//------------------------------// // Basilisk Battle Royal // Story: The lone stallion // by Lunaexcelsior //------------------------------// Luna quickly jumped up to her hooves and began the pursuit, leaving Darkrim alone in the Element room. She walked silently, using the supporting pillars as her ‘cloaking device’. As she approached the library she could make out the sound of a serpentine tongue. “Where is it?!” the voice became more and more irritated by each passing second. Luna positioned herself behind the entrance to the library, just so the serpent couldn’t see her. She could hear Radifus tossing books aside and slashing, from time to time, at the ancient bookshelves, nearly destroying centuries of precious knowledge held inside of them. Luna slowly continued to move out of the doorway and into the room, causing the Basilisk to stop his search. “Why if it isn’t the scent of our dearest night guardian?” the serpent smiled politely as Luna came into his vision. “Radifus, I presume,” Luna said looking at the beast with a determined look on her face. “In the scales and spikes, Ma Cherie,” the Basilisk spoke elegantly ‘bowing’ his head. “I can see thou moved from scaring ponies in their dreams to ravaging ruins. How progressive,” Luna spoke with animosity towards the creature in front of her. All of the fear she felt turned into pure concentrated hatred, although Luna did not know why she felt it to such degree. Maybe it was the horrid glimpse of her Nightmare past in his glinting golden eyes or perhaps it was just the way he held himself in her presence. The inflections in his voice and the movements of his body in her presence revealed that he considered her an unworthy adversary. A weakling! Still Luna couldn’t let her emotions come forth. She could clearly notice how this monster would enjoy her rage far too much so she had to stay calm, and collected in the presence of this abomination. Radifus just smiled his slimy grin as he noticed Luna’s inner struggle. “What can I say?” Radifus bantered on trying to push correct buttons to upset Luna, “I do adore the artifacts of this place. They have a certain charm,” Radifus continued to tease as he opened up Edward's book. "My dearest Princess. How cute," Radifus condescended to Luna. It was slowly starting to get to the night regal. She anticipated him to be as ravenous and rabid as the night she met him, but he seem to be much more calculated. “I must apologize for my rather rude assault in the woods.” Radifus continued slowly slithering towards Luna, “It was quite crass and brutish of me to sneak up on you like that, but do tell,” the serpent said with a devilish grin, “How did you enjoy the sweet dreams I gave you and your soldiers? Were they all you hoped for?" Luna’s nostrils flared, but she kept her composure as she laughed right in the serpent’s face. “They were as pleasant as my stay on the Moon,” Luna said with spite “but they did manage to teach me something,” she continued as she walked circles around Radifus. “Oh,” the Basilisk spoke with interest “And what might that be?” Luna smiled slyly. “You are nothing more than a coward,” Luna said as Radifus looked at her in shock. “Yes a coward. You couldn’t face me head on, so you took your underhoof tactics, sending your student to distract me while you snuck behind. And when that failed, you simply tried to defeat me on your own playing field, not even realizing that I was the ruler of that plain. Face it you are nothing but a pathetic coward, hiding in the shadows, hoping they would protect you! Pathetic!” Luna finished with distain in her voice. Every word Luna spoke hit harder and harder at the Basilisk whose rage was uncontainable. Luna could see he was about to strike, as she slowly prepared her stance. But instead of a destructive feral attack the Basilisk simply laughed. “You amuse me, princess,” he spoke with much more fire in his voice “You call me ‘pathetic’ and call me out for hiding in the shadows, but who was it that fell for them? Who was it that was controlled by her shadow for more than a millennia? Please princess, spare me the hypocrisy. You call me ‘a coward’ in a faint attempt to enrage. Well if that’s what you wish, then I will be glad to show you!” The Basilisk screamed those last two words as his golden spiked tail slashed the air between them and nearly hit Luna. Barely dodging that strike, Luna quickly rose to her hooves and pointed her horn at the Basilisk, who was still trying to get his tail out of the ground. Her horn became infused with dark blue energy as a beam shot right out of it and blasted towards the serpent. The Basilisk quickly noticed the beam and with extreme speed slithered away from it, causing it to hit a wall behind him. As quickly as he evaded the deadly beam, Radifus