//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 - The Valley of Los Pegasus // Story: Death's Bargain // by Haseo //------------------------------// Chapter 16 The Valley of Los Pegasus Applejack couldn't feel the ground beneath her hooves anymore. The last thing she could remember was a blazing wall of fire that rolled towards her and her friends, burning everything in its way to ashes. She carefully opened her eyes and found herself in a completely darkened space. There was no firm ground to stand on. Simply hovering in the air, she inspected her environment. Everything around her was hidden inside the dark. Not even her own hooves were visible in this complete darkness. Only the faint sound of a breathing being was audible to her. She tried to concentrate and hesitantly whispered into the darkness. “Is anypony out there? Ah can't see any of ya. Please say somethin'!” There was no response to her desperate words. The urge to cry rose inside of the farmer. Her whispers became louder and turned into angered shouts. “This can't be the end! Ah can't be dead, yet! Not now! This is so unfair!” She forcefully closed her eyes shut. Tears were running down her cheeks. Applejack began to silently weep in the endless darkness, but something irritated her. Through her closed eyelids, a faint light became brighter and brighter. At first she thought is was just an illusion created by her desire for salvation, but the light became stronger until she forced her eyelids once more apart. There it was. A strong light source right in front of her. She hadn't to do anything. It felt like the light was dragging her into its core. Applejack gladly accepted the warm embrace of the light and let herself float inside of it. The blinding light swallowed her completely. The world around her became firm once more. Slowly there formed a ground beneath her hooves. Never before she felt so satisfied by simply feeling something hard beneath her hooves. The bright light faded but, her environment was still lightened. Her eyes shot open again and zoomed through her surroundings. It was all too familiar to her. The dark walls and pieces of fabric. The very same big balcony as before. She was definitely back inside Princess Luna's personal chamber. After a short while, Applejack finally caught sight of the terrified Princess, but she wasn't the object the Princess was gazing to. It was something behind Applejack. The farmer felt tired and worn out, but she still managed to turn her head around. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity and Shadow were neatly lying next to her. Every single one of them were unconscious. Applejack's head turned further and once more she paled at Soul's sight. Out of his wounds originated white steam. The shine in his eyes was almost gone. Only barely, he was able to maintain his consciousness. His torn-off legs were slowly regenerating. It was a strange sight to the rural earth pony. Despite the fact that Soul was healing his own wounds, he spread his blood on the floor around him. With every passing second the stallion seemed to regain more and more of his power. Applejack couldn't stand it anymore and sank to the ground. She felt too weak to say anything towards the Princess or Soul. The only thing she could do was watch the stallion regenerate. Princess Luna stepped forward. At first she walked slow and steady, but with every single step her speed increased until she almost raced towards Soul in a full-fledged gallop. The dark stallion was heavily panting while the Princess wrapped her hooves around him, holding him tight to her royal chest. “Soul! What happened to you? Please stay by my side!” Under pain, but with his strength returning, the dark stallion managed to calm his beloved Princess. “Don't worry, Luna. Discord tricked me and turned my own spell against me, but there is no need to worry. I will survive.” Even his words couldn't convince the Princess to let go of him. Much time had passed since the Princess had seen her very own student in such a condition. This was by far the worst injury Soul ever had. “Please... everything is alright. You can let go of me.” Princess Luna slowly withdrew her hooves but still held him tight. She looked around her and looked at the ponies Soul had dragged along with himself. “Please tell me what happened exactly. Why are they unconscious?” Soul inhaled deeply before he freed himself from Princess Luna's hooves. He looked, tired, but the majority of his injuries seemed to be healed. “Discord provoked me, and I was foolish enough to fall for it. He had worn a necklace that deflected my 'Urano Metoria'. After I regained my stance, a blazing flare of fire raced towards the ground. I managed to bring all of them into the nothing just in time to prevent their deaths, but Discord said something odd and that is bothering me the most right now. After I asked him how Twilight could create such powerful charm, he asked me what she had to do with all of this. That would mean that I was wrong all along, and there is somepony different behind this whole crisis.” A guard burst inside the room, alerted by the noise of their arrival. He looked through the room and caught sight of the unconsciousness ponies. Soul turned around and shouted at the agitated guard. “You! Get some guards and make sure that they