Chapter 30
“Come on, little pony, stop fleeing from me,” Nightmare laughed as he bounded down the street, his tendrils snapping forward as he tried to impale the fleeing stallion. Who was only staying alive by using his magic to teleport all over the street as he galloped away from the beast.
“Shit crap shit fuck!” Dude yelled as he teleported again, his horn struggling to keep up with him. He couldn't’ keep this running up for much longer, as the moment his magic burned itself out, he’d be screwed.
Up ahead he saw a group of ponies working hard to put out a fire as a few others were tending to wounded ponies.
Gritting his teeth he turned to run down another alleyway, not willing to take the Nightmare towards them and put them at risk as well.
“Oh? Not running for the safety of others?” Nightmare asked, roaring with laughter as he shrunk down to fit in the alleyway, slowly catching up to the terrified stallion.
He had a destination in mind, but getting there was the hard part. And he wasn’t even sure if it was still there, since most of the town seemed to be blown to pieces.
As he prepared to teleport further down the alley, something pierced straight through his back leg, causing him to yell in pain. He forced himself to teleport anyway, the pain only getting worse as he started to slow down.
A card flew up in front of himself, casting a minor healing spell. It only really dulled the pain and stopped the bleeding, but it would have to do for now.
“You’re starting to slow down, boy,” Nightmare laughed from behind him as he kept getting closer and closer.
“Damn it,” Dude muttered as he teleported to the end of the alley and ran to the left, his destination dead ahead. The Mellowed Pie, and his bag that held all of his stuff.
The building was on fire, and out front he saw his dad’s wheelchair, laying on its side. He didn’t see his father, so he was going to assume he was okay.
Behind him he heard the sounds of Nightmare bursting through the alley, coming out onto the street with him.
“Where are you trying to go?” he asked as he returned to his massive size, bounding towards the lone stallion.
“Almost,” Dude muttered as he teleported forward a bit, his horn feeling like it was about to split in half. “Almost!” he forced himself to teleport again, a massive flash of pain shooting through his head.
He was so close now, but so was Nightmare. Just a little more!
With a yell he teleported again, but his horn had finally had enough as it sputtered and popped, sending a splitting feeling through his head. “No!” he yelled as he stumbled, no longer confident he’d make it to the house.
“So this is it then?” Nightmare laughed, seeing that Dude was no longer able to use magic. “Oh well, the chase was fun.”
A tendril whipped forward, knocking his legs out from under him, sending him tumbling across the ground.
He let out a groan as he came to a stop on the ground, no longer having it in him to keep running. The massive beast was nearly on top of him, so there was no way he’d get any further.
But not wanting to give up just yet he brought up a card and forced himself to create the first thing that came to mind.
“Going long!” Nightmare yelled with a wide smile on his ape face as he jumped forward and prepared to slam his foot right into the prone stallion, ready to end his life in one glorious hit.
The moment he was about to make contact with the downed stallion, a card flashed as a forcefield appeared around Dude’s body.
Nightmare just roared as he fully committed to the kick, sending the stallion flying into a nearby building. Dude, still encased in the forcefield, slammed through a wall and bounced off of a few surfaces before coming to a rest in the middle of a large room.
He groaned as he rolled over, the shields flickering as they fell. They’d done their job, but he still wasn’t safe.
“Are you still alive, little pony?” Nightmare said in a sinister voice as he crept up on the building, making clicking sounds for no reason other than to terrify Dude.
Dude started to get up to run, but then he realized something as he looked around. He was in the Mellowed Pie! As quickly as he could he jumped up and ran for the kitchen, looking for his saddlebags. He knew he’d left them there earlier in the day, but he just couldn’t remember where!
“I can hear your breathing,” Nightmare said as he shrunk down to fit in the hole, entering the restaurant.
Frantically, he ran around the kitchen and back rooms, looking desperately for his bags.
“I think I’m going to make you my little puppet for a while,” Nightmare said in a low tone, getting closer to where Dude was.
Just as he was about to go into a full on panic he saw his bags, buried under a few jackets. Rushing over he pulled his bags free and began to dig through them, looking for the only item that would save his life.
“There you are,” Nightmare exclaimed as he entered the kitchen, tendrils spreading from his body as his crackling Ego slithered across the ground towards the stallion.
