Where did you come from?

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 27: Drow

Every eye in the room locked on the dark mare as she looked between them, one eye cocked. “Such an interesting world you've arrived in, Valkala. Ponies were not something I'd have expected. Especially not ones so colorful.”

He didn't say anything, he just watched her. She could snap at any moment, he could feel it. He suspected the others could, too. They were all just watching her, tense. Even Claw hadn't moved and he'd half expected him to run in at any moment to try and lick his mother. He could hear light groans from Spike, but they were weak. He could even see a few ponies laying on the ground outside, the guards. They'd probably never stood a chance.

It wasn't surprising. She came in and instantly assessed the threats(the adults and dragon), wiping them out in a moment. The groans from Spike made him hope that she used non lethal force. Not that she wouldn't be trying to kill them, she just wouldn't have used her truly powerful magic on such creatures. He'd learned that the ponies here were actually quite durable, so they'd probably be fine.

Wait, no, his mother was staring down at him. They would not be fine. There would be no 'fine' after this. They were all going to die. Every single one of them. Except him. He'd only wish he was dead.

“What's a matter, son? Aren't you happy to see your mother?” She took a step forward, her eyes wandering about. “After all the work I came through to get you?”

Val slowly looked around. He needed a plan, an idea. She was going to kill all of them if he didn't do something. Why couldn't he think? This was the kind of thing she'd trained him for! Inevitable destruction unless he thought fast! This whole world would be... of course!

He smiled as confidently as he could... which was still more of a meek sad face, but still. “H-hello m-mother. Y-you've come at just the right time.” What was that word his sister had used? Those people she'd had? What was it? An entire army of servants! He knew his mother had one too, what was it?!

Ah hah! “What do you think of my harem?” Nailed it.

To his amazement, his mother actually stopped, that smile on her face wavering, just slightly. “Your... harem?”

Yes yes yes! It was working! “Y-yes. All of them are. My loyal subjects who I will use to conquer this land!” He was all too aware that most of them were slowly moving back from the mare, moving behind him. He didn't blame them. Though if they thought his mother would have any qualms about going through him to get to them, they were sorely mistaken. “Y-you see, the two ponies you knocked out w-were relatives of the royal family a-and counselors. The dragon was the direct servant of the prin-- queen of this castle. A-all of them are... are my subjects, s-submitting to my w-will while I slowly take over this land. G-giving me valuable information d-during my conquests.”

His mother moved around the table, slowly. His friends quickly backed away. He looked up at his mother. Did she buy it? Did she believe him?

Her hoof lashed out, slamming down on his hoof with enough force he felt the bone snap. He let out a scream before the second blow hit him across the face, knocking him skidding across the ground. “You should know better than to lie to your mother,” she said, her voice devoid of mercy.

Val laid on the ground, clutching his broken hoof as he quivered with pain. Why why why?

“RAWR!” Claw screamed before lunging at his mother. She frowned and looked to him, her horn glowing. Black orbs of darkness shot out and smashed against the dragon.

They glanced off his scales, making her eyes widen slightly. His claws caught her against the chest, barely glazing and drawing a hint of blood. She took a step back. “Damn dragons,” she muttered. Her horn glowed and suddenly the ground reached up, wrapping around the dragon-pony and sucking him underground, so just his head remained above. He wiggled and struggled, but she just gazed down in contempt. She then looked to her sobbing child. “These pathetic creatures have stopped you from returning? I knew you were weak, Valkala, but I never suspected you'd be such a failure.”

The colt sobbed, hugging his hoof as he stared up at her. Even Claw had been crushed in seconds. The guards were gone. The princess wasn't here. There was no surviving this. There was no--

His mom got hit in the face with a book, stumbling back. “What in the--” Then three more books to the side of the head. “You little ba-- YIPE!” A fourth book, hard cover, slammed right between her legs. She faltered slightly, her eyes scanning the room for her attacker.

A white unicorn stared at her from across the room, from behind one of the book cases. “You... stupid... fool.” She moved to the right, avoiding the next book as her horn glowed. A beam of red magic shot out and the mare barely blocked it with a book, which disintegrated to ash.

