Chapter 4

“Lock! Lock what have you done?!”

“I killed them, the fuck’s it look like?”

“You slaughtered them all, Lock! This isn’t what we were sent here to do!”

“Hmph, maybe not what you were sent here to do but it sure as hell is what I came here to do.”

“Lock, I don’t even recognize you…”

“Well that’s your fucking problem, get the fuck over it.”

“Don’t you dare walk away from me, Lock! You will answer for this!”

“You wanna use that gun, Josh? Use it right the fuck now…”

“I’m ordering you to drop your weapons right fucking now!”

“You first, asshole!”

“DON’T DO IT!”

BANG

“JOSH!!!”

I wake up in a cold sweat and was breathing heavily after having a nightmare I haven’t had in quite a while. I look around and see I was sleeping under a tree just on the border of the Everfree Forest. I glance at my watch and see it’s a little after 8 in the morning and I wipe the sweat from my forehead.

“Fucking dream, thought I grew out of it…” I grumble.

I pick myself up off the ground and stretch my limps getting multiple satisfying pops and cracks. I look around the open field and see the sun was just starting to rise but the clouds made it a bit difficult to enjoy the sunrise. Sleeping under a tree reminds me of when my platoon and I camped out during our patrols which makes me smile a bit. But I soon frown again since I had just woken up from a dream I wished I’d never have again.

“It’s just a dream,” I grumble while rubbing my head, “just bad fucking memories that should stay buried…” I said to myself.

“What should stay buried?”

Lucifer appears next to me in his astral projection making me jump slightly and I give him the stink eye and he only shrugs. I sigh in annoyance as I wave my hand dismissively.

“Nothing, just a dumb dream…” I said turning and walking away from him.

“You mean the dream about your failed mission that was covered up?” he asks. I stop and go wide eyed at his words. My fists clench and fire bursts from my hands as I slowly turn to Lucifer with a glare that could splinter wood but he’s unaffected.

“What did you say…?” I ask in a bloodthirsty tone.

“You know, I wonder what would’ve happened if you actually listened to Joshua instead of acting on your own. Maybe then you wouldn’t have gotten injured.” He said with a shrug.

I spin around and lunge at Lucifer with a cry of rage pure hatred. I tackle Lucifer to the ground and make a trench along the ground about a mile wide. I grab is coat collar and pull him towards me as the flames on my body burn uncontrollably.

“DON’T YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME!!! HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!?” I roar at his darkened hooded face. Lucifer looks down at my hands clenching his collar and stares at me with an unamused expression. He sighs and brings his hand up and snaps his fingers. Suddenly, the marks on my arms glow and I feel a searing pain erupt from my arms and the rest of my body making me scream in agony and let go as I clutch my body and fall backwards on the ground.

“Hmm, that’s the second time you’ve grasped me without my consent and spoken to me in such a disrespectful manor. I suppose you need to be taught when not to step out of line in front of your Master, boy,” he lectures me coldly as I continue to scream and he brushes himself off.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!! FUCK YOU!!! YOU INVADED MY MIND AND READ MY THOUGHTS WITHOUT MY CONSENT, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!” I scream.

“I see…” he says before snapping his fingers again. The pain stops and I lay on the ground panting as the pain subsides. “I suppose I can admit when I’m in the wrong. Although in my defense, I had already known about your past even before I came to you back on Earth. You could say it’s part of the reason why I sought you out in the first place.” he said.

“What…the fuck…are you talking about…?” I ask between breaths as I calm myself, “My past is my own business, even if you already knew you have no right to bring it up out of the fucking blue! Especially mock me about it, Lucifer! Even for you, that’s low…” I sneer while rubbing my arms.

“Again you are right, I apologize. But it is true what I say, your past is what caught my eye to see if you were worthy to become my Hand,” he said.

“Why’s that?” I ask with scowl. Lucifer gestures me to follow him away from the trees and I follow him. For about five minutes, he says nothing and we’ve been walking in complete silence. Lucifer then finally glances over his shoulder to me but looks forward again.

“You could say this mission of yours, saving Equestria from the Caribou, is a quest of redemption,” he finally said, “I could tell when I first encountered you, your past was eating away at your soul little by little. I predicted that sooner or later, your guilt would become too much and you would do something that would further damn yourself to Hell than it already was. So I decided to give you a chance when most others would probably let you rot and pay for your sins. You may still be going to Hell, now that you’re my Hand and all, but not the Hell most others go to as long as you don’t get yourself killed. All that matters now is what you do now and how you do it.” Lucifer explains.

