Chapter 21
Chimera, Perytons, Basilisks, the Otyugh, and several others monsters were born from the depths of Tartarus.
It was the imps, mostly. Fooling mortals and corrupting seed as they moved through the earth.
The changelings, however, were a special case.
They were not born of Wrath or Hatred. No, they were born of Lust.
Death watched the gates for anything that would escape while Cerberus made sure that nothing disturbed his Master.
However, Death was pulled away, his heart begging him to see his beloved.
In that time, a terrible being snuck through the gates. A succubus who went by the name Chrysalis.
She passed through the gates and into the realm of mortals.
And Faust was not pleased with it.
The monster came out into world, and quickly chose it’s victim, a young unicorn stallion by the name of Emerald Love. Through deception, fear, superstition, and lust, the succubus ruined him, forced him to commit crimes against his family and people. He was quickly cast out by his unicorn family, and cursed by the Lord of his city.
An ancient magic had been forced on him, and his skin was blacked and his fur burned off, his horn was drilled with holes out of spite for the crimes that he had been fooled into committing.
Thrown out, Emerald Love was helpless, magicless, and ripe for the succubus’ pickings.
She approached him in a lovely disguise, saying how she pitied the poor stallion. What a terrible fate.
She cooed and pitied, drawing Emerald ever closer to her lair where she would suck the very life from him.
Faust watched, unhappily.
The demon told him of how she was going to end his suffering.
Then she began to feed, to devour his life.
And then Faust acted.
She allowed the demon to feed on Emerald’s life, but in doing so, she took his curse.
As her skin blackened, and her disguise fell, so did she lose her ability to suck the life out of creatures. She had become mortal, and had taken Emerald’s punishment.
Emerald escaped her, now terrified by this hideous being.
And then Faust struck this succubus with an even worse fate. She gave it the feelings of loneliness.
She tried many things to fill the void, and found only two. Her children and feeding off the feelings of love, taken from other beasts.
And so, for the rest of her life, she forced herself to birth changeling after changeling, feeding off the love of others.
But…
But one day, her Hive rose against her.
The Hive had been neglected for too long, their cries unheard, and they rose up in anger.
Chrysalis was eaten alive, and a new Chrysalis was named and made Queen.
Such has been the way of the Hive, a new changeling taking place of the first whether through succession or rebellion. There is always a Chrysalis.
<<<|Ω|>>>
The two ponies and Peryton slowly circled each other, Soarin's wingblades and Pinkie’s scimitars gleaming in the torchlight.
The Peryton grinned evilly, it’s black antlers dipping with Soarin’s blood.
“Two little pony hearts,” the Peryton sang, “it makes me smile with glee. Two delicious meals, all for little ol’ me…”
“What are you? A zebra?” Soarin growled, picking up his discarded spear.
“Soary! That’s racist.”
The Wonderbolt chanced sending the pink a deadpan glare before refocusing on the monster.
The Peryton took a very careful look at the two, his lupine smirk never leaving it’s face. It’s wings were spread wide in aggressive stance that reminded Soarin of a picture he once saw of a heron.
Suddenly, the Peryton shot forward, extending its talons on its back legs to grab at the two ponies.
Soarin quickly brought up his spear, intent on driving the head into the monster’s body.
The Peryton answered by grabbing the spear haft and biting down on it, snapping the weapon in half.
Soarin smacked the creature’s face with the now useless stick before he took to the air, leaping over the monster as Pinkie dove underneath it, using her scimitars to rake at the creature’s underside.
It howled in pain as Pinkie came up behind the Preyton, and both ponies instantly bolted down the hallway.
“Where are we headed?” Pinkie asked.
“Somewhere where I can get some height on this thing!” Soarin yelled, flying down the hall, “Once I can fly I’ll be able to hit it harder.”
“Ooh!” Pinkie said with her usual excitement, even as she was running on her hind legs with twin scimitars in her hooves, “are you going to be using your super-cool necklace?”
Soarin checked the gem, and frowned upon seeing the flashing ruby. “It’s still not ready, it needs a little more time.”
“Time to play keep away!” Pinkie sang.
The Peryton chased behind them, it’s yellow eyes burning with hatred and hunger. It howled after them, it’s cervine hooves digging into the ground as it bounded forward.
“He’s catching up with us, Soary!” Pinkie cried.
