Chapter Twenty-One
It was all just a mottled mess within your head. Ringing and echoing whispers were the only things you could make between the short lapses of consciousness that you gained.
You opened your eyes and found yourself being dragged rather carelessly by both your arms from hellspawn on either side of you. The claws bit into your skin, but that was little concern to you as you nearly fainted once more when you saw that your legs were being dragged behind you, causing friction to burn and tear at your exposed flesh.
You weren't sure where they were taking you, nothing seemed familiar. It was all just dark stone, wet with what you could only guess was blood. It wasn't a comforting thought to be finally see the byproducts of their presence.
It went on for what seemed like hours, and you noticed that for some reason, your treatment was becoming less and less harsh. Eventually, you brought your head and were pulled to your feet to walk, as the two pulling your realized you had gained cognizance.
You yelped as weight was put on your legs. Now you noticed that your entire body felt like a broken porcelain doll. That fall.. how did you survive that at all? You had to have fallen at least two stories right onto your back, with no attempt to break the fall at all.
You finally looked down at your legs as you groaned with each step in sync with your captors. It was like a court burn, if that court had been covered in broken glass. You were in bad shape, both in feeling and in reality.
“We probably should have been more considerate.. but what can you do?” The hellspawn to your left spoke, finally breaking the silence that seemed to plague the tunnel you were heading down.
You took the time now to get a better idea of where you were heading. It looked so... brooding. Of all the sights you had seen in your life, the area around gave you feeling of trepidation. It was just a stoney passageway, descending down into the unknown. That gave you no idea as to where the hellspawn could have taken you since your fall. It was all so foreign compared to what you had seen during you and the other's struggle.
The others.. you wondered what happened to them. You hoped that Twilight had at least calmed down and was no longer a threat to all around her. She was probably worried sick about you. You could almost imagine the look on her face when she was told that she was the one responsible for your situation.
Oh well. At least you were the one here, and not her. The thought of her all up in pieces about you almost sent a feeling warmth throughout your gnarled body. Not that it mattered anymore. You were going to either end up dead, or close to it.
The walls began to recede away and the pathway was becoming less and less steep. It was a wonder you could see anything at all with the lack of light, but for some reason, the surface of both the walls and the ground were glossy and were reflecting some unseen light. It had to be magic or something of the ilk, you thought.
An ungodly sound filled your ears as you were pushed slightly ahead of your two escorts for what seemed to be the final stretch to cover. It was like the hellspawn, but as if the airway was diluted with some substance, causing a 'choking on words' so to say.
“Our little swashbuckler finally meets the one that is grateful for his service the most.” You planted your feet in the ground, unwilling to see what was ahead of you. Dear god, it sounded as if its existence alone was a crime against mother nature.
“No need to go limp now, human. He only wishes to speak to you.” You were thrown ahead of the two hellspawn, landing roughly on the ground. You finally realized where you at, although you had never thought it would be in Equestria of all places.
You were in a dungeon, far below the earth. Whatever purposes it was meant for were beyond your understanding. Cells were aligned across the chamber's walls and key racks laid over several wooden tables smudged with some dark substance. This place had not been used for some time.
The cells broke in the middle, giving a space where several could stand and still be under the watch of the guards that no longer lingered here. There must have been dark times, even in Equestria's past... if you were even still there at this point.
What was in between that break in the cells almost made your stomach lurch. It was a hellspawn, but much bigger than the others, and it lacked any exoskeleton. It's slimy interior was there for you to see in its whole. It was definitely not a good sight, and regardless of what would have been deadly exposure to any of his kin, he seemed unaffected at all by the lack of protection. He seemed to even thrive under the conditions, pacing up to you and bringing and fleshy finger under your chin.
You almost wanted to disappear after feeling the unearthly touch of such a creature, but where could you run? There was two of those hellish creatures guarding the only path out and you were without a weapon.
“Do you know why I reside down here?” The gruesome creature asked you.
You didn't answer, only returning a stern look. Even when they finally had you, all they did was chat it up. Either they really enjoyed your company, or they were about as colloquial beings as you could ever find.
