748 - Bitter Harvest
Twilight Sparkle was the last one to fall.
Tears fell from her eyes as she put her hooves to her throat, her lips moving in silent pleas that she couldn’t give voice to thanks to his suffocation spell. Or maybe she was castigating him for what he’d done. Lex didn’t particularly care either way, simply watching as her already-feeble struggles grew progressively weaker, the aura around her horn starting to sputter as whatever magic she was trying failed to alleviate her lack of air.
Then she was gone, one final shudder going through her as she collapsed and laid still, her eyes staring at nothing.
Lex waited for just a moment to confirm that she was dead, then glanced around, idly noting the damage he’d wrought as he waited for the next enemy to appear.
All around him, Canterlot Castle had been transformed into an abattoir. The bodies of the Royal Guards – having foolishly rushed to the defense of the princesses – now littered the throne room, where the fighting had eventually moved. Some were little more than blackened skeletons in scorched armor, while others lay in pools of their own blood, pierced through by his magic missile spell multiple times over. At least one was partially melted, having taken an acid shot directly to the face. None had been able to do more than distract him, dying for nothing except to give their princesses a momentary reprieve from the battle.
Even that had served only to delay the inevitable.
Luna’s corpse was still laying where the fallen pillar he’d knocked over had struck her, her chest completely caved in from the blow. The stupid nag had thought that his heat ray spell had been aimed at her, nimbly dodging around it only to realize too late that he’d been aiming behind her, taking out the colonnade’s upper and lower supports. Celestia had screamed a warning at her then, but it had served only to make the younger of the Royal Sisters twist her head around, giving her just enough time to see her doom before she was killed.
Celestia herself had fought fiercely, holding nothing back, but only at first. Once Lex had used one of her guards as a living shield, the struggling stallion having been blown apart by a magical blast meant for him, she’d become far more timid with her tactics. Given that Lex had then hit her with an enervation spell, she’d ceased to become any sort of serious threat. As a result, he’d easily maneuvered her into disadvantageous positions throughout the fight, until he’d finally been able to hit her with an icy prison spell.
Having entrapped the angelic warrior that Twilight had summoned during their duel, and very nearly held the green dragon that he’d fought outside of Tall Tale, the thick bands of ice had been more than enough to contain Equestria’s first alicorn. Only for a moment, of course; Celestia’s horn had started to glow with power as soon as she’d found herself trapped, clearly intent on blasting her way out. But Lex hadn’t given her the chance, hitting her with a spell of his own first.
The concussive force it had unleashed had shattered both the cocoon of ice and Celestia within it, breaking the frozen alicorn into pieces.
And now, with Twilight having been slain, there was no one left to kill.
Glancing back at the hallway the fight had traveled down, Lex could just make out the balcony where he’d slain his double. The pile of ashes that he’d reduced that corrupt copy of himself to were still there, as were the overturned table and chairs that were the only evidence of the twisted party he’d been having with the mares who should have been his worst enemies.
Everything I’ve gone through, all the trials and tribulations, growled Lex inwardly as he stared at the ruin he’d caused. All of it, meaningless! And he was CELEBRATING that!
His malice undiminished by the slaughter that he’d committed, Lex looked around for someone else to take his hatred out on. But there was nothing except corpses and debris around him now, leaving him seething as he was left with nothing but the unbearable truth about the utter pointlessness of everything he’d dedicated his life toward.
Pausing as Celestia’s throne caught his eyes, he stalked toward it with a snarl. Under other circumstances, he would have taken a moment to appreciate that it was his now, being the literal seat of power for Equestria’s ruler. But any satisfaction that might have brought him before was denied to him now, the symbolism seeming to mock everything he’d lost.
Instead, he stalked toward it furiously, intent on more violence. The ornate, high-backed chair was set into the ground, but Lex still had a smattering of dark magic left, the black crystals easily piercing through the throne’s legs. Grabbing it in his telekinesis, he hurled it down the steps that led to the elevated platform on which it had stood, watching as it clattered down them before coming to rest alongside Twilight’s body.
When the last echoes of the throne’s destruction fell away, Lex glanced around again, frowning at the distinct lack of approaching hooves. With the princesses and their defenders slain, the remaining ponies had either fled the castle or were in hiding. There was no one left to oppose him any longer.
He’d won.
Equestria was his.
But just like with the empty throne, that realization only made things worse.
Gnashing his teeth as he stalked down the stairs, Lex stepped over the bodies of the ponies he’d slain. There were still others who deserved death. Princess Cadance and her husband. The other Elements of Harmony. Starlight Glimmer. They and anyone who tried to aid them would all suffer and die.
