Gloom and Doom

by casualbrony10

The Ancients

"A poor choice Starchild, and now those you love will suffer for it."

Twilight was on the ground beside her friends, they immediately scrambled to stand, but were knocked back down and held by dark magic. Twilight couldn't move, all she could do was stare into the eyes of her attacker. If Gloom's stare was frightening, the gaze of Erebus was the stuff of nightmares. Twilight felt his mind gently touch her own, not attacking, but it was as if he wanted to examine her. Twilight still sensed Gloom's consciousness, it was difficult to describe, it reminded her of what she had felt from Celestia while she was enthralled by the Night Terror, one consciousness shoving another into a corner of the mindscape, but the relationship seemed more symbiotic than parasitic. Desperate, Twilight tried to attack, maybe she could sever Gloom's link to Erebus. But there didn't seem to be any barrier or link to sever, just a never-ending sea of darkness flowing into some great void. She couldn't tell where Gloom ended and Erebus began.

"A good try, but that is quite impossible, Gloom was never truly separate from me. Ever since he bathed in my pool he was linked to me, guided by me until he was finally a suitable vessel. I'll almost be sorry to be rid of this, but even the power you see before you is nothing compared to my original body," An image of something flashed briefly in Twilight's mind, whatever it was, Twilight only had the chance to make out 3 lights glowing in the dark, "I have spent every second since my imprisonment gathering power, drawing on whatever darkness I could find in the hearts of you ponies. I am no longer what I was the last time I faced your kind, the gods and demons you fear and worship are nothing to me, but Harmony's seal is unbreakable from the inside. It can be weakened as I have done, but it will never completely fail as long as that tree stands. Why do you protect her? My freedom is inevitable, even if you stop me I will keep trying if it takes me another 10,000 years."

"Because the Tree of Harmony protected us, protected ponykind so many times," Twilight responded, "If you win, you will be the end of this world Erebus, your hunger knows no bounds, what will you do when everything is gone? You have so much power, and yet you only want more. You'll never be happy that way, you'll always be empty and alone." At this Twilight felt a terrible rage explode in Erebus' mind and his face contorted into a gruesome display, but as quickly as it came, it was gone and Erebus was once again stone-faced.

"There will always be more to take Twilight," Erebus turned to Sunset and his eyes flared brightly as he read her mind, "And she is proof of that as I suspected. A whole other world exists for me to enter once this world is mine and where there is one there must be more. The universe is vast, plenty of lights to extinguish. But first, I will enjoy adding all of you to my collection." Erebus approached the ponies and in his chest the dark heart began beating.

"FOR EQUESTRIA!" a booming royal Canterlot voice echoed from above Erebus before an enormous blast of blue lightning crashed into the demon. Luna was hovering above Erebus in a suit of blue armor and charging her horn for another attack. Her attack failed to even mark him, although the ground around him was scorched.

"What did you think that would accomplish?" Erebus asked as his horn glowed and Luna was pulled from the sky and slammed into the ground with earth shattering force. Erebus was suddenly struck from behind by what looked like a fiery meteor. Twilight's eyes focused on the bright light and she realized that it was Celestia, healed and in full golden battle armor. She was also wreathed in solar flames. Erebus did not budge and swatted Celestia down. She leaped back to her hooves and attacked him again with a drop kick, which he caught with one claw. "What is wrong with you ponies? I defeated the magic of friendship, you think I can't beat y-"

"LEEEEEEEROY JENKINS!!" A cry sounded from above as an extremely large mallet crashed down on Erebus' head. A shock-wave erupted from the attack as many windows across the Empire shattered and the ground under Erebus cracked and split. Erebus flinched ever so slightly from the devastating blow. With a frown Erebus shattered the mallet with a punch and seized Discord. Discord was slammed mercilessly into the ground. "Ow, why do I yell things? GAH!" Discord's talking was cut short as Erebus stomped on his face. Before he could strike Discord again, the sisters renewed their attack. This time Celestia turned the ground under his claws to ice and Luna struck him with powerful telekinetic blow. Erebus wasn't damaged, but without friction he fell and slid. His grip on Twilight and her friends finally failed.

"Run my little ponies!" Celestia yelled as she and Luna pummeled Erebus with magical attacks. Discord joined in, pies materializing in his hands as he threw hundreds. Erebus shook off the attacks and started to walk towards them covered in a myriad of pie fillings. One more pie struck him in the face and he wiped it off.

"How dare you mock me! I am Ere- ah? AH! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Erebus let out a scream and clawed at his eyes, the pie filling was leaving burn marks on his face. The three renewed their attacks, doing everything they could to keep Erebus off balance.

"And Fluttershy said I'd never find a use for my ghost pepper pie. You should probably listen to Celestia, at this rate we won't last," Discord said before he rushed at Erebus. Boxing gloves appeared over Discord's claws and they glowed with the strange, plaid energy of chaos as he landed a flurry of jabs.

"No wait, we can help you, we can stop him together!" Twilight yelled as she turned to her friends. Then she realized that the 6 other ponies didn't look so good. They were all exhausted and could barely stand. The only ones standing were Spike, who was not part of the rainbow magic, and Twilight, a supernaturally tough alicorn. Even Twilight felt like she had just flown around the world. They were in no shape to keep fighting. But she couldn't leave Celestia, Luna, and Discord.

"Fear not for us, we will be fine, the demon will come for the tree of harmony and it will the take the full strength of your friendship to stop it. Retreat now Twilight Sparkle, run to fight another day!" Luna commanded. Twilight closed her eyes as tears trickled from them, but she nodded. Charging her magic and tapping into every bit of her strength she could safely access and then some, Twilight grabbed everypony she could in an extremely long distance teleport. She tried to get Discord and the princesses, but the strain was too much and it was more difficult to teleport larger and more powerful entities, she could barely hold onto her friends as it was. Instead the princesses and Discord realized what she was doing and added some of their ability to the spell, extending the distance. With a flash, Twilight found herself with Spike and her friends on the outskirts of Everfree. Celestia exhaled, they were safe. Discord was suddenly thrown to the ground at her hooves. He bounced to his feet and the three faced Erebus.

"We cannot win sister, but he shall not enjoy this victory," Luna said, her horn and eyes glowing with cold, blue magic. The moon shined brightly in the sky above as a blue glow surrounded her.

"Indeed, and thank you Luna, for everything," Celestia's horn and eyes also shown with a fiery aura as the Sun rose into the sky alongside the Moon. Flames licked at her but did not burn.

"Haha! Look alive kiddies! Let's make this memorable!" Discord had a mad grin on his face as chaotic magics swirled around him in a demented dance of light and dark. A large board with a nail in it appeared in his paw. Erebus snarled at them.

"You think you sacrifice for them? You think they are worthy of that? You are ancients, two cosmic alicorns and a primordial spirit. That is a lot to give up for a handful of mortal ponies and a whelp barely hatched." Black flames and anti light radiated from Erebus, enough to dim and dwarf the auras of his three opponents. The dark heart beat loudly, eager to snuff out the light. They were 3 tiny lights in a world of shadow, but as one, they charged into the dark. "What a waste." The dark welcomed them with open arms.

Author's Note:

To clear up any confusion Erebus is not related to the old mlp villain Arabus.

Comments

[krazykidfannumber2]

They had better survive this.

[casualbrony10]

7331253 Not entirely sure what's happening here, but I hope the random guy is okay.

[casualbrony10]

7338949 Don't panic, I'm sure the magic of friendship will triumph in the end.

7338962 Never-mind, you may resume panicking.