Chapter 5: Whispers in the dark
The silence of the dark jungle was violently shattered by an ear piercing scream. Exotic birds and insects recoiled into their tree house homes in fear of the echoing wail, rustling sounds emanated from within the jungle’s dark center.
“GET ME THE BUCK OUT OF THIS PLACE!”
Crowe ran as fast as he could through the confines of the seemingly endless jungle, he could feel his heart race as his hooves rapidly clopped into a full sprint. Dozens of angry eyes followed Crowe like locusts; their voices howling after the fleeing Earth pony. Crowe had a brown satchel secured around his left shoulder, the satchel’s contents jingled like wind chimes. No doubt the contents of that satchel were what brought such an angry horde of zebras and ponies onto Crowe’s trail.
“Master and I seriously have to have a talk when I get back. Why I do have to be the ONLY one who picks these magical items up?” Crowe looked behind and screamed. “That’s assuming if I make it back alive!”
The tribal zebras and ponies hurled multiple spears, hatchets and blades in Crowe’s direction, the colt saw nothing but a sea of razor sharp steel showering all around him. One male zebra hurled a spear that sliced right into Crowe’s green cap. The yellow colt squeaked like a frightened filly, he clutched his head to make sure the spear had only sliced into his cap; not his head. Another blade was sent whirling in Crowe’s direction; striking him in his hind leg. He let loose another scream as he felt the blood dripping from his wounded leg. Crowe turned to look at his wound for a moment, but in doing so; failed to notice the rock he was about to trip over.
“This is SO going to hurt.”
Crowe plummeted down a hill; his body smashing and sticking to every rock and branch he crashed into. He saw nothing but blinding blurs of the sky and earth violently mixed together in a whirring spin. Crowe violently crashed at the bottom of the hill; weakly groaning and slowly opening his eyes. The pony’s yellow coat was covered with thick mud splatters and various leaves sticking to him like glue. He winced and looked at his wounded leg; the blade had fallen out and had left a large gash in its place. The sound of the angry tribal ponies and zebras approaching quickly jarred Crowe’s attention back on track. Crowe looked forward and saw the maroon colored hot air balloon he arrived in, the blue Pegasus pilot was waiting for him to return.
I may not be dead just yet. I’ll have to make a run for it but…ugh…with my leg the way it is, I don’t know if I’ll make it. Crowe listened to the angry cries of the tribal ponies and zebras coming for him; he can only imagine what they would do to him. Then he imagined what his master would do to him if he learned of his failure. Gulp! On second thought, I better risk it. Getting killed by these guys would be a blessing compared to what HE would do if I came back empty hoofed.
The yellow colt forced his crippled leg to work and ran as fast as he could towards the hot air balloon. He could feel the ground quake under the force of the stampeding tribe approaching; Crowe’s hooves clutched the brown satchel tightly against his chest. Crowe felt his heart pound with terror; he closed his eyes and leapt into the balloon with every last bit of strength he had. The instant Crowe landed inside the balloon, the pilot yanked the gas chain and set the balloon soaring into the skies. The tribal ponies and zebras arrived just in time to see the balloon floating out of sight, yet still they screamed and flung their weapons into the sky. The yellow colt watched the tribal ponies and zebras as long as possible until they vanished from sight. Crowe sighed and collapsed, wheezing from exhaustion.
“Sweet Celestia, that was WAY too close,” Crowe looked at his wounded leg and sighed. He tore off a piece of the satchel with his teeth and used it as a bandage. “I need a new job.”
“I’ll say; I just hope whatever you got was worth getting your flank skewered over.”
Before Crowe could reply to the dark haired Pegasus, the pilot noticed something green and shiny inside the torn satchel. Inside was a collection of odd looking bones; reptilian like bones that glowed brightly. The bones appeared to be made out of jade or some kind of jade crystal like substance. The pilot had never seen anything like this before; Crowe quickly covered the bones back up and hid them behind his back.
“Wait a minute, are you telling me THAT is what you came all the way to the Rainfoal forest to get?” The pilot scratched his spiky hair in confusion. “What’s so important about a bunch of moldy old bones? They look useless.”
