//------------------------------//
// Plots to be Laid 
// Story: The Ultimate Evil 
// by ChillDude78 
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You sit in the pool, pondering your situation. You have been imprisoned for who knows how long in this chamber. You look around your surroundings, noticing every detail and every tunnel along its walls.

Destroying this place was out of the question. The real thing holding you here was the chains. If you destroyed this cavern, the only thing accomplished would be that you would still be imprisoned underneath rubble. Not a very comfortable situation.

You look down at your chains and growl. These infernal bonds cool your wrists and neck with their metal coils. As you inspect your shackles you notice that they are carved cleanly, with not a scratch on them. You run a claw against one. No marks are left.

Damn.

It will take some powerful form of magic to destroy these cuffs.

Then you notice something, a glimmer, a spark. It shines in the light at an angle.

You roll your wrist over to see the glimmer more clearly. What you see is startling.

On the metal clamp is a small symbol; small, yet large enough to recognize.

A little sun, with fires dancing off of it. Your eyes widen. This is the mark of Celestia’s cutie mark. 

Again that word disgusts you even from thinking about those marks. Then it hits you.

You look over to your left wrist, looking for any sign to confirm your theory. Then you see it.

A small crescent moon, shining in the light. 

You shake with anger. Quickly you look down into the pool, gazing in the reflection looking for any mark. You see a small heart in the reflection. You don’t understand what that represents, but you know one thing. These chains across your wrists are connected to the two beings who cast you down.

You focus your magic on the chains, sensing for anything. Sure enough you feel a positive force within them, beating like a heartbeat.

Celestia and Luna have somehow infused their life-force into these binds!

So, in order to break these chains… you have to break them.

Something easier said than done.

But first you need to get to know the world. Who knows how long you slept. You close your eyes and focus. Your sight beyond sight activates. You intend to find out what is going on above ground in your absence.

Wait… something’s wrong. You can’t leave. You can’t extend your sight beyond the tunnels. Something’s blocking you…

The crystal!

You look up at the crystal. Its magical glow shines over the cavern.

So, they really thought ahead when entombing you. You look down at your chains. You can’t reach high enough to grab the crystal… at least not with your claws.

You hoist your tail up from the pool; it rises toward the crystal like a serpent, swaying back and fourth. It wraps itself around the base of the emerald crystal, barely able to get a hold.

You tighten the grip and pull. It is difficult as the crystal is embedded in the rock, and you are pulling using an appendage you’ve never pulled with before. It takes a bit of your godly strength before you feel the rock come loose. But eventually it succumbs to your strength and is released with a quick thunk. Bits of loose rock fall into the pool as you drag the crystal down to you. As the source of light is lowered, your shadow is cast across the entire chamber; and the whole area darkens a bit. You hold it in front of your face and examine its features.

It is finely cut, with smooth edges on all sides. There isn’t a singe crack in the entire stone. This would be a rare delicacy for your children, if not for one thing.

The magic within it, this artifact is full of bright positive energy, meant to combat your hatred and evil. This thing is a barrier to all dark magic; it pulses with light, almost as if it were alive.

Your tail begins to tighten itself around the shard. You squeeze it with a powerful force. You summon your raw hatred and dark malice, and pour it into the crystal. While it is meant to combat your power, it can only take so much. This was evil in its purest form, nothing can last against it. You also heat up the scales around the gem, to put even more pressure. The crystal fights back strongly, it takes tons of effort. You frown in concentration; you focus completely on the destruction of the crystal.

Eventually, your work takes its toll. You see the crystal become dimmer and blacker. The light in the room is replaced with darkness. Pure evil is volatile to all forms of life and goodness, and it goes to show. The once beautiful emerald crystal has turned into a black shard of hatred. It easily cracks under the pressure of your mighty tail. With one last tight, it breaks into pieces and falls into the pool.

As you look down you notice that the pool is giving off a light of its own, a light green glow. It gives the entire chamber an eerie glow. It suits you better anyways. Now that the barrier is gone, it is time to evaluate your situation.

You focus once again with your sight beyond sight. Flowing past the layers of rock to find above surface grounds.

Then you see the skies, or more specifically the clouds. Black clouds to be precise. You look down to see a huge mountain, made from black stone. It is carved sharply, with many different natural spikes jutting out from the rock. Yet the stone looks smooth as can be. It glistens with malignant magic. The very top of the mountain is covered by the black clouds. You notice the clouds flow away from the top, almost as if the mountain is spewing out endless smog. The whole structure looks like a giant ominous castle.

Dreadrock Mountain, huh? You can see why. So this place is your prison. You look around to see that it is surrounded by a barren black wasteland, with not a sign of life, nothing but black gravel stretching for miles, interesting. It seams that the wasteland ends, being surrounded by a wall of mountains, serving as a barrier from the outside world. Even when imprisoned beneath a mountain, your influence spreads across the land above. Take that, elements!

Then you remember. The elements! They must still be around. You must find them and remove them, so that you can properly take revenge upon those sisters, without worry. But you’re still imprisoned. Hmm…

Wait, those chains were connected to Luna and Celestia’s life force. If you could somehow find out a way to weaken them, then perhaps you could weaken the chains enough to break them. But what about the chain around your neck? You will have to look into that further.

You should explore this world and find out what has gone on since you’ve last seen it. Learn about the new pony society, their possible strengths, but also, their weaknesses. Understand how the sisters have changed Equis. You know for certain that they are still in charge, as powerful as your dragons are, they can’t kill gods.

Wait! The dragons! Your children, what has become of them? They couldn’t have died off; the ponies are too self-righteous to commit genocide. But where have they gone? How have they survived without your leadership? You must bring your mightiest warriors back if you wish to conquer this world. Especially since you can’t take an active part in the conquest…yet. 

Then you ponder… your conquest. The ponies have had time, time to adapt to a changing world. Perhaps becoming much stronger and more able to defend themselves than before. Perhaps it is time to step up the game. Now may be the time to call in a little extra help. Some demonic help.

You didn’t think about going to Tartarus when you last declared war on the gods. You always thought the demons of the black pit were below you, and the fact that many years before, you and your fellow gods cast them down into that realm. Bitter enemies do not make the best allies. Plus demons are natural tricksters, always signing deals and stabbing allies in the back on a daily basis, they even do it to themselves. But you are much more than a demon; they could never defeat you in combat. But in Tartarus… 

But you are not actually there, are you? And besides, your aims are quite similar to theirs. For they have as deep a hatred for the ponies as you do, perhaps even more. Perhaps if you were to come to some sort of temporary agreement, then they could join your dragons. The legion of the dammed could be quite a useful ally, if kept in check. They would make suitable replacements as ground troops after the monsters you had to use last time.

Yes…

You have your priorities, but which of them to choose first.

Finding out what has happened since your imprisonment, finding your dragons, and regaining their loyalty, or recruiting the demons of Tartarus for your army.

Decisions, decisions…