Twilily Saga: Past, Present, Or Damnation

by Lighttone GryphonStar

Chapter 16: The Weakness Of The Glare

<1,000 years after the defeat of Nightmare Moon>

A light purple mare ran through the bushes in secret. She didn’t want to be seen by anypony, but least of all by her target. She eventually stopped behind a bush near a table. She took a deep breath and waited until she heard the voice of her target.

Footsteps echoed from the other side of the bush. The light purple mare smiled as she grabbed out her binoculars. Quieting her breath, she slowly slipped the binoculars through the bushes.

She could see a lavender alicorn talking with the spirit of chaos. The light purple mare’s teeth gritted. “If only I had help from such powerful beings,” she whispered in anger.

Suddenly a piece of parchment tied to a rock fell from the sky and hit her in the head. She pulled back and fell slightly in annoyance and pain. “What was that?!” she yelled as she quickly grabbed her mouth to silence it.

She looked around for it and saw the parchment. She reached over and untied it from the rock and threw the rock to the side. “Hmm, Starswirl’s Spell…. Of Time Travel.” Her eyes widened at this as a planned formed in her mind.

She was so busy with the idea though that she didn’t notice the purple bird that landed in a tree above her. The purple bird stayed as quiet as possible as it watched her.

Once the light purple mare had her idea she left behind more bushes to escape being seen. As the mare left, the bird wiped its head of sweat. “That was a little too easy. Though I’m probably not as subtle as my mother or father. I just hope my sister will use this properly.”

“Oh she will little one,” a voice spoke up that shook the bird completely out of her tree.

She jumped around and twisted back and forth, trying to find the source of the voice. However, she stopped searching when she noticed that all the ponies and other creatures had stopped moving. “Time has stopped…. Great Grandfather?”

“Hello, Fairy Cage.” Realta appeared. “Why are you dressed like a bird?”

“Well, father and mother were too busy with other things to follow the plan like they wanted to. but they assured me that everything should go perfectly as long as Starlight doesn’t see me.”

“Well, I guess I can keep time in the area locked until you get far enough away.”

Her eyes widened at this. “Thank you, Great Grandfather?” On that, she bowed and took her leave.

Realta watched closely as she left. Soon he saw her meet up with a white bird that was just beyond the town. On that, he smiled, knowing she was in the clear now. He then looked to Starlight as time continued to stay frozen. “I’m sorry that you have to play a role in my battle against Redsting. I wish we had more time to use, but this moment is destined. Nothing can change this, no matter how hard we try. No matter what happens, you are the only one who can defeat him. All other choices are mere footnotes in this battle.”

******

<1,000 years earlier>

Cult Race approached Corruption slowly while keeping his eyes on him the entire time. With him in the time bubble, everything seemed in the clear, but if he had been at this range out of the time bubble, it would lead to more problems. He saw his chance and moved in for the kill.

He raised his hand upward in a fist and placed it upon Corruption’s chest. With very little pressure he stabbed his fist into the center of Corruption’s chest. He reached in deeply, twisting around until he had a full grasp of the heart.

With one quick pull, he ripped out King Heavonos’s Heart, leaving a gaping hole in its place. Cult Race looked over the heart while still having one eye on Corruption’s eyes. The heart looked so solid in its current form. He raised it to his nose and smelled it as the white blood of Corruption covered his arm. He didn’t think it would be this easy. He turned his hand to the side and let the heart fall out of the bubble as he got ready to end the spell, purely by blinking. However just as the heart left the bubble the hole regenerated.

Cult Race jumped back in shock as Corruption moved. “Impossible. You’re frozen in my time bubble.”

“Am I? Time has no hold over an Idea.”

“Impossible!” Cult Race argued as he suddenly found himself unable to move.

“If so, then how can I do this?” he walked toward Cult Race. “See what you failed to realize is these eyes are not just forged from the flesh of titans, but also infused with light and dark magic. They don’t just let me see any type of magic, they also let me reflect it. Combined with the fact the Glare needs direct eye contact, makes me completely immune to all versions of the spell.” At that Corruption lifted his upper left hand outward and placed it upon Cult Race’s chest. Suddenly he spoke in a strange language, “Obacovni Mulam Mungam Meger. Tigeder obacovni Ingam. Obacovni Inrefni Sucal. Oido, obacovni Oitatnet. Sitcefretni euqsius Romit, Satidipuc, Segnitiam, Aitirava, Aidivni, Aibrepus, Ari Sulod obacovni. The great push and pull, Left Hand of the Devil.”