“These bones may be old but they are FAR from moldy or useless. You see, these bones and my boss are exactly alike: they’re ancient, mysterious and very deadly.” Crowe grunted as he tried to pull the spear out of his hat. “And if I don’t come back with all these spooky nick-knacks he’s collecting, I’m going to be the one who ends up as moldy bones in a bag.”
“Man, you’re boss sounds like one real nasty piece of work. How’d you ever get roped into working for this slave driver?”
Crowe sighed and rubbed his head. “You know it’s crazy, it’s been 2 years now and after all this time I STILL don’t know how I ended up here. I was minding my own business, traveling around Equestria with my travel bag when he first approached me. I had never seen him before in my life, but he claimed that…he knew me.”
“Knew you? Like he met you before or something?”
“No, no, he said he sensed something in me that was…familiar; like there was something inside me he recognized.” Crowe shook his head, “I didn’t know what he was talking about and I wanted nothing to do with him. But he said that if I didn’t help him do…whatever it is he’s doing, he would kill me.”
The pilot gulped loudly.
“Not like I could do much: if I called for help he’d kill me and probably whoever came to help, and he’s a unicorn and I’m just an Earth pony so there’s no way I could defeat him. Two years later: I’m traveling around Equestria just like I always wanted…it’s just now I have to bag mystical pony artifacts for a megalomaniac or he’ll gut me like a fish.”
An uneasy silence settled between the two colts, both staring at each other without a clue as to what to say next.
The pilot broke the eerie silence with a small chuckle. “Boy you weren’t kidding; you really DO need a new job.”
The balloon touched down, Crowe hopped out and tossed a few bits to the pilot. The yellow colt made his way towards a dark, secluded cave. The cave’s entrance had jagged spikes that were curved like dragon fangs; Crowe always felt like he was entering the maw of a savage monster every time he stepped inside this place of darkness and dread. The sound of a demonic roar froze Crowe in his tracks, his legs wobbled like jello and his teeth chattered.
“Who dares to enter this place? Be warned that any pony foolish enough to enter here will die at the claws of me and my sisters!”
“It’s m-m-m-m-me, C-c-c-c-crowe. Don’t you r-r-r-r-remember? Our master s-s-s-s-sent me out on a mission f-f-f-for the c-c-c-cause?”
No response came from the beast inside the cave, Crowe didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one. The yellow colt was too paralyzed by fear to do anything other than stand there clutching his stolen prize. Out of the cave emerged a twisted, Chimera monster comprised of 3 different animals. Crowe bowed down frightfully in front of the monster. The creature had the front half of a tiger, a golden eyed ram on the left shoulder, goat legs in the back and a long, green snake for a tail. Crowe’s blue eyes mirrored the sight of the monster’s gleaming, sabretooth like fangs. The Chimera looked down upon Crowe as if he were a lowly insect.
The tiger head snorted angrily, “You’re LATE; the master has been waiting on you for hours. What took you so long?”
“There was some ‘complications’ in retrieving the item.”
“Never mind thaaaaaaat, did you aaaacquire the item like the maaaaaster aaaaaasked?”
Crowe didn’t bother answering the goat head; he showed her the bag containing the bones instead. The 3 animal heads examined the bag and turned around, heading back into the cave. The snake tail looked back at Crowe and hissed.
“Hurry up and get your ssssssssorry flank moving; the masssssster doesssss not like to be kept waiting you know.”
The pony groaned and collapsed on the ground, “Yeah my leg’s killing me…thanks for asking.”
Crowe eventually followed the Chimera into the cave. The deeper he went into the cave; the faster the dark consumed the light until there was nothing but darkness. The only light inside the cave came from the torches along the walls. The yellow colt noticed several new shadows surrounding his master at the center of the lair; he could tell Chimera Khan had taken control of some new monsters since he left to collect the bones. Khan turned his attention towards Crowe and the 3 headed Chimera as soon as they entered. The monsters controlled by Khan’s magic followed their masked master; they consisted of a Manticore, a Timber wolf, the Cockatrice, two Phoenix’s, countless Star Spiders and of course; the Chimera.
