//////Southeastern border of the Everfree/////
With a magical poof and a flash of light, an odd party of creatures appeared out of thin air. Seven ponies, a zebra, a baby dragon, several undead of various species, and an initially tired looking draconequus.
"We're-"
Discord groggily began, before feeling a sudden surge of strength rejuvenate his very being.
"Here..."
He finished, looking himself over and at the area surrounding him. He, along with his friends and the undead he'd teleported, were at the edge of the Everfree's reach.
The surrounding soil had randomly spaced patches of blackened soil marring the grassy green beneath and behind them.
The few trees that tried to grow further south seemed weak or dead and brittle all together.
Beyond that, a looming dune of volcanic ash and darkened sand shrouded the beginnings of the dragonlands. The skies were overcast with smog, and the stench of sulfur and brimstone was faint, but suffocating nonetheless.
"That can't be right..."
The spirit of chaos mumbled to himself as he looked at his claws; bolts of multichromatic light surging erratically between his fingers before subsiding completely.
"What can't be right?"
Fluttershy asked, her question breaking the silence that surrounded them. Discord didn't answer immediately, but his tone reflected the sheer confusion inside him when he spoke up.
"I should be exhausted right now, but I feel fine... better than fine, actually!"
He explained, stretching his joints with a smile of relief creeping onto his long face.
"And that's bad because..."
Rainbow Dash asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Um... Discord is a being fueled by chaos, the more of it there is in any one spot; the stronger his magic becomes."
Fluttershy meekly added. This however, did not answer the rainbow-maned mare's question.
Fortunately for her, the onyx skeleton who had been sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and his eyes shut, would answer her plight.
"It means we need to hurry. Azazel's blood rage has already gone past it's third stage."
Avalon began as he stood up, letting out a small grunt as he rose.
"We have to calm him down, before his rampage gets him killed. Let's move."
He finished, looking towards his undead companions and signalling them to follow with the wave of his hand.
Without missing a beat, they nodded in affirmation and began to walk up the hill. After a bit of shock, the mares and the draconequus began to follow the small horde of undead. The group marched, listening to the distant rumbling and explosions of what was believed to be the volcanic activity of the area.
The only thing visible past the dune's peak was the very tops of active volcano mouths and the ominous towers of smoke and ash that rose up miles into the air.
The sound of foot and hoofsteps was drowned out when Twilight spoke up, her curiosity surpassing the awkwardness of the situation.
"Mia?"
The alicorn asked the undead just ahead of her. Mia didn't turn to face her, but she replied with an "mhmm?" There was a bit of hesitation, but Twilight was able to make her question after a bit of deliberation of whether or not it would be wise to even ask.
"What is a blood rage?"
She asked. Somewhat surprisingly, the answer to her question came from the green skeleton holding Mia's remaining hand.
"Succubi and Incubi are emotionally fueled shape shifters. When they are really angered or placed into stressful situations, their bodies transform to show said distress while flying into a state of blind, animalistic fury."
Trephor began, only for Mia to finish his explanation.
"But Azazel is only a half succubus... The transformation aspect tends to be minimal, but getting him to calm down once he's angered is.... complicated... The souls within him don't help either; they create hallucinations and torment him constantly... the last time he got like that... w-we... he almost..."
She spoke, with more and more buried pain being unearthed; she couldn't even bring herself to finish her explanation. The azure embers in her eye sockets had the slightest tinge of fear, the likes of which she wanted to rid by seeking solace in her beloved. Trephor could feel Mia's dread, as he knew what she was referring to. He didn't say anything, opting to instead give Mia a reassuring glance and a gentle squeeze to her hand.
"..What did he do?"
Twilight muttered to herself, the small gesture from Trephor's part not going unnoticed. She had so many questions, most of which had only seemed to raise even more questions. Either by chance or fate, her question would be answered... but not by any of the undead.
"Mmm.. My knees are getting pinchy all of a sudden..."
Pinkie said mostly to herself, causing everypony to look at her with concern. She was stretching her joints whilst looking around with mild paranoia.
The sound of distant rumbling had been growing, but the princess of friendship had surmised it to be the fact that they were getting closer to the top of the mound.
But as they drew closer to the top, a sound Twilight didn't think even her darkest nightmare could produce drowned out every other sound and thought she was currently holding. It was... terrifying... Due to the sheer volume of what she could only imagine was a roar that caused the very earth to quake in terror.
While Discord and the undead seemed mostly unfazed by the howling scream of a monster that could only hail from the deepest, darkest pit of Tartarus; Twilight and her friends had been frozen in place. A vestigial instinct from the distant ancestors of pony's caused every fiber in the mane six and company to scream at the top of their proverbial lungs to run in the opposite direction.
Turning to look at her friends, Twilight was amazed that despite how afraid her friends all seemed, nopony had moved an inch from where they stood. The only exception to this was Fluttershy, who had latched onto Discord and was practically vibrating in his mismatched arms with fright. Spike had latched himself next to Twilight, shivering in fear as his reptilian eyes darted about in search of the horrifying sound.
There was a few seconds of silence followed by a loud explosion going off in the distance and another roar, except this one wasn't so... evil. The sound was more bestial, and a lot less scary by comparison.
The adrenaline coursing through Rainbow Dash at the moment had left her completely paralyzed. She was vaguely aware that the undead ahead of her had already reached the summit and we're looking at what she presumed to be the origin of the terrifying sound with slacked jaws; but that wasn't what had her rooted to her spot.
It wasn't the noise itself that terrified her, it was... something else; something she had been exposed to a few days ago. It was as if every negative emotion she had ever felt was screaming at her in a boiling crescendo that gnawed away at her very soul. She was afraid, and try as she might, she couldn't hide it.
It took a teleportation spell from Discord to move everypony up to the top of the large dune, and what they saw left them speechless.
Amidst a wasteland caked by ash and unrecognizable gore, were three gigantic beings caught in a vicious dance of death inside what seemed to be a massive tornado of smoke and ash. Twilight could not discern exactly what they were, as they were mostly obscured by a swirling pillar of debris.
Every now and again, a massive steel blue, red, or jet-black claw, tail, or wing would swing past the smoke before disappearing into the maelstrom. Chunks of necrotized flesh and the odd spray of hundreds of gallons of a viscous, black liquid would shower the as of yet unnoticed spectators.
Surrounding said tornado, was a school of hundreds of dragons ranging in size, proportions and even color from nigh invisible due to their relative distance to the group, to unmistakably huge; observing in horrified awe. They were all flying low to the ground or stood by, simply listening to the earth rattling blows of the three titanic creatures.
The undead that had tagged along with Discord and his friends gawked in morbid awe at the destruction before them. Avalon, who had now regained a semblance of his composure, had his trance broken by Anvari.
"Red transformed... H-how is that even possible...? How do we stop this?!"
Turning to look at her, the onyx skeleton could only cringe at the sound of her voice. Dull, yellow eyes stared back at him with a desperate need for some good news. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Avalon turned back towards the battle. Try as he might, he couldn't think of a way to stop Azazel's rampage.
