Destiny
Upheaval: Reckoning
Chapter 56: Destiny
“Twi-!”
Applejack’s furious cry caught in the back of her throat and burned there along with the leftover vomit and nausea. She choked back a sob and turned her attention on the monster that made her fail to save her friend. Puddinghead's foul mouth had opened to snake-like proportions. No foulness erupted from the maw this time, just a hideous gurgling sound. To Applejack, it sounded as if the ghost was laughing at what had happened.
The golden disc fluctuated just one more time before Applejack let the outrage spur her on. Twilight wasn't dead. There was no way that Twilight was dead. Whatever it was that swallowed her was going to suffer the worst case of indigestion it ever had in its ghostly life. Then, it was going to spit Twilight back out, covered in disgusting ghost-vomit, but as good as before.
Not everypony seemed to have noticed what had happened. The arrival of this sixth ghost had stirred the others into a frenzy. Rainbow Dash and Sablesteel had been keeping Hurricane busy with their alternating attacks, but they now had to dodge desperately as the ghostly pegasus hacked about in a berserk rage. Several sky blue feathers flew up and floated in different directions after a particularly close swipe.
Pansy...Applejack couldn't find where the other ghostly pegasus was. What she did find was an exploding mass of spectral flesh chasing after Fluttershy, who had stopped using her powers to slow the enemy down in favor of just trying to stay out of reach. A fleshy pod, possibly a leg, twisted in the dark and looped towards Fluttershy. The mouth at its end snarled, slavered, and snapped. Pinkie Pie was galloping towards Smart Cookie, but Applejack wasn't sure what she could accomplish.
“Twilight!”
Rarity’s cry was enough to show she had noticed. There was little she could do, however. Some of the many, many gems attached to Platinum had detached themselves and whirled into a storm of jagged, crystalline shards. The few openings that both Rarity and Lion Court used to attack with their blades had disappeared.
Applejack only had that short moment to take in all their problems before she had to concentrate on her own predicament. She had lost Twilight, and that meant the loss of a lot of magical support. Without any shields beyond the disc, every attack their enemies made now seemed twice as dangerous and twice as frightening. The mass of fire, for all its worrisome blaze, now seemed desperately needed. Whatever Twilight was up to now, it better be quick or they might all be dead. She glanced at the icy thing that had swallowed her friend, hoping for something, anything, that might be able to help pull Twilight out.
The new arrival had to be the ghost of Clover the Clever. She was the only companion that hadn't showed up. But the thing didn't even look like it was ever a pony at some point. It resembled nothing more than a huge chunk of glowing ice. A mass of tentacles sprouted from one part of it, like a stubborn plant that had take root on a boulder. The cold that wafted from the thing chilled Applejack to the bone.
The gurgling laugh from Puddinghead turned into the rumble of building gas. Applejack knew that there was no more opportunity to think things through. She had to do her part. For now, she and the rest of her friends had to survive. Once Twilight fought free, they would regroup and fight back.
Rainbow Dash could only watch in horror as the tentacles sprouting from the mass of ice grabbed Twilight Sparkle. Even that moment, however, was rushed. She had to look away and concentrate on her safety. Hurricane had picked up the pace and his wild swings, and the many awkwardly positioned blades coming out of his body were making it more and more difficult to dodge, let alone find some way to attack. One blade whistled past her wings, cutting loose a few feathers.
Seeing Hurricane fight even harder did little to dampen Rainbow’s spirit. She had plenty more to dish out. Despite flying desperately for a while now, she was as fresh as when she started this climb, or descent. She felt something solid every time she dove in there and kicked. Even her crossbow bolts, whenever she could find enough purchase to reload and aim, were sheathed in the weird light that had enveloped her. She could see Hurricane recoil with each strike. These chipping attacks would eventually wear her enemy out. She just needed time, time that apparently wasn't going to be given to her. The others looked like they were beginning to tire. Nearby, Sablesteel was diving in, covering for her while she hovered there, torn between continuing this pattern or rushing in to save Twilight. Even the thorn was breathing hard. “Sablesteel!” she called out.
“I have eyes, Rainbow Dash!” Sablesteel called back. “Go help your purple friend!”
Rainbow didn't need to be told twice. She didn't know this thorn that much, well she didn't really know any of them, but they were dependable when it came to fighting. Sablesteel’s blades were coated with some kind of glowing liquid that hurt even ghosts and she was really good at dodging. Rainbow wanted to see how another thorn was doing, but she clenched them tightly for a second and refocused. Sablesteel didn't need to destroy Hurricane, she just needed to keep him busy. ‘Hold on, Twilight!’ she thought.
The ice looked immense, even from a distance. It looked big and hard enough to take on a catapult shot head on. Rainbow didn't have a catapult, only her hooves and a crossbow. A sonic rainboom could probably shatter a large portion of it, if she was willing to turn into a red splatter floating in the abyss.
That didn't matter right now. It certainly didn't stop Applejack from flailing at the ice with that fancy silver chain. She flapped her wings harder. If she had to beat the ice apart with her hooves, so be it.
It was the harsh, glaring white light piercing even her eyelids that finally told Twilight that she was awake. She opened her eyes and expected the worst: an icy tomb, a ring of enemies surrounding her, the gates to the Eternal Herd. None of those things greeted her once she could see.
Twilight stood in an opulent, circular chamber, the sort meant to host a meeting or dinner for a good number of ponies. At the center was a round table of fine oak wood, trimmed with gold and surrounded by twelve chairs of the same material and construction. The surface was intricately engraved with pictures of bunches of grapes, apples, various grains. Twelve sets of gold dinnerware lay ready for use. A deep blue carpet, soft enough to leave Twilight’s hooves a little tingly, covered the stone floor. Various tapestries, each depicting some setting of every day pony life: from a harvest, to a city scene, to some kind of magic contest, hung over the walls.
The sudden transition from the fetid darkness and confusion of fighting to this opulent place left Twilight reeling and wary. This had to be a trap. She didn't see a door or windows. For all the luxury it showed, this chamber was still a prison. She cast her first spells. The place was heavily enchanted. Once she could get a feel of what spells were in effect, she could get to work.
“Cease your pointless pawing at my spells, pony, you’re not going to leave this place.”