“Master, the lowly Earth pony has returned and he’s brought you the item you requested…finally.”
Crowe sneered at the tiger head’s snide remark but quickly subsided once Khan approached him.
“H-h-h-here you are Master K-k-k-khan, just as you requested.” He opened up the satchel and revealed the glowing jade bones to Khan. “The ancient crystal jade bones of the legendary Siren Queen, the only known evidence of the Siren’s existence since the rest were banished into another world. Legend has it the bones still possess the manipulative magic that came from the Sirens voices. The tribal ponies and zebras I stole them from were worshipping them like gods; it wasn’t easy getting them here but I-”
“Enough prattling you worthless; weak little worm. Hurry up and give the bones to the witch so we can start the ceremony, I have no time to waste listening to your concerns.”
The yellow colt nodded and quickly headed to a room housing a large, black, bubbling cauldron. Crowe dropped the bag of bones by the cauldron and stepped to the side. Khan entered the room and stared at the mare stirring the pot.
“Bubbling Cauldron, I have a new magical item for you to attach to my armor. It’s time for your grafting spell.”
Standing at the pot with a large stirring stick was a light green unicorn with a ghostly white mane. She wore a witch’s hat that had multiple cobweb designs over it; the tip of the hat was bent and turned downwards. Her cutie mark resembled a full black cauldron with bubbles coming out of it. The dark brown eyes of the unicorn stared intensely into the brew; giving no response she heard Chimera Khan whatsoever.
Crowe bit his lip and growled impatiently. “Will you just answer him already? The master asked you a question, we don’t have time for your stupid ass theatrics Bubbling Cauldron.”
Cauldron gasped. “Lies, blasphemy, how dare you trivialize my supreme awesomeness with such poisonous words!”
“Oh good lord, not this again.”
“Yes, those whose mock the supreme power of the dark arts that dwells within this pot will suffer the wrath of the omnipotent power that I possess.” Cauldron looked into the pot and grinned. “Only someone of my immaculate genius and unrivaled gorgeousness could forge mystical pony artifacts into one, super indestructible suit of armor.”
The yellow colt slapped his face in annoyance.
“Bubbling Cauldron” Khan said with much annoyance, “Do you think we could move this along?”
“Beneath this churning liquid lie the secrets of the cosmos, unlimited magic and knowledge of ancient forces that only I…and my uncle Blurp, know about.”
“Bubbling Cauldron…”
Cauldron dropped two purple and silver colored stones into the liquid. “I’ve gathered all of the rare and special ingredients for the brew: dragon scales, phoenix tears, tatzlwurm venom, the hair from a sea serpent and lots of random things I picked up off the road.”
“Bubbling…”
“Soon all 4 princesses will be powerless against my magical abilities, and will have no choice but to admit that I am totally much prettier than every mare in Equestria. I’ll get to have any stallion I want as my boyfriend and then totally shove it in my cousin’s face. Every night will feature a mandatory theater piece starring, written, produced, and choreographed by me. I will have everything I want, be anything I want, I shall become GALACTIC PRESIDENT SUPERSTAR MCAWESOMEVILLE BWAHAHAHAHA!”
“BUBBLING CAULDRON,” Khan violently screamed.
The unicorn immediately ceased her cackling. “My deepest apologies master,” Cauldron laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. “I got a little carried away.”
Crowe rolled his eyes, “What else is new…fruitcake.”
Cauldron heard Crowe’s comment and used her magic to fling a glob of her brew at the Earth pony’s face. The yellow colt squealed in pain and ran around screaming frantically, Bubbling Cauldron and the Chimera both roared with laughter.
“Ah it burns! Get it off, get it off, get it off; get it off!”
“HA, that will teach you to mock the future Galactic President Superstar McAwesomeville.”
Khan’s anger levels rose exponentially. The screaming and laughing from his minions drilled into his sanity like jagged knives; hacking, chipping away at what little patience the masked pony retained. His eyes unleashed a powerful, surge of orange colored energy that slammed all of his minions against the walls.
“ENOUGH…one more word from any one of you fools and I will personally see to it that each and every last one of you will be gutted, stuffed and mounted on the wall. Is that CLEAR?”
