Clavicula Concordia Regis
Into The Depths
By Pen Stroke
Preread, Edited, and Reviewed By
Illustrious Q, Batty Gloom, Wraithguard, Rainbowdash64,
Cloudhammer, Magical Trevor, Kohta Izumi, Kirk Heller
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Chapter 5
Clavicula Concordia Regis
====================
“Night Gaze!” Path Finder screamed, scrambling to his hooves. He ran to the door, his horn glowing as he tried to force it open. It, however, would not budge, wedged shut by the weight of the pile of bones on the other side. Still, Path Finder did not relent. He planted his hooves and began to launch blasts of magic at the door, which burst and exploded like fireworks, casting harsh light and deep shadows across the room.
“Stop it, sergeant,” Twin Blades snapped as she pulled herself up to her hooves.
“No, we can save him!”
Twin Blades came up behind him, touching his shoulder. “No, we can’t. Getting buried under that much weight... Even if he is alive, he’ll be dead by the time we’d be able to dig him out.”
Path Finder unleashed one final blast of magic, then slowly crumbled to the ground. He tore off his helmet, throwing it across the coffin chamber, and then pressed his head against the cold stone of the floor. “Why did he do it?”
“Cause if he didn’t, those bones would have been able to chase us in here and then we’d all be dead. It was a necessary sacrifice, for the princess.”
“The PRINCESS!” Path Finder screamed, pointing an accusing hoof at Celestia, who was only just starting to pull herself off the floor. “It’s her and her sister’s fault we’re down here in the first place! No pony had to die tonight! And why do we need them anyway?! In the old country, ponies moved the sun and moon without their help! What makes her life more valuable than Night Gaze’s? What makes her life more valuable than Fortress’s? We should push her out this door, cause I bet she’s the one it wants!”
“That is treason you're talking about, sergeant!”
“Who in Tartarus cares?! We’re not going to survive. Face the facts, lieutenant, we’re all as good as dead! We should just pick a coffin, kick out the skeleton, lie down inside, and just DIE!”
“Perhaps you would prefer I just slit your throat. It would be faster,” Twin Blades shouted back.
“Bring it on!” Path Finder shouted as he sprang up from the floor.
“ENOUGH!”
Celestia’s booming voice caused the pair to freeze and look up. They saw Celestia standing over them, her regal white coat dirtied with dust from the floor. Her usual kind demeanor was gone. In it’s place was a firmness, like a mother scolding her children who was also a drill sergeant, and thus skilled at chewing out soldiers as well.
“Each of you, in a separate corner, now, and I don’t want to hear a word until I’ve figured out whether or not Twilight is or was here!”
The lieutenant and sergeant separated and, after glaring at one another, they turned their backs on each other and walked to opposite corners of the room. There they sat down, facing the walls, like children in time out.
And after successfully breaking up the fight, Celestia cringed and raised a hoof to her head. Her head was pounding again and only seemed to be getting worse. She was filthy, she was sore, and Path Finder was right. Except for them, there was no pony in the coffin chamber and looked like it hadn’t been disturbed in years. Maybe her visions were truly just the effects of the bump on her head. Twilight wasn’t here, she had never been in the coffin chamber and—
What was that thumping noise?
Celestia looked around anxiously, expecting to see the wall itself reaching out for her, but nothing was wrong. The room, while sizable, was small enough that the light from Path Finder’s and Twin Blades’ armor were enough to illuminate the space to a good degree. There were no real shadows in the room, thus no real way for the thing outside to attack them.
But still the thumping persisted. A thumping and a muffled shouting. Recalling her vision, Celestia began to step around quickly, turning her head and her ears. She followed the sound, chasing its echoes around the room. She moved left, right, forward, back. She strained her sense of hearing to its limits and, eventually, found herself before one of the coffins.
The thumping came from within and, for a moment, Celestia didn’t dare to even touch the stone coffin. They had just been chased by the dead of the crypt. Releasing one from its coffin now would put them all at risk. Still, she wanted to believe her vision. She wanted to believe they had a chance. And, if not... maybe the skeleton would make it quick.