Precious jumped to the right, barely evading as a second spell sent the book case toppling down where she had stood. She then jumped to the left, narrowly avoiding another disintegration beam. She tossed a few more books, but they were easily avoided.

Val's mother chuckled softly as she moved to the right, her horn flaring red. “I will grant you that your abilities of avoidance are impressive, but your attacks are pathetic.” She sent out a small ball of red at the mare. She frowned as Precious seemed to have reacted instantly to gallop and leap away.

No, not instantly. As the fireball erupted, taking out part of the book shelves, she swore the mare had already been moving before she'd cast the spell. Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Interesting,” the dark mare said with a grin. “It seems you have Lakshima's talent. Quite useful...”

Precious got up, cringing as her flank was slightly singed from the blast.

“But without skill in actual combat use, it is but a minor distra--”

One of the windows behind her shattered and she turned in time to see the yellow blur streak at her. Her horn glowed, but it was too slow and she was unable to stop the blur from slamming into her. The pony moved in a whirlwind of hooves, sending her toppling back as its hooves connected three times with her face. Her horn glowed and she teleported across the room, panting lightly.

A little yellow pegasus and a white unicorn. She then frowned as she noticed the little purple dragon had gotten up as well. Why was he writing a note? Ugh, no matter. She drew her attention towards the other two. Her horn glowed.

“Flash, go up!” Precious yelled before she dove to the right. The pegasus flew up, moments before a cage of black wrapped around where the two had been.

The dark mare growled as she looked between them. Very well. There were ways to deal with such... things. Her horn glowed and she grinned. She watched with delight as the look of fear showed on Precious' face. The realization that there would be no avoiding this. The two magic missiles shot out, wrapped in fel magic, and hit both. She grinned as a second and then a third batch of the dark orbs lanced out, striking the ponies. Both collapsed to the ground in heaps. She then cast one more, directing it at the little dragon who was slowly getting to his feet. He dropped like a lump, though two of the orbs fizzled off his scales.

She panted softly, eying the two. Such pathetic, useless creatures. Taking her by surprise like that had been quite the feat, but he had been too small and weak to do anything about it. The other had next to no experience with actual fighting, her... advantage would have made her quite the adversary otherwise. She then realized the little dragon pony was yelling something at her, baring his fangs and his eyes narrow slits. Her horn glowed and the ground moved up, covering his mouth and gagging him.

She looked to the children and rolled her eyes. “Val, cease your whimpering or I'll break something else,” she said firmly, stomping a hoof down. The child sobbed a little, cradling his hurt hoof. Her horn glowed and wrapped it in her magic, before lifting him up by it. Fresh screams tore from his mouth before he was dropped onto the table. “I told you to cease your whimpering.”

He sobbed softly, tears in his eyes as he held his hoof. “H-hate you...” he whispered softly.

“Of course. Now, Valkala, it's time we go home.” Her eyes turned towards the foals. “After the harvest, however. Pegasi wings and unicorn horns are just... so useful as reagents.”

“I HATE YOU!” Val screamed, his horn glowing as black orbs formed on his horn. “LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!” They shot out and glanced off her body, dissipating off her shield spell.

She frowned and her horn glowed again. A black beam of darkness shot out, enveloping the child. Fresh screams filled the air before he collapsed on the table, panting hard. His mother just stared down with indifference. “Pathetic child. You have grown... stupid in our absence. Forgotten to fear me. I will have to... reteach you when we return home.”

He quivered, barely able to move. He looked up at her with anger, none the less. “D-don't... don't hurt them. They... they...” He closed his eyes and fell back. “I-I'll... I'll kill you. I swear I'll kill you. I-I don't care if it takes a-a dozen years, or a hundred, o-or a millennia. O-one day I'll... I'll find a way. I'll catch you vulnerable... and I'll strike.”

She went deathly still. “Truly... Valkala? You would do that to your own mother?”

“I will...”

