"The Arvak is awakening and I cant let you kill a surrendered soldier. She has laid down her arms and she is defenseless, by killing her you are as bad as celestia. Let her redeem herself and only in betrayal can you sentence her to tarturus. midnight I know you are fighting within so fight harder. Otherwise we may have to put you down for good if Plague takes full control." Robin hoof tried to reason with Midnight/Plague trying to contact the good side within that was slowly losing grasp.
Silver whirled around furiously, rushing the prince and tackling him to the ground. The mare dropped to ground, gasping for air, and Silver motioned to one of the Night Guards to help her up. His voice a low growl, he spoke warningly to Midnight. "Do. Not. Be. Stupid. We are too close to final victory. The last thing we need is for Plague to make an appearance!" Helping the prince back to his hooves, Silver shook his head in frustration. "I understand how you feel, my friend. I really do. The power of your darker half could prove to be enough to take down the Phoenix Queen. But believe me when I tell you, the easy path is not always the right path. Do you honestly think that you can keep such power under control? We all saw what just happened." He sighed. "Let us speak no more of this unpleasantness. Crimson and Ocean will not revive themselves." Leaving Midnight to tend to the fallen, Silver approached the Equestrian mare. "You are an extraordinary skilled warrior. Had things been different, you could have easily earned a place in the Night Guards. Tell me, Equestrian, what is your name?"
Once Silver left him, Midnight left in silence as he took the bodies of Crimson and Ocean and headed towards the medical center of the camp. After pulling off a successful revival, he estimated that the couple would reawaken within the next hour. However Silver and Robin were right about the monster inside of him. Plague had, somehow, managed to take control of Midnight. There was no warning of Plague managing to assume control for the first time in 176 years, everypony thought he died within Midnight during the Eve of the Final Eclipse, it just....happened without warning.He would have screamed in agony, as most of his transformations to Plague usually did, but Plague had managed to keep Midnight's form to some extent, never having full control over him. If Midnight lost control of himself again and if Plague possessed him once more, he would lose complete control overhimself and Plague would return upon the world, destroying both sides of the war within days. Silver and Robin knew of Plagues power at full hoof, Dark Plague's return would be a nightmare. After Crimson and Ocean's revival, he sat lonesome in a dark corner to think about what he could do to stop him. Plague was created by Celestia, Midnight's more more violent and insane alter ego was created after the Alicorn purge. He came to a conclusion about Plague and Celestia If she died, he died. Worried about another outburst, he locked himself to his chair with extraordinarily powerful metallic braces that weakened the subject and to reduce any chance of performing spells while the subject is still connected to the chair. He was not taking any chances. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The mare saluted towards Silver, recognizing him as the leader. "Summer Breeze. Former Solar Flare captain for Phoenix Queen Celestia, at your service."
Crimson reawakened from their revival and went over to Silver and Robin, while Ocean went to Midnight, only to see the one that killed them an hour ago. Crimson was going to raise his sword, but seeing how Silver and Robin haven't killed her yet, she was not a threat. Summer nodded after receiving the offer from Silver but said nothing, both of them knowing that they both agreed in the end. Ocean found Midnight tied to a chair similar to a throne, noticing a change to the prince. Half of his body remained with his white coat and purple eyes, while his right side was the infamous black and red eyes that belonged to the Ardak Luvanius. Midnight was in control, but barely. Midnight told Ocean about what had happened and how Plague assumed control of his body. He guessed that Midnight might only retain enough control before the final fight with Celestia, and guessed that the closer the distance was between the two, the more stronger Plague's control was. Midnight was working on killing him on the inside, but nothing was seeming to work. As long as the Phoenix Queen was alive, Dark Plague would remain alive. If the Queen died, he died. Midnight wanted to deal with this as quick as he could to end the curse, this was his reason to return to Equestria 176 years ago.... (Might need to character jack for Venquis. Sorry [MENTION=5915]Dreamer[/MENTION])
(Sorry I've been dealing with things so I can get back and write some actual posts, who are you character jacking and why?)
(I was going to C.J Tricorna for barely a line, and even then just to simply move her without no actual dialogue. Doesn't matter now since your back.)
(Right. I'll reply after you give me a start, since I don't know the location, an Tricorna is unconscious.)
