Cutiemark Crusaders 10k: The fourth deity

by The Psychopath

To the black eyes

Abstract and Iviesta had already left their training grounds in front of the city to get to the overgrown Everfree. In the distance, Abstract could see many rotting corpses of demons and shattered fragments of crystal ponies. While he casually on and through the 'aftermath', Iviesta avoided them. She was disgusted.

"Ew!" she exclaimed. "How can you walk on those things? That's nasty!"

Abstract paid no heed to her comments and continued unabated. Along the ground was a large 'sheet' of darkness that, upon closer inspection, was inching forward little by little. The crystallion started absorbing the darkness as he moved forward, shrinking the sheet at the same speed s it had been expanding.

"Not pure enough," he complained. "As I suspected, we must enter the forest."

"What's in a forest?" Iviesta asked almost immediately.

"You will see for yourself."

While Equestria wasn't exactly the most 'illuminated' of places, the dark forest was something else entirely. It was as though light have never existed in the first place, and to most ponies, this would be terrifying, let alone something they would be able to navigate through. Were Abstract and Iviesta not beings that had been originally born in the darkness under the lands, they would have been no better off than the ponies. Instead, Abstract's vision was perfectly attuned to the unending black, while Celestia's former magic was coming in as a type of 'flashlight' for the crystallion mare's eyes which were only attuned to the bright lights of the city.

Their trek through the trees came as dull and quiet to Iviesta. Abstract was finding pockets of collected dark energies that showed as balls of swirling darkness around certain objects such as mushrooms, rocks, and wood.

"I can make do with this residue for now. It is rich enough in the essence of the fallen one who lives here," Abstract said. He turned to face his daughter lying down on the ground, visibly bored. "Continue looking for more traces of these," He held up a rock surrounded by a swirling mist of black tendrils. "and bring them to me."

"But this is so boooooooooooring!" she whined. "Why can't we do more interesting things, like fighting those demons you talked about while you were making me."

"Because you can't even control your magic. You would not last against a whole battalion of demons with your current skills. Additionally, because of your recent 'birth', the magic I gathered for you has not yet settled in. Are you finished with your complaints?" The crystallion's eyes flared with aggravation.

"Well...why are we doing this?" Iviesta's voice trailed upwards as she grew more and more uncomfortable.

"If this goes as planned, then you might acquire a sibling." The crystallion stared longly at another pool of dark energy, but swatted it aside. "As long as they are of quality to me."

"A sister?!" Iviesta cheered.

Abstract looked away. The crystallion mare clapped her hooves eagerly and started charging through the forest, grabbing everything she could along the way. While it didn't bother Abstract that his daughter was quite literally uprooting trees and throwing stones left and right, the current ruler of the forest didn't see such a thing with a good eye.

"YOU!" Luna yelled out.

The darkness enveloping the tree tops swirled and changed into the colors of Nightmare Luna's enraged face.

"How DARE you come back!" she yelled.

Iviesta pointed at the face and yelled as loud as she could for Abstract to hear. "Hey look! Funny face!" she chuckled.

Abstract looked at the manifestation and, with some will power, started absorbing it into his body, silencing Luna if only for a moment. She quickly reformed in front of Iviesta, startling the crystallion mare.

"You did that just to silence me, didn't you?"

"I care not what you say, pony," Abstract explained. "Your manifestation contained a purer form of your magic essence. I took it for my own purpose."

Luna face became one of disgust. "What are you talking about? You're stealing my magic?"

"I'm reappropriating what now belongs to me. You are but a free source of it, much like water."

"You're...you're suggesting I'm just some natural resource for you to plunder?!"

"Yes," Abstract responded dryly.

Luna was absolutely furious, yet she said nothing. Instead, loud thumping occurred within the forest, shaking the trees of their leaves and the land of its soil and grass. Two massive claws parted trees to face the crystallions. It was a monstrous, black praying mantis with deep-purple outlines, mutated by the darkness and thrumming with power.

