Divergent Destinies

by Leondude

Chapter 10 - Unleash The Magic

Twilight woke up in shock, her back still in indescribable agony and her vision blurred. When her vision cleared up, she saw Kain staring at her with those burning red eyes of his. And behind Kain were rows upon rows of steel bars. Apart from the bars, her surroundings only consisted of dark purple crystalline walls and cages filled with all sorts of abominations, along with the damp bed she was lying on. She tried to get back up to attack him but, when she tried to lift her head, a sharp pain shot up from her spine all the way into her neck. She hissed as she threw her head back in defeat. All she could do was stare at her captor.

"W...why...?" Twilight asked weakly "Why didn't you just...kill me?"

"Simple," Kain replied "I like you."

Twilight gave Kain a confused look. The monster that murdered her parents, scarred her brother, brutalized her friend and crippled her liked her?

"And of course," Kain continued "My benefactor needed you for his plan. You would not be much use to him dead."

"Where am I?" Twilight asked.

Kain got up and gestured towards the caged beasts.

"Home," Kain replied, "this is where I learned the truth, and just as I despaired, so too will you."

---

Long ago in ancient Equestria, there were two griffin princes. One had glistening gold feathers and was the centre of attention while the other, more bookish, griffin had feathers as pitch black as a raven and was usually overshadowed by his sibling. One enjoyed making public appearances while the other kept to his books, completely entranced by what he found within their pages. While both were destined to rule the land of Griffonstone, only one knew how to rule and it was the bookish brother. The prince whose charisma and personality shone like the sun would rather spend his time partying with the locals than focus on concerns like his tax policy. The bookish prince wouldn't think of his lack of acknowledgment by the public to be that bad, had it not been for the fact that it extended to his own family. For all his parents cared, the bookish one was nothing more than a spare. The griffin's resentment for his brother grew over time, especially since the brother never bothered to learn how to be a responsible ruler.
One night, as the bookish prince despaired over the ineptitude of not only his brother but also every other griffin that believed the brother to be a worthy ruler, he received an unexpected visit by the future king.

"Good evening, brother," the brother said to his more bookish counterpart "Still drowning yourself in literature, I see."

"Just a light bit of fantasy this time around," the bookish griffon replied.

"When are you going to get some fresh air? It's bound to do you some good rather than these dusty old things."

"Books are knowledge, brother. And knowledge is power."

"No, might is power. Charisma is power. Friendship is power! Not books about the arcane that none of us have a chance of using."

"Not all of the books here are about magic spells and tales of the fantastical. It also has useful information on things like tax policies."

"When I'm king, the subjects would be more than willing to give their life savings to me."

The gold griffin grabbed his brother's book and threw it out of his talons.

"Come on, brother," the griffon said to his scholarly brother, "let's do some sparring. For old time's sake."

---

Kain stared at the crystalline walls of his ‘home’ here in Tartarus, thinking back to his days of imprisonment.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Sibling rivalry can be a nasty thing, Miss Sparkle," Kain replied "I lost my temper and, without meaning to, bashed my brother's skull into the colosseum walls."

Kain stared at the floor in melancholy, memories of his time in Tartarus flooding his mind. A time where only one thing mattered to him. Survival.

"And that is how I got here," Kain said, "disowned by everyone I knew."

While Twilight had a small morsel of sympathy for Kain, it wasn't enough for her to let go of her hatred for him. Kain moved his head towards the doors of Tartarus, guarded by Cerberus.

"Over the years, many creatures imprisoned here would stare at this door and imagine opening it and earning their freedom. Such a simple thing to do."

Kain sat near Twilight on the bed.

"Many had died or were mangled beyond belief trying to escape. For those whose lives ended in their attempts, they considered oblivion to be worth the risk. Even if one were to distract the guard dog, they would require an extraordinary amount of magic to open the door to freedom."

Kain placed one of his talons on Twilight and pressed down to elevate himself from the bed.

"And that is where you come in. Unlike you, I didn't have the luxury of being a natural magic-user. I had to learn. I had to practice. I had to harvest the essence of others. You have a gift, Miss Sparkle, power that you were forced to suppress lest you hurt the ones around you."

Kain grabbed onto a pair of metal bars and bent them at a wide angle to create an exit for himself. Using his magic, he levitated Twilight and placed her down in front of the door. Taking a vial filled with poison from his apparatus, he crushed it with his talon and drove the talon into the nerves exposed in Twilight's back. Twilight screamed in agony as she felt the venom enter her bloodstream.

"I have inserted a neurotoxin into your body," Kain explained, "so along with your body, your mind will also be tortured. The only way to end it is to unleash your full potential."

Kain bent down and looked at Twilight in the eye, her face full of agony and unyielding fury.

"Or you will meet an excruciating demise. And if that were to happen, there would be nobody to stop me nor my benefactor from slaughtering those you care for."

Kain got back up and walked towards the door. All it took was one swipe of his talon for the door to open for him. And once he left, it immediately closed. Twilight began to lose consciousness again. She felt like she was going to die. She wanted to die. She didn't fear it. But there were a few things that stopped her from giving into the grasp of death.

"You don't have to do this alone!" she heard the words of her friend echo in her head. She was there for her during that fateful day in the entrance exam. She was there for her when her parents died. And she was there defending her from Kain when she went to confront Nightmare Moon.

Twilight slowly tried to get up. The feeling in her legs returned, even though that feeling was nothing more than her legs getting flayed and having acid poured onto the exposed muscles. Her back was in even greater agony, as was the rest of her. In her unending excruciating pain, she felt something she had not felt in a long time. That surge of magic she felt when she was in the entrance exam. She levitated slowly as the magic flowed through her. She screamed at the agonizing combination of the neurotoxin and her own raw power. A sudden surge of magic escaped her horn and blasted at the door in front of her. The door opened for her as she lightly descended back down. She trotted towards the exit in a slow primal gait. As the doors closed behind her, there was only one thing left on her mind.

Kill.

Author's Note:

I can't believe I missed my usual updating day for this story.

Well, I'm running dry on chapters so I'm gonna put this story on hiatus for now. Don't worry, I know where it's heading.

Also, I hope you like Kain's backstory.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Is this the story with the OC in it that "hates the world?"

[Leondude]

10245779
Don't think so but I suppose Kain is kinda close to fitting that description.