//------------------------------//
// The River of Blood and the Plagues 
// Story: The Tale of Coltypt 
// by Rakoon1 
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	After the disastrous talk between Amun and Khonsu, things get worse for the slaves who saw their workload doubled. Of course this did not please at all the slaves. And of course they knew how their workload was doubled.

The day after the arrival of Amun to Coltypt, he, Hathor and Monthu were going through a construction zone, when one of the slaves who were softening the mud saw them and said:

“It’s Amun.”

And he threw some mud that hit Amun on the face and made him fell in the mud.

“Amun!” Hathor exclaimed, while she and Montu went to help him.

“Are you all right, buddy?” Montu asked.

They heard steps and Amun, lifting his head, saw Seth, out of pit of mud, who asked in a cynical tone:

“So, Amun, how does it feel when you get struck to the ground?”

Bes approached Seth with Apis and told him:

“Seth, come on, get over it.”

“I have to agree with Bes” Apis said. “I bet Pharaoh wouldn’t need any excuse to give us more work.”

“Yeah, maybe, but this time it was his fault” Seth said, pointing to Amun. “He is always causing us trouble, being a prince or not.”

Montu was about to lose his temper, hearing Seth talking in that way about his best friend.

“Why you…” he started, ready to attack Seth.

But Amun stopped him by putting his hoof in front of him and then said to Seth, addressing to everypony who was there:

“I didn’t mean to cause you more pain. I’m just trying to do as the Lord of Order told me.”

“The Lord of Order?” Seth asked. “When did the Lord of Order start caring about any of us? After all, he left us into his brother’s mercy for years. In fact, Amun, when did you start caring about slaves? Was it when you found out that you born among us? Or was it when you found that thousands of slave children died because of you?”

“Don’t listen to him” Hathor said to his husband.

“Yeah, Amun, he is not worth it” Montu said.

“No, he’s… he’s right” Amun said. “I did not see because I did not wish to see.”

“Oh, you didn’t see because you didn’t wish to see” Seth repeated, continuing to take Amun down even more. “Well, that makes everything fine then, doesn’t it?”

It was then that Isis arrived and said to his brother:

“Seth! You shame yourself.”

But that didn’t intimidate her adoptive older brother, but he stayed quiet, while Isis went to Amun’s edge.

“Isis” Amun said, recognizing the mare who told him the truth about his origins.

He expected her to be mad at him, mainly after the way he treated her, but he could see the tender smile on her face. However, he couldn’t stop himself from saying:

“I’m so sorry.”

Then, he couldn’t stand look at her and lowed his head. Isis then kneeled to be at his level and told him:

“Amun, hear what I say. I have been a slave… all my life, and the Lord of Order has never answered my prayers until now. The Lord of Order saved your mother when she escaped Seti’s revolt, he saved you from the river, he saved you in all your wanderings, and even now he saved you from the wrath of Pharaoh. The Lord of Order will not abandon you, so don’t abandon us.”

“She’s right, my boy” Bes said, making Amun look at him. “You’re Pharaoh Nefertem’s son and only you can save us. Although some of us lost faith…” he made a brief look to Seth “others didn’t. So don’t abandon those who still dream for a better life.”

Amun was touched by Isis and Beth’s words. They really supported him and trusted him. Their belief, as well as the despair air the other slaves had, made Amun gain strengths to take his staff and use it to help him get up. Then, a voice in his head said:

“Amun…”

He recognized it. It was the Lord of Order.

“Amun, I saw how Pharaoh’s heart is hardening under my brother’s influence. Go to the edge of the great river. Khonsu is there now. Go and do exactly what I’ll say to you.”

After receiving the Lord of Order’s instructions, Amun turned to Seth and told him:

“I understand what you’re feeling, Seth. I understand that you feel abandon by the Lord of Order, that there is no hope to Coltypt. I can show you that is about to change. That it’s time to reclaim Coltypt to the Lord of Order… if you give the chance to prove it. Come with me and you’ll see it.”

And, having said, he started advancing in direction of the great river. Hathor wanted to go with him, but Montu made her a sign saying it was best not go and she did so. Although still doubting, Seth followed Amun, wanting to know how he would prove to him about the veracity of his words. 

Once arriving to the great river, they saw Khonsu walking in its direction, followed by some servants, who handed a parasol to him and a stray with a jug and a cup, and some guards. Amun started heading in his direction and Seth followed next to him. When they were close enough, Khonsu noticed their presence and turned to them, more specifically to Amun. When he and Seth arrived to his edge, the former asked:

“How are you, Khonsu?”

“I could be happier beside a friend, a brother” he answered. “We used to play a lot in this place, remember?”

“It’s been so long after that” Amun answered.

“It was a good time” Khonsu said. “And we could have much more good times if it was not for your insistence with something that has not the slightest foundation.”

“Enslaving ponies, stopping them of being freed and choosing their own paths” Amun said. “I also grew up thinking that a king had that right, Khonsu, but it doesn’t.”

“So you’ll continue to defy me” Khonsu said.

“Nopony is defying you” Amun replied. “It’s very simple. The Lord of Order, the Creator of everything that exists, sent me to tell you to give the crown to the rightful heir so Coltypt can be freed. But you didn’t listen.”