I ponder Lucifer’s words for a moment since what he said caught me a bit off guard. Redemption? Me? After what I’ve done?

“You really think I can redeem myself by saving this world?” I ask.

“But of course, yo-“

“But do you believe I can redeem myself?” I ask cutting him off. He goes silent as we both stop walking and he turns to me.

“You say you chose me because of my past and you wanted to give me a chance by bringing me here and redeeming myself by saving this world. But when we talk about saving this world, doesn’t that just mean killing and slaughtering the Caribou, including any other traitor males who turned on their own? Sure they deserve it for all they’ve done but in case you haven’t noticed this is still a whole world we’re talking about. That means there’s a lot of enemies for me to kill which also means that’s a lot, and I mean a lot of blood to be spilled. You say this is a chance of redemption but isn’t this all just adding more salt on the wounds? I’ll admit it, I’m not proud but I’ll admit it, there was enough blood on my hands as it is back on Earth for what I did. But I did what I did to serve the people and fight for my home, even if most of the others viewed me as a monster…” I explain with a sigh while placing a hand on my stomach where the scars of my injury start to throb.

“You seem to be blaming yourself more than you give yourself credit where credit is due, Dimitri. From what I’ve seen, you did what you believed had to be done to save your comrades and country. Those men deserved what they got and I can personally assure you each and every one of them are in Hell right now paying for their sins. And you’ll still be praised as a Hero once you arrive in Hell after you’re victorious, as I’ve told you. You’re my Hand after all, you’ll soon deserve everything promised to you and more.” Lucifer said.

“Well that’s the thing, Boss,” I retort while walking past him, “my mind, body, and soul may now serve you as your Hand and will continue to enact judgment on all those who come against me.” I turn my head and look back at him from the corner of my eye, “But my heart will always be human, no magic or special contract you conjure up will ever change that, and I believe it’s best you keep that in mind.”

Without another word, I activate my flames on my body again and take to the skies back towards Canterlot. My mind was awry with emotions so I did what I always do and pushed them aside so I could focus on the task at hand. I came here to save this world and that’s what I’m gonna do, even if I have to drench my very soul in the blood of all my enemies I come across…

After twenty minutes of flying, I finally touch down in front of the area where I set up the barrier around Canterlot and cancel my flames. I look around as I walk past the markings on the ground and see more ash on the ground than usual, along with the battle damage from yesterday’s fight.

“It would seem your predictions were correct. The Caribou seemed to have returned with a greater force than before so they could take the city. The ash on the ground proves it since most of it is their burnt remains.” Lucifer says as he appears next to me.

“Fuckers just don’t know when to quit…” I grumble.

I look forward and see the group of unconscious ponies I left were no longer there. I nod satisfied knowing that someone must’ve come to check on them and hopefully saw my note I left. I eventually make it to the entrance of Canterlot but stop my approach and so does Lucifer making him turn to me.

“Something the matter?” he asks.

“It’s just, I never thought I’d step foot in Canterlot of all places. It’s a little childish but you could say I’m a bit nervous meeting the Princesses and the Elements,” I said.

“Hmph, you can eviscerate an entire stockade of Caribou yet you still get performance anxiety from just meeting a few ponies?” Lucifer teases.

“Whatever,” I said rolling my eyes and giving him the finger behind my back, “let’s just get this over with,” I said. I pull my hood over my head and pull it a bit over my face and take my ear buds out of my pocket and put them in. I walk past Lucifer but stop when I noticed he didn’t follow me. I look behind me and see he’s looking at the burnt and bloodied field which makes me arch a brow.

“Something on your mind, Boss?” I ask him. He turns his head and walks towards me.

“I thought I sensed a familiar power in the area, but it must be my imagination playing with me,” he said. I shrug my shoulders and walk with him past the gates of Canterlot and pull out my phone.

“That’s impossible, they couldn’t have escaped. I made sure of it…”

“What’d you say?” I ask.

“Nothing, let’s carry on shall we?” He said. I shrug and scroll through the songs and select a song and pressed play.

https://youtu.be/kvd5Mrjq3jc

I walk slowly and silently nod my head to the beat of the music as I walk. The buildings are just as grand as there were in the show but it’s different since I’m now seeing them up close in person. As I’m walking, I see ponies in front of me but I don’t pay them any mind. When they see me, they all go wide eyed and back away from me and clear the road so they could stay out of my walk path.
Some ponies in the buildings shut the windows and peek outside but look at Lucifer and I with fear.

Guess we’ll have to get used to being looked at like this, huh boss? I tell Lucifer in my head.

“Actually, they can’t see me. I’m invisible to them so you’re the only one they see.” He said.

