//------------------------------// // Dark Curses // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// After a good number of more twists and turns through the submerged caves, Tidal Wave found his way through to a lake beneath a pathway on the opposite of the giant stone door. He slowly ascended so as to carefully scan around what areas above the surface he could make out. His water senses unfortunately didn’t extend beyond the confines of the depths, and creating a tower of water to use as a lookout point would draw the attention of any harpies that might be around, so all he could do was slowly creep out of the water and hope that he was alone. When his head breached the surface, he couldn’t see nor hear anything immediately around him, but he could hear crazed shouting and laughter coming from far in the distance. He slowly crept out of the water and onto the stone path as he looked out to see what was going on, and what he saw was equal parts breathtaking and terrifying. Far away was a big citadel surrounded by a bottomless pit into the caverns below. There was no bridge leading out to it from where the original stone path ended, so it could be easily assumed that one had to fly over to it in order to reach, perfect for the harpies that allegedly lived here. Their theory was proven when Tidal Wave noticed that the citadel was lined with grotesque decorations made from various animal bones, skins, even some organs, and a massive flock of harpies turned out to be the source of the shouting and laughter. Centered in the citadel was a big bonfire that a few of the harpies were tossing items into that Tidal Wave couldn’t identify from his distance, but he figured that he was better off knowing once they were no longer a threat. “First a giant eel…..now this……. What have I gotten myself into?” he muttered. Nevertheless, he slowly approached the stone door and immediately identified the lock centered between the two opening parts. It was just big enough for his spear to fit through, but it was now a matter of being able to pick it open. “Hmm…..” Tidal Wave felt around a little bit. “Okay! This shouldn’t be too much trouble.” He got to work carefully fiddling with the lock. “Kinda makes ya wonder how big and heavy the key must be though.” ***** On the other side of the door, the awaiting foals and griffonlet patiently stayed their ground as they anticipated Tidal Wave rolling out the red carpet for them at any second. The only thing trying their patience was the incessant bantering between two very confident warriors. “I guarantee there’s at least 300 hundred in there, and I’m gonna smash up more than half of ‘em before that hammer or axe or whatever you’re trying to pass it off as can even touch one of their talons!” Valkyrie boasted to Turf War. “Mhm! Dat’s real cute! Lemme bust through dat door ‘fore yo’ feathered a** even ‘member to take off o’ draw dat sword. In the meantime, I’ma do my thing an’ drop my hammer while droppin’ a beat! Peep dis!” Turf War said, and then started dancing as though he was at a disco. “YO! It’s yo’ boy, Turf War! F*** wit me, you gon’ un’er da floor! Harpies, please! I don’t wanna see ya! The hammer goes bashin’, I don’t wanna be ya! Trust! Yeah, I just said it! Land you tails down ‘ere an’ lemme make ya go BUST! Ooh! Yes, b**** I’m fo’ real. Better say yo’ prayers an’ eat yo’ last meal!” he rapped, striking a pose at the end. Valkyrie shook her head. “Pfft! Whatever THAT pathetic little display was supposed to be!” she taunted. She drew her sword and twirled it all around her body while looking around as though nothing were happening. Her dexterity was effortless and just about perfect as she seamlessly swung her greatsword nonchalantly; she even spun it around on her talon by its pommel like a basketball. When she concluded and sheathed her sword, she shot Turf War a taunting smirk. “How many ponies do ya know who can do that?” “One, and he do it wit TWO of d’hem things!” Turf War said. “What!? I call your bluff!” Valkyire said. “Guys, be quiet! The harpies could right on the other side of this door. If we wanna ambush them, then quit making so much noise.” Fire Fight said. “You’re acting childish anyway.” Shadow Shroud said. “Whatever, dude.” Valkyrie said. “I just hope Tidal Wave doesn’t have much trouble.” Spiral Galaxy said. “We gave him a pretty big job even though he kinda just joined us.” “He n’ that spear o’ his had a rightly fine negotiation with that hydra, all things considered. Ah’d put a li’l more faith in ‘em.” Kickback said. “We’re all gonna need a lot more than faith if these harpies are as nasty as Valkyrie says they are.” Spiral said. Valkyrie nodded. “Believe me! Those small fry back in the forest barely did the rest any justice, but we should be pretty kosher. After all…” She drew her sword once more and struck a heroic pose. “You got me!” The foals just blankly stared at her for a moment, trying to decide how to react. Kickback started by just tipping his hat. “Well, we’re rightly grateful fer