//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: The Leviathan Awakens // Story: The Spread of Darkness // by The Grimm Reaper //------------------------------// Spike surged with power and rage, dashing quicker than lightning through the village of Skyclaw. He cut down every gryphon he came across. Due to his unrelenting hatred towards the gryphon race, he had difficulty telling military from civilian, adult from child, elderly from infant. He was pissed beyond belief, not even the animals were safe. Dogs found themselves without tails and paws. Pet snakes found themselves wishing they could regrow heads like hydras, even the ferocious battle tigers were no match for this force of chaotic anger. One of the gryphons tried to defend itself against Spike, having hidden its family from him. The gryphon screeched at him and stretched its wings outward and upward in a threatening pose, pacing towards him. Spike just roared right back at the gryphon stranger and threw his arm towards it. The arm stretched out toward its prey and clasped one of the wings in its claw. Spike pulled back and with tenacity and force, tore the right wing off of the gryphon. The one-winged gryphon touched the ground in agony and struggled to grip the remaining stub behind its shoulder blade. Spike was far from finished though. He threw his arm out again, still holding the wing, which had been sharpened thanks to the bone snapping off. He threw his arm down and jammed the broken bone into the gryphon’s skull, silencing it forever. He then proceeded to grab the entire gryphon and throw it at a group of other gryphons who thought it smart to attack him from behind. One of the gryphon Generals was watching from on high, the madness and mayhem that was polluting the once thriving village. Having been born and raised in the Skyclaw, he held a fraction of the hatred Spike had towards his kind. Just as he was about to send more gryphons, most likely to their deaths, a messenger emerged with new orders. The General read over the orders and smiled. “Well it’s about damn time. Captain, tell your men to release the Leviathan.” the General ordered. Just north of the Skyclaw village, roughly a single kilometre, was a large lake that connected to the ocean through a tunnel beneath the surface. The Leviathan resided within that lake and above all else, he supposedly hated loud noises. The gryphons knew better than to screech when he was present, but Spike surely didn’t share than knowledge. The Captain nodded, affirming his orders and flew towards the lakebed. Three more gryphon guards waited there for him. “Captain, is it time?” one of them asked. The Captain took his place on the dock at the lakebed and nodded to the others. They all smiled with glee before preparing to alert the Leviathan. They took in deep and sharp breaths, holding it for a second. Then, with a loud and powerful expulsion, screeched into the water. Combined, the sound was ear-splitting and lasted all of around ten seconds. When they finished, they remained still, searching the water for any sign. For a moment they believed they had failed, but the water quickly became disturbed and rumbling alerted them of the creature’s presence. Satisfied with their work, they took to the skies and headed back for the Skyclaw village. Seconds later, a large tentacle emerged from the water and came slamming down on the dock the gryphons had occupied just before. Another tentacle breached the surface and fell towards the sandy edge just next to the dock, then another, and another. Ten tentacles hit the lakebed and created deep grooves around it. Then the face of the creature rose to the surface, its thick skin glistening with the water trickling down off of it to join the rest of the lake. The face rose high above the water, and soon, shoulders rose up, followed by a torso, the arms of which were the tentacles that came first. The Leviathan lifted one of its legs up and rose out of the lake in a single step. The tentacles slid away from the edges and wrapped around each other forming solid arms. Spike took notice of the behemoth to his right and roared in challenge to the creature. That roar was all the Leviathan needed to identify Spike as its target. A loud and deep bellow escaped the creature before the two monsters made their ways toward each other, prepared to kill the other. Back in Canterlot Twilight was banging on the door to her room, screaming to be let out. She’d taken a less than agreeable approach to the Angel’s plan. Celestia sat on her bed, waiting for the young mare to calm herself. She couldn’t pretend to understand how Twilight was feeling at that time, having long since forgotten what it felt like to be in love and do the stupidest things for the sake of that other individual. She’d seen it countless times, but Twilight’s was the most violent reaction ever displayed. Whether it was due to her tampering with the dark arts or just an above connection to Spike himself that caused such violence, she didn’t know. Even after having explained the plan to her, Celestia had to dodge near fatal attacks from the unicorn until she changed her primary target to the door. Even as Celestia waited, Twilight kicked and blasted at the door, sometimes with great skill and flexibility, at the same time. It wounded Celestia to see her faithful, yet recently tainted student act the way she did, but war darkened every heart it touched, and she knew Twilight needed no more darkness added to her soul. The room was protected from dark magic, and was specifically tuned to ward off Twilight’s magic in particular. Luna herself stood guard outside the door just in case something should happen. Twilight screamed loudly, giving up on the door and heading for the window instead. She tried to chance the fall, but as she leaped through, an invisible force field knocked her back inside. Twilight had tried everything, from blasting her way out to teleporting, from attacking the room to attacking her teacher, nothing worked, she was stuck and it burned at her mind body and soul, knowing that Spike was needlessly putting himself in danger just so Celestia and her little gang could end the war faster. Twilight however, was prepared to sacrifice more ponies if it meant she could finally be happy, and with Spike. After yet another minute of trying all possibilities, including frightening Celestia off of the bed, she settled down and sat in the middle of the room, her eyes closed and her mind working on another solution. Celestia took that opportunity to speak again, having waited silently for just such a moment. “Twilight I know you’re… for lack of a better word, upset… but you must understand, I have to protect my ponies from more suffering, and if Spike has to be fooled into winning the war for us, then that’s a risk I’m willing to take. If something should happen to him and you never want to speak to me again after this, I’ll