Divergent Destinies

by Leondude

Chapter 8 - A Dark Night

Twilight and Spike had finally arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters. It looked less like a castle and more like a ruin, with a large portion of the bricks forming it missing and foliage growing all around. The only part of the castle that remained intact was the wooden door. Celestia and Luna must have really done a number on the castle during their battle all those years ago. They entered what was left of the castle, hoping to find the elements there. And in the centre of the room were the Elements of Harmony, ripe for the taking.

"The Elements of Harmony!" Twilight stated excitedly, "we've found them!"

Twilight concentrated on the elements, carefully trying to lift them up and place them onto the floor. She looked at the elements now neatly lined up on the floor in a row and realized there were only five.

"Where's the sixth one?"

Twilight turned her head around frantically, trying to figure out where the last element was, and in the midst of his creator's worry, an idea came to Spike.

"You're a necromancer, right?"

"Yes but I fail to see how that could be of any use here!"

"Well, there's one use I can think of. There are probably a lot of spirits in these walls. Maybe you could try and contact them to see if they could help us.”

That idea sparked another within Twilight, one she owed to none other than her undead but still very much faithful assistant.

"Spike, you're a genius!" Twilight cried, pulling the reanimated drake into an unwanted hug.

"Hey, easy on the scales,” Spike replied with more than a little discomfort, “I already look dead enough as it is."

Twilight sat at the centre of the room, closed her eyes, and focused. As she did so, her horn began to glow ever so slightly. She breathed in and breathed out, trying to relax herself so she could focus more on the spell at hoof.

"Spirits of this castle," Twilight chanted quietly "If you can hear me, make your presence known to me, so mote it be."

She felt a slight chill run down her spine. Images of a pony-shaped figure flashed in her mind, like a spirit within the castle was trying to give her an idea of what they looked like in life. She focused on these images, her horn glowing brighter as she did so. Magic dispersed from her horn and slowly formed into a translucent apparition of a pony. Twilight slowly opened her eyes. They were rolled up in the back of her head, with her eyelids rapidly blinking for a bit before stopping entirely. The Spirit Manifestation spell. It was used regularly in seances after many psychic unicorns grew tired of having a stranger temporarily use their bodies as a mouthpiece to speak to their loved ones. It was a compromise in that the spirits could speak to their loved ones personally and the psychics didn't have to worry about having their personal boundaries invaded. Sometimes, those spirits can also be malicious and, once you start channelling a spirit, it would be difficult to stop.

"Twilight Sparkle," the spirit said to Twilight.

Twilight lightly nodded her head, too busy focusing to give the spirit a proper response.

"I was a curious mare obsessed with the dark side of magic. Kind of like you, actually. Unfortunately, I did not count on Timberwolves making these ruins their home by the time I went on my little journey."

Twilight slightly tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in response.

"Do not worry. Like me, they are long gone at this point. Come. I have something to show you. It has been a while since a mortal such as yourself came here."

The spirit floated towards one of the many abandoned corridors, to which Twilight slowly got up and followed the spirit like an insect mesmerized by a pretty light, or a cat to a ball of yarn. The further they went, the darker the corridor became, with the only thing guiding their way was the spirit's magical glow. The spirit and Twilight stopped in their tracks when they encountered a tome lying on the floor.

"The Librum ex Mortequus," the spirit explained, "an ancient book filled with dark and powerful spells. While not as eldritch as the Neighcronomicon, it contains spells that most necromancers can only dream of. It was said to have been written by a pony inhabitant of the land of Tambelon."

"Tambelon?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," the spirit replied "A kingdom of darkness ruled by the ram that came to be known as the Emperor of Equestria and the Father of Monsters, Grogar."

"I'm very certain Tambelon is just a fairy tale designed to scare foals, as is Grogar."

"There's always a bit of truth in legends, Twilight Sparkle. I thought you of all ponies should know that."

"Given how the stories described Grogar as being more powerful than a draconequus, I find it unlikely that one unicorn mage, even one who’s reached the highest level possible, could defeat him so easily. Next, you'll be telling me that an Earth pony is capable of sensing the future."

---

As Sunset and her acquaintances made their way towards the castle, Pinkie started twitching spontaneously.

"Uh...Pinkie?" Sunset asked, "Are you okay?"

"My Pinkie Sense is tingling!" Pinkie replied.

Pinkie's tail rapidly wagged like an excited dog.

"Something gonna fall from the sky!" Pinkie shouted as she quickly hid under a tree, which probably wasn't the best spot to hide from falling objects.

Everypony looked around to see if there was going to be any falling objects heading their way, a few ponies in the group even sticking their forehooves out to see if it was going to rain. Rainbow Dash was the first to notice the impending descent of the object Pinkie predicted would fall. It looked like a griffin born of darkness that crawled from the very depths of Tartarus itself. And it was coming right for Sunset.

"Look out!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she charged into Sunset in order to help her avoid the descending danger.

The griffin landed forcefully onto the ground and raised his head, giving everypony a good look at his face. The griffin wore a metallic mask, above which were eyes that burned bright, like molten metal. While everypony else found the griffin's appearance to be strange, Sunset knew all too well who this was.

"Hello, Sunset," Kain said before charging into Sunset and grabbing her by the throat with his scarred talon.

As Sunset struggled for breath, Applejack unwound a thick rope she’d brought in case of an emergency. Thinking quickly, and with a finesse born of experience, she worked the rope into a lasso and threw it unerringly around Kain's talon. Attempting to get the griffon to release Sunset, Applejack yanked hard on the rope. In response, Kain pulled the lasso and flung Applejack into a tree. Rainbow Dash flew into Kain, intending to bring him down in a high-speed tackle, only for Kain to quickly grab her by the head and slam it into the ground with brute force.

"Supervillain!" Pinkie screamed "Supervillain!"

Kain charged into Pinkie and grabbed her by the throat. His demonic stare felt petrifying enough to send shivers down the normally energetic pony's spine.

"I am far worse than a mere villain, my dear," Kain said.

Rainbow Dash charged into Kain again, only for Kain to backhand her away as if she was a fly.

"Tell me," Kain said to Pinkie "Why are you here?"

"Are you gonna control my mind?" Pinkie asked "I'm not letting you in. My mind is fortified with icing!"

Kain's grip on Pinkie's neck grew tighter, drawing a trickle of blood as a result.

"I doubt that would be necessary, considering you're going to tell me anyway. And if not, then perhaps one of your friends will."

Kain hovered towards Fluttershy, Rarity and Sunset. While Sunset was in a battle stance, the other two ponies were scared of the dreaded creature before them.

"For those that are still conscious," Kain said "If you wish to see your friend live another day, you will state your business here. If not, then I will break her neck while you helplessly watch."

Sunset shot a blast of magic at Kain, to which he swatted away with little to no effort. She tried to telekinetically release Pinkie from Kain's grasp, only for Kain to blast magic from his luminescent talon directly at Sunset. Seeing no other options to save Pinkie's life, Sunset sighed.

"If you must know, we're here to find the Elements and stop Nightmare Moon."

Kain stared at Sunset, then chucked Pinkie at her hooves. Pinkie coughed and spluttered as she got up.

"What a coincidence," Kain said "I came here looking for the Elements myself."

"Does that mean you'll help us?" Fluttershy asked.

"No," Kain bluntly replied.

Author's Note:

Fight Night!

EDIT: Oops, published the chapter two minutes too early.

Comments

[TheHardie-Boy]

10192805
Well, no offense, but he’s not very good

[lighting_spark]

"No," Kain bluntly replied.

So whens the brotherhood of nod showing up

[Leondude]

10475231
Sad to say, he's not that Kain.