Since Time Immaterial [ Private]

Blade was about to move out of Luna's way to when she was about to blast down the door. He knew that the Princess would make short work of the door, but them his substitute teacher came back. The stallion never seemed so worried about the situation they were in and how it was most likey going to get much worse before it got better. The fact Pariah was ordering him and the guard around, annoyed Blade a little, but it was a petty thing to be mad at and nodded. "Alright!" Blade said as he looked at the other guards that had kept themselves ready to strike again. "FIRE!!!!" Blade shouted as they blasted at the walls that weren't protected.

Thanatos chuckled and shook his head. "Right you are..." He trailed off as he watched Ician approach. The moment he raised his swords, the dragon darted forward, his massive bulk popping Paladin's shield like a bubble as his claw caught the four swords with ease. Paladin screamed, collapsing suddenly as if his life had drained out of his body. Picking up his wife, Thanatos chuckled and gestured gently, Shiva vanishing in a puff of ice crystals. "I must say, it is most impressive you wounded my wife... However, you will not find it as easy to defe-" He blinked as the wall exploded inwards.

---

The wall exploded, and Pariah calmly trotted through the hole, Luna behind him. He paused for a second, looking at the scene. He raised an eyebrow at the collapsed Paladin and then turned to the dragon. "Thanatos I presume? How nice of you to join us."

Luna blinked and stared at her Sister, who had seemed to have frozen in place, her eyes wide. "Tia... are you okay?"

Thanatos chuckled and looked at the group of ponies assembled against him. Picking up Paladin's limp body, he examined him for a moment, before tossing him to Celestia, who's horn flared as she caught him. "He's not dead unfortunately." Thanatos grumbled, sitting on, and crushing, the throne. "Now then, I believe I was going to say, You will not find it so easy to defe-" He paused again, a knife now protruding from between his eyes. He glared at the group, pulling the knife from his skull. "Does anyone else have something they wish to do, or can I kill you all now?"

"You'll have to work for it, I'm afraid." Ician said coolly to Thanatos. He was very afraid, but he knew better than to let it show. He was in complete control of himself.

He turned around and peered through the hole in the wall, seeing what lay before it and beyond. "Pariah. Princess Luna." He looked slightly further. "Blade." He motioned to Blade. "Please array the stronger guards in front, and the casters behind." He pointed at Thanatos. "Prepare to attack."

Ician drew his swords and advanced towards Thanatos. "Here. I will be your first blood. Kill me if you can."

Which he can. His mind reminded him. He sighed.

The guards had already heard Ician give the order and followed along with the order. Blade on the other hoof seemed to have his attention soley focused on the dragon. He slowly moved his way over towards Thanatos. "You, contol guards. I fight." Blade said as he moved in front of the tactian, his body starting to be covered with a few layers of constructs. His eyes seemed to glow a bright green for a brief second before it vanished. This was caused by letting some of his energy flow into his body and increased his strength and his ability to see fast objects.

Thanatos rolled his eyes and stood up, the shattered throne now no more than dust. Each of his steps was like a thunderbolt, his fangs glittering in the light. "I shall enjoy eating yo–" he paused, an arrow now protruding from his eye. He sighed, pulled it out and shook his head, only for the arrow to be replaced almost immediately. Pariah chuckled, having already nocked another arrow, pointed exactly where the arrow he had fired prior was sitting. Thanatos growled and Luna let out a derisive snort of laughter.

"Does a cat have thine tongue?" She asked, grinning as her horn lit up. "Shall We cut it out for you instead?"

Thanatos raised an eyebrow and looked at the pair of Alicorns, his attention having drifted from the lesser ponies. "And you are?" He asked, apparently unfazed by the arrow in his eye.

"Princess Luna, Diarch of Equestria and ruler of the Night. I and my guard are the blade, where my sister and hers are the shield." She said with a smile, her horn glowing.

Thanatos backhanded her, sending her flying as he walked calmly past Pariah, and stared at Ician and Blade. "Well, well, well. Aren't you two feisty. I'm afraid however, that you are rather useless here. In all honesty, I'm going to kill you and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Any last words?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

---

Luna staggered out of the rumble of her impact, and over to her sister. "Celestia, we need to deal with this, now." She muttered, gently nudging Celestia, who had been standing guard of Paladin's body. She nodded slowly, her horn glowing with a gentle light, before Paladin vanished with a pop.

