//------------------------------// // The Locust // Story: Rise of Zyra // by Rennoc215 //------------------------------// Rarity confidentially stepped forward. "Now listen here. I am the legal owner of this establishment, and I don't appreciate your threatening me." The hissing laughter was back, and it began to condescend her. "My 'dear'" it said, with a mock emphasis, "Do you think I care for law? This is my home and the home of my masters." A large, purple object fell to the floor, right in front of Rarity. The fight or flight response kicked in, and she jumped back a few paces. The lump began to expand, elevating itself on two clawer rear legs. The sides flared out, revealing two long, scythed apendages where its' fore-legs should have been. The front folded up, to reveal two maliciously glowing green eyes, and a maw full of spiked teeth. "I am Kha'Zix, Creature of the void, and currently in the service of Ultio, god of vengeance." He hissed, a cruel cakling ringing through the room. He hunched over, bared his teeth, and shook his talons. "Now, as I said, begone! Maybe if you brought Master Vladamir home, I might tolerate your presence." He said, before looking down and seeing the unicorn looking at the floor. He knew this was a sign of sadness, or regret, and something struck him as off. "What is it, worm?" He asked, coldly. She looked up at his eyes, and he could see the red rimming. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She said, before looking back down at the floor. "Vladamir died." She deadpanned, and the room grew deathly silent. Kha'zix blinked. "You lie." He stated in disbelief. Rarity just shook her head, and continued to look at the floor. "You lie!" He shouted, before kicking her in the side. Rarity went flying, and slammed into a column with a crack. Before anypony could blink, Kha'zix's wings (Which were previously unnoticed) flared out, and he pounced on top of her. "You lie!" He screamed into her. Rarity just defiantly shook her head. "No. I know it. You lie! There has to be another, that couldn't be the end." He mumbled, shaking his head side to side as he reaconed with himself. "This can't be the end. All we worked for, all we accomplished. Washed away like a colt's drawing in the mud. Impossible. He can't be dead. Because if he was dead..." His eyes flared, and realization coursed through him. "You have to be lying! Because my presence on this world is only possible while somepony lives who can claim the iron throne." He leaned down to her, his cold occular orbs staring straight through hers. "You lie. Now, tell me where my lord is." Rarity fumbled in her coat, and pulled out a vial of ash. "You wanted me to prove it? Here!" she said, pulling the vial into Kha'zix's view. "Here he is. I keep a part of him close to me at all times, because I'm still getting over losing him." She waved the vial in his face, before shouting. "He's dead!" Kha'zix stepped back for a moment, before laughing. "I don't believe you. Because there is still one left who can claim the throne. And I'm going to find them." He kicked her again, before getting up, off of her. "Now tell me. If Vladamir isn't alive, then who is his next of kin?" "He didn't have a child." Rarity said, thinking about what the nightmare before her said. Next of kin, who else could Vladamir have been with? Rarity looked down, as the beast glared at her, and she saw the vial. His ashes are all I have left of him... Her eyes widened with realization, and a determined look crossed her face as she looked up at the looming monster. Zyra. I won't tell him about Zyra. "He has no next of kin." Kha'zix leered at her. "Then who is worthy to sit on the iron throne? You, perchance?" He said, lifting her. Rarity yelped in suprise, and Rainbow dash snapped out of her fear. Bugs. Why does it have to be bugs? Rainbow thought irritatedly as she threw herself at the creature holding her friend. Kha'zix simply stepped aside, and hit her with the blunt side of his talon, sending her spiraling out of control, straight into the fountain. With the whimpering pony under his arm, Kha'zix pushed the large red doors to the inner sanctum open, revealing a vast complex, quite similar to the old Japamare's temples. At the far end, overlooking the entire room, sat a spiked iron throne. Kha'zix leapt over the chamber, and landed just before the chair. Up close, the throne was even more intimidating than from afar. The dark metal which the throne was made of was a near black color, and seemed like something that would have been pulled from a nightmare. Without any seeming realism, the shadowy color seemed to pull the ambient light into it, darkening the entire area around it, ever so slightly. The shape of the throne was ornate, but without any real details. But the spikes made the alien ornateness look evil. The spines had a cruel, torturous look to them, as many were only long enough to poke through the skin, but not really tear anything apart. None would travel through the body, that's for