If my life is nothing but meaninglessness and pain, decided Lex as he stalked through the castle, then I can at least kill everypony who’s made those things worse!
But he hadn’t gotten more than a few steps before the barbed wire around his left foreleg – which had been quiescent until now – suddenly began to writhe. Cutting bloody grooves into his foreleg, the pain earned nothing but a sneer from Lex, too used to the discomfort to be concerned by the Night Mare’s disapproval. It wasn’t as though he cared about what she wanted anym-
Without warning, the barbed wire lashed out.
His eyes widening in shock, Lex watched as the two ends of the ridged metal – its middle still coiling around his leg – shot out, stretching forward into the space in front of him...and pierced it, tearing through the air as though he were facing a backdrop that he hadn’t realized was present. Behind the rents in space that they tore was nothing but blackness as deep as pitch, and which only grew in size as the wires thrashed, tearing more space open to reveal the ebony void behind it.
Lex tried to back away, but the remaining wire around his foreleg left him no slack, and he couldn’t retreat. In fact, he realized a second later, the wire was pulling him toward the rent in space, even as the ends of it worked the tear larger!
With nothing to hold onto, and not enough dark magic left to turn himself into a shadow, Lex had no way to stop himself from being pulled inside.
“I must say, I was surprised when you proposed this idea.”
“Why’s that?” Akna didn’t look up at the Keeper as she spoke, knowing that it would have been futile. She didn’t know why the Shrine’s caretaker kept a sphere of absolute darkness around himself at all times, but even with the darkvision that her winter wolf form granted her, it was utterly impossible to see through. She still wondered exactly what sort of creature was under there from time to time – the fact that the Keeper was floating with no sound of flapping wings might have been a clue – but at the moment she had more important things on her mind.
Such as the stallion lying insensate in front of her.
Lying faceup, Lex’s eyes were closed, his breathing slow and steady, and his entire body was otherwise completely still. At a casual glance, he could easily have seemed like he was floating lazily in a body of tranquil water. But in this case, the “water” was the lusterless darkness that was the Confluence, which continued to undulate gently of its own accord, causing Lex to bob up and down on its surface.
Staying on all fours as she waited for her opportunity, Akna eyed each motion of the Confluence suspiciously, trying to determine if there was a pattern to how it was moving. The Night Mare was a goddess of order, among other things; it wouldn’t have been unusual for the Confluence’s motions to be governed by some sort of underlying principle. But if there was a reason for why it moved in the manner that it did, it was beyond her ability to discern.
She had asked, the first time she’d been down here, exactly what the Confluence was. It had taken the Keeper some time to explain; back then, she’d had no real understanding of the nature of gods or the otherworldly realms which they dwelt in. As it was now, she understood just enough to realize how little she understood, but at least she wasn’t completely ignorant of what she was looking at anymore.
The Shrine of the Starless Sky was a holy place, dedicated to the Night Mare. What that meant, as far as she’d been able to tell, was that it was saturated in the goddess’s power, her divinity having left an impression here that continued to resonate with regard to her. The Confluence, in turn, was where that energy was most strongly concentrated. So much so that, even though the Shrine was warded against being accessed from those “other planes” the Keeper had told her about, the Confluence was still a doorway to the Night Mare’s home...the place she and all of the goddess’s other worshipers would go when they died.
And while entering the Confluence, after the Keeper somehow stabilized and prepared it for the Rite of Sublimation, would allow someone to bathe their soul in the manifestation of the Night Mare’s power, it came with a risk. Anyone who wasn’t prepared to expose their innermost self to the full weight of what the goddess represented would throw off the delicate balance that the Keeper kept the Confluence in, their soul unable to fully align with her.
If that happened, then the Confluence would reject them, expelling their soul, but not back into their body. Instead, it would send it toward the greater concentration of the Night Mare’s essential nature: Darkest Night, where she made her home. The Keeper said it was a corrective measure, that the Confluence was sending them to closer proximity to the goddess so that they could better understand and revere her.
Akna thought otherwise. Having your soul go to the Night Mare’s realm was what happened after death, according to what she’d been told. That meant that failing the Rite of Sublimation resulted in punishment, sending your soul to the afterlife, and in turn making way for one of her more worthy servants to come back and take your body for their own. It didn’t have to be that way, of course; you could still prove that you deserved a second chance – much as she’d done, not only finding her way back to her body, but bringing the weapon known as Headhunter with her – but it was still a terrifying price to pay if you weren’t up the test of the Rite.
But then, that was what it meant to be a follower of the Night Mare. Greatness could not be claimed without exposing yourself to risk. Those who were afraid to try were unable to better themselves, being fit only to serve their superiors.
