Legacy of Chrono Book 1: Wrath of Obscura

by Ezylryb123

Part Five

That night, Chrono and the others were restless. Without proper shelter, the six ponies were exposed to the paranoiac darkness surrounding the mystic circle as well as the creatures that called the island their home. The one thing that frightened them the most was the incessant gaze of hundreds of pairs of red eyes.The owner of one of those pairs decided to take a closer look. As it reached the extent of light the circle was emitting, it revealed itself to be a black, reanimated, pony cadaver.

“What are those things?” asked a frightened Applejack.

“I’ve done research and have actually encountered these creatures once in the Everfree forest,” Chrono explained. “You see there is a small, pitiful village within that baleful glade, a village inhabited by ponies without cutie marks.”

“That can’t be,” Dash interjected. “All ponies earn their cutie marks at some point in their lives.”

“ Good observation Dash,” Chrono replied, “only one flaw, those were not real ponies, they were creatures made almost entirely out of malefic shadows. Similar to the changelings, there are hives; one is in the Everfree and at least one is here.”

“So what are these creatures called?” asked Rarity.

“Simple, they are The Blanks. and they are to be reckoned with.”

At that statement the Blanks seemed to utter a low murmur of acknowledgement before retreating back into the shadows, eager to tell their queen about the news: The Traitor is here.

“So what Twilight had said was true,” Obscura remarked. “Chrono is here and he has friends,” she turned to the creature next to her. “Well, so do I.”

The alicorn turned to the Blank laying prostrate before her. “Guess what. Since you brought this wonderful piece of information to me; I’ve decided to promote you,” she said darkly. “You get to help Astral here with her target practice.”

The Blank chittered as if saying a question.

“Why you of course.” Obscura responded.

The Blank froze in terror as the demonic, pony-like creature smiled wickedly, “I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun, Obscura,” Astral said deviously. “Well, I know I’ll have great fun.” She got up and glared at the Blank, which promptly scurried towards the target range.

“Your electrical capabilities are increasing nicely.” Obscura said.

“Am I ready to crush Chrono and the others yet?” asked an eager Astral.

“In due time,” the dark queen replied. “Just wait until the pink one gains her True Power. Until then, you must prepare.”

“I hope that happens soon,” Astral said as she started towards the target range. “I’m going to practice on more than just that one right?”

“Of course, Astral.”

“How many will I be able to kill?” Astral’s body was twitching in anticipation for the bloodshed that was coming soon.

“Three hundred ninety six, split into six groups of sixty six each, and that’s just the warm-up.”

“Not much of a warm-up, but it’s more than most times” Astral was already formulating ways to inflict the most pain to a single Blank. “What’s the assigned difficulty level?”

“Level seventy-two, past the threshold of contemporary survival.”

“Perfect.”

That morning the party of six ponies woke form a not-so-restful sleep. As everypony except Chrono tried to resist the temptation to fall back asleep, Chrono, who was used to getting a bare minimum of two hours of sleep, was wide awake.

“Come on, wake up everypony!” Chrono shouted to no avail. Suddenly, he was struck with some inspiration. Turning to a small, bare patch of ground, he started channeling.

“Muturo kaine setro garnot reqisam!” he quietly whispered as he drew a small, five-pointed star inside three circles of runes that covered the bare patch. When he finished, he touched the center of the star, slammed his hooves to his ears, and clamped his eyes shut in rapid succession. Almost immediately, there was an intense burst of light and an extremely loud bang.

Scared shitless from Chrono’s rank three flash-bang spell, the other five ponies either jumped twenty feet above the treeline or lashed out at the empty air around them. Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie performed the former, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack executed the latter.

“Glad to see you’re all up,” Chrono chuckled. “Ready for a new day?”

“What in the hay was that for?” demanded Applejack.

“I found out what happened to Twilight,” Chrono said, ignoring the question. “She was foalnapped the first night here.”

“Do you know where she is?” Rarity asked.

“Yes, though I’m afraid it’ll be some time before we get to where she is,” Chrono responded.

“Well, where is she?” Fluttershy asked.

“You see that tall mountain to the south?” Chrono asked, “Up there is an abandoned fortress. I believe that’s where we’ll find her.”

“How are we going to get there?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“We’re going to have to go through this thick glade,” Chrono said, indicating the forest to the south, the same forest where Twilight was taken. “Then we have to cross a wide river of lava somehow, and finally; we have to scale the mountain itself.

“It’ll be daunting, but it’s the only way to get Twilight back.”

