The Truth of the Eye of Magnus

by xSirius

Chapter 3: Lightning Veridas

'Take it, Lightning...come on, you need it.'
"No!" He shouted at the air. "Leave me alone!"
'Aw, are you worried again? What's the problem? You're faster than the guards...Plus you know you can fight better than them. Come on, just take her and do what you must...'
Lightning adjusted his cowl, peering at the young foal then at the two guards next to her from an alleyway in Ponyville. "Why can't it just be a rabbit or something?!" He whispered harshly. "This is completely messed up! Veridas, I'm not going to do this!"
There was a pause before the voice in his head spoke again. 'Do it, Lightning, or I'm going to do it myself.' He threatened.
Lightning winced. He knew Veridas would, to. "Why do you have to pick today to do this?! Today is my birthday, can't you at least take that into consideration?!"
'How about I get you a damned birthday present after you take that filly and make a break for it? Will that make you happy you fucking child?
Lightning shifted uncomfortably. He knew that he had to do this, and he knew why Veridas was being a dick...But he couldn't bring himself to take her...This was crossing the line.
'This is the price you have to pay, Lightning. You wanted to live. You cheated death. Now, do your duty and pay this demon what is due! I WANT BLOOD!'
Wiping a tear from his eye, he let out a silent apology towards the oblivious filly before him. The little girl didn't even know that today was her last. He took a step back, allowing his gray, yellow-tipped wings to expand through cut-out sides of his cloak. He took a deep breath, and shakily let it out. The muscles in his hind legs tensed, preparing to do one of the most darkest things he'd ever done in his entire life.

Eat a child.

It was a nice day so far for Axil. He and his brother were strolling through Ponyville, just chatting it up. Their shift was over about an hour ago, so they decided to ease through the rest of their day. They both still wore their guard armor, however. They wanted to relax, but in case something was to happen, they wanted to be ready.
"Hey, Axil," His brother started to ask through his helmet. "How's Sytra?"
Axil smiled, adjusting his helmet a bit better so as to see his brother. "Pretty good, Sar. She finally got that surgery done."
Sar smiled. "That's good, man. I'm glad to hear it...What was it she had to get done, again?"
Sighing, Axil replied. "There was a plate in her spine that wasn't aligned correctly. They needed to go in and fix it, obviously," He looked to the side, a bit annoyed. "Man, you never remember anything."
"Look, I forgot, alright? It's not a big deal."
"Well, no, not this particular instance, but it's a reoccurring thing. You never really pay attention when I tell you something's going on in my life. You just sort of nod your head and smile," Axil frowned.
Sar scratched his mane. "Gee...I'm sorry man. I don't mean to seem indifferent, like I don't care or something."
Axil shook his head. "No, it's fine. It really isn't a big deal. Besides, today is a good day, and I don't want to ruin it with a petty fight."
Sar nodded, but a sharp shriek interrupted his thoughts. He and Axil both turned to see a cloaked pony picking up a young filly, pumping his wings and flying straight into the sky.
"HELP ME!!!" The young filly shouted, tears streaming down her eyes.
Axil and Sar's wings both snapped out. They took off like two bullets, zeroing in on the assailant.

Lightning held the child in his forehooves. He pumped his wings harder and harder, looking back to see the two guards after him. They were gaining, and fast. "I thought you said I would be faster!" Lightning yelled.
'Why would you take my word for it? I'm a demon, dipshit. Now lose these two. You can kill them, or not, I don't care, but if you don't lose them yourself, I-'
"You'll do it yourself, yeah, fuck you, Veridas!" He made a sharp, angled dip towards the right. He then turned himself over, pointing a hoof at one of the guards who decided to cut downwards. "I'M SORRY!" He closed his eyes, and a bright flash accompanied with a loud bang erupted from his hoof, drawing the attention of all the other ponies in town. They watched the cloaked pony, Lightning, turn just in time to pull up from the ground and make a B line towards the Everfree forest.

