Tirek stormed into the room, "CELESTIA! I see that you and your puny sister are still ruling this pitiful land." He roared, picking up the princess in question as his shadow flickered slightly, "DO you not see that your magic is going to be mine? All of it, is going to be mine!" Tirek laughed as he went to drain her, Discord floating silently behind him, messing with the various glass windows.
He dropped the solar alicorn with a start, a look of extreme rage crossing his face, "WHERE. IS YOUR MAGIC!?" When they didin't answer, he let his rage guide him and locked them away in Tartarus and looked back towards Discord, noticing another glass window.
"Is this supposed to be a joke?" He asked the draconequus.
"No," Discord answered, in the midst of messing with another window, "I haven't done that one yet. Its Princess Twilight."
"THERE'S A FOURTH!?" Tirek roared, stamping his hooves, "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"I needed proof this was a group endeavour, and well, I've got that now," Discord grinned at the necklace he wore, "She lives in Ponyville, in a library."
Tirek stormed towards Twilight, the bubbles that encased her friends following him closely, "Your friends," he said, "for all the alicorn magic in Equestria!" He laughed.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Tirek's shadow pried itself from the ground, flecks of red appearing in it as it stood, a malicious dark crimson red grin appearing next to a pair of eyes as it formed into a similar shape to those of the people beyond the mirror. Twilight and Tirek stared in shock, as did her friends and Discord.
"Well, well, well..." The figured muttered, looking around at everyone, "It seems this world has changed since my latest visit," the figure smirked.
"WHo are you? How dare you interfere in this!" Tirek roared, aiming a swipe at the figure.
The arm passed through it, and the figure rose up to Tirek's level, "Shut up. I don't care for your idiotic villainous rampage today." It shrank back down and looked at Twilight, an even creepier grin coming on its face as it looked her in the eyes, "Perfect." It laughed briefly.
Tirek quickly made a stupid decision to attempt to drain what he believed to be a very powerful magical being. Without even flinching the creature sent a hoard of shadows directly into Tirek's mouth. "Breath them in and become nothing more than a Nightmare of what you were." Tirek collapsed to the ground, more shadows forcing their way down his throat as his body was forced to change, shrinking to barely taller than the figure and turning a deep blue where it had once been red. His eyes were quickly changed to cat-like slits and glowed a slight red.
"Go back to Tartarus, I will call you when I need you," he said, "Give Discord back his magic." Tirek nodded as a dark magic tendril blasted towards Discord from Tirek's mouth, corrupted of course, and blasted the draconequus and popped the bubble.
"Thank you," Twilight said.
The figure turned to her, a malicious grin on its face, "Why are you thanking me, I'm not helping you," it grinned and grabbed Discord, "You're coming with me." The figure opened a portal, taking Discord with it, "I am Tantabus, Twilight Sparkle, and you might want to remember my name."
There was a strange looking humanoid shape, wandering slowly through the everfree, looking at the sights, enjoying his walk as he hummed to himself a familiar tune that seemed to put all animals within earshot ill at ease. He had a scythe in one hand, it seeming to be light of weight to him. His cold voice, which promised of cold winters and deserted funerals and emanating from a mouth seemingly torn out of his blank slate of a face, eventually transitioning to a british sounding voice as he looked to the forests treeline “I wonder if I should meet the ponies here… last time did not go so well…” He shrugged and made his way there.
If only it had been that simple though, because upon his next step a warping mass of shadow tinged with spots of red appeared in front of him, coalescing into the shape of a humanoid. Its eyes and mouth, permanently in a grin, appeared on its face and it looked at him in silence.
The being looked to the other creature without moving for a moment before its scythe dispersed into darkness and was absorbed by his shadow “I never thought I would meet a Tantabus. Thought you guys only lived in dreams. Preyed on the guilty and that like.” He crossed his arms and smiled, his pitch black shark teeth shining in the sunlight. “So, you probably want me gone, huh?”
Tantabus smirked, “Never said that.”
The being laughed “Yeah, but most people want me gone the second they see me, unless if I help them first.” He then turned serious “Or if they want something.”
Tantabus laughed as well, a mirthless dark chuckle, “I suppose I do want something, but its up to you whether or not you agree. Before we continue, know I am nothing like the others you have met that bear this name, nor will they ever be like me. I am Tantabus.”
The being shrugged before looking ahead “So… can we head forward, or are we going to stand around like a bunch of gits?”
“Be my guest,” Tantabus gestured forward.
The being nodded and went forward, heading towards ponyville “So what’s it like in ponies dreams? They count sheep like humans do? And do Sheep count themselves?”
“Depends,” the nightmare demon shrugged.
The being then nodded before looking to the Tantabus “So, what is it you want from me?”
Tantabus looked him dead in the eye… or where they would be, if he had eyes “Drugs.”
