He always hated this part. Floating through an empty black void, unable to see even himself. The process of dying always had been a sequence of pain, then boredom, and finally frustration. It didn't happen often to him in his long existence, but was more than enough to let him know what came next. It wouldn't be such a bad thing, but typically the penalty for dying in the mortal realm in his true form meant he would have to start as a low-level demon, practically starting all over again. Stripped of his powers and his carefully crafted physique, most likely, and tasked to do grunt work like all other low class hell-spawn. It was never a fun ordeal, and the meals were pitiful.
If there was one thing worse than that, it was the waiting in that nothingness he was in now. Despite his former grandiose size, he never felt right just sitting still. There was always something to do. Somewhere to go. Something to beat up and eat. Not here, though. There was just the waiting, and it infuriated him.
It wasn't the only thing he felt in that great empty void, however. There was a sense of loss. A sense of loneliness. Perhaps it was all because he was far too accustomed to the mortal world. Maybe he simply missed his Shannon. Stranger still, perhaps it was what happened just before he died.
It was such a crucial day. The nemesis of his kind fought his way through his forces, demons in disguise as human punks and marauders. It didn't take the powerful foe long to reach his cathedral, his last refuge in the human world. The puta even had the audacity to call me bald! With nothing more to loose, and everything to gain, Elvis of the Four Devas decided to lay everything down. Summoning all the strength he had within, he transformed and revealed his true form. A hulking, gluttonous beast of fire and teeth. With the fact that he had three mouths, one demon would suspect he was a descendant of Cerberus himself. Unfortunately, his strength proved futile. His opponent had an ace up his sleeve. One that every demon knew about. One that gave the human such a title as "God Hand". With that, Elvis was soundly beaten. Unable to hold such a transformation, he reverted to his human form, and soon passed on.
After his demise at the might of the God Hand, he believed he heard his "executioner" say something. We could have been friends. Those five words rang proud and true, despite the circumstances. It was a bizarre, and perhaps intriguing notion, but never meant to be. He was a terrible beast of fire and gluttony, and his nemesis was the lone hero, sent to put him and his ilk down. That's how it was written in the stars.
His disembodied presence shook. What the hell am I thinking, he questioned. That pendejo is LUCKY I went easy on him. If I ever see him again, I'll grind him into paste and swallow him whole! His laughter was dark, but admittedly, it was bit forced. He knew his promise would never have to be kept. He's dead, and in the waiting period of going back to hell. Even if he did get the chance to go back, it was likely his "amigo" would be long gone by then. I just wish something would happen now. No puedo soportar el silencio aquí!
Suddenly, a new sensation washed over him. The feeling of vertigo. Que mierda, was all he could think about before he felt like being violently pulled in multiple directions. If he had a body, it probably would have been extraordinarily painful. Tumbling, twisting, and being yanked to the cosmos knows where, Elvis' realized something. This never happened before...
Before he could consider anything further, his presence was removed from the empty void.
A voice spoke up from within the darkness. "Alright, Elvis," it started, "It's your tu-" The voice halted, and silence dominated that existence once again, just before the voice continued with a troubled, "Where in heaven did he go?"
-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-
It was late at night in the little town of Ponyville. Everyone was asleep in their humble homes, dreaming of fantasies far beyond the mystical nature of their world. Everyone, that is, except for one. Scribbling away, and eyes darting between books, Twilight was vigorously studying away at something that has been bothering her for almost a month now.
It's been that long since she got back from the Crystal Empire. After the incident with Sombra and the giant frog monster (Bael, as he preferred to be called), she was able to start conducting her investigation. First on her agenda that day, she studied Bael for all she could manage. Samples, magic demonstrations, and an interview later, she got all the data she needed. Next on the list, she went back to talk to Cadance, and ask her more about magic anomaly, considering she was close enough to properly feel it. It was unfortunate that she couldn't remember much of the finer details, but what she got anyway was enough to start her research. A few different magic sequences, the complexity of the weaves, and the estimated amount of energy output is what Cadance was able to tell her. The catch was that in order to figure out what the anomaly is, she'd need exact energy measurements and the precise order and type of weave complex that was used.