“Very well.” A grin formed along her face and his heart chilled. “Such a threat cannot go unanswered, even from one's child. I suppose I'll just have to kill you myself.” Her horn glowed and a beam shot out again, engulfing him. As the children watched, he spasmed a few times before, slowly, a white, misty version of him slowly seemed to rise from his body. Then this ghostly version let out a scream before being sucked into the necklace around her throat. “Even if your magic is weak, the souls of ones family are... often quite powerful as sacrifices. A shame tradition dictates we can so rarely use them. Now, how to deal with the rest of you.” Her eyes wandered over the cowering children.

“So many unicorns...” she said with a sigh. “The magic in this land must be great. If only I had the time to properly... harvest all of you. But, I suppose this land seems to have quite a few. It will be an interesting task, draining it of all its resources.”

“You... did you... kill Val?” Silverbelle asked softly.

“Valkala? Oh... indeed,” the mare said with a chuckle. “A child who doesn't obey their parents doesn't deserve to live. His body is alive now, but it will pass on before long.” Her eyes widened with amusement. “Why, children? Do you wish to fight me for the return of his soul?” She moved closer, smiling at the looks of fear on their faces. “If you defeat me, all you have to do is break the gem around my throat and he'll be saved. Why don't you give it a try?”

Silverbelle opened her mouth, but the look in the mare's eyes made her freeze. There was no kindness or mercy in them. There was just a murderous desire to hurt and kill. To destroy. The thrill of crushing them into the ground. Just the sight of it made her entire body quiver with fear. Her horn flickered lightly, but it merely sparkled a few times before going out. She was too terrified to oppose the mare. They all were.

“No? Come on, children. It'll be fun,” she said before giving a soft, cold laugh. “Tearing you apart would be quite relaxing. But if you are really so weak as to... not even stand against me...” Her horn glowed. “I suppose I shall just kill you. This will be more than sufficient.” Black orbs of darkness shot out, arcing at the fillies.

They smashed against a purple barrier, fizzling out. The barrier disappeared a moment later and the ponies looked back to see Twilight, standing behind them with her wings out and panting lightly. Her eyes were narrowed on the mare. “Who are you?” Her eyes wandered over the fallen ponies. She couldn't tell if any of them had died, but by the heavens she hoped they hadn't.

“Oh? This is new. Some kind of... pegasus unicorn hybrid? I wonder what magic I will make from your remains?” the mare asked before flipping her head back and readying her spell.

Twilight was instantly in front of her, teleporting as her horn glowed. The mare's eyes widened and she tried to step back, but she was too slow. The alicorn's magic gripped and tossed her back, flinging her through the wall of the library.

The mare gasped in pain, her eyes wide as she landed on her back, surrounded by debris. H-how had that... thing moved so fast? Two spells in such rapid succession? She thought--

Then Twilight was in front of her again. The unicorn's horn glowed and she sent out a beam of dark magic, trying to get her before she was struck again. The alicorn's horn glowed and a purple bubble surrounded her, catching the spell. “Your draining magic won't work on me. I've had plenty of time to study it,” she said firmly. “I take it you must be Val's mother.”

The unicorn growled. The mare was powerful, but there was no murderous edge to her voice. She didn't want to kill, she didn't have the fighter's spirit. Well, then unfortunately for her, there would be no way to win this battle. Her horn glowed and she sent a plume of flame at the mare, but again the shield formed, blocking and dispersing it. There were screams from around them as other ponies fled, but it was no matter to either of them.

The unicorn took a step back. Her raw magical might wasn't enough. That shield was just... too strong against her magic. The mare must have been studying for quite a while on how to counter her and Val's magic. A shame the little sorcerer took after her so well, even if he was weak. She grinned as her horn glowed once more. But the shield was probably only designed against her magic. Her body started to grow, her head slowly rising up into the air as more and more things began to shrink on the ground.