Twilight froze and turned around. There was a pony in the room with her now. She hadn't felt any teleportation spell, or heard anything before those words. “Who are you?” Even as the words left her lips, she already knew the answer.
“Clover,” was the quick reply. “The Clever to many. The Prophet, the Great, the Wise, the Powerful, the Fair...they've accumulated over the course of my rule.”
Twilight did indeed recognize Clover the Clever through the light purple coat and the angry, entitled glare from Starswirl’s final moments. Clover was far from the hideous shade that the other companions were reduced to. She didn't look incorporeal and no sign of decay touched her. Her straight, dark purple mane was cut short and slicked back for efficiency, in sharp contrast to the elaborate curls of Platinum. Gone was the simple, burlap hood and cloak. Instead, she wore a majestic, woven cloak of blue, with intricate, swirling patterns of silver, like watery waves, threaded through the whole piece. Clover the Clever looked like she had taken a piece of the ocean itself and turned it into a cloak and hood. Twilight expected a set of equally marvelous shoes, but Clover’s legs were completely hidden by the long, sweeping cloak.
As for what she said, Clover’s words didn't sound like boasting. It sounded more like irritation over having to introduce herself. No outrage marred Clover’s face, not like that time with Starswirl. It was all imperiousness. She talked like she was the greatest pony of all talking to a worthless peasant. Twilight was happy to change the mood. In a way, she was glad that Clover was more lucid than the other companions. This was not an opportunity to be missed. “What about ‘the betrayer’?” she asked. “Did that also just accumulate?”
“I have never betrayed anypony,” Clover said. Some of that outrage was back now. Clover wasn't the only one feeling it either.
“You poisoned Starswirl the Bearded!” Twilight shouted. “You betrayed your master!”
“I punished him for his betrayal!” Clover snarled. “A teacher is supposed to elevate his student to greatness, not drag her down!”
“He was trying to save you,” Twilight said, her voice lowering. It wasn't fear that cowed her. It was pointless to turn this into a shouting match.
Clover waved a hoof dismissively. “He was trying to save himself. He was trying to save his legend, to keep me from surpassing him, even if it meant hiding the way to our heritage.” She gestured around her, to the many tapestries of what looked like life in the Old Kingdom and its riches, before turning her gaze back to Twilight. “We have always been meant to serve the Deep Father. Starswirl tried to prevent that and died for it. Now, it is your turn to serve, little pony.”
“What do you want from me?” Twilight asked. She crouched low, her horn glowing for a defensive spell.
“I want your body.” Clover took a stepped forward. “It’s strong and warm with life. We are powerful like this, but limited. We can do so much more alive” Her horn started to glow as well. Her magic was nearly the same shade as Twilight’s, but the crackling purple energy was tainted with wisps of black twisting around it like worms.
“I’m not giving you anything!” Twilight fired her first spell, a simple but powerful bolt of force. She wasn't sure yet as to what Clover the Clever was capable of, but the reaction to this attack should be telling.
The bolt fizzled against a black and purple shield that materialized at the very last second. Clover looked barely annoyed by this brazen and direct attack. “I wasn't asking,” she said. “Know your place, lesser servant. You should be honored that your sacrifice will accomplish so much for the Deep Father’s chosen.”
“I wouldn't sacrifice a bent paper clip to Oceanus,” Twilight said. She didn't like how easily Clover dealt with her probing attack, but she was far from beaten.
“For each blasphemy you speak, I will make the transference more painful,” Clover said. The magic around her horn flared up and Twilight braced for an attack. However, just as quickly as it had brightened, the tainted light faded into nothing. Twilight raised an eyebrow, but she already had a shield up. Clover’s lips twisted from tightly-pressed annoyance to a confident smile before she began to speak in a loud voice. “O, Deep Father, your faithful daughter implores you!”
“Shut up...” Twilight was tempted to drop the shield and attack. Clover wasn't using any magic, at least not the sort of she could feel. And those words...she hated them. They reminded her of a heritage she wanted no part of. How could Clover the Clever serve a monster like Oceanus with such fervor? A quick blast of lightning should shut this ghost up. Yet, the way Clover spoke also filled her with foreboding. This was not magic, but it was something.
“Here stands before me one of your wayward children! I beseech you for authority over her, so that she may know your greatness!”
A strange sensation touched Twilight’s horn, like a point of cold that washed down her body with an oppressive chill. That was it, detectable magic or not, she was under attack. She aimed and cast her spell, expecting a sudden lightning bolt to the face to surprise even Clover the Clever in the middle of such a melodramatic speech.
Except the spell didn't cast.
Twilight glanced at her horn. The magic was still there, still ready to be cast. What had happened? Did Clover-
“Kneel, Twilight,” Clover said.
Twilight knelt. She had already completed the motion before she even realized that her body was moving on its own. She tried to stand, to jump out of this humiliating pose even if she had to rip her knees out. Her legs refused. They did not even tremble out of effort. It was only after her third futile attempt did she notice something else. “What did you do to me?” she asked. “And how do you know my name?”
“The Deep Father knows all his children by name,” Clover said softly. “It was given to me so I may command you. As a parent gives authority to the most responsible child to manage the unruly ones, so I have been given power over you.”
“That’s ridiculous! You can’t-!”
“Speak in a respectful tone!”
“You can’t just have power over me.” Twilight ground her teeth when her voice came out calm and polite.
“Daughters obey their father,” Clover said. “Struggle all you want. You cannot fight the natural order of all things.”
“What do you-“ Twilight choked, the only sign that she was trying to gain some control over her voice. That she was able to speak at this point was likely because it amused Clover. “What do you want from me?”
“We've been over that,” Clover said. “I will trap your soul in here and make use of your body.” She telekinetically willed Twilight’s face close to hers. “Enjoy the last sensations of warmth, Twilight.”
Rarity’s mage blades spun erratically above her, barely able to maintain the slow moving circle she kept them in when they weren't flying around. She scraped off a crystallized portion of her torso with one hoof, wincing as the fresh wound stung. The increasing number of agonizing, raw, bloody patches made it clear that something terrible had happened. She didn't have to look around to guess what it was. Moments ago, she had relied on occasional shielding from Twilight to deflect the worst of Platinum’s crystallizing attacks whenever evasion failed her. That shielding support was gone and Platinum had gone berserk.