Crowe nodded nervously, “Of course master, please forgive me, it was just Bubbling Cauldron. If she hadn’t thrown that glob of brew at my face, none of this would have happened.”
The chimera pinned Crowe against the wall with her tiger claws. The tiger head hovered her sabretooth fangs inches away from Crowe’s throat. The pony squeaked helplessly against the monster’s might, he could feel his chest being crushed by the weight of the tiger’s claw.
“The master said shut your trap already; don’t you know how to take a hint?” The tiger claw pressed against Crowe’s chest even harder. “Any more flak from you and I’ll be picking my teeth with your bones!”
Crowe squealed frantically “I got it, I got it, uncle, uncle!” The Chimera released Crowe and turned her back to the Earth pony. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. My lungs feel like they were crushed by a boulder and my leg is still killing me but yeah…I’m just…peachy.”
Khan and Bubbling Cauldron returned their attention towards the task at hand. The bag of bones was magically lifted off the ground and deposited into the orange bubbling brew; Cauldron stirred the brew and routinely fired magical blasts from her horn into it.
“Demons and spirits from ages past,
Grant me the power for this spell to cast.
Let nature itself become my slave,
Spread forth the darkness from this cave.
Let the past and present become one,
Greater than the falling moon and the rising sun.
Bring forth the magic and monsters that I have decreed,
Mold him into the supreme god that fate has foreseen!”
The jade bones emerged from the brew and instantly flew towards Khan’s armored body; as if they were being magnetized. A blinding white light engulfed the cave and temporarily blinded every pony. The light eventually faded and revealed the jade bones had merged perfectly with the metal structure in Khan’s armor; as if they had been there when the metal was first forged. Bubbling Cauldron and the enslaved creatures bowed down before their master. Khan cackled wickedly at the feeling of the raw, magical power surging inside him. He felt as if a thousand supernovas had exploded inside his very being; giving him even stronger magic to control even stronger creatures. The armored pony watched lighting spark from his metallic hooves.
“Yes, yes, YES! I feel my power increasing exponentially, even stronger than I could have imagined. But it’s not enough,” he sighed and stomped his hooves. “It’s STILL not enough…I need more….more magic. If I am to see my plans fully realized then I must become so powerful that not even the combined might of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be enough to stop me, and the only way to do that is to acquire more magical artifacts.”
Khan turned his attention back to Crowe. The Earth pony was slowly bandaging his leg, he wasn’t even aware his master was already planning on sending him out on another mission.
“As soon as your wound is properly taken care of, you are to immediately depart for the Everfree forest. I require something from the ruins of the Castle of Two Sisters.”
“Awe do I REALLY have to? Why can’t that fruitcake witch get it, it’s not like she does much around here other than attaching stuff to your armor.”
ZAP!
Khan blasted Crowe with an orange lightning beam from his eyes; the Earth pony was burnt to a blackened crisp. Cauldron and the Chimera chuckled quietly in the back.
“Do not forget your place Earth pony or else I will be forced to remind you just how low on the totem pole you truly are.”
Crowe coughed out a puff of black smoke, he weakly nodded in reply.
“Now…as I was SAYING…you are to go to the Castle of the Two Sisters and locate the machine that originally housed the elements of harmony. Then, you are to dismantle the machine and bring as much of it as you can back with you. The machine’s super structure could prove useful in enhancing my ability to stabilize and control multiple magical items at once. If it could safely contain the elements of harmony, one of the most powerful magical forces in Equestria; then it should make a perfect addition to my collection.”
“Um b-b-b-begging your pardon master but how am I supposed to bring all that back without any help? With my leg in this condition, I won’t make it through the Everefree forest in one piece; much less carry back a machine that heavy. Plus I heard that Princess Twilight and the element wielders used to hang out at that castle, what if they come back?”
Crowe covered his head with his trembling hooves; fearing what punishment Khan would strike him with next. Khan was growing increasingly irritated as he listened to Crowe’s excuses, he felt tempted to barbecue the yellow colt until he was nothing but a pile of ashes. The armored pony grunted and turned his back to his lowly servant.
