Chapter 1: Unexpected Circumstances

Berlin, Germany.

Once a place of horror and terror. Many regard it as the place where the infamous Adolf Hitler rose and fell. Though it doesn't hold the same level of terror as it did so many years ago, crime still runs rampant in the city's underbelly.

Yet, where the darkness lurks, there's always something higher up on the food chain of Death.

This was unwittingly discovered by a single teenage girl. It was evening and she had just finished her late night studies in the local High School. As she locked the door, as instructed, she took a deep breath. Her nightly routine was always an uncomfortable situation. There was always that feeling that something was waiting to catch her from behind.

As she began to walk home, a low chuckle was heard behind her. Startled, she turned to see that her fears were confirmed. A man in a gray suit was grinning maliciously at her pulling a knife from his pocket.

"Hast du mich vergessen!?" He shouted. He then lunged at her with a vicious battle cry.

The girl was inexperienced in battle. But, she was rather quick to dodge her assailant's attack. She tried to run away from him, but the criminal was faster. He swung his knife at her, barely grazing her back. But it was enough to bring her to the ground.

He laughed maniacally as he raised his weapon for a killing blow. But before he could even start, a sudden chill in the air was felt. Both the girl and the criminal looked around in confusion as it grew darker.

The criminal couldn't help the feeling of dread that overtook his mind. There was that feeling in his gut that told him to run, but he was paralyzed with fear. That fear was confirmed as a twisted, demonic hand grabbed him from behind and threw him to the ground. Dazed from the impact, the criminal shook his head and looked up. What he saw would be the last thing he would ever see.

A terrible scream of agony caused the girl to look in the criminal's direction. What she saw was a decapitated body with a bloody skull that had just been stripped of its flesh. Standing over the body was a humanoid figure that was cloaked in darkness. It held out its demonic hand to absorb a strange blue mist. No doubt, the criminal's soul.

The dark figure strode past the girl, dropping a red rose next to her. Without breaking his stride, he gave a farewell gesture to her and vanished into the darkness.

The dark figure was riding a motorcycle through the empty streets of Berlin. So many criminals were brutally slaughtered by his hand. Sure it was interesting, but it was hardly what he wanted to do. He needed something fresh in his supernatural existence.

To his surprise, that something would start with a simple ring of his cell phone. The figure pulled over to the side and answered. From the phone, a raspy voice spoke.

"I have a new assignment for you." The voice said. "You are to protect a young soul. You'll know him when you see him."

The figure merely "Hmphed" in acknowledgement before hanging up. He knew his boss well enough that the arrangements were already made. Silently, he revved up his engine and rode to the outskirts of the city.

Gradually, he picked up speed. This was crucial for taking magic shortcuts in only a split second. Soon, the entire motorcycle became surrounded by blue flames and the vehicle plus its rider were gone. All that remained was a trail of blue fire.

Elsewhere in the universe, in a dark graveyard, evil magic was stirring. From one of the aged tombstones, a purple hoof burst from the ground, followed by the other. The owner of those hooves struggled before he finally rose from his grave.

As the night air filled his lungs, he unleashed an ear-shattering scream of immense pain as the flame of his life reignited. The pegasus stallion was in so much pain, his numb mind could only focus on crawling onto solid ground. There, he finally allowed himself to collapse and catch his breath for the first time in many years.

The sound of crows filled his ears, reminding him that he needed to find out what to do. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a very sinister figure. It appeared to be a pony made entirely of shadows. Its red eyes glaring straight at him.

"The tides of living in peaceful rest are beyond you now." It said in a demonic voice. "You've done bad things in the past, poor soul. And now you must atone for such things."

The stallion stared at the shadow pony, unsure of how to respond. So, he just listened.

"As of now, my name is not important." The shadow continued. "All that matters, is that you have been assigned a great task to an ungodly proportion if interest."

The stallion gulped as he heard the shadow's words. A task? What was this thing talking about?

"To be honest," The shadow went on. "The only reason YOU were chosen for this task, was the potential you have displayed in the past."

The pegasus shuddered. He couldn't remember any potential that this shadow was blabbing about. For that matter, the pegasus couldn't remember anything.

"I ask," The shadow finally said. "That you KILL the Lost Prince."

Something turned in the back of the stallion's mind. Something about that felt familiar. He'd have to figure out why later.

"You will be presented with the opportunity soon, I promise." The demon said. "Until the task is carried out, you shall not be permitted to rest again. 'Till then, we shall stay in touch."

The pegasus yelped in shock and backed into his tombstone as the shadow burst into flames and vanished. All the while, it was laughing insanely. The pegasus gasped in disbelief. Even in a world of magical ponies, that was completely unnatural. Unknown to the pegasus, he was still not alone.

Atop the nearby funeral house, a bright orange unicorn was laying on the side of the belfry, taking in the sights and sounds of the dark night. She was fairly young, appearing to be in her early to mid teen years. Her mane was a frazzled mess, suggesting that she cared little for her own appearance. There was also an odd glint in her fiery eyes, which possibly meant that she could violently lash out at any moment.

"Ah." She sighed to herself. "What a lovely dark and gloomy night. Sure is pretty."