With a relieved smile he pulled out the desired item and jumped up.
“What do you have there?” Nightmare asked, tilting his head as he looked at the item in Dude’s hoof. “Oh, a little dagger. Are you going to stab me to death?” He roared with laughter as Dude raised the dagger. “Oh no, don’t stab me, little pony!”
To his surprise, Dude stabbed the air before him and dragged the blade downward, causing a portal to open before him. Nightmare’s eyes widened as he shot everything right at Dude, but he wasn’t fast enough as the terrified pony dove through the portal, which closed the moment he was through it.
Now alone, Nightmare stood there, his body twitching. He’d been too cocky and had let the little pony escape.
“Tsk tsk tsk,” Lilith said from behind him, causing him to growl. “Come with me.”
ooo000<^>000ooo
Mr. Bleak dodged backwards as his shadowy hooves appeared all over the tunnel, shattering any creature they hit. These little demon things were everywhere, but they were extremely fragile, so a single hit was enough to take them out.
However, there was one that was giving him trouble.
The decrypted and grotesque Val laughed menacingly as he shoved his way through all the little demons around him, his eyes locked on his brother. “Oh come now, dear brother! Do you plan to fight till the very end?!”
No answer came as Mr. Bleak continued to move around the area, doing his best to keep the little demons between him and his brother.
His Ego no longer had an effect on Val, as he seemed to shrug off anything other than physical damage. Even trying to use his shadowy attacks proved dangerous as Val seemed to be able to sense when they were coming, and would try to bite his hoof as it came for him.
So he needed time to think of a plan, or to escape. This place had a great sense of evil to it, and he could sense something lurking nearby. Something he’d rather not come face to face with.
A massive wave of little demons surged after him, all of them screaming in agony, yet every single one of them sported a gleeful smile on their twisted faces.
He reached out with his Ego, attaching to one of the little creatures. He searched it for an answer to his problems, and it did not take him long to sense something within the demon. The answer to at least one of his problems.
Using his Ego he formed a wall of darkness around himself, blocking the weaker demons from reaching him.
Now that he had a moment to himself he focused on his own Ego, gritting his teeth as he tried to perform a brand new trick. A sphere of Ego spread out from his body and rushed forward, covering every demon around him in his energy.
With a strained grunt, he flexed all of his muscles, causing the spreading Ego to rush back towards him. As it passed back over the crowd of demons it disintegrated them immediately.
As soon as it returned to him he looked around, seeing that it was just him and his corrupted brother left.
“Impressive little trick,” Val cackled, unaffected by Mr. Bleak’s Ego. “But it’ll take a lot more than that to stop me now.”
“Oh trust me, I know,” Mr. Bleak said with a smile as darkness began to spread across the ground around himself.
Val growled in anger as he saw shadowy forms of the little demons starting to rise out of the darkness, all of them now obeying Mr. Bleak.
The little shadowy demons kept coming as they began to advance towards Val.
“Pitiful little army you’ve built yourself,” Val hissed as his massive mouth opened up, a dark red glow beginning to admit from deep within his throat.
Then, like a vacuum he began to suck in all the surrounding demons, causing all of them to rush forward as Mr. Bleak shifted into the shadows. He reappeared behind his brother as the little demons struggled to even reach him.
Using this rare moment of peace he began to expand his senses, searching for a way out of this realm.
A larger demon entered the area through the hole he’d made, this one much different from the little ones he’d killed and enslaved.
He started to try and kill it the same way as earlier, but an idea hit him. He could use this one for something a little different.
As it charged towards him, roaring with the wails of the damned, he smirked. His Ego shot out and attached to the large demon as it reached him, but as it dove for him, he shattered into wispy smoke.
Mr. Bleak reappeared just behind the confused demon, grabbing his trailing Ego in his hoof and yanking it hard. The demon roared as Mr. Bleak pulled its soul from its body and absorbed it himself.
His body flashed a light crimson as he grunted in pain. Apparently directly absorbing the soul of a demon is a terribly agonizing thing to do. But now he had access to their magic, but only temporarily, as this little trick had a time limit.
“Ah, interesting,” he muttered as he gained access to new abilities.
Val was just finishing up with the little demons, a look of complete annoyance on his face.
Just as he finished something attached to him.
