Equestrian Darkness: Friendship’s Requiem
Chapter 9: The Revenge of the Corpse God
Among Twilight’s friends, there was a dead silence of shock and horror. In an instant, their friend was gone and replaced with the monstrosity before them. Although no words were spoken, Applejack shared a worried glance with Rainbow who seemed visibly shaken by what had happened. She could also see Rarity and Pinkie huddled together and on the verge of tears. Fluttershy stood behind, quietly sobbing, too afraid to look at Twilight.
The other three cursed ponies were not the least bit surprised, or else they were very adept at hiding it.
Tarik was even chuckling as if he heard a joke. “Mantarok will bring about the Eternal Darkness? You’re master has no power over us anymore. Mantarok’s own magic powers the binding spell that holds him in place.”
“And your master is dying and weak,” said Abdullah. “Even the power of the Essence you protect has waned. Try as you might, but I’ll easily smash you to dust.” He pawed the ground like an angry bull before charging at Twilight.
The air around Twilight’s horn seemed to vibrate with power. She forced Abdullah away with ease, her magic easily repelling him like a piece of paper caught in the wind.
He dug his hooves into the eroded floor, but his efforts were fruitless. By the time he was freed of Twilight’s hold, he scoffed with irritation as he got back on his hooves.
“You silly little foals,” mocked Twilight, “did you really think that my master would not have a plan to escape his bonds? It was only by his doing that you three escaped.”
“We don’t believe you. She lies.”
Tarik seemed to chuckle as if he heard a silly joke. “I fail to see the reason for why he would attempt such an asinine action.”
“Mantarok had been planning his escape for millennia. Although the binding spell and his waning power prevented him from directly destroying you, he was able to manipulate fate to serve his needs. His plan began a thousand years ago when he gave the Tome to Princess Luna. As my master predicted, Luna would be corrupted by the power of the Ancients and be banished to the moon. That way, after a thousand years, she would use the stars’ power to escape the moon. In her escape, she would accidently set off a chain of cosmic energy. It was a domino effect where energy built from the stars and with what little power Mantarok had, he directed it so that it would dispel your bonds.”
“But why?’ demanded Abdullah.
“Mortals can be useful if you took the time to observe. Mantarok knew that one day, some pony with the power to use the Element of Magic would stop Princess Luna. He set about arranging so that you three would be freed and I would be forced to intervene. Up until this time, everything was going according to his plan. He manipulated Dr. Lionheart into building the secret room. He arranged it so Dr. Lionheart would obtain his Essence. And he made sure that I would move into the library and obtain the Elements of Harmony. He did all that, just to get to me.”
Tarik was cackling hysterically. “The Elements of Harmony? Those artifacts were not forged by Ancient magic. What can a mere child’s toy do to us?”
“By possessing the Element of Magic, my power was great, but through me, I can enhance my master’s power tenfold, more than enough to destroy you three once and for all.”
“Talk all you will, but you are neither powerful nor knowledgeable in comparison to us,” said Tarik.
Twilight’s eyes glowed with sinister intent. “Then perhaps you need a demonstration.”
Tarik cried out in pain, shaking violently like an epileptic. He tried to retaliate against Twilight’s psychic assault, but his mind was flooded with horrid visions. Like a cancer, Twilight’s psychic energies ate at his brain. Every mental capacity he had was burned away. Tarik, losing the knowledge necessary for standing, toppled over, shaking on the ground. Slowly, his convulses slowed to a stop, and he was left on the floor, his mind blank and dead.
Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Abdullah charge for the Essence of Mantarok. With a flick of her head, she telekinetically shoved Abdullah aside.
Abdullah clawed at the ground as he physically fought the magical energies. “Damn you, let me go!” He could not break free and his hooves were scratching deep holes in the solid rock floors.
“You really are just a wild animal.”
A bolt of magical energy shot from Twilight’s horn, burning a superficial hole in his chest.
He easily shrugged off the pain and healed his injuries in seconds. “Is that all you can do?”
Twilight’s horn glowed a startling purple as she summoned matching hued runes around her.
Antorbok...Pargon...Aretak...Pargon...Pargon...Mantarok...Pargon.
He keeled over in pain as Twilight’s spell took effect. “What’s happening...?” He could feel a warm energy coursing through his chest. Without further warning, he spontaneously combusted into a haze of purple flames. He let out a shriek as he was incinerated, thrashing and rolling along the ground, but the flames were not real fire, rather concentrated wisps of pure magic. Despite Abdullah’s rejuvenation, he could not fight back the flames as it ate through his flesh in seconds. With the moan of a dying breath, he toppled to the floor and was reduced to a pile of black ash.