Waves of purple energy wafted from Platinum’s horn like malevolent clouds of sparkling lights. Rarity had been falling back more and more. Even with the enhancements she was still figuring out, it didn't look like she had done much damage. Each of her blades served as the core of a brilliant, translucent blade of energy. It annoyed her that she wasn't clear on the specifics of how to manage this new development in her mage blade wielding, but she was happy to use it on the fly for now. Also mildly annoying was that Lion Court had looked at her new weapons with nothing more than a pleased smile instead of shocked disbelief.
As for Lion Court, he wasn't faring a great deal better than her. His pristine red coat, which he had been so careful to keep spotless earlier, was tattered in places. Blotches of darker red showed against the fabric. Despite his injuries, his smile did not even waver. He galloped past an advancing cloud of magic and stood next to her. “It seems we’re at the end of our rope, my dear Rarity,” he said. “The Element of Magic’s bearer is dead and we’re not far behind.”
Rarity took a breath as deep and as long as she could. The cold of the abyss found a way to seep into her lungs and crush them when Lion Court said those. She wanted to stab him for being so flippant, but she swallowed the indignant rage. That couldn't be true. Even if Twilight’s support had suddenly stopped, that was impossible. Something must simply be distracting Twilight and this sadistic stallion was simply insisting on his mind games even during such a dangerous time. She suppressed the urge to look around for Twilight as well. She couldn't afford to look away from Platinum while keeping the other companions in her periphery. Another cloud of crystallization came at her, forcing her to gallop to the side. To her annoyance, Lion Court kept close. Must he do this now? “You’re not bothered about dying down here with us,” she said.
“My death is seven hundred years overdue, my dear Rarity,” Lion Court said. His blades flew out, somehow still finding gaps amidst all of the clouds to stab at Platinum. “I would have preferred more of a spectacle and several more pints of blood, but this will do.”
Rarity reconsidered following through with her blades. Even with her enhancements, she wasn't going to bring down this ghost with more direct strikes. She needed more, they all needed more. She could hear the desperation among her friends even without looking. “Cover for me,” she finally said. Lion Court merely nodded and charged Platinum despite the clouds coming his way.
Rarity finally tore her eyes away from Platinum to search for Twilight. The enormous chunk of ice came into view. Applejack was galloping a circle around it, dodging clouds of yellowish haze. Great gobs of vomit everywhere, splashing against the golden disc in front. Applejack answered by hurling her chain, not at Puddinghead, but at the chunk of ice. “Twilight!” Applejack yelled. “I know you’re still alive! Come on out, we need you!” The chain struck the ice hard like a whip, but did not even leave a crack.
‘So that’s where she is,’ Rarity thought. She sent all of her blades towards the ice, converging the thrusts into a single point. “Twilight!” she shouted. She glanced to her sides. Her cry and Applejack’s seemed to have caught the others’ attention as well.
The slurp and snap of a dozen fanged mouths coming at her left little to Fluttershy’s imagination as to what would happen if she slowed down. She didn't even have enough leeway to glance back at the hideous shape that Pansy had taken.
Even fleeing for her life was a confused and difficult balancing act. She flew as hard as she could to escape Pansy, but she knew better than to fly too far from where the others were. Terrifying as being caught by these ghosts was, the thought of becoming lost in this abyss, to wander this blackness forever, was more so. From a great distance, Rainbow Dash and Sablesteel circled the horribly maimed Hurricane while Longstride shot at Smart Cookie.
She had also circled in time to see Twilight being pulled into a giant chunk of ice by long, writhing tentacles.
Without a second thought, Fluttershy winged towards the ice. She felt a few drops of drool land on one of her legs as one mouth barely missed its bite. Clover the Clever. She knew that on instinct, felt it more within her than through any kind of deduction. That thing was Clover the Clever, the miserable instigator of all of this...this towering pile of shit.
Fluttershy flapped her wings harder, ignoring the strain on her shoulders and her wildly beating heart. The cold wafting from the ice was nothing to the sudden boiling in her blood. Clover the Clever had swallowed her friend. The nerve of this worthless, overweening, primping, little worm of a filly! She was this world’s version of Solis Coruscaria, a clingy nag prostrating herself before Oceanus, leading a cult of slimy, self-absorbed ponies pretending to serve when all they truly wanted was to gorge themselves on his power. They were all the same: Solis Coruscaria, Lunalux Umbra, Abysso Spatiator, the Six Companions...sycophants, slaves, parasites, the lot of them. She was going to take a lot of pleasure breaking Clover the Clever and showing her what it really meant to wield the power of Oceanus.
Fluttershy’s wings slowed and her eyes widened. The sudden stream of angry, even cruel, thoughts felt so natural that she barely even noticed that something strange was going on. Why were these names so familiar? Why did it matter how they served Oceanus?
A hiss followed by a spit from behind, signaled that Pansy was catching up again. Fluttershy flapped her wings harder, wincing as the burn in her muscles worsened. Slowing down had been a bad idea. It wasn't just Pansy catching up to her, fatigue was as well. She shut her eyes for a moment. ‘Please,’ she whispered mentally. ‘I need more. I need more than just slowing them down with the Stare. Lok’horus, other Fluttershy, who or whatever you are...please.’
Again, there was no response. Again, the prospect that she was that other Fluttershy came to mind. In that case, she didn't need to beg some other pony...or thing. She could do it herself. The outrage still simmered within. She need to put these pretenders in their place. She had stood ready to serve the very moment Prince Oceanus was born. She had never needed to be impressed by his prowess, or his position as firstborn and most likely heir. And, when the moment came, she cut the tie in hopes of saving some still redeemable fragment of him. When the power of abyss finally consumed him, Oceanus may be reborn somehow.
Fluttershy shook her head. The ice was coming ever closer. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, were attacking it, leaving the Thorns to deal with the other ghosts. ‘That’s not me!’ she wanted to protest. ‘I've never met Oceanus or these other ponies! I've never served him! I don’t...’
“Fluttershy!”
