Arc II - Chapter I - Prisoner's Mule
No one dares to speak after what Tenebris did to Sombra, so he just stands there, slowly heading to the north until he finds out no one is following him. "What are you waiting for? Let's go."
"You..." says Tirek. "You killed him."
"I consumed him."
"And if that's not a murder I don't know what it is," says Chrysalis.
Now the night ram chuckles. "Ok, yes... I killed him, but don't worry... once I got rid of this necklace with that heart Discord told me, and I expect it to be true... I can resurrect him! Although it would be bad for me, and also it would be bad for you... from what I saw, you clearly didn't like him."
Everybody shuts up again, and Tenebris now turns around. "Talking about you... centaur. Tell me you are not that weak."
"Uh... no," says Tirek. "I need to consume magic to reach the real me. If only I had a source..."
The night ram chuckles again. "If only..." he says, only to approach the centaur and throw him the cold mist on his face, something that terrifies Cozy Glow.
"NO!" she shouts. "TIREK!"
She dares to attack, hitting his loin with her hooves while Chrysalis stays in her place, but stops when he finds out a bigger and less thin Tirek comes out of the cold mist. He's young again. "What... what?" says the centaur, while looking at his bright red again. "You..."
"I gave you power because your old appearance wasn't worthy of an ally of mine... Do you want to rule Equestria? So don't be weak and foolish, you have to be strong and clever... not like the bastard which I consumed minutes ago. Now, every one of you, let's go to the North, but before, I've got to do three things."
"Three?" says Chrysalis, and the first thing Tenebris is trapping Cozy Glow inside his magic, something that shocks everyone.
"You dare to attack me one more time, you little filly, and consider yourself out of this."
"Woah!" shouts Tirek, and then Tenebris lets her go. "I can understand she can be annoying and whimsical... but she's just a filly. She won't hurt you... maybe mentally." The ram didn't even hear that because he was now passing by the rejuvenated centaur and the angry filly, looking at Stone Chisel. Firstly, he gets him up from the ground and then he grabs some stones from the lair's entrance and creates a stone wire, which he attaches to Chisel's loin and one of Discord's feet.
"Secondly... You will be the prisoner's mule..." he says, laughing at the silent stallion which is slowly swallowing his resentment and embarrassment. "And if that's not humiliating, Discord, I have no idea what to do with him."
"Leave him just like this."
"Yeah... I'll do the same with you... leaving you like this. And thirdly... keep in mind I'm trusting you, Discord, I believe you are telling me the truth. If not... you know, I always have a doubt when I was younger and I had that foolish plan in mind."
"Really... what?"
Tenebris now makes contact with Discord's yellow eyes. "I always wondered if you bled."
Discord laughs and nods his head. "Why wouldn't I?"
Evil smile. "... And is it red?"
"... It would be a long thing to explain, Ten. Why don't you get out of this place before somepony finds out you are free with another three fugitives and a changeling queen?"
The night ram now smiles at the God of Chaos. "First time I agree with you. Let's go."
"Um... excuse me?"
Now everyone turns around and looks at the one who said that: Cozy Glow, with an innocent smile and blushing cheeks, trying to manipulate Tenebris. "You want to attack me again?"
Then, her blush fades away. "Um... no, sorry. I apologize for that, Tenebris, but... I'd like to have a horn to perform unicorn magic in case we get involved in a fig--"
"You want me to give you magic?"
"Of course," she says, in a challenging tone.
Everyone was in silence again. Tenebris turns around, not even looking at Cozy Glow. That's the moment when Stone Chisel turns around and looks at the prisoner he's carrying: Discord. "Another kill?" he whispers to the god, which only answers:
"I hope not."
Seconds of frightening suspense eat everyone's minds until Tenebris comes up to a conclusion: "Despite you are a pony and also didn't like what you did a minute ago... I liked that courage I heard in your words." Then, a horn suddenly grows up on Cozy Glow's forehead, which leads to a smile of hers and surprises everybody. "I thought you were going to be a coward, annoying little filly cared for by these others... but when you said that, you had an attitude that reminded me of Rushkwa. Now you are stronger and useful."
She blushes. "Thanks, Teneb--"
"However, you do something wrong with it... and I'll break it with my own hooves."
Cozy Glow now struggles for a second but keeps speaking: "Yes," the filly says, while the ram is looking at a big, dry and dark forest in front of them.
"Good. Now, let's go. We have some lands to take."
