The Nether Wars

by Blackdrag-rose

8: Total War

Nexus sat near the towering stone pillar that he had chained Queen Viscarias to, levitating a couple of stones up to his face and tossing them off into the distance one at a time. He knew that by now Copper would have found where he was hiding and that she would have, in turn, told Eclipse so he could deal with the threat. The Princesses would have delivered a wanted poster to their subjects by now, likely telling ponies to offer information of his whereabouts or to stay away from him. He cared not for the ponies he would soon rule, but instead looked forward to seeing Eclipse.

That was if Eclipse was ever going to arrive to rescue his wife.

He had spent years planning his every move, making sure he had a variety of plans in case his enemies made a different move than the one he would have planned on. He had painstakingly mastered his own magical abilities, learning the various techniques of the machines that Copper used, and even the guard patterns of the Changelings. If Eclipse could master the deadly arts of the cursed shapeshifting breed of ponies then Nexus could learn how to mimic the dangerous monster. And now it almost seemed like all of his hard work was being wasted, making him consider if he should have ponynapped one of his daughters instead of his wife.

As soon as he tossed the last stone he felt it, the shimmer in the air as a powerful source of uncontrollable anger raced towards his exact location. And it wasn't just anger he felt, but also all the magic that was contained within the body of one stallion that was feared by his friends and enemies. Just as he thought that Eclipse had forgotten about him had he appeared on his radar, without concern that he was giving himself away to his enemy. Nexus smiled, everything was finally coming together now that his foe was finally within his grasp and not surrounded by his guards.

"NEXUS."

That was what Eclipse had shouted the moment he landed in front of the ruins of the old fortress that he had built during the years of his chosen exile, cracking the ground as his hooves touched the ground. The stone pillar his wife was chained to happened to be sticking out of the center of the fortress, but her head was hung down and he knew she was out for the moment. Nexus, on the other hoof, was sitting next to the pillar, hanging dangerously close to his wife and seriously preventing him from unleashing a vast number of his spells on the vile stallion.

"Ah, Eclipse," Nexus said, trotting up to a fallen stone wall and staring down at the Changeling King, "So good of you to finally arrive. I was beginning to think that I might have had to go back to your camp and ponynap one of your daughters if your precious wife proved too little incentive to come after me. I mean, I threatened the safety of Equestria itself, blew your precious Hive into a thousand little pieces, and even took the Changelings' Queen right under their noses. You..."

Before the next bit left his mouth Eclipse appeared right in front of him and slammed his right hoof into the side of his body, sending him flying off the fortress and into the ground around it. The pain in his side was bearable, but it was much less then what he was actually expecting from the dreaded stallion. Sure, the ground around him was broken, but the fact that Eclipse wasn't using everything at the moment only made him angry.

"Come on," Nexus shouted, getting up and tossing the dirt off of him, "I know you can do better than that Eclipse. Don't just come at me with some weak spirited attack like that and fire one of those cero's that all the princesses and Discord are scared of. You should be unleashing every ounce of your magic on me, running me into the ground and obliterating everything I am. Not just standing there, using weak spells that are designed to wear me down to the point where I might surrender and throw myself at your mercy. Come and hit me like you mean it you coward."

Eclipse appeared right in front of Nexus, slamming his head into his enemy's head and crushing him right into the ground that they stood on. The ground split below them, cracking and falling under the mighty power that coursed through Eclipse's veins. Nexus disappeared into the abyss, only to reappear behind Eclipse and aim a kick to the back of his head. Unfortunately Eclipse's wings must have sensed him coming, as he ducked before Nexus could touch him and tossed him right into the ground again.

"You want me to cero you?" Eclipse shouted, pointing his horn towards the stallion as a red energy ball began to form, "Fine then. Face the power you have begged me for."

Eclipse released the dreaded magic, blasting open the ground once and then deciding that he had better do it a few more times to be sure Nexus was dealt with. Four more blasts later and he had five holes around him, smoking craters that made him worry that he might have missed several times. He felt that he had dealt with his enemy, so as soon as he turned around he felt a sudden shift in the wind that came from behind.