That is of course, until a roar... no, a scream of unquantifiable agony shook the earth and nearly left those present deaf.
The swirling mass of smoke parted to reveal the origin of the sound. Standing over a hideous, horned serpent like creature adorned with dying flames, was a large steel blue dragon with orange webbing and spines. Aside from it's charcoal armor, the most prominent feature it had were it's two curved horns.
It was standing on the ashen one's back and pulling at two horribly disfigured wings. Not too far away was another dragon of equal size and similar build, pinning down the dark titan's tail with it's whole body. Both dragons were visibly battered and bruised, having bloody gashes and cuts.
"DIE ALREADY!!!"
Torch roared as he pulled up as hard as he could. A sickening squelch was followed by another howl of pain from the monster. Mid-scream, the smoldering horror flailed about, desperately trying to throw off the dragons pinning it down.
"They're gonna tear him apart! We have to do som-!"
Mia exclaimed turning to Avalon, but was cut off when a sound similar to two large trees being torn in half caused her to freeze.
Slowly forcing her head to turn towards the sound, she shivered in fear as her mind overwhelmed her with images of the adorable little boy she made clothes for, taught how to clean and dress properly being mangled and maimed.
Holding the strange appendages high over his head, the blue dragon triumphantly roared and threw the misshapen wings to the sides; raising up a small dust storm in the process. The monster let out a breathless scream of pain before it's arms went limp; greedily taking ragged breaths that almost sounded like... whimpering.
Torch noticed this and let a toothy smile, the dragon let out a sadistic laugh before stomping down on the monster's head, the once raging maelstrom of flames that made up it's hair having been reduced to a faint cinder that barely released any smoke.
"Aww, what's wrong? Can't fight anymore? You were fine a minute ago."
The mocking tone of the blue dragon caused the monster to growl angrily. As the titanic reptile put more and more force down onto the creature's head, the plates around the top-most part of his head began to crack and splinter off.
The beast let out a breathless plea for mercy before going limp. Cinder, who had been pinning the monster's tail, had noticed the creature had stopped resisting and was staying completely still; it wasn't even breathing.
The dragon let go of the serpentine body and looked up to find his boss was pressing his foot down against the creature's head. Eyeing the creature's upper half for any form of movement, the red elder dragon failed to notice the onyx tail, discreetly moving towards it.
In a flurry of motion too quick for Cinder to react to, his head was wrapped in the monster's dexterous coils. With a violent jerk and a muffled crack, the dragon baron died before he even hit the ground.
Torch heard the noise, and his once cocky expression became one of confusion. Turning around, his heart dropped when he laid eyes on the lifeless corpse of his comrade just... lying there. He was so stunned by it, that he let the pressure on his foot falter; just enough for the titan beneath him to find an opening.
Pushing Torch off itself, the titan tackled him to the ground and coiled it's body around the Dragonlord. Torch tried to retaliate, but it was too late, with audible pops and cracks, the monster constricted itself around the elder dragon with all of it's might.
The Dragonlord started going into shock from having his wings and legs crushed, the wave of pain being too mind numbing to even scream. The monster drew it's disheveled head closer towards Torch's neck, and slowly opened it's mouth.
It's jaw began to unhinge with equally moist, gut wrenching pops and cracks. Exposing the hundreds of sharp, cyan, glowing teeth, The monster bit down and latched onto the dragon's neck like a starved vanpire. Though not all of the blade like teeth penetrated the hardened scales on the elder dragons' skin, that was never the beast's intent.
To the naked eye, it seemed as if the beast had simply bitten Torch, but to Discord, Zecora's, and Anvari's magically enhanced sight, a more sinister truth was revealed.
The monster was sucking out Torch's soul like a leech. The steel blue dragon weakly resisted, if only for a few moments, before he too, was taken by death's cold embrace.
The titan uncoiled itself from the Dragonlord and raised it's damaged, wingless body for all to see. The dragons who had seen the massacre of their leader's had long fled for their lives, if not having been killed by the debris that was thrown about in the battle.
The titan turned it's head up towards the sky and let out a victorious howl. The being's hundreds of voices shouted as one in a defiant and glorious warcry; a testament to any who would challenge it.
The sound was as per usual, obscenely loud, but fortunately for the ponies, zebra, dragon and undead present to see the violent show; they had been protected from the harmful sound by an invisible shield, a shield that Discord dispelled the moment the giant stopped it's howling.
"I gotta say, the fight is a strong seven in my book. Clever usage of anatomy for interesting attacks, and the grand beginning was a nice touch. But there's too much screaming and the one-sided dialogue with the blue dragon seemed to have been written by a monkey on a type writer. However, if there's something that I can truly appreciate, its the havock those three caused. The pick me up was just what the doctor ordered."
He commented happily, causing everyone to look in his direction.
The spirit of chaos had been sitting in a red beach chair with an umbrella impaled on the ground next to him. He wore red swimming trunks and had a foldable tanning mirror which was reflecting a rainbow of light towards his face. Diagonally to him there was a medium sized cooler.
Everypony seeing this had at one point wondered where their meek mannered friend had gone. That is of course, until the lid of the cooler popped open. Fluttershy timidly pushed her head up with a look that danced between scared and confused in her eyes.
"Is it over?.."
She asked, her voice was so quiet that it almost went unnoticed were it not for Discord reacting. If Avalon had had eye lids, they would have been twitching from his fury. Discord's blatant disregard for what could have very well been the end of Azazel was driving him up a proverbial wall.
"Almost. I still have to pitch our soon-to-be friend a deal I know he simply won't be able to refuse."
Discord stated happily as he got up from his beach chair, dusting his body in the process. With a snap of his lion paw, the chair, umbrella and trunks he had been wearing were gone.
He opened the cooler completely and picked Fluttershy up by her sides. He gently set her down and gave her a gentle pat on her head; causing the meek pegasus blush and make herself smaller with embarassment.
Looking over towards the now silent titan, Discord could see that it was running on fumes. After it's warcry, the monstrosity began to sway precariously from side to side; struggling to stay awake. The myriad of eyes on its chest were half lit and the titan's remaining embers began to die.
The group continued to watch as the giant began tipping over, it's descent appearing to be in slow motion before falling onto it's back with a thunderous "boom".
Looking back to the group he brought with him, Discord pulled on the fur of his chest as of it were a shirt. With his bird talon he rummaged around inside it for a bit before grabbing onto a seamless zipper and unzipped his skin off. Underneath, there was a Navy blue coat with a white button shirt and a stripped tie with various shades of blue. Upon removing the rest of it he was revealed to have similarly azure pants.
Discord then balled up his skin and reduced it to about the size of a golf ball before throwing it in his mouth. After a few bites and swallowing his latest meal, he pulled out a teal coloured flip phone from his coat. Flipping it open, he hit speed dial and put it close to his ear.