She blinked a few times before gesturing to Thanatos. "We need to get him away from them... But how?"

---

Meanwhile in the city, the announcement that there was now a rampaging super-god-beast-queen-thing had not well, with ponies taking the news rather badly, and panicking substantially. Fortunately, the guard had mobilised just as quickly, and were escorting the civilians out of the city. A small group of guard approached the pair, and their leader trotted forward. "You two, you need to get out of the city immediately. Do you have an actual destination you are planning on heading, or do you want us to ship you out?"

Jon nodded. "We were looking to go to the Crystal Empire. I've got... family there who can help." He looked around at the destruction. "Since my apartment probably didn't make it." He did not have family in the Crystal Empire, of course. That was just an excuse to go there without arousing suspicion, and to give a plausible excuse to be June when he got there. If he wanted, of course. "Come on, Krix. Let's go north."

Krix didn't bother with the struggle of a reply and simply nodded to first the guard and then to Jon before following him towards the train station. Lucky for Krix, he carried the majority of his belongings on him and as such didn't have to worry about trying to recover anything from the wreckage. That didn't stop him however from scooping up an arm load of food on their way to the train station. "For injured," Krix responded to any looks he might have gotten but that did little to stop him.

Once he was on the train, Krix tried to find a flat surface or table and then pulled back out the map from before. Unfurling it and then folding part of it over so it mainly featured the northern edge of the map, Krix began to look at the area. "What relic north?" he asked, unsure if he just forgot or the teacher hadn't covered which of the ancient relics were located in the northern reaches.

Blade's eyes widened as he saw Luna be smacked across the room. The fact the dragon had done so, angered him. But, Blade knew anger wouldnt mean a thing against the beast. The stallion focused his thoughts of killing the beast into a plan of sorts. Blade had his shield and spear hover in front of him as he poured a little more power inside of his body. His reaction time increased and he could hopefully be able to react fast enough to defend against the beast. The stallion also moved in front of Ician so he could take the hit instead of the tactian.

"Well, these arent my last words, but I'll say them anyways. Come at me bitch." He said as he looked up at the beast. His heart racing faster and faster as past images poured into his head. The last thing he wanted now was to go beserk now. If he did he would get killed instantly.

Ician squeezed his eyes shut. Okay, okay. Calm down. You need to think straight, Ician. Don't let the panic get to you. What are the priorities?

Protect the Princesses. He answered himself. That was obvious. Then protect the... ugh... nobles, and other innocents... and then the guards... and then myself.

How are you going to accomplish that?

Buying them time... or striking a deal?

Both.

Thanatos' words cut through his internal dialogue. Ician gazed up at him. "Yes, I do have some words, although I would prefer it if they weren't my last." He gestured around the throne room. "What are you hoping to achieve? Money, fame, power; they are all yours for the taking already. You stand at the centre of government with the Princesses at your mercy at this very moment. Do you wish to seize power? Because if so... we could always accommodate."

Jon sat down next to Krix, reaching down into a side pocket of his backpack. He removed his notebook, and flipped through it for a moment. The pages were covered in a complex series of symbols, which Jon looked over, running a hoof along the page. "Well, either the sword that shines like the sun or the one that glows like the midnight sky will be in the north." He shut the book with a snap. "We'll need the teacher to find out any more specifics." He took a small map of Canterlot from the same pocket. "Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure day court is near where that god-beast-thing is. Which is bad." He looked up at Krix. "So, shall we go try and find him?"

"Teacher pony, meet, crystal, library, north," Krix forced out while pointing to crystal kingdom on his own map. "Find, there," Krix continued while unfastening his shield and setting it to the side so he could get a little more comfortable. Now that the adrenaline rush of helping the injured was wearing off, Krix was realizing just how much he'd done. He had no clue how many he'd carried first to the doughnut shop and then to the train station, not to mention all the chunks of building he'd had to move or destroy to reach those trapped beneath.

