//------------------------------// // The father's joy // Story: Abstract the dark's revenge // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// As the sun rose tiredly above the horizon, Crimson and the other minotaurs were placing foods and beverages into the lower portion of the vehicle, one that was fit for barrels and crates. The mares were all still tired from waking up early, except for Pinkie Pie, who was still happy about the party she organized last night. It seemed that a few of the minotaurs exaggerated with the ivy juice, and ended up with a massive headache in the morning. However, with the help of the doctor and his assistant, the two princesses managed to climb aboard the "ship". The group was almost ready to leave, when Crimson came back with a massive barrel that dripped with a red liquid. He managed to hold it on one shoulder, further proving how powerful minotaurs were. As Twilight wiped her eyes that pained of light and sleep, she managed to partially make out the red minotaur and the object he was carrying. "What is that, Crimson?" she asked with a rather loud yawn. "Something that we'll need when we reach the mountains. I will not speak of its contents." the red minotaur replied with a concentrated look. Crimson finally reached the back of his vehicle, and stomped on a portion of the deck. A tiny compartment flipped open, and it was here that the minotaur gently placed the dripping barrel. With another stomp, the lid slammed shut. He snorted, adjusted his armor, then went towards the wheel. A wave of goodbye, and they were already off. Somehow, Pinkie Pie found a marine's suit, and was scoping the areas with a telescope from who knows where. "Pinkie, where did you get those?" the minotaur asked while looking at the pony weirdly. "From my Pinkie basket. Over there." Indeed. A basket made from straw, and that was rather tiny, sat upon the deck. Crimson decided to brush this off as he felt some sort of bizzarety coming from this pony. Applejack, who was lying against one of the rails spoke up: "So, where're we goin'?" "To a nearby town to get some information on the dangers ahead. I already know of two, and the last one isn't pretty." "Really? Whats its name?" "Derby Creek." "Anything special 'bout it?" "Well, besides it being full of perverted stallions and some of the worst scum Equestria has seen, it's a rather quaint town." "Perverts? They say anything about me and I'll bash their heads in!" Rainbow shouted from atop her perch on the mast. "I must agree. Isn't their another area that wouldn't require us to pass such rustic areas for knowledge?" Luna asked. The moon and sun princesses had recovered quite a lot since the previous day, but, unless they retrieved their magic from Abstract, they would have to get accustomed to not flying nor using magic. It had proven hard enough with four glasses breaking after they tried to hold them without magic, so anything else would be extremely hard. "Unless you want to pass by a cemetery full of damned souls, I believe this way is the best way. Besides, I'm fairly known over there." Crimson said with a maniacal smirk. "What--" Celestia tried to say, but was stopped by Crimson. "Let's just say that the only way to find it is to follow a ghost wielding a shovel. He isn't mean, and wants to save the damned souls at that graveyard, but whatever force is trapping them there has also enslaved many of our guild's comrades. Until we can find out what is causing their entrapping, no one is going there. Especially not me. Now please, just relax and enjoy the trip until we reach that place. Oh! I almost forgot. I have a plan that will scare them senseless. Simply walk into the open, and I'll wait for the first slur to come out. Once it has, I'll walk out of my ship. perverts will know that you're with me, and they should shut up for the remainder of our stay there." "I would hope so. Such ruffians cannot be in the presence of a lady such as myself." Rarity said with a bounce of her mane. Crimson rolled his eyes in response. It had been a few hours. For a "close" town, it was pretty "close" for the trip. Finally nearing it, everyone could see that the grassy greens had left way for a rather dusty, sand colored landscape. They were near the mountains, and the town was very ugly. It looked like there were shacks from a post-apocalyptic era created from metal fences and whatnot. The shacks were all stacked upon each other, giving a strange yet colorful appearance. The clay hills this town was built between reached extremely high, and the shacks almost reached the top as well. Several creatures walked among the town's desolate appearance, the creatures being mainly pony and Wolf beast. Wold beasts are simply bipedal wolves similar to minotaurs in practically every aspect of construction. Crimson grinned and turned the crystal of his ship back on. "Okay. You know what will happen. If I come out when they least expect it-" "Then they will leave us alone. I hope that your plan works." Rarity spoke in a worried tone. "Who knows." With that, the minotaur returned within the boat's cabin and closed the doors. Soon enough, the ship slowly came to a halt as it approached the town entrance. Everything