quickly pounced at Luna, unhinging his jaw, as if he were to swallow her whole. In the nick of time Luna managed to escape the wide and jaw of this monstrosity which looked more like an Ursa trap than a mouth. The Basilisk clamped his teeth together as he hit the ground. Luna flew up as high as she could, but Radifus had other plans. “Minions of the shadow land orchestrate your dark powers! Come forth and destroy the princess of the night!” the serpent roared As the Basilisk spoke , his horn glowed a sickly green color. Luna noticed that as he spoke small, slender beings, consisted of pure dark energy with pure white eyes started to rise from the ground. Each creature looked the same; very slander, consisted of dark air like substance like they were spirits from the darkest corners of Tartarus with sharp, jagged teeth and dark feathered wings. There were at least a dozen of these slimy buggers and Luna knew she couldn’t fend off all by herself. She shot at few with her concentrated beams, causing them to fade, but for each she destroyed, two more seem to crop up. Luna looked around for anything she could use to at least stop these creatures. Quickly noticing the armored ponies standing around her, the dark alicorn formulated a defense strategy. She used her magic as hard as she could, slowly breathing life into the suits of armors. Suddenly the elder stone ponies began to come to life infused with dark blue light emitting from their eyes. The figures moved slowly into a formation, making the spectral ghouls stopping in their tracks. Luna stood behind her terracolts as Basilisk stopped his spectral beings. It was a standoff, each creature staring another. “Waiting for dramatic effect, I see,” Luna spoke to the Basilisk. “Only for a bit,” the serpent spoke with distain “Destroy them!” “Stand your ground terracolts!” Luna commanded as the shadows rushed towards the stone guardians. The massacre began as the shadow’s claws dug deep into the terracolt’s armor, even penetrating it and crushing the stone horses. However, the fatalities of stone guardians were minuscule when compared to the shadows they banished. Aided by Luna’s magic the shadows began to retreat. The Basilisk’s patience was slowly fading. “Enough!” He yelled unleashing a destructive barrier. The barrier eradicated his shadow army and even pushed back the terracolts and Luna. As Luna got back to her hooves she noticed her stone guardians lay shattered on the floor. “Rest in peace my brave soldiers. You did well,” she thought to herself. She noticed that the Basilisk was slowly running out of steam. “What’s the matter?” she teased Radifus, “Can’t keep up?” “I am just getting started,” Radifus smiled as his golden tail slashed at Luna. Luna tried to fly away from it, but she was just that one moment too late as the crescent spike slashed at her and sent her flying into the Element room. As Luna came to she noticed Darkrim raising up to his hooves and rushing over to her. “Princess, are you- -,“ his voice fell silent as he noticed the dark green serpent slither into view, “Radifus! What have you done to her?!” “She interfered with my plans. What did you think I would do?” Radifus said, launching a new attack on the weakened Luna. He charged at her with full force, but Darkrim interfered, shooting a red beam of magic and striking Radifus right in the jaw. The wicked serpen was distracted for just long enough to allow Luna to rise up to her hooves. The scaly beaqst looked at Darkrim with vengeful eyes as he constricted him tightly. “I will teach you to disobey me you pathetic worm!” The Basilisk hissed at Darkrim. The exiled prince tried to run as fast as he could, but the vile serpent constricted him tightly, causing him to gasp for breath. “Release him at once!” Luna yelled as she got up to her hooves. She quickly launched a beam of dark blue energy. The blast took almost all out of her, but it seemed to have no effect on the Basilisk’s harsh scales. “I do apologize my princess, but that will not be possible”, Radifus smiled, “He must be made aware of the error of his way and punished for it,” the Basilisk finished quickly slithering away from Luna as she fell to her knees, panting from exhaustion. As the Basilisk slithered, Luna could hear Darkrim, kicking and screaming for a while. Exhausted and defeated, Luna laid on the floor. She felt tired, bruised, and battered, but not defeated. As soon as she regained some of her energy, Luna got up to her hooves and rushed out of the Castle. She gave a quick glance around the surrounding area, quickly noting that the serpent had been long gone. Once she reached that conclusion, a small smirk danced on Luna’s lips. Her horn gave off a pale blue glow as a giant map unfolded right in front of her eyes. This was the map of the