//------------------------------// // Final Chapter- Lauren // Story: Picture Perfect Pony Zero: Mothering Bell // by ReifuTD //------------------------------// Rarity was one of the few ponies that could appreciate the beauty of the image before her. The spectral Stag standing proudly with the ash falling around him. He was a horrifying sadistic creature but the sight was still beautifully cereal. “My, you do know what that bell was made for?” Caesar Stag remarks smugly. “Are you giving yourself to me girl?” “Oh a lady doesn’t give out on a first date,” Rarity remarks nervously her eyes darting at the burning grove then back to the Stag. “Who says this is our first date?” Caesar Stag smirks. “Wha?” Rarity reacts. In the back ground she sees the sky redden as the sun rises above the building. Then the towers chime their music as the sky turns it’s azure blue. Caesar Stag starts laughing. “Well well, I haven’t heard that sound in years. I don’t know what you think you are doing setting that thing off.” Suddenly the Stag’s eyes widen as the ash changes direction and starts flowing toward the bell. He looks over at the burning laurel grove. “No! It can’t be! The seal? It’s broken!” The Stag shouts. The ash whirls forming into the shape of a tall headless female with wings. She was proportional to a large alicorn in size. The pelt and flesh of Caesar Stag starts to melt and fly off in globs toward the headless alicorn. “No this isn’t happening!” Caesar Stag shouts as his ghostly flesh mask peels off his face. “I am a god!” “No you are not!” The Alicorn snaps as her head reforms. Weakened Caesar Stag falls to his knees his stag body completely gone leaving him in his earth pony state. “This ends now you monster,” Rarity takes a Zero Shot. The stallion screams as he fades away. “Thank you my child,” Lauren says as she walks up to Rarity. “Thank you ma'lady,” Rarity blushed. “But I have one last bit of evil to exorcize,” Lauren puts her muzzle to Rarity’s muzzle. Rarity felt a stinging pain in her gut and her loins burned. The unicorn cries out in pain as blood trickles down her leg fallowed by a bloody lump of flesh. Rarity turns to look at the bloody object. Her heart sinks. “That’s…” The mare stutters. Clop! Clop! Clop! The masked stallion was stomping his foot on the deck in an act of slow applause. “Who is this stallion?” Lauren asks. “He help free you, but I don’t trust him. He tried to kill me when we first met.” Rarity tells Lauren. “I see, you wish to have my power don’t you?” Lauren snaps. The stallion removes his mask revealing a middle aged brown unicorn. “My name is Soul Dirt,” He tells the mares. “Years ago I was an orphan raised by Mother Belle. I grew up on legends of this area and that was the reason I became a para archeologist. I was lucky to find out that Photo Finish was looking for somepony to investigate her home. You see I’m becoming an old pony. If Caesar Stag could become immortal so can I.” “I won’t allow you to trick me like the Lord Caesar Stag did,” Lauren said puffing up her wings to make herself look bigger. “I’ll have to settle for second best,” Soul Dirt takes the flesh lump up with his magic. “Stop!” Lauren shouts. He slings shots the thing into his mouth. With a few bites the stallion swallows the lump of flesh. “Madam, what’s going on?” Rarity makes a grossed out look. “The cells of that thing holds the Stag’s, no my power. Even a fraction of in a unicorn, amplifying it’s powers.” Soul Dirt’s body let’s out the loud crack of bones. The old pony screams out in pain as his body starts to grow. Horns grew from his head. His hooves turns into three toed claws. Wings come out from his back. Soul Dirt stops growing at thirty stories. He towered over the manor with his body smashing into the side and shattering walls. “Oh, my,” Rarity takes a few steps back. Lauren turns to Rarity. “I’m sorry to ask this of you but my power is still too weak to fight such a creature.” “What!” Rarity reacts. Lauren turns into light and merges into Rarity’s body. The unicorn becomes taller with wings. The Camera Obscura glows with power. Rarity takes off to the air. She flies around the monster witch roared at her a beam of energy firing at the glowing white mare. The alicorn ducks the beam flying under the stag like monster. As she came out the other side Rarity flips on her back and takes a picture with her super charged Camera Obscura. The stag monster roars as an after image of it is sucked into the camera device. He replied by swinging his thick tail. Rarity flips back around and dodges the tail that smashes into the east wing of the manor decimating it. Rarity turns toward the stag monster’s bow and fires another snap shot. The monster roars and fires its breath down at Rarity. She flies closer to the creature’s chest. A clawed leg tried to swat her but only nicking the tail. The third shot was made as Rarity flew upwards. She fired it into the stag monster's eye. The stag monster looks up at Rarity as she takes up to the sky. The beast spread his wings and took to the sky. Rarity looks behind her as the giant monster chased after her. She gulps sweating from her nerves and flapped her wings to gain speed. The stag monster shoots a blast of energy. With a bend of her wing, the blast missed Rarity only knocking loose a few feathers. Rarity turns and fires at the monster hitting its starboard side. The monster flinched started to float off then catch himself. This gave Rarity a chance to fire another shot causing the monster to drift closer to the ground. It recovers and fired a blast of energy. Rarity had turned back around and the stag monster turned to fallow. She takes her third shot and the monster came crashing to the ground. It slid into Photo Finish’s mansion. The entire building was wiped out into a pile of splinters. The stag monster was coughing up blood when Rarity landed nearby. It shrinks with every cough of blood until becoming the size of a normal stallion his body a deformed monster. Alicorn Rarity walks up to the twitching body of Soul Dirt. “Ack! I guess I failed, Ack ack arrack!!!” Soul Dirt hacks up a hard chunk of flesh. “Finish me.” With a cold look on her face Rarity speaks. “No that would be too easy.” She could hear sirens coming. “Besides they have to punish somepony. I’d rather have it not be me.” Ambulance and police ponies start pulling up. They watched as Lauren’s spirit leaves Rarity’s body turning the mare back to her normal state. The alicorn goddess waves to the unicorn as she floats up to the sky. One of the ponies sees Soul Dirt laying on the ground. “My goddess get him on the bus!” He shouts. “Miss are you okay?” An officer asks. “Oh, yes,” Rarity nods her head, “I’m feeling a little weak. That stallion you need to place him under arrest.” “Arrest what for?” The officer replied. “Murder, attempted murder, destruction, turning yourself into a beast can’t be legal dear.” “Um, yes, Then can you come with me?” the officer tells the mare “In a minute,” Rarity answers looking out into the valley. After everything she gone through, Rarity takes a deep breath. She looks out at the sky line with the sun in the sky. The wind blows through her main as she reflects on life.