"Almighty Push," Nexus shouted, holding his front right hoof out towards Eclipse.

Before Eclipse could move the force of wind and magic caught him, tossing him right into the ruins and breaking several of the broken walls even further. He corrected his course as he remembered the power that had caught him, growling that he had such an enemy to fight at this point in time. Energy seeped around him, connecting together as he formed his twin sided sword he had used so many times before, spinning it around as he got up. Then he burst out of the ruins and flew right to Nexus, swinging his sword as Nexus blocked with his own blade.

He sent Nexus flying, but instead of letting him regain his balance and come after him he chased his flying enemy, spinning the sword and smashing him right into the ground. As Nexus got up the base of the sword came back up, bashing into his chin and lifting him into the air before being caught by Eclipse's magic and dragged right into a wall of the fortress. Instead of letting him fall to the ground and cough up blood Eclipse held him against the wall, drawing closer to the stallion who was ruining everything in his life.

"A coward am I?" Eclipse asked, placing the tip of the sword against Nexus' heart, "Tell me Nexus, is it cowardly that I beat you into the ground without using all my power? That I didn't let you rest between attacks and continued an onslaught that made you whimper in pain as I draw near? I'm not going to spare you Nexus. For everything you've done to me, harassing my friends, blowing my Hive up, and ponynapping my wife, I'm just going to kill you."

Then he was pushed backwards, right into another wall that fell on top of him as his magic released Nexus. Somehow Nexus had used his magic, breaking through his iron willed magic and releasing another 'almighty push' on him. Apparently neither of them were really going to let the other get away with winning, but at the moment Eclipse still didn't doubt his chances. There were quite a number of stones on top of him, so it might take him a bit to get rid of them all.

"You have no idea how much time and energy I put into this plan," Nexus coughed, standing at full height as he looked at Eclipse, "Ever since you arrived in Equestria I lurked in your shadow, watching you master a level of magic that has frightened the very goddesses of this world. You learned how to fight like a Changeling, earned the respect of both friend and enemy alike, and even managed to outwit death itself. You evolved into a being of terror and destruction, but instead of embracing your gifts and destroying everything you turned them down and embraced these ponies pathetic 'friendship'."

I knew that once you settled down, had a family to care for, and finally started acting like a King, that the time had come for me to strike and ruin everything. I studied your habits, who your friends were, and even went as far as to lurk around the halls of your precious Hive before I blew it up. As the Changeling's teach, you need to study your enemy before making your move and every piece of information helps when it comes time to deal with whoever your up against.

I am, however, disappointed that you aren't even using the full percentage of your great and terrible power. I saw you unleash a greater form of the cero against the princesses, one that you named the 'cero oscuras', and you even took on the form that others feared. Now you are holding back and it is making me angry. If ponynapping your beloved wife after destroying your Hive isn't enough to make you completely hate me and make you use everything against me then I will resort to my last move.

You may not have killed anypony before Eclipse, but I assure you that if it is necessary for somepony to die to upset and break your will then I will gladly end one life. Universal Pull.

Eclipse was expecting Nexus to pull such a cowardly card at this stage of the game, so when he noticed that Rose was starting to move he flared his wings and burst into the air. Before Nexus had a chance to do anything terrible to her Eclipse caught her, flipped around in a one hundred and eighty degree turn, and, while kicking Nexus, burst into the clouds. As the clouds covered their tracks he felt the energy of one of Copper's riftgates open nearby, so he corrected his course and silently flew towards the gate. He needed to get Rose to a safe distance before he allowed his more powerful side out to play with Nexus.

-

"Are you sure this is where they're supposed to be fighting?" Northern asked, just as the train emerged from the riftgate, "Because I don't see anypony fighting around here."

"This is as close as I can get without endangering us," Copper replied, pulling the train to a stop with a pull of the lever, "I've seen your father up close in battle before and I would seriously recommend staying as far away as possible to avoid getting hurt. The train as several safety features that will protect us from the majority of Eclipse's spells, but if a cero is fired in our direction we wont stand a chance against it."

"We know how our father fights," Echo calmly said, staring out the window towards the ruins of the forgotten fortress, "We know when to get into a fight and when to back away."

