The Tale of Coltypt

by Rakoon1

The Tenth Plague - The Death of the First Born

The Lord of Order was sitting on his throne, as he watched Coltypt plunged into darkness. After observing, he said:

"It's been three days since the plague of darkness has reached Coltypt. I believe that’s enough."

And he passed his hand over the mirror and then the fire and the light came back to Coltypt, although the sky kept dark, as they were in the middle of the night.

"However, I have the impression that Khonsu will continue to be stubborn" the Lord of Order continued. "If that happens, then I have no choice. I will be launching the final plague. With this plague, it is certain that he will bow before me."

The Lord of Order snapped his fingers and an explosion of light appeared nearby. From this light, appeared a pale yellow star seed. From this star seed, a voice was heard, a voice that only the Lord of Order understood.

"Hello, my dear, I'm glad you came so promptly" the Lord of Order said to the star seed. "I have a job for you."

The voice was heard again and the Lord of Order replied:

"There is no need for you to take a form. I want this job to be fast and stealthy. But don't worry, I'm sure you will find the work interesting, worthy of the General of Death."

In Coltypt, Amun watched Coltypt at the roof of the house of Isis and Seth (that was where he, Hathor and Montu were after they were invited by Isis). He could see that the light had already returned to the kingdom. It seemed that the Lord of Order had decided that plague had lasted long enough.

However, despite feeling relieved by the Coltyptians who had been plunged into darkness for three days, he couldn't help feeling afraid for what would follow if Khonsu continued to not obey the will of the Lord of Order, since each plague that appeared was worse than the previous one.

"Amun…" a voice said.

"Lord of Order" he said.

There was a burst of light and Amun finally got to see the Lord of Order.

"I don't believe..." he said. "Finally I can see you."

"On our first meeting, I couldn't let my brother knowing what I was up to and, here in Coltypt, my influence was not very great" the Lord of Order explained. "But with the plagues, the ponies of Coltypt began to turn again to me, instead of my brother."

"My lord, I suppose that your appearance has to do with another new plague, correct?" Amun asked.

"Yes, and, this time, it will be a definitive one" he replied. "A plague that, once launched, cannot be reversed, because it will cause permanent damage. With this plague, Khonsu will break."

"But what plague is it?" Amun asked.

"If Pharaoh continue to refuse me, then, in my name, the General of Death will come to Coltypt and wander through all Coltypt. All firstborn sons will die and so their mothers and their fathers will feel the pain I felt upon seeing my sons and daughters being slaughtered."

Upon hearing that, Amun said:

"But, my lord, that means..."

"Don't worry, Amun" the Lord of Order said. "You will be spared, since you don't have parents to suffer by your death. However, I understand that your concern is with those who serve me. To those, I have a solution."

After hearing everything the Lord of Order had to say, Amun came down from the roof and down to the ground floor of the house of Isis and Seth. Seth was lying on his bed, apparently resting, but keeping his attention to what was around him, while Isis and Montu were in a corner, chatting happily. Those two had become good friends, however Amun could feel that there was something more between them. The young prince took his staff and began to approach the door and Hathor, seeing ready to go, approached him and asked:

"Where are you going, dear?"

"The Lord of Order talked to me again" he said. "He wants me to go talk with Khonsu again."

"You think it's this time he gives in?" Hathor asked.

"I don't know, I honestly don't know" Amun said. "But I hope so. If he doesn't, the Lord of Order will send a new plague and this will be worse than all the others he has sent."

"My goodness..." Hathor said. " Worse than the others? What can be worse?"

But Amun did not respond. He just gave her a kiss and said:

"I will be right back. If you don't mind, I want you to reunite everypony in the center of the village."

"Okay" she replied. "Good luck."

And so Amun came out.

He went to the palace, using his horn to have light. He found no guards at the entrances. It seemed that the fear of the plagues had scared or affected everypony in such a way that they no longer did their jobs. He entered, observing the pillars and the walls he missed. However, contrary to what he remembered, the palace was damaged in several places due to the plagues, mainly the rain of fire. He advanced to reach the place where he knew he'd find Khonsu: the statue where he took refuge whenever I had some arguing with his father. In fact, Khonsu was sitting on statue, with his face hidden in the shadows.

“Khonsu?” Amun called, approaching. “Khonsu.”

“Oh, let me guess” Khonsu said, while drinking a cup of wine. “You want me to… obey the Lord of Order.”

“I hoped I would find you here” Amun said.

“Get out!” Khonsu exclaimed, not even looking to Amun, while throwing away the cup he had.

“Khonsu, we must bring this to an end” Amun said.