"Yo Anon, I need you to reschedule my two o'clock with Lulu and Sammy. I'm running a bit late with the deal I'm working on here, ya see? So I'll be heading back home to seal the deal with my client. Ya got that?"
He said in a gruff voice with a very thick, brooklyn accent.
"Right away boss. By the way, that lazy eyed mail mare came through my window 'bout an hour ago with a package from a.. I'm not even gonna try and pronounce whatever this fockin' mess is. Anyway, I'll put it on ya desk."
A pronounced male voice replied with an equally thick brooklyn accent.
"Thank you Anon. Oh and one more thing, feel free to take the rest of the day off when your done. You earned it."
He said with a mischievous smirk on his mismatched face.
"Thanks bo-... *crash* *roar* WHAAA-"
The voice exclaimed before being cut off as Discord chuckled to himself, hung up, and closed the phone; putting it away in his coat shortly after. He chuckled as he raised his paw and prepared to teleport away, that is of course, until he was stopped by a question from a certain animal loving pegasus.
"Um... Discord, Who's Anon?"
She asked, her apprehension being all but adorable to the draconequus.
"He's my secretary. He has a bit of a potty mouth, but helps me keep track of things. You'd be surprised of the mayhem humans get themselves into just to pay for their education."
With a gentle pat to her head and hearty chuckle, Discord began.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a necromancer to hire!"
He finished jovially, preparing to snap his fingers; only to be interrupted again.
"Wait! We go with you or you don't go anywhere! I'm sick and tired of your nonsense and I'll not have you mess wi-!"
Avalon spoke up, walking up towards the well dressed draconequus. Discord literally deflated as his face, then his body was reduced into a hollow, crumpled, frowning blob of brown, and blue.
With a deep breath and a sigh of annoyance, he reinflated his body and literally pulled himself back together with sounds akin to a rubber balloon. Unfortunately for the upset undead, he was cut off mid-sentence.
Discord said nothing as he snapped his fingers, causing a massive cage to poof into existence; along with all of the undead being teleported inside it. Turning towards the spirit of chaos, the undead horde complained with a collective, "HEY!!!"
"Sorry, but I can't have you guys causing trouble while I'm gone. I need you all intact to bribe Azazel. Soooo... bye."
He admitted, letting a coy smile grace his face towards the end of his farewell. And with the snap of his fingers, Discord vanished along with the cage.
//////Azazel///////
After what had felt like an eternity, the thousand or so souls that remained whithin me halted their seemingly incessant screaming. They were still there, but they had been exhausted to the point where they weren't even muttering to themselves like they usually do.
When the fog in my mind cleared and I could hold a coherent train of thought, I tried to orient myself and remember what happened. Unfortunately, everything just after I nearly died in that accursed forest of this damned magic horsey land was a haze... If I wanted answers, I wasn't going to find them while sitting on my rear.
As these thoughts ran through my mind, I made an odd realization; something was poking my face, painfully so. My eyes felt like they had been glued shut, but it wasn't exhaustion that was keeping them closed. Whatever was on my face, it felt odly like... skin?... wait... Before I blacked out the leviathan tried to consume my souls, with... Holy shit, that thing tried to EAT ME!!!
I tried to move, and that's when I realized I was suspended in a very warm and gelatinous... fluid. Overcome by the groundbreaking revelation that my lungs were on fire and I needed to breathe, I desperately swam up despite the protests of the muscles in my arms and legs.
Much to my growing anxiety, I was met with a wall of something tough and elastic. In a state of panic, I clawed away at it until two of my fingers poked out of my prison.
I felt a hot and dry wind brush past them, and I began to rip out more of the wall with the strength brought about through hope.
At this point, I couldn't hold my breath anymore, and I couldn't stop myself from trying to take a lungful of air. The vile substance I was submerged in poured down my pharynx and into my lungs, sending what felt like magma into my irritated chest. I was losing my strength, making the act of merely pushing my head out of the small hole I carved out a herculean feat.
Once I felt the same hot and dry air hit my head, I pulled my right shoulder and arm free of whatever I was in and clawed at whatever was latched onto my face with the last of my strength. I was too dazed and confused to realize that whatever I had just torn off my head, had taken chunks of skin along with it. Discharging the invasive liquid from my body, I did my best to not lose consciousness while recuperating my strength.
When I finally caught my breath, I wiped what remained of the muck from my eyes and looked around. I was in a desolate wasteland, the air stank of sulfur and the sky was overcast with volcanic debris.
Getting a vague idea of where I was and that I was in no immediate danger, I began to burrow my way out of... what was I even in??? Getting out wasn't very hard, if you excluded my wings getting caught on the way out every two seconds.
Once I was free, I looked around me and realized something; I was standing on top of a gigantic carcass. I needed answers as to how I got here and if in my wrathful delirium, I had made progress in obtaining an army.
So as I shut my eyes again, I knelt down and pressed my right hand against the warm flesh I stood on. I wracked my brain for a spell in the necronomicon I was gifted, one that would grant me the information I needed. With the spell in mind, I cast it.
"Revelio... Shuthorin..."
Upon casting, I saw in brief flashes and bouts of noise what had transpired. I had made it to my destination and killed at least four elder dragons along with around six hundred smaller ones no bigger than a human.
Part of me was a bit sad that the first dragon I killed wasn't on some noble quest for a fair maiden, but most of my was glad that wasn't the case. I got what I wanted, and all in a relatively timely manner; so I'll take what I can get.
Looking myself over, I realized two things. First, I had WAY more souls inside me than I did before my fury took over. This would be good, I'd need the boost to raise so many undead dragons; especially the really big ones near the corpse I stood on.
The second thing I noticed was that I was naked and the only thing on me was the gauntlet on my right arm. How it survived is beyond me, and as for my pride as a half incubus? Nothing a little shape shifting couldn't make disappear. With my dignity somewhat restored, I'd have to begin resurrecting my new army.
Unfortunately, I barely got off my dead construct and landed on the rocky terrain before I heard a magical "poof". Turning to look at it, I was perplexed to find a simple oakwood door standing diagonally to me a few ways away.
I scanned my surroundings, but found nothing other than the door to be out of place. I didn't know what to do or expect from it's sudden appearance.
Fortunately, I didn't need to do anything; as the door opened and from it came a very startled human who then slammed the door behind him and barricaded it with his body.
He was young, maybe in his early twenties. His skin was of a dark shade of brown and had fairly simple clothing. He wore a collared, lime green shirt made of a very soft textile with a question mark embroidered on his left breast. He wore cream colored trousers held neatly against his waists with a black leather belt. The human had shoes made of a very shiny and new looking leather of a sable hue.
"This fockin' internship... *pant* is gonna kill me... *pant* before my professors do..."
He managed to say with an odd accent while greedily taking lungfulls of air. His brow was slick with sweat, and it didn't take a scholar to realize that he had been running from something.