“We need to lose him!” Soarin yelled. “Got any ideas?”
Pinkie smiled, sheathing one of her blades as she ran. “Got one.”
“What is it?” Soarin asked.
The mare smiled wider. “Can’t say! It’s a surprise.”
Soarin smiled. “Good to have my Pinkie back.”
She laughed. A good, happy laugh. “I never left, Soary!”
“Good to hear,” Soarin said, moving to a backstroke flying position. “Now, it’d probably be best if you got to your surprise, he is gaining.”
Pinkie laughed, before skidding to a halt as the Peryton came charging down at her. “Surprise!” she yelled before the creature’s vision suddenly exploded in color.
And paper…
And one or two streamers.
Shredded paper got into it’s throat and nose as a sudden cloud of confetti erupted in front of it. Now blind, it stumbled over its front hooves and tumbled to a halt. It coughed, spitting up confetti to clear its lungs.
Once it cleared its throat, it stood.
The ponies were gone.
“I will find you, ponies. I will find you.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
“Nice confetti bomb!” Soarin cheered as they ran down the hall, taking every turn they could to try and lose the beast. “Got any more of them?”
“Sure do!” she said galloping next to him, blades sheathed.
The haunting howl of the Peryton sounded behind them.
“It probably won’t take him long to find us, though,” Soarin noted.
“Sounds like someone needs a few more presents!” Pinkie laughed before ducking down another corridor.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“Where are you, my little snacks?” the Peryton called, sniffing at the air as it tried to follow their scent.
This was certainly not a free lunch…
Their scent was getting stronger, though, and that meant it was getting closer.
The Peryton licked its lips in anticipation. It could practically hear their hearts beating, could almost feel the warm blood flowing down its throat. It could—
Ppppppbbbbbbbffffffftttttt…
The Peryton froze, before looking down at its left forehoof.
There was a whoopie cushion, there, under his hoof.
It blinked.
That...that was odd…
It shook its head and slit the cushion open with its sharp, split hoof.
Only for a high-tension spring snake to launch out of it and smack the Peryton in the face.
The monster howled in pain as nursed its eye, which had already began to swell.
Those ponies were going to die.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Soarin cursed. “We are just not having any luck today!”
So far, the two ponies had seen nothing but hallways. What they really needed was a large open room.
“Don’t worry, Soary! I got plenty of presents for Mr. Meanypants Peryton.”
“We’ll need ‘em,” Soarin said with a sigh.
Pinkie gave him a look. “Hey, no frowny faces. We’re going to be just fine!”
Soarin smirked. “Yeah, yeah. Giggle at the ghosties, I remember.”
“Giggle in their faces!” Pinkie cried, laughing all the way.
<<<|Ω|>>>
A coconut cream pie slammed into the Peryton’s face.
This wouldn’t have been too bad, if only it didn’t also have rock crust.
These ponies were getting on the monster’s nerves. A powerful spring snake had swollen its eye shut, an electric joy buzzer had played the part of a electric trip mine, and now this.
It was going to enjoy ripping their hearts out.
Well, it was going to enjoy that anyway, but now especially so.
Their scent was getting stronger now. It would not be long now.
The monster stalked them down the hall, before coming to a large room. Large crates sat in the corners of the room, and a framework of wooden scaffolding held up even more boxes above the Peryton’s head.
Boxes which were perfect for staging an ambush from.
Pain shot through the Peryton’s back as Soarin pounced onto the exposed part of the monster, digging into it with his hoof claws.
The Peryton roared in pain, before shaking the Wonderbolt off.
Soarin flipped away, landing to face the Peryton, blades at the ready. “Surprise,” he said with a smirk.
The monster snarled.
Only for a pink hoof to connect with the side of its face.
The pink pony sailed over the monster’s head cartwheeling as she came down in front of it. “I planned this party just for you,” she said, scimitars gleaming. “Enjoy!”
The Peryton growled. “I plan to, Dinner,” it said before It leapt into the air, coming down to pounce on her.
Soarin leapt up, slamming into the monster’s stomach, as Pinkie leapt out of the way.
Soarin pushed off to the side, letting the Peryton spin off of him to the ground. “Let’s keep this between us flyers, shall we?”
The Peryton roared, jumping up to follow the Wonderbolt.
Soarin spun out of the way, launching into a series of loops and spirals for the monster to chase.