But the Pharaoh didn’t say anything and still didn’t look to Amun. He then gave a pace ahead and said:

“Khonsu, please, talk to me. We could always talk here.”

But he still didn’t say nothing. Amun sighed. He could just say what the Lord of Order said to him, but he needed to convince Khonsu to give up before it was too late and, for that, he needed to make him talk. So he said, while looking around:

“This place. So many memories. I remember the time you switched the heads of the animal statues of the temple of the Lord of Chaos.”

Realizing he wouldn’t say anything, Amun prepared to go away, but then Khonsu finally said, putting his face out of the darkness:

“If I recall correctly, you were there switching heads right along with me.”

“No, it was you” Amun said. “I didn’t do that.”

“Oh, yes, you did” Khonsu insisted, getting down. “You put the hippo on the crocodile, and the crocodile…”

“On the falcon” Amun remembered.

“Yes!” Khonsu exclaimed starting to move away. “The priest thought it was a horrible omen and fasted for two months. Father was furious. You were always getting me into trouble.”

He walked for a while, with Amun following him, and then Khonsu stopped and said, with his angry voice switched by a calmer one, turning to Amun:

“But then… you were always there to… get me out of trouble again.

Amun gave a little smile, remembering what Khonsu said. And then Pharaoh put his hoof on Amun’s shoulder and asked:

“Why can’t things be the way they were before?”

“Father?” a voice called.

They turned and saw Khonsu’s son, in front of the wall that had the image of Seti ordering the deaths of the babies in Coltypt in order to kill his nephew. He was using his magic to have some light, and he said to his father:

“It’s so dark. I’m frightned.”

Khonsu approached his son and told him:

“Don’t worry, my son. The darkness went away. It’s all right now.”

The two shared a hug and then Khonsu’s son saw Amun and asked to his father:

“Why is he here? Isn’t that the pony who did all this?”

It was hard for Amun to hear Khonsu’s son saying that, even if he was just a tool in the Lord of Order’s hands. Khonsu then got up, turned to the wall. Amun could sense it, the darkness of the Lord of Chaos trying to persuade him to do his bidding. Then, Khonsu turned, with a cold look, saying:

“Yes. But one must wonder why.”

“Because no kingdom should be made on the backs of slaves” Amun said. “Khonsu, your stubbornness is bringing this misery upon Coltypt. It could cease if only you would obey the Lord of Order.”

“I will not be dictated to” Khonsu replied bluntly. “I will not be threatened. I am the morning and the evening star. I am Pharaoh, the one and only.”

“Something else is coming” Amun said, hoping the warning of the tenth plague could get to him. “Something much worse than anything before. Please, let go of your contempt for life, before it destroys everything you hold dear. Think of your son!”

The way Amun talked, made Khonsu’s son get close to his father who said:

“I do. You and your slaves have been nothing but trouble.”

Khonsu turned to the image of his father on the wall and continued, looking then to Amun:

“My father had the right idea how to deal with your people.”

“Khonsu…” Amun said, sensing the darkness around him becoming even stronger.

“And I think it’s time I finished the job” Khonsu said, extending his hoof in direction of Amun, in the same way Seti was ponting.

“Khonsu!” Amun exclaimed.

“And there shall be a great cry in all of Coltypt such as never has been of ever will be again!” Khonsu proclaimed.

The way he talked he seemed exactly his father, the same stallion who took the throne from his older brother, killing him in cold blood, and ordered the death of many baby colts just to kill the nephew who threated his power and to break the slaves’ spirit. He even scared his own son.

Realizing nothing would made Khonsu to change his mind, Amun, with great sorrow, said to him:

“Khonsu, you bring this upon yourself.”

And then, he turned his backs and walked away.

Amun returned to the village of the slaves and in the center, they were all reunited, waiting for his arrival. When he got there, Bes said:

“Amun, what is Pharaoh’s answer? He has to obey the Lord of Order now.”

“A prideful stubborn like him?” Apis asked. “I don’t think so.”

“Apis is right” Amun asked. “He said no.”

That didn’t please the ponies and Seth said:

“He did it again.”

“Don’t you think you should give up with the plagues?” Apis asked. “We will never say yes.”

“Don’t worry, Apis” Amun said. “The Lord of Order will continue to do this until Khonsu breaks.”

Isis, noticing Amun’s air, asked:

“What’s wrong?”

Amun didn’t answer right away, as he was still affected by his talk with Khonsu. Hathor could see this and looked worried to her husband.

“Soon, there will be a final plague” Amun announced. “And this plague will cause damage in Coltypt that cannot be reversed, unlike the other ones.”

“And what is it?” Montu asked. “By your look, it must be very serious.”

