//------------------------------// // Spellbound // Story: Epica: The Fall of Harmony // by DaNumbahZer0 //------------------------------// Twilight shook her head—a terrible idea with her symmetry still going unchecked. Her head was throbbing. She delicately massaged her temple in an attempt to quell the pounding in her skull. She gazed blearily into the blackness around her. The canopy above was immensely thick here, barely any of the shimmering redness made its way into her wooded abyss. But how did she get here? For that matter, where was “here”? She recalled pushing Rainbow out of the way of that monster. A sudden fear dawned on her; she didn’t know what had come of the beast. She was suddenly on edge, adrenaline fighting the ache. She focused hard, light, I need light. Her horn lit up with an amethystine glow, discharging bright light into the thick foliage surrounding her. Nothing but the maniacal silhouettes of crooked trees and lush groves reflected in her dilated pupils. A crackle from behind her had her ears perked up and flicking trying to locate the sound. A rustle in the leaves confirmed her greatest fear at the moment; the monster was still alive and close. Fear flooded the unicorn’s mind, fueling frightening thoughts that plagued her mind. She began to slowing inch her way from the sound, spinning around to check her bases as she stepped carefully into the dark woods. Her hooves cracked sticks and crunched the fallen leaves inevitably. She would never make a silent escape. Another loud disturbance shook branches and leaves from behind her. She jumped and rounded aiming her violently glowing horn into the black veil. A sickening sound whisked past her ears. She shrank within herself at the guttural noise of the monster’s voice. “Twilight Sparkle…. There is no escape. Surrender your body and mind to the Dark Lord. You cannot save your pathetic world. Harmony shall be crushed and Pandemonium shall rise from its smoldering remains.” The voice turned her blood to ice. The shadowy figure of the creature morphed into sight, gliding silently from behind a crooked tree. It ran its claws down the length of the trunk nonchalantly as the dark words scratched and clawed their way from its throat. The beast looked even more menacing in the wavering luminescence of her horn. Its eyes were black and dead, dark shadows flickered across its reptilian face, carving out every deep contour in its wicked smile. Twilight was scared; there was no ridding the terror from her mind, but this beast was offering information. Maybe she could get something of importance from the creature if she could play it cool. Just maybe. “W-what do you mean? Who is the Dark Lord? And how the hay do you know my name?” She stammered as the creature drew slowly, but steadily closer. “All in good time little pony. Come with me and I can assure you no harm will befall your precious friends.” It smiled heinously, running its slimy tongue across the daggers in its mouth. A trail of drool poured from the corner of the monster’s mouth as it did so. Disgusting. She winced. What if it was telling her the truth? How could she trust the atrocious fiend? Fluttershy had been taken mercilessly by her broken wings and AJ had been mauled and left unconscious from a nearly fatal lack of oxygen. The answer was clear: she couldn’t. “H-how do I know you aren’t just telling me what I want to hear to get me to come with you?” Try as she might, fear hung in her words. The monster sneered odiously, but remained silent. Twilight braced herself, ready for the beast to lunge at her at any moment. Her eyes narrowed and her horn glowered threateningly. The smile faded from the devil’s cracked lips, “So be it.” The beast pounced, moving quicker than Twilight could have possibly anticipated. She fired a violet blast of magic. The bolt grazed the beast’s shoulder, misdirecting it, but it was still upon her before she could make another go at it. Its mighty arm collided with the young mare, flinging her limp body to the ground. She stumbled, trying desperately to recover from the blow. Her eyes darted around frantically trying to relocate the attacker. Another crushing blow was delivered, sending her spiraling into a nearby tree. Blood trickled from a new gash in her head. The world was spinning. A painful ring chimed loudly in her ears. She felt queasy and was struggling to stifle a violent onslaught of vomit. Her balance was shot now. She couldn’t make out the ground from the sky. She tried pulling herself to her hooves but was struck down again by a mighty hand. This was it. The monster would take her. Her thoughts trailed off into nothingness. A black void clouded her mind. The world disappeared around her. She was everywhere and nowhere at all at the same time. This is it. The beast reached to hoist the young mare from the ground and return with the final Element of Harmony, but something was wrong. Sudden bouts of powerful magic were breaking the air with loud pops and cracks. Amethystine bolts of lightning erupted from the unicorn’s horn, tearing apart nearby trees in splintering explosions. Her eyes opened wide, glowing the purest of white, followed by a similar light display from her horn. Without warning her magic exploded. A pillar of light burst through the treetops, piercing the swirling clouds thousands of feet above. The beast was struck by the powerful blast, tearing it into a hunk of barely recognizable charred bits of flesh and bone. Maelstroms of lightning channeled along the light shaft, stretching upward into oblivion. The world seemed to stop as the magical plight all but made time stand still, leaving a little purple unicorn in an unconscious lump on the forest floor. The forest was eerily quiet. There were no animal sounds tweeting and chirping that defined one’s normal perception of the woods. Just the rustling of the leaves high in the treetops could be heard as the gusts up above buffeted the canopy. Debris showered down shaken loose by the wind, falling lightly on the spent mare. Twilight roused, slowly coming to as the leaves and twigs landed on her sagging frame. The world was in motion. Her eyes would not focus despite her best attempts, not that there was anything to see really, the blackness around her was an impenetrable void. Her head was pounding making her feel like it would split in half and lull from her shoulders. She felt utterly sick. Her stomach pitched and yawed violently. Eventually there came a point where