“Your excuses are just as worthless as your information is. The only reason Princess Twilight and her pitiful friends visited the castle was to find information regarding the Rainbow chest, they no longer have any reason to return there. There was a squatter who used to live there but I heard he has long since fled.”
“And in regards to my…um…request for help?”
“Very well…I will send the Manticore to accompany you. However, this means you have NO reason why you can’t bring back the entire machine.”
“Oh thank you so much my master. You’re the greatest, the cream of the crop, the most generous and forgiving-”
“Just leave already before I change my mind!”
The yellow colt nodded and quickly exited the cave; the Manticore followed shortly. Khan sighed deeply with relief now that he no longer had to listen to his lackey’s whining. At times Khan forgot what it was he saw in Crowe in the first place. Something about the colt still bothered Khan however, something he could not put his hoof on or explain; but he still sensed it was very important to keep Crowe close to him. The only thing that mattered now was getting as much power as quickly as possible.
“Pardon me interrupting your thoughts master, but I was wondering if you would be so generous as to let me know what your plans are regarding Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before they find out what we’re doing.”
Khan looked at Cauldron with a blank, uninterested stare. The armored pony began to exit the lair without facing Cauldron.
“They won’t…trust me.”
“But how can you be so sure? Even with all my supremely awesome bad-ass protection spells keeping the Princesses off our radar, I can’t keep it up forever.”
The armored villain stopped and turned his head towards Cauldron.
“I’m sure because of two reasons: Number 1 is because Princess Celestia thinks I’m dead. No pony would ever suspect a corpse of being up to no good.” Khan reached up and pointed to his black unicorn horn, “Reason number 2 is right here attached to my forehead. King Sombra’s horn does more than just boost my power and mental influence; it also makes it impossible for Celestia to sense where I am or receive any premonitions on what my next move will be. Plus it keeps all of our dreams closed off to Princess Luna. So don’t worry my dear, no soul in Equestria will have a clue what’s going on until it is far too late to do anything about it.”
Cauldron smiled and clapped her hooves together. “Masterful stroke boss, your genius truly is an inspiration to us all.”
“Just make sure your magic continues to supply me with more artifacts to add to my armored arsenal. Because if you fail to deliver what you promised witch,” Khan leaned in and stared directly into Cauldron’s eyes. “You will not live long enough to regret it.”
The unicorn gulped and laughed nervously, “G-g-g-g-gotcha boss.”
Night had fallen on Ponyville; bathing the small town in a beautiful mix of darkness and light from the stars and moon. The peaceful serenity of this quiet night served as the perfect cover for a particularly sneaky unicorn. Moonstruck routinely looked left and right before making his next move; his hooves kept his cloak tightly secure around his face.
“Why do I have to be THIS crazy? If Twilight or any other pony sees me, I am dead in the water; I shouldn’t be out here at all.” The purple unicorn sighed and adjusted his spiky hair. “Still, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to make sure her magic is getting stronger. I do need her to be as strong as possible in order to break this hex on me. Yeah, that’s why I am going to see her…that’s it…no other reason.”
Moonstruck approached the Golden Oak library from the side. He attempted to peer into the windows; keeping his head down to make sure Twilight or Spike didn’t see him sneaking a peek. The purple unicorn heard two voices coming from inside.
“Good, both of them are home.”
Moonstruck leaned in close to hear what they were saying.
“Make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight Spike. We’ve got a lot of re-organizing to do tomorrow and were gonna start bright and early.”
“Awe come on Twilight; this is like the 3rd time this week we’ve re-organized your books.”
“I know but this re-organizing is extremely critical. I have to make sure my transmogrification spell books are organized numerically instead of alphabetically; otherwise I might confuse them with the counter spell study guides and if that happens, I’ll never be able to find anything.”
“Ugh you’ve GOT to be kidding me. I was hoping to go see Rarity and ask her what she thought of that special pastry I made for her, I never got a chance to see what she thought of it.”
“I know…because I’m the one who gave it to her after you ran out and refused to tell me where you went or what you did, remember?”
“Oh yeah…heh…it was nothing important, really.”
“Well this IS important and we can’t waste time while you try to indulge your little crush.”