It was Octavia who had called out. She had stopped playing that disruptive, slow piece and turned towards Pansy’s direction. Her bow moved rapidly in short, sharp motions. Instead of a pleasant or ominous melody, a clash of dissonant notes rippled through the air. Something struck Pansy from Octavia’s direction, shoving the ghost back as if she had been struck by several boulders. The attack didn't do much harm, but it allowed Fluttershy to put some distance between her and Pansy again. A second wave of painful, clashing notes rippled through the air as Octavia pushed Pansy farther back.
The ice was barely more than a stone’s throw away now. Fluttershy looked at it and recognized the power of abyss, the sickened version of Oceanus’s power of water. The others were making little headway against destroying the stuff. They may as well be attacking an iceberg with salad forks. She had to do her part, but what could she do? The Eye of Fear was useless against unfeeling ice. ‘Slipshod, half-assed, patchwork assembly of Oceanus’s second-hoof leftovers...’ The outrage grew and she understood. There was more to what was left of Lok’horus than just the Eye of Fear. She had but to reach in. The ice loomed closer, but something else loomed from within. She had unleashed some dark thing in herself. The results of tampering with the power of Oceanus surrounded her. Was she going to risk doing even more than what she had already done? In the end, would she be joining these ghosts?
"It wouldn't matter one bit if you're the 'remains' or whatever of this Lok'horus. You are our friend and you've chosen to deal with this stranger aspect of you for all our sake. That is well and good enough."
Fluttershy closed her eyes and searched within. She had chosen to do this. For her friends, she would take in even this darker aspect of her. No longer did she try to hold back the memories or thoughts. Lok’horus’s power was still tainted with the power of abyss, but he endured pain, madness, and even being broken down further to do what many had given up on: to hold on to a tiny fragment of the power of water until it could be purified. Though this aspect of her was cruel and dangerous, this act of kindness, she admired. For her friends and for that goal, she would take in the last remnants of Lok’horus. A rising sense of power filled her. As she came close enough to touch the ice, she exhaled.
A stream of vapor exploded from Fluttershy’s mouth, striking the ice forcefully and causing several cracks to form. “Twilight!” she shouted as loud as she could.
It surprised even Pinkie Pie when she left the protection of Applejack’s shield to go after Smart Cookie. She didn't have much to throw at this pony-shaped machine. Or was it machine-shaped pony? She wasn't going to spend this fight hiding behind a magic shield, whether it was Twilight’s or Applejack’s. She had avoided looking at the ley lines earlier out of fear, but she now looked as hard as she could for ley energy to use. Ley energies were weak here, which was weird given that they were very deep underground. They should be surrounded by the stuff!
A loud, metallic grind signaled another attack from Smart Cookie. A pair of spectral circular saws flew at Pinkie from two different directions. She hopped over one, landed upside down on the abyss above her, and then ducked the second. She thought about just kicking Smart Cookie like what Dash was doing to Hurricane, but she’d probably just lose a limb or two without hurting this ghost. ‘What can I do?’ She was perpetually asking that question. Just as she had thought she found some means to fight back, she was back to square one.
The heavy helplessness she felt when Sablesteel hurt her wasn't there. Not this time. She remembered Rainbow Dash gently pushing her on when she had collapsed on their way here. Her friends believed that she had to be here. She believed so too. It was just a matter of finding out. She took a moment to look around. Something odd was going on. There was a giant chunk of ice that was likely the sixth of the Six Companions. Applejack was whipping the thing with her chain while keeping Puddinghead back with her shield. Rarity was stabbing at it, Rainbow was smacking it with her hooves, and it looked like Fluttershy was spitting on it.
The whiz of arrows flying and the soft thunks of their tips punching through ghostly metal, punctuated the noise of battle. With the others busy with the other Companions, Pinkie had only Longstride for help. His shots were unerringly accurate. Nearly ever joint and opening on Smart Cookie had, at least, one shaft sticking out. But they barely slowed Smart Cookie and Pinkie knew that Longstride did not have an unlimited supply of arrows. ‘Think, Pinkie! She’s a machine! Maybe there’s a button you can push to make her blow up!”
A trio of darts flew towards Pinkie, followed by two more saw blades. Without slowing down, she leaped, spun, and cart-wheeled past the deadly projectiles. Even without her twitchy tail or any other aspect of Pinkie Sense, it was getting easier and easier to pick out where these attacks were going. She ducked under the swings of Smart Cookie’s massive forelegs and glanced up as she ran. All she saw were more blades and darts coming after her. ‘Okay, maybe not a smart idea. Come to think of it, why would anypony bother making a button that would blow themselves up?’
“Pinkie Pie, if you have nothing to attack it with, move out of its range!” Longstride called out.
“Hold on!” Pinkie yelled back. She tilted her head, letting a dart fly through her mane. “I think I can find something here!”
For a moment, Longstride merely stared in surprise. The moment passed and he was readying another arrow and it was back to square one. Maybe it wasn't the machine bits Pinkie had to focus on. Underneath all that gadgetry, Smart Cookie was still the ghost of a ruthless, earth pony clan leader. Maybe there was...
The multi-colored energies coursing just underneath all the metal plating were suddenly visible. Pinkie hadn't noticed it before because she was worried about all the spikes and blades. Two more blades whizzed past her. Wait, did she dodge them or did Smart Cookie just outright miss? She didn't have time to fixate on that, however. She couldn't lose this train of thought.
Copper Mane had talked about the gift of channeling and how it was found in earth ponies. Though the lore of spotting it, bringing it out, and developing it was a secret among the true earth ponies, the actual gift for it could be found in any earth pony. There could be potential channelers among the chosen right now, dismissing their odd moments of channeling as silly little quirks. Pinkie shook her head. Anyway, Rock Maven was the strongest channeler ever so...
More blades flew at Pinkie. She was really getting bothered now. She swung a hoof and struck one blade, sending it spinning back to Smart Cookie. A spark of ley energy flew from where the blow had struck. ‘Huh?’ she thought. What did she just do? She stared in amazement as the blade she deflected struck Smart Cookie soundly, opening up a rip across the machine-pony’s flank. Wait, that was something too. Smart Cookie hurt Smart Cookie, so if they could...
A thunderous roar blew out the last of Pinkie’s train of thought.
“Get off me! Get your stinking, slimy souls off me!”