Trembling a little, Celestia reared back on her hind legs and placed her hooves on the coffin’s stone lid. She then pushed, straining muscles that had not faced such physical challenges in centuries. Still, her alicorn strength began to prove itself. The coffin lid cracked open a little, and a light began to escape from the cracks.
Light... it was light inside the coffin.
Smiling, Celestia threw all her weight into the lid, and it began to slide away. More and more light filled the room, pouring out the coffin like it contained a small sun. The lid then fell off the far side, clattering to the floor with a loud smash. Celestia stepped back, shielding her eyes from the brightness. Yet, even as she was blinded, she heard a sound that was like music to her ears.
“Celestia!”
From within the coffin, which was lit by dozens of light gems, Twilight sprung out, tears running from her eyes as she clung to Celestia’s neck. She looked worse than the rest of them. Her mane was a wreck, her coat was filthy, she smelled horribly of body odor, and the bags under her eyes made it look like she hadn’t slept since she came to Canterlot to meet Luna. She was crying her eyes out, and was clinging to Celestia as if her life depended on it. Still, Twilight was breathing. Her heart was beating, and she was unharmed.
She was alive.
“Twilight!” Celestia laughed, lifting a hoof and hugging her student tight as she spun around slowly. “I was so worried. Are you alright?”
“I’m okay,” Twilight answered as she let go of Celestia’s neck and jumped back down to the floor. “Hungry, sleep deprived, dehydrated, in desperate need of a shower, and traumatized, but I’m a lot better now that you’re here.”
“And Luna?”
Twilight hung her head, looking to the floor. “I’m sorry, but... I don’t know. The last time I saw her was when she put me in that coffin. She gave me all our light gems, some notes on how to perform an astral projection spell, and then made me promise not to leave the coffin until somepony came to save us. She then closed the lid.”
Celestia laughed a little, bending her head forward to nuzzle Twilight. “Astral Projection. Oh Twilight, thank you!”
“Why are you thanking her?” Path Finder asked as he and Twin Blades came out of their corners.
“Astral Projection is when a pony casts a spell that allows their soul to leave their body and enter the astral plane. From the astral plane, all the world looks like the night sky, with each soul a star in the dark. My vision at the rotunda, the star I was following while we were chased by those bones. All that was Twilight, helping us.”
Twin Blades smirked a little, looking to Twilight, “And I bet you were in the archives with us when Celestia thought she heard you shout her name.”
“Yes, I had to stop her before it got her.”
“It?”
“It’s the thing that’s been chasing you,” Twilight explained. “It’s the whole reason Luna and I came here. Well, I think it’s the reason we came here. Or, actually, I think the reason we came here was to find a way to deal with it. But, then again, Luna said—”
“Twilight,” Celestia said calmly. “Please, just start from the beginning. Why did you and Luna come here?”
Twilight looked around at Celestia and the two guards, she then sighed and sat down, preparing for the long story. “We came here looking for a book...”
~~~
“And you are sure that it is not in the royal archives?”
Twilight nodded. She was sitting in a comfortable chair in Luna’s private study. The moon princess was before the fireplace, which popped and cracked with a low fire. Twilight had been in the room before, had seen its fine furnishings and cool color palette. The room’s usual comfortable darkness, however, was being pushed back. There were dozens of candles and lanterns all about the space, leaving no dark corner to be seen. It reminded Twilight of a time when she was young, when she was afraid of the monster in her closet. She made her very first light gem enchantment and put it in the closet to keep the monster from getting her.
“I checked the stacks myself. I couldn’t find it anywhere,” Twilight said. “It would help if you could give me a title or an author. I don’t mean any disrespect, but it’s kind of hard to find a book when you just tell me what it looks like.”
“A leather bound book is a rarity in and of itself in Equestria,” Luna said firmly as she continued to stare into the fire. “All the leather bound books should be kept in the most secure part of the library.”
“Yes, and thanks to the note you gave me, the master librarian let me in there and I looked at all those books. Still, none of them were stained with old blood.”