As the time bubble broke Selena Moondie and Twilight covered their eyes as a bright light filled the area followed by an incredibly loud shockwave that filled the sky. It took only a few short moments for the sound to stop and the light to fade, but as they did, what Twilight and Selena Moondie saw made them wish it had ended faster.

Blue blood gushed out in spurts as the entire right half of Cult Race's body was gone. Just completely gone! Cult Race reached to them weakly with his remaining half as he fell. Selena Moondie looked at him from the sky as tears formed in her eyes. And yet Cult Race stayed just as emotionless as ever, in fact, his face and body seemed to completely unmoving as he crashed into the altar.

Selena Moondie charged toward Cult Race as Twilight yelled to Corruption, “How did you break the Glare?”

“The Glare is one of the most powerful spells of all, yet it is also one of the weakest when you know how to break it. There are many ways to do it, from killing the user to the victim ripping out their own eyes. But the easiest way is the make the user blink.”

“Then how did you break free of it?”

“I didn’t,” Corruptions raised one of his hands to his eyes, “My eye reflected it.“

“And once Cult Race was hit, the Glare broke like it did with me,” Twilight remembered as her eyes widened in horror.

“Which is why I used the devil’s hand spell.” Corruption held out his left upper arm.

“And what is that?” Twilight questioned.

“The spell I just hit him with is similar to the other great hand spells. However, unlike the other ones which bend space and time, this move infinitely bends the laws of push and pull. In other words, I just pushed the other half of his body to the other side of the planet, where it is most likely turning to ash as to his design given to him by my adopted son.”

Twilight looked down to Cult Race as Selena Moondie reached and pulled at his body. Cult Race seemed to not move at all and blood continued to spurt out. “Then why isn’t Cult Race regenerating?”

“That because unlike the previous versions of the great hand spells which take magic directly from the user, this hand spell took magic from everywhere else except the user.”

Twilight gritted her teeth. “You stole all of Cult Race’s magic!”

“Yes, without that he can’t even regenerate let alone maintain the Glare, but I am far from done.” Corruption raised his upper right hand to Cult Race and Selena Moondie. “This next spell shall remove all magic down below and use it to remove all the souls down there as well. The Eternal Spell.” At that, he spoke a new language that seemed to cause pain in everypony's ears. “Kaló ton Megálo Dimiourgó, ti Megáli Destroyer, ti Megáli Énarxi, kai ti Megáli Finale. Right Hand of God.”

Shooting forth from his hand was a clear completely invisible dome of strange magic. The dome slowly descended upon Cult Race, Selena Moondie, and even the whole pyramid. Twilight tried to rush toward him, but his other hands rose up and more mindless alicorns swarmed around Twilight blocking from moving.

Twilight looked toward Selena Moondie and yelled to her. “What are you doing? Run, damn it!”

Time seemed to slow around Selena Moondie as she held tightly onto Cult Race as tears filled her eyes. She didn’t want this to be the end. As she held him closer, Cult Race looked to her tears as they always confused him greatly. A final memory played through Cult Race’s mind as his eye weakened.

******

Nearly two thousand years ago in a cavern, a mare woke up naked with nothing but a small blanket covering her. She wondered what just happened? Why did it happen?

The mare sat up and looked at the stallion with wide eyes, as he sat leaning against the wall beside her. “Why did you do that Cult Race?”

“I don’t know Selena Moondie,” he answered.

“I told you I loved you, and you go right for defiling me. Why?”

“I don’t know!” he continued to answer with very little tone.

She grew in anger at his words. His passe attitude continued to make no sense. All they went through, from joining Sombra’s league of assassins to their missions for Emperor Grogar, in all of it she thought they were getting closer.

But then this happened, she told him her feeling and he raped her. Why?

“Why?” she hit at him.

He took the hit like nothing. He let her beat on him with her fist over and over. He didn’t show a single sign of anger, joy, or anything at all.

“I thought this is what you wanted.”

She stopped at his words. Why would she want this? What told him? “What made you think I wanted this?!” she yelled, “I’m only sixteen, and you’re no older! Can you not see the pain you caused?!”

He got up and walked a few feet away from her, “No I cannot.”

She stopped yelling at him at that point. She could see it his eyes. He was being truthful. This made no sense at all.