That didn't sound like a ghost. That sounded like Prince Terrato in his baddest mood yet. From where the shout had come from, a multitude of red points of light flew in different directions, with one heading for her. A rush of heat blew past her and towards where the ice was. ‘Oh no...’ It didn't have to take any Pinkie sense to know that something terrible was about to happen. Her friends were all in the path of that blast of heat. She galloped towards them at once. “Longstride, keep Smart Cookie busy for me!” she shouted without looking back. Every strand of hair on her body was rising. “Girls, watch out!” she yelled. Terrato's shout had also given them pause. “Scatter!”
The others did as they were warned. Pinkie Pie jumped to one side at the last moment. A great blast of heat flew past her. So intense was its passage that she cried out in pain. She looked at what had flown past and gaped.
An enormous, pointed shard of stone, the size of a pillar fit for the Royal Palace, and covered in glowing red cracks, struck the ice. The point penetrated deeply, sinking the shard almost halfway through. While the others stared, Pinkie was already standing next to them. She could see the thousands of cracks that pulsed with red light. The heat was almost unbearable. They had to back away to make sure that their faces weren't scorched. The frightening premonition was not gone.
“Watch out!” Pinkie Pie shouted again.
Applejack stood in front of the group protectively. The massive shard exploded with a fiery, blinding blast and a deafening boom. Pinkie ducked, covered her face, and screamed. The explosion was so loud that she didn't even hear herself. To her surprise, and relief, she didn't even feel any heat from the explosion.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack mouthed. With the blast still ringing, it was impossible to hear her.
The explosion had knocked the ghost dozens of feet away. More importantly, an enormous hole had been gouged into the ice. Pinkie didn't know why everypony was bent on breaking through this ice, but she quickly jumped in to attack it with her hooves. “Come on, everypony!” she yelled. “Just a little more!”
The others swiftly followed.
The numbing cold washing over her body made even consciousness a struggle for Twilight. Her body wouldn't do anything she wanted it to. There was no freezing draft or any magical signs. It was as if all the warmth within her was leaking away.
“So much vitality,” Clover said. “Wasted on a lowly, disobedient daughter.”
“Why...” Twilight's lips felt as if they were covered with a layer of frost. Still, that she could even speak meant that Clover enjoyed giving her this small freedom. Clover must be expecting her to beg for mercy at some point. “Why do you insist on serving Oceanus?”
“Because I am meant to. We are meant to. Has anypony ever planted an acorn and grown an elm, Twilight? The order of all things guides me. It is our destiny to take the Deep Father’s power upon ourselves. Who do you serve? Lexarius the invader and his ilk? Envious filth unable to bear that our father created such creatures of potential? Which one of us is on the wrong path, I wonder?”
“Look at where you are.” Twilight shouted as loud as she could, but her voice still came out polite. “You’re trapped in the edge of the abyss. You are not anywhere near Oceanus, certainly not by his right side. Your ‘destiny’ is a horrible fate your delusions of grandeur have brought down upon you.”
The confident smile finally slipped from Clover the Clever’s face. The same sort of slip that showed during the final moments of Starswirl the Bearded’s life. “You sound like my old master,” she said softly. Her voice rose when she spoke again. “Your prattle sounds exactly like that bell-wearing clown’s!”
“Don’t you insult him,” Twilight said.
“Then tell me, Twilight,” Clover said, her grin back although a little forced. “Tell me why he died a broken old stallion while I went on to achieve greatness! Tell me why you’re the one kneeling before me!”
Twilight wanted to put this mare in her place for her disrespect, her delusions, and, most of all, the monstrosity of what she brought down on her fellow ponies. If only she could move. If only she could stop herself from acting like some subservient little filly. Why couldn't she fight back? All this magical potential everypony else seemed to see in her, all the training and fights she had gone through...why couldn't they amount to anything against Clover’s strange power? Was this...was this truly the might of Oceanus? Was this unstoppable, unmatched force the fruit of giving yourself to ponykind’s so-called father? The thought of it choked out her anger.
“What’s the matter, Twilight?” Clover asked. “No answer? Am I going to drink the last of your warmth with you silent?”
It was more than just the cold that numbed Twilight’s body. More than just this mysterious power that kept her motionless. For one more time, she summoned every ounce of magic she could to break free of this inaction that Clover forced on her. She was supposed to be the bearer of the Element of Magic! The others had shown some incredible power harnessed from within them: Applejack’s shield, Rarity’s enormous blades, even Rainbow Dash’s strange resilience and nigh immunity to the burgeoning effects of the abyss. If she ever needed such a thing, now was the time. She strained internally, unable to clench her jaw or shut her eyes tight, she willed her magic to come forth, to break loose in a raw magical blast. Anything would do. Anything.
Nothing happened.
Drained and helpless, Twilight didn't bother saying anything else.
“I know that silence well,” Clover said. “Your loss was inevitable, Twilight, I stand in the full favor of our Deep Father, while you are all alone.”
Just as Twilight’s vision started to dim for what she knew was the final time, a powerful jolt sent both her and Clover sliding to one side. A wave of searing heat struck Twilight like a fireball blast. She could almost feel her fur ignite. She cried out, but even that cry was moderate and respectful. Tears sprang to her eyes, but the look of surprise on Clover’s face was one to savor. She wished she could see what had struck this room, but even turning her neck was impossible. The cold within her was still there, but this sudden heat fought it back just a little at the cost of severe burns.
“Wretches...” Clover whispered. “Even the simplest tasks and you-!” She turned her attention back to Twilight. “It is such a trial sometimes, leading this foals.” Her lips twisted into a smirk. “Six Companions they called us...ponies actually thought we were equal.”
“Twilight!”
Applejack’s voice, despite how faint it was, made something lurch within Twilight. Her friends. Her friends were nearby. She wanted to shout back, to tell them that she was fine...no, to tell them that she needed help. Clover was crushing her with the power of Oceanus and she couldn't fight back.
“Twilight!”
That was Rarity. It wasn't just their voices. There was a persistent clink coming from somewhere, the clink of metal striking something hard and brittle. Ice! The clinks grew louder with each strike. The look of annoyance on Clover’s face turned to concern. Though her lips remained unmoving, Twilight was already smiling within at the sight of this. Her friends were close and Clover was no longer so smugly assured of victory.
“Twilight!”
