//------------------------------// // Beelzebub // Story: Windigo Whisperer // by Misty Shadow //------------------------------// The Windigos remembered everything that happened the day Belohzhero was born… “So that’s who you are…” they thought, reflecting on what they had learned about Amoros in shock. “You’re the good half of his soul...and the evil half...is Beelzebub…”  In the pitch-black darkness, which was all they could see, a demon taking the form of a hybrid of a lizard and a pony opened its three eyes and grinned evilly before breathing fire… “UUUUURRRRRAAAAAHHHHH!” it cried while spitting flames.  “AGH!” Cloud Shroud yelled, feeling abruptly agitated.  “Cloud?” Fluttershy asked in confusion. “What’s wrong?”  “Dude, are you okay?” Rainbow asked, both her and Fluttershy feeling concerned.  “It’s nothing…” Cloud answered worriedly. “Just a premonition…”  “No dude, seriously, what’s wrong?” a skeptical Rainbow pressed him. “Everything’s gone totally Freaky Town, you can’t just expect us to look the other way anymore.”  “You telling us the truth isn’t going to make us think you’re weird.” Fluttershy said to comfort him.  “Like, don’t get me wrong.” Rainbow Dash interjected. “You’re way weird, but in a totally awesome way we’re cool with.” “R-really?” Cloud stuttered, abashed. “I-I don’t know what to say. I honestly don’t understand the sensation I just felt, I just know it wasn’t good. I could feel evil...hate...and it wasn’t cold like the Windigos’ hate, it was hot. And the strangest thing is...it felt familiar…”  Cloud began reminiscing over how angry he would get at times when he was a human, times when he would recall frustrations with abuse from his family, especially his mother, that left permanent scars on his soul...and then he thought… “Hold on...if my love for Sombra is what brought him to my soul...could my hate have brought something too?”  “You there!” a royal guard abruptly exclaimed, interrupting Cloud’s thoughts.  He and another guard, the same guards Luna had given orders to at the palace, had arrived in the grassy field.  “We came as soon as we received an emergency call!” the other guard proclaimed in concern, referring to the call Billy, Hoops, and Score had made. “Are all of you okay?”  “Yeah, we’re fine.” Fluttershy meekly answered, smiling warmly. “Thanks to a great pair of friends working together.” “We are very relieved to hear that.” one guard replied, returning the smile. “We were worried you might have been in some serious peril. The word from your friends was that the Windigos had returned!”  “That is true.” Cloud replied, slightly stunning everypony with how frank he was. “And while I’m sure they won’t try anything else right now, it won’t be long before they make another move. We need to be prepared, because I have an ugly premonition that we have a storm ahead of us…”  “Princess Luna shares your sentiment.” the other guard informed him. “In fact, she has requested your presence at the palace of the Royal Sisters. Please, do come with us…”  “Gladly.” Cloud responded, acquiescing and flying with them as they led him through the skies to Celestia and Luna’s palace. After taking flight, Cloud looked back at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, both making expressions of concern. Gawkish as it felt to him, he couldn’t resist the urge to smile at them and try to put their minds at ease by telling them… “I’ll be back before you know it.”  They smiled back at him, and Cloud kept smiling as he followed the guards, even as he thought to himself in embarrassment… “How have I come to embrace such corny stuff? Rhetorical question, I know. It’s because I really do love them now. But that doesn’t mean all the hate inside of me from the time I was human has just magically gone away. And love and hate are two sides of the same coin…”  Cloud hadn’t forgotten how bitter and abrasive he was then at all. In fact, it was at the front of his mind. Now that he had proven the power of faith to the Windigos, the next order of business was doing the same for King Sombra in the hope of leading him down the path of redemption. Cloud still looked at Sombra as an exaggerated evil, but knew that even an exaggerated evil was still evil. Sombra would definitely resist any attempt made by him to try and make him good, showing him his greatest fear...and Cloud knew his greatest fear was that what he had been through in the past, what created the demon in him, would lead him to submitting to his inner evil... And right now, the demon was tempting him with a soft whisper in his soul… “Keep trusting in this foolish friendship and you will be betrayed…”  “We’re here.” the guards told Cloud as they finally landed at the front entrance of Celestia and Luna’s palace. “We’ll show you the way to Princess Luna’s room.”  “Her...room?” Cloud replied cheekily, chuckling. “Don’t get the wrong idea.” an unamused guard retorted. “The princess of the night has never displayed a romantic interest in any pony in over a thousand years.”   “I was only joking.” Cloud clarified as he followed the unenthused guards to Luna’s bedroom.  “What he told me though piques my interest…” he thought curiously. “Who was that pony she had a crush on at that time? Could it have been…?”  A memory was triggered in Cloud’s mind, something Sombra said… “My broken heart belonged to another, I shall never love again.”  Cloud was astonished, drawing a connection while the guards were knocking on Luna’s door. “I always thought it was strange for Celestia and Luna to send Sombra of all ponies on a secret mission to defend Equestria after he terrorized Equestria solely because of his qualifications…” he told himself in his mind. “...and now I believe it wasn’t just because of his qualifications…it must have also been...”  “Princess Luna?” the guards asked as they knocked.  “Yes?” Luna responded as she opened the door, this time all the way. “By your request, we have delivered Cloud Shroud to you.” they explained.  “What am I, a package?” Cloud jested, though only in thought after witnessing how dour the guards were in response to his previous joke.  “Much obliged.” Luna thanked the guards. “You may take your leave.”  As the guards complied, Luna then turned to Cloud and told him… “So we meet again. Follow me inside.”  Cloud obeyed and followed Luna into her room, feeling very conflicted as he made his way in before Luna shut the door behind him with her magic and locked it. Luna instantly noticed that Cloud was feeling unnerved from the grimace on his face.  “Is something troubling you?” she asked in a manner that felt rhetorical.  “I sense a presence…” Cloud responded suspiciously. “No...two presences.” “What kind of presences?” Luna asked, unmoved, knowing full well that Sombra was nearby.  “One of them is like a ghost…” Cloud answered blankly. “The other one...is like a monster...a monster I know…”  Sombra couldn’t help but growl in response to that, giving himself away, thinking that Cloud was describing him as a monster.  “I wasn’t talking about you, Sombra.” Cloud said sternly, knowing what was up. “I was talking about the demon...you’re trying to summon a demon here, aren’t you?”     “What?” Luna reacted with surprise, now phased. “How did you know? Did Sombra tell you something about Beelzebub?”  “Beelzebub?” a bemused Cloud replied, further perplexing an also bemused Luna. “That’s his name? Sombra never told me anything about a Beelzebub, I only know Belohzhero and this other demon I just very recently started to sense on another level. It’s a demon I feel has always been with me, it’s just that with the new power I’ve procured from Sombra and standing up to the Windigos, his presence is more palpable to me than ever.”  The demon, overhearing the conversation in the darkness, guffawed.  “Bwa ha ha ha...” he laughed. “You’ve come so far, yet you’re not even aware of the fact that you’ve already seen my face…”  Sombra, having heard everything from the shadows of the room, immediately manifested himself into his corporeal form as a pony. “Not a chance will I continue to conceal myself in the darkness after hearing that.” he said firmly, shooting Cloud an admonishing look as he appeared beside Luna. “When I lended you my power, it was only as a means to an end. I never intended for you to get to this point so soon, much less did I intend for you to start walking the road that will lead you to the demons. I will NOT allow you to get involved with demons. I will NOT allow you to repeat the mistake Luna and I made, the mistake we now intend to rectify.”   “What mistake would that be?” Cloud inquired nervously.  In response, Luna lowered her head, frowning with a forlorn look on her face. “My mistake…” she answered sadly. “My mistake that cost Sombra his heart...and his life…”  Cloud felt a chill go down his spine as memories of numerous past events came flooding back in his mind. He remembered the shifty behavior of the Equestrian press, the supposed record of Sombra’s death, and the coy way Sombra had acted around him before revealing he had long been through with romance...and at last, he realized what Luna meant… “You and Sombra were in love…” he uttered in disbelief, shedding some tears. “It wasn’t Twilight and her friends or Discord that killed him...it was the demon you summoned…”     Luna began to shed tears as well before she nodded, telling him… “Yes. We had to hide the truth from the records because the public is not allowed to know that I am responsible for everything. I gave him the wrong book that day… *sniff* *sob*” “What book?” a confused and distraught Cloud asked.  “The Book of the Dead.” Sombra replied, gritting his teeth in anger. “Long ago, Celestia attempted to sever our relationship, refusing to allow love between an immortal alicorn and a mortal unicorn. Thus, Luna and I attempted to use the Book of the Dead to contact Beelzebub, a demon we would make a pact with in exchange for making me immortal. However, the spell and the ritual we performed to summon him failed. Consequently, the demon took full control of me, eroding my body and corrupting my mind and soul. Contrary to what is told, I became nothing more than shadow even before Celestia and Luna banished me.” “Are you serious?!” Cloud cried, speechless. “Where did you get something like that from?! How could magic like that be available to you?!” “I know how baffling it sounds to an outsider,” replied Luna solemnly, empathizing with Cloud’s bewilderment, “a layman to the Equestrian government’s operations and history. But it’s all true. Us having magic like that makes no less sense than us being immortal simply because we are alicorns who move the sun and moon and preside over Equestria. Do you honestly believe that something as sought after as immortality would be granted to any creature without a cost, even an alicorn?” “No…” Cloud answered meekly. “When the Windigos told me this body of mine would be immortal, I never believed it…”  “And you were correct not to trust them.” Luna asserted. “The “immortal body” you inhabit now is just like Sombra’s, a sham. You are nothing more than a magical essence of darkness, belonging to the realm of eternal darkness, the place you go to once you are dispelled. That realm is the place you humans call hell.”      Cloud began to sweat profusely, feeling his heart pound. He knew the words he had heard, but was not ready to ingest the uncomfortable truth those words spelled out… “............What are you trying to tell me?” he asked in a futile attempt to deny the reality he couldn’t accept.  “Don’t freak out.” Sombra interjected, attempting to mollify him. “Hell is not what you think it is. It’s complicated and difficult to explain, but all you need to understand right now is that even if you are to “die” in this world in the worst-case scenario, all we need to do is call you back from the shadows.”  “But...but...I shouldn’t be going to hell at all!” Cloud cried in protest. “I’m not the best person, but I’m not a bad person! I’ve been getting better since I came to Equestria! I stood up for Rainbow Dash! I saved Fluttershy’s life! I understand my purpose now and I’ve learned how to love!”  “It’s true that you’ve overcome some of the darkness inside you.” Sombra replied. “But it’s not until you completely overcome your personal hell that you will escape it and know eternal life...or at least, that’s what the Book of Life says.”  “Overcome my hell?” Cloud thought. “That sounds familiar…didn’t Amoros say that?”  “Book of Life?” he proceeded to ask. “There’s another one?”  “Indeed.” Sombra answered frankly, making a white book with the insignia of a cross on its cover appear with his magic and levitating it with his horn. “This is the book Luna should’ve given to me then. This would’ve guaranteed me an actual immortal body, but she didn’t trust me enough.” “Why?” Cloud asked, still puzzled. “What need is there for two books?”  “The Book of Life grants one eternal life at a far greater cost than the Book of the Dead.” Sombra explained solemnly. “It’s a cost that requires you to give up everything. It’s a cost so great that the legends say no pony has ever acquired immortality through following its instructions, not even Celestia and Luna.”  “So you mean to tell me the reason Celestia and Luna are immortal is because...” Cloud said in realization as he glanced over at Luna, squinting his eyes in bewilderment. “Again, I know how absurd this all sounds.” Luna empathized with his perplexity once more. “But it’s true. Contrary to popular misconception, becoming an alicorn is not what makes you immortal. It’s an ancient, forbidden spell inscribed in The Book of the Dead, a book that was discovered even before my sister and I came to rule over this land. The spell in question allows for tapping the powers of darkness, communicating with otherworldly beings. My sister and I made pacts with demons in exchange for our immortality. That is where both Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon originate from. It wasn’t something Sister and I did for selfish reasons, we had to do it as the ones who were slated to become the rulers of Equestria. It was an order...from Amoros.”  