He was the first creature she had show true love for, and he gave it back to her in such form.

“Selena Moondie. When I gave you that name, you gave me mine. I would treasure you Selena Moondie always if I knew how.”

“I treasure you Cult Race. You are everything to me, but--”

“But yet I felt nothing to what I just did,” he interrupted her.

“What?” She looked in confusion. “What is wrong with you?!”

“I’m jealous.” This confused her more. “You can have so much emotion. We just killed your most hated enemy and her coltfriend not but five hours ago. You were filled with so much joy when you did that, yet I felt nothing at all, her coltfriend was the closest thing I had to a brother, and yet I still felt nothing.” His fist tightened, and yet there was still no emotion in his eyes. “I have killed millions and never showed a sign of joy, anger or sorrow.”

She was so taken back by this. He was so broken that he could not feel a thing for anypony at all. Nothing.

He turned away, and continued, “I gave you that because I thought I was what you desired. Remember I was raised by changelings. I wanted to see the emotion in you, something, anything.”

She grew in anger once more. At that moment she ran over and grabbed one of his bone knives from his clothes. She charged at him as he turned back around. He didn’t stop her as she stabbed him over and over. He took every hit, every stab. She let out all her anger onto him.

In the end, he still felt nothing. Finally, she stopped and fell into his arms. She was no longer angry. She was now weeping. He trembled at the tears as they fell upon him. She finally understood. He couldn’t feel anything, all he could do was react. She looked up at him, she could see it in his eyes.

“I’m sorry Cult Race, for the tears,” she calmed herself. “The sex was lovely,” she lied. She still loved him, but in the end, she knew now he could never possibly show his love back. He couldn’t feel a thing.

Suddenly something caught her eye. It was something shiny by the fire. She walked over and saw two strange looking chain blades. “What are these?”

“They’re your new weapons.” He walked over and put his arms around her arms as she picked up the weapons. “I ripped out the spines of your mortal enemy and her coltfriend and forged them in demonic metal. You got so much joy out of killing them. I thought--” she hummed as she leaned into his chest.

“They're lovely.” At that moment she remembered something. “Oh wait I had made something for you. I just forgot to give them to you.” She floated over a pair of gloves to him, left one red, the right one blue. “I was going to give them to you before… This happened.”

He looked upon them, with the same emotionless face as always. And yet she felt his trembling subsided. “Thank you.”

She decided from then what she would do. She would be his emotions. She would be his rage. She would be his sorrow. She would be his happiness. And most of all she would be his love.

******

For nearly two thousand years they spent in and out of relationships with each other. Through this, he was able to understand and fake joy, and even fake happiness. Yet as she held him dying in her arms, there was one emotion he could never fake.

He held his hand to her eyes, taking the tears onto his fingers. She looked at him with more tears as his eye fogged over. “Please don’t leave me Cult Race. We finally sealed our true love. You can’t just marry me and die.” As she cried as she shook him.

He pulled himself back strongly yet weakly and looked at her with trembling dry eyes, trying his best to understand it. “Tears…” His mouth forced open as blood poured from it.

Selena Moondie grabbed at his face holding him closer. “Please don’t push yourself…. You’ll die.”

“No.” he waved her hand away and placed her head near what remained of his. “It’s cruel.”

“What is?” Her eyes widened.

“That you can cry for me, but I can never cry for you.” He raised his hand to his face, to his eye. “I can’t cry for anypony at all. Not even…. Not even… for,” his words drifted, getting worse with each second as the blood flowing from him slowed and the fogging in his eye returned, “Not… even… for…”

Selena Moondie froze upon feeling the icy cold breath leave Cult Race. Her face being only of horror and shock yet unable to move at all or even hear as Twilight yelled to her through the crowding mindless alicorns as Corruption roared in victory.

“Now time to die--” However he was interrupted as something powerful crashed through the dome, shattering it. They all looked at the impossible. A samurai-like figure stood in the way of the battle. The figure was a light purple unicorn with a long purple and turquoise mane.

******

Author's Note:

Well, this was a strong yet short chapter. Yeah was very needed since Cult Race's powers always felt a bit OP. Now things are a bit more leveled out and explained about his powers. The next chapter is set to be posted on Monday, September 25th, at 1:00 pm central.

Though no title will be given away right because of spoilers. Though you probably have a good idea on who the mysterious figure is, right?