“Come on, slow poke. I’ve seen sparrows who can fly faster!”
The Peryton leapt after him, chasing the pegasus as Soarin ducked between the boxes on the platform.
“Come on!” Soarin taunted. “I’ve heard of scarier canaries!”
The Peryton dove at him, jaws snapping, eager to spill his blood and rip out his sweet pony heart.
Soarin clipped him with his wing blades, slashing along the monster’s face. “Ooh, sorry about that,” Soarin said. “Lucky for you, you’re so ugly it can only improve your looks!”
The monster growled before lunging at the pegasus, only for the wonderbolt to expertly dodge out of the way, leaving the Peryton to smash into the crate behind him.
“Apparently you’re not that smart, neither.”
The monster growled, smashing a crate next to it in frustration with a well placed blow from it’s deer hoof.
“Ooh, so scared,” Soarin mocked.
The Peryton charged him again, this time bringing its talons up to bear.
“Quick, Soarin!” Pinkie yelled. “Do a barrel roll!”
Soarin spun again, rolling out of the way. “Come on! Is that the best you got? I’ve had tougher times avoiding my boss!”
The monster rushed forward again, screeching like a bat out of hell itself.
Soarin answered with his own charge, spreading his wingblades wide.
The Wonderbolt suddenly dove down, before coming up under the monster’s belly and leaving a long slash on it’s side.
“Tag! You’re it!”
The monster’s eyes, bloodshot with anger, narrowed as it locked its gaze on The pony that was severely annoying it.
The Peryton turned, hovering for a moment.
“What? Are your feelings hurt?”
The monster shot forward, screeching again. Soarin answered by bringing his hoof claws up to bear, barely saving himself from being impaled as the Peryton’s talons sliced his face.
Once the monster passed, the Wonderbolt wiped the blood from his cheek. “It’s about time you hit me!” Soarin called. “I was falling asleep!”
The Peryton turned its head at the Wonderbolt and grinned. “Asleep were you? Then welcome to your nightmares.”
Soarin furrowed his brow in confusion before suddenly feeling an odd compulsion to look down.
Giving in, he glanced down, and he saw his shadow.
And then his other shadow.
His eyes became glued to the second shadow, as inexplicable terror began to fill his mind.
Images of darkness, pain, death and a thousand forms of torture filled his brain.
The shadow below him transformed, turning into teeth and a depthless maw.
His wings snapped shut as his body froze up.
He began to fall.
His eyes didn’t see the ground coming to meet him, all they saw was the constricting darkness that wanted to consume him utterly.
He fell through the boxes, passing by the scaffolding to fall to the floor of the room, only to be caught by the waiting arms of the pink pony below.
“I got it! I got it!” Pinkie cired, bouncing to cover. “Hey there, Soarin! Time to wake up!”
Soarin said nothing, only able to stare into the horror of the darkness.
“Soary?” Pinkie called. “Soary are you alright?”
“Oh dear,” the Peryton mocked, “is the poor pony alright?” He chuckled darkly. “What are we to do?”
Pinkie looked back from the Peryton to Soarin. “Soary? Soary!”
“He cannot hear you, pony,” it said, dropping to the floor. “Stop trying.”
Pinkie drop him and spun, drawing both scimitars as she did so. “Back off, meany pants!”
The Peryton grinned. “No, I don’t think I will…”
“If you want him, you’ll have to get through me!”
“My little pony,” the Peryton laughed. “I plan to do just that. After all, life is short, have dessert first!”
<<<|Ω|>>>
He couldn’t remember…
Nothing…
Not the feel of wind under his wings, not the sound of a distant rain, nothing.
He couldn’t remember anything.
Not the hills of Ponyville.
Not the buildings of Cloudsdale.
Nothing.
Not even the taste of pie.
There was only the Dark. The all-consuming Dark that wanted to swallow him whole.
It called out for his soul. It roared for his body. It screamed to have him.
He couldn’t escape. There was nowhere to go.
He was alone.
There was nothing.
He was alone, and was about to be consumed.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Pinkie all but flew through the air in a whirlwind of imperial steel.
Her looted blades spun in deadly arcs, transforming the partier into a tornado of death.
The Peryton roared and barked, thrusting it’s head forward to try and impale the pony on his rack of horns.
Sparks flew as the scimitars met antlers, and the two combatants growled at each other.