Meanwhile, next to the Tartarus' doors, a portal is opened at the entrance, where Flash Sentry and dozens and dozens of Royal Guards get out, along with the Mane 6, Spike, Starlight Glimmer and Princesses Luna and Celestia. Clearly, this is serious. "Damnit! Damnit!"
"Calm down, Flash," says Celestia. "It's no moment to complain about your own actions. We have to stop them now before something else happens."
"I'm so sorry, Ms Celestia..." whispers Flash Sentry. "I should have stayed on the Tartarus to keep an eye on them, especially Stone Chi-"
"Stone Chisel would never have done something like this," answers Princess Luna. "He may be a clever thief, but it's impossible for him to get out of Tartarus alone."
"But he could handle chaos magic..." says Twilight. "Maybe..."
"It was only a mist, though," says one of the Royal Guards. "I don't think he was able to control chaos magic like Discord or... um... who was that night ram everyone feared to?"
"Tenebris the Night Ram," replies Twilight Sparkle. "And he's trapped right there, on Tartarus."
Everyone gets silent, and Fluttershy, surprisingly, is the first one who speaks: "Anyway... did somebody... saw Discord?"
While the Royal Guards shake their head at Fluttershy's question, Luna looks at her sister. "Oh no," she whispers, with concerned eyes. "You think..."
"It can't be," answers her sister. "He's under the cliff. Nobody can save him from there..."
The Princess takes a long breath and looks everyone around. "What can we do, sister?"
Celestia speaks. "Princess Twilight, Spike and both of us will enter Tartarus and check if the fugitives are still there. If not, we will look for them in the south. We will need also the help of some guards... I need others to look for the west, east and north."
"How many pegasi are here?" asks Flash Sentry. "Please, raise your hooves."
Only twenty guards raise their hooves, which calms Flash down. "Ok. Not much but it's OK. We can divide it into... groups of 7..."
"But there is one group which won't have the seventh," replies Dash. "I can be that one."
"Yes, please," says Flash Sentry. "And we'll also need help from the Wonderbolts and Crystal Guards. What if we talk to Thorax, Ember and Thunderhooves?"
"Don't, by now," replies Luna. "If we spread the fact we have Tirek, Stone Chisel and Cozy Glow out of their cages to all of Equestria everyone will turn crazy. By now, we need to solve this with you, Twilight & her friends... and I've got to admit the Wonderbolts and the Crystal Empire was an excellent idea."
"Thanks," says Flash, with a small grin. "Now... there is that big dark forest on the west?"
"Yes," replies Starlight. "I've been there once when I was in my cutie mark experiment. I know it from the inside."
"Besides," says Brave Position, adding information. "There's Grogar's lair there, too."
"You're right. Ok," says Flash. "So Starlight and..." then he sees Rainbow Dash raises her hoof. "Okay, Dash... go to the West. Brave Position, I put you in leader position for West with your group of 5."
A green pony with golden armour raises his hoof. "Yes, Sir Sentry!"
"Unicorns, how many?" More than ten unicorns raise their hooves. "Ok... Groups of 5... Five each for three directions, and Big Stomp and I will stay on Tartarus and will be here. Earth guards, which are few for this, stay with me... Applejack? Rarity? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie?"
"Applejack and I can help on the north," says Rarity.
"And Fluttershy and I look on the east!" shouts Pinkie Pie, finishing the plan.
"Ok! Ok! Move on, move on!" shouts Flash Sentry. "Speedspear, you'll be the leader on East. Eagle Eye, on North. Brave Position, Speedspear, Eagle Eye, if something happens or you find something, we must communicate with each other through our magic. Remember, a red aura if it's bad, green if you found them."
"Sir, yes, sir!" shout the three leaders. While Celestia opens the Tartarus doors, unicorns start teleporting through their magic and pegasi start flying. Applejack touches Rarity's loin and gets teleported thanks to her friend's magic, and Pinkie Pie is being carried like a marionette to the east thanks to Fluttershy and another pegasus.
"Wait!" she shouts. "Not so strong!"
Meanwhile, in the West, heading to the North...
Inside the big, mysterious forest, everyone is heading to the Crystal Empire. Stone Chisel, trying to clear his mind from everything that has just happened, and his still not assumed responsibility of setting free the cruellest being he ever saw (cruel, and maybe, maybe a bit eviller than Manehattan's big corporations he saw when he was a filly), takes a look to the forest and remembers something: "How curious... this forest looks exactly like the one where I used to live."
"Which one?" asks Tirek.
"One that was on the east."