After using his long range teleportation, a powerful form of arcane teleportation that can only be performed by the most powerful of mages, to take him half of the way, Venquis carried the unconscious back of Tricorna on his back as he flew the remainder of the way towards Ardelan. After three days of travelling, he landed upon one of the mountains and paths among Ardelan's 'Black Pass' mountain range which acted as a border among Equestria and Ardelan's entire border, going from sea to the northwest to the same sea to the south west. The Black Pass, despite having an infamous reputation of being the graveyard of the largest battle in Equestrian and Ryborian history was also home to the tallest mountain on the planet, sitting almost 10 kilometers above sea level. Venquis placed Tricorna's body upon a cliff that gave him the space to set up a small temporary camp, while providing shelter and a vantage point from Equestrian patrols. He even made a small bed from a barrel of hay he found nearby. For several hours, the Eriborian watched from his small camp at the ash covered ground that seemed to travel forever. It was not known as the Black Pass without a reason, it was where the last of the Ryborian Elders made their last stand against two million invading Equestrians. Venquis was at that battle, but was told to retreat due to his status of being the son of the Eriborian at the time. What he understood next was that the Elders 'Set the world on fire' as wild fires raged for days. It was a massacre in the simplest words, but both sides lost all of their soldiers. He sat there, remembering the nightmare that was The Black War. Soon, he heard the doe regaining consciousness.
Tricorna slowly opened her eyes, and immediately threw her hooves onto her forehead. "Oh, dear mother, that hurts!" She groaned before shakily standing up and looking around wearily. "My head feels like a balloon is being inflated inside it... ugh... I take it you brought me here Venquis?" She turned to the Ryborian and sat down next to him. "I've been in this area before. My old mentor told me it was a very important location... and judging from your appearance, you know the story... care to enlighten me on why we're here while my head cools down..." She groaned and rubbed her head. She could see a map of the land in the back of her subconscious mind. Her conscious mind was occupied trying to figure out if everything she dreamed about was real.
"Behind us is Ardelan, and what we are standing on the mountain range otherwise known as The Black Pass. The area you see ahead of you is where the high majority of the Black War was fought between my kind and the Equestrians when they were under Prince Eclipse. 2 million lost their lives here after the Ryborian Elders, in their words, "Set the world on fire so that they burn in the afterlife". The endless horizon of ash goes for the entire mountain range, roughly 400 km across the Equestrian-Ardelan border. So much destruction and death was brought here that it turned the ground itself into a permanent charcoal black due to the bombardment of fire. Eventually, Equestria pushed through with their numbers and killed the last surviving Ryborian Elders. I was sent away from the battle due to my status as being royal." Venquis told Tricorna. "If i died on that day, the Ryborians would have been extinct." Venquis then clapped his hooves as the bonfire died suddenly, focusing on the matter at hoof. "Entering Ardelan itself is too dangerous at the moment, because patrols are constant around the cities and surrounding countryside around the nation all the way up to here. Thanks to the republic, Celestia is relocating her soliders to help reinforce Equestria when they both attack. This means that there are less Equestrians here then their was a week ago, and they have no idea that the Ryborian legions are arriving soon to retake our homeland. This has made things easier for us. Whenever your ready, and i can tend to any injuries you've sustained, we can travel to Neromia."
"If what I think is true is, then I have no injuries for you to heal... I'm ready to leave when you are." She looked around. " we must have left my helmet back at the crystal empire... Damn. Oh well, I shoudl be fine without it." Base jumper wandered the ashen mountain. "For the queen, for the queen my big swinging bat! I was able to fight that damn deer one on one! I should be leading the defense of Equestria! Not that light arrow shooting floozy. I'm this close to just leaving Equestria! Oh well... I guess this job is pretty easy. I just have to scout around a mountain that's been dead for years." He sighed and vanished in his signature puff is smoke, reappearing a just across the fire from Tricorna and Venquis, facing away from them. "Fourth quadrant of the mountain scouting."
Venquis and Tricorna soon made their way through the mountain pass and into Ardelan itself. The surrounding country side looked like a paradise, with blue lakes and trees as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, the average village could be seen from the distance but no major towns. After making their way down the mountains, they were on their way to the capital of Ardelan. However, both of them knew that they were eventually going to encounter Equestrian resistance and Ryborian freedom fighters. After walking for several hours at arriving at small town, Venquis broke the silence. "This reminds me of a town i visited when i was younger. No many of us lived here, i was told by my father that this was small rural town which acted as a border town as well. Despite the utopian environment, the weather here is brutal. Winters were extremely harsh and often killed lifestock, but we have noticed that was because of the mountains. This is the reason that most of the po-" Venquis was cut of mid sentence when he heard something move behind him. "Equestrians. Six o' clock, about twelve of them."
"Hmm... should we avoid them, or start the massacre early?" Tricorna's eyes seemed to sparkle at the thought of battle, not for the sake of taking out the scouts, but for the sake of seeing if her training was real. Base Jumper kicked the fire pit and sent out a message using a magic crystal. "All Solar flare scouts, I have found evidence of at least two ponies on the mountain. As with past experiences do not be fooled by the fact there's only two of 'em. Two can wipe out a whole army with enough skill. Be on the look-out for them. Over." Base put away the crystal and pulled out his bat. "Now, let's see... what would two lone ponies be doing attacking Ardelan... maybe a start point for a full fledged invasion. Why? They have so little to gain from capturing that "once-great" city." He shrugged and vanished in a cloud of smoke, appearing the same way back inside the Equestrian head-quarters for the city.