Cloud’s blood ran cold. Everything Luna had been telling him was insane...but her mention of a forbidden spell reminded him of what Mysterious Shade had cried at the end of the memory the Windigos had shown him...and what struck him even more was her now bringing up the Windigos’ leader.  “WHAT?!” he shouted in shock. “You mean to tell me that he’s been behind everything?! For that long?!” “Why are you so surprised?” Sombra asked curiously. “I already warned you of this. Amoros tricked both Celestia and Luna into thinking he was a god of love. And it seems he has bamboozled you as well. Truly, it frustrates me being the only one who knows of Amoros’ true nature. The only one who knows that he and Beelzebub...are one and the same.” Cloud was stunned, unable to process what he heard before he remembered how he described love and hate being two sides of the same coin… “So Amoros helping me…” he began.  “...was his way of grooming you to be Beelzebub’s vessel.” Sombra finished. “You were being used and neither you or those foolish Windigos ever realized it. That is the reason you were brought to Equestria, to become the successor to Belohzhero. That is the fate I intend to save you from.”   “.....How so?” Cloud asked, absolutely flabbergasted, unsure of how to react to anything he was hearing at this point. Sombra’s horn then glowed with a purple aura as he cast a spell on the floor to reveal the symbol and candles he had hidden with his magic once he and Luna were finished preparing the ritual, making them visible to Cloud. “We are going to call Beelzebub from the shadow realm again.” he said in a very serious tone. “Only this time, we do not intend to make a pact with him. This time, we are going to kill him.” “Kill him?” Cloud asked in confusion. “But aren’t demons immortal? I assumed that was why Belohzhero was banished rather than killed.”  “Beelzebub, at the moment, is in the form of the three-eyed lizard I warned you about.” Sombra explained. “With the power you’ve gained and the combined power of us three, we should be able to dispatch his physical body and seal him away for good.”    Beelzebub, overhearing from the darkness, laughed haughtily.  “I’d like to see you try…” he said pompously as his eyes glowed. “Try killing the very thing you’re trying to protect…”  Cloud suddenly found himself shaking in anger, losing composure.  “How do you know this won’t backfire?!” Cloud demanded in distrust. “This is the demon that ended up killing you after all!” “And what is our alternative?” Sombra retorted. “To do nothing? You haven’t seen how this monster has been manipulating you like I have. I’ve seen the darkness inside your soul, I’ve seen where he’s made his home. It doesn’t matter that you also have light inside of you. As your light grows, so does your darkness. Before you gain any more power, you have to stand with us and stop Beelzebub! It’s the only way to save yourself and Equestria! THAT’S AN ORDER!”   “SHUT UP!” Cloud yelled back. “I’m DONE taking orders! I’m DONE being used like a puppet! You’re just like the Windigos, it’s obvious you’re only trying to help me for an ulterior motive!” “So what if I am?!” Sombra argued angrily. “You helped those Windigos despite the fact you didn’t fully trust them and now you refuse to help me despite the fact you’re supposed to be a veritable fan of mine! Stop making excuses to project your selfishness on me!” “What need would I have to project?!” Cloud retorted indignantly. “You’re obviously the selfish one! You’re a villain, not me! I’m the one who should be reforming you! You want me to stop Beelzebub? Agree to change your ways and then maybe we’ll talk!”   “.....” Sombra squinted his eyes in response, taking a moment of silence before he glanced over at Luna, disgruntled. He knew the magic of charisma alone couldn't control Cloud... “Forgive me, Luna…” he told her solemnly. “For it seems I must break my promise…”  “What promise?!” Cloud demanded to know.  “Cloud…” a distressed Luna answered. “Sombra had already promised both my sister and I he would reform. And we know with full certainty that he honestly wants to change because destroying Beelzebub as he wants will purge him of all the demon’s corrupting influences.”  “.....” an astonished Cloud paused in silence, feeling disillusioned and guilty from losing his temper over a misunderstanding...and losing a sense of purpose.  *dwoom*  For the first time during his journey in Equestria, his fire grew dimmer, for learning that Sombra was already on the path to redemption had contradicted his epiphany, his belief that his greater purpose for being in Equestria was to save a friend from the darkness.  “Part of the promise he made to me was that he would never use his dark magic on another pony again.” Luna continued to explain. “I do apologize, but if you will not destroy the demon and save Sombra’s soul, you must be given the push you need to fulfill your destiny…”  Hearing that only made Cloud feel worse, feeling even more betrayed.  “...So it’s not just the Windigos.” he remarked despondently. “You want to control the way my fire burns as well.”  “Of course we do.” Sombra told him bluntly in an uncaring tone. “We are the rulers of Equestria and you are our subjects. Whatever is enjoined on you, you can not refuse. We know better than you, our souls are more disciplined. Whatever discipline we must give you to set you on the right path, that is something you should be GRATEFUL FOR.”   And with those words he emphasized, he used his dark magic to shoot a glare at Cloud from his eyes. Cloud fell under the influence of his magic and saw his worst fear… He was in pitch-black darkness watching Beelzebub, the three-eyed lizard, the incarnation of his hate, smirking at him triumphantly and uttering the words he dreaded so… “Well, was I right, or was I right?” “You were right.” a heartbroken Cloud answered defeatedly. “Free will is an illusion and trusting in your friends is a joke. Me saving Fluttershy with Rainbow Dash wasn’t actually a miracle, they would’ve found a way to save her with or without me. I’ve suppressed you in my heart for far too long. It’s high time I finally started listening to you.”  “Wonderful.” Beelzebub replied gleefully. “I’ll start by telling you what Sombra really wants…” “WHAT?!” Sombra cried, stopping his spell immediately. “HOW CAN THIS BE?! YOU WOULD MEAN TO BETRAY US AND SIDE WITH HIM?!”  Cloud just stared at Sombra blankly and said… “I’ve never been on anyone’s side. Especially not now. I don’t know what to believe in anymore knowing you’ve betrayed me. I don’t need an explanation. I can clearly see that your ulterior motive for helping me from the very beginning was to do exactly what Amoros was doing. Grooming me to be your vessel.”  Sombra stood still in shock for a moment, looking guilty.  “N-n-no!” he stammered frantically. “That’s not true! I would’ve never been like Amoros! I was only trying to protect your body for us to share!”  “Sombra…” an astonished and suspicious Luna said from behind. “Were you really…?”  “It’s not what you think!” Sombra exclaimed in denial. “And I can prove it! I’ll bring Beelzebub back right now and kill him MYSELF!”  Sombra then cast a spell of dark magic on the symbol on the floor, causing it to give off a bright blue glow. The three backed away from the marking as a shadow began to manifest itself in the center. It was just like how Discord had brought Sombra back, only three eyes glowed from the shadow that eventually materialized itself into… “Beelzebub?!” Sombra remarked, bewildered and aghast. “But I thought you were…” Sombra, Luna, and Cloud were all feeling uneasy as the demon they expected to appear in the form of a lizard, manifested itself in the form of a hybrid between a lizard and a pony. He had two blue eyes and a yellow third eye, the green skin of a lizard, and the equine shape of a pony that had a yellow mane and tail.  “So that demon from the painting was him…” an astonished Cloud remarked in thought as he recalled Dandy Rose’s picture.  “Weak?” Beelzebub rebuffed Sombra gleefully, flexing. “Sorry fool, but I am not the Beelzebub you remember. I’ve gotten much stronger since our last encounter. You stand no chance against me now that I, or technically, I as Amoros, have absorbed the Windigos inside of me.”  “WHAT?!” Luna, Sombra, and Cloud all cried in shock. “BUT THAT MEANS-”  “YES!” Beelzebub cried in sadistic excitement. “Those Windigos were keeping Cloud’s human body alive! If you don’t take me down quickly enough, Cloud will DIE! Mwa ha ha ha ha, AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”  Cloud felt the most unsettling sensation in the pit of his stomach. What had made his heart race earlier, hearing the truth of the nature of his “immortal body” and the destiny of his spirit from Luna and Sombra made him realize all at once… ...that this was the day he would go to hell.