understand.” Twilight said nothing as she continued to focus on another way out. However, she took the time to listen to what her teacher had said. As far as she was concerned, she didn’t want to speak to Celestia again anyway, regardless of the outcome. She’d tried to sell Spike off in order to prevent this war in the first place, that was reason enough for Twilight to never want to speak to her again. The latest of idiotic ideas was the jump over the line. Twilight would never forgive her for this treachery. Maybe you should offer your sister up to the Gryphon King instead next time. She thought as she returned to her planning. “Believe me when I say I hope for the best in relation to Spike, I really do. But it’s him or Equestria, and you of all ponies should know what the right answer is.” Celestia continued. There is no right answer, she thought. You can’t trade one life for many more, even if that one life was little more than scum. Even if it were King Sombra, or Queen Chrysalis, everypony has a right to live. To sacrifice oneself to save many others is a choice that one has to make. Nopony else can make it for them. Twilight wanted to say as much, but thought better of it. She didn’t want Celestia coming up with a retort. She wanted at least a shred of the teacher she once knew and loved to remain, not tainted by the fear war inspired in her. It then struck her. She knew she couldn’t do anything to the barrier or Celestia that would make the alicorn release her, but to sacrifice herself… Twilight rose to her hooves and ignited her horn. The magical aura surrounded her and took on the shape of a sphere, twirling around like mist in a crystal ball. “What are you doing?” Celestia asked, standing up and backing away from the unicorn. Twilight knew she had to answer in order for the threat to work, but the dissatisfaction of having to speak to her former teacher once again almost made the attempt seem not worth it. “If I can’t see Spike, then I see no reason to remain here, here in this room, or in this mortal coil.” Celestia seemed confused at first, but further explanation clarified the meaning behind the sphere. “As powerful as Spike is, he might not be able to defeat every Gryphon and when he least expects it, he’ll die. I see no reason to live should that happen. If You don’t let me out, I’ll kill myself, and I suppose you, while you’re within the barrier.” she declared. Celestia’s eyes widened with surprise. “Twilight, surely you wouldn’t?” “I would. I’ve had suicidal tendencies during the three years Spike was missing, if I can’t see him because of you, I don’t want to live in this world anymore. And you don’t need me to tell you what he’ll do when he finds out I died as your prisoner.” Celestia struggled to find a way to defuse the situation without losing Twilight to the open world, but she was unable to accomplish this task. With a sigh of defeat, she turned her head to the door. “Luna, drop the barrier.” Celestia ordered. There were muffled curses from behind the door, but Twilight could feel the barrier drop. Just as the door opened, Twilight released her hold over the magic and let it dissipate harmlessly. “Would you have really let yourself become a slave to chance?” Celestia asked as Twilight walked past Luna. She stopped half way through the doorway and turned back to her former teacher with a smug grin on her face. “Is it slavery when you get what you want?” she asked in return. As Twilight closed the door behind her, she had a sinister idea. Using her magic, she sealed both princesses in the room together, using the same barrier attuned to their own magics. She then placed a seal on the door so nopony could enter and break the barrier from within using their own magic. It didn’t tke the sisters long to realise what had happened. Twilight waited for the classic words; “Twilight Sparkle, open this door!” There it was, straight from the horse’s mouth. Celestia was less than pleased. Satisfied, Twilight left the princesses to their own devices, making a mental note to release them once everything was over and done with. “Spike, we’ll obliterate the Gryphon kingdom together. Wait for me.” she said as she stepped out into the open, saluted by the royal guards stationed at the entrance. Chrysalis was disturbed from her slumber by the sudden movement of her companion. The Angel had sat up and was looking around as if there were an intruder in the room. “Is something wrong, my love?” she dared label the Angel as such. He seemed unphased by the title, still focused on whatever had distracted him from his slumber. “Something’s happened. The power has shifted somehow. An event I had not foreseen has occurred.” he replied. Chrysalis sat up, happily sore from the events that had taken place before. “Is that good or bad? I mean, has this power shifted in our favour or the gryphons’?” she asked. The Angel seemed to consider the question, delving into whatever psyche or third eye he used to view the world above for the answer. “They have a Leviathan.” he said. Chrysalis considered the creature she knew all too well. “A Leviathan is a slow moving creature with water based attacks that couldn’t penetrate a dragon’s scales, I don’t see how Spike could lose to that.” “And this, my dear changeling, is why I am the ringleader and you remain naïve to the important things in life.” Chrysalis, although hurt by the Angel’s response, could not fault him. “Spike just so happens to be susceptible to water when he is in the form he is in now. Should he be hit by water, his body will burn and he will be reduced to a dragon without scales. I’ve seen such a dragon. It was a suffering unlike anything I could hope to give to another.” he replied. “I don’t understand.” “Imagine if you will, a dragon without scales. You’re probably thinking he’d have a surface similar to that of a bald pony, but that is not the case. Beneath those scales are the muscles and veins filled with blood. Think of a skinned Pony, still alive, a changeling without an exoskeleton. Just standing on their paws, feet or hooves would be an agony that forces one to welcome death. They would be unable to lay down without suffering as though they were lying on a collection of red hot branding irons.” Chrysalis cringed with every detail and thought that entered her mind. to be reduced to muscle and bone, live through it and suffer simply standing. She would have begged for death then and there just to make sure such a thing would never be possible for her if she didn’t cherish her life and her children so much. “Please, Angel, help him. Even if he means nothing to me, I could not stand to know something lives a life such as that.” The Angel looked Chrysalis directly into her eyes. There was a moment of silence before he rose from the sleeping chamber they shared and stretched himself, then with a crack of his neck, he sighed. “As you wish, your majesty. And so, the Angel of Death shall go to war.”