“It’s not some little crush; I told you my feelings for Rarity are 100% for real. Twilight, I think I’m in lo-”
“I’m not going to discuss this with you again Spike, you’ve got chores tomorrow and that’s that. I’m putting my hoof down.”
Spike growled and stormed upstairs with a huff in his voice. Moonstruck winced at the sound of a door being slammed; he pulled his head back and rubbed his ear. He could hear the sound of paper flapping and the faint hum of a levitation spell. Moonstruck carefully peeked through the window, his eyes widening in awe at what he saw. Twilight was flipping through numerous books all at the same time, reading, writing and memorizing with effortless ease.
Moonstruck smiled “This is truly impressive, she’s multitasking through advanced magic books like it’s nothing. She’s reading about counter spells, transmogrifications, matter reformation, even negative energy compression and destabilization. Princess Celestia couldn’t have picked a better student.”
Twilight’s dark tail twitched as she passed from one book to the neck, her luminous purple eyes diligently fixated on her studies. Moonstruck let his chrome colored eyes slowly wander over Twilight, admiring her small but beautifully shaped body. He noticed her cute upturned nose, her shimmering hair, her sweet little smile….and also her perky looking rump.
That is really messed up you know, staring at Princess Twilight’s ass.
Moonstruck gasped out loud; his cheeks burning bright red with blushes. He can’t believe he was just staring at Twilight’s flank like that.
You act like you’ve never seen an ass before you perv.
“Will you SHUT IT, of course I’ve seen a pony’s…flank before. It’s just been a while you know? I was locked up in Tartarus for two long years after all.”
Not only is she a princess but she’s the one who supposedly is going to help you break the hex. Two years or not, there’s not a pony in Equestria who wouldn’t think this is just a tad creepy.
The purple unicorn groaned and shook his head. He couldn’t believe he was actually sitting here, staring at a mare’s butt and quietly arguing with his own neurotic mind.
“Yeah well talking to myself outside the home of the pony I’m peeping ACK…I mean watching isn’t much better.”
Obviously your lonely and need someone to talk to; same reason you started talking to me while you were in Tartarus.
“Yeah well I’m out now so I don’t need you or your advice.”
…You want to know what I think?
He angrily slapped his face.
“NO, I literally just told you I DO NOT want your advice!”
I think you got the hots for that purple princess pony in there, why else would you be lying to yourself about why you came all the way out here to spy on her?
“That wasn’t a lie; I really did need to make sure her magic was powerful enough to help me.” Moonstruck nervously fumbled with his hooves and stared at the ground. The colt didn’t look or sound like he believed his own words, he bit his lip anxiously. “I still got that h-h-h-hex to deal with, you know that.”
Blah, blah, blah, you already knew she had to be strong in order for her to defeat Tirek. I don’t know who your trying to convince plot peeper but it sure as Hell isn’t me.
“See, this is why I stopped talking to you in the first place. Why can’t I be like most ponies and have a voice that encourages me to be good instead of being bad?”
Just take it like real a colt and admit it, for once: you want to lock lips with that brainy babe and see just how spankable-
“You will NOT talk about her like that” Moonstruck shouted, he slammed his hoof into the side of the library. Twilight immediately dropped her books and approached the window. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!”
Twilight opened the window and looked around. “Who said that? Hello? Any pony there? I know I heard some pony’s voice so just get out here and show yourself.”
The princess looked all around but saw no sign of any pony nearby. She even looked up to see if Rainbow Dash was trying to prank her, but the only thing floating in the sky were stars. Twilight sighed and assumed she was just hearing things. She closed the window and returned to her studies.
“Whew…that was a close one,” Moonstruck wiped the sweat from his horned brow. The purple unicorn decided that he made enough “progress” for one night and should head back to his home/hiding spot.
On the way back, let’s see if we can find something good to eat. I’m getting sick of eating nothing but apples. You think that pink party chick will give us more sweets if we wake her up and ask? She’s all kinds of cute and crazy, I bet she’d totally go for it; what do you think?
Moonstruck's face sunk heavily, "Brain...will you just shut up?"
To be continued…