walking within the streets stopped as they saw the tall white machine halt with a small kick of dust and a rumbling noise. The characters there were all gruesome looking and stared questioningly at the occupants of the ship. While silence made its way back across the town and the landscape, Applejack bucked the button to lower the ramp. "Well, we' ain't gon' go nowhere without gettin' down from 'ere. C'mon girls!" "Girls?" a creepy looking stallion said. This character, like many others, wore torn black clothing that seemed to be made from leather, a material that ponies did not want to have. He was missing an ear as well as an eye. This dark brown and tan colored stallion had several Wolf beasts and other stallions around him. As Twilight and Fluttershy came down, Fluttershy gave a nervous smile, and the nauseating whistling started. "Ugh. What a bunch of non-educated ruffians." Rarity said in a huff. "Non-educated. Well I'z tink that maybe yas be likin' some gruel," a voice said from nowhere. "Some wha-DEAR EQUESTRIA!" "AHAHAHAHA!" the crowd mocked. Rarity had gotten a bucket of questionable substances poured on her, and it stank terribly. The bucket came from a shack built into the canyon wall, but the perpetrator disappeared. "These folk are not at all kind," Celestia spoke in a toned fashion. She was still having trouble getting used to her predicament, although her sister was already used to the situation. "Anypony want to say something to my friend there?!" Rainbow yelled from her hovering position. She was about to smash someone's face in. The same stallion who noticed the word "girls" spoke up with his mouth missing quite a few teeth, although most of them were replaced with fangs: "Yeah! I'd love to roll around in th--" A loud thump interrupted the possibly 'crude' remark. "You'd love to what?" Crimson said while holding an axe currently lying down the ground. The hilt was about his height, with the axe-head being double-sided and adorned with little silvery spikes. It was a massive weapon. "Th-th-they're with y-you?" the stallion stuttered. Everyone nearby began to shake and back away. "Hai! Now then, how about you leave these lovely ladies with me? I'm escorting for our trip." "Yes sir! Let's get out of here boys!" The streets pretty much cleaned themselves of anything, save for the massive dust cloud that was created in the upheaval. Luna crocked an eyebrow and walked in front of the minotaur to ask a question: "What did you do for them to fear you so? You are far from being a bad character." "They learned that I fought the Pum'Pon and won the battle." "What?! But no pony has EVER managed that." Twilight spoke in fear as her voice cracked. "Not without the Piut. I pulled it off. It seems that it is too stupid to...understand certain things when angry." "You didn't hurt it badly, did you?" Fluttershy worried. Crimson gave her a warming smile. "No. I don't not kill any form of animal. I may still eat meat, but others do it for me. Twilight, if you could, try and conjure a spell that will clean our friend here." "What is wrong with taking a nice, warm bath?" Rarity asked with a tilted head. "Look around you. See how nasty this place is? Now then, do you REALLY wan to see the bathrooms?" Rarity began to show a sign of horror on her face. Already that the place was dusty enough, but seeing the state of these shacks... "I hate ta say it, but Crimson 'eres right. I dun think it'd be the best thing ta do." Applejack said with a reassuring tone and a slap on Rarity's back. The mare coughed a bit, but still gave an irritated smile. "Good. The others and I shall go to the tavern over there. A good informant works there. He'll be able to give me some info regarding our path." Twilight began to think of some ways to get the gunk out of her friend's mane. Meanwhile, Crimson slammed the door open with the blunt side of his axe. This place was full of scum who became white the second they saw the red minotaur and continued with their occupations. The place had a western style to it, of which Applejack took a good pleasure in. Crimson went to the counter and sat on a stool as he slammed his fist on the counter. A Wolf beast, obviously quite old, was cleaning a glass with a white cloth. "Oh. It's you. Whadda ya want?" "I need to know what lies on the paths from here to here." Crimson pointed on the map. Suddenly, the Bartender dropped his glass and began to shake. "Y-y-y-y-y-you're going to the Nyubet?!" The music stopped and everyone turned around to face the group. Fluttershy shied away. Some of them nodded in astonishment at these 'hard-core' characters. "Fine. Come with me in the back. You'll get your information. You have pay?" "Hai." "Then come. Uhh, hold on. Sulphur! Come take care of the clients here!" A golden colored Wolf beast, of a rather young stature, came running up towards the counter as Luna, Rainbow Dash, Celestia, and Applejack sat on the stools. "Yeah. Give us the strongest drink ya've got!" Rainbow Dash shouted with her tongue sticking out. "One Viper venom? All righty then. Don't come yelling that I didn't warn you of the effects." "Pah! I'm the fastest flier in Equestria. I bet I can deal with something like that." "Fine. Here