“The light. The light human. It is not our friend in the least bit, and you seem to have brought it back. Luckily, we have the means to blot out such annoyances, and you've seen that first hand.” He finally stepped back, no longer touching you. “Corruption is a powerful thing human. Why, we were even able to taint the most powerful individual in all the countryside. It played out so well... but there was a problem with the plan that stemmed right from the great vanguard to our arrival; I'm sure you can guess who that may be.”
Your complexion didn't change. You weren't here to play word games with this patriarch. Now you were just waiting to see your fate. Your silence was all that you had to yourself.
“We corrupted you human. When we chained together, you were subjected to the same stigma as the princess of these lands. Completely by accident, mind you, but an idea formed not long after and I stayed back to monitor your status. To see if you could bring the taint to the lands outside of the capital. There was one thing we didn't expect, however. You seemed immune to the change of disposition that was suppose to happen. We could get inside your head, we could cause you to falter, we could do all of this... but never did you fall victim to a sense of depression and acrimony that was meant to follow. It was rather frustrating, to put it lightly.”
The patriarch paced about the chamber, his fingers sliding on the bars of the cells, leaving behind a rather disgusting residue. “You see, you were the only complication. You were going to be the nail in the coffin. The great beginning would also serve as the end, in a sense. Yet, you instead played quite the opposite, becoming a powerful ally for the farcical resistance that were these ponies.”
The creature came back to you, a frown marking his fleshy and glossy face. “Perhaps it was my fault; I underestimated humanity's resolve. If that is the case, then you must forgive me. My apathy has kept you around for far too long.”
His expression was now a sympathetic one and he placed a hand on your shoulder, causing you to flinch slightly. Another hand was placed overlooking your stomach; he was looking to kill you! You began to struggle, trying to break free.
“Please human, don't fight this; I've already done you a disservice by allowing you to linger this long to form meaningless attachments to this world's people. I just want to ease the burden of emotion from you now. It will be bliss. Trust me.”
“No!” You pulled back, breaking free of the patriarch's grip. Because of the suddenness of the action, however, you nearly fell right onto your back.
You recovered quickly and stared into the hurt eyes of the ungodly patriarch. “Your will to survive is commendable, if pointless. You must know you can't survive. Let it happen human.”
“Fuck off!” You fell back the only corner that wasn't governed by metal bars in the chamber.
So this was where you made your last stand. Your only regret now was not seeing the others off or knowing of their fates. You would die without the knowledge that Twilight had made it to safety, or if she even was free of the anger that held her now.
You weren't going down without a fight, though. Even weaponless as you were, you could at least make this bastard regret ever doing this to you and to your... friends.
He closed in on you, not concerned in the least bit about your hostility. He only looked... regretful. Did he really care about how he had treated you? No, no he wanted you dead! You weren't going to act docile any longer!
Without even thinking, you jumped forth trying to use the force behind you to knock the disgusting being over. You succeeded, but instantly regretted your action for you were now in complete contact with the revolting surface of the patriarch.
“You are really testing my patience, human. I show you an act of mercy and this is what I get?” He threw you off with ease and you rolled across the ground.
You weren't in the best shape coming into this tussle, and you were already at a disadvantage, but for some reason, you wouldn't stop. The two hellspawn watching from the exit were assailing you both with coo's. They were enjoying the whole thing it seemed; you were just glad they didn't step in to assist their leader.
You try to use force again, attempting to crash down on the creature. He easily threw you off again and stood up. He looked at his body and shuffled quickly, making sure everything was okay.
You were going to puke. You were covered in that residue now and you weren't sure what would happen if it lingered upon your body for long. You tried to block it out, trying to focus on the fight.
“Very well. I will see you off in the way of your choosing.” He got closer to the ground, prepared for another attack.
You stared at him while trying to collect your breath. You weren't the toughest person, but instincts were bound to take over. Was it enough? Likely not, but it would be the thing that kept you in the fight.
You feigned an attack, hoping to set the patriarch off guard, but he just watched you with scrutinizing eyes. “Make your move.”
Damn. The patriarch's patience was formidable, putting the pressure on you to make the first move. You looked around, hoping to find something that could assist you battle.
You wondered how the hellspawn could have found such a place. If Celestia had ever used it, it had been so long ago that no trace of inhabitants was left outside of the basic necessities of cells and lodging for the guards.
Basically, you were out of luck. It was your weak and battered body against the architect of this entire invasion. It sounded pretty one sided to you.