Tirek chuckles a bit while walking along with Cozy Glow and Chrysalis. "Yes. I think I've heard of someone who also lived there."
Now Stone Chisel is paying attention. "Really? Who?"
"A griffon named Galloway."
"Oh," he says, chuckling. "I know her... do you know her too? She was on Tartarus once but managed to escape... and what makes me laugh the most is that dork of Flash Sentry never realised it!"
Tenebris, who is listening to everything they are saying, it's just walking, without doing any commentaries. At the same time, Chrysalis starts walking slower and whispers something to Tirek. "Stop... I'll tell you why. Talk lowly."
"What?" whispers Tirek, something that calls Cozy and Chisel's attention. "Why?"
"I need to tell you something, to all of you... even you, earth pony, but don't tell the ram."
Now, if Chrysalis even puts Chisel there, it means this is serious. They stop, letting Tenebris walk a bit more until they start walking again, being the ram a bit further from them. "We need to do something."
"About what?" asks Cozy Glow.
"The ram... I think this Tenebris is a loose cannon."
Discord makes a small grin. "First time I agree with you, Chrysalis."
"Yes..." says Cozy Glow. "So? He gave me a horn! I don't hate him."
"But..." says Chrysalis. "I hardly agree with Discord nowadays... but this time he's right. If he consumed Sombra in that way... he may do that to us and end up dead."
"But Sombra provoked him, though," replies Tirek. "He hit him with his dark magic."
"I know Sombra provoked him, but... remember what Discord said? He said he was a piece of filth, a murderer, a torturer... So evil it could be menacing for us, and if he killed Gusty the Great with such cruelty... what will be our fate?"
Everyone stays in silence until Cozy speaks: "Golly! So? I think if we stay on his side, he won't harm us... and if he does, it's his fault," she says, pointing at Stone Chisel.
"Me?" he says. "Why?"
"You set him free."
Now Stone Chisel doesn't know how to defend himself. "Oh... yes. Sorry."
"I say..." adds the Changeling Queen. "What if we turn against him once we arrive at the Crystal Empire? We defeat him and everything will be ours without having to think there is a crazy night ram out there."
Tirek is the first one to react to that, shaking his head. "Firstly... working with you on that, in the first place? No, thanks, and secondly, he's good by now. He hasn't harmed anyone of us yet."
"Here is an exception," interrupts Stone Chisel, which makes the three villains look at him carrying Discord, who is getting dirty due to all of the dirt over his back and body.
"You don't count in this," replies Chrysalis. "If he gets crazy we will send you first, you are only our bait."
Chisel now gets mad. "Screw you, Cadence's stunt double. Besides, if you turn against him, all of us will be dead... and it won't be my fault."
"Hey." All of them get straight with shivers on their spines. "Get nearer. I almost lost you."
"Sorry," says Chrysalis, and then she passes by Stone Chisel and Discord with her allies. Stone Chisel, now being covered from Tenebris thanks to the villains, closes his eyes and takes a breath.
"Carrying you hurts, Discord."
"Uh-huh... it may suck being the Prisoner's Mule."
"Yes, but at least my back doesn't hit the ground like yours... Why in the hell did I free him... What an idiot... all of this because of that stupid symbol."
"The rune?"
"I don't know... it was a line and then a triangle came out of it."
"Yeah, the rune. Celestia wrote it for Cerberus."
Now Chisel stops and turns around. "Really? And how do you know that?"
"I know almost everything... Celestia used to write runes for Cerberus to help him at identifying crimes. A line was a robbery, a triangle was magic consumption... but then they stopped using it because Cerberus did whatever he wanted with the prisoners, so the Royal Guards decided to carry the cages for their own and erased the runes... except for that one."
"And what does that rune mean?"
Discord smiles while Chisel starts trotting again, trying not to lose the evil group. "Are you sure you want to know that?"
"I set him free. I deserve to know what it means."
Discord takes a long breath before saying it: "Dangerous prisoner. Absolute destruction."
Chisel sighs. "Well... it was something predictable."
"And the statue you broke had four crosses painted on it, which means he murdered."
"How curious... and shocking," says the robber while Discord turns his head. He looks like the villains are far from them both.
"Now, that we are far from them... we need to start developing our plan against Tenebris. Talk lowly."
"Are you kidding me?" whispers Stone Chisel. "How can I help you when you are trapped with some rocks you can't destroy and I was almost murdered with just a thought of him?"
"We need to look for the perfect moment to do it. Maybe when we arrive at the Crystal Empire before he breaks the necklace."