get the best treatment available!” The guard simply nodded and disappeared into the hall. Only to return seconds after with four other unicorn guards. Carefully, they levitated them outside the room. Only Applejack refused to leave. With all of her power, she rose up and walked towards Soul and the Princess. “Ah'm good. Ah want to talk to him.” The guards looked at each other, but waited finally for a sign from Soul. The dark stallion nodded at the guards and waved his freshly regrown hoof. “Fine. You are dismissed, royal guards. Thank you.” The stallions bowed firmly down and left the room. They shut the door behind them and left the three of them alone in the room. Applejack's eyes didn't show relief or anything similar, but fear. She was afraid of the dark stallion in front of her. Her lips and hooves were shaken by the mix of fear and strain. “Don't act like nothin' happened out there... Ah've seen ya. Ya were definitely dead... nopony can survive in such a condition. Discord had called ya and himself the same kind of bein'. Why did he say somethin' like that... ?” Princess Luna's hooves slipped down from Soul's shoulders. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, but none seemed to explain how Soul could regain his body so quickly. “Applejack is right. No living being can resurrect itself after it was gravely injured like that. Not even you. Especially not after getting torn down by one of the four sacred divine spells. And as I can see, there was no magical recoil either. This time you can't just run away. Answer our questions!” Soul looked back and forth between the Princess and Applejack. There is no way they would catch him if he ran away, but leaving the only ponies dear to him was out of the question. They were the reason to return to Equestria in the first place. He sighed and pointed his gaze through the window out to the sky. “My life began as Soul Tearer. Discord tore my life apart a thousand years ago and turned me into the shadow inside a foal's nightmares. I've scavenged, murdered and destroyed entire civilization under the protective hull of my alter ego, Black Terror. Shunned for my sins upon my dearest ones, I disappeared only to return a thousand years later as Soul Tearer to save the very country I helped to form once. I've fallen in face of the madness but managed to consume its whole power. Time in hell passed slowly, and so I watched the ponies I saved once. A new threat seemed to appear, and I decided to search for a way to return. Every part of hell is ruled by one of the four apocalyptic ponies. When they disappeared, hell literally broke lose, and I got the chance to leave this cursed realm. I'm neither dead nor alive. I'm a being outside time and space. I'm a god and a demon, a grim reaper and an angel. A forsaken and a fallen. I shouldn't exist... Only my magic and my desire to save you is holding me inside this world. Once my deeds are done, I have to return to hell.” Applejack and Princess Luna couldn't find any words. Finally, they know about the circumstances about Soul's return but at the same time they had to learn that he has to go once he eliminated the threat. The two mares just starred at him like the foreign being he was. Soul grabbed the orange still stunned farmer around her neck and pulled her close to his own face. “I'm afraid that our time is limited once more... I'm sorry, Applejack.” Soul pulled her once more a tiny bit closer and kissed her firmly on her lips. The kiss broke quickly as the stallion withdrew and turned away. Applejack just let her body tension fall and sat slowly down on the cold marble floor. The Princess had followed him with her eyes, watching every step he did. “When I found you, I never had thought that you would have to face a fate like this. If I knew, maybe I could have changed something, but the least I can do is tell your story to further generations. You won't be forgotten... ever.” He slightly turned his head but could only offer a small smile to his beloved Princess. “Thank you, Luna. You seem to be very confident that I will be able to save Equestria once more, but if there is really something that is even stronger than me, something powerful enough to create a charm that can easily deflect my 'Urano Metoria', we might be in trouble.” Princess Luna returned the smile and closed in to her trembling, former student. She laid her hoof once more upon his shoulder and gently stroked over his coat. “I'm very confident that you will be able to save us and find a way to stay with us. You never disappointed me. In the end, I could always be proud of you. Your actions are already taking effect. We heard nothing from the Griffon Kingdom. It seems like they finally calmed down. Even the pestilence in the area of Manehatten seems to have faded. Less and less ponies get infected, and some of them are even cured. It is only a matter of time until it will be completely pure again.” The dark stallion laid his hoof upon Princess Luna's and gently slipped it down. His gaze turned away and faced once more the window. “Which means the end is near, my dearest Luna. Once I fight the cause of the famine, I'm sure that this wicked mare of War will reappear as well. I will get rid of them all at once. Maybe I can get some information about their mistress. I'm sure that Twilight's