Chapter 8 - Broken Souls Who Play a Part in this Wicked Work of Art
A stallion calmly walked over to the red barn of the apple family inside Applejack sat at small table next to a barrel of apple cider passed out, in her hand was an empty crystalline drinking glass while a bottle sat on the table in front of her. The Stallion sighed and slammed the barn door shut causing Applejack to jump awake and knock the bottle off the table. As Applejack reached for the bottle only just missing it the stallion calmly bent down and caught it just as it was about to hit the floor. The Stallion looked at the bottle for a moment before setting it back on the table. Applejack rubbed her forehead before reaching for the bottle however as she tried to pull it away she found the stallion hadn't let go of the bottle yet. "I've been cleaning up after you a lot lately." He said calmly as he let go.
Applejack took the bottle and filled the glass she had in her hand not once looking at the stallion before her. "Leave it alone Mustang." She said coldly.
"Still having the same dream?" Mustang asked as he walked over to another table that was set up and pulled a chair from it over to Applejacks table and sat down on it with the back facing his stomach.
"I said leave it alone." Applejack growled.
"What happened in Appaloosa wasn’t your fault." Mustang said calmly.
"Which part?" Applejack asked as she looked at her second in command. "Where Brayburn got left behind or where ma' orders killed two hundred ponies?" She asked coldly.
Mustang didn't even flinch or frown as he looked at Applejack. "Same old bullshit; you ain't gonna listen." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out something that he slid over to her before standing and walking away. As he reached the doors and opened them he turned to his commander and looked at her in sadness. "Do you even see what you're becoming?" He asked as he turned and looked at her.
"We are who we choose to be Mustang." Applejack replied as she took the bottle and poured herself another drink.
Mustang looked down for a moment before looking back at her with anger. "well when you figure it out let us know!" He yelled at her in anger causing her to raise her head and look at him. "We're all waiting on you." he said as he turned and exited the barn slamming the door shut.
Applejack sat in silence for a moment looking at where her second in command had stood before looking down at the object he had set in front of her carefully Applejack picked the object up and turned it over to see it was an orange crystal cut into apple shape, the Element of Honesty. Applejack stared at the Element in her hand for a moment trying to get her drunk brain to actually work and when it finally did she was unable to do anything except simply stare at the artifact. After what felt like years she looked down at the drink in front of her before for the first time in what felt like months she felt a bit of determination fill her as her sense of purpose returned. With a sigh and a groan the mare got to her hooves and looked at the Element of Honesty in her hand one more time before moving to exiting the barn. As Applejack left the barn the Element in her hand began to glow causing her to stop and watch in shock as it slowly changed shape into a five pointed star wrapped in a circle, the words veritas, probitas, iustitia written on the circle.
Deep in the desert of the badlands lay a ancient tomb sealed long before the Discordian Era, a tomb forgotten to all but the most ancient of beings. Here at the entrance of the tomb stood a solar guard named Golden Flame who had been given a special mission by his princess.
He had searched long and hard, uncovered clues and secrets left buried and meant to be forgotten. He bore no knowledge of the Changeling War, Celestias rise to tyranny or even of her attack on her former apprentice; for he had been set out with a single mission long before such had transpired and at last he had found what his princess had asked him to seek.
Golden Flame smiled as he lit his horn and shot a beam of pure light into the crystal above the tomb sealed doors, as he did this the ground began to rumble and slowly the sealed tomb doors opened releasing a wave of stale air from within. Golden Flame grit his teeth and closed his eyes in concentration as he kept the beam up till the doors finally opened fully with a rumble. Golden Flame fell to his knees panting as he worked to catch his breath. After he finally did he looked at the opened doors with a determined look as he stepped for ward and entered the tomb. As he walked through the halls of the tomb he quickly realized that tomb was rather strange.
The walls were not elaborately decorated like most tombs were, there were no artifacts of worth or items inside- in fact the entire tomb was empty. The deeper Golden Flame walked the more he became on edge and his hand drifted to the hilt of the sword at his side. After several hours of navigating the maze like corrodes of the tomb with knowledge he had gained over his travels he at last reached the central chambers where if one were to be buried their body would be kept. As he entered this chamber to magical braziers around the walls ignited revealing the room entirely. The room was a massive circular chamber with six pillars at the center made of glowing red crystals. Inside the circle of pillars was a raised dais where a pink crystal that shone with a kind light floated.