“Back off, buster!” Pinkie threatened. “Soarin is my special sous-chef!”
The Peryton said nothing, but only growled in answer to the aggressive attacks.
Pinkie kicked out with her hind legs, launching herself away from the monster before tossing something at it.
The small, silver ball suddenly exploded into a cloud of streamers and confetti.
Paper forced its way into the Peryton’s throat and eyes, forcing it to cough as it tried to rub its vision clear.
It then found itself in an empty room. Even Soarin had gone missing.
The Peryton immediately stuck its nose into the air, intent of smelling out its prey, only for a pink hoof to come smashing into his face.
“Sneak attack!” Pinkie yelled, not at all sneakily as she gave her opponent a flying kick to the face.
She landed, before quickly spinning on one hoof and bringing her scimitar to bear.
The Peryton tried to get away, but was not fast enough to avoid the tip of the blade, leaving another long cut along the length of its face.
It snarled, before launching itself forward, jaws snapping at the small pink mare.
Pinkie cartwheeled away, making space between the two of them before sticking one of her blades into the ground, and hiding her now free hoof behind her back.
She suddenly pulled it away, revealing a full deck of cards. “Pick a card,” she said with a smirk, “any card!”
She suddenly flicked her fetlock, sending about dozen cards spinning at her foe.
The twelve cards, all spades, two through king, flew forward, each digging into the Peryton’s skin like shuriken.
It howled in pain as it was suddenly given a dozen major papercuts, before charging Pinkie, rack lowered to impale her.
Another confetti bomb, and she was gone.
The Peryton spun around, as its eyes began to jerk around wildly, searching for the pink pony. Its ears swiveled crazily as it tried to listen for any clues as to where she was going to attack from next.
Suddenly, another hoof slammed into the back of its head.
Pinkie flew overhead as she finished her kick, tumbling over the Peryton’s head as she followed through on her attack.
She landed, her scimitars ready. “Well? I’m waiting.”
The Peryton growled.
The monster charged forward again, eager to trample the elusive pony.
Pinkie leapt to the side, avoiding the Peryton’s charge with the mocking call of “Torro, Torro! Ole!”
The large predator charged again, barreling down on the small pony.
She smirked and stood her ground.
The creature pounced, jaws snapping as it yearned to feel her blood run down its throat.
It came closer, wings flapping as it descended on the mare.
Only to be stopped as its stomach slammed into something hard and cold.
Dull pain ran through its core as it looked down to see a round pillar of light blue metal.
“I never leave home without my Party Cannon!” she said before the artillery piece fired below the monster.
The Peryton went flying, knocked into the air as a massive concussive force, combined with yet more confetti, erupted from the cannon. It sailed across the room before falling to the ground, and rolling back.
Pinkie gave a cheer, before stowing the cannon away and readying her blades again.
The Peryton, meanwhile, slowly got up and, as it did, it began to see red.
It was done with games.
The monster glared at the pony, its bloodshot yellow eyes tinged red, and roared.
Pinkie smirked, blades at the ready.
The hunter charged again, closing the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye, but not before Pinkie pulled out another confetti bomb.
She tossed it to the ground, the Peryton’s vision exploding into a world of paper.
It answered by bringing its hoof down.
It smiled as it felt a tug beneath its hoof, and once the paper cleared, it was rewarded with the sight of Pinkie laying sprawled across the ground, her tail pinned under its hoof.
The Peryton kicked at her with its other leg, its sharp hoof cutting her side as he sent her flying.
It pounced her again, this time using its talons to try and pierce her lungs.
Pinkie managed to roll out of the way, narrowly avoiding her death as the thick, black claws snapped at her.
She quickly stood, trying to recover, only for the sharp, cervine hooves of the Peryton to smack her against the face and send her flying.
She cried in pain, and the Peryton shivered in ecstasy upon hearing it.
“And now, little pony,” the Peryton said, “you have denied me long enough. I want my dinner!”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alone in the dark.
No one. Nothing. Just him.
Just the dark.
There was no before.
There would be no after.
There was only the dark.
There was no point fighting.
There was no point running.
He would fail if he fought.
There was nowhere to run.
It was pointless.
The only thing he could do was let it swallow him whole, and swallow him quickly.
It would be relatively painless that way.
The darkness…
The all consuming darkness...
No reason to fight…
His eyes stared unseeing into the void, not caring as despair rolled through him.