Once Abdullah was dead, Mert only stood aside, watching Twilight, contemplating her options.
It was during this silence that the five ponies begin to feel the gravity of what they were witnessing.
“I-I don’t believe it,” said Applejack. “She killed them both without breaking a sweat.”
“Why is she doing this?” whimpered Fluttershy.
“She’s not the Twilight we know anymore,” said Rarity, glumly.
Pinkie’s mouth opened and closed, hoping some encouraging words would spill out from her mouth, but she only got empty silence.
Mert’s telepathic voice echoed throughout everyone’s minds. “You can’t defeat me. Strong of mind. Your body is weak. Strong of magic. Destroy me, you may. Flimsy limbs can’t hurt me.”
Rather than speak, Twilight responded with another spell.
Tier...Magormor...Mantarok.
From out of the floor and surrounded in a halo of magic, a staff materialized beside Twilight. Naturally, it was not a normal weapon. The staff was made of bones, the spine bones of a pony to be exact, each piece anatomically pieced together with the hipbones prominent on one end. Twilight clutched the weapon with her teeth like a wolf clutching its prey. With her weapon at hand, she teleported out of sight.
Mert’s mind reached out, but Twilight was nowhere to be sensed.
With a flash of magic, Twilight appeared beside Mert and swung the staff like a bat. She hit her square in the face, knocking her over and cracking the bone in her jaw.
Upon impact, the staff and Mert let out a sudden flash of purple. Whatever the weapon was, it was enhanced with Mantarok’s magic.
Mert opened her wings, but Twilight struck her in the left wing. With a loud crack, the bone in her wing snapped in two, but she showed no expression of pain on her face.
Twilight swung the staff again, hitting Mert in the leg, snapping another bone.
With her remaining legs, Mert hopped away from her attacker, but Twilight lunged again, thrusting the staff into Mert’s heart.
Mert tried to break free, but she convulsed as Mantarok’s power coursed through her body. Although her life was fading, her face remained taciturn. The magic was tearing at her, atom by atom, until she erupted in a shower of red liquid and magic. All that was left of her was a mangled mess.
“Twilight!” shouted Fluttershy, sobbing hysterically at the vicious murder she had witnessed.
There was no response from Twilight. With rivals gone, she turned to the other three Essences, now sitting vulnerable with no one to protect them.
“And now, there will be no one to stand in the way of Mantarok’s rightful ascension.” She placed a hoof upon the Essence of Mantarok, and felt the heart feeding her with power. Her horn glowed a brilliant light of energy and seven runes appeared around her.
Antorbok...Pargon...Redgormor...Pargon...Pargon...Mantarok...Pargon.
Bolts of purple energy shot toward the Essences, hitting them simultaneously. Each of the artifacts began to crack and split, unleashing a rainbow of color as the magic left them. With an echoed scream from some place not of this world, the artifacts exploded in a shower of sparks and heat-blackened debris. With the Essences gone, the Ancients’ connection to the Material Plane was permanently severed, leaving Mantarok the unchallenged holder of Equestria’s fate.
Twilight telekinetically picked up the staff and Essence of Mantarok and approached her master. She walked up to the pedestals, and placed the heart onto the center one. She bowed to the death god and said, “And now, Master, the world awaits your glorious return.”
Her horn illuminated the room, surging with divine power. Using the energy of the heart, she conjured a circle of power around her. She stared at the five pillars impaled into Mantarok’s flesh. Twilight knew that the binding spell that kept her master in his tomb was strong, but not invulnerable. With a deep moan of pleasure, she started the spell.
Nethlek...Pargon...Redgormor...Pargon...Pargon... Mantarok...Pargon.
The spell shot a bolt of energy that struck the first pillar causing it to crack. Independently of Twilight, the spell repeated itself, blasting another bolt, causing further damage to the pillars.
Twilight’s friends watched with curiosity and dread.
“What’s happening?” asked Fluttershy.
“I don’t know, but I think she’s trying to free that god,” said Applejack.
“Oh this is awful,” cried Rarity. “What can we do?”
“I reckon if we destroy that heart, we can destroy Mantarok.”
Rainbow leaped out in front of Applejack as if she was physically challenging her. “Uh huh, and how are we supposed to do that?”
Applejack put a hoof to her chin in thought. She was not the kind of pony who could come up with a strategy quickly. As her mind raced for an idea, she suddenly noticed the pike that was still strapped to Rainbow’s saddlebags. Like lightening, she was struck with an idea. “Pinkie, do you still have that disk you found?”
