I am The Center.
I had watched them, I had listened to them, and I never had to leave my station as The Center of my kingdom, My world. They numbered seven, six knights from some land outside my world on a crusade, and a wizard from even further.
At first it seemed that the one called Pendragon their leader, he was charismatic and had a commanding presence. He had a good grasp on tactics and the art of combat, and while he held sway and was doubtless the leader of the knights, it was the frail old wizard who maneuvered him.
He claimed the name Whirlin Star, guide and mentor to Pendragon. With promises of glory he had led them to my kingdom. I have held dominion of these lands for centuries, and these are not the first to come here looking for such, nor the last.
Once I was mortal, though I’ve since forgotten what exactly I was. Now I sit upon my ‘Throne’, a Font of pure magic where the Ley Lines, there very arteries of the world, converge and erupt continuously, filling the land with its divine essence. Not before it flows through me however. Now my Darkness permeates this land, my mischief can be found in the vegetation, my hate and rage twist the animals into monsters, and my cruelty has shaped the sentients that have stayed inside my borders beyond recognition of what they once were.
It is beautiful.
These knights, they have come here and wrought their ‘righteous’ destruction, defeating, destroying, breaking and outright killing my possessions and most beloved abominations. It truly is humorous. All the justice, virtue, and ethics that they spout on about, all of it a comforting lie that they have swaddled themselves in to ignore the truth.They call themselves good ponies, but I know, I have heard the whispers of truth in the pits of their hearts.
The sadist who tortured helpless animals.
The mighty knight who brings misery upon his home.
The colt who lied and let her die.
The thief who has taken from so many.
The ‘friend’ who seduces the wife of another.
The illegitimate weakling who deludes himself into thinking himself noble and superior.
I have seen who they are in the dark, and I laugh and laugh.
Then there is him. The wizard who guides them, who leads them to me The Center.
In all my centuries, I have yet to see anything like him. Unremarkable in build, an impressive age for a mortal, he is more experienced and powerful in magic than most perhaps, but he is so very different in a much more profound way. His companions are typical of all the filth that scrap about outside my territory, for even outside my influence the nature of the world has left them harsh and uncaring. They reek of delicious hypocrisy.
This wizard though… He has seen much. Even for his age, his steps are unusually weighty with his experiences, his hooves coated in the dirt and dust of places impossibly distant, impossibly different. His heart, while heavy, is pure and shines with hope. There is True Virtue in this stallion, and it disgusts me.
This thing is anathema to me in ways I did not think possible! It has existed inside my border for much too long, and now I practically quiver with anticipation as he descends to my chamber. I cannot wait any longer to destroy this blight. I have watched him, I have listened to everything, and I have peered into that painfully bright and warm place that is his deepest pit. The greatest darkness I have found has only been faint regret! The shadow I sent to cling to him and whisper into his soul shriveled and died on the measly bits it scavenged off of him.
Now he comes, leading his knights to me, making them into better ponies by his very presence! I will suffer him no longer, and I will take his comrades and twist them into masterpieces of my design.
They enter my chamber, the knights huddled behind this ‘Whirlin’, they have already been told.
Do not interfere. This is our fight.
My form has changed over my reign considerably: tentacles, seven wings of various shapes and sizes, scales, fur, exposed muscles and bone, a couple mouths, and teeth all over. All in all it is my favorite form so far, but for this; I think something more compact would be fitting.
I contract my being to as small a point as I am willing, I believe I will start with a pony. Five limbs extend from my core to become my ‘legs’ and ‘head’, now let’s make something special. Five horns erupt from my ‘skull’; two swept forward, two back, and one in the traditional position, all of them lethally sharp blades. No ears but I spawn a multitude of eyes around my ‘head’. The skin at the forefront of my ‘face’ tears into a many fanged maw. My neck I keep long, at least three times as long as a pony would have. For wings I cause four boney protrusions to come out of my ‘back’, a fleshy membrane extending out of the bones of each wing. I decide to add a tail as well, so I produce a tentacle tipped with many spines. The legs could do with some work too; five joints should do. Clawed paws instead of hooves finish my adjustments.
It is more symmetrical than I usually care to be, but I believe I have become recognizable in shape enough while being monstrous to instill grand nightmares in the most hardened of beings. The knights plainly cower now, but ‘Whirlin’ has not changed his look of grim determination at all.
I will change that. He has come to my place of absolute power; my ‘throne room’, the center of my kingdom, and I AM THE CENTER!!
We charged each other at the same moment. Rapidly approaching, Whirlins horn began to glow and in a flash he was gone. Teleportation, difficult but a classic, he will appear behind me to capitalize on it.
Only he didn’t, he reappeared right in front of me. A mighty blast from his horn left me embedded in the wall of my chamber.
Tricky, loathe as I am to have him in my presence, I can still appreciate a cunning foe, but what was that magic?! In all the that I can recall I’ve never felt magic like that. It had the same taste as that light inside him, that.. that harmonious and hopeful feeling that burns so much.
Well, I can be tricky too. I dissolve into smoke and close the distance again. Once more he charges me, the fool. I descend upon him, he pivots and bucks up at me. I am once more surprised to find that it connects! His hooves reek of magic, pegasi magic!
I recollect myself and decide that perhaps some range would be prudent. I summon forth my power and cause spears of crystal to erupt under the wizard. He leapt to the side in time to avoid being skewered but his robes were shredded, revealing a youthful body beneath. Age magic! Fascinating really, and truly telling of this ponys true power.