"Go north, teach, meet, there," Krix repeated as he sat back once more in his seat. Even though he still had the armor on, Krix didn't seem that fazed by it given how often he'd had it on. "Rest, while, can," Krix suggested as he obliged by his own advise. "Big quest, not, lots, rest."

Thanatos stopped, inches from crushing Blade's head like an egg when he heard Ician. "I beg your pardon? Seize power?" He snorted and shook his head. "I have power whelp. And I have no need for money nor fame, both I could take if I wanted them though. No, I am here to restore order. Order through an iron grip, to ensure that this planet continues." He said, his attention now entirely focused on Ician, golden eyes glaring. "So, how do you plan to accommodate me then? Can you accommodate me?" He grinned widely, fangs on display.

---

Pariah watched Thantos thump past him, before lowering his bow, sliding it away as he himself dropped back into four hooves. He hurried over to the Princesses, dusting Luna with a grin. "He really got you bad, didn't he?" He whispered. She rolled her eyes Nd he quickly turned his attention to Celestia. "I hate to ask, but do you think you could make sure my wife is safe..?" His question hung in the air for a moment before her horn flared again, a small pop sounding in the city. He nodded his thanks and turned to face the great dragon. "So how do we deal with this?"

"You don't," Luna muttered, walking towards Thanatos.

"We do," Celestia said in an equally low tone, moving to her sister's side.

---

A waiter trotted over to the pair. "Excuse me sirs, but despite the uh... distruption, this is still the first class carriage. You'll need to order something to eat so that we can maintain some semblance of order." He placed a menu in front of them both. "Please, pick whichever item you desire."

The guard pont glared at Ician. This beast would kill them on a whim and unless they fought they would be killed. He couldnt just sit there and let them surrender like a bunch of cowards. If Ician had a plan, Blade doubted any guard would survivie long enough to see it work. Blade realized the thing didn't care for him and was more interested in playing along with Ician's game for a while. It wouldnt last long though.

Blade threw his first layer at the beast so that it would wrap on the things head. It would quickly make its way to its eye and soon move inside of the beast's eye and attack its brain. Once, the brain was gone, what could the dragon do? His construct layer and the energy inside of him would help escape an attack against the beast. The other guards could protect themselves for a fire due to the flame and protection runes along with the ponies that had shields. The same protection didnt extend to Ician, but Blade had to pray that the dragon would die before it reacted.

"I... do believe we can." Ician nodded. He was beginning to get a grip on himself again. Okay, be cool. You've been in hundreds of negotiations before. You can do this. Even if it's with a huge, extremely powerful and above all hostile dragon.

"We can facilitate a peaceful transfer of power," he said carefully, "which will save all of us a lot of unwanted trouble. Now if-"

He jaw swung open as Blade attacked. "Damn it, Blade!" He snapped. "You just needed to stay still for a little while and this could have ended more favourably..." He turned to the Princesses, taking a low but resigned bow. "Your highnesses, we must evacuate you two immediately. There is no time to waste, so allow me to escort you to safety. Your guards will hold Thanatos off for as long as it takes."

He held his swords in the air, interlocked in a form of sparse protection against Thanatos' fire. His armour would absorb a little bit of it - unless it was magical, which would mean that it would absorb a lot more, but still not enough - so they needed to get moving right then.

"Let's go, quickly." Ician said urgently. "Please, don't make this another Chrysalis invasion. I don't think even you two can hold him off."

Krix looked at the waiter, then at the nicer accommodations surrounding them, and lastly at the menu. The pony themed meals however didn't look all that appetizing to the dog though and he eventually just pointed towards a nuts and fruit appetizer. "Water, them," he added with a point over his shoulder towards where the injured ponies were.

With his order placed, Krix went back to studying the map, looking specifically at the unmarked areas. He began to mark a few with a powdery black rock he pulled a pouch on his side. He waited until Jon had placed his order and the waiter departed before saying anything more to Jon. Though when that time arrived, Krix found he didn't have much to say, at least not with his struggled speech. So Krix just leaned back to let Jon either look at the map himself or ask him questions.

Jon scanned the menu, his eyes quickly finding the drinks list. "I'll have a bottle of wine. Dragon's Footstep sounds good. And a hayburger, please." He took out a pouch of bits, and counted out the necessary amount. "That should cover it." Smiling as the waiter left, he looked over the map. "So, Krix, how long have you been using this map?"