You faked once more, but the second after you jumped at him. Your stutter seemed to have at least some sort of reaction with him, for when he jumped out of the way, it was a second too late and you caught his fleshy leg, bringing him down the way an American football player would make an ankle tackle.
The patriarch rolled across the ground from the trip up and crashed against the wall. You landed hard on your stomach and jaw to make the move, and you could taste blood welling up in your mouth. You noted not to do something so reckless again. You could bite your tongue off without proper care.
The patriarch stood up slowly, his gaze staying on the ground. The two hellspawn watching had gone silent, likely from what had just happened to their leader.
He wiped his exposed mouth and stared you down with angst. “Quick little thing, aren't you? Your kind is always surprising me it seems.”
He darted towards you and grabbed you by the hair on your head. You clenched your teeth, determined not to yipe. You were pulled off of the ground soon found yourself meeting it rather forcefully again as you were slammed down onto the stone surface.
The wind had been knocked at of you and were grasping and clutching at nothing as spots filled your vision. The world seemed to vibrate now as you were sure you now had a concussion.
The patriarch stepped back, allowing you room to stand, or at least try. You put your arms and legs under you, trying to regain your balance. Everything seemed so distant to you now, the dungeon, the floor... the words that the patriarch was trying to say to you; they were all so far away.
You staggered and eventually were forced to lean on the bars to a nearby cell. You swore you were just going to collapse, there was nothing else the patriarch needed to do to you. You were already damaged beyond repair it seemed.
“You're doing better than I thought you would after something like that; you should be proud.” The patriarch came over to you and gently pulled your figure off the bars and into his grasp once again. “I promise it will be painless. There can be no peace without an end.”
You wanted to say something, but you only ended up spitting blood out of your mouth. It wasn't suppose to end like this. You didn't want to die, screwing up a world that you had only wanted to see in person.
“Sleep now, human. Find solace in the fact that you survived this long and twisted so many emotions during your stay.”
“No need to say goodbye just yet.” A grizzly voice echoed through the chamber. You knew that voice.
You turned to find Static Ward standing over the two corpses of the hellspawn that had been watching your bout, blood ebbing from their corpses from puncture wounds in between their protective plates.
“W-what are you doing here?!” You asked in disbelief, breaking out of the distracted Patriarch's grasp.
“So damn chatty. When we aren't in a life threatening situation, I'll be sure to explain everything, human.”
“This is what I meant human. You've brought an air of-” The patriarch's voice was replaced with a bloodcurdling roar as a spear entered into the exposed fleshy area of creature's shoulder.
He staggered back, giving Static a venomous look. “You've followed the darkness straight to your death.”
“Yeah, you're tough, I get it.” Static gestured for you to follow him. “By Celestia, human! The longer you stand there, the more likely we're gonna die!”
Fair enough. You staggered in his direction as best as you could. You could tell the look on his face was that of annoyance. Apparently he thought you were more mobile than you really were at this point.
“Just hurry up.” He commented as you passed him.
“I'm trying.” You pleaded, a hand on the wall. Everything was still hard to focus on. You really couldn't believe you were still breathing, let alone mobile.
One thing bothered you, though. It didn't seem like you were being pursued at all. As you began to make your way back up the passageway with Static, you looked back to find nothing in sight. You knew it wouldn't be this easy, but just why was the patriarch taking his sweet time?
“How did you find me?” You suddenly asked Static, who was grumbling about how slow you were compared to his best trainees.
“I saw the whole thing happen, human. I was still in the throne room when they brought you by. They took you to some part of the castle I didn't even know existed and then took you down some old passageway. I can't believe I wasn't caught following them.”
“Seriously?” You asked. Why would he go out of the way to help you? When you had first met the stallion, he had been more than willing to give up the battle.
“Don't get sentimental on me human. Keep your eyes ahead and go as fast as you can. That gross baddie behind us isn't going to linger back that long, even if he's just playing games.”
You kept your mouth shut after that and tried your best to keep a steady pace as you both continued to escalate. You swore you could hear whispers in your head, but dismissed it, thinking it was just another side-effect of the blow to the head you had received.
“Do you hear that?” Static soon asked. “Sounds like something's talking and humming... ah son of a-”
As those words were said, the roaring sound of anger rattled through the passageway. You knew who was coming now; you could hear every little movement the patriarch made.