Other voices joined in on the chorus: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy...all of them were going to break her out of this place. The worry on Clover’s face continued to grow. It was enough for Twilight to try again. “You’re wrong,” she said. She didn't mind anymore that she was speaking softly. “You’re not standing in Oceanus’s full favor...and I’m not alone!” The rise in her voice fed the tiniest cinder of hope left. Clover’s power wasn't unstoppable. The cold lessened with her efforts. She wasn't going to let this ghost suck out her life just yet!
“Blasphemous wretch!” Clover hissed. “How dare you challenge me?”
“I can,” Twilight said. There was more than just the small bit of her strength left within that helped her. A soothing warmth came from the same direction as that fierce heat, washing over her like a soothing balm, and making her forget the burns on her hide. A pale wisp of light, gold like the disc Applejack could summon, seeped into the room. Other colors followed through a small, leaking crack across the room: pink, white, green, light blue...the light touched her and she grew strong from it. “You paint a pretty picture of yourself, Clover the Clever, but I see what you really are. You’re not the greatest of Oceanus’s daughters, you’re a ghost stuck between this world and the next, waiting for Oceanus to maybe notice you when he comes by here to get his weapon!” Twilight’s voice rose even louder. There was a tremble of exertion in her legs now.
"The Deep Father cares nothing for us. We are as mosquitoes to him, trying to nourish ourselves with his blood only to find it full of poison. He does not 'gift' pests."
Twilight stood up. The warmth upon her coalesced with the warmth within her, banishing the Clover’s cold. “Your amazing ‘authority’ is nothing more than fumes that you sucked from whatever Oceanus left behind. Don’t you get it? Your house of cards ‘everlasting kingdom’ rose and fell while Oceanus slept through it all! What are your leftovers compared to this?” She raised her horn and the magic surged forth. Not just her magic, the magic she shared with her friends. Bright purple arcs exploded from her, surging across the room, running through the floors and all the fancy decorations. A cry of rage escaped from Clover, who had raised a shield to defend herself from the falling debris and the blasts of purple magic. Twilight’s voice lowered, not out of any influence of Clover, but of her own volition. “You’re the one who’s all alone. No wonder you’re trapped in a tomb of ice. That’s what happens when you cut yourself off from others. You can’t even get help from your ‘companions’!”
“I’ll show you the kind of help I can summon!” Clover snarled. The folds of her cloak ruffled and stirred beneath her. To Twilight’s disgust, it wasn't legs the appeared beneath that cloak, but more vile tentacles. She wasn't even surprised anymore. Nor was she scared.
“That’s nothing.” Twilight listened to her friends called out. The clinking grew louder and louder, the warmth grew stronger and more comforting. A massive crack of melted ice allowed a myriad colors to shine forth. She reached out to them, turning their support into strength before staring down Clover’s crouching form. The tentacles slithered toward her menacingly, but recoiled when they got too close. “I’m never alone,” she said. “Where you've cut off ties, I've created mine. This is the end of your delusions, Clover the Clever!” Twilight reared up and raised her horn even higher, sending bright rays of light everywhere. She could hear more ice cracking and Clover’s desperate shout.
In the next instant, all the fine furnishings, even the walls, floors, and ceiling, simply winked out. Twilight gasped at the sudden transition and looked down on where she was. She was surrounded by blackness of the abyss again. Around her were enormous chunks of shattered ice.
“Twilight, you’re safe!” Pinkie Pie cried out.
A smile wide across her face, Twilight looked towards the ones that had helped her. She had expected smiles as well. To her surprise, they were all staring in awe. She looked at her hoof and found herself still enveloped in the same colors.
“Wretch...”
Where there was once a regal and powerful unicorn ghost, there was now a hideous, slimy monstrosity, like a snail dragged out of its shell and mixed with a squid. Bits of frost still clung to its glistening dark purple skin. It took a moment to find its head, which was the only thing that resembled a pony. “So this is all you've attained,” Twilight said softly. “After all those sacrifices you made, all the research you've done. On your own, this is all you got.”
“I spent my life following our destiny” Clover said. “I threw away everything to follow this one goal. Be smug for now, Twilight. How long, I wonder, before this path you've chosen crumbles and sends you plunging into this same abyss?”
“Even if I fall,” Twilight said, “it’s not to the abyss. Not when I have so many ready to catch me.”
Clover, or what was left of Clover, looked as if it was trying to attack, but all it did was flop forward. Its tentacles writhed and squirmed, but did nothing more than try to look menacing. Twilight didn't know if she should even bother to attack. What kind of damage could she inflict that could be worse than what Clover had done to herself anyway? “It’s over,” she said. “Call off the other companions and let us through.”
“Through to where?” Clover asked. “There is nothing beyond this abyss, Twilight, nothing but the Deep Father’s silence. Nothing but the closed doors to his true power. Until the time of his return comes, all who come here have come for nothing.”
“Black Rose...” Twilight whispered. Had she known? Did Black Rose lead them all here knowing that it would be a dead end? Or was she so confident in her power and skill that she expected to succeed where every other pony had failed? A hissing, burbling sound from Clover cut the musing short. She looked up in time to see Clover’s slimy bulk flying at her. On instinct she cast a spell, any spell that would repel this lunge. The lights around her flashed. With a pitiful groan, Clover fell back with a dull splotch.
“Curse you...” Clover said, her voice becoming more faint by the word. “You've won nothing, heretic. Lexarius the invader turned you from your destiny and you will suffer when the time comes...”
Twilight didn't bother replying. At the end of that last bit of defiance, Clover the Clever’s wretched form broke apart and dispersed. It was doubtful that the ghost had died, given that it was dead to begin with. Clover had simply dispersed into a powerless, scattered mass, still awaiting her “Deep Father”, who was likely just going to step over her on his way to the Foul Weapon. “That’s one down,” Twilight said. She looked around again. The others had shifted their focus from her to the other ghosts still rampaging around. True to their lack of harmony, the remaining companions didn't even seem bothered that one of them had been defeated.
The Thorns looked even more banged up than before. Twilight had no idea what had happened, but, seeing that all of her friends had ganged up on Clover’s prison to help her, the rest of the companions had to be distracted.
It was Applejack who managed to gallop towards her while the others returned to fighting the companions with the Thorns. “Glad you’re back, partner,” Applejack said. “We were taking a beating without you. I hope you still got plenty to throw!”