friends will be able to deal with her even if I have to leave before.” Princess Luna bit her lips, she didn't want him to go, but she knew that there was no legitimate way to stop him. While the Princess struggled, Applejack noticed something suspicious. “Hey, Soul? Why are ya always staring out of that window? Is there somethin'?” Applejack passed Soul and looked suspiciously around her surroundings. There was nothing but clouds high in the sky. She turned away and walked straight towards Soul. “Sometimes ya are seriously weird.” She passed him once more and sat down on one of Princess Luna's cushions. Soul's eyes only followed her for a short while. He turned his head, but from the corner of his eyes, he watched the shadow in the clouds. The shadow of a tip-headed pegasus mare. Soul took a deep breath, closed his eyes and halted for a second to collect his thoughts. His eyes shot back open again, and his sapphire-blue eyes were once more filled with determination. “Listen girls. This is the plan. I will go to Los Pegasus and get rid of Famine and most likely of War too. So we don't have to worry about the apocalyptic ponies anymore. This should give our friends enough time to rest. We still have to save Big Mac' and the others, but without Twilight's help, it will be difficult. So we have to get her back as soon as possible. This is the point where our paths will part. After we have saved Twilight, I will go all alone to face their so-called mistress. It will be a fight between two unrivaled forces. I don't know what will happen nor if I can protect any of you.” The Princess gasped in shock. How could Soul talk so coldly about their paths parting? Her lips began to shake, she didn't want to let go of another dear pony. Even her sister has left her and left no trace. “Alright. Lets go!” The Princess turned her head, Applejack had risen from the cushion and walked calmly next to Soul. “There is no point in fightin' about this. He’s right. Ah've seen what Discord did to him. We should assist him in every way and be satisfied with it.” Hopefully, the Princess turned to Soul, but his muzzle remained shut. Princess Luna struggled but finally sighed and agreed, still wincing on the inside. “Fine. So leave now so that we can see each other again very soon. There are more things to do and to say. I honestly doubt that you will return for a third time, Soul.” The black stallion grinned at his beloved Princess and nodded slightly. “Wait for me, Luna. Just a few hours, and I'll be back.” His horn ignited brightly and blinded the Princess of the Night. It sounded like a blazing fire was igniting right next to her before the chamber returned to perfect stillness. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. Only the faint shimmer of sapphire-blue magic remained in the air. Princess Luna slowly walked towards the cushion Applejack sat on a moment before and let herself fall face first into it. Silently she wept into the soft cushion. Nopony was supposed to hear their Princess cry. Far outside the castle in the mountainous area beneath the cloud-city of Los Pegasus was a strange magical presence raising. The air stretched and bent until it finally exploded in a ray of sapphire blue magic, exposing Applejack and Soul to the eyes of various starving animals. Applejack's eyes adjusted quickly to the new environment. They were standing inside a forest at a mountainside. The cloud-city was only a few feet above them, hovering above the centre of the valley. Underneath were the fields that provided the food for the pegasi living here. The streams inside the fields that provided the water for the countless plants was still filled, but already from the far distance they could see that the plants were oddly colored and most likely rotten. “Does it serve a purpose that we are standin' so far away?” Before he responded, Soul began to walk down the stoney mountain trail. Without strain, he hopped down. “If I get too close to this Famine, he could notice me right away. I want the element of surprise on my side. I don't really want to fight him and have to struggle with him. I just want to end his effect here quickly.” Applejack sighed in defeat.There was, like usual, no flaw in his logic. Silently, she followed him down the mountainside, passing countless trees and bushes for minutes. “Don't you want to know why he is lying to you? Just ask him why he consumed the power of my brother after he defeated him!” She stopped in her tracks and looked around her, but there was absolutely nothing, save for Soul.”Did ya say somethin'?” The dark stallion turned around and shot her a questioning glare. “No, I haven't said anything. Why are you asking?” Applejack twitched her shoulders and looked once more out into the woods. “Ah dunno, Ah thought Ah heard somepony talkin'. Must have been mah imagination.” Soul paused for a second before he turned once more and headed further down the road, but the words left Applejack no peace. “Soul? How did you take Pestilence’s power after you defeated him?” He stopped immediately but didn't turn. Soul let a few seconds pass before he coldly rose his voice. “It is simple. When you erase something powerful from this world, something equally or even stronger force will rise. When I consume their power, it isn't lost. So there is no need for the world