//------------------------------// // Eq'Strieh, the Blistered World // Story: Rarity's Dark Secret // by Jojoleopard //------------------------------// In the darkness of the Cult of Spi’Ke’s giant, ruined hall, everything had fallen absolutely silent. There was not a hint of movement and not even the air moved in here. The ceiling above had fallen apart, collapsing over the ground and burying even the pit that once was the opening for a great horror that was to come. Bodies lay buried under the rubble, but deep into the pit, through a portal that was once there was the other dimension, a world where color was in different shades humankind had never seen before. Here, the ground shifted and rippled, almost like it was alive and the skies stood still, with not a cloud blowing along. Rocks floated above grassy fields, where horrible creatures made their home amongst lakes and cliffsides. One of these entities floated above a dark monolith that floated above the ground. It had only a few moments ago cast a vibrant light around it as it tore through reality, opening the path to the human world. But now that light had faded and it was left staring at its shifting reflection in the monolith. Tiny creatures flew around it, inklings of their human nature still lingered on their bodies, but now, they had been transformed into new beings, beings that would serve the one they had tried to Unveil. This being was, as the humans had called him, Spi’Ke the Endless. To them, he had been their salvation, their way to transcend the horrid world they lived in, to find a peace they never had. Spi’Ke had told them what they wanted to hear, to feed their hope of a better existence beyond their universe, but in reality, there would be no salvation for them, nor will they find peace here in Spi’Ke’s dimension. The air bent and vibrated around Spi’Ke’s massive wings as he took to the sky. His arms tensed and his claws clashed against each other as he clawed at his own scaly hide, drawing blood that bubbled in the air around him. He had underestimated the humans and they had closed the way to their dimension. This would be his punishment to himself for his failure, and there would be more to receive later. In actuality, Spi’Ke was not the greatest force in all existence. He was the great force known to the humans, but in his world of Eq’Strieh, the Blistered World, he was but the messenger, the first of many. For eternities, they had slept, waiting for the right moment to return. Spi'Ke was the first to awaken and with his Unveiling, so too would the others, one by one. Already, plenty had risen from the depths of Eq'Strieh and there were more to come. All around him, more beings began to take shape, materializing out of the ground, out of mountains, even out of thin air. Most of them were equine in nature, but they were twisted, they were malformed and incomprehensible to the human eye. One of them, a lavender beast was shaped in the general build of a horse, but sported a clutter of tentacles out of her cheeks and chest. She had four wings on her back, each one bigger than even Spi’Ke himself and they rose above her, shadowing the land from the Eternal Eclipse in the sky above them all. A ethereal crown orbited her head, occasionally consisting of three prongs, sometimes five. This was the Queen of Eq’Strieh, the ruler of all, Queen Twi'Lgt the Cosmic Shatterer. She lowered her head of infinite eyes to Spi’Ke and spoke to him in a low tone. Yes, he knew he had failed her and the path to the human world had been closed. But this was but a setback. They would find other ways to return to that pitiful realm. Twi’Lgt floated back away from him and another being removed the distance between herself and Spi’Ke. This was the Punisher, Ra’Inboe, the Inflictor of Torment. Spi’Ke accepted his punishment and spread his arms and legs to the sides. Ra’Inboe opened her mouth and a rough tongue filled with spirals of teeth emerged, snaking up in front of her as her wings shone forth rays of indeterminate color. Too quick for the human eye, the tongue lashed out at Spi’Ke’s chest again and again, tearing new lines across his hide. All of Eq’Strieh shook with each blow, but Spi’Ke made no sound or any move to defend himself. He accepted his penance and it would be a reminder for him to not make the same mistakes again. Humans were weak and puny, but if he was going to use them against themselves, then he had to take their weaknesses into account. He would open the way back to the human world again, and when he did, all of earth would bow to Eq’Strieh and its queen and they would consume it and all its inhabitants into their fold. They would have the human planet, one way or another and their universe will simply be another to join their unending territory. They were ever-growing, ever-reaching, ever-hungry, and they would have everything.