Of course, those who tried and failed were worthy of far less consideration.
Above her, the Keeper murmured a series of words in a language Akna didn’t understand. In response, the Confluence rippled slightly, then slowed down almost to a complete halt. Only the slight undulating of Lex’s body showed that it was still moving.
“When you left here before, the Rite completed and Headhunter in your grasp, you were convinced that you were about to lead your people into a new age of prosperity,” intoned the unseen master of the Shrine. “You claimed that you were going to strike down their ancient foes, unite them with their ancestral cousins, and bring them all to the Night Mare’s glory.”
“I would have, if Headhunter hadn’t abandoned me once the fighting was over!” snapped Akna, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “Without it there to scare off potential challengers, not to mention sway the heart of anyone I lent it to, I couldn’t challenge my tribe’s traditions! I’d have been killed and eaten if I’d tried!”
“If you could not succeed under your own power, it is little wonder you fell so readily under the sway of another,” chuckled the Keeper, his raspy voice interspersed with clicks. “When you returned just now, you were like a cur who had been whipped into obedience by your new master. Hence my surprise at your insistence that he will fail the Rite.”
“That pony isn’t my master!” Clenching her teeth, she felt her hackles rise as she glared at comatose unicorn in front of her. “I thought he was a sign from the Night Mare, sent to show me the way to greater power as a reward for my continuing to worship her in secret! Instead, he humiliated me! I was forced to reveal all my secrets, accompany him on his quest, and help fight his battles! All that after he and his mares killed someone I’d known since I was a child!”
“And yet he granted you great power, did he not?” mused the Keeper. “You yourself admitted that, under his command, your abilities were magnified many times over.”
Akna frowned at that, remembering how Lex had casually given her the ability to summon ten ice elementals, a feat that was right up there with Aselu’s slaying the legendary dragon Hvitdod. It had been heady almost to the point of intoxication, and for the first time she’d understood why Solvei – the winter wolf that Lex had so thoroughly tamed – had been so willing to call that pony her master. But aside from that...
“He will fail the Rite,” insisted Akna. “He might have earned Solvei’s loyalty in exchange for power, and his lover follows him willingly, but none of the other ponies do. They either despise him or are afraid of him.”
“Such things are also avenues to power,” replied the Keeper easily. “Whether they fear him or revere him, they still follow him.”
“It’s not the same! He’s doesn’t work to cultivate their obedience or earn their trust! He just shouts at them and makes displays of power to frighten them into compliance. He’s a thug, not a leader.” Huffing, Akna forced herself to calm down, concentrating on what was sure to happen soon. “Besides, with how badly Solvei’s death unhinged him, he’s half-mad anyway. And those mares made it sound like he was already losing his mind before I met him. He won’t be able to handle what the Rite puts him through.”
Left unspoken were the words “because I couldn’t.”
Inside the illusion she’d seen as part of the Rite, Akna’s test hadn’t ended once she’d slaughtered the yetis. Instead, when her tribe had seen that she’d become a winter wolf, they’d repudiated her, saying that she was tainted in spirit and calling for her death. Although she’d tried to quell their fears, telling them that she was the harbinger of a new age for them, they hadn’t listened.
It had been in a mixture of pure frustration and self-defense that, when they’d moved to devour her in hopes of cleansing her spirit, she’d killed them all.
In hindsight, it had been clear to her that she should have found another way to bring them to heel. That simply killing everyone who frustrated her wasn’t something the Night Mare wanted. She wasn’t a goddess of war or death, after all; her role was to lead others, not slaughter them.
Of course, she'd turned that into a victory, recovering her body and bringing back a powerful weapon besides. She’d made sure to tell the Keeper afterward that she’d done it deliberately, of course, and with the prize she’d retrieved he'd been in no position to say otherwise. Not to mention that she could still turn into a winter wolf at will, so she must have gotten at least part of the answer right.
But it still bothered her that she hadn’t known what to do during the last part of the rest.
She still relived that moment sometimes in her dreams, and each time she was likewise unable to come up with a better answer.
Shaking her head, she let out a slow breath. “He’ll fail the Rite,” she repeated. “And once he does, his spirit will be drawn to Darkest Night. At which point I’ll leap into the Confluence, follow him there, and retrieve another of the Night Mare’s sacred weapons.”
“A bold plan, if an ill-conceived one,” admitted the Keeper. “You do realize that, if you undertake this course of action, you will appear directly beside him in Our Lady of Darkness’ realm? I doubt the pony who mastered you once before will allow you to run free again so easily.”