As she looked around, she caught sight of the purple pegasus still standing in front of his grave. A grin started to form on her face.

"Ooohhh, is that a zombie?" She wondered aloud. She suddenly gasped in delight. "Now everypony won't think I'm crazy if I kill it and bring its corpse back! And they'll think I'm a hero for saving them from an entire global zombie apocalypse!"

The unicorn then gazed up, looking...right at you, reader. Uh, wait, what?

"Hey!" She said. "Isn't there an old philosophy stating that you should never judge a book by its cover? I'm not ALL bad. I just like killing zombies!"

She then grinned. "As for those of you just tuning in to this fanfiction, I'll let the writer explain who I am!"

Ahem. Right then. This unicorn was a warrior by profession and a total psychopath. Her name was Epic Pie.

"Y'know, writer, I can read the text." She said angrily. "And I say, you better rephrase that if you want to keep your arms!"

Fine fine. Some of her abilities included Fire Magic, Regeneration, and...ah...breaking the fourth wall. She was also a raging sex machi- WAIT WHAT!?

"There now!" She said with a grin. "Isn't it always better to do things the Epic Pie way?"

Whatever, let's just get on with the story.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen." She said with a sadistic smile. "I think it's time we put our Zombie friend...out of commission."

From nowhere, she summoned a kunai and poised to throw it at the purple pegasus. But, she then hesitated as a thought crossed her mind.

"Y'know what?" She said to herself. "Maybe this might be too extreme."

She thought for a long moment until her eyes lit up. Her fourth wall powers took hold once again.

"What if we turned the kunai into..." She began. "A watermelon! No, wait. Plank! No no no. Wait. Wait wait wait. Um...uh...Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Hey!" The blue speedster shouted.

"Wait wait." Epic Pie muttered. "It's on the tip of my tongue. It's in my head. Uh...Solid Sparkle!"

"Oh my God!" The latex-clad mare said in a strangely masculine voice. "Metal Gear!"

The orange unicorn then threw Solid Sparkle at the purple pegasus. Before the undead stallion could react, Solid Sparkle landed right on top of him. The impact knocked him senseless and his world went black.

Hours later, the purple pegasus stirred. He was vaguely aware that he was in a bed. As he stretched and yawned, he lost his balance and fell onto a wooden floor. He grunted in mild irritation as he rubbed his head. As he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was in an old cabin of sorts. Curious, he looked out the window.

He was in what appeared to be an old transit station. Based on the plants that grew all over the tracks, this station hasn't been used for several years. The pegasus couldn't recall any transit stations in his fragmented memory. Just how long has it been before his resurrection?

He looked to see the same orange unicorn that knocked him out. A crimson stallion called her up for some reason. But, based on how scared she looked from his tone, he was probably her father or her older brother.

Meanwhile, the red stallion glared at Epic Pie and spoke in a very stern voice.

"Alright," He said. "Now would you mind explaining to me what exactly you did?"

"Uh, this random pegasus came out of his grave." The orange unicorn replied. "And I kinda...uh...materialized a Solid Sparkle and knocked him out with it?"

"You're grounded, sis." The red stallion deadpanned. "You realize that don't you?"

"No! Wait!" Epic Pie begged. "I really thought he was bad! Please, Fire Surge, don't-"

"No. No." The stallion now identified as Fire Surge interrupted. "There's no getting out of it this time. I warned you of what would happen the next time you conked out an innocent civilian."

"But...I..." Epic Pie began.

"No, Epic Pie!" Fire Surge snapped. "You're punished! Do you realize what you've done!? You've exposed our base to somepony! We were never supposed to let that happen! On top of that, you've abused your magic again! You've materialized yet another being from your mind! And now it has to exist as a bastardization amongst all ponies!"

"Well, we could just-" Epic Pie began again.

"Ohhh, no!" Fire Surge interrupted again. "It's not that simple! We can't just kill them! They're living, breathing beings! Also, the one that you conked out doesn't deserve to die for your mistake! And I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen!"

Throughout Fire Surge's rant, Epic Pie was only grinning sheepishly. But inside, she was full of shame. As insane as she was, she still loved her brother.

"Now, you realize we can't send him on his merry way." Fire Surge continued. "He knows where our base is. Which means our only option is to let him LIVE with us."

Meanwhile, the purple pegasus was looking over a bridge at the ravine below. It wasn't much, but it offered a spectacular view of the area.

"Hey, how's it going buddy?" A friendly voice said. The pegasus turned and saw both the orange unicorn and the crimson stallion smiling at him.

"Enjoying the view?" The red stallion asked. The purple stallion nodded in return.

The red stallion's face then turned a bit serious. "Um, I should probably tell you. This place is secret, and we can't just let you go."

The purple stallion gulped, but the red stallion raised his hoof.

"However," He continued. "We're not going to do what you think we're going to do. What we're going to do is let you live with us. Right sis?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess." The orange mare said sheepishly. "It has been getting kinda lonely here after all this time."

The purple pegasus let out a sigh of relief. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. With all these events happening, the purple stallion had completely forgotten about the evil demon that resurrected him. But, that wouldn't be for too long...