“We can't be that far off at this point. Just a bit more, human.” Static assured both you and himself.
Sure enough, something other than this magical light soon began to cause your eyes to cringe ahead of you. Could it be? You might make it out of this hellhole and live to tell the tale?
“Come on... go go go go...” The captain urged, the light growing more and more dominant in your sight.
“Fleeing, human? You know that can't be allowed.” The patriarch's voice thundered behind you.
You stepped out onto carpet, finally free of the of the dark, magic infused passageway. You were in an area that seemed just as old as the place you had just emerged from, though.
It was an abandoned wing of Canterlot castle. Cobwebs and dust coated all décor and laced every corner of the old division of the castle. You couldn't believe something like this could ever go into abeyance, yet here it was, plain as the day that was shining in through the dust covered windows high above.
“Which way?” You asked. Looking back at Static who was trying desperately to magic something over in front of the passageway in the means to block the patriarch's approach.
“One sec, dammit.” As soon as he was satisfied with the meagerly placed decorative bookshelf in front of the passageway, he turned back to you. “Just follow me, you turtle.” He blew right past you and you sighed as you began to follow after him down the old uncleaned carpet.
A huge door hung slightly open just ahead of Static after running through winding halls that grew less and less in disuse, indicating where they had all passed by when coming to the deserted dungeon.
Static slipped right through, poking his head back out to gesture to you. “You're really making me regret ever going after you, human.”
You bit down in response and picked up the pace slightly. Your concentration was broken after a chilling scream rattled about behind you. After that, you knew that the patriarch had made short work of the bookshelf. That scream was not one of perseverance, however. It was one of true pain.
You looked back one last time, even though commonsense begged you shouldn't. The patriarch seemed to have passed right by a window's light shining right down, and it had burned his exposed flesh. You were sure it was only enough to really bother the patriarch but not enough to do him in. That would be too easy.
“The leave of the princess means nothing. We'll find another to black out the sky..”
It seemed Celestia's absence had done more than just diffused the blackness around Canterlot. It had taken away the red overhang of the entire atmosphere as well.
“He doesn't like the sun, eh?” Static asked as you finally passed by through the door, slamming it shut behind you. “Nice it decided to show up. Maybe we can find something to take advantage of that since I doubt he's dumb enough to follow us outside.”
You were back in the throne room, where the remnants of your past battle still lingered.
“Do we have the time?” You asked him, concerned greatly.
“I don't know human, do we?” Static asked as he rounded around the area, and giving a disgusted look at the overgrowth overlapping the throne. “Keeping the seat warm...” The captain muttered to himself.
“Anything?” You asked, your eyes still on the door.
“Nothing so far, human.” Static said, still scanning the ground and looking sadly at the guards that had apparently succumbed to their wounds.
The doors you had been monitoring finally threw open and you trailed back, nearly knocking into a solidified hellspawn as the sight of the patriarch was before you.
“You continue to fight, but why? There's no possibility for your victory.”
“Shut up. You seemed to have forgotten how many of your 'followers' fried out there. For all you know, you could be the last of your kind!”
The patriarch looked a bit shaken from Static's words. Could this be true? Had he been bluffing this whole time as to see you off to your grave? His anger and regret must have stemmed from his failure of handling the invasion, not of handling you alone.
“Human!” Static called, his eyes still on the patriarch.
“Yeah?” You asked halfheartedly.
“I say.. we take him.”
“Are you crazy?!” You asked the captain. Was he suicidal at this point?
“We got this, human. He's just one of those things, and he ain't even got any of the protection as his underlings do. I say we mop the floor with him.”
It wouldn't be that easy, you knew, but Static's words rang true from observation alone. He hurt like the others, he could very much die like the others.
At least that's what you hoped.
“Here.” You saw a fairly worn spear enter your grasp, floating down from above. You could sense a bit of hurt in Static's voice. You knew the spear must have belonged to one of the guards that had been close to the captain. You would be sure to use it wisely.
“Bringing up arms against me, hmm? Just because I am exposed doesn't mean I'll perish the same way if at all...”
“We'll be the judge of that.” Static countered. “Whenever you're ready, human!” He called out after.