Luna sighed. “Then it must be back at the old castle. That is the only explanation.”
“If I may, Princess, why do you need this book so badly? I mean, I can understand it if you really want to read it. There’s a couple books I've wanted so badly I camped out at the bookstore so I could be the first in line to get one. Still, what’s so important about it and why can’t you look for it yourself?”
“I tried to find it myself,” Luna said, turning away from the fire and revealing her blood shot and bag rimmed eyes. “Celestia, however, began to question why I was spending so much time among the stacks. But I cannot explain why, she cannot know that this book even exists, Twilight, let alone that I am looking for it.”
“Why?”
“Because it is a relic of my shame, Twilight,” Luna replied as she walked closer, “and I have disappointed my sister enough. Now, we must go to the old castle and find the book quickly. We’re already running out of time as it is, and if I were to depart alone it would only raise suspicion. If, however, we were to go to the old castle together, the guards would just assume we were going on an archaeological or a research expedition.”
“But why?” Twilight question. “What is so important about this book?”
“I pray to you, Twilight, do not make me explain. This is something we simply must find. It is only the way to finally make up for what I’ve done. Please, I beg thee, you must help me find the Clavicula Concordia Regis.”
~~~
“She just seemed so scared, so I agreed,” Twilight continued. All four of them had laid down on the floor of the crypt, surrounding themselves with the light gems that had been in the coffin with Twilight. They had also placed a few in the middle, like a campfire.
“We left that evening and arrived here with some of Princess Luna’s most trusted guards. We found the door, made our way down into the tunnels, and everything seemed fine. Luna remembered the layout well, and we were able to find the archives quickly. She then ordered the guards to spread out while she and I went to check the vault.”
~~~
“This is so amazing,” Twilight said, shining her light across the bookcases. “Ponies haven’t been down here in centuries and it’s still standing. Oh, I bet the shelves have temporal lock spells on them. Or... or maybe rot resisting enchantments.”
“Please, Twilight, calm yourself,” Luna said as the pair continued towards the back of the archives. “ There aren’t even any books on these shelves.”
“I know, but there is still so much here,” Twilight said with a small bounce before looking back over her shoulder. “Like that statue of Starswirl the Bearded. That is so amazing. The pictures in the books never really do him justice if that’s what he really looked like. And he was even wearing his hat with his bells. Oh, why didn’t Princess Celestia have this moved to Canterlot?”
“The statue was carved in this chamber directly, from the same stone the rest of the tunnels were cut from,” Luna explained. “They are as much a part of the cliff as the rest of these chambers, and removing them haphazardly could lead to more cave ins, like the one we saw near the front of the room.”
“Oh, well, I guess that would be bad,” Twilight said with a weak chuckle. Still, her enthusiasm soon rebounded as she and Luna reached the far end of the hall. Before them stood the old castle vault, hinges covered in dust but the metal still shining strong. “Oh wow!”
Princess Luna smiled as well, her horn glowing as she stretched out her magic. Small clicks and clacks began to emanate from the vault as she worked to release the locks. “Hopefully the book is in here. We are running out of time.”
“What do you mean by that, Princess?” Twilight asked as the sealing-bolts in the vault door popped open and the door began to slowly swing open, light pouring out into the archives. “I mean, it’s not like Discord will escape again if we don’t find this book.” She paused, forced a chuckle, and looked to the princess. “Will he?”
“No, Discord is going to remain sealed for many more centuries,” Luna assured as she jumped into the vault. With a flare of her horn she began to open and close doors and drawers in the sides of the vault systematically, her aggravation growing as she found all of them were empty.
“Oh, that’s good,” Twilight said with a relieved laugh. “And I do hope we find the book soon. It’s getting cold in here.”
Luna stopped in her hooves, becoming still as a statue. “Cold?”
“Yeah,” Twilight said with a laugh as she rubbed one of her forelegs against the other. “I don’t know why, but I’m getting really cold. I mean, look, I can even see my breath.” Twilight sucked in a deep breath and then let it out, watching and smiling at the cloud of steam that curled from her mouth.
“YOU SHAN’T HAVE HER, MONSTER!”