Krix opened his mouth to start a reply, but then shut it as a thought struck him. Instead, Krix pulled an old and relatively worn book out of another pouch and set it onto the table. Opening it to a blank page, the dog began to write in surprisingly legible Equestrian. Equestrian words hard to say, but Krix used map as long as Krix travel. It with book are Krix's longest possessions he wrote instead of speaking.

Krix been to all marked areas, some not marked he continued to write before pointing to a few spots on the map where there wasn't any markings. Nothing there, or things don't need found. Pony travel?

Thanatos very calmly picked the construct off his face, before crushing the magic into a thousand tiny little pieces. Growling, he swept his arm wide, shattering the room's left most wall, exposing a high view of Canterlot. "Know foolish ponies, that I may have let your civilians live a little longer... Now, I am not feeling so generous." He gestured and the sounds of ghostly whinnies filling the air as white shadows flitted out of the hole and into the city. "I'm sure your aware of my children, the wendigoes?" He asked with a scream-filled chuckle.

Celestia and Luna turned to Ician, walking to his side. "Ician, we can not leave now... Not when our ponies are in su–" Luna went flying back again, Thanatos having turned back to the group. He approached the group, taking in a deep breath as he did.

---

The waiter returned with their meals, dispersing water amongst the wounded.

"Go!" Ician snarled angrily, then his eyes widened as Luna was flung across the room. He turned towards Thanatos, whispering quickly to Celestia, "I will protect these ponies, as will your guards. You have my word that I will do my level best to get each and every one of them to safety. But I urge you to leave now, Princess!"

Then he turned back to Thanatos. "Please, I implore you to reconsider. We can still save you a lot of trouble. And believe me, Blade's actions here are reflective of nothing - least of all rational planning. I am still willing to negotiate a truce, so long as you will allow the Princesses and other noncombatants to leave without further harm first. I assure you that Blade will receive the proper punishment at the hooves of a court-martial for his actions here."

He gestured out the window, to all of Canterlot. "If it is order that you seek, the Royal Guard can greatly assist you in that. No doubt there is already widespread panic in the aftermath of today's... events. The Guard will maintain order efficiently, and as they are already stationed in every city in Equestria, they may do so at once, without any delays. This will save you untold trouble, will it not?"

You do realise this is most likely a lost cause, right? His pessimistic side asked him. His optimistic side would have responded, if not for the unfortunate circumstance that it did not exist. Ician resigned himself to praying for a miracle. Maybe Thanatos would be more reasonable than he currently assumed.

... Yeah, no, he wasn't going to bet on it.

Jon nodded. "I do tend to travel a lot. Never thought of putting it into a map." He set his notebook on the table, opening it to a random page. It was covered in a series of angular symbols, with the occasional arrow or diagram. Jon read aloud, "Desert night three. City yet to be located. Possibility door buried in dune? I shall consult Sandy. Starmap should be right." He paused. "I think that was Saddle Arabia, something like... thirty, thirty-five years ago? Yeah, about. Sandy's old now. Point is, I've been traveling a long time. All in this book." He paused. "Sorry, what was the question again?"

Pony answered Krix question same way Krix answered his question, Krix wrote, being sure to let Jon read the entry before putting the book back into one of his pouches but not the map. "Pony, add, map, markers?" Krix asked gesturing to the spread out paper. "Make, copy, Krix, not mind," he also added going form pointing at it to gesturing to the whole thing with a sweep of his thick arm.

Krix then leaned back, and turned his one good eye onto Jon. "Where pony, learn, medicine?" He asked suddenly, actually choosing the study Jon a bit more. He had but a single hint to the pony's age, but even then he looked rather young even with just that hint. Saddle Arabia wasn't exactly close, and Krix doubted Jon went on this expedition when he was extremely young, and it'd been 35 years since then which would probably make the pony over 50, yet to the best of Krix's knowledge, he didn't look it and this intrigued and confused the dog.