Axil saw the pony turn to face his brother and smirked when the pony pointed his hoof at Sar. 'Sar has got this in the bag,' He thought, but he was soon to change his mind. The bright flash and bang disoriented Axil, blinding him and deafening him. He stopped and flew back a bit, massaging his eyes and ears.
When Axil regained focus, he looked back at where the two were, not seeing the cloaked pony or his brother. He looked around in the skies, confused.
"Oh my- He was struck by lightning!" A pony shouted from below.
Axil turned towards the source, his ears perked. He saw a maroon pony pointing at something ahead of her...something black. He looked up in the sky, trying to find a cloud, but failed to do so. 'Lightning? There's no way...' He flew down to the scorched...object...on the ground, only to come to the horrible realization that the charred figure was a pony.
"Sweet Celestia, somepony call a-!"
"Axil?" The pony spoke. Its voice was dry and raspy.
"How do you know who I..." Axil finally got to look at the pony. He recognized the armor, the star on the front of it, and those blood red eyes. "S-Sar...?"
"Yup," He coughed. Sar tried to give a smile, but it hurt too much. "Don't let that bastard get away, Axil...The Everfree...He was headed towards the Everfree," His breaths came short and erratic. "Don't...Let him...Take that filly..."
By this point, Axil was crying. "NO! Sar, please, don't leave me! I forgive you for everything, and I'm sorry for not doing it sooner! Anything I said before, I didn't mean it! Please, Sar, don't give up on me!"
The charred pony before him shook his head. "Let me go, Axil..."
"SAR!" Axil held his scorched brother to him.
"M-Mom?" Sar began. "Mom, I...I missed you...No, Axil isn't coming today...He's busy with something...Something important..." Sar let out a cough and blood splattered against Axil's muzzle.
"Sar! SAR! NO!" He held his brother tighter. "Don't leave, Sar, please, don't! I'm nothing without you!" Tears streamed from his eyes, mixing with with blood and snaking down his neck.
Sar drew in one last breath, looking at Axil. "I love you, Axil. You're a great pony, and a perfect brother. I couldn't ask fo-" Sar's words caught in his throat. He tried to get the last words out, but there was no life left in him. Sar fell limply in Axil's arms.
Axil buried his face in Sar's singed coat. The smell of blood, burnt hair, and death filled his nostrils. "...Sar..." He began to sob. "I'll...I'll kill that bastard..." Axil looked at the Everfree, setting his brother in the grass. "You're a dead pony," He took off towards the Everfree.

Lightning burst through his manor doors and up his stairs. He zipped up them, kicking in his door and throwing the filly on his bed. He shut the door behind him and looked at her. She stared at him, her face wet with tears.
"What are you going to do to me?" She asked, whimpering.
He looked away. Facing her was impossible right now. He didn't have it in his heart to do this.
'LIGHTNING! DO IT!'
Veridas's voice in his head only made the situation worse. "I...I can't, Veridas. I'm not a monster!" He was tearing up and bared his teeth. "I'm not like you!"
There was a moment of silence before the demon inside of him spoke once more. 'Fine then. I guess I'll have to do it myself, which isn't a bad thing...For me anyways. I like to eat others personally, but I understand that you don't. I'm open-minded like that, but I guess I have to go ahead and pull rank here.' Lightning's vision began to blur as he felt the beast within him rise. He tried to suppress it, but quickly he felt his heart slow, the blood it was pumping slowing with it until a cold chill settled upon it, spreading and enveloping it entirely. It began to beat again, slow at first but speeding up as it went, sending the freezing chill into his veins and throughout his body. Dread crept up his spine and to his neck, slowly gnawing its way to his brain. He lost consciousness, the last thing he thought of being the little filly before him.