Twilight jumped at Luna’s shout and was caught in the air by the princess’s levitation spell. The next moment, Luna had pulled Twilight into the vault and shoved her into the back corner of the well lit room. Luna then stuck her head out the door, shouting with all the volume her voice could muster. “GUARDS, TO ME!”
The clatter of armored hooves began to fill the room, Luna’s guards racing form the different parts of the archives. Yet, at the same time, a cold wind blew in through the vault’s door. It was accompanied by a low, distant roar and a deep rumble that seemed to shake the whole castle.
“Luna, watch out!” Twilight shouted, warning the princess just in time. With a great leap and flap of her wings, Luna jumped back before she could be struck by the vault door, which was slammed shut from the outside. Still, Luna didn’t waver a moment. She landed, skidded across the floor, and then leapt back at the door, throwing her shoulder against it. “NO! NO!”
“Don’t worry, Princess, we’ll get you out!” The lunar guards shouted from the other side.
“NO! DO NOT LINGER HERE!” Luna shouted at them. “Get back to Canterlot now and tell my sister to bring as many guards as she can muster! Every corner of these tunnels must be lit, otherwise nopony will be safe.”
“We are not leaving you here, Princess,” one of the Lunar Guards shouted back at her before his voice quieted. “You, you, I want that door off it’s hinges now! Cut it out if you have too. You, you're with me. This door wasn’t shut on its own, and we’re going to find out who or what is responsible.”
“Yes, sir!” A trio of voices replied before the sound of magic blasts being levied against the door began to fill the vault’s interior.
“NO! NO YOU FOALS! RUN! YOU MUST RUN!” Luna shouted before cursing under her breath. She turned back, magic flaring as she resumed her search of the vault. She tore open the secured cabinets and drawers that lined the walls and slammed them shut when she saw they were empty.
“P-princess Luna,” Twilight stuttered, climbing to her hooves as her saddlebags slid off her back and fell to a corner “W-what’s going on? W-why are you so scared? W-what’s out there?”
“I cannot explain right now, Twilight, not if we are to save—”
“AAAHH!”
Luna and Twilight froze, turning their eyes to the vault door. The scream had come from one of the guards, and it had been blood curdling. The sound of magic pounding against the door ended. The unicorns who had been trying to force their way into the vault began calling to their comrades, their voices growing quieter and more distant. Then, nothing but silence.
Twilight took a few ginger steps forward, moving close to Luna but ensuring the princess was between her and the door. “W-what’s g-going on?”
“Please, Twilight, we cannot focus on that. Help me search.” Luna stressed, though there was an underlying tremor in her own voice. Still, Twilight did as she was asked. She began searching the vault as well, and together, the two made short work. Still, even after checking every nook and cranny, they were unable to find anything. The vault was totally empty.
“No. No no no no,” Luna said, sweat forming on her brow as she began to recheck random parts of the vault. “It has to be here. It has to be. There’s no other place it could be.”
“Princess Luna, please, what’s going on? What’s out—”
CLICK
The tumblers on the vault, which had locked into place when the door had slammed shut, opened. Then came the distinctive rattling of the door’s internal gears as the large bolts which held the door were slid back. Finally, with a small jerk, the door popped open and slowly swung wide. A cold draft washed over Luna and Twilight. The light from the vault’s interior stretched out into the darkness, revealing nopony.
“W-who opened the door?” Twilight asked as she took an anxious step backward. The room beyond was all too quiet, and her skin crawled, like she was being watched. The air was once again cold enough that Twilight could see her breath, but she drew no joy from it as she had before. She breathed out, and the steam from her breath rolled back into her face, like some great beast was bearing down on her, breathing out as it bared its fangs.
“Twilight, do you know how to make a light burst spell?” Luna whispered, moving close.
“I do.”
“Cast the most powerful light burst you can, straight out the door. Don’t hold anything back.”
“But a light spell that bright could hurt somepony’s eyes permanently.”
“That’s the point,” Luna said as she spread her wings. “Just do it.”