“Alright.” You stepped forward, trying to keep your balance before the patriarch. He simply looked at you slightly amused.
“Until the very last breath... humans.” He said with a slight hint of... approbation?
Static hoped forth, bringing a spear he had salvaged as well towards the patriarch. He sidestepped it easily and attempted to snatch at the weapon, but the captain was a second to quick.
It was time to do something now. Closing in, you attempted your own jab, but it was nowhere near the quickness of Static's assail and the patriarch grabbed your weapon, attempting to pull it from your grasp.
You pulled back with as much force as you could muster. Big mistake. The patriarch released his grasped and you fell back, groaning on the ground. Each moment that passed, the more questionable it became that would get back up.
Static cussed and continued to take small attacks at the patriarch, all while trying to encourage you to get back up.
It was like trying to stand up with a truck on your back. You began to crawl towards a wall with your spear in hand, anything to help you back onto your feet. All the while you were hoping you have enough time do just that with Static being the center of attention.
They crossed your path to the wall, Static trying to keep as much distance between him and the Patriarch as possible. His finesse was really paying off here; you might just be able to get back into the fight if he held out just a bit longer.
You finally reached the wall when they were in front of the open doors to the courtyard. The patriarch was just out of the rays of sunlight coming down. Typical.
You pulled yourself up, each breath a strain and your fingers screamed in agony, but you kept at it until you were on your feet again with spear in hand.
Static was lingering in front of the main doors for an awful while now and you had the thought that he was planning something. You circled around so that the doors and the two fighters were before you now.
If you could just... no that would spell certain death for you, but what other choice was there? Static wasn’t going to last forever, he was already beginning to tire from the looks of it.
“Enough.” The patriarch sacrificed a blow to the stomach to grab the captain's neck. He kicked out with all of his hooves, trying to break free.
“I won't let any of you live. Your time is over. My mistake realized.” His fingers clenched tighter around Static's neck.
“H-human! Help! Come on!” He choked out, he was already becoming lightheaded from the looks of it.
“You’re broken human. Your stubbornness will cause this one's death it seems. You won't have to die alone anymore; perhaps I will be forgiven in that regard.”
“NO!” Every ache, every pain that had been in your body, every wound you had received was null at this point as you suddenly broke into a sprint towards the patriarch.
The surprise in his eyes was an assuring sign that you had just taken necessary action. He began to yell in defiance in an attempt to get you to stop but instead you ran him right through.
The spear went through him easier than you thought it would, and you now had him skewered and at your mercy, dropping Static in the act. The thing was, however, you didn't stop. You kept running forward, yelling and screaming the whole time in defiance to the patriarch's cries of pain.
He began to scratch and claw at your back, but it wasn't the same as the standard hellspawn, instead, his texture seemed to belittle the damage that he was trying to inflict.
“You can't do this! YOU CAN'T KILL ME!” He called out, still trying to dissuade your advance.
You wouldn't have any of it. You finally hit daylight and the real damage started to happen.
As you ran out into the courtyard, the patriarch still on the end of your spear, his pleas began to become indecipherable as pain racked his body.
You stepped onto the grasses and finally ran the spear and the patriarch into the ground. He continued to scream and thrash, his skin bubbling and festering.
“HUMAN! STO-ST! AHH! AHH!!!!” His eyes peered into your very soul, looking for some sort of mercy in your actions.
“Shut up! Just shut up!!!” You cried in a fit of anger.
You pulled the spear from his abdomen that you had skewered him upon and brought it back down into his head. Repeatedly.
“Shut up! Shut the FUCK up!” You sobbed.
All that was left from the patriarch were choking and bubbling sounds. All that was left was a mess of gore before you. The rest of his body had been burned beyond recognition from the sunlight that poured down.
With Celestia gone, the sun ran its own dictation for now until Luna could get to it, more than likely lingering far past its time, but for that, you were grateful.
“Human!” Static came running out to you. His face showing relief and somewhat disgust as the corpse you were standing over. You were covered in a mix of blood that was your own and from the deformed corpse you stood over.
You stepped over the patriarch's silent body, trying to say something, but it came out all wrong.
“We.. we.. ohgo...”
You began to fall, the world slowly blacking out around you. It was too much for you. You had done too much. Your body was through... for now at least.
You fell for what felt like the hundredth time today.