It was all so exciting for Twilight to delve into, but the cost was rigorous research nearly non-stop, from then till now. Said none stop studies didn't fare well with the poor purple unicorn these days, which reminded her of the time she missed her weekly friendship report. It helped that Celestia lifted the self created time restriction, allowing free reign for anyone to submit one at any moment. Such a declaration meant more free time with her friends, and more time investigating whatever had her interest, which was the anomaly this time. It also helped that her friends were with her to help ease whatever other anxieties she had.
The bigger problem, however, was that with every book exhausted without getting closer to an answer meant that things were looking hopeless. There were many spells that had similar sequences, but didn't have the specific weave or output in energy. While there were others that required immense amounts of energy, the sequences were all wrong. Up to now, she had exhausted all but three spell books, one of them a re-printing of Starswirl's public, but unfinished, research in magical machines. It might not be an official spell book in its own right, but Twilight reasoned it might still have a clue within its pages.
That's when her last quill snapped.
"UGH!" she groaned, letting her head smack against the flat of the desk, papers fluttering from the sudden impact. Twilight sat there in silence, head on the desk, eyes staring out into space. She calmed herself down for a moment, and considered where she was at. Ok, she thought, no biggie. I've been doing research all night as it is. I'll find a new quill tomorrow and continue from there. For now, maybe it's time for me to-
Her thought was cut short by a sudden feeling that crawled up her spine, making her entire being shudder. It was an immense magical surge, and it seemed familiar. Everything suddenly clicked.
"The anomaly!" she squealed in joy. With a telekinetic charge, she reached for her quill... that she just snapped not too long ago. "No! I need a new one, QUICK!" She began racing around the Library, checking drawers and cupboards, anything that might have something. Nope. She checked the basement, in case she left one there when doing neurological research. None. She raced back upstairs, tiptoeing into her room with the placidly sleeping dragon, and looked around carefully for anything she could use. Nu-huh. She checked the spare room that she used to house a peculiar blue pegasus with black wings. Negative.
She was starting to panic. The sequence and weaves began to disappear in her mind, leaving only hints and traces that it existed at all. Twilight didn't want to let that happen, and suddenly thought of her other assistant. The one that was supposed to be around during the night. Owlowlicious!
She raced to the upstairs window, and opened it. Adjusting to the darkness, she began to call out into the night. "Owlowlicious?! Where are you? I need your help! It's an emergencey! Owlowlicious?"
She peered hard into the darkness, scanning Ponyville before her, until she saw something that looked like her owl sitting on a tree.
"Oh thank Celestia! Owlowlicious, can you come in for a second, I need you to-" She stopped mid request, realizing that there was something large standing just before the tree that her pet owl was perched in.
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It took about two minutes for Elvis to be dumped, unceremoniously, in a strange little town in the middle of the night, after being tugged and pulled through an even stranger looking wormhole. He groaned in discomfort, placing his hand on his pounding head. Wait...
Noticing things felt a lot more... present than they did, he cracked open his eyes, and stared at his hand. His old, massive, silver ring decorated hand. Looking further, he noticed his hairy muscular arms, also decorated with rings (big enough to go around the entire mass of his muscles). Looking down, he noticed the violet orbs of his neck jewelry, the pristine white shirt he wore, and his hairy belly that poked out from the bottom of the button crease. Further still, he noticed his light grey pants, and his favorite pair of white and black shoes. Reaching up to scratch something, he felt the smooth surface of his unfortunately balding head, crowned with medium length black hair. Touching his face, he noticed his well taken care of beard and mustache, and the gold ring in his left ear. I'm me again!
"Bueno!" he exclaimed, punctuating it with a joyous fist pump. "Hah! Take THAT death!"
With a smile on his face, he patted his pockets, looking for his favorite brands. He never really felt complete without a cigar between his teeth. Unfortunately...
