her story had caused all of them to stare at her, before she turned back to the goblet, and started floating around it, she seemed interested in it until she nodded and spoke to it.
"Alright, I'll sing, he will need us here," she said to the goblet before she touched one of the gems in it and flashed away, in a few seconds though, a haunting lilting melody echoed out from it, causing all of them to shake their heads, the goblet not moving but the singing from it still sounded, it was unobtrusive, in the background.
"princess, We've never seen anything like her or any of that, but you seem to know what she is, what all of this is," Nexus asked, causing Twilight to take a deep breath before she cast a sound dampening spell over the entire castle.
"What I'm about to tell you is only need to know, your not to report this to any commanding officer, in fact by telling you this, You will become my first official guards, reporting to only me, understand," Twilight said, her face still as stone.
"yes, ma'am," they replied in unison, excited to be serving the only princess, that according to the barracks stationed in Canterlot, had more excitement happen in a day then a week in canterlot.
"Alright, come with me then," Twilight said, leading the two to the ancient mirror that was powered by the journal, the entire contraption confusing them immensely.
"what is it?" Fyre said, looking up and down it.
"This is a portal to a different dimension, one full of beings called humans, just like the one that was in front of us, but I think she was from a different time."
This caused the guards to look at each other with confusion, they had never heard of a dimension mirror or any magic that could do such a thing, Fyre sorely wanted to ask if she was sure, but Twilight had already taken the book down, jotted a few notes and put it back when the Portal started glowing, and soon a fiery-headed Pony stepped down from two legs on four.
"you said you have an emergency?" the unicorn said.
"guards meet Sunset shimmer, and Sunset meet Nexus nebula and Fyre bright, they are gonna be my new guards," Twilight said, before motioning for Fyre and Nexus to follow, leading Sunset to the goblet.
"guards, well that's a step up, what convinced you to take them on," Sunset questioned.
"this, it's a human trinket, yet it's laced in magic, but not any that I've ever seen, or felt."
"Human, how do you know?"
"I found a way to talk to a soul that is bound to it, and she came from the Human world, but I don't think their humans from the mirror."
"So I take it you want my experience in being human to help you track down the human that is here?"
"Humans, there are two," Nexus said before Twilight could.
"Two humans, in Equestria, interesting, by the way, how old did they look?" Sunset asked Nexus and Fyre
"The one in chains looked about Twenty-five, and the other well, his mask, and clothes hid his age well." Nexus said.
"Adults, so no Teens from my home, alright then, do you know how long they have been here," sunset asked.
"Well, there haven't been any reports of strange creatures that look like Humans in the last week, so I think they have been here may be at least two days, maybe three," Fyre said.
"Three days, they will need food, so here will be the first place they come, probably under the shroud of darkness, They will fear us more then we do them, most likely live somewhere in the forest, we will need to approach them with caution if we are to make contact, we startle them, they will most likely flee," Sunset said, her time on the streets of canterlot giving her an insight.
"Luna, she can help us, she can enter their dreams, and if she can gain their trust, it will make it easier to make contact with them," Twilight said.
"Alright, you write that letter, I'm gonna go back through the portal, I got work after school for the next few days, so my help will be limited for a while, but after then, I can use my three days off to help you," Sunset said, before going through the portal.
"There are a couple of beds here in the castle, I can show you because as of now, I'm taking you on as my guards, You're free to do as you wish, but tell no one what you learned here today," Twilight said, as she opened the doors.
She showed them their temporary rooms before leaving them to their devices, everything they learned today tired them out immensely, so they went straight to bed, while Twilight got the paperwork ready, one was a letter addressed to Luna, and the other was the papers necessary to transfer the new ponies to her garrison, while she trusted they would tell no one what they learned, she still felt that in canterlot or any big city, there are a lot of unseen ears, and they can hear things that they shouldn't, the last thing Equestria needed was a way for villainy to have a place to hide, outside Equestria's jurisdiction, leaving Sunset to hunt down these menaces, so she would have them stationed here in ponyville where the ponies here guarded her secrets with great zeal, and jealousy.
Luna sat at her sister's Table in her study, massaging her head as a headache was forming, this was literal hell, From the annoying day court, where the nobles would try and needle favors from Celestia, but not all, just enough though, the mountain of papers where there were tons of different subsets and subtexts on ridiculous bills the aristocracy wanted to shove on the neighboring villages, she simply wanted to immolated the lot of it, but that's not what Celestia would do, she would tough it out, that is until three letters bearing the seal of Twilight landed in front of her, causing her to smile widely and shove the pile of papers on the floor next to her.
"Now, let us see what miss twilight has sent us," Luna said, slipping into a little of the old dialect, eagerly breaking the seal on the first one, which read.
"Dear Princess Luna,
Something or someone has sent Humans to our world, WITHOUT crossing the mirror, they have yet to have hurt anypony, and don't seem to be a danger, in fact when two guards saw them, they ran from them, but not without leaving behind some kind of trinket, Using a spell that I detailed in an enclosed letter, I was able to pull an entire soul from it when all I meant to do was lift the memories, its only a prototype, I'm not sure if it can be replicated with pony artifacts.
But that is not the main reason for this letter, Sunset is sure that if we approach them in the physical world, they will only go further into Equestria, making it harder to find them, so we would ask you to approach them inside their dreams, where they would be the least on guard.
Speaking of Guards, I had to tell Nexus nebula, and Fyre bright about the portal, and the human world, so as such I am requesting the transfer to ponyville, as my guards, the forms are in the second letter.
Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Luna's eyes widened while her mouth widened into a grin that would make discord proud, this took precedence over everything she was going to do today, so she went to work writing a response, it wasn't long, just enough to confirm that she agreed to help Twilight find them in the dream realm, but also that she would send out her most elite, while Celestia had the day and most ponies reveled in it, she had the night which opened magic that her dear sister couldn't begin to imagine, that let her celebrate her best, where she would offer them a choice, one that only the greatest were offered, the choice to stay as a bat pony or ascend to a thestral, the very embodiment of the night, and her elite guard.
"Hmm, there is much light left, my thestrals will still be among the populace, well everyone except my best," Luna said out loud to herself, before deciding to call Him.
Far away from her room, her thestral answered her call, disappearing from the populace, before shortly appearing before Luna in a flash of yellow light, causing Luna to shield her eyes.
"Thank you for answering my call, but a situation of the utmost importance has come up, while not a threat, I fear that Celestia's guards would only exasperate the problem, and with them being in the light so too speak, they would attract a lot of undue attention, two humans have made it to Equestria, And knowing the high nobility, they would sooner either want to own such an exotic creature or worst," Luna explained to the figure standing in front of her, a cloak already fastened around him, he nodded in understanding because he knew what the Canterlot high nobility thought of other species, with Luna saying nothing more, he headed off to the Night barracks that were situated under canterlot.
Meanwhile, Twilight got her message, which got her prancing, up until a frantic knocking caused her to stop mid-prance because behind the door was Fluttershy, the butter-yellow pegasus had a look of panic on her face.
"What's wrong Fluttershy," Twilight asked.
"You remember the manticore we ran into when we went to face nightmare moon," Fluttershy asked, confusing Twilight.
"yes, of course, is it attacking the school, the market, can you not calm it down?"