CRUNCH

Axil flew into the Everfree in pursuit. Branches hit and cut his face, but he wouldn't stop. His heart was burning and his eyes pierced through the forest, scanning for the kidnapper and killer. Soon, he broke through the trees into a large clearing. Before him was a magnificent house. Standing at least four stories from the ground, protected by a large, black iron fence, it cast a shadow on Axil. It was silhouetted against the sun, and seemed to glare down at him, judging him.
Axil looked at the manor with a hateful gaze and flew up and over the fence. "You better be ready you son of a-" The door burst open and Axil halted. He stared at it intently. "GET OUT HERE YOU BASTARD!"
There was no response.
"Can't you hear me you son of a bitch?! You killed my brother and took that little filly, and I swear if you don't bring her out this instant I'll show you no mercy! Not even Celestia could pry you from my hooves! Ya hear me?!"
Again, there was silence.
Axil snarled and flew down to the entrance, making sure not to take his eyes off of the open door. He shouted, "Hey, are you even there?!" He didn't see anyone, but surely the door couldn't have swung open by itself.
He trotted up to the door. His heart was pounding in his chest. As he stuck his head into the manor, his ears were met with a faint hum. Inside was filled with black. All around him were walls of of nothingness, sending him into an unnatural sense of claustrophobia. "Hello?" His voice was weaker than it was moments before. For some reason, a sense of unease poured into his heart when he didn't receive an answer. "I...I don't think he's here." He spoke to himself. As he was backing out of the manor, his bones froze as an disembodied voice echoed in his mind.
"You're not leaving, are you?..."
He jumped out of the manor and looking into the darkness. His heart was beating into his ribcage. "H-Hey! State your name!"
"My name? No one has asked my name in...Well, in centuries. You sure you want to know my name?"
"Centuries?" Axil whispered to himself. He took a breath and responded to the voice. "Yes! Now state your name!"
"Very well then. My name is Veridas, demonic spawn from the lovely place, Tartarus."
"T-Tartarus?!" Axil felt weak.
"Yes, Tartarus. Have you ever been there? It's really not that ba-"
"Enough!" Axil bellowed. His legs shook beneath him. "Are you the monster who killed my brother?! Who took that filly?!"
There was an eerie silence as Axil waited his response, but it was broken as Veridas spoke again.
"Now, why should I answer you when you oh so rudely in-"
"TELL ME NOW!"
"-terupted me..." Veridas huffed. "I'm growing tired of this, mortal."
"Will you just answer me?!" Axil's voice was strengthening. Thinking back on the events that took place in town really pissed him off, and that anger had begun to give him power. "I'm growing tired of this! I am a soldier of Celestia's Royal Guard, and I demand an answer!"
"You demand an answer? How cute. Listen here, worm, I will kill you and if you don't leave here at once, I'll fry you up just like your brother and swallow you whole. Do you understand me?! A red pair of eyes floated amidst the darkness within the house, glaring at Axil.
Axil's muscles tensed. "You...You are the one..." He met the gaze he was given. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Veridas chuckled. "Oh, you are more than welcome to try."
Axil exploded from the ground and shot towards the doorway. His wings pumped vigorously, his hooves pointed out. As he raced towards the doorway, something black reached out and grabbed him by the waist and pulled him inside. Axil squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact; however, he met none. Surprised, he opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of the blackness; the only light shining into the room being from out the doorway.
"Here, let me make this fair as possible." The door slammed shut and immediately candles started to light the room. One by one, the candles revealed the fine interior of the manor. The walls were adorned with various typed of landscape paintings and portraits of ponies Axil didn't recognize. The walls were painted a royal crimson while the bottoms of them, just above the white baseboards, were gold painted floral decorations running along the entirety of each wall. Axil would have complimented the owner, had the owner not killed his brother and kidnapped a poor filly.
"Welcome, Axil, to our domain," said a voice behind Axil.
Axil whipped around, throwing himself onto his hooves, his armor shining dimly in the candlelight. He looked for the source of the voice, but there was no sign of life from what he could tell.
"Look up, main course."
Axil snarled and snapped his head upwards to see a large and extravagant chandelier dangling from above. Perched on top of it was a black pegasus with fire red eyes. Jet black smoke constantly emanated along back of his neck and flank in substitution for a mane and tail. It reminded him of Princess Celestia's and Princess Luna's mane and tail, though their manes seemed tangible to degree; this pony's did not.
Caught up in his rage, he quickly assumed he was Veridas and barked up at him. "Get down here you coward!"
A deep chuckle resonated through the manor, seemingly in Axil's mind, as the dark figure vanished in a cloud of smoke, only to reappear in front of Axil.
The sudden manifestation shocked Axil and sent him jumping back.
"So, Axil, you've come to avenge your brother, yes?" His voice was dark, cold, and ghostly.
Axil tried not to show the shock on his face. How did he know his name? How did he teleport? What exactly was he? Trying not to show any sort of shock, he shot a vengeful glare. "How do you know my name?"
"Does it matter? You're going to die. Why waste energy asking questions, when you should be worrying about this:"
The statement caught Axil off guard. "Wait, wh-" A black tendril shot from Veridas's back and seized Axil's neck, slamming and pinning him against the wall. Axil thrashed about, kicking frantically at the ebonic snake now tightening its grip.
"You truly don't know what you're up against, do you?" Veridas asked rhetorically. Of course he didn't know, they never knew. But they would soon enough.
Axil's face burned and his vision faded. He was losing the energy to fight, his frantic kicking turning into petty and anemic waves of resistance as a result. He heard what Veridas said, though only barely; his voice, as distinct as it had been before, was nothing more than a muffled utterance.
Suddenly the grip on Axil's neck was mercifully released, allowing a surge of blood to reach his brain once more. Axil's breathing was erratic and desperate. Another tendril quickly snaked up and grabbed his chin, jerking it up to meet Veridas's gaze.
"You will do my bidding, mortal. You will spread tale of my power, my absolute power. You will tell them nothing but that I am unstoppable, because I am. You will tell them I am not something to be trifled with, because I'm not. You will spread word that no matter how fast they run, or how clever they hide, they will never escape my grasp," Veridas leaned in closer to Axil's ear, who was trembling at this point. "You will fear my omnipotent power, my endless rage, and every last bit of the neverending torment I plan to unleash upon your pathetic world," he chuckled manically. His lips curled into a sadistic grin. "You'll know me as your god. You will watch the princesses both fall under the weight of my diabolical rule. You, and every last pony will suffer at my hooves. The filly and your brother are the least of your problems. I am close to my full potential-" Veridas's voice layered itself with his own and another deeper and much more demonic vocal "- I am at the cusp of my capabilities! Nothing will be able to stop me, the EYE OF MAGNUS, AND THE UNIVERSE, ARE ALL UNDER MY. CONTROL!" Veridas bellowed, grabbing the quivering Axil by the neck and throwing him out the door and into the courtyard.
Axil gasped and sputtered for air, coughing violently as he tried to get back to his hooves. When he finally managed, his legs were shaking underneath him, threatening to buckle entirely. He breathed deeply and whipped his head back toward the manor. The door was shut, but even so, Axil swore he could hear Veridas chuckling in the back of his consciousness, as if he was watching Axil via Axil's own eyes. The thought was terrifying, and with great haste Axil fled the scene.

He had to tell everypony about what was happening, whether it be for his sake or theirs.