Just when it looked like he could catch his breath, a monstrous roar rattled the door before being struck from the inside. At the moment he hadn't noticed me, and I couldn't sense any magic radiating off of him; so I decided to wait until he did.
Looking around to see where he just arrived, he quickly spotted me. Eyeing me over, he looked like he just realized something.
"What's your name?"
He asked, scanning me from top to bottom with a quizzical look... almost as if he had seen me somewhere before...
"Azazel"
I said, discreetly charging my armoured hand with magic should I need to defend myself. His eyes widened with the realization of something.
"Holy shit... he wasn't kidding..."
He muttered to himself, his weight against the door slackening. Much to his horror, whatever was behind the door had doubled it's efforts in trying to tear it down.
The surprisingly sturdy piece of wood was being struck, scratched and rammed and it barely showed any sign of damage.
"Hey, uhh.. Azazel, right? You look like a tough guy. Can ya- *grunt* can ya kill this hornet-panda thing!? Its got a hellavu vendetta against me, I tell ya!!!"
He asked, now pressing his body harder against the door. He was trying to keep his wits about him, but his fear was... intoxicating.
Part of me wanted to simply enjoy the emotion radiating off of him, but I knew that if I wanted answers; I'd have to cooperate. I looked between him and the door, before nodding.
"So how do we do this?..."
He asked after taking a shaky breath in an attempt to calm himself. Taking only a second to think my strategy over, I decided to go for a simple yet effective option. Extending my left hand forward, I used a telekinetic spell to hold down the door for the human.
"Get behind me, and be quiet."
I ordered sternly, causing the human to obey without question. While fear is an emotion I can feed off of, I had to focus. Beyond the door could be anything, and it could very well have some form of magical resistance.
In my right hand, I conjured a sphere of necrotic energy. When I felt I'd poured enough magic into the orb to kill a basilisk, I let the door go and waited.
Much to my surprise, the unseen beast had ceased it's assault on the door. Second after nerve wracking second of silence passed as the door remained completely inert. Then, just when I'm about to go over to it and confront whatever lies beyond for myself; the doorknob began to turn.
The door then opens, revealing a creature I... wasn't expecting.
"Discord!? WHAT THE FOCK ARE YA DOIN'!? CLOSE THE GODDAMN DOOR!!"
The human shouted, his voice cracking slightly as he cowered behind me. Discord... That was the name of the chaos spirit the princesses spoke of. And the figure that slithered out of the door and through the air was strikingly similar to the mosaic of stained glass I was shown.
"Oh relax Anon, I don't mind a draft or two flying in; but your concern is appreciated."
The being began nonchalantly, standing upright at about ten or eleven feet tall. He wore a blue and formal, but minimalistic suit and fitted trousers. He also had what seemed like a red box with a long, flexible tube at one end of it.
Setting the strange object down on the floor and shutting the door to his left with a snap of his... bird talon?
"I trust the amount of fear was to your liking Azazel?"
He finished, setting the object on the floor and bending down to take hold of a nozzle at the end of the flexible tube. It took me a bit to answer, as the sudden appearance of the human now made sense.
"Yes.."
I answered, looking back at the now disgruntled human who bore the expression of indignation on his face.
"That shit was you?! DISCORD!! I COULD'A DIED BACK THERE!!!"
He shouted angrily, circling around me to get in the face of the supposed Spirit of Chaos.
"First and foremost, language. There's kid's reading this fanfic, you know?."
He began, producing a thick roll of written parchment and playfully smacking him a cross the face. Truth be told, the display of faux violence caught me so off guard I lost my concentration and the orb of magic I had been charging unravelled.
"Second, you know better than to assume I'm going to kill you. There'd be no fun in that."
He continued, his admission being delivered very nonchalantly. That was worrying. If the princesses spoke true of his power, I'd have to be careful not to invoke his wrath. Unless of course...
"And third, I thought I told you to take the rest of the day off. Why haven't you gone home like you usually do?"
Discord asked the human with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk on his elongated face.
After getting smacked, the human had been rubbing his forehead and I could feel as his blistering rage reached it's boiling point.
"BECAUSE I WAS RUNNING FOR MY GODDAMN LIFE YA FOCKIN' REJECT LOONEY TUNE BI-!!!"
He screamed angrily while pointing an accusatory finger towards the living hodgepodge of creatures. Discord on the other hand, didn't seemed too pleased with the human's comment.
Because before he could even finish his insult, Discord snapped his fingers; causing the human to vanish in a flash of light. Letting out a sigh and shaking his head in disappointment.
"I'm sorry about my secretary, I hope he didn't cause you any trouble. Did he?"
He said, almost as if that question didn't sit right with him.
Unfortunately, my attention was not on Discord proper. Instead, I had found myself fixated on his soul. It was an ever changing mass of emotion and power, but there was something off about him.
It was almost as if his soul wasn't all there, maybe the result of some gigantic reality warping or something of that ilk leaving him drained.
"Hello? Operator? Can you please connect me to Azazel?... Yes, I'll hold..."
He said, his voice coming from... my left? He hadn't moved or spoken. He was only looking at me with a confused expression. Being ripped from my thoughts, I looked to my left to find a duplicate of Discord standing a short ways away with... IS THAT MY HORN!?!?
In a panic, I quickly reached for my horns; and much to my horror, my left horn was completely gone. It hadn't been broken off... it was like it was never even there...
"Ah, there we are. Can we talk now?"
The duplicate said as he nonchalantly PUT MY HORN BACK ON MY HEAD!!!
I used my wings and propelled myself a good twenty feet to my right, effectively giving me some room to try and assess my situation before the adrenaline pumping through me made me act irrationally.
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of taking my eyes off of the duplicate to make sure my horns were both accounted for and unharmed. I was in one piece, but looking back towards the duplicate I was mortified to realize that it was gone.
By this point, I had forgotten about the fact that I was still naked and covered from head to toe in... monster innards... Let's go with that.
As I looked around in a panicked frenzy, I completely missed the Discord that was dressed in blue standing directly behind me. I heard a sound similar to a spell charging, but it was much more mechanical than magical in tone.
And for the next few seconds, I felt as if I was being violated by the viscous muck on me as it was violently REMOVED FROM MY BODY. I will concede, I may or may have not screamed like a bitch; but I digress.
I had been caught so off guard by this that I reacted purely on instinct as I whirled around and punched what I would later find out to be the god of chaos with so much force that his head began to spin wildly as if it were a top on his torso.
Unfortunately for him, I was frustrated that not much of anything was making sense. So taking a gamble on my previous observation of his weakened soul, I hurriedly charged a spell I knew would give me some time to think, Nervorum Ruptor.
Discord barely had time to stop his spinning head before I extended my arms forward and from my finger tips, bolts of blood red magic shot through the air and struck him.
He was sent flying and skidding several feet backwards before coming to a stop. Groaning, he sat up while rubbing his head with a nauseous expression; bolts of residual magic flickering around him before returning to the aether.
"Ow... What was that for!?"