"Que mierda," he uttered, yielding none of his favorite brown smokables. No es bueno., "CABRON! Gimmie my smokes back!" The silence of the night was all the replied to him. He growled, scratching the back of his head absently, and began to pace around a short while. He ran through the events in his head. He got the snot beat out of him, died, and was waiting in the plain of suck. Usual procedure for most demons killed. Then, he remembered the random pulling, which was not usual. Then he woke up here, in the middle of the night it seemed, no worse for wear, but missing his cigars.
"If I find the one pulling the strings here-"
"Hoo," a light voice interrupted.
"That's what I'm trying to figure... wait, who said that?"
"Hoo."
"The one who is saying who, that's who!"
"Hoo."
Gritting his teeth in frustration, he turned towards the voice, and looked about. All he could see was the tree before him, and darkness. "Ok, pendejo, where are you?"
"Hoo."
"YOU, PUTA! Don't make me burn this whole place down to find you!"
"Hoo."
Elvis looked up, and saw an owl staring back at him. Silence lingered for a moment, before one decisive word broke it.
"Hoo."
"You? You're the one messing with my head? Oh querido, and here I thought something worth my time was addressing me. Just a bloody owl."
"Hoo."
"You. You cabron. You are the owl."
"Hoo."
"I JUST SAID THAT YOU WERE THE OWL!"
"What?"
"THE OWL! I SAID THAT... wait," He stopped to think about what he just heard. "Pendejo," he started, eerily calmly, "Did you just say 'what'?"
"Hoo."
"DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME! I ATE THE LAST ONE WHO MESSED AROUND WITH ME!"
"Who?"
"THAT DOES IT! I'M GONNA ENJOY HAVING ROAST POLLO FOR A LATE NIGHT SNACK!"
"Owlowlicious?!," a clearly feminine voice called out, "Where are you? I need your help! It's an emergencey! Owlowlicious?"
Elvis looked off to the side, and saw a large tree. It would have been uninteresting, if it didn't have windows built into it, and had light coming from inside. There, at the top of the tree, somewhat leaning out of the open window with light cascading behind, was a silhouette of a strange creature.
"Oh thank Celestia! Owlowlicious, can you come in for a second, I need you to-" the voice stopped mid request. Elvis suddenly realized that he was now being stared at. For all the bravado he could flex, he felt it would be better to leave rather than question things.
With a snap decision, he turned tail and fled. He didn't get more than five feet before he tripped over a rock and fell with a colossal THUD. Shaking the stars from his eyes, he hastily got back up and began running again. That's when he saw a sudden flash come from behind him. Daring to look back as he fled, he saw that the creature in the window was now in hot pursuit. And was gaining on him.
What's worse was that lights from the normal looking homes around him began to come to life, and more creatures of a similar shape were beginning to occupy those spaces. Panicked screams could be heard, as nearly the whole neighborhood seemed to have stirred from the commotion.
Elvis attempted to loose his pursuer by turning on a dime to a sharp left, through an alley between two buildings before hanging another sharp left. He dared not look behind him this time, in case his attempt didn't work. He'd rather not witness if he made a futile move, and instead believed it was a success. Something caught his eye for the briefest of seconds. It looked like a gingerbread house. Am I in some little chica's fairytale land?
He couldn't ponder his situation any further, as something slammed against his gut, and took him down in a rather vicious tackle. It was more than enough to knock the remaining wind out of him. With a second and more prominent thud, he landed on the ground, belly up, with one of those creatures now sitting on top of him. It seemed very, VERY pink looking, with big blue eyes, and a poofy head of hair bouncing almost in excitement. It wasn't long before a crowed of those creatures began to gather around him. All different colors, shapes, and sizes, but all of them exhibiting one common trait. They were all equine in nature.
"Poco caballo?" he asked, more to himself, in confusion.
"Pinkie! Get off of it! It could be dangerous!" a familiar voice called out. The other little ponies parted ways, and the first one of their kind that he saw stepped forth. The pink one on his belly obeyed, and stepped off of him. The owner of the voice gave him a scrutinizing look. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" She asked, bluntly. Staring at the very purple unicorn looking creature before him, he just couldn't handle everything around him at that point. Rolling his eyes back, he passed out in mental and physical exhaustion.