certain. Kha'zix lifted the struggling mare above him, and positioned her above the spiny seat and back rest. "Remember, it's only torture if you can survive." He whispered to her as he set her down onto the menacing spikes. She screamed in agony as the pierced her skin, poking her like a pin-cushion. She could feel it as some spikes tore smaller blood vessels, her blood dripping down some of the spikes and draining into channels on the chair. Fueled by some sort of dark magic, the blood flowed around in the chair, filling the ornate designs with a red inlay of blood. It would have been a thing of grotesque beauty, had the color not been flowing out of her body. She screamed again, weakening with each few moments as more red piled onto the seat. "Shame. A lady for the throne would have been nice." Kha'zix murmured, before turning away from the dying pony. His face soon met the floor, having been kicked there by a light blue hoof. "Stay away from my friends." Rainbow Dash growled, before pulling Rarity off the bloody chair. Wasting no time, Rainbow flew out of the temple as fast as she could, occasionally dipping beneath the snow-line to cool Rarity off and slow the bleeding. But Rainbow had no idea how to treat wounds. Especially none like this. Gotta get her home. Gotta get help. Rainbow thought, her wings pounding behind her. -+-+-+-+-+- Lotus looked at the monstrosity before her, expression baffled. It was like the nightmare hybrid between her beloved flowers and the trees of the Everfree forest, what with all the vines whipping around. One particularly pale vine kept trying to creep up her back, but she didn't trust it to be any good, so she continued to brush it off of her spine. The red bulb at the center was centered in her mind. "Do you know why she is so agitated lately?" The purple unicorn beside her asked. "Even with all the research that I could do, I couldn't find anything. That's why I called in an expert." She said with a smile. "SHE?" Lotus asked incredulously. "That thing is intelligent?" Twilight only nodded, and Lotus sighed in frustration. "It looks like Blightpetal, but I'd need to get in there to be sure." The leafy-green earth pony replied. She gingerly stepped forward, and, finding herself not crushed or eaten yet, she began to walk forward. She pushed deeper, dodging the flailing vines, nearing her target. The enourmous, gorgeous bulb in the center taunted her. She knew each and every species of lotus, but this one was unique. Special. There was no other like it, in all of recorded botanical and mythological history. Lotus deftly evaded a pushing vine, leaping forward and diving under a sweeper. It was like she was a little filly again, dodging all the little moving things on the playground. She jumped again, this time over a wall made of the creeping vines, and turned to see how far she had gotten. It was roughly five feet. "This is gonna take a while." She muttered to herself before turning forward again. A vine came swooping down, which she narrowly evaded by rolling beneath a different vine. Thankfully, she realized that the plant in whole was smaller than she had hypothesized. She was almost within reach of the bulb. She reached out to steady herself, when she found her vision begin to darken. In a panic, she turned to see the persistant white vine taking root in her spine. It was right about then that she screamed, and shook wildly, hoping to dislodge the vine. She reached back, nearly blind now, and ripped the vine from her back. A sickening pop came out, and Lotus's vision returned. She looked at her back, which caused her face to shift from victory to horror. The vine had been stripped away, but there were a few roots laid in her back, which were incredibly sensitive. When she poked at one, one of her legs shot out, kicking a nearby root. "That can't be good." She murmured before continuing forward. She had made it. Her prize, the bulb which tempted her lay before her, and she gently began to peel her way to the center. Layer by layer, lotus petals the size of ponies fell to her. She smirked as the petals became fresher, whiter with youth. But her smile of sucess drooped away. The petals didn't have blightpetal, and no other signs of distress could be seen. She carefully began forward, before her legs collapsed under her. She looked up angrilly, and she saw the white vine, manipulating the roots in her spine. The vine lay back down, once again rooting on her spine, and now it took complete motor control. She wanted to scream, but no sound escaped her lips. She could only watch in horror as the darkness swirled around her eyes, and a pervasive silence struck her ears. Out of the darkness, a metaphysical beam of illumination struck her mind like a spear. It almost fealt like the worse headache you've ever had, save for the fact that it also brought a lightness with it, as if the pain was more of a pleasure. It plowed through her memories like a sledgehammer, bashing its way through anything stopping it. Then, as abruptly as it