"NO, he's gravely injured, more than my medical skills can do without magic."
"Why me, I'm no vet."
"Last time I went to one for help on an exotic creature like a manticore, they refused to treat it, they said that while they have extensive medical knowledge of animals, they refuse to treat the everfree ones."
"Alright, Let me collect a few things," Twilight said as she collected a few tomes on the everfree forest animals, as well as medical books on animals of a variety before she teleported herself and Fluttershy in front of her home, but Fluttershy didn't go through the front door, instead she went around back, where the manticore was laying on its side, it's breathing slow, and labored.
Twilight walked up to it, while Fluttershy assured it that She was there to help, she examined its side where there were huge tears in its skin, where claws raked it, while just below it, a couple of puncture wounds just below it, on its hindquarters though was the most prolific wound, a massive chunk was missing, from these wounds, she knew that if she didn't act fast, it would die in a couple more minutes, so she did what she did best under pressure, she quickly reads, before turning to the dying animal, turning her horn to it.
"I sure hope this works," Fluttershy said as a purple glow surrounded the creature, but as Twilight poured magic into the healing spell, Fluttershy saw red smoke appear at the edges of the wounds, and soon her magic was going around it, as though whatever was in the wound was repelling her magic, the glow around the manticore stopped, when Twilight saw that it was having no effect.
"That shouldn't be happening, maybe I screwed up, here let's try that again." Twilight closed her eyes and tried the spell again, but the magic still was repelled, which caused Twilight to panic, because magic usually didn't act like this, which means that it was new magic, however, whatever it was, it stopped her from saving this poor creature, which started breathing shallowly, and slowly.
"It's okay, you tried your best, we should just make him comfortable," Fluttershy said, while Twilight simply stared at the ground, the shock of her magic failing, and her failure to save a life causing her mind to run slowly, but she complied, together they helped the manticore stay warm as its breathing slowed, then stopped.
"Its gone, and I failed, I wasn't good enough, I couldn't save a single life."
"W- We should probably bury him, Its the best we can do now," Fluttershy said, stuttering only once, but still holding back tears, Twilight nodded, Fluttershy went and got her shovel, while Twilight held the manticore, They didn't go far into the forest, Twilight dug a decent grave for him, deep enough so that no other creatures would dig up the corpse, when they were done, They went back to her house, where Fluttershy made a special tea, reserved for situations like this.
"I don't know why the wounds wouldn't close, I know that I performed the spell correctly, I didn't make a mistake." Twilight quietly rationalized, while Fluttershy simply looked out the window, the animals surrounded them, sensing that a life was lost, even angel bunny wasn't ornery, instead, he simply patted her foot.
Soon though Twilight decided that she needed some time to herself, so she excused her self, Fluttershy understood and watch her leave, soon she left for her room, leaving the two empty cups where they were.
Twilight sat in her Throne in the friendship castle, her hair frayed, sticking out at unnatural angles, she was glaring at the table, as if it would answer the questions burning in her mind.
WHY DID THE SPELL FAIL, AM NOT GOOD ENOUGH, DID I SCREW UP THE STRUCTURE, AND WHAT WAS THE RED STUFF?!
But she was pulled from her musings when a gentle knock echoed from her front door, which caused her to almost scream in frustration, but she smoothed her hair, silent calmed herself, and went to answer the door, but when she pulled it open her mind came to a screeching halt, because in front of her covered in a cloak, stood a stallion with a shock of dirty blond hair, and blue eyes that were icy cold, but not in a cruel way, rather that he had serious business with her, but none of that registered because she simply cried a single name.
We followed the trail as best we could while staying as far off the main road as we could get, my heightened senses making the trail easy to follow, that is until the jester stopped dead.
"what is it, a monster, Ponies?" I asked, unsure why he stopped until I heard a melody, a haunting echo, I knew that melody, it echoed incessantly from the coves, but this time instead of pressing sensation in my head that clouded my thoughts, I found that my instincts were sharper, my senses heightened, my thoughts less scattered.
"Neither, If I understand the history behind the siren, the poor thing was a Soul bound inside the body of a monster, this must be the magic of the pure human soul, and she is calling me," the jester said, look in the direction that the sound was coming from.
"So do we go by day and take our chances, or do we wait till the fall of night?"
"We will wait till night, I trust not the sun."
So we waited and waited until the noon sun was high above our heads, but getting the cup would have to be rushed because of a low growl that echoed around the makeshift camp we set, causing the beast within to bash against the cage inside my mind.
"Jester, go for the cup, while I entertain our FRIEND!!!" I said as I opened the door, letting the beast free, while the jester nodded and ran off, my hideous roar echoing all around, challenging the thing that dared trespass.
*P.O.V. Jester*
It did not take long for me to find the source, it came from a ridiculous castle made of the most blinding crystal, luckily, there was a tree nearby a window, from it, I saw them, the ponies that took my cup, and something that looked like a cross between the two, and royalty from the looks on the faces of the two that followed her.
Great, first I work for a lord, now I'm gonna piss off a... Princess, or maybe a queen, oh well doesn't matter, I want that cup back. I think to my self as I slip into the open window, silently landing on the floor, making sure to cautiously step towards the cup, standing on the display, of course, given my luck, as soon as I am within arm's length, I hear voices.
"The one in chains looked about Twenty-five, and the other well, his mask, and clothes hid his age well." one of the voices said, male from the sound.
"If only they knew the truth about the abomination, I highly doubt he's just twenty-five, Honestly I don't think he even remembers what his age is however as for my age, I never bothered keeping count." I think, as I silently run towards a closet, before shutting myself in, making sure to stay as hidden as I could, not paying attention to the conversation, instead I simply waited for them to leave, but staying in one place drives me crazy, guess I'll nap too pass the time, I close my eyes and rapidly nod off.
Dark woods surrounded me, the clamminess of sodden dirt giving me a hint, so I open my eyes and I look around for the damned fungus that invades the hamlet, but looking around I see none, instead I see a light far from me causing me to start walking towards it, I hadn't noticed I stood up, Soon I was close to the fire, but I was not alone, instead, a young woman sat, tending the fire, I sit next to her, the fire warm on my skin.
"Hello, my child, Glad you could make it," the strange women said, yet I know her, I've seen her in many places.
"I've seen you before, but I can't place where, don't tell me though, I don't want any spoilers."
"I know, just sit and reflect with me"
we said nothing as the fire grew, it was nothing at first, but soon events flashed in the flames, me taking down the siren, the hag, and the drowned crew, then finally dying to the heart of darkness, suddenly who this was finally clicked.
"You're God aren't you?"
"sharp as ever, but I cannot stay long, I have other meetings, to set up, and time is short."
"I take it that I did not simply show up here for reflection, if you wanted as much, you would have simply pointed something my way, so what is it you want."
"To give you the most powerful thing to be bestowed, A promise from a god, that this life while is going to be hard, but it will be nothing like before, The eldritch cannot touch this world, and I will make sure that it stays that way."
"How are you gonna manage that, if the stories are true, then aren't the eldritch gods even more powerful?"