“The crown is mine, as well as the kingdom and everypony in it” Khonsu said. “Everypony owe me obediance. They born to serve me.”

Hearing that, Seth felt a desire to punch Khonsu, feeling repulsive by what he just said. But he was able to contain himself.

“You’re wrong, Khonsu” Amun said. “It’s better you take seriously what I’m saying.”

There was a pause and then Khonsu said:

“Enough. You just ruined my day.”

E turned to his servants and guards and said:

“Let’s go!”

He started to moved away, but Amun said, making Khonsu to stop:

“So said the Lord of Order: By this you will know who is your true Lord. With the staff, I will strike the water of the river, my great blessing to your people, and it will be changed into blood. The fish will die, the smell will be unbearable. Coltyptians will no longer be able to drink its water.”
“Do you want me to believe in that?” Khonsu asked, not believing. “You’ll never get what you want!”

He started to moved away again, but Amun continued to say:

“So watch me touch with my staff in the waters and turn them into blood.”

And so, Amun advanced to river. He lifted his staff and then put the lowest end in the water and, from the place where it touched, blood started to came out. Rapidly, the blood started to spread all over the river, making the fish which were caught by the blood to appear dead. Everypony who was watching didn’t want to believe what they were seeing. Seth also were astonish by that. He never saw anything like that.

It didn’t took long until the blood had covered all the river around Coltypt. With the river turned into blood, all the waters in all the fountains in the kingdom, even the ones who were already collected and kept in pitchers, jars, or cups, were turned into blood. All Coltyptians were shocked by seeing something like that. The Palace didn’t escape. Khonsu’s son was taking some good time in the pool, when suddenly the pool of water turned into a pool of blood to his and everyone’s horror.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Khonsu asked to Amun. “How dare you to contaminate the sacred river?!”

“River that was given to Coltypt by the Lord of Order” Amun said, approaching. “If you don’t want to acknowledge him as your Lord and do his bidding, so he’ll just take what he gave. You were warned.”

“Do you think I will break because of a trick?” Khonsu asked.

“It’s not a trick” Amun said, turning then to Seth. “Seth, you are very reasonable. Tell us, is it a trick?”

But Seth didn’t know what to say. He was still very impressed by what he just saw. Accepting his silence as an answer, Amun turned again to Khonsu and said:

“The water turned into blood as the Lord of Order told it would happen. So, I will ask again: do what the Lord of Order say.”

Khonsu didn’t answer right away. He advanced to the river and took some of the blood and watched it at close. There was no doubt: that was really blood. If the Lord of Order was capable of doing that, he couldn’t imagine what else he could do.

It was then that the Lord of Chaos’ darkness appeared, surrounding Khonsu and influencing him to not break before Amun. So, he raised up and said to Amun:

“This isn’t over!”

And he, his servants and his guards started to move away, addressing to the palace. When they were away, Amun turned to Seth and asked:

“And now, do you believe the Lord of Order is with us?”

“After what I just saw, after seeing what any normal unicorn is not able to do, I do believe that the Lord of Order sent you, Amun” Seth said. “However, Pharaoh didn’t seemed to be willing to obey him. He still has the power over our lifes.”

“Yes, Seth, it’s true” Amun agreed. “Pharaoh has the power. He can take away the food, the homes, the freedom. He can take away the sons and the daughters. With one word, Pharaoh can take away any life he wants. But there is one thing he cannot take away from us: our faith. Believe, for we will see the Lord of Order’s wonders.”

The Lord of Order observed the scene with great joy. His plan to make Khonsu quit the crown in favour of Amun had begun. Despite his negative reaction, the Lord of Order would let him marinate while the plague of blood would last to see if he'd break, although he knew that was unlikely to happen, given who was influencing him.

As if he knew what he was thinking, his brother, the Lord of Chaos, contacted him through one of his mirrors.

"You must think you're smart for what you just did" Lord of Chaos said. "Who knew the Lord of Order would do something so... well, me."

"You're wrong" the Lord of Order. "What I did is just fair. The great river is a blessing for the ponies of Coltypt. In fact, all Coltypt is part of my Creation, as well as all almost everything that exists in that world. Everything that's good, I gave and what I give, I can take. And there's nothing you can do to stop me. Furthermore, you did so much chaos in that kingdom that I have the freedom and the right to do whatever I want to get Coltypt back. If you see things right, you’re the only responsible for what is happening."

And, having said that, he ended the call. The Lord of Chaos, sitting on his throne, said:

"I may not be able to stop you, brother, but I can make Khonsu to resist and never give up."

And so it was done. Even with the problems that the plague of blood brought, Khonsu was not able to fulfill the will of the Lord of Order. Consequently, all Coltypt suffered from a terrible water shortage crisis. Without water to satisfy their thirst, they had to drink wine and fruit juice. However, this was not enough, as the juice was barely enough to kill their thirst and the wine had its own consequences. There was also the fact that they couldn't washed themselves, having to resort to oils. The worst were children and elderly were the most affected. At the third day of the plague, it was already common too see a pony pass out from dehydration.

