//------------------------------// // Chapter 28 - *Insert Portal song title here* // Story: A Bhaalspawn in Equestria // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// The amalgamation of shadows stared at the broken chains in Tartarus. "He was here. Tirek. Greed, Pride, Wrath. He was here for so long, but recently left." The creature looked to the doorway, and there was an audible sniffing sound. "His scent, his presence, it permeates this place, but only in recent time did it go that way...and it did not come back. He escaped." The creature sighed. "Why do they never make it easy?" And as the creature of darkness left Tartarus and slid the doors closed behind it, it cast one gaze over to Cerberus' form and snorted. "Be thankful we left you alive, dog. For we will need you to guard this prison when we put Order and Creation in here." Cerberus merely let out his version of a groan as he lay against a nearby tree that hadn't snapped under his weight. He'd been flung into several to be beaten into submission. He'd failed in his duty... The creature stalked off, and not half an hour later, a squad of royal guards showed up to see that Cerberus lay defeated. From there, they would extrapolate that Marketh, or more accurately, the thing Marketh had become, had been here, bested Cerberus, and taken what he wanted from the prison before they could get there. While technically true, and it would send Celestia and Luna into a tizzy, it was also inaccurate in the sense that Marketh hadn't gotten everything he came to Tarturus for... ----- Tirek groaned. He needed magic! That solar nag had taken all of his power when she imprisoned him. He'd managed to get by by stealing magic from the foliage and small animals, but today was to be different. Today, he had been stalking a pony that had recently used a corrupting artifact. That would only make it all the sweeter when he drained her... The pony grumbled to herself as she walked along one of the many 'safe' forest paths. The sound of the forest around her unnerved her, true, but the Great and Powerful Trixie would not particularly mind until the rustling came towards her. And then, the forest went silent, which was quite probably worse. There was the sound of steady hoofsteps, and Trixie turned in multiple directions before she placed it: Whoever it was, it was coming through the forest from the west. There was a sudden rushing sound, and Trixie whipped around to see some sort of pony-creature running at her. The thing exuded an aura of malevolence, and she backed up a touch, eyes widening. This felt far worse than being under the Amulet's control. Far, far worse... The sounds of the creature running at her did not lessen, they increased to the point where they sounded like a stampede. In fact, it was rather loud for one creature, wasn't it? Almost like there was- From behind her, a growl was all the warning she received before a creature seemingly made of shadows and silver jumped and tackled the thing to the ground. Trixie stared, slack-jawed, at the sight of two monsters fighting in front of her. She had no idea what they were, but she knew a certain lavender unicorn who might... And then the shadowy one of them spoke, and all thoughts of bringing either one back to that town left her mind in favor of getting the buck out of there! "Tirek. General of the Centaurs, last of your kind. Magic-eater. Pride, Greed, Wrath. Destruction requires you for it to be brought to bear upon this realm." "FOOL!" Tirek bellowed, which was impressive, considering his stature didn't seem to lend itself to bellowing. "I serve none! And you interrupted me from my snack! I will destroy you, then her, and then proceed to that solar nag!" "It was not a request, Tirek." And then Tirek's body turned ashen grey before it broke apart into tiny particles and collapsed. What little was left was blown away on the wind, and the creature growled before it seemed to...grow outwards. The shadows that made it up became thicker somehow, more defined, more...bulky. As though they were far more solid. It seemed intent to match the minotaurs in terms of raw strength...and horn count. And then it drew itself up and looked towards Mt. Canterhorn, and growled. "Order, Creation, We come for thee." ----- Everything was just about perfect in Ponyville. These days happened more often than they didn't, but nobody paid attention to them, not really. It was just another day to run around and do things. Twilight had been in the middle of a particularly large tome detailing how Sombra had risen to power and what, exactly, those powers were. Hey, considering that Sombra was where the current debacle started, she thought it prudent to try and understand his shadow manipulation, along with any weaknesses his darker magics could have. She was making excellent time, too. And then the screams of 'MONSTER' permeated into her mind, and she drew her head up before her pupils shrunk in panic. "SPIKE!" The baby dragon rushed downstairs. "What is it, Twilight?" Twilight shook her head and began penning a missive. "I don't know, Spike. But if the townsponies are crying monster, then I'm going to inspect it. If I'm not back in ten minutes, or if I scream your name again, send this message to the Princess." The