"That's the catch, they are so powerful that they need mortals to help spread their influence because they cannot manifest themselves on the mortal plane, it cannot handle the stress, so they use mortals to manifest only fractions of their power, but here there are no signs of their influence, they overlooked this place, long enough for its own established gods and demons, which makes this place eldritch proof."
"what about you, I know that if anything saw your true form, our eyes would burn out."
"the ponies already have embraced the full power of light and love, their magic rejects eldritch influence."
"speaking of gods, I thought God cannot interfere in a mortals life?"
"On earth, that is true, but you already died, so as of now, I'm free to give my guidance and protection, since I'm not omnipotent here."
"Ya know, for being God, you are pretty straightforward."
"standing tall in the face of complete annihilation deserves some kind of reward, letting you live out the rest of your extended lives in a place that isn't crawling with eldritch."
"the non-obtuse answers?"
"here, in the land called Equestria I am strong, yes, but I only know as much as you two do, so to help keep you alive, I give aid."
I simply raise my eyebrow under my mask, she now gives aid freely, I remember the crusader, the flagellant and the vestal going to the church and not getting jack shit, but here I am, A guy who played with loaded dice got shitfaced, and slept with many a woman, getting free fucking aid from god herself.
"Well, I don't know what I did better than the religious nuts, but I'm thankful."
"They only did what they did was to curry favor into heaven, but you fought the dark to make life less terrible, so doing life-threatening endeavors for free is to invite your destruction, we'll meet again because your about to get a crash course into this world's culture."
With that, the world got suddenly blinding bright, causing me to close my eyes, that is until the light faded and the cool floor of the closet reminding me where I napped, but I felt cool air moving over me, and I looked up into the huge eyes of a purple creature, Unicorn and Pegasus at the same time by the looks of it.
I saw the jester run into the underbrush as the changes came, I felt my flesh stretch and my bones break apart, the process took only seconds but for me, it was an eternity, I stepped back in my mind and let the beast loose, I felt my claws sink into the creature, its blood splash my face, its bones crack under the relentless assault, the taste of its flesh.
Tangy, succulent, FILLED WITH POISON I heard the beast think, right before another pain in the chest told me that we were stabbed with the damned stinger again, at this rate, not even the curse will dilute the poison, as I thought this I felt the beast slowing down, so wanting to preserve our lives, I reigned in our body, took one last bite from the creature, and ran up the road.
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!
keeping us alive, tanking anymore stabs would surely have killed us.
WE ARE INVINCABLE!!!!
no we are not, we are gonna find somewhere to rest and then return to the small village that the jester went to.
BAH, YOUR WEAK SENTIMENTAL HUMAN NONSENSE SICKENS ME, I LOATH THAT I NEED YOU TO SURVIVE.
One day, We are gonna be free of each other, but that day is not today.
I ran until a sign that read "Manehatten" loomed in the distance, I ran too far, no matter, I'll find a- A shriek cut through the air, made by a small, and by the looks of it, female pony.
I couldn't react fast enough though, the manticore poison working its way through my body was sapping my strength, I looked around for somewhere to hide, that is until the blunt end of a spear slammed itself into my face, and I went out like a light.
*P.o.v. change 3rd person*
Celestia was currently sitting on a cushion, the delegates from the other nations had already arrived, and boy did it go south fast.
"oy vey, they can't be near each other for longer than a day, and they already are at each other's throats, at least in this, the dragons aren't the aggressors this time, heck Ember showing up at all is good news, I wonder what my little ponies are up too?" Celestia thought out loud.
"Well, one of my children is basically being interrogated, the other is on his way of getting hanged, so doing well." A new voice sounded behind her, causing Celestia to whirl around, see a young woman, she looked like she was in her early twenties, but the solid gold eyes gave away she was much older.
"Who are you, and what do you mean your children?"
"Well, my people call me god, I would tell you my true name, but it would take too long, as for my children, well that's a story for another time."
Celestia rubbed her forehead with a hoof, whoever this thing is, it seems like she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of it.
"is there anything you can tell me?"
"I gave my children a life here because it's untouched by my sibling's abominations, and they gave their lives to stop the oncoming tide of darkness, I would be most unhappy if they were murdered."
"Equestria is a big place, I can't watch them all."
God rubbed her hands together before blowing into her cupped hands, and from nothing sprang forth a star, before she put the star to her lips and sucked the energy back, before turning to Celestia who now regarded her with even more caution.
"I can watch my children at all times, I'll make sure to keep them alive, to protect them."
"One of them is going to be hanged aren't you going to help them?"
"I'll be visiting your dear sister soon, you should thank your student for telling the jester of your monarchy since I only know as much as both of them combined."
"Doesn't that limit your ability to protect them?"
"I never said I couldn't learn, anyways I'll be watching, If you ever need any help, just hold this up to your sun," God said, handing over a cross pendant, before walking at the wall and disappearing.
"Princess, We're ready to start again, The eastern Great cats have agreed to keep comments on the western Caribou to a minimum, The dragons surprisingly had nothing to add." A guard stationed outside her door said, Celestia put the amulet on under her regalia and stood.
"Well, let us proceed." She said before she thought.
"Dear sister, there is something here in equiss that is far stronger than anything that We've ever faced, luckily it's on our side."
*P.o.V. change, third person much earlier*
"BLUEBLOOD!?" Twilight shouted in surprise.
"SHHH, don't blow my cover, we have quite a lot to talk about and while I'm sure the ponies here will keep their mouths shut, its the ones that pass through I don't trust," Blueblood whispered.
"Alright then, come in," Twilight said, opened the door wider, letting in blueblood, where he made for the throne room before taking off his cloak.
"nice place you got, are you friends in?"
"Why are you here, shouldn't you be in canterlot, keeping a leash on the canterlot elite?"
"Auntie Luna has those hair-brains running themselves ragged, the night-guard is way more active than the day guard, not to mention way harder to sway, so she lets the elite think they have 'swayed' some of the lunar guards, and then I 'relieve' them of their contraband."
"Then I guess I can assume that you were being a dick to Rarity for her own good?"
"Ah yes, my actions towards miss Rarity, while an element bearer, she wasn't ready for the life of high nobility."
"So what's so important that you had to come here?"
"Wait, you hear that," Blueblood said, cocking an ear.
Twilight was hearing nothing, but Blueblood narrowed his eyes, and then started off towards the room that held the cup, when she arrived, the cup was gone.
"someone stole the cup," Twilight cried.
"I doubt the thief got far, though I think stole is the wrong word, I think the owner simply came for his stuff," Blueblood said, opening the closet, revealing the sleeping jester, forgetting that Twilight has no concept of personal space.
"uh..... I come in peace?" the jester said.
Twilight looked like she was gonna burst, but Blueblood put his hoof on her shoulder and shook his head.
"go get your friends, we will want to keep them in the loop, especially since we have much to discuss."
"Oh fine, but I have so many questions," Twilight huffed as she charged a teleport, and then was gone.
"You seem really calm about this," Blueblood said to the jester, still sitting on the floor.
"After what I've witnessed, this is nothing."
"You gonna bother telling me?"
"no."
"what about the souls bound to the cup, gonna tell me how you came by them?"
"no."
"what can you tell me?"
"The purple one, she seems like she almost worships books, I can't tell what she'd do if she knew half what I know."
"her name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm Blueblood, what's yours?"