“Brother,” Val growled as he closed his gaping maw, turning to face Mr. Bleak. “This is futile, your Ego-“ his eyes went wide as he saw both cyan and crimson Ego swarming around his brother's body. “How?!”
Mr. Bleak gave no answer as he used his new abilities to control the darkness of this realm to restrain his brother. Chains flew up from the ground and wrapped themselves around the demonic stallion, pulling him down roughly.
“You fool!” Val screamed as he fought to free himself. “You think this will hold me?!”
“Of course not, my dear brother,” Mr. Bleak laughed, pulling some of Val’s energy to himself. “But it’ll do enough for now.”
A smile formed on his face as he found the thread of darkness that linked this realm to his own. Giving his brother a bow, he side stepped into the darkness, leaving his brother screaming in rage.
He passed through the darkness, shifting through all kinds of realms as he followed the single thread. He could feel the power he’d stolen from that demon starting to fade, meaning he needed to hurry.
Without a second to spare he shifted out of the darkness, finding himself back in the forest he’d originally been in. The demon's soul faded away, leaving him with only his Ego. But that was fine, since he’d only needed it to return home.
Clearing his throat and dusting himself off, he began to walk for the path, ready to go find his wife and daug-
He came to a jerking halt, finding himself unable to move. His eyes widened as he felt a dark presence within himself.
“Bravo!” Nightmare exclaimed as he and Lilith shimmered into view as they dropped the cloaking spell they’d been hiding under. “Escaping Hell, not many can say they’ve done that!”
“No gloating,” Lilith commanded as her body began to glow red. “That’s how you lost the last one.”
Nightmare growled as he kept his crackling Ego attached to Mr. Bleak, making sure he couldn’t break free or use his Ego.
“I’ll admit, Darkest,” she said as a ball of crackling energy formed around him. “I was a bit worried you’d muck up our plans.”
He just glared at her, unable to free himself from the grasp Nightmare had on him.
The ball of crackling energy fully closed around him as he held Lilith’s gaze.
ooo000<^>000ooo
Azure Moon dragged the unconscious pony out of the rubble and pulled them over to an area they’d set up for the injured. A few medically trained ponies were rushing around, doing the best they could.
She laid the pony down carefully and then sprinted back to the rubble that used to be the supermarket. A few unicorn’s were using their magic to remove debris, search for survivors.
A loud boom was heard overhead, scarring everyone.
“Oh thank Celestia!” someone yelled as everyone began to cheer.
“It’s Champion!”
Azure Moon growled as she avoided looking up. While she hated and loathed him, at least he’d stop this unnecessary destruction.She just hoped he’d leave her alone while he did it.
“Azure Moon,” Champion said as he floated down to her, his eyes locked on her.
“Please, not now, Star Chaser,” she groaned as she avoided looking at him. “Please, any other time. Just go stop those monsters before any more ponies get hurt.”
But he didn’t fly away or even argue with her, just floated there staring at her.
She grumbled to herself as she finally looked up at him, ready to tell him off, but the sight of him covered in blood stopped her. “Have you… already stopped them?”
“I’m going to ask you a very important question,” he said in a chillingly calm and focused voice, “and your answer will decide the fates of everyone.”
“What is that even supposed to mean?” she asked with a scowl, the ponies around them excitedly chattering about the appearance of Champion.
“I am being considerate by offering you this choice,” he said, eyes wide and bloodshot. “So do not squander it.”
A groan escaped her lips as she facehoofed. “Okay, I’m done. Get the FUCK out of here and do what ever it is you do. I have ponies to save.”
“I warned you,” he said with a sigh as he flickered, followed by every pony in the area exploding into red mist.
Azure Moon’s eyes went wide as what he’d just done slowly dawned on her. She fell to her haunches and began to scoot away from him, “what… have you done?!”
“I am the King now,” he said calmly, ignoring her completely. “And I am offering for you to be my Queen of your own free will. If you decline…” a dark look fell over his face. “Do not decline.”
“You’re a monster…” she muttered, heart racing as she stared up at him in horror. “You killed all those innocent ponies…”
“And many more will die if you decline,” he deadpanned, waving his hoof over the area. “Your answer here decides how I will rule this world. Think carefully.”