He complained, before looking indignantly at me. At this point, I was on edge and ready to fly away as quickly as my wings would allow. Unfortunately for Discord, the fact that he had just toyed with my horns finally registered; tempering my fear with a steadily growing animosity.
"TOUCH MY HORNS AGAIN AND I PROMISE YOU THAT NO GOD IN HEAVEN OR HELL WILL BE ABLE TO REASSEMBLE YOUR SOUL!!!"
I roared, trying my best to ensure that the only emotion I was showing was rage. In a stroke of good luck, my outburst did the trick. His fear spiked if only a little, but what sealed the deal was my spell.
At first, his legs held his weight as he stood back up; but it only took a few seconds before they began to tremble and ultimately falter. He fell on his side, the unpleasant surprise being very evident on his face.
Looking himself over, he was trying to get back up, but his lower half wasn't obeying his commands. Then slowly, from his lower half all the way up to his neck, Discord fell limp against the ground.
The fear and confusion radiating off of him... it was so exotic. It was almost as if fear at these extremes were new to him. It made my mouth water and did wonders for my irate mood. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I decided to give myself an edge rather than try to take him on my own.
Weakened and paralyzed as he may appear, someone with the power to bend reality to their will is not someone that should be underestimated. To my left, lay the corpse of a titan and two elder dragons; and if I hurried, I could reanimate my army as well.
My confidence rocketed sky high as I watched the god of chaos, the master of anarchy the royal diarchs feared and saw as a superior magic wielder literally lose his color with fear at the sight of me. A wicked smile spread across my face as I began to charge as much magic into my arms as I could.
The sight of such terror was near aphrodisiac in nature, and the sheer amount of souls multiplying my power was mind boggling. I FELT INVINSIBLE! With my magic beginning to overflow, a churning mass of dark, magical flames and crackling bolts of light sucking sable magic screamed through the air with a promise of hellish torment while enveloping my body.
Turning to face the gargantuan cadaver next to me, I outstretched my right hand; focusing my power into a spell. Today would be the day I would make history, controlling an ARMY OF UNDEAD TITANS!!!
With my magic ready to be unleashed, I took a deep breath before shouting to the heavens with an almost insane grin on my face.
"RESURECTUM INMORTUS!!!"
I roared, slamming my flame wreathed hands into the earth and conjuring tendrils of smoke and a crimson light that penetrated the titan before me and spread across the volcanic soil like an unstoppable, cancerous growth.
For about a minute, I continued to pour as much magic as I could into the spell. I wasn't sure if I had poured enough, but I didn't want to stop. Normally, this level of exertion would've left me unconscious, but I felt fine.
I stopped the flow of magic some time after, if only for me to contemplate how much power I still felt whithin me; but unfortunately, the fates find it amusing to impede me every chance they get... I sensed magic drawing closer... ancient, and powerful in nature... no... that could only mean-!
"DISCORD!!!"
A very distraught, very feminine... very familiar group of voices. Turning slowly around, I could see a herd of multicolored horses and a... is that a baby salamander on Princess Twilight's back?
"Oh Discord! Are you ok?!"
The yellow pegasus who Discord spoke of in his letter, quickly hovered over to his side; frantically looking him over for injuries.
When she found none, she gently lifted his head and held him in a desperate embrace; no doubt whispering assurances that everything would be alright.
While most of the ponies were focused on Discord, Rainbow Dash, the striped pony with golden jewelry, and Twilight's apprentice were all keeping an eye on me.
Excluding Discord, there was something else that was making it increasingly difficult to keep up my stoic facade. The element bearers were armed with their fabled weapons, The Elements of Harmony, and I could sense that at least one of them was more than eager to fight.
"What did you do to Discord!?"
The apprentice asked, Starlight Glimmer I think was her name, in a harsh tone. I began taking cautious steps backwards as I answered her.
"Nervorum Ruptor... It is a nonlethal paralysis spell."
I hesitantly explained, doing my best to keep track of every little movement they made. This was bad... They were no doubt sent by Celestia to destroy me or take me prisoner. Or at least, that's what they thought would happen.
The curse of undeath, for as useful as it can be, takes time to root itself in the soon to be undead corpses of my undead creations; much to my annoyance. The larger the body and the amount of bodies transformed into undead, the longer the spell takes to activate...
"Then can you undo the spell?"
She asked, much less aggressively... huh... I expected worse.
"You've given me no reason to do so."
I replied sternly.
"How about I give you a reason then!?"
The element of loyalty threatened. Her prideful tone irked me, but I said nothing. Fortunately, I didn't have to.
I hadn't noticed it before, but there had been a distant ringing coming from somewhere behind me. The ringing of ethereal bells was distant, but it had been drawing closer and growing louder.
A song that heralded ruin and misery, a singular note played by an undead the moment they awoke from death. A melody I knew by heart, and made the souls within me harmonize with malicious glee. And from the looks of the ponies in front of me, they heard it too.
They knew not what was happening, and it terrified them. This was too perfect, I couldn't keep myself from smirking as I felt the titan behind me awaken; the back of it's head erupting with a raging maelstrom of fire. Hellfire to be exact.
I mentally ordered the titan to rise, it's gigantic figure shaking the earth as it rose from the earth. As my largest creation to date rose ever higher, I realized that I wanted- no... I NEEDED to see the reaction of my soon-to-be victims.
Turning to look at them, I could see their comedically large eyes had grown as wide as dinner plates and their pupils having become tiny dots amidst the white of their eyes.
And as their gazes followed the titan skyward, their fear... oh gods, it was beautiful...
"...hehehehehahahahHAHAHAHA!!!"
I couldn't stop myself from cackling madly at the irony of it all, at how utterly doomed Celestia was, at the heroes of Equestria.
My voice was twisted into a mangled bastardization of what it once was, as I laughed at the thought of what my mother would think of this. Looking over to my right, I turned just in time to catch a glimpse of my new army clambering over my titan's coils.
Ranging from half skinned corpses to blood soaked skeletons, undead dragons numbering in the hundreds had come to my aid.
Their eyes were a sea of red stars amid the steadily darkening sky, becoming overcast with smoke as volcanoes nearby erupted to announce the arrival of my army. Some of the dragons had taken flight and were hovering in middair. Other's had traversed over and around the titan surrounding the ponies from almost every direction.
And as I thought it couldn't get any better, the two elder dragons I had just recently killed rose from the earth. The one who's neck I'd broke realigned his vertebrae and snapped it's head back into place. The blue dragon, whose soul now screamed within me for bloodshed amidst the multitude of souls harmonizing within me their song of malevolent victory, Rose to its feet and stood besides his crimson comrade.
"So this is the feeling father spoke of... heh... ehehehahahahHAHAHAHA!!!"
I mused aloud, quickly succumbing to the euphoric high of my newfound power shortly thereafter.
The memory of my father telling me of his conquest for power across the multiverse filled me with the same pride I could see in his face... damnit all... Mom... Dad... I swear it, THE MULTIVERSE WILL KNOW YOUR NAMES AGAIN AND TREMBLE AT THEIR MENTION!!!