Chisel now makes a grin. "You... are you going to give me chaos magic?"
"Of course not. An earth pony like you has to take a long time to learn how my powers work, and that stupid amulet you had was nothing compared to my real power. Besides, no matter how much chaos magic you have... Tenebris is more powerful and even has the Bewitching Bell's abilities with him, so he can eat you without using his teeth."
Now, the robber gets disappointed. "Oh... what a pity... So, what do you want to do?"
"I know him. Once he arrives, he will start using his powers, we have to take advantage of them. One beam can destroy these rocks. We have to do it before he breaks his necklace with the Crystal Heart."
"What? You can't defeat him if he breaks the necklace?"
Discord sighs. "He can consume my magic if he breaks the necklace. If he does it and kills me... we are screwed... I mean, you are screwed, because I won't be alive at the time he killed me... duh."
Chisel chuckles. "You are not going to die, Discord. You can't. You are immortal."
"The only thing that can kill chaos is something worse than it. I call that madness... and Tenebris is the best creature which can represent it."
Everypony arrives at where they had to be. Starlight Glimmer, Brave Position and the Royal Guards dare to enter the dark forest at the same time Dash arrives. They decided to leave the lair for the end. "Sorry," says the pegasus. "I asked Spitfire for this. They are coming in ten minutes."
"Sure," says Brave Position. "Ms Dash... can you do us another favour?"
"Sure, what is it... Brave Position, isn't it?"
"Yes," he says with a smile. "We know you are one of the fastest ponies of all time... so I'd really like you to ask Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence for help... I'm sure you will come back with all of the Crystal Empire's Royal Guards behind you."
"Um..." says Dash, with a slight bit of disappointment because she wanted to stay. "Sure, no problem."
"Thanks, Rainbow. Tell the guards they will have to go and help in all of the four directions. Let them organise each other on the Empire.."
"Ok, no problem!" she says, preparing her wings. "Good luck!" and then she flies away, leaving a rainbow beam and emitting a deafening sound, which everypony hears...
...even the others.
"Did you hear that?" says Chrysalis. "It was..."
"Look!" shouts Cozy Glow. "A rainbow beam!"
"Did they find us?"
"Oh no! Oh no!"
"Damnit!"
"Wait." Everyone now looks at Tenebris. "Stay here. With me."
"What?" says Stone Chisel. "We should run!"
"I know... but let me have some fun before, beating some ponies up."
The first one to enter is Brave Position, while having behind other Royal Guards guided by Starlight Glimmer. Brave, on a desperate try to take care of the pony, turns his back. "Are you sure you don't want to be a bit further from me? It's too risky."
"It's OK," she answers. "Thanks for asking, though. Anyways, Brave, we have to watch out for these trees. Their branches are quite spiky and I've heard they were a bit toxic."
"Sure," says Brave. "Listen. I have an idea. I'll go a bit further from you in silence, just to check if I see something from far away. Once I come back, I'll say what I saw and in case I saw something, we attack. Prepare your spears, wings and horns."
"Are you sure you want to do that alone?" asks Starlight. "It's quite dangerous," she replies, but the green guard only smiles at them.
"It's my tactic, Starlight, and it has always worked," he says while trotting away from the guards and Starlight. Some guards, trying to calm others down, say Brave Position has done this several times and always worked. 100%.
"I hear something." Everyone turns around and look there is a green guard with his glowing horn on their right. The brave stallion hasn't found out, but he has literally the worst group of creatures on his left, something that makes Tenebris laugh. "Watch this."
A second later, Tenebris uses his magic and literally erases Brave Position's mouth while hiding. He can't speak now. He wants to laugh aloud, but doesn't do it just in case there is somepony else. He doesn't want to be interrupted at this moment. His funny moment. Brave Position turns to the left and looks at every creature looking at him. He even finds Discord, attached to the ground, with a chain on his feet and two big boulders on his hands, being carried by Stone Chisel. Brave Position can't run away because of how shocked he is, but he still glows a red aura on his horn, trying to communicate magically with his partners.
"What the...? Do you really want to fire your magic? Ha... look at this. I'll make the best sound in the world..."
Everyone around there thinks, for those three seconds, what does Tenebris mean with that, even Brave Position.
And then, a second later...
CRACK.
Brave Position's neck spins a bit before falling. Everyone heard that sound, and it was deafening and completely scary. Tenebris has just killed him by just using his magic, and that sound also calls the guards' attention who start shouting and running. "I think we have guests. Prepare yourselves."