“I’ll figure it out,” huffed Akna. “Just so long as I can find another of the Umbral Regalia and get back-”
She didn’t have a chance to finish as the Confluence suddenly started to churn, going from placid to turbulent in the span of a second. Above her, she heard the Keeper start to chant again, but she ignored it, locking her eyes onto Lex. Any moment now! she felt certain. Any moment!
A second later Lex sank out of sight, his body disappearing into the black substance of the Confluence.
The Keeper broke off his chanting. “It seems you were correct. Lex Legis has failed the Rite’s test, and his soul is now being drawn toward Darkest Night. If you still wish to go through with this-”
Akna didn’t wait for him to finish, leaping into the Confluence after Lex.
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Yeah that's what I expected when he began killing, Killing ponies go against all his moral codes and even if it's an illusion Lex should have gone into the trial as if everything was real. He didn't even try to look into the nightmare faith at all before going into an ritual he knows will be thematically linked to the goddess but I guess he didn't have time and a lot of deadlines. Now that I think about it the ritual is less an illusion and more of a simulation and while He is a behemoth of a pony in term of fighting skills he killed all of equestria heroes just like that that doesn't mean fighting is the answer to all problems.
Nightmare is going to be very unhappy with Lex for following the stories of his enemies and lessers without verifying and investigating, as in weak in being lead by the ose by those lesser than him?
Akna thinks she is claiming her next reward?
Oh dear.
Even if the Rite's trial was a mental one, Lex's victory in the 'fight' is still a terrifying one since it shows how much devastation Lex is capable of. Granted, like reclzexide stated, the ritual is more of a simulation, one with set conditions for either victory and failure and Lex has triggered the one for failure.
Still, I wonder if Lex's conclusion had been different, would it have affected the outcome or would it have simply dragged on until he came to the right one or wrong one?
One of the potential right ones I could think off the top of my head is for Lex to not kill anyone but to beat them into submission and force them to obey him. No better than slavery but if I remember correctly, the Night Mare's religion has no issue with it. Another less violent condition for finishing the Rite would be to use his mind and argue against the illusions' words since Lex does have a way with logic.
Shame that he wasn't in a good headspace at the time to consider it. Still, with him entering the Night Mare's realm, I wonder if Lex will encounter a few familiar faces there...well for those that actually have faces.
11341969 An excellent summary of where Lex almost certainly went wrong; which is to say, he basically went in with every disadvantage possible. In his defense, some of that was simply out of his hooves. He knows that Thermal Draft simply doesn't have much time left, and that he has a lot of enemies who're likely waiting for him to come out of hiding, not to mention the whole "psychic damage from Solvei's death" thing going on, but still...studying up on the tenets of the goddess who's rite you're undergoing is generally a good idea. And throwing away your guiding principles while undertaking a test from a goddess of order and control is....probably not a wise idea.
Needless to say, it was hard to see how Lex was ever going to pass this one. And while he's oftentimes pulled some spectacular victories from out of nowhere, this doesn't seem to be one of them.
The question now is what happens next (and how it will play into Spinner's prediction).
11342031 I suspect that his abandoning his principles in the face of harsh truths would be enough to earn the Night Mare's displeasure. Control goes right to the heart of her religion, as it's a core component of strength, i.e. control over yourself as well as control over others. In Lex's defense, he's been in a bad place for some time, and it's only been getting worse lately. In the Night Mare's defense, it's unlikely that any of that matters to her at all; you either rise to the occasion, or you fail.
11342148 Certainly, it's hard to see how Lex could have fouled this up more (though I suspect that admitting that his duplicate was right, and that he should renounce his ambitions and power-seeking, wouldn't have gone over so well either). Unfortunately, there's no way to be completely certain what the "win conditions" were; the Night Mare was quite happy to let Lex fail on his own with regard to setting up a congregation for her in Equestria, after all, despite that potentially delaying her getting access to that world. She doesn't compromise on her principles for the sake of expediency, in other words, and likely not for anything else either...perhaps there's a lesson in that?
Either way, if Akna doesn't have an answer as to where she went wrong (which, interestingly enough, she seems to have done in exactly the same way), then it's doubtful that Lex will be given an answer either. Maybe he should have forced the alicorns to bow down to him? Or perhaps he should have attacked them with logic and rational engagement, convincing them that it was in their own best interests to step aside and let him rule? Or told them why the Night Mare herself was the protector Equestria needed? It's hard to say, but clearly, the answer he went with was the wrong one.
If he gets back from Darkest Night, then maybe he'll be able to examine that in further detail, but that's putting the cart very much before the pony.