to balance. I really don't want to summon even stronger enemies when I'm gone.” Applejack cocked an eye at the stallion in front of her and carefully formulated her next sentence. “But if ya, disappear… wouldn't that mean that somethin' more powerful will appear someday and bring Equestria down?” Without any expression of emotions or a real explanation, Soul continued to walk down the harsh path. “No.” Before the distance between them got too big, the orange farmer continued to follow his lead. “What a cheap lie! He just don't want to upset you! The truth is that he is only gaining more strength to flee from his fate! But it won't save him, no matter how much more power he is able to obtain...” While Applejack walked further down the lonely road, she let her eyes wander back and forth but there was still nopony close to them. In hope that Soul wouldn't hear her, she whispered into the woods. “Why are ya tellin' meh somethin' like this? Who are ya?” A faint giggle resounded through the woods before the mare-ish voice appeared again. “This question is pretty easy to answer. I'm the one who will take your beloved Soul back when he fulfilled his part of the contract. I'm everything evanescent in this world. I'm talking to you because you are one of many mares that meant something to him. But in the end he will be mine and mine alone forever.” Applejack hissed silently into her coat. Even though she couldn't see her conversational partner, anger built up inside of her. “Stop talkin' horse-apples like this. Soul would never sell himself like that.” “Well, my dear. This was the deal. I grant him access to the world of the living and in exchange, I get his soul and body when he successfully saved the ones he cared for. Additionally, I lent him a part of my very own power. So there is no way he can die and take a loophole or something.” Something inside of Applejack's mind told her that the voice was telling her the truth. Soul was always powerful, but never truly immortal, at least as much as she knew. But an odd thought crept into her mind when she thought about the words of the voice. “Hey, Soul? Don't ya think that somethin' is missin'? Ah mean, we faced Pestilence and War. Famine is around this area, but isn't there another apocalyptic pony around? Why don't we know where this pony is yet?” Soul turned around and looked directly into Applejack's eyes. His eyes weren't gentle nor even friendly. It was a harsh and distrusting gaze. “Why are you asking me such questions? Maybe she wasn't freed, or we just didn’t notice any action from her side.” Applejack didn't know if this was a good or a bad answer. But the frown that formed on her lips certainly told her it was a bad one. “How do ya know that this pony is a she?” Soul gnashed his teeth while his eyes slightly widened. Applejack was certain that the voice wasn't lying to her. The dark stallion couldn't get away now. “I had just a hunch. More importantly is why you are asking me such questions. If you don't trust me, why are you tagging along with me in the first place? I thought we were already beyond this whole trusting thing.” Applejack rose her hoof and scratched her head. A faint blush was appearing on her cheeks. She looked sheepishly up to the suspicious stallion and closed the distance between them. She swung her hooves around his neck and pressed her muzzle inside his coat. “Ah really want to trust ya like Ah did two years ago. But there were too many lies. Ya have to prove that ya are worth being trusted again.” Soul's glare softened under the gentle embrace of the beautiful mare around his neck. The warmth even reached his cold heart. “And how can I prove that to you?” The grip of the waving mare around his neck got tighter. She let her head stroke above his neck until she reached his and whispered gently into his ears. “Do somethin' to meh that ya haven't done to other mares before...” The dark stallion reared carefully up and kissed Applejack's neck. Kiss for kiss, he wandered higher until he reached her orange muzzle. Every kiss lasted longer than the last one. Their tongues met in the middle and soulfully danced around each other while they carefully stumbled aside from the path and vanished inside the woods, hidden from any curious gazes. Their silent grey-shaded spectator far above them in the clouds, flashed her teeth towards the two mingling ponies. “Be happy as long as you have him for yourself! Soon he will be mine!” She expanded her wings and emerged from the cloud she was sitting on, racing down the mountainside into the valley, searching for a pitch black earth pony stallion. She draw her circles above his head before she landed firmly on a boulder next to him. The pitch-black stallion turned his head to the gray pegasus and flashed her a smug smile through his rotten flesh. “So you finally made it, sister. Done stalking that little toy of yours? I hope you are aware of the fact that he is strong enough to harm us? At least he was capable of burning Pestilence like a little fly.” The grey pegasus waved her hoof carelessly through the air and returned his wicked grin. “Don't worry about him. He will defeat your mistress for sure and then he will finally belong to me. Just make sure to welcome them appropriately. With him by my side, I will be able to rule over the realm of the dead!”