It spat a sticky, acidic substance at Iviesta who dodge by pushing herself on a foreleg and jumping forward, kicking the beast in its face and using said area as a platform to jump that much closer to Abstract. It took a swing of its arms at her and missed. The mare had ducked and rolled out of the way, finally reaching her father after that extra bit of running. It didn't much effort for Abstract to manipulate the 'black light' around the creature, creating a dimly glowing ring the latched all around it, compressing it into a cube that Abstract was more than happy to drain.

"You killed it!" Luna spoke with muffled anger.

"Yes. And? This comes as a surprise to you? You sent a mutated insect to attack me. Surely you didn't expect that to harm me?"

"I didn't send anything after you."

"Then what was your silence when this...thing came after my daughter?"

"Daughter?!" Luna lost her composure. "I just noticed now, but why is she filled with my sister's magic? What have you done to her?!"

"Answer my question and I will answer yours...if the answer I was given satisfies my interest."

Luna reluctantly gave in to the demand. "They're attuned to me, and they're still inhabitants of the forest. They'll go towards anything I deem to be a threat."

Abstract's eyes dimmed for a moment at those words. "I drained your sister's magic by tapping into her soul and delving into the heart that mocks my people's magic. Her stubborness and pride had her come back to me, wishing to make war. I removed what little was left and destroyed the curse upon her. Unfortunately, that freed her. An unintentional consequence. I attempted to kill her then and there, but Scootaloo impeded my work. A shame."

Luna felt a mixture of emotions, not few of which were surprise, confusion, and anger, and satisfaction. The last coming from Scootaloo who still upheld her way of helping everypony she could.

"So, my sister is free?"

"Mentally. For one the ponies appeared to have been fond of, she was quite weak willed." The cloud in Abstract wriggled while he absorbed more darkness. "Then again, she was just a pony. She is imprisoned in the dungeons, much to my dismay. She needed to be disposed of."

"She might have been acting like a monster, but that was Sombra's fault! You didn't need to kill her for those actions."

Abstract's eyes shone with a great intensity that managed to illuminate the area around him. Even his voice became harsher. "I do not care whether she was under his control or not. She was a foe I needed to dispose of. She nearly cost me my life when I emerged from my slumber after working my powers and my plans for ten thousand years." He spun around and stomped the ground angrily. "Filthy non-crystallions. You are all a bane to this world that would have see fit to exist under the rule of my kind. Instead, you killed us all, and you almost did the same thing here." Abstract remained silent while Iviesta tossed more dark magic laced items at him. "But that is not what disgusts me about pony kind. About your weakness."

"Then what is, Abstract the Dark? What disgusts one who was capable of reversing a curse that nopony has been capable of since the Crystal Kingdom fell victim to Sombra's unexpected and sudden return?"

The crystallion did not answer. Instead, he absorbed the second manifestation, called Iviesta, and left. Perhaps it was for the best, as monsters had been agglomerating around the two. Perhaps Abstract knew and that's why he left. Perhaps he didn't care and was already planning to leave. Whatever the case, he left with his daughter hopping joyfully next to him, leaving Nightmare Luna to muse upon the events transpiring here.

"Perhaps I should pay dear Scootaloo a visit in her dreams," Luna wondered. "I wouldn't harm or scare anypony that way. I must ask her about this crystal...thing. Perhaps I was too...quick to dismiss it as a simple threat."

Comments

[ChazMLPFIM]

Nice not bad.

[Starlight Nova]

This is an Equestria that took a different turn when Discord was released. The mane 6 were corrupted by chaos and were defeated. Without them, Cadance and Shining Armor had no chance at defeating the returning King Sombra and became his obedient crystal ponies; Shining being his 'avatar'. And Luna. Poor Luna. Her sister lost to the new king, Luna found herself succumbing to an ancient memory.

And where is Chrysalis in all of this?

[The Psychopath]

8273334
She's chillin', relaxin', maxin' all cool. Just shootin' some pupas inside of the city walls.

I was actually planning on writing about her and her successor Pupa in the next chapter (Pupa being mine).

[ChazMLPFIM]

8273376
I wonder what Chrysalis doing?, helping the cutie mark crusaders I guess.