The being laughed before looking at the Tantabus “Closest thing I have to a drug is my blood, and that just makes people my Proxies.” He then deadpanned, not hard without a face. “I am not giving anyone my blood. One, I hate needles, and two, last thing I need is another freaking cult dedicated to me.”
“I was joking, actually. Your blood wouldn’t exactly help an incorporeal being, would it?” Tantabus remarked, “Though, if it has strengthening powers I could use it later, no needles involved. As for what I actually want, that would be recruitment,” Tantabus put simply.
The being looked to the dream demon before laughing even harder “Sorry, bud, I work for me, and I don’t accept Proxies, it turns out that it’s usually a slow and painful death, unless you are immortal, like my Friend Prax… but before you get all excited, that’s his only power. One he got from a serum he long since forgot how to make. His only other use is magical machines and companionship.” He then looked to Tantabus, “You know, if you are lonely, I COULD be a friend.”
Laughter blasted from the nightmare demon’s form, echoing maliciously, “You misunderstand, I would offer payment to both of you, should you like. Would you like to know what kind of payment I would offer? And the conditions for working for me?”
The being shook his head “Eenope, I said already, I don’t work for others.”
“You wouldn’t be working for me, not exactly. You’d do your own thing, just it would have a benefit to me,” Tantabus said, “As for payment, I offer two things.” Tantabus held out a shadowy black arm, the red light sparkling darkly, “The power to revive your home, and the power to warp the darkest of fear to your will,” the hand opened revealing what one could only describe as pure power somewhat corrupted by fear.
The being looked to the Tantabus “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that right now… If I bring them back now, they will just be destroyed again.”
“I never said the use was limited or time constrained, I merely said it was the power to recreate it, as it was, as it will be. I’ve seen your fears, allow me to assuage them,” the nightmare demon said, his voice ringing with compassion, “I may be evil, but mercy is one to be held. The only condition is that you do a few missions here and there, possibly even none at all. Or would you prefer she suffer without you?” the demon’s hand waved and a darker incorporeal form of Twilight Sparkle appeared, noiselessly crying out to him, “I do not torture her, it is the fear of her loss that keeps her this way. The souls of the lost always cry.”
The being looked to the nightmare demon, his body turning into a black and white outline as his body was surrounded by an aura of TV static, when he spoke, it was cold, dark, and promising of death. “ YoU ShOuLdN't Of DoNe ThAt.”
Tantabus laughed, “You expect to scare me? I offered you a gift, a very generous one at that.”
The being began to morph, the scythe from before reappearing and forming a sword as his slendrils reached out, becoming a second pair of arms ending in powerful, thin hands as his body became ensconced in armor. He lifted his sword, the TV aura migrating to his sword and becoming a burning black and white flame. “LeT hEr Go.”
“Are you a fucking tard?” Tantabus asked, “I’m showing you what her soul looks like in the Afterlife, you twit. I do not own her soul, Death does.”
The being nodded “I kNoW, I mEaN ThE ImAgE. DeAtH’s TiMe Is CoMiNg.”
Tantabus rolled his eyes, “Which Death? I know many, and this world has several as well. Do you not want the power to defeat the death you seek?”
The being shook his head “I wOuLd RaThEr DiE tRyInG aS tHe MaN sHe LoVeD, ThAn ThE MoNsTeR YoU wOuLd MaKe.”
“How about you taste the power I offer, and decide if it would really make you a monster?” Tantabus said, the smile still on his face as shadowy tendrils touched the flames of the sword and warped into it and spreading across the being’s body.
The being roared in rage as he fought to expel the taint, the shadows spreading across him and diving into his very soul as he ripped and tore at himself “ReLeAsE mE! Or ThErE iS nOwHeRe I wIlL NoT hUnT yOu!”
“I will release you after you taste the power I offer,” Tantabus said.
The being roared and raged as he tore off tendril after tendril, only for more to take their place as the TV static flame began to burn brighter “ HaTe…YoU…” He began to stand up, the TV static flames engulfing him as the sword floated into the air and flew grip first into his hand
“HaTe...HaTe… HATE! HATE! HATE YOU HATE YOU HATE YOU! HATE YOU!”
“Are you quite done yet?” Tantabus said, yawning.
The being looked to where the Twilight was crying before, seeming to remember “ I am Done being a puppet to others.” He snarled as he readied his sword, the dark tendrils somehow migrating to a concentrated ball encompassing his hand right before he cut it off, only for a new one to form “I Refuse Thy Taint“
Tantabus looked at him with a bored expression, despite the smile, “You do realize I wasn’t controlling you during that, yes?”
The being nodded as his armor dissipated, his sword and flames becoming naught but shadow “But had I accepted your power… would I of been able to refuse thy commands?”
“You’d feel a bit of an urge to complete them, but nothing you can’t resist. I can’t remove that urge, it comes with the power,” Tantabus said, still looking bored.