"simply call me the jester, if my clothes are anything to go by," The jester said, gesturing to the old costume, the frilly hat, the mask, the baggy pants, and shirt.
"What does your friend go by?"
"abomination."
"More history?"
"heh, when he comes back, I'll see if he'll share, but for now the floor is getting cold."
Blueblood nodded and they set out for the throne room, walking in silence, Blueblood wanted to know more, the way the jester walked, said more then he let on, the way the jester was stepping as though a trap was underfoot, it spoke of either many traps, or poking around at pitch dark, secondly the almost ghost-like way he moved, making no sounds at all, soon though, they made it too the thrones, Blueblood decided that if he wanted answers, he would need something to loosen his lips, so he went to the kitchen.
"MONSTER!!!" A high pitched female voice, shouted before the jester felt something impact his chest, a few ribs breaking under the stress.
"RAINBOW NO!!!" Twilight called out, galloping in with the rest of the girls.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAhAHAA," the jester cackled holding his chest.
"Rainbow, what was that," Twilight demanded.
"Look at him, I thought he was a monster, besides I don't think I did that much damage," Rainbow said.
"his breathing, you broke six of his ribs," Fluttershy said, putting her ear to his chest.
"Get nurse red heart," Twilight said.
"No need, I got all the medicine I need right here," the jester said, pulling out the cup and waving a sign over the cup, it filling with gold liquid, before downing it.
Fluttershy held her mouth as she put her ear to the jester's chest again, hearing the bones pop back into place, as his heart rate sped up.
"Don't bother asking him many questions, turns out that whatever he knows, magically or otherwise, he is refusing to divulge," Blueblood said, causing everyone in the room except twilight to glare at him.
Everyone got settled around the cutie map, with the jester sitting on a seat and after the little stunt rainbow dash pulled, the jester simply kept drinking gold liquid from his goblet, which until now no one noticed that the mask somehow was part of his face, that let him drink from the goblet unrestricted.
"I Apologize for rainbow's actions again," Twilight said.
"not the worst thing I've ever felt, hell where I'm from that would have been a low-level dungeon," the jester said, waving hand while putting his feet on the cutie mark map.
"Low-level dungeon?" twilight questioned.
"Look at this medal, notice that it has a ruby in the center, cast in gold, it's a medal that I got from completing certain difficulties of dungeons, this is the highest I could earn, also known as a champion medal," The jester said, pulling the medal from a hidden pocket, causing all the mares to look at it.
"Oh it's so pretty, where did you get it," Rarity cooed.
"I can't tell you that," the jester said, causing everyone to groan.
"Why won't you tell us anything," Twilight asked.
"Because where I'm from, knowledge is a dangerous thing," the jester said.
"It can't be all that dangerous if you're here with us," Applejack said, the constant dodging of questions grating on her nerves.
"You could never handle what I saw, it would cripple your minds," the jester said.
"you're pretty sane for seeing what you saw, so show us."
"Fine, you want to see what my world is like, then get a load of this," the jester said turning and pulling off the mask, revealing his ghastly visage, one that would burn its image into their minds for a long time, one bloodshot eye peering out from his ruined face, the other side scarred by heavy acid damage, its eye completely gone, and finally a huge chunk of his lower jaw is missing, causing the entire room screaming, except blueblood, until the mask was fastened back around his face.
"WH-WH-WHAT," Twilight gasped, trying to push the image out of her mind.
"Heh, thought you would get a kick out of it, do you still want to know more, what stitched my face back together, what fused my broken bones back together," the jester asked.
"I think that we need a respite, we meet back here in an hour," Twilight shakily said, not wanting to look at the jester's masked face, meanwhile Fluttershy and Rarity had fainted while The rest simply looked horrified, Twilight collected them while the jester simply looked at the ceiling, while blueblood studied the jester.
"That was a mean thing you did," Blueblood said.
"acting like what I've gone through is nothing, especially since I've lost good friends, down in the dark," the jester growled.
"I lost good friends too, but that will scar them for a long time."
"ah yes, I can see it, that is just an illusion, you're a lot older then you let on."
"how?"
"I may have only one eye, but even I can see an illusion."
Unbeknownst to them, Twilight had sunken back from the door, eavesdropping on their conversation, she waited with bated breath as Blueblood asked another question.
"What did you see to be able to catch an illusion this complex?"
The jester waited, before answering, "Our little eavesdropper will have to come out from behind the shadows, isn't that right Twilight?"
Twilight gasped, before coming out from behind the doorway, with Blueblood raising an eyebrow.
"you want to see it too, your curiosity is insatiable, even after witnessing my visage."
"I... Yes, I do, please show me," Twilight stammered.
The jester simply sighed and brought out the cup, before pressing the cup to his mask and whispering something to it, then pulling a knife from another hidden pocket, he cuts a finger, spilling blood into the cup.
"What did you say," Twilight asked.
"Shh, just watch," the jester said as he then spilled the cup onto the cutie map, which caused Twilight to almost start hissing at him, but she stopped when the map flickered, then a squalor hamlet appeared before zooming in, and then a first-person view.
"Are you ready for this, because if your not, then stay behind," A large grisled man said, his one good eye looking down at the past jester.
"I've fought this battle before, I know what we're getting into, besides you need me if we're bringing Dante," The younger sounding jester quipped.
"I can't believe you talked me into letting him come with, that thing has no place near a hand of God," a soft-spoken woman complained.
"Last I checked vestal vyan, I come with because I can deal with the beasts down below, none have yet stood against me and won," Dante, the chain wrapped man said.
Vyan merely snorted, after outfitting herself with a book and a bloody bag, next came the grisled man, who had a shiny cerulean shield, and a flag, next came Dante, who was wrapped in skulled locks and spiked chains, with another spiked chain wrapped around him, all covered in a stained and patched cloak, then finally the jester, all he took was a tambourine that had a sort of translucency and the cup, they bought all the necessary stuff, antitoxins, bandages, a lot of food and torches, many many torches.
"Dante, that's the name of your friend," Twilight asked.
"yes, this is us after we had been with each other for at least a few battles against the boss monsters," the jester said.
Finally, they arrived at the fetid and rotten entrance to the warrens, the congealed and bloody mud squelched as they took one final breath, lit the torch and went in, the darkness around them swallowing the light, they made it deep into the passage before the sounds of snorting and squealing got louder and then they were upon them, Twilight thought that the jester's ruined face was nightmare fuel, but these things were nightmares made flesh, the grotesque clothes they wore and malformed faces, the expressions of agony etched on the stretched human skins they wore.
"what are those THINGS," Twilight gasped.
"A sub-race of human/pigs that were spawned by the ancestor's blood rituals, he would summon demons and monsters from beyond the veil into the dead carcass of pigs, and when he ran out of pig flesh, he would put them in the fresh dead humans, and well look at the results," the jester said as the first round of assaults were underway.
The jester went first, a devastating slash from the gleaming sickle causing a deep bleed on an armored pig, meanwhile, a malformed pig at the back vomited with force, a congealed glob of festering flesh and bone, but its aim was off and missed the vestal at the back, which was then responded to with a crushing mace bash, collapsing its head, and then came the growling, a deep guttural sound, all eyes turned onto abomination, which upon transforming broke through the chains and cast off the cloak, before snapping down on the beefier one in the front, killing it instantly, the party now cut down to two from four.