Twilight was visibly shaking now, but she nodded her head. She built up the spell, pouring as much magic as she dared into the spell. Then, she unleashed it. The burst of light was like a small sun had briefly come to life inside the vault. It made a column of illumination burst out into the archives, and something screamed before ducking out of the light.
Luna scooped Twilight up at that moment and sprinted from the vault, spreading her wings and flying between the empty shelves of the archives. She banked around the statue of Starswirl the Bearded, soared towards the archives outer door, and then landed with a skid of her hooves in the hallway just outside.
“Again, Twilight, through the doorway.”
Twilight didn’t dare question the order this time. She cast the spell again, and once more a pained scream reached their ears. And, again, the moment the spell was cast she was whisked off her hooves by Luna. They flew through the corridors, Luna’s wings barely fitting in the tight corridors.
“We have to get back outside,” Luna said as the pair flew into the rotunda. She landed and skidded across the floor hard, working her every muscle to make a tight turn. She then tensed, ready to leap towards the archway that would lead back outside. But she then froze, a shiver crawling down her spine as she stared into the darkness of the corridor before her.
“It’s too late,” she whispered, stepping back anxiously as she looked to the other archways.
“Princess, what is it? What do you see?” Twilight asked. “What is going on?”
“Do not question, Twilight, just give me one more light burst.”
“But Princess?”
“Do it now!”
~~~
“After that,” Twilight said as she looked at the others, “Luna carried me back here, to the crypt. She removed the skeleton from that coffin, put me inside with all the light gems she had brought with her, and quickly wrote out that astral projection spell for me. She then promised me somepony would come to find me, and sealed the lid. I... I haven’t seen her since.
”At first, I was very calm and collected."
~~~
“Princess Luna! Princess Luna!” Twilight shouted, putting her hooves against the coffin’s stone lid and trying to push it off. The slab, however, remained firmly set in place, even after Twilight tried putting all four hooves against it. She began to hyperventilate and focused her horn on the lid. She tried levitating it. She tried blasting it. She tried any spell that had a remote chance of unseating the lid from the rest of the coffin. The stone, however, remained unaffected.
“She must have done something to the lid when she closed it. An anti-magic spell, maybe. Well, I guess that’s okay. Somepony will come and find me, right?”
Twilight ran her hooves down her face, her panic prone mind kicking into high gear. “But what if somepony doesn’t find me. What if nopony comes. Will the spell wear off? What if it doesn’t wear off? What if Luna just buried me alive? I don’t want to be buried alive. I want to be dead when I’m buried! That’s the order it’s supposed to go in. You die, and then you get buried! Princess Luna! LET ME OUT!”
She thumped against the coffin lid again, but her efforts proved just as fruitless as before. Soon, she had calmed herself down, but only enough that she turned to one of the coffin’s interior sides. Horn glowing, she began to use one of the stones to write a list.
“Okay, Checklist for surviving. Step one, panic and get that out of the way. Got that done. Step two... huh, step two...” Twilight shifted, looking around the coffin before she found the piece of paper Luna had given her. “Step two, learn astral projection spell. Step three, figure out the rest of the list when I can see what the astral projection spell can do. Step four, panic again. I’ll need it by then.”
~~~
“I think the only reason I didn’t go crazy was because of the astral projection spell.” Twilight said with a low chuckle. “It let me leave that coffin, at least as a spirit, and I was able to watch the guards arrive. The astral plane is so surreal. All you can see are living things, souls, and magic. I could see the Everfree Forest. I could see the bright souls and magic of the guards when they arrived to search for me and Luna. I saw you arrive,” she said while motioning toward Princess Celestia, “and I was so happy. I was sure you’d find me. You were so close earlier, but then you left.
“I decided to just wait here for you, hoping you’d come back, but that’s when I started to see the souls blinking out. I saw two disappear, and then four. I didn’t know what was happening, so I decided to go and follow you. That w-was w-when...” Twilight began to tremble, shivering a little as she looked over her shoulder.
