With no time wasted, the unicorns amongst the guards cast a slew of spells, and magical chains restrained the man in the circle, each chain the same color as their caster's horn's glow. Not long after the armored man's body was restrained, each guard born without the gift of spellcasting let out war cries and charged, spears poised to impale.

"Can we just tal-!?" the man started to say, backing up as much as he could, but soon after he was impaled from all sides, and instead of words coming from his mouth, came blood.

The princesses had no time to react during all this. Four of them, once tense, were now relieved. One was too horrified for words. Flurry's horror only grew as the man shuddered and twitched, going through the throes of his final hour before he finally slumped and fell dead.

The eyes of all present only widened when his body started to dissolve into ash, and then dissolve further from that until it was naught but simple air. The chains that once restrained him, along with the spears that once killed him, became utterly useless, with the spears nearly falling out of their wielder's grasps.

One guard cried out, "We have an Undead! Unicorns, ready more restraining spells!"

Flurry Heart and the other royals once more had little time to react as the flames of their candles grew brighter and swirled towards the circle's center, where soon after the man reappeared from the coalesced flame and collapsed on the ground, panting for precious air as the ball of enchanted blaze slowly faded. The guard from before made his call.

"Unicorns, now!" he called, but...

"W-Wait!" Flurry Heart cried.

All eyes snapped towards the young alicorn. The pink mare gulped, then shakily stood to her hooves. The echo of her hoofsteps across the stone seemed amplified in her ears, but she shook the feeling off and continued.

"Flurry, get away from him!" Cadance cried, moving to stop her daughter.

"It's okay, mom," she assured.

"But we don't kno-!" Twilight started, but Flurry shot a weak smile to her.

"Aunty, don't worry. I got this," she said, then stopped halfway and looked to all around her. "Just... Let me try something, okay everypony?"

She resumed her trot before they could reply, and soon stopped in front of the man, who looked up at her.

Both figures were shaking, and yet the man saw fit to crack a joke. "That uh...That went down hill fast, huh?"

There was no response for a short time, not until Flurry cracked a genuine smile. "Yeah, it did. We're sorry about, uh..." She looked back to the guards and the blood on the floor. "...That," She looked back to him. "But if you're willing, we'd like to ask you something."

The man stared at her for a long time, then groaned as he slowly pulled himself up. Flurry took a step back as he stood to his full height. "Well, it's either I listen to you guys or I die anyways, so yeah, ask away."

"Great!" Flurry beamed up at him. She turned and gestured for him to follow her. "Just follow me!"

He nodded slowly and did so, following the youth towards the front door and passing the guards by on the way, all of them sending him glares as he did. The other princesses stared after the other two as they left, before Celestia sighed deeply and placed a hoof to her forehead. "I swear, Twilight, that girl takes after you more than she does even her parents..."

Twilight sighed as well, shaking her head as she smiled at her old mentor. "I know." She looked back to the now open doors. "We should get after her."

"Yeah. I don't want her to be left alone with that guy," Cadance agreed.

"Agreed," Luna concurred.

Celestia nodded, and they all trailed after the strange masked human and pink princess.

"So, you guys uh, aren't going to kill me again, right?" the masked man asked as the six of them walked the halls.

"Not unless you try to hurt us," Twilight said curtly.

"Otherwise we'll kill you as many times as it takes to drag you to a cell," Cadance added, shooting him a glare.

"Oh. Well, good," the man replied, now uneasy. Flurry glanced to her mother at this, but made no comment when her mother kept her hard glare and instead the teenage alicorn turned her gaze back to the passage ahead.

Things were noiseless after that, none of them uttering a word even as they came upon a door and opened it, Flurry simply smiling up at the man as she held the door open for him. He gave her an appreciative nod in return and ducked his head as he walked inside the room. The man noted that the room was sparsely decorated, bearing only a large table and comfortable looking chairs along with a large, stone obelisk in the corner which had runes on it that glowed dimly.

The princesses seated themselves, and the man followed suit.

The pack of alicorns watched from their seats as their guest, finding little else to do, marveled over his own form. He was silent as he did so but all could tell he was amazed by it. Why he was was anyone's guess, and Twilight, ever the curious one, decided to break the silence and ask.

"Why are you so fascinated with your equipment? Haven't you always worn it?" she queried.