"Relax sugarcube," Harvest said, tightening the straps on the iron she wore on her hooves, "Ah'm sure that we'll be safe from Nexus. Its not like our father is going to let any harm come to us."

As Northern opened the door to the train they were greeted by the sight of their father, still in his alicorn form, carrying the sleeping body of their mother. Eclipse turned to his side so they could help him gently move their mother onto the train without disturbing her, just in case Nexus had somehow placed a deadly spell on her. Copper ran a check on her body, looking for any signs of tampering, but as far as all her devices could tell Rose was still live, healthy, and had no signs of any dangerous life threatening spells.

"Eclipse," Copper said, just as the king turned to leave, "are you going to kill Nexus?"

"I don't have much choice in the matter," Eclipse replied, sighing as he turned back to look at them, "Nexus is just going to keep coming after me and my family until he somehow obtains my powers. He's willing to destroy Equestria and everypony in it, not to mention ensuring the wrath of the other princesses, just to gain my abilities. No, he needs to be dealt with here and now before he can harm somepony else.

Get this train as far away as you can, I don't want any harm to come to my wife and my daughters."

"Don't worry Eclipse," came Rose's voice, as she stirred and looked up at him, "we'll be fine. Just kick Nexus' flank for everypony that he's already harmed."

Eclipse smiled and took off, adjusting his course so he would head right back to the ruins and deal with Nexus before he decided to leave the area. He knew that if Nexus decided to leave the ruins it would take him so time to figure out where he had traveled to and track him down all over again. The ruins were the best place for them to fight without the risk of seriously hurting somepony on accident or destroying an entire city with one of their spells.

"That should have worked," Nexus fumed, wondering how Eclipse had snatched his wife before he could kill her, "Leave it up to the monster himself to pull another trick out of his hat and save one of the most important ponies in his life. I wonder if he'll be coming back to finish our fight..."

"Don't worry too much Nexus," a voice said as Eclipse landed near him, cracking the ground without even trying, "I know you'll chase me until one of us dies, but I'd rather end our fight right here and now. No running away and waiting for you to find me like I did with the Princesses and my friends. You get my full and undivided attention Nexus, which you'll soon be regretting."

"Regret having you fight me at your full power?" Nexus shouted, smiling wildly as he stared at Eclipse, "I've waited countless years for you to obtain the power that courses through your veins, so I could crush you and claim the power to remold Equestria as I see fit. None of the Princesses would be able to stop me without destroying every single place they care about. Mark my words Eclipse, the moment I have your powers I will erase this world and create a world anew in the image that I desire. I will rule over the ponies of my new world until the end of time itself."

"Shut up," Eclipse said, lightning sparking up all around his body, "I'm tired of listening to you talk."

Nexus' amusement decreased as he felt several powerful entities enter their area, several of which happened to belong to the Princesses themselves. The barrier that kept the ruins at a different temperature than the rest of the Frozen North was still up, but none of the new arrivals passed through it. They were all content to staying behind and watching the fight from afar, despite the fact that they were spread out around the entire area. From the magic he was feeling they had the pleasure of entertaining Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight, Discord, the ex-queen Chrysalis, and the ex-king Sombra.

He would have commented on the fact that they had some unwelcome guests, but he noticed that the energy building around Eclipse was reaching the levels he expected the stallion to use. Then claws erupted from Eclipse' hooves, while his wings changed into large bat-like wings and his coat changed into the fur of a werewolf. His face changed little, but his ears shifted into the batpony ears and he kept the long jagged horn of the changelings. Just when Nexus thought the transformation was complete Eclipse got onto his hind legs, walking like the monster that he was known for, and revealed the eerie darkness that came off his eyes, just like when somepony used dark magic.

"Do you feel fear Nexus?" Eclipse asked, flexing his claws as he spoke, "The Princesses and their rivals have felt the power of this form countless times before and I know that they fear it being used against them. However, they knew that I will never turn this type of power against them, for I have chosen to protect Equestria from ponies like you."