“W-when I saw other things. It was hard to see. The one that was following you all, like me, was black, like the rest of the astral plane, but I could see its magic. Its magic was red, very red, and it threw all those shelves at you. I sat back and watched. I didn’t want to get too close. I didn’t know whether or not something like that could hurt a pony when she’s using an astral projection spell, so I just stayed back and watched as it put the library back in order.”
“And... you kind of guessed the rest. I stayed close, trying to help you, and then you came here and found me.”
Twin Blades sighed, rubbing her head with her hoof, “And now we’re all stuck in here with you.” She then glanced at Celestia. “Still, it sounds like whatever has been coming after us was going after them too, and that Princess Luna knows a great deal about it.”
“Yes, it seems so,” Celestia agreed before lowering her head, her voice becoming nothing but a whisper. “Oh Luna, I wish you had come to me about this.”
“Miss Sparkle,” Twin Blades said, glancing over at her. “Did Luna ever tell you why she wanted that book?”
“No, she didn’t. All she ever told me was what it looked like and that its name is the Clavicula Concordia Regis. I even wrote it down on a piece of paper so I could look it up when we got back to Canterlot, but... that note is back with my saddlebags. Luna also ripped the paper when she grabbed some light gems from my bags.”
“We know, we found them,” Twin Blades said. She reached around to her saddlebags, gingerly sinking a wing in. She removed an old, leather bound book from its interior and placed it on the floor in the center of the group. “Celestia and I also found this in the grips of a skeleton near the entrance of the crypt.”
“Oh my,” Twilight said, her voice growing hushed as she picked the book up with her magic. “This must be it. It matches Luna’s description perfectly.” She gingerly cracked open the book, its old pages crackly as they were exposed to the open air for the first time in centuries. Twilight bent her nose in, her eyes moving across the page.
“It’s written in Old Equestrian, the predominant language of the old country. It looks almost like a guide book. There are diagrams, pictures, instructions, ingredient lists. Is this a spell book?”
“In a way, Twilight,” Celestia said as she lifted a hoof to the edge of the book, pushing it down and away from Twilight’s eyes. “Though, I promise, it is a book you and nopony else should ever read.”
Twilight cocked her head to one side and arched an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because this is an evil book. The Clavicula Concordia, the original Key of Unity, was a guide to the powers of harmony, an ultimate force of good. The Clavicula Concordia Regis, on the other hoof,” Celestia said coldly, her voice taking on a warning, serious tone, “brought about the destruction of an entire kingdom.
“The legend goes that a unicorn queen freed her country of beasts and evil forces and penned her knowledge of harmony into the pages of the Clavicula Concordia. Her kingdom enjoyed a golden age because of her efforts. Food was plentiful. The country as a whole was wealthy. They were safe from any creatures that would harm them. They believed they could not be toppled.
“But, as with all things, the winds of change began to work against them. The unicorn queen sought to spread the prosperity of her country, believing she could bring the same golden age to the whole world. The countries neighboring her kingdom, however, did not wish to be ruled over by her. At the same time, she loved her subjects too much to force them into a war.
“Thus, after much meditation, she came up with another idea,” Celestia continued. “She had defended her country from the beasts and evil creatures that had once threatened it. She had proven stronger than them, and thus she began to contemplate ways of conquering them. The power of harmony, however, is not the power of the conqueror. The original Clavicula Concordia would be no aid to her. Thus, the unicorn queen had to learn other, darker magics.
“This is the knowledge she put into the Clavicula Concordia Regis, the Lesser Key of Unity. This book is meant to be an extension of the knowledge in its predecessor. The Key of Unity taught you to defend against and defeat beasts and evil entities. The Lesser Key taught you how to control them.
“It is said this book contains enhancements that will make Timber Wolves obey like loyal soldiers. That it contains spells that will make Windigoes bend a knee in respect. That it contains curses that will bring even an Ursa Major under your control. A few legends make it sound that this knowledge from this book would let a pony control Discord himself if they so desired.”
“But that’s impossible. Discord is the spirit of chaos. You can’t control chaos,” Twilight argued.