you go." Four glasses with a black bubbling liquid slid across the counters and in front of the four ponies. Celestia immediately turned it down while Applejack and Rainbow lugged it all down, only to run out of the tavern in burning screams. The entire tavern laughed their hearts out. "Oh my. Luna, you aren't going to drink that are you?" Celestia spoke in a panicking tone. The fallen moon princess stared at the glass with a concerned look. "C'mon missy. Surely, you can drink this?" "Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" the others began to roar in rhythm. Luna finally grabbed the glass with both hooves and let the entire black substance slide down her throat, before she slammed the glass so hard on the table that it broke into a million pieces. She stared into the abyss for a moment. Silence reigned within the "palace" as everyone leaned towards her. Sulphur was thrown against the wall opposite of the counter by an extremely loud burp coming from the moon princess. Everyone began to cheer for the princess, who blushed a bit. "Luna! Where are your manners? You are a princess! You aren't supposed to act like that!" "Pah! Let her be. She's having fun. You should too , m'am." the Wolf beast said in half-laughing as he got back up from the counter. *slam* "I demanded a drink that would make my head spin! Not some cough syrup!" "OOOO!" "Hey Sulphur, give her the ten-twenty. Let's see if she can cope with that!" a Lizard creature shouted. "W-w-what is the 'ten-twenty'?" Celestia asked in shaking. "It's the most powerful drink of Derby Creek. No one has managed to drink even a drop of it without vomiting out their entrails." "That's horrid! Luna, please don't drink that." Celestia spoke after putting a hoof on her sister's shoulder. However, her sister had a stern look that showed that she wasn't a quitter. Luna had always a bit more..."stallion-esque" than her sister. The Wolf beast slammed a tall glass full of a mostly golden substance that vibrated with a bright colors. The moon princess took in the drink like a shot despite it being a huge glass, causing a collective jaw dropping. She said nothing afterwards. "Um...Princess Luna...are you alright?" "..." "Come to think of it, why do they keep calling you two like the princesses of the ponies?" Sulphur asked while leaning over the counter. "It's just because we look a lot like them and our cutie marks seem to be quite similar as well." Celestia replied with a smile. "Seems legit." Crimson came back out of the back room, done talking to the bartender. "Thanks for the info. I shall be going nowwww...Luna?" The minotaur tried snapping his fingers in front of her, but she wouldn't react. The bartender egan to panc a well and lifted the small plank blocking the entrance to the other side of the counter. He began scolding Sulphur: "What did you give her? Viper venom?" "Yes." "Are you crazy?!" "No. She called it a cough syrup, so I gave her the ten-twenty." "You gave her the...how long has it been?" "A few minutes. Why?" "The only ones to have properly drunk that destroyed my counter after the backlash. I'll get the money ready." the Wolf beast said in an irritated fashion. "What do you--" The discussion was interrupted by Luna smashing herself against the counter. "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That's the best drink I've had in centuries! Oops." Luna had indeed broken the counter in two, with the impact center being torn to shred and pieces. "Right. We shall take our leave here, then. Have a nice day." The three remaining mares left the bar and reached the ship, where a sick Applejack and Rainbow Dash were lying down on. Once everything was in place, Crimson started the boat and began to drive through the town to reach the mountain pass. He was greeted by the majority of the bar mates chasing the vehicle with laughter and cheers. One of them even said: "Hey Luna! If you ever come back, let's have a drinking contest!" "I'll beat you all at it anyways." "We'll see. Bye for now." "Goodbye!" The ship had entered a tunnel carved within the mountains. It was illuminated by quite a lot of torches on the walls. "Well, it seems you've already made quite a name for yourself, Luna. You seem very good at making friends. I wouldn't answer if I were you. Go into the stock in the back. Not the last door, the one near the entrance to the cabin, and rink some water. The ten-twenty requires water to be drunk afterwards, otherwise...well, let's just say bad things happen. Now then, we're going to reach the mountain pass. Let's just hope that it isn't there." "What's 'it' Fluttershy asked." "You'll see if it appears." It was already the next morning within Canterlot castle. The sounds of work still resonated throughout the grounds of the fortress as ponies switched shifts on their work. Abstract may have just begun his work as a tyrant, but dead slaves were pointless, and forcing somepony to work for you when they are tired would incite a rebellion, despite the spell he had cast on everything. These things still needed to eat and sleep, so he was tending to that very carefully. Within the still destroyed throne room, where the two crystals containing the crystallion's sons