struck, the sensation vanished, and she could feel the mind of another. Zyra! Lotus could "hear" Twilight scolding somepony. You don't just paralyze somepony like that. I told you I was bringing in an expert to diagnose your condition. I never agreed to this! Came a much quieter rebuttal. But you said you weren't feeling well. Lotus here knows all about lotuses. That's why it's her name. Do I look like a lotus to you? Gah! What would you know? Nothing! You know nothing about me! Zyra's voice grew steadily louder, until it was booming with pent-up anger. I am nothing like the simple plants she studies! We may look alike, but that's all you ponies do: label others. Whatever doesn't fit in your happy little world has to go away. I've heard of it! And you can't deny it. What of the changelings, huh? They're different, so they have to go! And how about Vladamir? Lotus could feel Twilight's cringing at each passing point. You should have asked Rarity about him more than you did. Just because you saw him manipulating blood, that makes him evil? What else had he done before that point to make you distrust him? Nothing! All because of a stupid label, Haemeomage! Bah! Lotus and Twilight could feel something, at the edge of their minds. A sort of burning fury, which brought with it a chilled malice. With open, unseeing eyes, they saw the blackness become stained with something... red. It was color in the form of emotion. Zyra! Twilight snapped. Zyra paused in her diatribe for a moment, cooling down suprisingly fast. The red tint left, and soon they could feel the pressure release. I'm... I'm so sorry. I don't... I don't know what came over me. Zyra said, withdrawing further. It was like the incident with Diamond Tiara... She whimpered, voice quivering. Well... It's alright now. At least you didn't thow us. Twilight responded, laughing nervously. What's wrong, Zyra? Something is bothering you, and I want to help. I... I... I don't want to say. Zyra replied. It's a foalish desire, nothing more. It isn't like I'll ever achieve it, so I should just try to forget it. Wait, what was it? Twilight asked, before she heard the distinctive pop and her vision returned. Shaking her head, Twilight looked beside her to see Lotus, sleeping soundly. "Well, might as well make you comfortable." Twilight murmured as she lifted Lotus in her telekinetic aura. -+-+-+-+-+- A loud pounding at the door roused Twilight from her quick nap. She looked down to find a nice, face-shaped impression in the pages of the book she had been reading. Thankfully I didn't drool, Twilight thought with a smile. She quickly trotted downstairs, calling "Coming!" each time the knocking came. Before Twilight was on the ground level, Zyra reached out and opened the door for her, and a light blue blur slammed into Twilight, knocking her down the remaining few stairs. "Twilight!" Rainbow dash panted. "You won't believe what just happened Rarity's been hurt and there's no time to explain I took her to the hospital but they said it's looking bleak and she wanted us all to be there so we need to go right now!" Rainbow barrelled through the sentance, panting slightly the whole time as her lungs tried to catch up with her. "Rainbow, calm down. If Rarity's been injured, Zyra needs to know. Rarity is her only family, you know." Twilight said, poking Rainbow softly. "Alright but hurry because we don't know how much longer she'll be awake and she wants to see us all before anything bad happens so I'm going to go get the others and please for the love of Celestia hurry!" Rainbow's mouth moved almost as fast as her body as she dashed off, heading in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight pulled up next to Zyra, who laid her pasty white tendril along Twilight's spine. Zyra, I have some bad news. Twilight began, before the piercing light lanced into her mind, telling Zyra everything in a moment. Zyra's voice was determined, and louder than normal. Take me to her. She commanded. -+-+-+-+-+- "Ah. It's good to see you all." Rarity whispered weakly to the assembled group. "I didn't expect things to get this bad, that's for certain." She said, laughing slightly before choking back a cough. She cleared her throat, and smiled. "At least I prepared. There is a vault beneath my home, buried beneath doormat. The combination is 3, 12, 99: Sweetie Belle's birthday." Rarity sat up and looked around. "Is Zyra here? I can't see her." As if on que, The thin white vine creeped up through the window, prompting a smile from Rarity, and a shiver from the majority of the others. The vine effortlessly snapped into place on her spine, and Rarity's vision darkened. Zyra. I just wanted to say Enough. Zyra interrupted. You arent going to die on me today. Rarity could feel a sensation of weightlessness, and soft sounds, similar to the voices of her friends. Zyra, what's going on? Rarity asked, fear creeping into the back of her mind. Nothing much, Zyra lied. In reality, a lot was going on. After the pale tendril had crept in, and