Twilight stared in horror as the unicorn's body got larger, slowly growing to the size of a house, yet it didn't stop there. Her hooves turned to massive paws and her black body turned a clear purple. And yet she kept on growing. Bigger and bigger. Higher and higher. Towering over them all. Soon the mare stood above even the castle. An ursa major, its massive claws brandishing their sharp nails at her. Twilight gulped nervously. This... was not something she'd expected.

The unicorn struggled to regain herself. She had intended to take the form of a great, powerful demon. Instead she'd taken the form of... whatever this was. She could still feel great power within it, not to mention great size. But that was it. She had little idea how it worked. She'd taken the form of a bear before, of course. But this was different. It was bigger, for one. She just needed a few seconds to adjust, that was all. Then she could--

Hey, there's a princess.

A blast of magic sent the bear toppling over backwards, its massive size crashing into the ground and cracking the street where it landed. For a few moments it was dazed but, slowly, it shook its head. A second blow struck it in the torso and, to its surprise, it barely hurt.

Internally, she grinned. This... winged and horned pony was powerful. But against this form, she was useless. She only seemed to have a few offensive spells at her disposal. Beams and throwing. Already the way to use this form was filling her mind and she reached out, trying to snap the pony from the air. She teleported out of reach, but the bear rolled over and quickly jumped onto all fours.

Twilight stared at the bear and gulped nervously. There had to be some way to beat it. But she couldn't just beat it down, she didn't have the power for that. She needed to trap it. Contain it. Some way to stop the mare from turning into it again if she got her out of it. She needed... internally she grinned before her horn glowed and she sent another beam of magic at the creature. She knew exactly what she needed to do. It let out a roar and then charged after her.

Plan or not, that was still a monolithic sized bear running at her and she couldn't shake the fear as she turned tail and ran, shrieking in the most undignified manner. “AHHHHHHH!” It bumped the castle as it went, tearing off a few of the rooms, but its focus was still on her. It chased her out of the town. How did the mare even DO that? She'd seen transformation magic before, but nothing to that extent! Turning into... it wasn't scientifically plausible! Where did the mass come from? Would Val learn a spell like that? Was it similar to Spike's growth spurts? Maybe the pony absorbed the magic from the air to supplement the form? Perhaps she could study Val's spells of such once--

Okay, no no. Now was NOT the time to be focusing on study, now was the time to run for her life. A shadow fell over her and she barely teleported in time to avoid being crushed. The bear growled and kept running, making the ground shake with every step. It was a lot faster than her, she was quickly finding. She was forced to teleport ever few steps to stay ahead of it now, and even then she was only barely avoiding being stepped on as the thing raced after her, full pelt. Worst of all, it was getting faster. Fortunately, her destination wasn't far. She smiled as the reservoir came within sight. She didn't have to outrun it forever. She had a plan.

In retrospect, it wasn't a very good plan. But then, in retrospect she hadn't been expecting to have to fight an ursa major today. In fact, she could have gone her whole LIFE without fighting an ursa major. It--

A hoof crushed down on her and she barely teleported away, the paw nearly crushing her as she went. She raced up the hill, the dam within sight. The terrain leading up to it was rocky and shifting, forcing the bear to slow down and giving her a little breathing room. The dam was huge, bigger even than the bear. She spread her wings and took off full pelt, using a burst of magic to send her racing up it. The bear roared and snapped, but she managed to avoid its teeth and fly up. It stopped, staring up at her as she made her way up the dam.

Then she heard a loud roar, before the ground shook again. She looked down and saw it dig its massive claws into the dirt and rock, climbing up the cliff towards the dam. Okay, all going according to plan and hopefully it would stay that way. She teleported to the top of the dam and grinned. Huh, she thought it would be louder when it climbed, but no matter.

Yeah, she could do this, she--

Her lines of thought were cut short by a massive paw coming down and slamming her into the ground. Her head spun as the paw lifted up a second time. How had it gotten up so fast? It was massive, it couldn't--

HOLY BUCK WHY WAS IT FLYING?