As Golden Flame stepped deeper into the chamber he realized that the crystal was the only thing inside the room and slowly approached it. "Is someone there?" A voice called out causing Golden Flame to pause in confusion. "Please if some one's there say something!"
Golden Flame looked around the room for whoever was talking but found no one. "Where are you?" He asked as he drew his blade and got in a combat stance.
"That voice... Golden? Is that you Golden Flame?" The voice asked in a hopeful tone.
"How do you know me?" Golden Flame asked as his eyes narrowed.
"I'm so glad you finally made it here! Please Golden come up to the dais and look into the crystal!" The voice pleaded.
Golden eyed the crystal wearily however he slowly approached the dais and as he neared he looked closely into it only to see a mare inside. The made had pure white fur with a pink main and tail, on her shoulder was her cutie mark of a stylized sun however over it was a branded of chains. As Golden Flame examined the mare his eyes began to widen as he looked closer at the Mare. "Imposable..." He gasped out as he took a step back.
"It's been a while Golden, I'm so glad you made it to my prison." She said as he ran up the steps and looked at the crystals occupant. "Oh, my most loyal guardian; I'm so sorry that I was forced to send you on such a dangerous mission but I knew that time was running out." She said sadly as she looked at the stallion before her.
"How can you be here, when you sent me here?" He asked.
The mare looked away sadly. "What you saw was a shell, broken and empty. This Crystal is my true form and has been for thousands of years." She said sadly. "When I was but a young mare I was attacked by a Demon, the Demon took my soul and severed it from my body; my consciousness, thoughts, personality and soul was crystalized into this prison while my body beamed a puppet to the Demon. Since then I have only been a passenger in my own body, forced to watch as all I loved and swore to protect was corrupted and twisted."
Golden Flame shook his head in bewilderment as the mare explained to him how she came to be here. "But why did your pupated body send me here?" He asked.
"It didn't, while this is my prison I can still influence my body in subtle ways. Ever since my sister became Nightmare Moon I have worked to influence what I can. Twilight’s apprenticeship and so much more has all been my work. And for a time I had regained control of my body but my connection to my body was fading and I knew that soon the Demons would make their move to insure my influence was removed. And so I called you Golden Flame, my most loyal guardian, you have always done what I asked without regard for your own safety and so I sent you on this perilous quest to free me." As the mare finished speaking Golden Flame bowed his head.
"But how do I do that?" He asked.
The Mare smiled. "Shatter my prison, drive your sword into the crystal and break it freeing me form this life of imprisonment."
Golden flame hesitated before his eyes narrowed into determined slits and he drew his sword back before with a yell he thrust it forward and into the crystal driving it till the hilt was the only thing not inside. From the point where his sword had struck the crystal cracks splintered to life and he narrowed his eyes as with a grunt he twisted the blade causing more. Light shot out from inside the cracks and with a resounding crack the entire crystal shattered releasing the light inside which began to glow brighter forcing Golden to look away and cover his eyes till it slowly died down.
As the Light died down the mare stood before him, a motherly smile on her face as he knelt before the mare, a smile growing on his face as he felt her aura. Her very presence felt like that of a warm summer day and as she looked upon him he felt her care and love which seemed to be unending. "Rise Golden Flame, you do to need to me." She said kindly.
"Of course, Princess Celestia." Golden Flame said as he rose and looked upon his princess with joy and pride as he noticed that her cutie mark was no longer bound in chains.
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I forgot that Applejack was drunk because I'm not seeing this story in forever , actually I don't remember anything about the story
10256402
Yeah... I've not updated it in a while.
10256431
It's all right, we've all been busy with one thing or the other
Let's see how many recognize that the AJ scene came straight from a scene from Starcraft: Wings of Liberty.
10256475
Yes, that entire scene is off Starcraft and I'm not even going to deny it.
I see you are a man of culture and refined taste as well.