Great Canterlot area which included the Everfree forest and Ponyville. A glowing red dot appeared in the subterranean area beneath the Everfree forest. Luna examined it closely as the red dot still appeared for a few seconds to be moving before coming into a complete halt. “I’ve got you now!” she thought to herself. The dark alicorn slowly walked around, in search of a ground level opening. She knew the Everfree forest like the back of her hoof and knew that there were a few strategically placed underground entrances positioned all over the forest. Not wanting to waste a single moment, Luna darted in search of the nearest entrance to the underground. It wasn’t long until she came across an opening, conveniently positioned behind a few bushes. The night guardian took one glance at the surrounding area and she noticed that the clearing where she first met the infernal serpent, wasn’t far away from her. “No wonder he was able to appear of thin air,” Luna thought to herself as she descended down a narrow pit into the very bowels of Equestria. Using her wings, and a little bit of shield magic, Luna was able to gracefully descend down the treacherous fissure and enter the underworld of Equestria. Her horn glowed bright as she illuminated the damp walls of the caverns that surrounded her. Although Equestria did look quite stable on the surface, the underground was a pretty huge mess. Tunnels upon tunnels of both natural and hoof made construction seemed to stretch out into the darkness that surrounded Luna. She listened closely to hear any anomalies in the caverns. Drops of water dripped softly from the stalactites above and onto Luna’s back, making her tension rise by the hoofstep. Her ears pricked up as she heard slight, faint voices coming from the bowels of the cavern. Luna walked silently as not to alert the voices of her presence. The voices seem to become gradually louder and louder as Luna continued her trot. After arriving at a circular opening to a small clearing, Luna could distinguish the slithering tongue of the serpent and the deep voice of a stallion. She quickly turned off her light as she noticed a light coming from that opening. Hiding behind a nearby stalagmite Luna eavesdropped on the conversation. “I must say I am very disappointed in you, dear prince,” Radifus spoke calmly “Your actions have set back our plans quite a lot”. “I apologize,” Darkrim spoke “but you didn’t keep your end of the bargain either. You promised me no more ponies would get hurt!” The Basilisk sighed. “You are such a naïve little colt aren’t you?” He spoke with so much spite in his voice. “What do you mean?” The dark blue unicorn questioned. “Don’t you see? We are at war!” Radifus spoke vigorously, slashing his tail onto the ground, making Luna flinch. Silence roamed between them. “Why do you look so shocked?” the Basilisk spoke to the wide eyed Darkrim “You must have noticed that the tensions between the counties are rather high. Creatures are escaping from Tartarus and are being released into Equestria to shake their core. Surely you are aware of lord Tirek’s ‘escape’ and not to mention the release of the infamous Bugbear. Any day now, Ares’ forces will storm the gates of Canterlot, collapsing the Equestrian society and allowing the creatures of Tartarus to rise and take their rightful place. I am merely speeding up these plans.” Radifus completed his speech as Darkrim just shook his head. Luna’s heart raced as she listened to all this horror coming together. It was far worse than any nightmare she had thus far. An all out war on Equestria was a horrifying idea to think of. Suddenly she flashbacked to the last war before Celestia’s peaceful reign. She shivered at the mere thought of it happening again. Suddenly Darkrim snapped out of his shock. “Let me talk to him!” he stated proudly “I am sure I could change his mind and I can bet my life that the Equestria’s monarchs will be open to a compromise. We don’t need any more bloodshed,” Darkrim protested, much to Radifus’ dismay. “If only it was possible,” his eyes started to glow a bright yellow glow “but alas I have something different planned out." Darkrim suddenly started to feel weak. His knees wobbled and his head began to feel like spikes were driven through it. “What are you doing to me?” he yelled out as his eyes began to shut. Luna couldn’t take it anymore. She had to do something or the Basilisk would win. “Don’t worry. Soon it will be all ove--“ the Basilisk wanted to finish his spell, but a blue beam of pure magic hit him right in the snout, causing him to lose focus. The wicked serpent slithered back in order to recover, but as soon as he did that another strike of blue magic stroke him in the back. He hissed in pain. Darkrim watched in a haze as a dark blue alicorn stood in