Twilight teleported away, barely avoiding another crushing blow and stared up at the now flying massive bear. That wasn't fair. Ursa majors couldn't fly! Well, at least not normally they couldn't. But this was-- ack! She turned and raced again, barely avoiding another claw, this time the razor edges coming so close she could hear them cutting the air.

Buck buck buck. It didn't matter though, it might even make it better. Maybe. Hopefully. Ohhhh she hoped so. The dam held millions of gallons of water, enough to submerge the bear a dozen times over. But she didn't need to do that. She just needed enough for the pony. She flew over it and behind her, she could hear the bear flying along as well. What kind of magic even allowed that? Did it have great, invisible wings? How did it cast magic when in such a form?

“Hey, drow pony!” she called back, grinning. “I've heard a lot about you drow! Living under ground and all. Tell me, did you ever learn to swim?” She turned around in mid air and then flew at the bear. It skidded along on the air for a moment, trying to swing its claws at her, but she dove under its stomach. A smile spread across her lips as her horn glowed. Last time it hadn't had any real effect, but she had been a lot weaker then and it had been against Discord's magic. How would it affect this drows?

A wave of magical energy flew out through the air, enveloping everything in its purple glow. For a moment, the bear just stood there, staring in confusion.

Then it fell from the air, its body shrinking down. Twilight grinned as her wings flapped and she watched the magical spells the mare had cast disappearing. “Yes! My fail-safe spell didn't fail!” Ha, she KNEW having that spell would come in handy one day. Resetting the mare's magic like that was just perfect.

The mare splashed down before she finished transforming back and Twilight watched, nervously. Would she come out even bigger? Or something worse? Would the princess have to save her? That was a lot of water. Maybe she should have tried the lake? But it might not have been deep enough if the bear had fallen in first.

To her delight, the pony came up a few moments later, flailing about wildly as she struggled to keep above. Her horn flickered occasionally, but she was too busy focusing on swimming to cast any magic. Twilight watched for a few moments before smiling, enveloping the mare in a bubble, along with quite a bit of water.

“One chance, drow,” Twilight said firmly, glaring down at her. “Surrender, or you can see how long you can swim.”

The unicorn growled, but slowly her head lowered. “You... have bested me, pony. I surrender.”

Twilight grinned and let out a sigh of relief. She'd done it. They won. She picked up the pony in her magic and glided towards the shore, hauling the mare behind her. She landed on it, before depositing the mare as well. They'd won, finally. “Good. Now, the princesses will be--”

The alicorn let out a pained gasp as the unicorn turned and impaled her with her horn. It only caught her in the withers, but the black horn dug deep. Then glowed as black magic flowed through it, tearing through Twilight's body. She could feel the magic cutting into her, tearing through her very essence. It felt as if it was cutting through her very soul.

But why? She'd won! The mare had surrendered. Given up! This wasn't... fair. A second spell went through her and she could barely focus enough to teleport away. The wound wasn't deep, but whatever magic the unicorn had cast still hurt. She could feel it through every fiber of her being. She felt weaker. Slower. Even her magic didn't feel as strong. The unicorn thrust her head forward once again and Twilight tried to bring up her barrier spell again. Except it didn't form. The black spell struck her again, and again, driving her back and tearing through her. She gasped and wheezed, her body feeling... weak. So very weak. It was as if that spell was draining her very life, her very knowledge from her body. Her magic.

“So pathetic,” the mare said with a grin. “Your magic is strong, I will acknowledge. That mass dispell spell? Quite... unexpected. To imagine it was strong enough to affect me. Were you a drow, you would easily have the power to rule a clan.” She stepped closer. “But you're not a drow. You're not even a fighter. You should have finished me when you had the chance. Instead you assume a surrender is enough to keep you safe?” She shot out another black ray of light. Twilight tried to teleport away, but her horn merely flickered. What was this magic? It was like Val's spell except... so much worse.

“To think I would come across this world's greatest defender so quickly. And to think her such a fool.” She stood over the trembling alicorn, gazing down with contempt. “You should always finish your enemies when you can. Giving them a chance to fight back is just--”

A wall of fire erupted between them, forcing the mare to back up. Who? What? Where was--

Two winged unicorns descended from above, one black and one white. Their manes flowed with magic, the white's like a rainbow and the black's like the night sky. Flames enveloped the horn of the white one and the two landed between her and the purple winged pony.

