//------------------------------// // Weeping Wastelands // Story: These Flowers Never Bloom // by Cerulean Voice //------------------------------// I am your fucking end. You will tremble at my feet. Bringer of pain and suffering, hatred sadness and despair. After an incomprehensible amount of time, I felt the force of air rushing into my burning lungs, driving out the water and the cold. A fiery warmth enveloped me, courtesy of Celestia, as I realised that I was back in Vorjhan's hallway. My family all rushed to my side while I continued to cough and splutter. Vorjhan himself simply floated nearby, admiring the spectacle he had caused. "What did you do to him, you... you monster!?" cried Morrow. "He is knocking at death's door, in the name of your sick little game!" If looks could kill... "Oh calm down, my dear Morrow, he was never in any real danger. I just gave him a taste of what it's like to be imprisoned in a magical pool that prevents passage through its impenetrable surface. At least, it's impenetrable from the inside. Once again, my appreciation to Celestia. Thanks to you, dear, I roam free to do as I like and as I see fit!" Vorjhan suddenly seemed to double in size, or rather, did actually double in size. "Nopony tells me what to do! Not you, not Dimiourgia, nopony! Now I'm going to take you all on a guided tour of my domain and you will see the glory that I have created!" The next thing I knew, we were all floating in a magical sphere next to Vorjhan, unable to break free while he launched into a descriptive banter. "Look at everything I have made. Isn't it beautiful? Just look at how those enormous brown dusty slopes tower over the land below! See all of the caves carved into them, like holes in Swiss cheese? Oh wait, you probably don't know what Swiss or cheese are. Never mind. Anyway, my dragons live in those holes. It's truly magnificent to behold them flying around—breathing clouds of smoke, ash and fire—sometimes into mid-air, sometimes at wildlife. Heck, sometimes even at each other! I do enjoy a good dragon fight. Really gets the blood boiling! Quite literally too, those flames are hot, hot, hot! The dragon badlands, I call them, for they certainly are bad. Why should everything be good? How boring!" Next, we were taken to a stunningly beautiful lake. It lay still as a mirror, without a ripple in sight. "Sky Mirror Lake," Vorjhan announced. "Home of one of my proudest creations, the changelings! Now, one would never recognise a changeling, as they can take on the form of any other sentient being that they wish. Why, Ilias, you could be in the throes of passion with a changeling pretending to be Morrow and you wouldn't know the difference! That is, until you started feeling your power draining... for you see, they feast not on plants, or even flesh, but love. Romantic isn't it? Well, for the changeling at least. Given enough time, a pony could be sucked completely dry. Not a single conscious thought would remain. You would be an empty shell of your former self, your power fed to the one who literally preyed on your feelings! What a tragic but magnificent concept, don't you agree?" We viewed many other places, completely beyond our control. Where Vorjhan wanted to take us, we had no choice but to follow. He showed us the Griffon kingdoms: a stone-grey mountain range reaching to the sky, with many of the fearsome eagle-lion hybrids flying around the peaks. "Oh, but you'll want to stay away from those. Griffons attack in numbers, rapidly swarming their prey. Their choice meal? Well, anything they like!" He gave an evil amused laugh while our skins crawled as one. He showed us the plains, where creatures called Buffalo roamed. "Now, even I am capable of making a species not designed to eviscerate or disembowel you. I do find these buffalo rather droll though. Oh well, at least they can still kill a pony by stampede if threatened at all!" * * * * * After witnessing an enormous mountain, a frozen, barely accessible north and a small place on the borders of our own forest that seemed oddly peaceful, we found ourselves back in Vorjhan's fortress. Luna looked like she was about to be sick, while Celestia just looked worried. As for Morrow... well, she certainly wasn't happy either, to put it lightly. "So, Ilias and family, what do you think of my world? It certainly dwarfs your own for creativity and sheer size, does it not? Really, let me know what you think! I truly value your opinions. I am not an evil being, I simply desire chaos. A world without rules. It's just so much more fun that way!" Morrow and I exchanged glances. I had to admit, it certainly was varied. And vast. And full of danger and possible excitement. But it was nothing like our little safe-haven back home. Far from the paradise that I had strived to maintain for the sake of my ever-expanding family. I turned to Vorjhan, answer ready: "I can appreciate what you've done with the world, Vorjhan. Perhaps I’ll never understand why you've done exactly as you have, but then again, you're chaos embodied right? I suppose... that if it doesn't threaten our existence in the forest... then there's no harm in it being this way." A gasp from Morrow caught me off guard. I turned to her and saw a strange emotion in her eyes. Pity? Betrayal? I guess I'll never know. I returned my focus to Vorjhan. "What matters to me the most is my family. So if you make a solemn promise here and now, with Morrow, Celestia and Luna as my witnesses, that you will leave our realm untouched and protect it from danger... I will give you my blessing to do with the rest of the world as you see fit." There was a deafening silence. Then something unexpected happened, something I have always been unable to forget. A shadow escaped from Morrow's eyes. It swirled around her, and shrouded her from head to tail. Her coat began to change colour to a deep, lightless black. Her mane shimmered, turning a shade of the deepest purple. Her tail followed its lead, also becoming shimmery and purple. Morrow grew rapidly until she was the same size as Celestia. No, even larger than Celestia. The pupils in her eyes retracted and became slits. I could hardly believe it. Before my eyes, my beautiful, loving wife had succumbed to the dark influence within her. I felt the taint of Vorjhan, long dormant in her, finally arise. In her newly transformed state, Morrow emanated waves of power, potent enough to make the small hairs on my back stand at attention. Panting, the unrecognisable Morrow raised her head and stared at Vorjhan, forcing him to recoil. Her voice was terrible to behold, and it spoke without mercy: "This is my world! It was given to me to expand and create, to weave as I will with my own dreams. And I, Morrow, weaver of dreams, exercise my right to take back my land, foul beast! I shall cover this world in my own eternal forest—nothing will ever penetrate its defenses!" The land quaked violently, forcing me to my knees. My daughters felt the rumble and quickly took to the air, supporting me as I stumbled around. Through the large windows of the fortress, I could see the devastation unfolding: twisted, gnarled oaks sprouted up out of the soil, groaning in protest at their much-accelerated growth, while bushes that should have sported beautiful flowers sprang up, adorned only by thorns. Even the foundations of the fortress weren't safe, as barbed creeper vines rapidly snaked their way through the cracks in the walls. While the corrupted forest spread throughout the realm, unrestrained, Morrow fixed her steely gaze upon me. It was all I could do to not turn from my beloved, twisted as she had become. "You did this to me, Ilias! You are responsible for what happens next, and you will tremble at my feet when I am through with this world!" Hope is gone. All that's left is this abomination.