Lightning crackled around Astral’s demonic form as she prepared to waste yet another Blank. Her green, slitted eyes narrowed as she focused on her next victim. “DIE!” she screamed as she launched chain lightning from her clawed hands. The Blank dodged almost a second too late, causing it to be thrown across the room from the force of the energy that brushed against its leg. Astral then lashed out behind her with one of her slender, whip-like tails, striking her true target and causing the unfortunate Blank behind her to be knocked off its hooves. Astral then leaped into the air, spun 180 degrees, obliterated the Blank with a clawed slash, landed clean and released a shockwave of static energy, vaporizing all Blanks in the immediate area.

“Next wave.” Obscura announced as she watched the macabre scene unfold before her.

Astral heard the notice and braced herself for the next swarm of living punching bags, her six tails twitching in anticipation.

A chittering buzz filled the air as the arena was flooded with Blanks. Astral simply smirked as she slammed her claws into the ground. Conductive darkness flowed outwards and forwards from her claws and coated the ground. When a sufficient area was covered, Astral let out a bellowing roar and electrified the shadows. Within seconds the entire wave was reduced to a small pile of smouldering flesh and darkness. Astral smiled as she turned to face her teacher.

“How was that piece of fine ass madness?” Astral asked.

Obscura couldn’t stop herself from laughing maniacally; it started as just a chuckle but quickly grew until she could barely hold herself up. “Oh, Astral you still have so much to learn,” she said once she regained control of herself. “You still have a lot of growth ahead of you before I can- I mean, before you can destroy Chrono and the others. Again, but this time at level eighty- no ninety-seven.”

“Alright,” Astral said, clearly disappointed. “Bring it on.”

“If you insist. Bring on the Mega.”

Astral had a sinister grin on her face as she got into her battle position. Her tails whipped back and forth with anticipation. The ground shook as the aptly named Mega lumbered into the arena. Standing at at least twice the size of a regular Blank, the Mega is considered the dreadnought of the Blanks. Compared to a regular Blank, the Mega is almost impervious to pain, and is twice as strong. But that didn’t stop Astral from launching her assault.

Astral lept into the air, pushed off the near wall and landed on the muzzle of the Blank staring into its empty, lifeless eyes. She roared and dug her claws right into the Blanks eye sockets, completely blinding the Mega. Roaring in pain, the Mega staggered backwards, swinging its head around, and tossing Astral off.

Landing clean, Astral released chain lightning from her clawed hands at the Blank’s legs, only to see the energy go straight through its body leaving it unharmed. The Blank let out a roar and charged blindly forward, barreling at Astral, only to have her sidestep out of the way. The Mega rammed its head into the reinforced cobblestone wall. Seeing on opening, Astral backflipped three or four times before sending a bolt of lightning at the Blank, aiming for the base of the tail. The Mega roared out in pain as the electricity surged through its body. It then stood up and melted into a shadowy miasma that quickly slithered behind Astral, who was blinded by her own lightning technique, silently coalescing behind her. It then let out a roar, startling Astral so much that she began to fall backwards. Astral took advantage of this and used her momentum to tuck and roll backwards between the legs of the Mega. She then flipped off of the back wall and landed on the Mega’s back. Letting out a warcry, Astral proceeded to ravage the vulnerable area with her claws, slicing and electrifying the fresh wound. The Mega let out a roar and dissipated right underneath her. Astral realized what was happening before it had done it and front flipped in response sending a surge of electricity from her tails, straight towards the fleeing shadow. On contact, the miasma exploded, flinging dark matter in all directions.

Astral smiled in victory as she heard a rumble as the matter merged back into the form of the Mega. “JUST DIE ALREADY!” Astral screamed as her body lifted from the ground, malefic energy surrounding her.

“Finally,” Obscura remarked. “Astral has reached her limits. The full extent of her power has surfaced. She. Is. Ready.”

Astral became empowered with the forces of hatred and anger itself. She drew her hands towards her chest as her body charged with the energy.

“Behold Astral’s darkmove: Malefic Tempest!”

Astral let loose a torrent of dark power from her claw-tips, the energy being absorbed by the atmosphere. Instantly, a swirling maelstrom of shadows appeared, the vortex centered around her. The shadows of the storm fused into sharp spikes that spun wildly around, damaging anything caught in their path. At the same time, dark lightning flashed madly around Astral, charring the ground. Once a bolt struck the Mega, twenty other jagged flashes pummeled the creature. The amount of collateral damage was astounding, but the damage was evident; the Mega fell in defeat, its body landing with a loud thud.

Obscura smiled as she watched Astral unleash hell on the Mega. “Soon, Chrono,” She said. “Soon you will die at my hoof.”