Jon nodded, and started flipping through his notes.  He sometimes used his pencil to make marks on the map, marks such as "gateway" or "buffalo settlement".  As he did so, he continued speaking.  "My special talent is learning new skills, so when I was little and I wanted to be a biologist, I learned a lot about how living things worked.  Then, when I started adventuring, I found out how much overlap there was with medicine.  So I took an apprenticeship as an apothec- as a nurse, and just applied my biology skills.  So I've really been learning about medicine my whole life.  It's such a changing field."

Jon liked this dog.  This was certainly the kind of adventure-buddy Jon would need, especially since Krix could pick up the muscle-slack that Jon left. As he studied the dog through his sunglasses, Jon noticed a similarly curious glint in the dog's eye. He had said some rather confusing things, hadn't he? He certainly didn't look thirty-five. Why, he looked hardly a day over twenty-eight, if he was being vain. But anyway, he had been staring for a bit too long, and he supposed it was his turn to ask a question. "So, Krix, where did you start adventuring? What got you started?"

Blade rose his shield up as the dragon slammed its fist into the wall, knocking it down. The action would cause the pegasi to shoot bolts of lightning, at a much higher voltage than regular ones, at the creature. That was if they were still alive that is. The guards inside of the room had their eyes widened when Luna was knocked aside as they made a barrier around themselves and even started their own blast to help defend themselves. They knew it might not work, but there was no where to run. They had to fight.

Blade stomped his hoof onto the ground and quickly covered the most of the floor with, it extending to about 20 ft in all directions. Soon, a giant hammer appear at the bottom of the dragon's both and would hit it a diagonal motion to hopefully have it move upwards and away from the guard. It wasnt a great plan, but it was better than Ician's. Which was trying to talk his way out of this situation when the thing said he would eat them regardless of what they.

Apothecary? Not many use term anymore, Krix mentally noted to himself as Jon gave his reply. But then Jon asked his followup question and Krix's whole form seemed to darken. He gave a large sigh before responding and when he did, his voice had acquired a forlorn tune. "Long, past, Krix, Black Snout Clan," Krix said pointing to a mountain on the upper right hand corner of the large map. The mountain was the tallest in the area and marked with a strange symbol.

"Trouble, Krix, leave, not return," he continued after a moments pause. "Krix, survive, find, things.... books, ruins, artifacts. Krix learn, Krix thrive, never, forget home," Krix said while his paw rose to the middle of the three hoop ear rings he had. With a surprisingly gentle touch, he unfastened the sapphire from the ear ring, the only one that had a gem to it, and studied the gem once again.

The stone itself practically glowed with not only the purity of the deep blue sapphire but also the magic that completely filled it. Yet Krix had almost nothing else about him that was magical, showing that there was almost no use for such a gem. "Only, memento, home," Krix said as he held the sphere out for Jon to see, but not to hold, it was too precious to Krix to give up. After he was sure the pony had a chance to see it, Krix re-fastened the stone to the middle hoop with practiced ease. "Why, pony, travel?" Krix asked, returning the question and while beginning to much on the food brought by the waiter.

Well, Jon hadn't been expecting such a story.  Stories were good, and he considered writing this one down.  He soon decided against it, as it wasn't his story to tell.  He quietly took a slow sip of wine, and planned out how he would answer Krix's question.  "I travel for much more selfish reasons.  I realised a while back that my life was getting boring.  Wake up, do some research, socialize, back to sleep.  Routine.  So, one day, I just went "buck it", packed my things, and started adventuring."

A grin spread across Jon's face. "It's just that there's so much out there to see and smell and experience! I wanted, I still want to try and see everything there is to see and meet as many new faces as I can." A chuckle. "Of course, I could spend a thousand years exploring and not see all of it. But I sure as the sun want to try. And for everything I do see," he tapped the notebook, "I put it in here. You can flip through it, if you like." A pause. "Also if you can read Satyr script. That's important too."

Jon realised he was sort of dominating the conversation. It was understandable, given Krix's trouble with Equestrian, but still a bit upsetting. To Jon, at least. Not to mention, he was running out of questions to ask. He quietly drank the remainder of the glass of wine, and recorked the bottle. He tossed the half-full wine bottle into his backpack, where it tore through a dimensional barrier and landed comfortably amongst several dozen other bottles. "I think I'm going to make a final check on the injured, and then take a nap." With that statement and a nod, Jon stood up, grabbed his notes from the table and started making his rounds.