she could no longer curb the twinge in her belly, spilling its contents on the bed of leaves where she lay. She had not felt like this before—well that was not entirely true. There was the one party at Sugarcube Corner where Applejack had brought along a special treat: fermented apple juice. The sweet liquid had a unique flavor. It was still sweet like apple juice, but it bubble and tickled the mares’ lips. It was really quite good, so good in fact that they had all gone overboard with the beverage. They had all woken up the next morning feeling sick with heads pounding. Light was utterly painful. Its blinding rays even seemed to have sound; a reverberating hum that rattled their throbbing heads. Twilight felt exactly like that now. If she was honest, the fact that it was the dead of night was almost comforting in her condition. She would not have to contend with the searing pain of light penetrating her mind and attempting to crack it open like a knife prying open a ripe melon. She tried to get her bearings, inching herself from the damp leaves. She stumbled on shaky legs when she had gotten to her hooves. Nothing but darkness could be seen in any direction. I need light. Normally when she focused on the thought, she could will a gracious bit of magic to light up the surrounding area, but this was different. She could not seem to conjure the magic. She tried again, focusing harder on her desire, but again was met with disappointment accompanied by a jolt of sharp pain in her forehead. She groaned audibly in reaction to the displeasure. Why can’t I get this spell to work? This doesn’t make sense! I’ve never had trouble producing light charms! I don’t understand. She tried yet again. A few tiny sparkling embers showered from her horn’s tip, flickering as the power would in the library during some of the weather team’s nastier storms. A miniscule orb of light lingered at its tip, producing the faintest sum of light. Her face contorted in frustration and concern. Something was wrong. She couldn’t do it. Not really at any rate. She tried willing more emotion into the light charm, but again was met with excruciating pain. She would have to make do with the infantile light for the time being. She didn’t have time to sit and fret with her magic at the moment. I’m probably just worn out from all that has happened, she told herself, glancing around the area. Still, the lack of magic was most disturbing. Without her conjuring abilities she felt naked and defenseless. It was her most treasured ability, and now it was nowhere to be found. The thought that it may never return lingered in the back of her mind. She shook it away feebly. No, whatever this is, it can’t have incapacitated my magic permanently. That’s impossible. Still, even the slight inkling of the thought drained her will and frightened her deeply. Now was not the time to dwell on that, however, as she slowly recollected the events leading up to her current predicament. Fully fledged bouts of fear registered in her mind as she recalled the attack of the monster that knew her name. She peered into the blackness, feebly lit by the flickering twinkle at the tip of her horn, for signs of the beast. It appeared to have gone, but why? What could have compelled it to leave when it had her so firmly in its grasp? None of this was making sense to her. Then she saw it, a smoldering lump of molten hide and shattered bones; the broken remains of her murderous attacker. She gasped aloud, tumbling backward and smacking her head firmly on a nearby tree trunk. Exactly what she needed: more pain to make the night better. Her dim orb cut out when she hit her head, forcing her to painfully reproduce it. She examined the charred remains of the beast from afar, taking note of its disfigurement. Sweet Celestia! What happened? Who could have done that to it? Not that I am complaining…. Surely I would be in deeper water had somepony not come to my rescue, but where is that somepony? I don’t understand. Why save me, but leave me here on my own in the dark after going through the trouble to kill that THING. Ugh! Nothing is making any sense! And to make things worse all my friends were taken…. Oh, what am I going to do! Maybe I would have been better off if I had let it take me away…. It had promised my friends wouldn’t be hurt if I did. But now that isn’t even an option. He’s dead, and I have no idea where to go from here. Here…. I don’t even know where “here” is at the moment. Ugh! What am I going to do now? She sat firmly planted on her haunches and pondered silently in the flickering luminescence of her weak enchantment. I suppose the best thing I can do now is return to Ponyville. Spike and I can make our way to Canterlot, and we can tell the princess everything. Yes, she thought, that seemed like a solid plan at this juncture. She clambered to her hooves again and began her log trek back home. It was a long hike indeed in her current state. It took her an eternity to relocate the path through the forest that she used to get to Zecora’s hut. The crimson rays from the blood star provided enough light that the young mare didn’t have to waste her strength any longer to keep the pathetic orb lit at the summit of her horn. She reached the edge of the forest to gaze upon the meadow leading her home to Ponyville. The sight that lay before her was a final crushing blow to the unicorn. Ponyville glowed under the night sky, alight with towering flames reaching into the air. Bloodcurdling howls and shadowy figures roamed the streets. Home was gone. Twilight collapsed at the edge of the forest, her will was completely broken now. What was left? Her friends were taken away, her home was burning to the ground, the princess was miles away, and she was without her magic. The spellbound pony broke down into a fit of tears. “Is this really how it ends? Is this how Equestria falls? Oh, Princess…. I need you. We all need you.” Twilight sobbed into her hooves, wishing with every fiber of her being that she could just die here at the edge of the forest and put an end to this suffering. Nopony deserved the fate that their world was facing. The rapture was upon them now, and the Elements of Harmony were far apart and powerless in the face of this plight. A sound from behind her brought her head up from her hooves, listening with a twitch of her ears. A dark laugh echoed from the darkness as cold, clawed hands grabbed hold of the unicorn’s hind legs, dragging her into the darkness….