Seriously? I ask. I look around and watch as they cower from me or look away as I walk past them. I can’t be that intimidating.

“You want to see what you look like? Look at the window up ahead.” he said. I look ahead to my right and see a window. While still keeping my pace I look to my right and see my reflection making me raise my eyebrows a bit. I see only myself and not Lucifer, wearing my shoes, jeans, and leather hooded jacket but under my hood is the same shadow like darkness as Lucifer with his hood on. Only my eyes aren’t glowing and it looks like there’s nothing but darkness underneath.

Jeez, as if I hadn’t intimidated them enough from yesterday, I groan. About a little over a couple minutes later of walking through the city, I make it to the gates of the castle. Two guards were on duty and when they see me they immediately get nervous and attempt to ready their weapons and the song ends when I’m about to greet them.

So, any ideas how you wish to introduce yourself? Because I have a few suggestions that would really “brighten” their mood.” he said with a giddy tone.

I’m sure you do, Boss. But sometimes the best approach is the subtle approach, I said in my head.

“Wh-Who are you?” One of the guards asks nervously.

“State your business…whatever you are,” the other asks a bit more calmly.

“I am here to meet with the Princesses and the Elements of Harmony. It is of great importance I speak with them,” I request.

“Who is it that asks for an audience with the Princesses and the Elements?” The calm guard asks.

“The Devil’s Hand, that’s who,” I tell them.

They both look at each other with equally nervous expressions and the grip their weapons a bit tighter.

“Subtle, hmm?” Lucifer deadpans.

Trust me, I tell him in my head.

“If it helps, I’m the one who drove back the Caribou stockade from yesterday and put up the barrier that thwarted their second attack,” I tell them.

“Wait, you did all that?” The nervous guard asks.

“Yes, now please allow me to meet with them. You can escort me to the throne room if you wish,” I said. The calmer guard regains his composure and steps towards me while pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

“If what you say is true, then let us see what we can do. But you must wear these if you wish to step in the castle,” he said while opening the cuffs.

“Are those really necessary?” I ask.

“They are,” he retorts sternly, “I insist you wear them.”

“Insists he says. Dimitri, just shove him aside already and be done with it. We’re wasting precious time and Dainn could be sending another stockade here as we speak. Maybe he’ll send a small army this time and it’ll be filled with nothing but brainwashed males who will be burned from the barrier.” Lucifer informs me.

With all due respect, Boss, I need you to shut up for a bit, I tell him making him shake his head and step back.

“Very well,” I tell the guard as I put my arms forward. The guard nods places each cuff on my wrists and steps to my right as the other comes to my left. The guard on my right, who’s a unicorn, uses his magic to open the gates and we step inside. As we’re walking, the staff and guards inside stare at me in shock and fear. I just ignore them as we continue our trek through the halls of the castle. Eventually we come to a familiar pair of doors that lead to the throne room and the guards gesture me to stop.

“Wait here while I address the Princesses and the Elements,” the unicorn guard tells me. I nod and he opens the door and walks in while closing it behind him. As I’m waiting with the guard on my left, I noticed he looks familiar since he’s a pegasus guard. After a few minutes of guessing, I figured it out making me smile under my hood.

“You’re Flash Sentry, aren’t you?” I ask. He looks at me wide eyed as if I could read his mind.

“H-how do you know my name?” Flash asks.

“I have my ways,” I answer, “you’re one of Princess Cadenza’s personal guards, right?”

“Y-yeah, I had just been promoted a few months ago. That is until…” he trails off with a sad tone.

“Until the Caribou came,” I finish he frowns and nods and I raise my cuffed hands and place one on his shoulder making him look up at me.

“I’m sorry about what happened to the Crystal Empire, kid. But don’t worry, it’ll be taken back one day,” I reassure him.

“You think so?” He asks with a hopeful expression.

“I know so,” I said while smiling under my hood.

The doors open and I take my hand off Flash’s shoulder and stand up straight as the guard from earlier steps out.

“The Princesses and the Elements will see you now,” he said. I nod and step towards doors with Flash and take a deep breath.

Here we go Boss, I think.

“Indeed,” he says while walking next to me.

I walk in the throne room following the guards with head a bit tilted down. I glance up and lo and behold, all three Princesses and The Elements of Harmony are on the other side of the room looking at me. Flash and the other guard stop half way and bow but I just keep standing.

“Your majesties, we have brought the hooded stranger,” the unicorn guard said.

“Thank you Sergeant Onyx Shine, you and Lieutenant Flash Sentry may leave us,” Princess Celestia says.