The only place around Coltypt where water had not been turned into blood was at the village of slaves. When they discovered that their water was the only one who had not been affected, they stored as much water as they could and they did well, because it didn’t last long until a lot of ponies started to come to the village to kill their thirst. However, for those who didn’t live in the village, there was a problem. Whenever the water left the village of slaves, it turned into blood. Upon hearing about this, and not wanting that slaves were the only ones to benefit from a source that was not contaminated, Khonsu sent Hotep and Huy retaliate the slaves and they, using their tricks, "turned" their water into blood, making it unfit for pony consumption, just like the rest of the water. Fortunately, with their water supply, the slaves were able to resist without any problem until the seventh day of the plague, which was when the plague was lifted and all the water came back to normal, much to the happiness of everypony.

However, this was short lived, as, with Khonsu’s insistence in continue to be pharaoh and keep the slaves, a new plague was unleased on Coltypt. The Lord of Order said to Amun to tell to Khonsu:

“That the river teems with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.”

Following his orders, Amun extended his staff on the river and dozens, hundreds, thousands of frogs left, jumping and croaking. It didn’t last long until they had the whole kingdom under their rule. They appeared everywhere, going where they wanted through any entrance they could find. As much they tried to get rid of them, they just couldn't, because more frogs appeared. The only place where they didn’t dare to get in was the village of the slaves. Even the slaves who entered the citadel were not disturbed by the frogs.

When the plague was lifted, Khonsu, under the influence of the Lord of chaos, still didn't give in to the pressure that Amun and the Lord of the order. With this, the third plague was released. The Order said:

“That the dust of the land may become lice throughout all the land of Coltypt.”

So, with a touch of Amun's staff on the ground, a plague of lice invaded Coltypt, attacking everypony. There was not a single pony that didn't scratch because of the small bites of the parasites. As with the frogs, the slaves were not affected.

But Khonsu was still adamant, so, through Amun, the Lord of Order told him:

“If you do not fulfil my bidding, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of Coltypt will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are.”

With this, a swarm of flies covered Coltypt, starting to disturb Coltyptians immensely and touching their food. Everywhere there were flies, even the sky seemed black because of that. However, in the village of the slaves, not a single fly was in the air.

After this new plague, another followed. Khonsu’s intransigence made the Lord of Order to say:

“If you continue to refuse to obey me, my hand will bring a plague of rats upon your people. They will be everywhere and they will eat everything they find and spread the disease on your officials.”

And then, an immense amount of rats appeared in Coltypt. They appeared in the homes, in the streets, in the stores, everywhere. The food in the markets was all bitten by these creatures which also spread diseases that affected the poor inhabitants of Coltypt. Of course these creatures didn’t dare to enter the village of the slaves.

But Khonsu still didn't obey the will of the Lord of Order, so he said to Amun:

“Take hoofuls of soot from a furnace and toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. With the power of the staff, it will become fine dust over the whole land of Coltypt and festering boils will break out on ponies throughout the land.”

And Amun did so. When he launched the soot in the air, suddenly Coltyptians gained boils all over their bodies, to their great horror. The only place the soot did not affect was the village of the slaves.

But not even this convinced Khonsu. Realizing that he would have to be tougher, the Lord of Order said to Khonsu through Amun:

“Obey me or this time I will send a full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people. I will stretch my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that will make you suffer even more. I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Coltypt, cause not only hail will fall, but also fire, so you may see who is the true Lord.”

Truthful with his word, the Lord of Order send through the power of the staff of Amun a terrible storm of hail and fire. First, hail fell, making everypony trying to find a safe place or protecting themselves, but then fire started fell, destroying everything that it hit. Of all the plagues that haunted Coltypt, that was the most destructive of all, except to the village of the slaves.

Even with all the destruction caused by Khonsu’s stubbornness, he didn’t give up to the power of the Lord of Order. For this, he said:

“As you refuse to humble yourself before me, I will bring locusts into your kingdom. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the blood, the rats and the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Coltyptians, except for those who remained loyal to me.”

And then a huge swarm of locusts ravaged all Coltypt. They plagued the inhabitants of the kingdom and devoured all their food, leaving intact only the food of the slaves.

But the Lord of Chaos had total control of Khonsu, and he continued to deny the supremacy of Lord of Order. So, the Lord of Order said to Amun:

“Stretch your staff toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Coltypt. If they insist in worship my brother, so they are not worthy of my light.”

And Amun did what the Lord of Order told him to do. So he held his staff toward the sky and dark clouds began to form and spread across it, blocking the sun completely. Without the sun to give them light, the Coltyptians had to use torches and, in the case of unicorns, the light of their own horns. However, both the fire as the light of the horns just ceased, leaving them in complete darkness. Only the village of the slaves was the only part in all Coltypt where there was light.

With nine plagues already released on Coltypt, it was clear that Khonsu should bow down before the power of the Lord of Order and obey him. To Coltyptians who were not slaves began to fear what might come after the darkness, if their pharaoh didn't agree to comply to the will of the Lord of Order. And they had every reason to worry and fear, because what would follow was something rather worse than any other plague…