The being laughed “And you expect me to just accept the power you tried to force on me, with no care that I said I didn’t WANT it? You need to work on your manipulation skills, my friend, you suck.”
“I wasn’t using force, I could easily show force. No, I never expected that you didn’t want it, totally not,” heavy sarcasm leaked from his voice, “I knew you didn’t hence why I gave you a taste.”
The being looked to the nightmare demon, his own sarcasm lacing his voice as he spoke “Yeah, cause if you said you didn’t want something, I’d totally sneakily ‘give’ a taste!” he laughed “You tried to make me some sort of power addict so I’d keep wanting more! How do I even know you have enough power to bring back ONE pony, let alone an entire freaking planet? Besides, what are you going to do if I just leave? I have all eternity to bring back Twily.”
“...” Tantabus raised a nonexistent eyebrow, “You ask for proof?” Tantabus let out a malicious laugh, “Very well,” the two beings warped into a space of pure emptiness by universe standards. Without a single thought, Tantabus raised a tendril and clapped it together with several of its cousins, “I can create a universe, I can run the time in it,” everything sped away, “I can rewrite its laws of physics. I. Am. A. God.” The world disappeared, the darkness returning and they were back where they started, “One pony, is trivial, one world, is a piece of cake.”
The being nodded “I have seen your proof of power, but still, what will you do if I say no? You lack a corporeal form, it’s not like I’ll let you touch me again.” He then slenderwalked a considerable distance away, still within earshot, but hidden by a tree and too far for the nightmare demon to touch.
“I’m incorporeal,” came the demon’s voice from his left, “I don’t need to touch, only know,” this time it came from the right, “I could easily bend your mind, or break the very thing,” his voice came from above and below, “that you beings call your soul, or your heart,” this time, the voice came from inside the being’s mind, “Immortal does not mean invulnerable, just ask them,” the nightmare reappeared and pointed at a pile of corpses, “just ask them, the Void Dwellers that I’ve made fall.”
The being laughed before disappearing, leaving behind a note “Find me if you can.” it said. The nightmare demon chuckled, and sent out a rippling wave of pure shadows and darkness, condemning the world to become his, a whole new world of Nightmares at his will.
The being grunted in a far off universe, growling as he kept his head empty of thought only one word escaping his lips “Coward.”
“What was that?” the nightmare demon asked from nearby.
He laughed “You subjugate because you fear, you fear them not accepting you. You fear them hating you for what you are.”
“I subjugate because I enjoy it,” Tantabus said, “They hate me, and I could care less.”
He nodded “And yet you still fear. I can smell it on you, the scent is what most of my kind would call intoxicating. I call it repulsive. If you want me to submit, you can just kill me, I will not spread your word.”
A loud laugh escaped Tantabus, “Fear? You really are a fool, fear is an excellent tool, but that is not who I am!” A whirl of shadows encompassed the nightmare demon and revealled a young man, “I am Hope,” he shone with a bright light, “Truth,” he became a young child, “Lies,” a very beautiful woman covered in makeup, yet her real face shone through, “Love,” another beautiful woman, “Hate,” a dark old man, “Life,” a very vibrant fairy appeared, “Death,” the stereotypical grim reaper appeared, “Their powers are mine, because, I am not fear. I am something much, much greater. Can you figure it out?”
The being did not move at all, simply sipping his tea the whole time “You look nothing of the Deaths I have faced, nor the Chaos, ,nor the Life, nor the Order. I have met, befriended and killed beings who embody these Ideals Be they Dark or Light. What hope do you have, a being who knows only how to make others serve them, the power of true friendship?”
“You mean these beings?” he flashed through all the forms, “Hope is useless, friendship is useless, yet, everything has a way to be used.”
The being smiled “And that is why you will fail. You can not see that hope brings us through the darkness, and that friendship is what allows even the weakest mortal to slay a god.”
“I do see it,” he laughed, “I am it, and, I use it to do the very things I demand. You cannot slay a god, because I may be a god, but I am also something far more. I’ve been many things, and-”
The being cut him off “And no matter what, you shall be alone, if you walk this path, I offer you the chance to see what friendship, harmony, and yes, freedom, can bring. Will you take my hand, or will you cast aside what remains of your humanity?”
Tantabus considered it for a moment, then nodded, “Very well. I will take your hand,” he held his own out.
The Being smiled and took it, his hand warm and kind “Then as your first-” without warning he was consumed in shadows, Tantabus’s voice echoing deeply into his mind, “for this! I have been alone... that is my power and strength! All things have a use, even the light, because I am Delusion!”
The Being, weakened, pulled out a beaten and burned Mr. Smartypants doll “I am sorry, Twilight, I have failed you… let’s hope… the Greg from the past can undo my mistake…But for now… I have a story to tell my friends...” he then began to write the cover of the story, the cover depicting Delusion in his many forms “So begins the Liber de Phantasiis…”