I shot spears of crimson crystal from all corners of the chamber at my opponent, only to have them shatter before a shield he conjured up. Shields have their own limits however and so I responded by throwing a massive boulder I ripped from the ground.
His shield would have to shatter under that, but I was not going to leave it to chance. I powered my horns, ready to deal a final blow, when he came phasing through the rock and launched one of my own crystal spears into my head.
Now being the almighty being I was, the removal of half my ‘skull’ was not as fatal as others might find it to be. I was not however pleased with how this was going. As far from winning as he might be, he was still testing me in front of my soon to be subjects in a manner I found unacceptable.
I ripped gravity apart. Boulders, rocks, and crystals floated into the air as gravity reversed itself in places, and doubled in others. I did not expect to see him treat this as just some game.
Just like training with Twi.
That.. That was his thoughts. Hehehahaha! He may sling his spells all day, but as this battle goes on I can feel his mind! A little longer and I can crush his mind. I may have him yet.
He comes at me, I ready my wings to strike. Then my vision is filled with hair as dozens of moustaches cover my ‘head’.
Good old number twenty five. I hear him think as he connects with my body. I take the opening and delve deep, searching him to find a weakness to exploit.
He readies himself to deliver another blow, “Star! Please stop!” Only to stop as I wear the face of somepony named Twilight. The look on his face, ohhhh so wonderful. The confusion and surprise for that split second that dominates him, only to be replaced with such pure rage. Delicious.
I grasp him with my claws in his moment of hesitation and bite deep into his shoulder, only missing his neck because of a quick maneuver on his part.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic!
He chants this mantra quickly in his mind, regains his focus, and teleports away from me before I can bite down again.
In the course of our brutal exchange, my Gravity Sunder came undone, and now debris is scattered about my chamber, giving the wizard many places to hide. But not for long. As tricky as he is, he is now bleeding and I have many senses to track him down with.
Now is the time for me to attack in a way that he can’t dodge.
Hello wizard. Hehehe yes it’s me, I know you can hear this; we’ve been getting to know one another quite well through our battle wouldn’t you say? Is it so surprising that you might begin to think like me?
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
Is that a prayer of yours or something? Ohhh who are these ponies you think of when you chant that? Are those their names? No no, sorry I recognize that last one, I did wear her face.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
Is that all you can think? Where did all that beautiful rage go?
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
Hehehe it really is funny that you hold those virtues in such high regard, considering your companions. Each one a walking contradiction to a virtue you hold dear.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
They’ll learn.
Coming from you that hope is rather hilarious. What would they all think of you if they knew how you’ve sinned against those very ideals yourself?
You lie every time you answer to Whirlin; don’t you Star Swirl?
You have caused the suffering of others by refusing to help with all you many powers.
You have used these fools to do your dirty work ‘cleansing’ this land.
You promise them glory and have now led them to their dooms, knowing their fate well.
You intend to collect all the true gains from this venture, what exactly I have yet to learn.
How very Friendly of you.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
Yes, keep chanting. I’m sure it will protect you from me.
I find a drop of blood, his trail. A tongue snakes from my mouth to lap at the drop. Ahhh, ambrosia.
I follow the increasing trail, taunting all the while.
You’re not a good pony you know. Good ponies don’t do what you have done, and I don’t just mean what I pointed out earlier. You have hurt so many ponies, and what is even better? You have loved them all so much. The pain you’ve caused, it must be like such a poison in their veins, to know that they were used and abandoned by you.
No, little Star Swirl. You are not a good pony.
I found him. leaning against a boulder he tried to catch his wind; his age spell having failed him. My many jointed limbs wrapped him in a crushing embrace. He screamed in pain, only to burst into a rainbow of lights, burning all of my flesh that it shone on.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
Do you give up?
I shudder, I feel him. Grabbing hold of a massive boulder, I hurl it out of my way. Only to be greeted by the sight of him, sitting upon my throne. He sits there upon my Font, My Center!
Such primal rage surges through me that it takes me a moment to realize that I have in fact impaled him on my tail instinctively.
All the stupid pony can do is stare at the spike protruding from his chest. There is blood, it’s not a clone. I win.
Then he looks up and smiles.
That will do nicely.
He grasps hold of my tail with both hooves; I cannot move.
He smiles. Why is he smiling? I should be smiling.
His horn lights up, and I feel him take My Center.
The Font flares in response to his magic, and so does the magic that makes up my being.
One last spell; Transformation.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
I feel my body rip apart, the magic sucked into the singularity that He has become. All of it pours into Him becoming pure unaltered magic once more. My Darkness fading into the shadows, and I fade as well.
I know that I will not be destroyed however, I am Darkness, I may fade, I may be divided, but I will NOT disappear! I will return in many forms and I will take back My Center! Enjoy your victory, but I will be waiting in The Periphery.
I saw Him take his form: A Tree of crystal, and heard his final thoughts.
You won’t win. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
*****
The knights who traveled to the Tainted Lands with Whirlin the wizard stood outside of the entrance to his final resting place. For surely the great magician was dead, right? They had all followed him because they thought he promised riches and glory, now they understood his cryptic oath; he made them better ponies.
They had watched the duel between him and that Abomination, and while they could not understand it completely, they knew that he had been more than all of them put together.
Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic.
Whirlin would constantly be spouting that; now it felt as if all his lectures on those virtues had been chiseled into their minds even firmer than before.
They would return to their homelands, and all their lives they led better, trying to emulate the great pony that they had known. In time, their contributions would cause things to change, and eventually things would be ready.
The tribes would unite in a land bountiful and peaceful, purged of the Darkness that once filled it.