"What is that, why did Dante transform like that," Twilight asked, while blueblood simply kept watching.
"Fed poison in a dungeon-keep, while tortured until he broke, I doubt even he knows for how long, but eventually they managed to create that," The jester answered grimly.
The remaining monsters were slain with brutal efficiency before they kept going and every couple of steps a brutal trap was either disarmed or triggered and took a chunk out of the unfortunate victim, Dante, and the jester seemed to know their traps, but the Vestal, she couldn't seem to handle the finicky triggers, which forced her to continually heal herself every fight, the shock value of the pigman losing its luster the more times until it was no longer fear-inducing, finally they reached the room before the boss, where they lit their final fire.
"You took some nasty hits from the traps, I see God's not in your corner," Dante quipped at the vestal.
"quiet thing, God's always watching me, I stand at his side while beings like you rot in hell," Vyan shot back with venom
this caused the jester to laugh, which got the attention of Twilight and Blueblood, the jester leaned forward and whispered to the cup, the memory stopped while the jester turned his eyes towards Blueblood and Twilight.
"I take it that Hell is the name your people have instead of Tartarus," Twilight asked.
"If its the place where the wicked are locked for all eternity, then you are correct, and the vestal here is a fanatical follower of God, it's advisory, the side of light and purity," The jester said
"Like Celestia, who guides the sun and watches over us during the day, and Luna, who watches over our dreams and protects us from the things in the dark," Twilight said
"They are a diarchy then, ruling together as equals," the jester said.
"How did you come to that conclusion, we said nothing of their nobility," Blueblood piped up.
"This may come as a shock to you, but currently, my God is talking to Celestia, since our minds are connected, anything I know she knows, and vice versa," the jester said.
Twilight's eyes gleamed with more questions, and Blueblood watched him with a more restrained curiosity, but the jester gestured to the frozen memory, another whisper and the memory resumed, and they walked into the blood-soaked room, where there was the shivering, squealing, and squelching mass of flesh and from it a thing so grotesque that it made even the stoic Blueblood looked disturbed while poor Twilight was frozen in both fear and revulsion.
Torchlight fell upon the thing and it was even more hideous in the light, the pustulating and squirming flesh fusing, bleeding, and other liquids were ejected as the organs were split apart, then fused back together, that is until the eyes of a newly formed head saw the champions, and with a mighty heave, all the flesh coalesced and suddenly four segments surrounded the group, one head made of teeth and eyes, little mouths salivating, where the flesh touched the ground, next came something made of gristle and bone massive ribcage held together with nothing but tough translucent cartilage, next the ass a horrifying mass with an undulating hole, surrounded by small tentacles made of flesh that hid something darker, and finally the heart, a small thing made of intestines and veins.
"Its time, don't let the back end poison you, and be wary of those teeth," Dante called out before he transformed.
"You two are the experts, what do we do," the gristled man asked.
"Try to dodge the head and ass, don't let it bleed you or poison- AHK," the jester cried as an eel type thing shot from the hole, grazing the top of the jesters head, but it was enough because the blood that poured out was a nasty reddish green, the wound rapidly festering, acidic blood further ruining his face, but the Vestal was on it in an instant, holding up a book while the torch burned brighter, the light causing the wound to close as she gave him some of the anti-poison they carried.
"This is how you lost your eye, and the side of your face, that thing your fighting, its disgusting," Twilight stated.
"It is, but the worst is yet to come," the jester answered.
True to his words, after a few direct hits to the heart, the thing became even more vicious, the spine crumbled and from the pile of gore came another head, which went after the Vestal who was already weak, after realizing that the wounds it inflicted were being negated by the Vestal, it was targeting her heavily while the grisled man defended her, but it was not enough, because soon the man fell to a bite that took his head right off, the vestal screamed gaining the attention of the remaining pieces which were locked in a deadly dance with the crazed jester and fierce abomination.
"Our man-at-arms is dead, WE ARE GOING TO DIE DOWN HERE," vyan screamed, until another eel smashed through the back of her head, brain matter shooting everywhere alongside pieces of skull, this did not phase the last two heroes because they only fought harder, until single piece remained, the weak heart that was barely staying alive, that is until the jester cut the beating heart out, holding it up above his head as the flesh around the room no longer pulsed, the flesh rapidly rotting as the spirits that maintained it fled.
"Dante, it is done, we're done, gather the bodies," The jester said, as he gathered the remaining torches.
The two made their way to the surface, where the carriage waited, they loaded the bodies into the far back, and set off in silence they made their way to the hamlet where the townsfolk regarded them with fear and apprehension, they noticed the rotting arm of the vestal in the back, and assuming the worst, one came up and asked.
"Did you do it, is it dead," the frightened women asked.
"Its dead, the beast is finally dead, the last remaining pig folk will die out now, without a leader they will be unorganized and lost," Dante said
A celebration was held in honor for the fallen, and those that survived, but after, both drank until they blacked out, which at that moment, the memory ended, the Cutie map returning to the normal map of Equestria.
"How many times," Twilight started before stopping herself.
"A great many died, down in the mud and dark, when we were new, the dead barely got a second glance, we were cannon fodder, but the more we survived, the greater the respect, but it wasn't worth it, I saw many young men and women sent down into the dark, never to come back."
"Your world is a horrible place," Twilight said, unrelenting pity in her gaze.
"My god agrees, which is why I'm here," the jester said.
"Are you a follower of theirs," Twilight asked.
"when she is no longer busy, I'll let you question her, but for now it looks like your friends have returned," the jester said nodding to the five that rounded the corner.
"what did we miss, other then the horror show over there," rainbow quipped before both Blueblood and Twilight glared at her.
"so dear, what did we miss, because you look a lot paler then you were when we left," Rarity asked, the looks not lost on her, while rainbow simply looked confused.
"he showed us a little bit of his world, it's not a nice place, I saw a perverted kind of magic, it makes the magic that Sombra used against us, child's play in comparison," Twilight said, trying to hide the horror in her voice.
"What could be worst then Sombra, if it hadn't been for spike we would have been slaves, or worst," Applejack said.
"I saw a monster that would give even chrysalis nightmares, a monster made of organs and bone, teeth and eyes, capable of binding into whatever shape could kill the fastest," Twilight said, staring at the table recalling the monster.
"There were three, plus the king of those things, it took three attacks to finally wipe them both out," the jester clarified.
"But how and why?"
"when the ancestor stopped, he had more possessed pig flesh then he knew what to do with, so he dumped it into the ancient sewers beneath his estate, but it wasn't alone, after summoning the first demon capable of cognitive thought, he found it was brutish and stupid, so he too threw it down in the sewers where all the experiments went, but it wasn't alone, and competing for dominance it did battle with the flesh," the jester answered.
"so how did it survive?"
"they battled to a standstill, where the brutish demon was crowned king and defender of the pig people, alongside his companion a smaller pig that helped it hunt, because the flesh blinded it, and lost its legs, but before that, it cut it into three chunks that survived by either being fed humans the creatures hunted or killed the pigs themselves."