I've actually based Applejack off James Raynor and added a few reference to Starcraft already... plus you can't deny it works really well for this story
Well that's a twist
Interesting that the body still needed to discuss orders. I wonder how much autonomy it has.
10256519
The body is free to do whatever it wants however it works mostly off instinct. This is also why Celestias body is completely obsessed with being a pet to the demons. (Not in a sexualm sense)
10256537
Interesting. I’m surprised the Demons seem to have stayed hidden for a millennium.
And so the truth comes to light.... Celestia never wanted to do what she did... Nor had any true control of her body.....
10256817
Huh ok thx
So Celestia's been a soul puppet the whole time. That makes her as much a victim as anyone else.
Unless of course this is all a trick by one of the demons, taking on Celestia's appearance in order to insure obedience.
10256593
Maby it's because of the queen's orders before she left to the void the original elements live in maby these loyal to her have fought to keep the ones that want destruction in check?
10256431
Well that was one hell of a plot twist though as some have stated it's been a hot minute since last update.
10256993
I meant more that it’s odd that whatever the demons are planning they have kept it remarkably under wraps to the point that while many seem to understand that Celestia is corrupt in a way no one seems to be aware of her connections to them.
10257129
Well that's what makes them so dangerous they only showed there hand when forced to via the events of returning homr
10257233
Probably D&D influence but I usually tend to think of demons as more chaotic and less likely to have such meticulous plans. Long standing control lies in the realm of devils. Odd how perceptions get focused in a specific direction by one media source over another, like how D&D came up with the idea of kobolds being scaled and it has altered a lot of what people think outside Japan.
10257453
These aren't like D&D Demons. These Demons were once humans; very smart psychopathic control freak humans who created every race in the MLP universe to be their slaves for all eternity. They are master manipulators and plan centuries in advance. In fact were it not for Chrysalis killing Twilight in the first story they would still be controlling everything from the shadows however because of this all their carefully laid plans are now thrown out the window and they're desperately trying to get a plan going again.
The Problem with the Demons is that while they are master manipulators they are use to planning in the long term where they have full anonymity but with Twilights return that anonymity has been lost and they have to react to a rapidly changing playing field where they have to plain in the moment not for future events.
MORE please and more faster!
If every Alicorn has two sides to them, then does that mean this is actually the other side of Celestia?
If it is then Daybreaker's been the one ruling Equestria for a while. Or at least acting as it's figurehead seeing as how she's being manipulated by Ragnarok.
I really enjoyed the story and the prequel the concept I find just plain awesome and the execution is great Especially with how John is just twilight but she actually speaks her mind I just find entertaining as all hell I hope that you can write more for the story and when you do I believe I will thoroughly enjoy it so keep up the good work
10257543
... So the Demons of Order had a plan but Chrysalis killing Twilight made it go up in smoke?
And then Twilight coming back forced them into territory they were neither familiar nor comfortable with, having to plan things in reaction to a now altered variable, one that can fuck their whole goal over just by making it to the Harmony Empire.....
this is soooo awesome.mooooooooore
10292900
It wasn't inner darkness, it was a demons who did it.
10297939
What happened with him?
10297946
He was still technically a child when Twilight died so Dragon King Inferno took him in and raised him.
The Dragons of this Equestria are divide into two sub groups; there are the Western Dragons of the Dragon Lands who are ruled by the Dragon King Inferno and his Lords and then there is the Eastern Dragons of Dragonia who are ruled by the Dragon Emperor Huǒ xíngzhě and his Shogun.
I love this story. I'm just hoping it continues and keeps making me come back forever cause this is really a good story/series.
I hope and we get a new update soon or next year can’t wait to see what’s going on with the service
10605014
Not sure when a new update will be but I am working on it and it is being finished slowly. 2020 was a rather… shit year for me updating since I hardly did and hopefully I can get something out before the end of the year but seeing how close that is I'm not making any promises.
do u know when u are going to continue this
11004507
After I redo the original as it need fixing before I continue this one.
I explain it in my blog here: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/956133/updates-on-my-stories
Hah, I knew Celestia wouldn't be evil, I'm also glad Apple Jack is returning to her usual self.