And then...and then there was a light…
It was faint, far away.
But...but it was something other than the darkness.
His eye focused on this vision of beauty and light, it was the only thing to look at.
Then…
Then he began to see...her…
She...she seemed familiar, but...but never in his life could he remember seeing something so beautiful.
Her mane reminded him of the color of the sun on the horizon. Her eyes told him of cool rivers in the forests. Her smile...oh, her smile…with teeth so white that they brought images of snowcapped mountains, and cheer so bright it forced him to remember the stars.
In her face, he was reminded of the world.
Of the things before the dark.
…
There was also pie…
But the world was the important thing!
Honest…
As he stared up at her, his mind remembering the things he had smelled, seen, heard, and tasted, he began to move.
There was something that was still worth fighting for.
Even in the dark.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Soarin blinked, the world finally coming into view. He looked round, finding himself on laying on top of a wooden box, the sound of small explosions erupting somewhere beneath him.
He rolled over, trying to get his hooves under him again.
He checked himself real quick, looking over his blades and armor.
And then, he heard a pained yelp.
That was Pinkie’s voice.
Soarin scrambled, running to help her.
Because when he had nothing, she was still there.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“And now, little pony,” the Peryton said, looming over her, “you have denied me long enough. I want my dinner!”
Wham!
Soarin slammed into the Peryton’s neck, diving at him from behind. “Don’t you dare touch her!”
He wrapped his foreleg around its neck desperately trying to choke the monster that was threatening his love.
The Peryton bucked and shook, trying to throw the pony off of him.
Soarin would not let go.
The Peryton growled, his voice straining. “You think you have the strength to kill me, pony? Your kind is weak!”
Soarin said nothing, but only held on tightly, glancing down at his chest as he did.
The Peryton strained for a second, before turning back to Pinkie, who was picking herself up.
The monster smacked her back down, not daring itself to let her get back up.
“Don’t touch her!” Soarin roared again, desperately trying to tighten his grip.
The Peryton gave a sadistic smile, suffering only from labored breath. He’d get the pony to let go real easy.
The monster kicked the pink mare into the air, pinning her to wall.
“I’m still touching her, pony,” it said, bringing another one of its incredibly sharp hooves to her throat.”What are you going to do about it?”
When Soarin spoke next, his voice was low and quiet. “I’m going to going to give you to the count of ten to get your filthy, disgusting, no-good, dirty, rotten hooves off my mare.”
“Or what?” The Peryton asked, as he brought back his hoof to strike.
“S-Soary?” Pinkie called, her eyes tearing as she looked at him over the Peryton’s shoulder.
“One,” Soarin warned.
The Peryton kept bringing its hoof back to strike.
“Two.”
“Soary, help me!”
Soarin growled. “Ten. Flight of the Phoenix!”
The Peryton shrieked in pain as Soarin suddenly burst into flame.
He didn’t let go.
The Peryton dropped Pinkie, screaming as it tried to shake the burning pegasus loose.
He didn’t let go.
It dropped to the ground, rolling to try and put out the flames that had spread to its fur.
Soarin did not let go.
It screamed and screamed.
Soarin did not let go.
It ran, back and forth, trying, desperately trying to save itself.
It could not.
Finally, finally, it died.
Soarin finally let go.
“Are you alright?” he asked, checking the love of his life.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. You?”
Soarin smiled. “Awake, alive, and starving for pie.”
Pinkie smiled back. “You sound just fine.”
They both looked at each other for a second, before they burst into laughter.
They laughed, and as they did all of the tension, the pain, the worry flowed away like water.
When the last of their chuckles faded away, Soarin took her, and kissed her.
“I love you, Pinkie. You’re the world to me.”
“I love you too, Soary.”
They kissed again before the pegasus began to pull her away. “Come on, let’s go. We have places to be.”
--------------------------------
And there we have it folks, another chapter done. Sorry it took me so long, but I had to keep going out of my way to find the lead actress for this chapter.
…
I said “out of my way to find the lead actress for this chapter!”
…
Darn it, Pinkie! Stop playing Hearthstone!
“But it’s fuuuuuuunnnn…”
*sigh*
Anyways, we’ll see you all again soon, but first I’ve got to do a bit of a re-write on my novel, so that could take a while...sorry…
“Next time, we’ll see what AJ and Silver have been up to! See you there!”
Bye!