With that answered, they asked questions and he answered so long as it had nothing to do with what he fought and how they were made, this lasted until late in the day, they were about to take their leave for the day, until knocking came from the front door, which Twilight answered, looking into the solid gold eyes of a young woman.
The creaking of a wooden carriage roused me from my slumber, at least I thought it was slumber until I realized that I was knocked out and from the sounds of it thrown into a wooden cage, from the spikes pressing into my flesh I assume I changed back, but where I am I have no idea, so I grasp around with my eyes still closed and feel bars, which I pull on the metal in my hands bending, however, something told me I want to wait to reach where ever I'm going.
"It's no use monster after we reach Canterlot, You'll be destroyed," a mysterious voice said in front of me.
I say nothing, I'm not about to give this cretin anything of a response, I'm going to let him assume I'm damaged in the brain or a simple beast, either way, I'm staying silent, and silent I stayed, at least until they threw me into another cage, flying this time which impresses me, I doubted they had the strength but they proved me wrong.
"Don't worry about being destroyed, they don't have the capacity, at least the one they are taking you to." A soft sing-song voice spoke in my mind.
"that is not what I'm worried about, this being the worst thing to happen since I got here, and having god herself to guide me, this all seems way too convenient, too easy, The eldritch gods and their followers are tenacious," I reply.
"but your still human, and I know humans, you lot are more tenacious, cunning, enduring, and ruthless than the eldritch, you lot conquered the heart of darkness, and I know that humanity will continue to do so again, and again.
"looks like my journey is over anyway, seems like there is a hidden cave under the castle."
"Clever, I'll meet you in the capital when the time is right, and trust me, I'll know for now simply wait however if I'm wrong don't hesitate to defend yourself, do what you can to stay alive." with that, her presence drifted away, leaving me alone, but that's fine because not long after, I was thrown into a dark cell, which suited me fine, it reminded me of delves into the dark, where they relied on my eyes to see the glittering gold in the dying torchlight, unlike those times I'm not the one who is delving, I'm the one who is waiting, so I pull the cloak closer and wrap the chain closer around my thin form and put my back to the cell door.
*Ponyville, Third person*
Twilight said nothing as the young woman standing in front of her just came in, the door closing behind her, Twilight shook herself outta her shock, the power the woman radiated reminded her of Celestia for some reason, she turned around as the stranger walked into the map room, Twilight scrambled to follow her.
"Hey Mom, I was wondering when you'd show up in person, you've been busy though," The Jester grinned at the stranger, though the stranger gave more a small smile when a child is acting like a fool, which turned into a small frown.
"You should not have revealed as much as you did, invoking their names brings destruction, but the spirits of the cup, poor girl, are exempt from this rule, plus I knew Twilight had pulled her soul out of the cup, I am God, after all, I know as much as you two," God grinned back, her frown disappearing.
Twilight looked at this woman with wonder, blue blood was curious but remained stoic, the rest of the girls were confused.
"Alright Twi, there is a lot of things going on here, and I know that you and blood, plus these two know a lot more than you're letting on," Rainbow Dash said.
"well the reason why I invited you here was so we could search for this guy and his friend, but I didn't think that the Soul bound inside the cup could be lifted, so when I did, it called out to him and brought him here, I don't know where the other one is, but we were supposed to go help find them, plus I had to employ two guards in the castle," Twilight explained.
"Why?"
"because miss dash, if other ponies knew about the mirror, they could use it to escape the jurisdiction of Equestria and escape into the other world, I know that miss shimmer escaped to it, but managed to turn her life around, but I'm sure that a few of the lesser nobles would see this as a way to escape Celestia's watch, but unlike miss shimmer, the noble class is extremely stupid," Fyre bright said as she came into the map room.
"honestly, one world to another and the ruling class thinks that they know everything, bah I slew my ruling class, and what a show, a little goblet laced with deadly poison, a knife here and a sickle chop there, off came there hands, and off came there arms, then finally the crescendo foot and a half-spear right down the middle," The jester said with a manic tone, hands on the edge of the map.
"you killed your rulers, why," Blueblood asked, his eyes narrowed.
"Why, you asked why I would raise a hand against those that abused me, mocked me, made me the well of their cruelty," the jester said, heaving almost like he was foaming at the mouth.
"Shhh, They are gone now, and I don't condemn you for what you've done, I'll do the talking," God said quietly, none of them noticing that she moved, her hand on his shoulder.
"you're right, I just need a drink," The jester said, as he pulled the goblet out and with a wave of his hand over the top, it was filled with a golden liquid once more, this caused the girls to bristle with questions, but the jester simply took to downing the cup.
"Alright, Who are you, you claim you're a god to these humans, I can tell your magic is very powerful, but how did you convince these humans that your their god," Blueblood asked, hoping that this stranger would take the bait.
"Watch this, and I promise that I will put them back," God said as she closed her hands, and with her celestial magic, took both sun and moon from the heavens.
"Uh... Blue the sun went out, and the moon is gone, I can't find them," Rainbow said, flying up the window when the darkness fell.
"They didn't go out, their right here, such powerful objects really, but does this convince you?"
they all looked at the woman, who now held in her hands both celly's sun and lulu's moon, Twilight was curious most of all, since the only being that could do something like this was currently, well she had no idea but unlike Discord, this woman radiated mystery and power, which she showed once more when she closed her hands and suddenly bright light was pouring through the open window, but the young woman now had a strange look on her face.
"y-yes, But how did you come to be in such high authority to these humans," Blue asked, this woman is more powerful than he imagined.
"I did things I'm not proud of when I was younger, I flooded the world of man in punishment for his sin against me, I murdered all the firstborn of Egypt as the last plague after I rained nine others down on them, I razed Sodom and Gomorrah with Fire and brimstone, I was angry and vengeful," God admitted, her eyes never wavering from the floor, everyone but the jester and Blueblood speechless, while none of the girls could believe that Celestia would do those things, Blueblood knew differently, Luna as Nightmare Moon had razed Hundreds of villages during the night, from small settlements to blossoming cities, Celestia had hidden the secrets well, but luckily blue and his comrades have a very long life, and it was time to show them what he was.
"I understand, Luna did something she isn't proud of either, when you talk to her you can ask her about them, but for now I got something I have to show you, girls," Blue Blood said, as he reached for his amulet with his magic, hidden from them under his cloak that he hadn't taken off, he unclasped the amulet and in that instant, he was gone from everyone's view except Fluttershy, Twilight, God and the jester, the rest saw nothing, but from the looks on the faces of the others, they knew something was there.
"YOU'RE A THESTRAL," Twilight shouted after a few minutes of silence.
Here in the dark cell, I feel at home, safe from death's touch, safe from the endless horrors, safe from the betrayal of my supposed 'Allies' multiple times I found that the ale had been poisoned, I knew that the Crusader or Vestle had talked one of the others into it, a large sum of money had changed hands, and not a thought was given to how my death would affect anyone else, instead it was given to how my death would boost their damned faith, however, my brooding would have to wait, I hear them coming, and one of them is not happy.
"You brought him here in chains, we do not do that unless properly convicted," An angry mare's voice echoed.
"But it is not a pony or anything we've ever seen, our magic scans told us that the cloak the thing wears despite being a simple cloak can deflect even our sharpest spears, its skin pulses with dark magic, and that damned chain weighs more then it lets on, maybe a couple of hundred pounds at least, maybe more," a young mare's voice.