The unicorn readied herself to say something, anything, but found herself stopping. She took a slow step back as she looked between the two. Both were large, far larger than the ponies she'd seen before. Yet still far smaller than many creatures she'd seen and slain before.

But they didn't feel smaller.

They were just horses. Winged, magical horses. Like the one she'd already almost slain.

Yet she found herself shaking. Her horn glowed, a simple spell. There was no way she could--

She let out a startled cry and took another step back, then a few more. Even as the lake water sloshed at her hooves, she didn't care. She detected their magic and it... was over whelming. It was the power of a god. Or if not that, as near as anything she had ever felt to one. The purple pony had likely been strong as well, but this was... this was different. So very, very different. Her hooves shook. She tried to stop them, to ignore them, but she couldn't. She tried to raise her horn and cast a spell, but she couldn't.

She was scared. No, not scared. Terrified. It felt like she was gazing upon the sun and the moon themselves. She could feel it, their great magic was still restrained. There were limits on it, but they--

Her eyes widened and she fell to her knees. She knew what they were. Avatars. The gods given flesh. But... but how? Why? In this land? It couldn't... be. She had to fight them. To destroy them. But... how?

“Twilight?” Celestia asked, turning back to face the mare. She slowly reached down to put a hoof on her shoulder. “What happened?”

“Her... magic,” the mare whispered. “It's... different. So different from what we're used to,” she said with a smile. “I... I think I know how it works, though. I'll be fine. D-don't turn your back on her. I don't think she'll...”

“Worry not,” Luna said before getting to her hooves and slowly walked to the mare. Her horn glowed as she came closer, the unicorn's eyes getting bigger and bigger.

Then instantly they closed and the mare collapsed. The princess of the night smiled as she gently lifted the mare into the air. “I do believe you were right in asking for our assistance,” the princess said. Slowly a small, metal disk flew out from behind her wing and attached to the unicorn's horn.

Twilight nodded before slowly getting to her hooves, nearly stumbling as well. “We... need to get back to the others. T-they're... hurt. All of them. Need to... help them,” she said softly, though she struggled to breath.

Celestia stared down at the purple mare before her horn glowed and, gently, she lifted the mare up and deposited her on her back. “I will carry you. I am sorry for our late arrival. However, when you teleport off at such great speeds it is quite difficult to keep up with you, student.”

Twilight chuckled. “Sorry. I knew you'd catch up, though. Happy you were able to find me.”

“It is quite difficult to miss an ursa major rampaging. Especially a flying one,” Luna said dryly.

“We thought you had it handled,” Celestia said with a sigh. “We should have stepped in sooner.”

“I-it was my fault. She said she surrendered and... I-I thought she meant it,” Twilight said with a cringe. “I... underestimated her. We need to hurry, though. The others are waiting.”

Slowly, the princesses nodded and spread their wings, taking to the sky.

Comments

[RazDelacroix]

Yes. Yes. YESYESYESYESYESYES! TEACH THAT BLEEPING DROW TO FEAR!

[Hillbe]

How do my sisters nightmares taste drow are they bitter and spiced with your end?
I'm next for Claw & Spikey
I'm after bleeping Rarity
I'm bleeping Sorry
Dude that was a bleeping lead piano
bleeping drow cupcakes anypony?
Roasted bleeping drow?
you hurt bleeping Twilight
She's toast Angel Bunny's commin ya better off just dying
Oh crap it's those bleeping singing flowers!

img00.deviantart.net/ba1f/i/2014/341/d/8/spikey_thinking_by_hillbe-d890px4.jpg

[Kage no Brony]

Don't expect that inhibitor to matter, Celestia! Finish her while she's helpless! Better yet, rescue Val's soul without destroying the pendant, then seal his mother's soul in it.

Then give it to an elder Dragon for safekeeping.