Venquis turned around to see the soldiers standing behind them, armed with short axes and blades. Despite their weaponry, they only wore the most basic of Equestrian military armor which indicated that they were merely recruits. He could see the spark in their eyes that they were not going to be brought down with words, they were looking for a fight to the death. 12 newbies who looked like they only received a week of training against the Eriborian, the "Lone Assassin" of Prince Eclipse and possibly the strongest Ryborian in history alongside a doe who was taught by an incredible mentor and was just as lethal as the best of them. These recruits were either ferociously loyal to their queen, or stupid. "Do you want to put them out of their misery?" Venquis said sighing deeply, not even bothering to take out his sword. "Looks like simple words aren't going to stop them. Let's see if your training has been worth it"
"Right then. Lets do this." Tricorna let out a sharp yell and charged the group. Before the scouts could even react she slammed, head first into the center one. A she hit him a spark exploded from the contact point, arcing lightning onto all the other equestrians, sending them flying out away from her. The first she had hit laid, dead with a blackened circle on his chest, smoking. The others were are either dead from the electricity, or dying of blunt trauma from slamming into things.
The Eriborian stood there, nodding his head and clearly impressed. She had just killed twelve ponies in a single hit, despite the addition of a chain lightning. After leaving the soon to be dead scouts (they would have been too injured to move, and that their injuries would have killed them anyway), the Ryborian and the Doe headed towards Neromia. The Eriborian had this feeling that they were being followed, and he was half right, catching a glimpse of a Solar Flare for half a second before it disappeared. The closer they headed into the small nation, the closer Neromia came, and the higher Equestrian presence was an obvious result. Venquis soon seen entire towns with surviving Ryborians working as slaves to their Equestrian masters, having their necks equipped with a collar that hindered their magical abilities. After sneaking past the town, Venquis seen something he was going to remember for the rest of his life. An enormous pit of Ryborian corpses, all of them completely deprived of any clothing laying naked while flies and maggots call this mass grave home. The Equestrians were executing any of them deemed not worthy to be slaves and throwing their lifeless bodies into the pit like trash. The Eriborian was disgusted as he collapsed onto his knees, tears streaming down his face. Venquis has a love for his people, but to see them like this was that he seen Equestria as a monster. It was extremely rare for him to cry, only getting upset over things that really hurt him. While the Equestrians didn't notice him yet, Venquis already had his spell-sword out as he stood there quietly muttering something in Ryborian.
"Try not to do anything foolish, Venquis. We are here for a reason, and mother is insisting I remind you it is not to wipe out this town." Tricorna put a hoof on Venquis' shoulder. "I'm sure you've seen worse than this at some point in your past, now come. We can't stall here much longer." "Commander," Base knelt before the Equestrian commander for the area. "Base Jumper. You've always been a very reliable scout, but you always ask to be something more. Is this correct?" Base nodded. "Very well. I no longer wish to lead this farce of an army. The position is yours, should you want it." Base looked around. Just him and the commander about to become a self-made traitor. "I accept." The commander nodded and quickly signed the papers necessary. A mere moment later his neck broke a the back of his head was smashed in with Base Jumper's bat. "I will not stand traitors to the Queen's cause in my tent." The message went out on the crystals about the change of command, as well as a message. "Capture the deer and Ryborian at any cost."
Venquis calmed down as the dangerous glow in his eyes soon vanished. "I have seen much worse, but this just unsettled me a little." The Eriborian put Moonsaber away and decided to follow Tricorna. "After the Black War, all of my kind were very distrustful of Equestrians. This reminds me of exactly why we did not like them in the first place. Disgusting..." Venquis said ---------------------------------- Summer Breeze's golden weapon vanished as she took her hood off to reveal her Solar Flare armor. She looked at the bodies of the dead and performed the equivalent of a finger click with hooves as the bodies of the dead were set on fire as a funeral pire. Of course, she had to deal with the scout. But considering her position, she could have just told them Celestia's plan.
Robin approached Summer Breeze "If you're truly ready it's time to loose that armour. Head to the armourers tent and where the colours of the NLR. Oh and meet me at the interrogation chamber. We've got a captured swift and I want your help." he saluted her before walking off.
Summer soon nodded as she left to walk inside of the camp, where her armor was replaced. While her original Solar Flare armor wasn't destroyed due to her wishes to donate the armor to a museum back in the Crystal Empire, it was replicated in the exact same fashion of a Solar Flare except with the deep blue, black and white to show her allegiance as a new officer of the NLR. Despite her defecting to the republic, she knew that every agent after her was not like her and that every agent and advisor would fight to the death for the glory of the Empire and for the glory of Celestia. After being fitted, she left to the interrogation room where Robin wanted her to try and 'break' the swift.