front of him, ready to defend the stallion like a mother Ursa protecting her youngling. “Hide behind the stalagmites!” Luna commanded “I’ll hold him off as much as I can”. Coughing slightly, the Basilisk spoke calmly, faintly attempting to hide his true rage, “Well, well princess. Fancy of you to drop so unexpectedly.” “I will not let you corrupt the soul of this young stallion!” she spoke defensively. It was no longer a battle of wits to her. It took on a much more serious tone once he mentioned that war. “It is not up to you to decide,” Radifus spoke with vigor in his voice “You have interfered with my plans long enough!” the serpent spoke as his horns and eyes glowed a bright yellow color, enlighting the cavern in a menacing golden glow. Beams of concentrated golden energy surged from the serpent’s horns. He directed a few beams towards Luna in a vain attempt to disable her. Seeing the beams approaching the night ruler concentrated all of her might and created a pale blue barrier, protecting her from the blast. Once the beams stopped, Luna lowered her shield, only to notice that the serpent has disappeared once again. Luna backed up to a wall, but something didn’t feel quite right. Suddenly she felt the ground beneath her shaking. Luna was forced to use her teleportation magic in the split-second she had before the serpent erupted from the ground. “Is that all you got?” Luna asked smugly as she conjured levitating blades and flung them at the menacing serpent. A glimpse of gold appeared in Radifus’ gaze as he dodged each dagger with ease. The night royal was too occupied at hitting the serpent’s head, that she didn’t notice shadows slowly conjuring up behind her. A minion of the shadow realm manifested behind her and held out its claws, ready to ensnare the night regal. As she stepped back Luna fell into the grasp of horrid beings behind her. She struggled and thrashed, but the hands of shadows only enticed her harder and harder. The Basilisk smiled as he slowly approached to Luna with a hypnotic madman look in his eyes. As this was going on, Darkrim hid behind a stalagmite observing the horrors unfold in front of his eyes. Fear, confusion and anguish weld in his heart as he tried to decide what to do. On one hoof he wanted to help Luna fend off the monstrous beast, but on the other hoof he didn’t know was he strong enough. “How could I stand up to him?” Darkrim thought to himself as his heart raced with fear. He saw the Basilisk capture Luna, but what could a lonely unicorn like him do? As he thought, Darkrim remembered how he wouldn’t be here without Luna’s assistance. Who knew what the Basilisk would have done to him if she hadn’t shown up. He had to at least try to help her! He owed her at least that much. Using most of his magic, Darkrim managed to conjure up a smoke spell, hiding him from the serpent’s golden gaze as he swiftly moving from a stalagmite to a stalagmite, hoping to reach Luna in time. As Darkrim rushed Radifus took his time. He had to recompose himself after using so much magic. It always left him drained too much as magic wasn’t indigenous to his race. “Well dear princess,” the Basilisk exclaimed, gasping heavily “You fought valiantly, but alas my shadows were stronger”. As he said those last lines, Darkrim managed to approach Luna. She looked back at him and smiled as she saw his magic hitting the shadow’s grasp and weakening it just enough for Luna to escape. “Good night, sweet warrior,” the Basilisk spoke as his golden tail blade rushed towards Luna. Right before it was about to hit, Luna teleported herself away. The Basilisk removed his golden spikes from the ground as he looked furiously at Luna. Luna was ready for a fight, but a red beam of magic hit the serpent right in the back of its skull, causing Radifus to slither back a few feet. As he came to, Radifus stared at the site in front of him; Luna was standing in her battle ready stance as Darkrim came from her right side. Luna glanced at him and shielded the banished prince with her wing, shining Darkrim a friendly smirk before they both faced the Basilisk. “Face it Radifus,” Luna spoke with vigor “You have been defeated. I know you don’t have enough offence magic left in you, so you might as well just surrender” she said triumophantly. However, the serpent wasn't paying mind to her words. His gaze was directed at Darkrim. “Your father would have been so disappointed,” he said and sighed. Darkrim wanted to attack him, but he had no time as the Basilisk used all of his remaining magic. “Oh no you don’t!” Luna screamed as she tried to stop the serpent from teleporting, but it was too late. A bright flash illuminated the cave as the green scaled serpent vanished into thin air, teleporting back to the depths of Tartarus from whence it came from.