He looked to her and shook his head. "This is the first time I've worn this stuff," he shook his leg, rattling the shiny black iron leggings as he did so. "Probably why so much of it is so heavy to me..."

All present in the room went quiet, staring at the masked man in shock. Even the guards, whom had taken up posts in the room for their duty of protection, were shocked.

Luna opened, closed, opened, and once more closed her mouth, trying to speak, to formulate some response, but she came up with none better than, "Do you... Have you ever even fought, before?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, I've gotten in fights before, but I've never had to wear armor," he looked to one of his gauntlets, turning his wrist over to admire the work of whomsoever crafted it. "Gotta tell ya, I'm loving this getup to pieces though." The grin in his voice was obvious. The collective sigh around the room drew his attention back to those around him. "What's with the sighing?" He blinked. "Wait, did you guys think I was some chump just 'cause you killed me?" He crossed his arms. "I am hurt. I'll have you know I've won every fight I've been in!" Another collective sigh. He threw up his hands. "Oh come on! You all really thought I was that pathetic?! Give me some credit!"

Celestia looked towards him, her eyes roving over his form. He wore a heavy set of armor, though to her experienced eye each piece was vastly different in design. If she had to guess, he had gotten it all from enemies he had slain in the past, but never worn it until now. She surmised that he likely preferred clothing enchanted to withstand attacks, though by his reaction he did not seem to mind what he wore now.

Covering his chest was a heavy iron chestplate that looked to have been taken straight out of a mold and left as is. Over his legs was what looked to be very finely and masterfully designed steel leggings which streamed seamlessly along the contours of his limbs. Protecting his arms was heavy, black chainmail which likely covered the entirety of his torso under the chestplate, and shielding his forearms and hands were gauntlets made of what was likely hewn stone, with a layer of fur underneath and black leather under even that. Further covering that was a tight wrapping of chains, and over his head was of course the blue and green bycocket with a white plume and a silver mask in the likeness of an elderly gentleman.

Covering all his armor was a leather, sleeveless duster with a strange symbol on the back. The symbol consisted of a blue circle ringed with white stars, with a final star in the center of the circle and ring. He bore three rings on his fingers, though none paid much attention to them, least of all Flurry.

"Sister, are you alright?" Luna inquired, a worried look on her face.

Celestia blinked, shook her head, then smiled at her younger sister. "Yes, Luna, I am fine, do not worry." She looked to the others. "What were we talking about?"

"I was asking what you all call yourselves," the man explained. He gestured to all those in the room. "I don't just mean names, either, but species. I've never seen a rainbow of colorful little horses like you guys." He put a hand to his chin. "Well, except for that one time with my sis, but still." The five of them winced at the word horse, but remembered that the invaders had referred to them as such at first, and that it was likely not the same as what the word meant for them.

"We're Ponies, specifically Alicorns. There are also Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies. Alicorns like us are a mixture of all three," Cadance explained.

"As for our names, I'm Flurry Heart," Flurry pointed to herself, then pointed to her fellow princesses as she gave their respective names. "That's my mom, Cadance. Twilight, my aunt, and my Aunt Luna and Aunt Celestia."

Celestia fixed the man with a hard stare. "Might we inquire your name, now that you have received ours?"

"Oh, sure. I'm Alden, Alden Hunter," The now named Alden introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Alden," Flurry said with a smile.

"Quite," Celestia said quickly, before looking to one of the guards near the door. "Could one of you bring us some tea, please?" At their nod, she said, "Thank you," and they took their leave.

There was a short silence that followed, and Alden spent it looking over his weapons. It did not take long for the guard to come back, a servant accompanying him with a silver cart, a pot of tea resting on it along with some cups.

The servant pulled the cart into the room, and swiftly went about setting out cups and filling them up. "Thank you, Merry Rose," Celestia said gratefully, using her magic to lift her cup and taking a long sip of her tea. The mare, Merry Rose, nodded and then excused herself soon after.

Alden stared at her horn, then the cup, then sighed. 'Oookay, wonderful. Telekinesis is definitely a thing here. Either that, or that's magic. Yaaaay. Goodbye, physics, it was nice knowing you.' Alden sighed once more, then looked to his side of the table, which was devoid of a cup. He pursed his lips. 'I get the distinct feeling the only one who likes me is Flurry...' He frowned, but made no comment. Instead, he decided to ask something else. "Sooo... Why am I here?" He gestured to Flurry. "I remember Flurry here saying you all wanted to ask me something, but none of you said what that was."