Both guards nod and stand up and walk past me back to the doors. Flash glances back to me before he’s out of my sight and I nod to him making him smile a bit. As soon as the doors close, it’s now just me and the pony mares of royalty and element bearers. Celestia stands up from her throne, along with Luna and Cadence, and walks down the small staircase towards me with the others following close behind. I keep my neutral stance while Lucifer is still standing beside me with his arms crossed and yawns.

“And I thought I liked to make a dramatic introduction…” He grumbles but I ignore him. Celestia and the others stop over a few feet from me and most of them either have cautious expressions or looks of fear in their eyes.

“I’m told you are the one who pushed back the Caribou from invading Canterlot the other day?” Celestia asks.

“That I am, Princess Celestia,” I answer with a curt nod. Celestia arches a brow at my tone of voice but more so that I said her name before she could introduce herself.

“You know who I am?” She asks.

“I do, in fact, I know all of you,” I said making their others eyes widen, “Princess Celestia of the Sun, Princess Luna of the Moon, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of Love. Along with the Elements of Harmony, Pinkie Pie, Element it Laughter, Applejack, Element of Honesty, Fluttershy, Element of Kindness, Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, Rarity, Element of Generosity, and last but not least, the recently appointed Princess of Friendship and bearer of the Element of Magic, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” I said while gesturing to each and every mare in the room. They stare at me in total shock as I named them and their titles. Luna furrows her brows and marches up to me in a huff.

“How is you know so much about us?” She demands.

“I have my ways,” I repeat, “you could say it’s sort of a necessity of mine to know these things.”

“That’s not good enough, stranger,” she retorts, “I demand you tell us how you know us so well.”

“Hmph, you know you’re being awfully rude to someone who just saved you and your city from a stockade of Caribou yesterday. I even went as far as to allow myself to be restrained as a gesture of good faith,” I snort while holding up my bonded hands. Luna was about to say something but Celestia raises her hand to silence her.

“You may have indeed saved us, stranger, but you’ll forgive us for not trusting you right away. Especially since we don’t even know your name, let alone know what you look like under your hood,” Celestia said.

“Dimitri,” Lucifer said making me look at him. The others don’t notice where I’m looking thanks to my hoods shadow covering my face. “I advise not telling them your title yet. It’s better you gain their trust before they cast you out before you can help them at all. We should count ourselves lucky that those guards didn’t say anything to them before we came in.” Lucifer said.

“I guess you have a point, Princess, very well,” I said as I reach for my hood, “my name is Dimitri Lockdrom, and I-“

“Your Majesties!”

I’m interrupted when the doors behind me burst open and I turn around to see another familiar unicorn stallion come running in and bows to the Princesses. It’s none other than Dr. Greymare and he’s does not look happy at all.

“Forgive my interruption, but Sir Shining Armor. He’s…” he tails off looking grim making me frown. I hear a pair of gasps and frantic hoofsteps run up behind me as Cadence and Twilight pass me and through the doors. The others also follow quickly behind them and I too follow close behind.

“I believe this is a bit of a private affair, Dimitri. I’m sure whatever ales Shining Armor the doctors can handle it,” Lucifer says as he follows me.

“You may be the Devil, Boss, but you’re sometimes very naive. I’ve got a very bad feeling about this and I just hope I’m wrong…” I said as I follow the others.

We eventually make it to the medical wing of the castle and we walk towards a room where we were told Shining Armor was in. The mares walk inside and I stop at the doorway and see something that makes my heart twitch. Shining armor was laying on the bed with cords attached to his chest under his gown and had a oxygen mask on his muzzle, but that’s not what upset me. What caught my eye was his forehead, where his horn should be but wasn’t…

Instead there was just a jagged stump on his head and he looked to be in pain and barely had his eyes open as he was speaking to Cadence and Twilight who were both crying. On the other side of the bed was his daughter, Flurry Heart, and she was sitting in the lap of a mare who I saw was his mother Twilight Velvet and her husband, Shining’s father, Night Light and they had tears of their own. This whole scene makes me bite my lip a bit since I already know how this is gonna end. Dr. Greymare spots me and walks over to me with a curious look.

“What happened to him?” I ask. Dr. Greymare sighs as he looks back at Shining Armor.

“Sir Shining Armor used too much magic,” he explained, “when the Caribou invaded and the Crystal Empire fell, his first acts were to evacuate Ponyville and cast a shield around the Canterlot. That was over three months ago.”

“He’s been casting the same shield spell for over three months?” I ask surprised.