"Young cadet, does it matter whether or not he is a pony or not?"
"I guess not, but still, this thing had enough manticore venom pulsing through it to kill ten ponies, yet all it did was put it to sleep, by the way, how do you know that things a stallion?"
"Call it a hunch, besides What's your point, Me and Celestia have enough magic strength to level all of canterlot and then some, heck princess Twilight has both the technical and magical know-how to knock canterlot off this mountain, are we to be detained for our abilities?"
The young cadet shut up at this, they continued in silence, but that didn't matter since they were close enough that even the light steps could be picked up by my keen hearing.
"I thought you said they brought him in alive," The older one asked.
"He was, maybe it died to the poison while in the cell?"
"No I can tell he's awake, I swear that I won't harm you," the older one called out to me.
"It's not you hurting me I'm afraid of, its the other way around my dears, as long as I'm here and I'm fed, I am contained and safe," I said, clutching the chains to my body, the spikes digging into my skin, the pain ensuring I am contained.
"I am Princess Luna of night, half of the reigning diarchy with my sister, Princess Celestia of the Sun, what is your name," Luna said to me.
"Just call me an abomination," I said, I doubt they would remember my real name anyways.
"In good conscience, I cannot call you such an evil name, what is your real name, the one given to you at birth?"
"Dante, my real name is Dante."
"You keep calling yourself an abomination, why do you attribute such a name to yourself?"
"She hasn't been around yet, has she?"
"Who?"
"The one who took the sun and probably the moon too, from the heavens," this got both the young cadet and Luna gasp.
"What do you know of this being?"
"Well not a whole lot, after all my homeland restricted her from actually giving straight answers, after all, being omnipotent and all-powerful meant she had to work without being seen or explainable since having an all-powerful deity tending all your needs, breeds all sorts of corruption."
Luna didn't say anything else after that, I suspect that mother was down here in the dark with us, and she has just been discovered, my instincts proved once again to be right as a playful laugh that sounded like the most beautiful chimes echoed around the dark cells.
"Dante, my child, your right on the money, but you saw the unrivaled cruelty of your fellow man and the blasphemous experiments they did to you under my name," A young female voice sound from behind Luna, but when she turned around there was nopony there, that is until The young cadet tapped Luna on shoulder turning her around, in front of them was a young woman with dark red hair and a simple dress, she waved her hand in front of the bars, breaking them down into nothing.
"Who are you," Luna asked the girl, though I knew what was coming, being this close to God allowed me to see her thoughts clear as day.
"Those who are not favored by the divine, immortal, dead or from another plane of reality may want to cover their ears," God warned, and Luna soundproofed the small area of the dungeon and put a silence spell on the cadet.
"I am ready," Luna said, it was then The woman opened her mouth and a voice so loud that it would put the royal canterlot voice to shame echoed around her and off the walls while the very force of the sound nearly knocked Luna off her hooves, instead she was simple knocked to one knee while she slid back, while the magic side almost tore the spells she put in place apart, the ancient words that made up her name came together in her mind, but she knew that she could never pronounce it, and then it was over.
"The name my people gave is God since a normal mortal would die from hearing her true voice," I piped up once my hearing returned.
"I take that as a show of power," Luna guessed as she undid the spells after the ringing faded.
"can some pony fill me in on what just happened," the cadet asked?
"Well, if you had heard the true voice of God, your heart would explode out of your chest and your head would explode since your a mortal."
"with that out of the way, I simply came here to help convince this one that sitting in a dark dungeon for the rest of his life was not the future I had planned for him," God said, giving Dante a pointed look.
"Planned future?"
God explained that she put Dante and the jester on equiss because the eldritch had yet to touch this dimension, and she put them on this world to live out the rest of their lives in relative peace.
"do you plan to bring more here," Luna asked despite the feeling that she couldn't stop her even if she wanted to.
"that depends on how well they do during their life, if they selflessly defend others against the dark, then maybe they will earn a second chance, now I believe its time for us to get out of this dingy dungeon," God said as she did a little twirl and in a second they were in Celestia's study, with Dante facing the ponies, the cadet wordlessly staring in horror at Dante's chest.
"Oh my Celestia, what happened to you to get so many scars," Luna said as soon as she laid her eyes on Dante in the light for the first time, first she noticed the spiked chains wrapped around his body, but under them showed bones, horribly malnourished with hundreds of crisscrossing scars, some even overlapping, but the worst scar was the brutal-looking scar on his head, a single capital A.
"Many decades ago I was dragged into a high tower," I figured that they deserved to know how I came to be in the state I was.
I took in the form of Blue Blood, I heard the stories of thestrals and how they looked, but here was far different, the piercing blue fire for his irises was a calming blue, his mane and tail were like ethereal blue fire, but his form intrigued me the most, no rotting skin, no hideous malformations and certainly none of the horrific transformations of the cultists.
He was slightly see-through, but still, he didn't float like the ghosts, he looked very much connected to the earth and no injuries suggesting a painful death or conversion process, meaning that this Luna must've known what she was doing and serves the Light.
"Uh Twi, not all of us are well versed in ancient history, so can you fill us in," I heard applejack ask.
"Celestia and Luna during the early years, had many enemies both political and natural, and while Celestia is more powerful because of the age difference, Luna had much better control over her magic so when Equestria needed special elite soldiers, her bat ponies were the first to volunteer," Twilight explained, which made sense to me.
"If they are so great, why are there so few," I heard rainbow ask.
"From what I read the power to create thestrals was huge, not to mention the cost to Luna herself, to create a thestral she had to surrender a sliver of her soul and then empower the subjet getting it, all in all, a very demanding process," twilight explained
"What are the powers of a thestral, to break off pieces of your soul has to painful as well as the temperament to keep the spell going," Rarity asked, I had not expected one such as her to have a decent concept of spellcraft.
"The ability to shrug off even the most powerful spells on the condition that the attacker didn't see you, your existence is hidden from anyone who has not yet seen another living soul die, and all the powers of pegasi and earth pony, the Unicorn side is sacrificed to give the thestral its magical powers," Twilight explained to us.
Interesting, usually a king or queen in my world would use that spell in reverse, where they would steal the soul of anyone they deemed capable, then again in the short time I've been in this world, these ponies have proven that they are better than the shit humans that live in my world.
"I see that Luna has skills, the spellcraft that went into this makes it impossible to untangle without destroying the subject and spell along with them," God said as she circled Blue Blood, who jumped because he had forgotten she was there.
"Coming from you that means a lot," Blue blood slightly bowed.
God simply smiled before a frown crossed her face and she turned to the Castle entrance raising her hands, causing the doors to swing outward leading into a white void, everypony looked in and saw nothing until a tall dark figure stepped into the light, causing them to all step back.
"Welcome to Equestria, Darius, The Bounty Hunter," God said, Darius simply tilted his head in acknowledgment.
"damn, what manner of Evil got you old friend," I say having jumped from my seat when Darius entered.
Darius said nothing, but instead spoke in hands, I nodded in understanding while the girls and blue blood simply stared in confusion, Darius then went and Leaned over the large crystal table motioning for me to sit down and explain while the girls simply sat and waited for me to explain.