////////////////////////////
Over the last few minutes, Discord had found himself paralyzed and afraid; not for himself, but for Fluttershy. The meek mannered pegasus who had given him chances he knew he neither deserved or thought he'd receive to be a better creature was overcome with terror.
After his betrayal with Tirek, Discord had been having visions. Short and frightening nightmares, of fire and destruction that would cause him to wake up screaming in the middle of what passed for the night in his realm of chaos.
At first they were random and inconsequential dreams, flashes of ponies bickering or causing some minor mess that would later become real before Discord's very eyes. But with every passing vision, an image that made Discord feal an emotion that was alien to him materialized from the confusing mess of his memory.
In these visions, he saw Canterlot demolished and devoured in fire... hellfire... The bloodied, and battered bodies of the royal sisters laying on a shattered, brick road of their capitol city. Who despite imprisoning him for over a thousand years, had earned a place in his heart... or whatever passed for one.
Behind them, stood a monolithic being of darkness. With massive, inverted, bat wings stirring the ash and smoke that seemed to bleed from it's bloated form. Two blood red points, smoldering with a silent rage that knew no bounds constituted the entity's eyes; which were situated betwixt two massive horns that crowned the skull of a bone white ram.
As he lay in Fluttershy's arms, only now having been able to begin nullifying the magic keeping his body from obeying him; he froze at the sight of the construct rising from the dead. As the visions rapidly flashed before his eyes, he felt that same horrid dread attempt to paralyze him yet again.
The titan's sized was truly brought into perspective when the looming giant raised it's fist and coiled it back with the intent of squashing the insects before it. With the many eyes in it's chest boring into Discord's chaotic soul, the draconequus struggled to pry his gaze from it; subconsciously fearing that if he did, he would be destroyed with no hope of escaping.
After several seconds that seemed to stretch out into an eternity, he looked over to Fluttershy. The element of kindness... no amount of words could summarize the despair she was feeling.
Tears were falling from her eyes and staining her coat, the liquid sorrow falling on Discord's coarse fur. Almost out of habit, Discord peered into her mind. She was thinking of her animals... She was sad she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to any of them, not even a certain white bunny that would at times irk Discord to no end.
With control of his upper body now restored, Discord looked towards the nephilim with renewed determination. This would not be the end, much less at the hands of a novice nephilim necromancer.
He was Discord! Master of Chaos and the Arbiter of Anarchy! He raised his lion paw to begin what he should've started a while ago instead of toying with the empowered half-breed.
However, before Discord's middle finger and thumb met, Azazel turned away from his advancing army to look directly at him. The toothy smile the necromancer once had vanished upon making eye contact with the now startled draconequus.
As the dark sorcerer's hair danced in the steadily growing breeze, the sudden sharpening of his pupils and the murderous glare made his intent clear. Discord hesitated if only for a moment, but his mind was made.
"It's now or never..."
The spirit of chaos muttered under his breath as he snapped his fingers. Several meters away from the group of creatures, a large, circular projection spell of a rainbow coloured screen materialized. The projection was displaying a live feed of the cage where the undead had been imprisoned in.
The onyx, bipedal skeleton of the group had been pulling at the bars, grunting in frustration as the beams of metal refused to bend or break. Looking up from the bars of his prison, Avalon's projection looked up and right at Azazel.
The other undead quickly noticed this and all stood besides their sable leader with an array of emotions displayed in their eyes. Fear, relief, and even joy was visible through the scintillations in their eye sockets. But the thing that rocked Azazel to his core, was the sight of his verdant surrogate twin brother, and the flower spangled older sister he never had.
Thankfully, it garnered the reaction Discord was looking from the young necromancer: shock. What Discord was not prepared for, was how quickly that shock turned into anger.
"WHAT IS THIS!?"
The nephilim asked, his voice distorted by the flaring of his hellish magic. Carefully unwrapping Fluttershy's hooves from his body, Discord sat as best he could while rubbing his legs and harshly bitch slapping them awake.
"Contrary to what you may think Azazel, I didn't come here to kill or fight you. I came here to talk, and as such I come to you with a proposal."
Discord began, never raising his voice; though his tone left no room for debate. When Azazel didn't respond, the spirit of chaos took it as a sign to continue.
"As you can see, I fixed Trephor and stopped Mia from becoming bone meal. So I offer you this; hear me out and I promise to return to you your undead unharmed. Sound fair?"
He offered, a smile gracing his features as his confidence returned along with the feeling in his legs. Azazel's furious grimace never softened, not trusting the Lord of chaos for even a second.
"And why should I believe you? For all I know, this projection and everything you've said is naught but a lie in a vain attempt to save your souls!"
The nephilim asked, his magic having receded, though not the hostility in his tone. Discord's grin didn't falter as he raised a cocky eyebrow and snapped his fingers again.
Before Azazel could react, the loincloth he once wore materialized around his waist; the rattling of medallions, chains and a slue of other trinkets announced their sudden appearance. Feeling the firm and comforting embrace of his belt, the half-breed looked down to find his singular piece of clothing. He immediately recognized every memento strung around it, but one of them was missing...
"Because..."
Discord began, garnering Azazel's attention once more. Looking up, the necromancer was able to catch in his telekinetic grip the missing accessory; his medallion of truth. The worn silver disc that branded the nephilim's symbol hovered in middair for a few seconds before being grabbed by the half-breed's armoured hand.
Every groove, rune, sigil, and even the almost imperceptible amount of magic trapped whithin the medallion seemed real to the necromancer. Even after casting a quick revelio spell on the object in his hand, the nephilim refused to trust the spirit of chaos.
"...you will be able to tell if I'm lying or if I'm telling you the truth."
He finished, a faux humbleness dripped from his every word; and Azazel didn't like it. Discord's playfully obnoxious attitude was the most obvious and worrying trait he carried, second only to the sheer power he possessed.
The nephilim had met one such trickster in the past, a reality warping, dimension hopping imp by the name of Rumplestiltskin. But even now as the necromancer wanted nothing more than to destroy the being before him, he knew better than to fight such a seemingly insurmountable force with brute strength alone.
He'd have to be smart about this if he wanted to survive and beat Discord at his own game. Azazel mentally ordered the titan to lower it's fist, but to remain vigilant for anything out of place.
Seeing the silently smoldering monstrosity lower it's fist, Discord snapped his fingers again; causing the projection to change.
The circular projection reflected a still image of an unconscious Celestia, hovering in an endless void. Her flaming hair was the only light amidst the sea of darkness, and her golden armor exuded an aura of imperious regality.
Azazel was shocked, but not by the projection itself. It was by the fact that he could see Celestia's soul frozen in time along with a very disturbing revelation... Her soul was powerful, bright like an invincible golden sun, but unmistakably shattered.
But amidst the cracks of the alicorn's majestic horn, lay what seemed to be an ethereal tumor of darkness. It was small, but impossible to miss.