yer help, Ms. Valkyrie.” Turf War began sarcastically clapping. “Uh-huh. Clap dat up. Good show. All hail the mighty descendant o’ whatever dat m*********** name is.” Valkyrie sheathed her sword and lightly leered at him. “Yeah, yeah. You’ll be coughing up those ten bits soon enough after Finneous McCan’t-fly gets this door open for us.” “Hey! He sensitive about his wings!” Spiral reprimanded. “Fo’ real! An’ the only way you gonna get me to cough up bits is knockin’ ‘em outta me, b****!” Turf War said. “Not unless I knock both of you into a coma first.” Shroud warned. “Enough!” Fire Fight said as he put his hoof down. “Save the energy for the raid.” He then looked at Valkyrie and Turf War. “And you two better focus on actually helping us rather than your bet. Turf War, I’ve known long enough to know that you’re way too righteous to let something as small as that hold back your sense of justice. And Valkyrie, you of everypony in here should know to be mature at a time like this, especially since you have the weight of legend on your shoulders.” Turf War noticeably calmed down having listened to his friend, but Valkyrie wasn’t too keen on being ordered around by a pony. “Tch! You’ll see that legend soon enough, candle-head!” she said. Fire Fight just brushed it off with an eye-roll. “Still though, Tidal Wave sure is taking his dear, sweet time. I hope he hasn’t run into any…..complications.” Shroud said. “Yeah…. I’m starting to get kinda worried. He’s all by himself down there.” Spiral said. Seconds later, they could here clinking sounds coming from the door, namely where the lock would be. Shadow Shroud instantly recognized the sound of tumblers being fiddled with. “Hmm… I see our worry was relatively unwarranted.” Shroud said. “Huh? Guys?” The foals heard a voice from behind the door. It was muffled, but they could tell that it was Tidal Wave. “Is that you?” “Tidal Wave!?” Spiral said. “Hey! Don’t worry. I should be able to crack this pretty easily.” Tidal Wave said. “Well, hurry it up already! My greatsword is itching to pluck some limbs off of those harpies!” Valkyrie said. “Are they close to you, Tidal Wave?” Fire Fight asked. “No. They’re pretty far from where I am. Their inner sanctum is way off in the distance, but I don’t think they’ll see me.” Tidal Wave said. It was after their little conversation that he realized that he was having some difficulty with the lock. As he fiddled with it, he got a feel for how complex it actually was. “Oh boy….. These harpies are smarter than they look.” He slowed his pace so he could be more careful, but it seemed like every step forward was a step back somewhere else. “Argh! Come on! I can do this!” “You’re persistence….is quite admirable, little foal.” Tidal Wave heard a voice behind him. “Aw, thanks! I-” Tidal Wave suddenly felt a knot as tight as a noose in his stomach and looked back. Standing right over him was a harpy staring him down with its piercing, horrible eyes. He noticed that it was wearing s crude garb with evil-looking markings and insignia’s decorating it. “U-Uh…… Am I late for the party?” he stammered. “” “CRAP!!” Tidal Wave quickly removed his spear from the lock and thrust it into the harpy’s chest, causing it to gurgle before collapsing like a ragdoll as it drew its last breath. However, it’s call was not unheard, and Tidal Wave could see nearly the entire horde of the feathered fiends soaring towards him! “UH, GUYS!?!?” “Something wrong, partner?” Kickback asked. “Oh, no! Not at all! I’VE ONLY GOT ABOUT A HUNDRED AND COUNTING OF THESE HARPIES READY TO TEAR ME TO SHREDS AT SIX O’CLOCK!!” Tidal Wave exclaimed. Turf War looked confused. “Huh? But it’s only like half passed two.” “That means they’re right behind him, hammer-head!” Valkyrie said. “Pick as fast as you can, dude!!” “Tidal Wave!” Spiral exclaimed. “R-Right!” Tidal Wave hurriedly jammed his spear back into the lock and stated picking for dear life. “Come on, come on, come on, come on!!” The harpies were closing in faster than he thought, and his heart was racing at about double their pace, especially since he was having the same trouble as before. “Please, please, please!!!” “Just try to get all of the tumblers lifted quickly! At this point, being careful is not a priority!” Shroud said. “O-Okay!” Tidal Wave said. He tried just jamming his spear and hoping that something would happen, but he was having little luck, and the harpies were closing in. “GUYS! HELP!!!” That’s when Spiral Galaxy threw down the gauntlet…..and her hornband off of her horn. “OH, SCREW THIS!!!” Being underground, her magic was dumbed down to a point where she could more easily handle the massive influx of power pouring from her horn. “HYYYYYAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!” “TAKE COVER!!!” Fire Fight exclaimed. Nopony dared to question him as they all hit the floor, including Tidal Wave, who could feel her rush of power from behind the door as the ground around him rumbled violently, and he wasted no time going prone. Not even a