“Oh, I've got plenty alright.” Twilight squinted and winced, suddenly aware of a sweltering wave of heat coming at her from one side. “What is that heat?”
“Dunno,” Applejack said. “I think it’s Prince Terrato. He was bellowing earlier and threw that giant, burning rock at the ice. The crack it made was how we got you out.”
So Prince Terrato was nearby. There was little time to ponder that. Puddinghead’s oppressive stink was getting worse. True enough, the corpulent ghost was floating their way, her mouth already open to suck the two of them in.
“Stubborn stink-hole!” Applejack muttered. She spun her lassoed chain for another throw. Her golden disc shone brightly in front of her. “Any ideas, Twi? Smacking her with my chain doesn't seem to do much.”
Twilight didn't answer. She had nothing in her repertoire of spells to deal with the ghosts of the Six Companions. At the end of the day, she had relied on her friends to vanquish Clover the Clever. Even now, she was surrounded by the powerful energies drawn from her friends. With Applejack standing nearby, the light was reacting differently now, arcing lightly towards the earth pony as if it were trying to leap.
Applejack grunted when another stream of vomit struck her shield. The hiss and bubble from the sludge made it clear as to what would happen if any of the stuff touched them. The sheer amount made it difficult for her to attack with her lasso as well. Puddinghead was floating even closer, using her own vomit for cover in order to bring more of her stench to bear. Twilight’s eyes began to water again, the odor made her miss the icy tomb.
“A little help here, partner,” Applejack said between coughs. “She’s going to fart us to death like this!”
With the stink fogging up her mind, Twilight instinctively held her hoof out towards Applejack. The light sparked briefly then, with a brilliant flash, made the jump.
The next few moments were difficult to discern. Something happened to the golden disc. When the light touched Applejack, it flashed and shunted forward, bashing Puddinghead and driving the ghost back.
Puddinghead let out a long, horrified cry, Applejack shouted in surprise. Twilight herself let out a yelp, thinking she had just burned both herself and her friend in a reckless experiment with the odd aura around her. They soon discovered that the stench was gone and Applejack’s shield was still up. As for Puddinghead, the ghost was trembling and frozen. Large chunks of her had been seared away, including her entire lower jaw.
“Twilight...what was that?” Applejack asked. She stared in awe, then grinned. “And can we do it again?”
Twilight looked to her -still shining- hoof. “We will,” she said. She looked towards her other friends. “Time to finish this.”
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Updated on the 19th December? Well despite broken notifications this is an amazing chapter!
Excellent, it begins.
Twilight is back in the game, and with her Harmony power as a bonus. I really like that she can use it to superpower the other girls' attacks, it makes a certain amount of sense given the connection between the Elements.
Wooooo!
well...
here i am, waiting for the story to reveal Oceanus to be a real nice guy who wants the ponies to survive and bond together with friendship against all the other Alicorns in the herd who just want the mortals dead...
Finally, i can breathe again
Cool. It's nice to see that Twi's Element powers aren't going to turn her into a game breaker like what happened in The Immortal Game. Also, what happened with this chapter? It was riddled with typoes and grammatical errors.
Poor Clover, such delusions of grandeur...
Good to see this battle is going in the favor of the Mane6 plus the Thorns and that Terrato is close.
3729108 That would be just the sort of twist I'd expect Visiden to pull. However, given all that we've seen of Oceanus, I'm now expecting more of a Horus Heresy (from Warhammer 40k) type of twist where the main bad guy was actually corrupted by some lesser being playing on his insecurities, and given how much we've seen of that in this story...
I'm also totally expecting the King's Throne to be referred to as 'The Golden Throne', come on Visiden, don't fail me...
It is nice to see Pinkie finally showing some greatness. It was a long time in coming. Hopefully she can get the time to finish her thoughts. For some reason I thought she was going to try to turn the enemies attacks on to the ice to get Twilight out (due to the reference of their own attacks being able to harm themselves) but that is not the angel here I guess.
Oh well I will still wait for Pinkie to figure things out.
I'm guessing it's a trope to make the evil person arrogant, self righteous, overconfident, delusional, and more importantly, stupid. They always have to boast first when they are in a position of power.
“She’s going to fart us to death like this!” 
Me:
Correction time!
I think you hit the return/enter key accidentally...
I think you forgot the extra 'f' here.
I know you hate when people sugarcoat things, so I won't.
This chapter, and the two chapters before it, have been embarrassing to read. I really should've commented sooner, but I kept forgetting.
Seriously, I've seen old-folks homes break into livelier fight scenes than this! It's been three chapters, and we're still fighting the same people!? I wouldn't have such a problem with it if the fight was actually interesting. It's really not. Fight scenes should focus on action. I feel like that should go without saying, but apparently it doesn't. This multi-chapter fight scene has consisted primarily of useless pondering and shouting, instead of actually, y'know, fighting. The absolutely glacial pace of the fighting makes it a slog to get through. I expect life-or-death combat to be exciteing, but instead I'm left fighting to stay awake while Fluttershy takes an hour to fly anywhere and Twilight spends the entire time pontificating on the meaning of life and Applejack repeats herself, and repeats herself, and repeats herself.
Anyway, none of that made these last three chapters embarrassing. Sure, the combat sucked, but whatever. I can deal with sucky combat. Not saying it's a good thing, but I can deal with it.
What made these chapters embarrassing and hard to read was the vast amount of errors! Grammar errors, punctuation errors, and even fucking tense errors! Seriously, your're writing in third person past-tense! It's not all that complex! On the plus side, you didn't have any outstanding spelling errors. So good job on that front.
If you don't believe me, I can go and list every error from this chapter, but that would amount to a several-page long comment and I'd rather not.
I would much prefer if you would just take my word for it, and please, please find an editor! There are several groups on fimfiction for finding an editor, and I implore you to check some of those groups out. If not for your own sake as a writer, do it for our sake as readers.
Stop the pain.
So there you go, my unfiltered, completely honest, non-sugarcoated opinion. Hope it helps!
3744898
Just on the topic of the pacing for the past three chapters I thought I would bring up a counterpoint, as I had a similar conversation with one of my buddies recently. When discussing the chapter he also believed that the action was, perhaps for a lack of a better word slow. He continued by expressing that the fight lacked the urgency from Breaking Point's climatic battle.