In Azazel's mind, the seemingly foolish and hypocritical behavior of the diarch he wanted dead now came fully into perspective; his bewildered mind only allowing him to stammer at the implications of this image.
"...it can't be..."
He muttered.
"As you probably remember, Celestia underwent a transformation not to long ago. Resulting in the destruction of Trephor and in the injuries Mia now has."
Discord began again, standing back to his full height and dusting off his formal attire.
Manifesting a small, remote controller in his bird talon, he pressed a big blue button protruding from one of it's sides with an audible click.
The image was then magnified and the dark protuberance was moved towards the left of the projection screen; said screen being divided in two. On the right side, lay a silhouette of Azazel standing straight with his arms and wings outstretched to the sides.
In the center of the silhouette, made seemingly of an ever changing mass of thousands of ghoulish faces, lay a nearly perfect orb of what seemed to be obsidian wreathed in hellfire.
"Celestia, at one point or another seems to have been possessed by something of hellish nature. I have a vague idea of where it came from, but that's irrelevant. What matters is that I've managed to restrain her and delay the spread of the... infection. Now, what I need is your expertise in the subjects of demonology and exorcisms."
Discord finished, looking intently at the nephilim. Though he portrayed a nonchalant expression for his deal, he was still nervous to some degree.
Even with the considerable boost of ambient chaos from the titanic brawl, Discord knew that he was not exempt from the necromancer's magic in his current condition.
His only hope was to keep the necromancer believing he was at a disadvantage. Azazel on the other hand, became angry once Discord's desire became clear.
"So that's what this is about!? You want someone to punish! And your spinning this into some elaborate speech about how by saving her I can be "redeemed", AREN'T YOU!? AND FOR WHAT!? To save the bitch that lied to my face and tried to kill my family!? YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR DAMN-!!"
The half-breed's furious rant was cut short when Discord calmly raised his lion paw in a polite, yet stern demand for silence. Azazel's magic had been flaring up as wisps of hellish lightning and fire began dancing around his form; only to suddenly snuff out at the sudden stop in thought.
The draconequus' expression had hardened a little as he realized that convincing the dark sorcerer would be more difficult than he anticipated.
"I'm trying here Azazel, don't test my patience. So stop acting like a child and listen."
Discord said, sounding annoyed. The nephilim blinked once, before quietly straightening back up. While the threat didn't sit right with Azazel, he could sense sudden surge of power within the draconequus he hadn't felt before.
Taking a deep breath the necromancer nodded, prompting Discord to continue. Before he continued, however, Discord pressed the button on his controller causing the projection to change again. Except this time, it was a live feed of Celestia floating an abysmal void; and the malignant darkness had spread...
"I'll cut to the chase. You can do something for me that I can't, and I can do something for you that you can't. Nobody knows better than me that Celestia isn't perfect, but Equestria still needs her despite her actions towards you and the countless other she's hurt; you and me included. I need you to get rid of whatever abomination is inside of her before she's destroyed by it."
Discord explained slightly exasperated towards his last statement. When Discord finished, Azazel had been left with only two questions nagging him.
Looking away as he thought on how to best articulate his thoughts, Azazel looked down at the medallion in his hand. Not once had it glowed or hummed with the telltale sound of a lie. Looking back at Discord, he steeled himself to ask his query; clipping the medallion to his belt as he spoke.
"Let's suppose I believe you, what's stopping you or Celestia from simply killing me once I've upheld my end of the deal?"
The nephilim asked, his tone being a lot less harsh. On one claw, Discord was glad that at the very least; Azazel wasn't hellbent on killing him. But on the other, the master of mischief was disappointed with the fact that his next statement was an inconvenient truth.
"Nothing. Because anything I say is worthless to you due to my ties to the elements and Celestia."
Discord replied, disconcertment evident in his voice.
"However, that doesn't change the fact that I am the only one who can grant you your deepest, darkest desire."
He finished, Discord's tone intriguing the nephilim.
"Which is?"
Azazel asked, unimpressed and not expecting Discord to have anything other than his undead's release; which he would disembowel the chaotic trickster should he fail to keep his end of the deal.
With the nephilim taking his bait, Discord smiled as he pressed the button on his remote. The image then changed to an image that made most of the ponies present gasp, if not gag in discuss at the visage being displayed above them.
It was a very life-like depiction of the young necromancer standing atop a mountain of corpses. The visage presented Azazel letting out a victorious howl as he pulled a Solarian soldier in two.
However, what caught Azazel by surprise was not the burning city behind him, the lumbering stormclouds or the scores of undead dragons flying over his depiction, but rather the identity of the regally dressed aasimar directly beneath his feet.
Her flowing locks of hair and her majestic alabaster wings were tainted with the golden blood of angels; which also seemed to be trickling down her mouth. Her head was twisted at an unnatural angle and he clothes were torn and only barely preserving her dignity.
The sight of the aasimar, brutalized as she was, caused the nephilim to be momentarily blinded with a red haze. Azazel's teeth grinded together as he growled out the name of the one who had taken his parents, his happiness, and his world from him.
"SOLARIS..."
The nephilim snarled. The combination between his magic and his fury twisted his voice into a sound so gutteral and hateful, that it made Twilight's skin crawl.
She hadn't expected the dark sorcerer to still be angry after the non-stop, rage fueled bloodbath that rendered the monster from which he clawed his way out from dead; and despite all of that, he looked like he was about to kill something very... very brutally...
Mia had spoken to her about what demons were, beings born from hatred, suffering and misery; but it was only now that Twilight understood what she meant. Azazel's eyes had been adorned with veins that radiated from his eyes like a spider web; and the homicidal glare that he was directing at the projection spoke in no uncertain terms of the untold atrocities he yearned to unleash upon the object of his ire.
His dark eyes seemed to become burning pools of a crimson light so vile and hateful that it made the memory of even Tirek's imperious gaze seem like a minor fright in Twilight's mind. The princess of friendship was snapped from her catatonic trance by the snap of Discord's fingers.
In a flash of light, the projection spell evaporated and the cage holding the undead materialized a short distance away from the nephilim.
"As promised, your caretakers are unharmed."
Discord said, his suit exploding off of him in a blast of confetti I'm every direction. While it startled most of the ponies present, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but giggle at the display; her beaming smile returning to it's usual place on her face.
"Think over my offer, I'll give you till tomorrow so you can spend sometime with your fami-"
"I'll do it."
Discord was cut off by Azazel's blunt, yet monotonous statement. The nephilim looked up at Discord, the hellish miasma that fumed off of him seemed to ebb if only a little.
Azazel's expression was blank, unreadable and unnerving to the draconequus. Then the half-breed began walking towards the chaotic spirit. The ponies around Discord couldn't stop themselves from taking a fearful step or two backwards; as that horrid feeling of an all encompassing, mortal danger made it more and more difficult to hold their ground.
When the two beings, one of pure chaos and the other of unbridled hatred were face to face, the nephilim raised his unarmored hand and offered it to Discord.