second later, Spiral Galaxy unleashed her cosmic fury and fired a huge nova beam that just about disintegrated the door, and good few unfortunate harpies that were just about strike Tidal Wave met a bright and spectacular end indeed. Every other harpy flew clear away from the cosmic blast. When she concluded, Spiral felt a dizzying headache erupt through her psyche. “Ugh…..Oooooh…..” She collapsed the ground in a daze. “Ms. Spiral!” Kickback exclaimed. He ran over to her and put her hornband back onto her horn, hoping that it might help, which it seemed to as Spiral took a light gasp for air, but she was still too dazed to raise her head right away, so he decided to stay and guard her until she came to. “HEEEEEEERE’S VALKYRIE!!!” Valkyrie shouted as she drew her sword and soared towards the horde. Turf War followed suit in a heartbeat with his hammer-axe at the ready. “OH, IT’S ON NOW!!!” He leapt through the doorway, but he took the time to check on Tidal Wave. “You good, son?” Tidal Wave’s face was about as white as a sheep’s wool as he staggered to his shaking hooves. “ I….I-I saw my life flash before my eyes.” Turf War sighed while trying to maintain a smile. “Uh-huh! Dat sounds tight….yeah…. Well, you do yo’ thing, homie!” He rushed back into the ensuing fray. Tidal Wave managed to snap out of his trauma and ready himself, and Fire Fight and Shadow Shroud soon joined him. “Let’s get this over with. All these feathers are going to make me sneezey.” Shroud said as she drew her kamas. Fire Fight ignited his gauntlets. “WHO’S READY FOR SOME FIREWORKS!?” He flame-jumped high into the air and launched a short barrage of fire discs at a small group of the harpies, which some of them dodged, but those who didn’t plummeted trying to put out the flames that had erupted on their feathers. Fire Fight then saw a harpy that had landed a few feet from where he stood and rocketed himself into a downward kick towards it. However, just as he was about to make contact, he was caught into the talons of another harpy that swooped down from above. “GYAH!” He looked up and saw the harpy staring daggers into him, and within her hand was….some kind of reddish-black magic that he’d never be able to guess the identity of. “Her Radiance will savor your fiery soul!” the harpy hissed. Fire Fight tried blasting her with fire, but she expanded her black magic into an orb that devoured his flames like somepony drinking them through a straw. “Hehehehehehehe….. Such raw power!” “Wh-What the!?” Fire Fight was pretty freaked out at the sudden display of power that the harpy demonstrated, but was quickly relieved when Valkyrie’s greatsword burst through its chest from behind, causing her to let, but Valkyrie quickly caught him and let him down. “Told ya they’d be packing some heat!” Valkyrie said. She flung the corpse off of her sword. “No pun intended.” “Yeah! Thanks.” Fire Fight said. Valkyrie nodded before soaring back into the air. “Alright, you overgrown bats, say any wicked prayers you want, ‘cause you won’t get any mercy from me!” she declared. One harpy noticed her talisman and screeched in shock. “She bears the Valhalla!” Another hissed angrily. “Siegfried!” she lengthily growled. Valkyrie creased a devious smile. “Ya want it? Come and get it!” she taunted. As per her dare, the harpies ambushed her from all directions, but the armor-clad griffonlet sliced and shield-bashed them with the dexterity she’d boasted earlier. One of them tried to swipe her from the side, but she quickly parried it away and smacked it upside the head with her small sledgehammer. She batted away the decapitated corpse away with her sword, and it smacked into another harpy, sending them both careening into the water, where Tidal Wave was waiting to spear them. “Nice, kid!” “Thanks! You too!” Tidal Wave nodded and dove back under. He heavily debated using his newfound hydrokinesis, but the notion of his water jewel being deemed too dangerous held him back. For now, all he could do was control the one piece of turf the harpies couldn’t. Speaking of turf, Turf War found himself surrounded by harpies hovering over him with some on the ground. “Give us your flesh, feeble foal!” one of them demanded. Turf War just laughed it off. “Damn, baby girl! You just gonna come straight out wit it right away!? A’ight! Come on over he’e an’ lemme show y’all a good time!” he taunted. One of the hovering harpies behind him swooped down and tried to grab him, but he quickly took her down with a blow from his axe, and followed up with him hammer smacking another one that tried to get him from behind. They all then tried to pile onto him, but he jumped back and let them fly into each other. “OOOOH! What happened!?” However, one of the harpies volleyed more of that strange magic at him, which he quickly blocked with his shield, causing it to dissipate, but he could feel its evil aura as it did. “Whoa! Dat’s some bad mojo!” While they were all still tightly packed together, he quickly shield-rammed them. He only managed to get the ones in the middle, but the outer ones managed to fly off before the impact and surround the hammering gangbanger. He raised his hammer-axe ready to smack them into next week, but the avian witches focused their evil magic and fired bolts of it at him. “OH, S***!” He managed to evade a few of them, but a couple managed to hit. As they did, Turf War could feel the magic worm into his body like parasites. “” Suddenly, he felt his stamina completely fail him, and it felt as though his very soul was being gnawed at by whatever the harpies had just infected him with. “ I’ma….. I’ma bash yo’ heads….