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Read The Bridge: Sound of Thunder

Raiga pushed open the double doors and slipped inside, the palace gate swinging to a close behind her. Not one meter in and she could already see and smell it all. Had she not been granted vision built for the marine depth, the entire royal chamber probably would have been near pitch black outside of the windows. Ragia had a sense this place once had a grandeur of some sort, but if a single word could describe it now, it was ruin. A lot of things must have gone down in here over the past week to bring it to such a state. The stonewood chamber had numerous gouges and rancid scorch marks carving into its floor and walls, obvious signs of battle. Any tapestries or carpeting had been torn or burned away with the scent of radiation still permeating the hall. Vines either stretched across or slithered through the broken windows and clogged the holes burned into the walls. Most notably amongst the desolation were the bones. Many of them lay strewn about like the throne room was a predator's den. Most of them were burned to blackened, cracked, disarticulated remains; but one was whole.

It was the largest skeleton by a wide margin, and judging from the hooves and sole remaining antler it looked like some sort of elk. It was still clad in wears that resembled a mix of armor and golden regalia. If it was meant to protect them, it didn't work well enough. Truth be told, she had a hard time telling what did the cervid in, the burns layering the blackened skeleton or the fact one antler was torn off and jammed into the ribcage. As she floated past the edge of the skeleton, she could make out small cloven hoof prints approaching it from the side. They nearly reached the shallow crater the skeleton rested in before being dragged away. And suddenly the charred specks on the floor had drops of red stains in a broad mark where something had been dragged along the floor. She visually followed the trail until attention was torn away by a grim tone.

"King Aspen, long time rival of the United Equestrian Kingdoms. He ruled the Thicket when Empress Cadenza led us here. Stayed with them for three days until he caused me to conclude that the place needed a new dynasty's management. This evening makes it thirteen times they've snuck in to try and reclaim his regalia, something about needing it to use their stronger spells again. Thirteen must be an unlucky number for them, but not me apparently."

Raiga suddenly found herself looking at a set of burning golden eyes surrounded by blood red. A monster masquerading as a unicorn stepped out from a corner. Covered in sticky crimson, the creature's mane and eyes lit up with neon blue and he trained his head down, hosing off his entire front half in a mix of low power plasma breath and a miniscule nuclear pulse. All of its fur and gory coating was instantly vaporized. Smoking and smoldering for a few brief moments, the skin and new fur quickly sprouted up and he looked clean as he could possibly appear moments later. Still, one portion of his body showed no such change. Clad across the demon's chest was a deep, hideous keloid scar that covered most of his front torso. Swallowing back his own pain, the unicorn calmly walked over to the broken throne and stood tall before it. For the first time in her life, Raiga saw an equine that looked terrifying. And yet still, the voice and the coloration tipped off her as to who she was looking at; leaving her wondering what was with this world.

"Chief…"

Godzilla Junior flashed a fang filled grin and approached the siren.
"Low and behold, thirteen intruders and I finally get a guest."

Raiga's eye twitched and a charge built up in her energy cores. Sparks began to crackle along her fins as confusion fed into anger.
"Okay what the FUCK!?"

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Posted previously at: 2015-12-05T03:29:30 | Posted previously by: Chapelseed