While the gesture was somewhat foreign to the ponies, the baby dragon looking on with an expression of terrified awe, recognized the gesture to be the offering of a handshake.
Discord smiled cordially and took the hand before him and firmly shook it. However, when Discord tried to pull away, the half-breed's grip would not yield. Discord's expression faltered, and that tinge of fear Azazel felt jolt through the spirit's hand was all the assurance he needed to begin his next spell.
"Do you, Discord, Lord of Chaos, swear to uphold your word of sending me and my army back home upon the restoration of Celestia?"
Azazel's voice was distorted, and his tone though calm, demanded total compliance... or else... As if to accentuate this, an ethereal string of white light began to slowly weave itself around Discord's paw and Azazel's hand.
"A-Azazel, let's not do anything hast-"
"Do. You. Swear?"
Discord stammered only to be cut off again, his will starting to break under the unrelenting wave of fear the nephilim was exuding. The half-breed's voice was powerful, causing the ponies around Discord to feel the rumble of his monstrous voice in their chests.
Azazel's fear aura was steadily intensifying and affecting everypony's perceptions of reality, making it seem as if the soil beneath and the air around them was trembling in fear of the entity standing over it.
Only Discord had noticed that an "X" made of a translucent white light had materialized and hovered just over the nephilim's heart. Looking down, the draconequus tensed as he saw the same ethereal projection manifest over his chest where his heart would be of he were a natural entity.
It was at this moment that Discord realized what Azazel was doing. He met the necromancer's unwavering glare with a determination that equalized the urge to succumb to Azazel's fear aura.
"I do."
Discord affirmed. The nephilim said nothing, prompting Discord to pull away; this time with more force. Hoping he could free himself before the necromancer's oath could be finished. Much to Discord's dismay and subsequent panic, Azazel wasn't letting go.
"And I swear to do everything in my power to free Celestia, goddess of the sun and ruler of Equestria, from whatever is possessing her. With this oath, I cross our hearts and hope to die..."
The half-breed spoke, the white "X" above his heart shifting into a dark crimson. It was too late, and Discord knew it.
"Azazel... p-please don-"
"SAY IT!!!"
Discord hoped with all of his heart that he could dissuade the nephilim from the rather drastic measure. Discord's request fell on deaf ears, as Azazel's outburst caused the earth beneath him to shatter and crack from a violent discharge of magic.
That was the last straw for Rainbow Dash, she had given it her all and had remained strong for her friends. She began feeling light headed and the simple act of breathing had become laborious through the mind numbing fever she had developed.
Discord chanced a glance towards his friends, and saw Rainbow Dash's eyes roll to the back of her head as she collapsed on her side. A short ways away, Rarity, Spike, and Starlight had lost their consciousness as well; though he couldn't tell when it had happened.
Twilight, Applejack, and Zecora were still standing, but they were close to meeting their friends similar fate. Pinkie was laying on her side, her face contorted into a silent grimace of agony and tears streaming down her cheeks; her Pinkie sense making it feel as if she had broken her knees.
Discord's frightened gaze returned back toward the nephilim, knowing that if he even spared a glance down at Fluttershy; he'd lose all semblance of self control.
"...lest you stick a needle in my eye..."
Having no other choice left but to swallow his pride; Discord uttered the final part of the spell. Right in front of his and Azazel's right eye; an ethereal needle about a foot long materialized before disappearing along with the vile magic that drove more than half of Discord's company to their knees.
The spirit of chaos let go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding when the nephilim let go of his hand. With the last of the dark flames and bolts of hellish energy vanishing into the aether, Azazel gave Discord a much less harsh and professional look.
"I will take my leave and not be followed. I still have work to do before I return to my stronghold and begin working on getting your monarch back."
He explained, turning around and heading towards the cage that held his undead cohorts.
"I'll send my heralds to find you once I'm ready to begin."
The necromancer said dismissively with an uninterested wave. The spirit of chaos wanted to say something, but he had nothing. Much to Discord's surprise, the zebra who had remained silent untill now; walked after the nephilim on her shaking hooves.
"Please! Don't go! There is something I must ask you! Something I must know!"
She pleaded, the desperation in her tone causing her to almost trip and fall flat on her face. Azazel didn't know what compelled him to stop and look over his shoulder at the frightened zebra, but he didn't question it; finding himself to emotionally drained to question much of anything anymore.
While Zecora could tell the nephilim's stare wasn't a malicious one, it was unnervingly intense nonetheless. After swallowing the saliva that had amassed in her mouth, she took a deep breath to steady herself before making her question.
"The scourge of the Everfree made the souls it swallowed suffer through their worst nightmares. What have you done to the souls of the Everfree, the ones I gave my friendship and care!?"
She asked, her attempt to sound unafraid was thwarted by the crack in her fearful voice.
Scanning her form, Azazel couldn't sense any magic building up whithin her. Instead he felt... pain... Seeing as how he was in no imminent danger, he raised his left hand and began conjuring a small, pale, ghostly white sphere.
While Twilight and Applejack were unaware of what was happening, Zecora's unveiled eyes grew wide as they were inextricably glued to the sight before her. She'd seen this same magical manifestation every night over the five years she'd lived inside the accursed Everfree.
When the wisps of energy finished coalescing into a sphere no bigger than an apple, the nephilim lazily pushed it towards the zebra. The sphere then flew quickly in a similar flight pattern to that of a hummingbird, heading straight towards the entranced zebra.
Almost instinctively, she raised her hoof once it got near her; hoping against hope that what she was seeing was real. Then, like snow falling from the heavens, the orb landed gently on the zebra's hoof. The familiar coolness of a spectre's touch felt soothing and welcoming; and after feeling as if death itself had tried to claim her, tears of unadulterated bliss began welling up in Zecora's eyes.
"...hello again... *yawn* ...Zecora..."
She heard a voice say in her head. The voice was that of a child, almost sounding as if it were sleepy.
She simply stood there, admiring the slowly roiling mass of soul energy. Time, space, and most importantly, the fear she once felt no longer mattered. Only this, the essence of life itself silently hovering over her hoof deserved her attention.
She had been so enraptured by the spirit she now held in her hoof that she didn't notice Discord had teleported her and the mane six back to Twilight's castle.
She was only brought out of her trance by a gentle paw coming to rest on her left shoulder. Hesitantly looking away from the orb in her hoof, she turned to her left and found Discord standing beside her.
"You know, I often wonder why soulmancers like you are hated so much. You have the privilege to behold some of the most beautiful things in the multiverse. But then again... there's... *sigh* Azazel..."
He said, his tone begining as serene and sincere, only to then sour with lament. Zecora had to blink a few times in a vain attempt to understand his statement. When she failed to understand his reasoning, she asked in a near whisper her plight.
"...What is he?"
Much to the surprise and subsequent dread of Zecora and Discord, the spectre was the one to answer with a cold and foreboding finality.
"Death."