message was simple enough. A suspicious call of monster had arisen, her thoughts on what it likely could be, and a request for aid. She rolled it up and placed it on the desk, then galloped out the front door, heading towards where the screams were loudest. She was not prepared for what she saw. A behorned, shadowy, bipedal creature, with portions of it gleaming silver. The eyes were slitted crimson, and if it had a mouth, she couldn't see it. She could hear it, though. It was growling incessantly. And then it spoke, and she could only recall all the times she and her friends had faced down evil. "Begone, little ones, we shall institute our rule soon en-" Then it caught sight of her and howled. Twilight did the first thing that came to mind when it came lumbering after her: She teleported back to the library and all but shoved the scroll into Spike's face. "SenditsenditSENDIT!" A burst of green fire had the scroll aflame and off to Princess Celestia in an instant. In the next, there was a thumping noise, and Twilight instinctively cast a shielding spell on the inside of the Library. The thumping kept up for a second, and then the voice came back. "Twilight Sparkle. Student of the Sun. Creation, Order...one day, perhaps. Come forth, little mare, and be dealt with!" Twilight managed a shaky response. "I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you." A pause, and then it responded again. "Actually, it is. So long as you are separated from your friends, the Elements of Harmony cannot be brought to bear on us." There was a flash of light from outside, and the unmistakable tone of Celestia, and an angry Celestia at that, was heard through the walls of the library. "MARKETH SHADEBLADE, CEASE AT ONCE!" "We are Destruction now, whole and complete, Order! And we will HAVE THIS WORLD!" The sounds of a furious battle came from outside, and then there was silence as the sounds tapered off. Presumably, the two were combating one another, and Celestia was leading that creature away from Ponyville. After a minute, there was another flash, and Luna's voice could now be heard through the walls of the library as well. "Twilight Sparkle, are you well?" Twilight held her head to the door and flattened one ear against it. "Princess Luna?" "Are we not friends, Twilight? Just Luna, please." Twilight chuckled a bit. "Alright Luna." Twilight lowered her shield spell and cracked the door open. Not only was Luna there, but Cadence as well, along with the box that held the Elements of Harmony. "Cadence! The Elements! Luna...what is happening?" Luna sighed and looked at the box. "Marketh Shadeblade has been meddling in forces that no mortal should be meddling in. True, he appears to be ageless...or age-locked...or some such thing, which is probably why he is still alive, but the influence is clear. His inner demon, Sombra's remains, Nightmare's tattered scraps, and sister believes, Tirek as well, have banded together under one banner to create a creature of unfathomable darkness." Twilight's mind boggled at the implications. "So wait, that thing calling itself Destruction, and when Princess Celestia called it by Marketh's name..." Luna nodded. "They are one and the same...or at least, they were. Sister believes that Marketh is too deeply buried, too far gone to be found anymore." Twilight looked from her friend to her old foalsitter and cocked her head. "But you two..." Cadence smiled softly. "We think he can still be found. We've been in his mind, Luna more than most, and can attest to the fact that it's very strong. Given the fact that the Elements worked on most of the beings he's taken into himself, along with the fact that we never tried it on him directly, we should give it a chance, don't you think?" Twilight nodded rapidly. "Yes! The Elements are the strongest artifact and magical power for good and harmony in Equestria! If anything can help him, it'll be them!" And the trio went out to find Twilight's other friends... ----- Within the mind, the war was total. Tirek's body may have been weak, but his spirit was strong, and he took no side save his own. The only one that came close to his level of power was the Slayer, so the Nightmare and Sombra stayed away from the fight that was to come. The demon and the centaur traded blows back and forth, and neither could gain the upper hand. Below, the boy had nearly finished his work. The three books were almost all repaired. The blue one was his life on Earth, the red one was the memories and instincts of Marketh Shadeblade as they had been given to him upon his entry into Equestria, and the green one was his memories of Equestria. But there was one page left, and it flitted about above him, not affixing itself to any book. Curious, the boy reached out and willed the page into his hand, then smiled as the title made itself known. With that last bit of knowledge in his grasp, his memories were complete again, and his mind could be his own, once the squatters were gone. He looked up and snorted at the thought of waiting. Suddenly, he was the size of a Titan, and all around him were the villains and their little contest. Tirek stopped mid-punch, and even the Slayer stopped growling. This wasn't the mortal he was used to pushing around... "I...AM NOT...AMUSED!"