the groups' guard was down, Zyra had lashed in with two of her thicker, main vines, and wrapped around Rarity, pulling her through the open window. The group, once removed from their stupor, had shouted their protests, but the shock rooted them to the floor, unable to move as Zyra drew her farther away from the window. Rainbow had lept out, just to be stopped by a new mass of tendrils. The lot of them rushed to the window and watched with shock as Zyra pulled Rarity into the large lotus bloom in her center. Rarity smiled as the soft warmth ran along her fur, then frowned in confusion, realizing she hadn't felt this before. Zyra, Rarity asked, Where am I? With me. Safe. Zyra cooed, cradling rarity inside her bulb. The soft rocking motion of Zyra holding the others off was comforting to Rarity, who began to feel sleepy. Zyra... I wanted to say goodbye. Rarity said, her mind slowing as sleep began infiltrating her mind. I'll see you in the morning, Rarity. Zyra comforted, before laying Rarity down on the inside of the bulb. Zyra felt Rarity's mind slip into sleep, and Zyra focused. You will see the light of dawn, Rarity. You will. Zyra reassured, not sure who she was comforting. -+-+-+-+-+- Rarity felt an etheral light grace her eyelids, and she smiled. Peace, She thought. A soft, feminine voice called out to her. "Hello, Rarity. I'm afraid to tell you that you are dead." Rarity opened her eyes to see a pale tan pegasus, dressed in a simple white robe, with a golden laurel, not unlike the one she had designed for Rainbow Dash's gala dress. "I know darling." Rarity said. The angel smiled back, her golden eyes glimmering. "My name is Pennance. When I walked the streets of Canterlot, I was a judge. Often called, the fairest of the fair, I made sure that each decision I made, no matter how big or small, was done fairly. Thus I earned my place here, as the gatekeeper for souls. All I have to do is weigh your soul, and I will tell you where your destiny lies." Pennance smiled, and reached out a hoof. She grabbed a tiny, glimmering light floating beside Rarity's head. The spark was put on a traditional two balance scale, which it floated above, yet clearly imparted some weight. Pennance reached into her robe, and withdrew a glowing pink spark. "First, we weigh lust." Pennance said, dropping the pink spark on the empty side, which immediately plummeted. "Good. Good." Pennance stated, withdrawing the pink spark. Then, she pulled a green one. "Envy next." The moment the spark touched the scale, the scale's tray snapped off, falling through the cloud they were standing on. "Oh my," Rarity said, looking over the edge and watching it fall into the darkness. "I'm terribly sorry about that!" She stated again, turning back to see Pennance laughing. "It's fine. I always have a spare scale for special cases, like yours," Pennance said with a smile. She pulled another scale up, but a frown crossed her face. She pointed a hoof at Rarity, who looked down at her body. Wrapping around her, but not yet touching her, was a large, green tendril. Just as she realized she might be in danger, the tendril clamped down, and yanked her off the cloud, pulling her into the darkness. -+-+-+-+-+- Rarity awoke to darkness. She could feel a stiffness that had saturated her body, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move anything. A general feeling a panic pervaded her mind, and she began flailing at the walls of her mental prison. To her suprise, she heard a loud ouch, and immediately calmed down. Help! She called, I can't do anything! A new voice, dark and brooding sounded. Really! Another mind to fill up your mind? Are you insane? When there was no response, the voice let out an aggrivated sigh. She still can't hear me. Fine. I can wait. Until then, there is always you to torment. The voice said, and Rarity could feel a burning gaze fall on her. Suddenly, the voice screamed. You! It shouted, the voice oozing with anger. It was you! All along! You! You you you you youyouyou! Rarity could feel a seething hatred drip from the voice, and her mind's eye characterized it as a spike-toothed maw, dripping red droplets of loathing. Excuse me, but I don't believe we've met before. What did I do to make you hate me? Rarity asked, trying to disguise her fear with bravery. Excuse me, but I think we have! The voice shouted. Do you not remember annihilating me? Toyed the voice. Vlad! Rarity shouted, her mind brightening. Oh, how I thought I had lost you! Where are we? How have you been! Oh Enough! The voice cried. No, I am not that pitiful, disgraceful whelp Vladamir. I am the more powerful, guiding force. Perhaps you would better remember me with my dark armor? A flash of memory hit Rarity, a memory of her being thrown across the room, her looking up at the observer with fear and confusion. Her own memory of the incident flashed, showing the darkly armored Vladamir smirking down at her. Realization surged through her, and the voice laughed wickedly. Yes. The voice whispered, chuckling. Me.