"Simple. We summoned you to help us get our world back," Twilight said matter-of-factly, swallowing down some of the ginger liquid in her cup. She looked to him after doing so. "For your sake, I hope you can do it." Flurry frowned at this, but once more made no comment, deciding to focus on her tea.

"Uhhh...Care to run that by me again?" He crossed his arms. "'Cause it sounded like you just told me to go and save a whole planet."

"She did," Cadance answered, fixing him with a stern gaze. "And we've gone through too much trouble already just to get you here. So, either you help us, or you stay in the dungeons."

Flurry looked like she was about to say something at this, but she stopped herself short. Alden simply stared at Cadance like she had just told him to jump off the empire State Building for shits and giggles.

"...Do I get anything out of this? Like, ya know, maybe a 'Please and thank you?'" He asked, raising a brow under his mask, lost as the gesture was on them. "Seriously, since I got here, I got impaled, and then forced into servitude." He raised a hand as the alicorns raised their hackles and subsequent tempers. "Let me reiterate. I got impaled. Im-friggin'-paled. You ladies ever gotten impaled? Yeah, not fun, let me tell you." He lowered his hand and recrossed his arms. "So, either I get something out of this, or I'm leaving."

Luna scoffed. "You can try."

He nodded. "You're right. I can try. And succeed. Even if I have to try over and over, I WILL succeed."

Luna growled, opening her mouth to retort, only for Flurry to interrupt. "Okay, everypony, stop!" All eyes turned to the youngest alicorn, whose face had finally hardened into one of unhappiness. "Alden has been very cooperative throughout this whole thing, so the least we can do is be nice and give him something in return!" She put her cup down and fixed each of her fellow royals with a harsh glare. "Undead or not, he has been cooperative, even after being killed!" Her features softened. "I know we don't know him that well, and that he's an Undead, but he's the best chance we have at saving our world, so the least we can do is be nice."

The other Princesses stared at Flurry, and she stared defiantly back, but eventually they sighed.

"You're right," Cadance conceded, her own features softening. She looked to Alden. "We're sorry for how we've treated you. It's just..."

"We've lost a lot of good friends, and..." Twilight's ear flattened to her cranium. "...Family members, to creatures like you."

"It was worse when we discovered your particular Undead do not eat flesh, but instead consume souls," Luna added in, ears also flat to the sides of her head.

"We hope you understand that we did not mean any offense, we were simply..." Celestia rolled her hoof around. "...Wary."

Alden looked at them all, then sighed. "Well, I can understand it if it's like that, then," He glanced to the guards, then back to them before he gestured with a thumb to the guards. "Just keep your trigger happy guards away from me, capiche?"

Flurry giggled behind a hoof, then lowered it and smiled at him. "I think we can do that."

Twilight spoke up. "So...will you help us?"

Alden paused at this. There was silence for a long stretch of time, so long they worried he would decline, but eventually he replied. "Well, if the whole world is messed up, you guys wouldn't mind me going out there and taking what I can find, would you?" Before they could retort, he added with a wave of his hands. "Nothing like stealing! I'd just be, uh, taking what I need."

The princesses looked at one another, then back to him. "If we do allow this, will you help us?"

Alden chuckled. "I was gonna help anyways. I mean, all of you guys losing your whole world? Why wouldn't I help? I ain't heartless." He grinned. "'Sides, it sounds fun."

'But I'm no hero,' he thought to himself. The princesses smiled, not hearing his internal comment.

"Well, consider that a deal, then, Alden," Celestia said with a warm smile.

Alden offered her a hand. "Put 'er there, then!"

Celestia chuckled and shook his hoof.

Alden did not know what was ahead. But he would soon.

EDIT: Intro/theme changed.

Well, I can only hope I portrayed Alden well enough for you all to get a general idea of his true personality, and I also hope at least one of you got the reference I've been talking about. If not, don't worry, the reference will be making appearances throughout the entire story if I can help it. Do let me know what you all think in the comments below. Personally I don't think this chapter was as good as the previous, but eh, we'll see.

Anyways, thank you all for reading!

-Timeless Celestial