On the other hand I rather liked the pacing for the past few chapters. The Six Companions aren't a group of common soldiery, and represent a unique challenge for the protagonists. For them to be dealt with any quicker or defeated through traditional methods of combat would seem at best odd, and at worst as a contradiction to the overarching themes of the narrative.
It's also important to remember that there are a load of characters in this engagement. Thorns and Elements and Companions Oh My!
If the battle wasn't broken down as it is currently, I feel that our perspective on the nature of this conflict would suffer negatively for it.
Don't get be a wrong. Awesome fight scenes are a total treat to read, and this series has some of the best to offer. But clearly the author has created the confrontation with the Companions to further explore something more than a simple "boss battle".
But hey this is just my perspective on the matter.
3748062
True enough. I'm not saying that the fight drags on purely because of length though. The real problem is that nothing actually happens. There's no real sense of escalation or of fighting these big epic enemies.
The story tries to say things like "Oh, look, the Companions are berserk now! Things are getting serious!" But then the fight continues exactly the same as it has for the past hour. It's just repeating itself.
You could seriously read a snippet of action from the start of a fight and compare it to a snippet of action from the very end (three chapters later), and they would be nearly identical. As I mentioned above, the story tells us that things are escalating, but the action never actually reflects the so-called escalation.
In short, I agree that a long-form fight scene was a good idea for these particular enemies. I just think it was a poorly executed long fight is all.
Another problem actually has to do with the fact that there are a lot of characters involved. Not that this is a problem in itself, but just that it could be handled better.
The narrative can only focus on one character at a time, and this is fine, but the problem is that all the other characters seem to disappear into thin air whenever the focus character isn't looking. Nothing ever happens in the background (apart from how the Thorns got beat up while the Mane 6 rescued Twilight. I'll give him that one.) The end result of this is that we see one part of the fight replayed six times from six different perspectives, instead of each perspective showing us the next part of the whole fight.
tl;dr
If someone were to read this story and just cut out the last three chapters entirely (minus the ascension of the tower and the part with Clover the Clever), they would still be reading the exact same story we all are. It's more fighting for the sake of more fighting, rather than fighting that actually progresses the story.
May I present to you, as an offering oh mighty author, the Upheaval: Reckoning opening theme. A parody, written by my humble self, of the House MD theme.
Lyrics:
Dark dark beauty fair,
Taint upon the water.
Feeling so cold,
Cold.
Mirror of the sky,
Kingdom Old in ruins lie.
Darkness beyond,
Light.
Taint upon the water,
Sealed deep above,
Away.
Spectres ancient past,
Kingdom that could never.
Feeling so cold,
Cold.
Spectres of ancient.
Kingdom could never,
Last.
Taint upon the water,
Sealed deep above.
Harmony inside,
Light to set a soul afire.
Seeing the sun, break.
Taint upon the water,
First Born the fallen,
Seeing the sun, break.
First Born the fallen,
Silently awaits.
Taint upon the water,
Sealed deep above,
Away.
Old kingdom awakes!
Old kingdom awakes!
3748695
I didn't even know that the House M.D. theme came with lyrics. Thank you.
3748695 Ah, you put in a mobile link when apparently embedding only likes the full version, just change the 'm.youtube' to 'www.youtube' and you should be fine.
3753593 Oh happy days! Thank you kindly for that. I can only imagine it didn't work because I'm using my phone at the minute, and YouTube still isn't very mobile friendly.....
maybe I've been working at the docks too long, but chapter 46 made me start shipping Dash and Longstride...
Aww. Now I have this awesome scene in my mind that I know isn't gonna happen.
I kinda expected Applejack's shield to lung forward at insane speed, crushing Puddinghead.
Then again. And again.
And imagine that shield bouncing back and forth hundreds of times a second, completely obliterating Puddinghead.
That's the image I've got in my head >.<
i.imgur.com/T9CBQ.gif
Is this happening in Sky Mirror Lake; or in the ocean? If it's in Sky Mirror Lake, where are the six handmaidens of Oceanus and is that why there were 12 places set in Clover's ice-block mansion, 6 for the companions and 6 for the handmaidens?
Also is Terrato able to just pull giant rock pillars out of nowhere? Or was it like when he was being dragged into the abyss he tried to claw his way free and managed to grab a bunch of rocks to take with him?
3784486 You might be onto something with the 12 chairs, it's just the sort of egotism that the companions and Clover especially would consider themselves equal to the handmaidens (hoofmaidens?).
As for your first question, I'm not sure we can tell if it's in the abyss or the ocean considering it just seems to be just audio. As for Terrato, I'm guessing it's either he brought along some rocks or there's somehow actual rocks in the abyss, but I guess we'll find out soon.
That's a lotta fucking chapters...
This series, despite the spelling and grammar faults has been incredible. I have to say it was pretty interesting. The way you brought in such a huge amount of Dark Souls in the story, I would never have guessed it would work so well.
- Pudimhead...
So when's the next chapter come out?
3784275
Oh my Celestia, I fucking died of laughter
3890777
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/629/532/d41.png
Do I not sense Hades from the movie "Hercules"
Applejack = super shield
Rarity = floating claymores
Rainbowdash = infinite energy and resolve
Twilight = ability magnifier
Makes me wonder what pinkie and Fluttershy's harmony powers are going to be.
its*
I love what you have done with miss shy the deep rage she has forced down all her life finally seeing that it can be a force for good and not something to fear is so awesome.
Something that will always bug me is how similar in appearance Twilight and Clover are. Like I’m kinda getting they are supposed to be dark reflections of each other, but is that all?
i hones can’t tell no matter how many times I reread this!
My original theory is that the abyss made it so the six couldn’t pass on and instead reincarnated as the Main Six, but clearly that is not the case.
Are they related by blood? Clover having children or lovers has been mentioned though so I doubt that besides that doesn’t make all that much sense.
Like is literally just meant to be symbolic, an act of fate?
This. This right here. This made me laugh and I realized, Terrato is Hades. Classical Greek Hades anyway. But instead of Gems Terrato controls All Earth. Beautiful
3899674
I saw this too. Fuckin Great. I laughed Hard about that!
So...now Terrato has Hades voice. Well done