“Yes, and it especially didn’t help every time the Caribou attacked. They came almost every week and bombarded the shield with their weapons, magic, and cannon fire but the shield held strong thanks to him. But all that caused major strain on his part. The first sign of his strain was when everypony noticed a crack in his horn. We all tried to prevent him from casting the same spell for it would only worsen the damage but he insisted he keep casting it. Sir Shining even went as far as barely sleeping or eating in order to keep the shield at its full strength.

“He kept telling his family and friends it was his duty and he wouldn’t let this city fall like the Crystal Empire. All that strain and magic use had finally took its toll yesterday when the shield was finally on the brink of collapse. Even earlier this week, he was using the last of his strength to keep it up. We even just now discovered that in his last moments, he used his own life force to power the spell and well, this is the result…” he said while gesturing to his current state.

“And his horn?” I ask.

“It crumbled away as soon as we brought him here for treatment. It seems Sir Shining pushed himself over his magical limits,” he says with a sigh.

“I’m sorry sir, but this is a bit of a private affair. I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he says. I was about to turn around when I hear something behind me.

“No…wait…”

I turn around and see Shining Armor looking at me with tired eyes.

“He…can stay…I want…to talk to him…” he says weakly. The doctor was hesitant at first, since I saw the first thing he noticed about me was my shackles still being on, but nods since Shining requested it. I slowly walk over to Shining as the mares part away so I’m standing next to him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Shining Armor, my name is Dimitri Lockdrom. I wish we could’ve met under different circumstances,” I said with a nod.

“Yeah…you too… Mr. Lockdrom, I saw you…yesterday…before I collapsed. You…took down…all those Caribou…like it was…nothing. I gotta say…I was impressed…” he says in a raspy voice between breaths.

“And you’ll be able to see much more once you’re back in your hooves, Armor. Because I’ve got plenty of neat tricks up my sleeve,” I said. Shining Armor frowns as he looks around to the others and closes his eyes and sighs.

“No…I’m afraid I’m not…” he weakly says.

“What do you mean? Of course you’re gonna-“

“Dimitri…” he cuts me off as he opens his eyes and looks at me sternly.

“I know…what’s gonna happen…and I think…you do too. So please…listen to my words…not as a…Captain or a soldier, but…as a husband, father and…friend…” he said. I nod slowly and take a deep breath to compose myself as I hear the others start to cry, more so from Cadence and Twilight. Shining takes a deep breath so he could talk properly.

“This world was so peaceful and full of beauty, before the Caribou came. I still had many things I wanted to do, especially ever since my daughter was born,” he said while glancing at Flurry Heart who was whimpering and reaching out to him.

“It was my job to protect the Crystal Empire, but I failed. And it was my job to protect Canterlot, but you stepped in and saved us but I still failed because the shield fell…” he said sadly.

“No, no you didn’t Armor. You saved your wife and daughter, you saved the ponies of Ponyville, and you kept this city safe from the Caribou for over three months,” I said as I reach up for my hood. I gently take it off so he can look at me in my eyes properly. He looks into my eyes and I can tell he sees my conviction.

“If anything, Shining, you’re a hero and a stallion among others. You should be proud of you accomplishments,” I tell him as I place a hand next to his. He smiles and tears up as he reaches for my hand and I take it.

“I’ve been wanting to hear that for so long, thank you…” he tells me weakly. I nod as I feel tears start to form in my eyes. His grip on my hand tightens as he leans a bit up to look at me square in the eye.

“Dimitri, please, promise me…you’ll look after…my family…and friends. Promise me…you’ll free us…from the Caribou…so my little filly…can grow up…happily…” he said between breaths.

I glance at Flurry Heart who was now crying and whimpering more and still trying to reach out to her father. I look back at Shining and tighten my own grip on his.

“I swear to you, this world will have its happiness once again. Your daughter will be smiling just as the day she was born,” I tell him. He smiles as all the sounds around me start to drown out and all I can hear is the heart monitor and it beats slower with ever beat. Shining leans back and his grip starts to loosen as his eyes begin to droop.

“Da…Da…”

Shining’s eyes open a bit from closing and my eyes widen as we both slowly turn to Flurry Heart.

“Da…Da,” she whimpers again

My tears finally escape my eyes and tears begin to fall from Shining’s.

“Dada loves you, Flurry. Dada…loves…you…”

Shining’s grip falls from my hand as the heart monitor flatlines and he closes his eyes and takes his last breath. The heart monitor was the only thing I was hearing as I stare at the Princesses protector. Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Gaurd, husband, Father, and dear friend to all, passed away with a smile on his face…

Author's Notes:

Legends never die, hope you all enjoyed…