“You mean this?” Pinkie withdrew the large metal disk with the hole in the center.
Applejack stared at the disk and the pike. When her eyes glanced at the Tome of Eternal Darkness lying on the ground not far away, and she said, “I have an idea.”
As the first pillar dissolved into dust, the spell worked on the next one. Mantarok was already hissing with anticipation as its bonds were slowly removed. Its collection of mouths snapped wildly, anticipating many souls to devour.
Twilight only stood and oversaw the spell at work. She might have felt excitement if she felt any emotion at all. Instead, she was cold like a corpse.
“Hey, Twilight,” called out Applejack. “Look what I have.”
Twilight turned around and saw her friends gathered from across the room, staring with twinges of agitation as they eyed Applejack.
Applejack had the Tome of Eternal Darkness propped in her arm as she flipped through the book’s pages. “Ya know, this book is actually quite fascinating. In fact, it tells me all about those fancy doohickeys around this here city.”
“You lie,” said Twilight. “You’re not a chosen one, so you can’t read the writing in the Tome. Furthermore, what could you know that I would not?”
“If I couldn’t read the book, then how do I know how to do this?” Applejack pulled out the disk. She began to spin the ring on its side, and like before, the ball of light began to appear at its center while it spun.
The sight of the spinning object piqued Twilight’s interest. She was given all of Mantarok’s knowledge of magic as well as the history of the Ancients, but she was not informed about the technology in the city. Despite her new undead body, her drive to knowledge was still there and she had to discover the secrets of that disk.
“How could this be?” she said.
Applejack gave Twilight a nervous smile. “If you want top learn more, you’ll just have to get this book from me.”
Twilight glared at Applejack with suspicion. “Put the book down and back off.”
Applejack willfully complied, placing the Tome onto the floor and backed away.
As Twilight approached the Tomb, another pillar crumbled to pieces, leaving only three left.
She cautiously approached Applejack while telekinetically holding her staff, threatening to spear anyone who got too close. Once she was satisfied they were at a safe distance, she levitated the Tome to her face and flipped through the pages. Quietly, she searched, quickly becoming transfixed by the book’s contents.
“It’s working,” whispered Applejack. The little farmer knew Twilight’s habits well. In fact, it was only a few days ago when she had said to Twilight, when ya have your nose in a book, nothing seems to distract ya.
With Twilight fully engrossed in her reading, Applejack and Pinkie crept toward her and pounced. With all their strength, they forced Twilight onto her back.
Twilight let out a monstrous hiss in anger as she bore the weight of her friends.
As she was distracted, Rainbow zipped passed Twilight unnoticed and sped toward the heart, the pike firmly clutched in her teeth. She flew as fast as she could, aiming into the center of the heart. Like a speeding bullet, she struck the heart dead on. However, as soon as the pike made contact, something went wrong. Rather than pierce the heart, the pike only halted at the surface. As soon as the it made contact, a surge of magical energy channeled through it. The solid steal pike splintered like wood as a blast of energy hurled Rainbow across the room. She crashed into a stonewall, cracking it upon impact. With a groan of pain, she slid down, hitting the floor and lying there unmoving.
“You fools.” Twilight telekinetically pried Applejack and Pinkie off of her. With her magic, she conjured a barbed rope that bound the two together.
“It hurts,” sobbed Pinkie as the barbs of the ropes pierced into her skin. She and Applejack tried to break free, but the more they struggled, the more the barbs buried themselves into their bodies.
“Rarity, do something,” pleaded Applejack, writhing in pain.
Rarity’s horn glowed as she tried to remove the ropes, but a blast from Twilight’s horn struck her in the head like lightening. Rarity reared back from the force of the blast, a sickening crack echoing off the walls. As she maintained her balance, she saw half of her own horn dangle in front of her face. “My horn!”
At that moment, a pillar crumbled, leaving only two standing.
Author’s Note: Originally, I wanted Twilight to go into details over how Mantarok was imprisoned in the first place, however, I didn’t want the characters to sit around throughout the chapter spouting exposition to the reader, especially since it probably didn’t amount to much anyway. Still, for those who are wondering, my original idea was that Mantarok was weakened after he banished the other three gods, so he went into his tomb to recover. But then a spirit came in and put a binding spell on him using Mantarok’s own magic. Then centuries later, Tarik, Abdullah, and Mert encountered the Essences, got cursed, and the spirit stepped in and bound them too. However, in the process, the spirit either died or lost his mind.