"Do I fear you?" Nexus shouted, shaking his head, "No, I do not fear the power you posses. Nor would I fear to use that power to conquer those that would oppose me. I would..."

Before he could finish Eclipse appeared right in front of him, grabbed him by his neck, and tossed him forwards like he was a simple ball that you would play around with. He crashed into one of the few remaining walls of the fortress, crushing the piece of stone into rubble with the sheer force of his impact, and pulled himself out of the mess. As the first stone fell away several bolts of magic crossed the threshold of the fortress and collided with where he was, exploding into a large pillar of fire. A moment later he pulled himself out of the flames, coughing as he swatted the bits of fire that were still eating at his coat.

Those magical bolts were another of Eclipse's vast amount of spells that he had access to, but he had never seen him use it in all the years that he had been lurking in his shadows. They were almost as powerful as his original cero spell, but the force behind them was much stronger than what he had been expecting. Had he not have his body augmented to resist vast amounts of pain and prevent his bones from snapping like twigs he suspected that those bolts would have damaged him a lot more than they had.

Nexus ran forward, his horn blazing with magic as he zeroed in on where Eclipse was standing, but when the smoke left his field of vision the stallion was nowhere to be seen. Before he could react he felt something crash into his side, causing him to leave the ground for an instant before crashing into the side of a mountain. This time when he got up Eclipse was right in front of him, crushing a magically charged clawed hoof into his chest. The magic caused the ground to shake before splitting into pieces, almost like the punch had somehow triggered an earthquake in their area.

"Get off me," Nexus shouted, placing a well charged blast in Eclipse's chest, only to make him release him, "I don't understand; what makes you so much stronger than what you've been in the past?"

"Well placed hatred towards you," Eclipse replied, his horn sparking up with magic, "You threatened my friends and allies, destroyed the hive that I spent years ruling over, and ponyknapped my wife. You threaten to destroy Equestria, just to gain my powers, and if you did get them you'd still destroy everything. The Princesses cannot afford to have somepony like you running around, treating their beloved ponies like they're nothing more than trash for you to crush under your hooves."

"So what are you going to do to me?" Nexus spat, coughing blood as he spoke, "I'll have you know that I will not allow myself to be taken into custody like some common war criminal."

Before Eclipse replied he touched his horn to the tip of Nexus' horn, letting the spell he had been build course through every single nerve in the stallion's body. As Eclipse pulled away Nexus could feel his horn harden, almost like it was being turned to stone and cutting off his connection to magic.

"Allow me to show you your own fate," Eclipse said, summoning a giant mirror that showed Nexus' entire body to him, "I'm going to turn you into a stone statue and display you for the entire hive to see. I started the reaction in your horn first, to make it impossible for you to attempt to reverse the spell as it changes your entire body. Soon your hooves will harden into stone, followed by all four of your legs, then your body, before it consumes your head and seals you in stone. One day you'll be released from this stone tomb that your turning into, but I'll leave that decision up to Princess Celestia."

Nexus tried to move, but when he looked down his eyes widened as he noticed that his hind legs had already been consumed by the stone that he was becoming. He could feel his body tightening, moving on their own violation as if Eclipse had an ideal pose for him to assume for an untold amount of years. For the first time in his life Nexus could actually feel fear, he just never expected it to come when he was trying to take on Eclipse of all ponies.

"I see that you finally feel fear," Eclipse said, just as the stone reached up for Nexus' neck, "It is an important lesson for somepony like you to learn, despite the fact that your turning to stone. You will have a few years to think over this lesson before Celestia releases you, if she decides to do so that is."

"I'll get you when I come back Eclipse," Nexus promised, feeling the stone start to harden his head, "I'll find you when Princess Celestia finally releases..."

The rest of his sentence was cut off as the stone consumed the rest of him, leaving a statue of a scared version of Nexus behind for ponies to enjoy. Eclipse sighed as the dark magic around his eyes faded away and his body returned to the shape of the alicorn prince he had been just a short time ago. As much as he enjoyed having all that power course through his body like that it tended to put a strain on one's mind, but it served its purpose. Nexus had been defeated and Equestria was safe for the time being.

Now all he had to do was build a new hive.