“The General of Death is come” Amun said. “Every first born son will die.”

Hearing this, every mother hugged their precious sons, while the crowd started to talk at loud.

“But not us, right?” Bes asked. “He would never punish the ones who are loyal to him.”

“The General is coming for us all” Amun said.

That caused a tumult even bigger than the one before.

“What about you, Amun?” Seth asked. “You’re a first born, just like Pharaoh.”

“This plague was made to cause suffering to the fathers and the mothers” Amun said. “My parents are dead, as well as Khonsu’s.”

“Why would the Lord of Order punish us?” Bes asked.

“He won’t!” Seth exclaimed, making everypony shut up and listen him. “He had always protected us from the other plagues. He must have a way for us to protect ourselves. Let Amun finish what the Lord of Order said to him.”

Everypony remained in silence. Amun was surprised for seeing Seth backing him up, but was happy to see he was starting to have faith, just like his adoptive sister, who smiled to him.

“We can be spared from the Lord of Order’s vengeance, but only if we do exactly what he says to us.”

When the sun raised, everypony started to do preparations to the next night. Following the Lord of Order’s instructions, they started to mark their houses with their blood on the lintel and posts of the door. He had said the General of Death would pass over them if their houses were marked. Ponies from out of the village, hearing about the coming of the General of Death, also started to mark their own houses. However, most of the ponies were still loyal to Pharaoh and didn’t mark their houses.

The night fell and there was nopony in the streets, as they were advised to not get out. For a while, the silence ruled. But it was then that a pale yellow light appear on the sky and, from that light, smoke with the same color appeared, moving quietly. It then got down and started to run all the streets quickly, dividing itself to cover more ground in less time. When it found a marked house and saw the blood, it just went away. But when he found a house which was not marked, it got in and took the life of the first born who lived in there, making them give their final breath. He did this with every unmarked house.

When it had finished with the houses, the smoke connect itself again, taking with it the lives of the first born it found, and then it headed to the palace, where it would take the life of the last first born whose house was not marked. A last breath was heard and the smoke started to ascend the sky and disappeared.

After some time, the cries of the parents who found their children dead started to be heard. It was a cry that was never heard before. Khonsu was right in his words, however, those cries were not coming from the slaves and the followers of the Lord of Order, but from his followers, the ones who followed the Lord of Chaos through him and had trusted him. But he was also crying, as his own son had died.

Khonsu, using his magic, transported his son, who was covered by a sheet, to an altar at the temple of the Lord of Chaos. Amun approached, while he saw Khonsu putting his son on the altar and covering his face with the sheet. He kept the head down, while suffering for his lost. Feeling sorry for his adoptive brother, Amun approached and tried to put his hoof on his shoulder, but Khonsu just put Amun’s hoof away of his shoulder and told him:

“Leave me!”

And Amun retreated some paces, leaving Khonsu mourning his son. He then sensed the darkness of the Lord of Chaos appearing again to Khonsu. The darkness took form and the Lord of Chaos appeared, saying then to Khonsu:

“What are you waiting for? Amun is responsible for the death of your son. Kill him. Kill him now! Let your rage come out.”

Although Khonsu really wanted to make Amun pay for the death of his son, he couldn’t do it. The love he still had for him stopped him from doing it.

“Why are you staying there?!” the Lord of Chaos asked. “Do as I say!”

Taking enough of him, Khonsu told him:

“No! Go away! Get out of my head!”

“What?!” the Lord of Chaos asked. “You dare to rebel against me?! After everything I gave you?!”

“You had given me nothing but pain!” Khonsu replied. “Because of you, I lost what was dearest to me. Go away!”

And then light came from Khonsu that sent the Lord of Chaos away. Sensing the darkness going away, Amun realized that Khonsu had fought against it and he was proud of him, even if for that he had to lose a son. Then Khonsu took the crown headdress from his head and threw it to Amun’s hooves, saying without looking at him:

“The crown is yours, as well as the kingdom. I don’t care anymore for any of this.”

“Khonsu…” Amun started.

“Leave me with my son!” Khonsu exclaimed.

Sighing, Amun took the headdress crown with his magic and got out of temple. Once he got out, he continued to hear the cry of the Coltyptians who had lost their children that night. Hearing that, Amun’s heard was filled with a great sorrow. He dropped the staff and the crown and learned against a wall, while starting crying. He had fulfilled the mission the Lord of Order had given to him, but the price for that was too high. Hathor, who had come with him, saw his husband crying and went to him and hugged him, trying to comfort him.

And so, Coltypt had witnessed its saddest moment, right before the beginning of a new era, now freed from the influence of the Lord of Chaos.