Bat out of Hell

by Coufnsiou

Bat in Hell (Revised)

It was a hellish day in Tartarus, as was to be expected of the worst place anyone could imagine. Guarded by the most ferocious three headed canine one could find, its doors impenetrable from both the out and insides, its walls massive and thick, all of it fitting for the prisoners inside. Within resided some of Equestria’s worst, Tirek the Centaur, Hydia, Grogar, but one name stood out amongst the rest. A name of one so evil and heartless, his name had to be permanently erased from history with only the oldest and well-kept of books even hinting at his existence. A monster of terrible power, one which with the original Elements of Harmony had to do battle with. He had been responsible for the formation of the crystal caverns beneath Canterlot, the slaughter of countless of the global populace, even going as far as to nearly kill the Celestial sisters. Magic that could level mountains, and bring gods to their knees.

In the center of a dark pit sat two beings, the current ruler of Tartarus, Tirek, his hind legs bent and his rump on the ember and brimstone floor, and a stoic figure on the other end of the chess board separating them. The game appeared to be a stalemate, the humanoid figure sitting rigidly straight with an equally straight face. Tirek grumbled at the sight of the board. Would this thing actually beat him? After all this time was there finally a creature worthy of beating his trial that he could escape Tartarus? Perhaps. After all, evil always finds a way. He smirked before moving one of his pieces, thinking his newfound strategy could push this thing back to whatever cell he crawled out of, “I have to hand it to you, you're one of the few and possibly the only creature to come close to beating me…” Tirek said in his usual imposing voice.

The humanoid figure glanced at him with his soulless emerald eyes. The reptile like slits of his pupils coming back down to the board. He noticed a weakness which Tirek had left open, out of cockiness or stupidity he didn't know, nor cared enough to investigate. He wanted to see if Tirek had picked up on it, and he hadn’t. He sighed, thinking to himself that this worlds inhabitants, even its most notorious, were nothing more than trash.

Moving his queen to take the rook guarding the king, he uttered one word in a voice that would make the bravest of warriors think twice before fighting him, “Checkmate”. Tirek’s eyes widen at what had happened. His king couldn’t move and this creature had just checkmated him. He knew what this meant, any prisoner that could manage to defeat the current ruler of Tartarus may continue forth to the gates. Even imprisoned behind the walls of the Hellscape, he had heard what this ashen skinned thing could do, and if any of it was true then he wouldn't even need to lift a finger to defeat Cerberus. He gave a defeated sigh, “Fine then… you beat me. Well done, two legged one.” Said Tirek, “Take this medallion and the gates shall open”, he handed him an intricate medallion, sketched with runes on the outer and inner circles, seemingly made to fit into a certain slot.

Rising from his seat, he took the medallion, a helmet of white bone seemingly cut in half with a single spike upon it rose with him. He locked eyes with the creature, two dark emerald streaks going down his face from his eyes to his chin, as if he had cried tears of paint. All things considered, he found the game of chess to have been too easy. He turned from the four legged demon and casually walked away, beginning to climb out of the pit. First thing he would do when he got out was get his sword back.

Finally out of the dark pit, the ashen figure looked around the barren and hellish landscape, remembering his previous exploits from millennia ago.

A year has passed since the imprisonment of Discord and Equestria was on the cusp of a Golden Age, the newly renovated castle in the Everfree Forest served as a testament to that. Celestia sat in her throne room, listening to nobles and commoners alike. The latest request was being proposed by one Ripe Core, who was looking to establish his own apple related business for his family. All was well, and the day court was closing, making way for the night.

Celestia breathed a relieved sigh now that her duties were over, she trotted from her golden throne to her quarters, walking the long hall to her room. Parting a set of gilded double doors with her magic, the guards saluted her as she walked in. With a slight mental command her magic had closed the door behind her. Luna was out in the distance, setting the sun and raising the moon. She levitated her brush and began to straighten out her rainbow mane, pulling off her royal chest piece. Luna flew back onto the balcony as gravity took control of the moon as she entered, smiling.

“It could not be a more beautiful night sister! We believe we have done exceptional work upon the starry sky this night!” She said wistfully as she looked at her night sky, the stars twinkling bright with nary a cloud in sight. “Tis’ indeed, sister. None could possibly match your artistic skill.” Said Celestia, she herself taking in the beauty of her sisters night sky.