"Alright friend, by killing the Vampyre queen and her court you have earned the right to another life, where there is no eldritch instead this world has its own set of demons and monsters so worry not about your bounty hunting," I explain to the ever stoic Hunter.
Darius stopped leaning over the table and once again spoke in hands, I nodded in understanding as he turned and started to head for the castle exit, I started to follow him with the cup in hand this time with god trailing behind us.
"Wait, where are you going?" Twilight asked as her senses came back to her.
"I, Darius, and god are gonna take our leave for today, I'm exhausted, Darius and god here need to catch up," I say while walking.
"Where do you plan on sleeping?"
"We are gonna sleep in the forest obviously."
"THE EVERFREE FOREST, ARE YOU TOTALLY MAD!?"
"Yes dear Twilight, we are but why the worry, it is pretty tame compared to other places where I had to rest, hell the ground is pretty soft."
"Well, you three could stay here."
"Don't get me wrong but I feel we must decline your offer, the wilds suit people like us better as out there people like us don't have to worry about stabbing someone in our sleep."
Twilight watched as the Trio walked out the door and then turned in the direction of the everfree forest, she was at a loss for words because she knew just from the memories, that it would take a very long time for the humans to acclimate to Equestria.
"I take it we are gonna follow them?" Applejack said when she was completely sure they couldn't hear her, gaining looks from Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity.
"That is highly unadvisable, the young woman is their Celestia and I doubt she would appreciate us following them around like lost puppies." Blue Blood said, having reattached the amulet.
"You can't seriously trust them, They have suspicious written all over them," Applejack said, hoping to convince her friends to pursue the Trio.
"Applejack what has gotten into you, why are you so dead set on stirring the hornet's nest?" Twilight asked in concern.
"Look Twi, I understand that as a princess and Element you want to see the best in everything, but the amount of dodged questions and secrets has to have raised a few red flags."
"The jester gave me insight into their world and I can tell you right now is that I would be fine going back and never seeing that ever again, the things that they saw in their world are vile and corrupt."
"See Twi that's the problem, how could they know if it is supposed to be a secret, why would they even go poking around it?"
"Well applejack, from what I understand, if they were to ignore the problem it would have only gotten worst so to prevent that, they had to learn the secret first so that they could put a stop to it," Rarity said.
"Fine I won't pursue them but I refuse to trust any of them, they carry far too many dark secrets for my taste, how many of them do you think they carried into Equestria?" Applejack questioned, while Twilight merely shook her head.
Despite being told a small part of their adventures, she knew that the Flesh she saw wasn't the worst thing they had encountered, in fact from what she could tell, there were worst things, but she is perfectly content with never learning or seeing them, her curiosity had been completely squashed.
I finished my tale, God has left as she did not need to hear something she already knew in great detail as I'm not the only abomination that was made.
"Hey, where did the other one go," The cadet asked, looking around, snapping out of her stupor.
"Best not ask, the less we do to tick her off, the better off we are," Luna said.
"She isn't that scary trust me, though what are you gonna do with me?" I ask fidgeting with the chain locks.
"I won't detain you, your free to come and go as you please, though I ask you to keep your alter ego in check and one last thing, the castle's always open to your kind," Luna said.
"Your majesty, may I suggest he have a guide, while I have faith he won't cause a scene, It's the canterlot elite I don't trust," The cadet suggested.
"Thank you for volunteering, you are his acting guide while he's in the city walls," Luna smiled, while the cadet's face fell, though I doubt it was because of me.
"I am honored your majesty," The cadet said with a strained smile.
Luna said nothing as she stood, and walked to the door and opened, meaning this meeting is over, I stood and before leaving bowed to Luna, the Cadet followed with her head held high before the door shut and she began to sulk.
"Come now, being my guide isn't that bad," I said with a smile.
"It's not that I'm your guide, it's that now the Canterlot elite will have even more ammo to throw at my family," The young mare sulked.
"Hey, I just realized I never got your name," I point out catching the girl off guard.
"My name is Nightingale," Nightingale said.
"Alright, but why do the canterlot elite hate your family?"
"I'm a half breed, I'm a half unicorn and half bat pony, and Canterlot before the return of Princess Luna was mostly Unicorn supremacist city, bat ponies were relatively unknown at least until Luna's return and remade her night guards."
"By being assigned my guide/guard, your status will probably worsen."
"It's not your fault for the circumstances of my birth, you've had way worst than me."
I said nothing to that as we climbed down the stairs from the study, which for some reason was in the tallest goddamn tower at the ass end of the castle, though considering they have magic and can simply teleport, I bet that it was there too keep obnoxious nobles and other ponies from bothering whoever used it.
"Since your free to go anywhere in canterlot, where are you planning on going?"
"I could go for a stiff drink, All this flitting from place to place has me wound up."
"Well, good thing it's about night since all the good bars are open at night."
I grinned as we made our way through the castle, which was surprisingly easy as no pony got in our way, even the few maids treated me as though I belonged there, I have to ask what happened at the castle if a being like me could walk the halls as though I've lived here for years.
We got to the street and I had to stop because never in my life had I seen Stars so Vibrant, or a city so full of life and smells, most of which I couldn't even name, I'm tempted to go off on my own, but Nightingale gestures for me to follow her, I take care to put the hood of my dingy cloak up and close the front.
I follow nightingale close, although the street is lit brightly by the lamps dotting the sides she is easy to lose due to her small frame and dark armor, I committed her scent to memory which made it easy to follow even in the dense crowds, heading towards the inner city.
We were heading towards the darker, and rougher-looking outskirts, which were pristine by hamlet standards until we came across a brightly lit tavern which was called Ravenholm, the old but not worn down spoke of diligent upkeep, Nightingale and I walked in with barely a glance in our direction.
"Ello Nightingale, I see you came a bit early for your weekly binge, though from the looks of this fellow it's not for entertainment," The barkeep welcomed with a warmth reserved for a regular customer, I silently sent a prayer of thanks to God for the extra protection provided by my hood.
"I'll take the regular I always order, as for my companion, well I'll let him speak for himself," Nightingale sit at the bar next to me.
"I'll the strongest stuff you got in the biggest glass you can give me," I said failing to notice the shocked looks from everyone there, including Nightingale herself.
"Are you sure about this? The strongest stuff is banned almost everywhere in Equestria, and most countries," the barkeep said with a serious expression.
"Yeah, I think I'm sure," I replied.
"Your crazy, what you just asked for is called Magma, a drink made in the Minotaur kingdom, it can put even the strongest of them out for days!!" Nightingale hissed when the barkeep walked away to get the drinks.
"Crazy? go ask the jester about madness, the man is an expert on it, but I am not mad I simply want a decent drink, which is really hard for people like me."
Nightingale Said nothing, the Barkeep had arrived with our drinks, from the smell of it, I could guess it was some kind of fruit wine, what I got was a bottle instead, the barkeep watched in awe as I took the open bottle and put it to my lips and began to simply chug it.
It was cold and extremely bitter, I can't exactly pin down what it tastes like all I know is that in a few seconds I had taken about half the bottle, which left everyone in the bar staring at me in both shock and awe before Nightingale waved her hoof in front of my face.