….fo’ dat…..” His vision was becoming cloudy as he could hear the harpies cackling maliciously. “One more for the ritual!” one of them hissed. Suddenly, they were overcome with inexplicable slashes ambushing them from all directions and a mysterious black figure. When it ended, the curse on Turf War quickly lifted, and he stood back up to see the harpies on the floor with the necks bleeding out, and Shadow Shroud was standing next to him with her kamas still drawn. “Today’s just not your day, huh?” “Damn right.” Turf War said. They suddenly heard Kickback’s guns firing from the door, which the young sharpshooter stepped right out from with a conscious Spiral Galaxy following him, her horn lit and ready to rain destruction. “Sorry fer the wait, y’all. Sound, Fury n’ Ah had to keep an eye on Ms. Spiral” he said as he drew his other gun. “Ah reckon we’re ready to have a little howdown.” “WHO WANTS TO DANCE WITH THE STARS!?” Spiral exclaimed as she charged her horn. She generated a galaxy shield around her that generated small novae within its clouds. Each one fired a barrage of nova blasts that disrupted the harpies’ formation, forcing them to disperse if they didn’t want to be pelted by the universe. Some of them had the good sense to use their curse magic to absorb the shots, which charged them up so that the avian abominations could turn the cosmic filly’s own power against them. Similar to Fire Fight’s fire discs, some of them launched blades of their cursed energy towards them. “Uh oh!” Spiral had to telekinetically strafe around to avoid them while the others could only rely on their agility to evade the shots. “Don’t hit them with magic! They’ll just eat it right up!” Valkyrie shouted. A harpy tried to swipe her from above with cursed claws, but she loosened her grip on her shield and flailed it around on its chain at the fiend, parrying its claw and smacking it right in the temple, sending it down. Valkyrie then quickly retracted her shield and bash another harpy that tried to ambush her from behind, and followed up with brutal slashes from her greatsword. “Now you tell us!!” Tidal Wave shouted from within the water. A swarm of the harpies fluttered above him with curses and claws at the ready. He poised his spear, but he knew he couldn’t do much without his hidden power, so reluctantly, he began focusing on the water around him, and it started to churn. “ I hope I don’t scare them….” Just before he could construct any water structures, gunshots rang out, and the harpies were suddenly electrified and dropped to the water below. “Best look out there, partner!” Kickback called out. Thankfully, Tidal Wave’s pendant protected him from being shocked from being in the water with the zapped corpses, but it gave him an idea. “ And suddenly….” He used his spear and with some discretion, his hydro powers to splash the hovering harpies with electrified water, clearing them out quite nicely. “A SHOCKING TWIST!” he declared. “Thanks, Kickback!” Kickback tipped his hat, but seconds later, his peripheral vision caught the eye of a harpy swooping down with her talons ready to snatch him, but he rolled out of the way. “Pardon me, ma’am!” Thinking quickly, he lashed out his whip and wrapped it around the fiend’s talon, sending him on an aerial tour of the battlefield. “YEEEEE-HAAAW!!” He fired his gun while holding on to his whip, providing ideal air support. “Insolent pest!” The harpy he was holding onto hissed. She grabbed the whip and yanked it towards her, but Kickback used this momentum to buck her in the face. “” Kickback then managed to land on her back and finish her off with a headshot. “Whoa, nelly!!” Kickback used the featherweight corpse to ease his fall and hit the ground safely. As he stepped onto solid ground, corpses that he’d shot rained down around him. “Ah reckon that’s some mighty fine pest control.” “ Jussssst what I would exxxxxpect from the bearer of the Valhalla!” The foals and griffonlet heard a horrible, raspy, hissing voice resound from the direction of the citadel. When they looked over, they saw a more regal-looking harpy. She had much more of the crude garbs that the others wore and a headdress made of bones and withered feathers. All of the other harpies retreated towards her and seemed to revere her. “Brassshhhh…..yet so powerful….. Ssssssuch a wassssste, really.” Valkyrie got her game face on and pointed her greatsword at her. “Lechuza!”