“You flatter us, Tia. But truly… is it as beautiful as you say? There are some who would run and hide from my night… as if afraid…” Said Luna, her wistful smile dissipating into an expression of chagrin. She felt her sister’s wings wrap around her, bringing her into a warm embrace, the kind a mother would give to her child. Luna returned the hug, looking up to her sister and smiling, “Well, I do suppose it is time we take our place at the night court, yes?”

“Of course, Luna. Go and head to the proceedings and I shall raise the sun when the time co-” Her sentence was cut short. A massive beam of bright green light several kilometers in length and size shot down from the sky, its display magnificent and terrifying, leaving Luna and Celestia speechless as they look upon the destruction it was causing. All creatures below were instantly obliterated as if by some form of horrible magic. It hit a far off mountain, causing a crater miles deep and miles long, the sheer power of the beam leaving no debris what so ever as it disintegrated anything in sight.

Finally it began to shrink, slowly but surely dissipating. The rest of the castle, no the country… nay, the continent had seen that brilliant beam of light. After a few minutes of silence, getting over the initial awe of the beams destruction, Celestia spoke, “Luna… warn the other nations, I must go investigate." Celestia charged and dove off her balcony, the night winds providing extra lift and speed to the now decimated mountain.

Pain. You’d think that would be the first thing you'd feel when you feel like you spiraled off a runaway roller coaster. But there was no pain… no pain, no happiness, no joy, nothing. Any feeling Mark had in his body had been evicted, leaving a hollow feeling in his chest and a sick pounding in his head. He opened his eyes to see a clear night sky, barely any clouds save for the occasional tuft.

He stood, observing he was in fact no longer at Comic-con, but instead in the middle of a giant crater, several miles deep and for all he knew several miles long. 'It's going to take forever to get out of this' he thought to himself. He turned his attention to the hollow feeling in his chest, not knowing what it was at the time. Had he caught a flew? Did he lose feeling in his chest? Oh no, it’s just a hole in the middle of his chest cavity, no big deal. Wait, WHAT!? Mark examined the apparent cave-in in the middle of his body, feeling it with his hand which he now noticed was a greyish ash color with his fingernails black. He circled it, feeling the inside, finding it to be quite real. What shocked him most however, if he could feel shock, was that he wasn't all that surprised. Indeed he felt nothing. No sense of surprise nor urgency to close the apparent lethal wound. If anything it’s as if it felt… normal. As if it had been there all this time, like he had nothing to fear from it, like a thing that just settled and no one took notice. It just seemed like an inevitable fact that there was indeed a medium sized hole in your chest.

Mark pondered for a moment, looking himself over. If his Cosplay had been brought with him, then his blade must have followed suite! He looked to his side and sure enough, there it was. Sheathed within an emerald scabbard was his blade. The unique and intricately designed cross guard, the excellent handle adorned by a traditional katana grip. He drew his sword, the metal of the beautiful blade singing as the steel was drawn from its confines. Holding it felt so right, so natural as if this sword was not a weapon, but an extension of his arm. 'That werd shop keep guy has some seriousexplaining to do...' He thought to himself. He continued to examine himself, looking down at his white robes, the ends of which were fluttering in the wind. Atop the left side of his head was a helmet of bone, a sort of spike protruding and curving outwards. He felt another presence, well, to be exact he felt everything. Far off towns there were small signatures, within cavernous systems seemed to be... bull people? Across the ocean, atop mountains, what little flora and fauna there was left after the destruction he had caused. All had a sort of signature, an aura that gave them away allowing him to read into them, to see what kind of person they may be. 'Must be my pesquisa...' he reasoned. After all, everything seemed to point to one conclusion. That his clothes did infact make him...

The presence continued flying closer. This didn't feel like any of the others, no... This one felt commanding, demanding respect and obedience, almost royal. It was finally close enough that it landed outside the crater. He could see it now, his newly discovered enhanced sight allowing him to see a white horse. Its main was sparkling, with every color of the rainbow fluttering inside it, the same thing going on with its tail. Atop its head was a white horn, spiraled to match the rest of its color scheme. On its back were two wings, whiter than newly bleached clothes, its fur following the same patern. But what struck him most about this equine figure, was the symbol of the sun on its ass. Weird.

“CREATURE” The horse shouted from the outside of the crater, “SPEAK THY NAME LEST THOU BE DEALT WITH SWIFTLY!!” it bellowed out. He thought for a second. If he was who he was now, this thing wouldn’t last two minutes… he contemplated, what little humanity he had left, took over, deciding to answer the sun kissed horse.