sat, floated an orb high above the ground. It was a twisting and contorting orb of darkness surrounded by floating crystals which elevated and lowered calmly while smaller orbs of dark magic spun wildly around their "planet". The giant orb of darkness gave out a mildly loud humming, the tinier orbiting orbs adding to the sound. Suddenly, two white flashes appeared within the orb. They observed their surroundings and looked down at the two crystals. A few cracks and an upping of the lower portion indicated joy. In another flash of purple, the orb exploded, throwing the crystals into a circular position into the crumbling walls. Abstract had just awoken from his slumber and was flapping his six wings maniacally to get his energy flowing and wake him up faster. Eventually, the crystallion landed gently upon the ground, although he tumbled a bit towards the two crystals and held himself upon one of them. He felt light-headed. He was night used to his part meditation, part sleep. After all, he had been planning his attack for ten millenary. He had finally created more armies and had already sent them out to conquer the surrounding cities. He was happy with himself. The shadows would spread, and through the magic he would absorb from the world, he would recreate the crystallions, and he would forever be their emperor. But first, he had to think smaller. Conquering Equestria was the first step, and it would be very hard. There were quite a few races capable at magic, and that left out the vile monsters of titanic proportions living everywhere. He would have to create his own, one with monstrous abilities, but who would stay under the crystallion's control. Taking in a "deep breath", Abstract opened his eyes with uneven blinking and stared at his two sons. If he had stayed in the room the previous day to see what had happened, then he would've noticed that there was something about their appearance. A notable bizzarety was that they had grown much faster than previously expected. They even seemed to have "manes", despite the lack of true manes on any crystallion. The self-proclaimed emperor was too blinded by the feeling of joy that he never had in his miserable life. His face seemed to contort and crack difficultly to give some form of smile as he let his foreleg run slowly down the left crystal. The cloud accompanying him left his body and swirled around the jewels. It did not like the occupants. It knew that something was off about the two growing crystallions, and it needed to warn its master. All its efforts were in vain, as Abstract simply became furious and swiped at the floating smog, who retreated from the attack. "You shall not ruin the only moment of happiness that I have ever had. Together, my sons and I shall conquer and destroy everything in this world, and we shall recreate everything in our image!" The crystallion shouted with a "clenched" hoof in the air. The two growing entities moved a bit as if reacting joyfully to what he said. They also seemed to be somewhat irritated as well. Abstract noticed this, but he just couldn't put his hooves on the "why" of their irritation. However, he began to speak to them: "Yes, my children. TOGETHER! The shadows shall engulf all as the crystals expand. Our race shall finally have the lands they rightfully deserved, and you two will help me in attaining this feat. Hmhmhahahaha!" Knowing that it was no use, the cloud seemed to grumble in sadness, then laid itself gently between the two crystals. If it couldn't get Abstract to destroy them, then it might as well make sure that whatever comes out does not harm its master. The crystallion noticed this and, with a crock of what could be an eyebrow, said in an interrogative tone: "You wish to watch over them in my absence? Hmmm...fine. Good. I know that you cannot do anything to them, and I trust that you will redeem yourself with-" "My emperor!" a guard shouted as it burst through the wooden doors. Abstract's left eye twitched. "What is it?" "The city of Manehatten proves to have many unicorns and defenses. We require your aid in defeating them. This will also allow you to stock up on their magical essence." "Hmmm. I WAS going to levitate you into the air and tear you in two..." The stallion flinched and began to shake with a cold sweat. "Bu this news you have provided me is quite forthcoming. You shall not die today, and I MIGHT just give you some small portion of darkness for your powers if you continue sending me these messages. Now then, direct me to this meager city, that I may tear it down to naught but the roots of the dead plants beneath its foundations." "Yes, your excellency." the guard said with a bow. Both soon left the room, leaving it empty with the cloud that settled itself cozily upon the ground. As it began to fall asleep, it heard the giggles of females, and shot upwards to check its surroundings. It looked around, and thought that, despite the impossibility, the giggles came from the crystals, only to see four pegasi mares carrying baskets full of crystals through one of the holes in the ceiling, and readying themselves to fix the throne room. They were laughing. Casting this event off, the cloud went back to resting between the "jewels".