He flew down and landed before her, holding his hoof out to her. “Azure Moon, do you accept the role as Queen of Equestria? To be my beloved wife forever and always?”
She just stared at him in complete shock as he smiled down at her, knowing he’d finally won.
As he stared at her face, he couldn’t help but feel complete happiness for the first time in a long time. She’d accept his offer and rule by his side without having to be forced into it.
He watched as her face twisted into all kinds of emotions as he moved his hoof a little closer to her. “Come, my love, we have much to do.”
Her face finally settled on an emotion as she slapped his hoof away with a sneer on her face, jumping up and stomping her front hooves. “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! YOU’RE A MURDERER! A MONSTER!”
“Azure, think very-”
“Stop acting like I’ll ever be with you!” she roared, kicking debris at him. “Fuck you, Star! Just fucking kill me, get it over with! I can see it in your eyes! If you can’t have me then no one can! So just grow a pair and kill me! And if you can’t, then LEAVE!”
With all the hate and passion she had in her body she spat into his face, hitting him in the eye.
His eye twitched as he stared down at her. This wasn’t right at all. This…
With a flash he slapped her across the face, sending her crashing into the ground. The hit had been hard, but not enough to really hurt her.
She let out a cough as she struggled to stand back up, but he flew towards her and kicked her back over.
“You foolish mare,” he growled as she floated above her, eyes ablaze with fury. “I’ve offered you everything you could ever ask for and you spit in my face?! SPIT INTO MY FACE?!”
“Fuck you,” she groaned as she continued to be defiant and force herself back up. “I’m never going to be yours, asshole.”
“You will be,” he growled as he slammed down on top of her, easily forcing her onto her back. He held her legs down as she glared up at him.
“Do it then,” she growled, spitting into his face again. “Use those fucking lazer eyes to burn my face off!”
“No,” he growled as he looked into her eyes, his heart racing. “You’re going to be mine.”
She began to throw more insults his way, but the sight of him suddenly reaching down and removing his pants caused her to stiffen up.
“No,” she said firmly. “No, that is not happening.”
“Yes,” he said just as firmly.
“Star Chaser, no!” she yelled, struggling against him.
“Just stop,” he said as he lowered his body onto hers.
“If you… IF YOU-” she started to say, but was cut off as she began to scream.
Champion kept his eyes on her, his face emotionless as he finally got what he wanted. She kept struggling and screaming, but he kept it up.
He lost focus momentarily as he started to enjoy himself, letting one of her hooves go. She immediately slammed it into his face, causing him to thrust into her harder. As she screamed he grabbed her hoof and shoved it back down.
“Do NOT hit me!” he roared inches from her face as he increased his speed.
She suddenly latched onto his snout with her teeth, trying to tear into his flesh. But he was way too durable for that as he just got angrier. With a hard yank he pulled his snout from her teeth, actually chipping one of them in the process as she’d had a death grip on his snout.
Her eyes went wide as he adjusted their position slightly, giving him a better angle.
“This is amazing,” he gasped into her face, his hips thrusting faster and faster. “You’re amazing.”
She didn’t have it in her anymore to insult him as she just waited for this to be over with.
“Oh I love you, my Queen,” he grunted, starting to breathe harder.
With a pathetic moan his whole body stiffened as he finished, looking straight up at the sky.
Tears rolled out of her eyes as she clenched them shut, not able to look at him anymore.
“Oh…” he said as his body shook as he laid down on her. “That… wow, Azure.”
“Get off…” she said softly.
“I love you,” he said as he kissed the side of her face.
“GET OUT OF ME!” she cried out, resuming her struggling as she just wanted him out of her and to leave.
A dark look fell across his face.
“I just gave myself to you and this is how you react?!” he yelled, ripping himself out of her and standing above her as she let out a pained scream and rolled over, beginning to crawl away as she sobbed loudly.
His eye twitched again as he grabbed her tail and yanked her back to himself. “If this is how you’re going to act,” he said as he pulled the little orb Lilith had given him out of his pocket dimension, “then we’re doing this the hard way.”
She cried for anyone to come to her aid, but there was no one left in the area.
He touched the orb to the back of her head, causing her to go stiff as it worked its magic on her.
A pleased look fell across his face as he looked her over, waiting for the orb to finish with her.
“My Queen.”