“If the old stories are to be believed, it is possible, and the Clavicula Concordia Regis is what can teach you to do it. It is, in every way, a book as evil as the things it controls, for it speaks only of how to strip away the freedom from others and make them slaves.”
“W-what happened to the unicorn queen?” Path Finder asked, his voice shaking a little.
“She continued her crusade,” Celestia said. “She continued writing the Clavicula Concordia Regis as she learned to control more and more powerful creatures. She began to expand her kingdom with their power, dominating the armies of foreign lands with forces they had no hope of defeating. It seemed she was unstoppable, but then, in her pride, she attempted to control the dark king of Tartarus himself. She tried to control Tirek.”
Twin Blades, Path Finder, and Twilight all shivered at the mention of the name Tirek, as if an icy wind had just blown down their spine. The Nightmare Moon of legend was the boogeymare that parents used to scare children into bed at night and that could be kept at bay with a offering of candy. Tirek was the kind of evil that many full grown ponies, especially religious ones, feared and respected.
“But Tirek cannot be controlled,” Celestia continued. “The moment the unicorn queen cracked open a window to Tartarus, bypassing the great gate that Cerberus guards, Tirek burst through. He unleashed the devastating power of darkness, a dark rainbow—
“Wait, did you say rainbow?” Path Finder interrupted.
“Yes, though... one could hardly call it that. It moves like lightning. Where the Elements of Harmony mend, it destroys. Where the Elements heal, it cuts a swath of death like the reaper itself. It is, however, often described as being comprised of six colors bent and twisting around one another. Thus, while Tirek is the only one that knows its true name, history has come to call it the dark rainbow.
"And it is a terrible force,” Celestia said. “Both it and the Elements of Harmony derive their power from the state of the world. If harmony, good will, and kinship reign supreme across the land, the Elements of Harmony are the greater power. When the opposite is true, the dark rainbow is king.”
“And that night, Tirek used the dark rainbow to decimate the landscape. Forests were leveled, the earth was salted, and fire rained from the sky. The queen tried to rally her army of beasts against him, but he is the king of all beasts and demons. The queen’s armies turned on her, and under Tirek’s leadership, cut a swath of destruction.
“It is said every one of the queen’s subjects were wiped off the face of the earth in a single night.”
Celestia took in a deep breath, burdened by the thought that a similar fate might fall upon Equestria Still, she continued, a bit of hope flickering into her voice. “Tirek was eventually driven back to Tartarus with a mystical rainbow of light, likely the Elements of Harmony, but he did not go back alone. In the last moment he grabbed the unicorn queen and dragged her back to Tartarus with him.”
“W-why did he do that?” Path Finder asked, lowering his head near the floor as he trembled a little.
Celestia shook her head. “I cannot say for sure. It is a detail that varies greatly between tellings of the legend and the moral the storyteller wishes to stress. In some, Tirek punished her for seizing control of the beasts and entities that should be his alone to command. In others, he wished to get revenge against her for writing the original Clavicula Concordia. Others still tell that Tirek made the unicorn queen his bride, and that they now rule Tartarus together
“And,” Celestia continued, “my concerns for my sister’s safety are only made worse by the thought that she knew about this book and came here looking for it. I just wish we knew why she needed it.”
“Well... there is something else,” Twilight said. She held up a piece of paper in her magic, which she had levitated out of the open coffin. “Luna wrote something on the back of the astral projections notes. It just looked like gibberish before, but...”
“Please, Twilight, hold it up where I can see it,” Celestia said, squinting her eyes as the page was moved in front of her nose.
Arabus Leraje Barbas Catrina Furfur Grogar
Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she read the words before she flicked her gaze over to the book. She knew her sister. If Luna had enough sense of mind to write down instructions for an astral projection spell, then the words on the back meant something. And her gut told her the meaning of the words would be made clear with the help of the Clavicula Concordia Regis.
“Twilight, hold the book up for me.”
~~~
“Luna, what have you done?”
Celestia closed her eyes and pressed a hoof to her forehead, trying to rub away the low throbbing that had come back from the strain of reading. Twilight was sitting near Celestia, holding the book but not reading it, as Celestia had requested. Path Finder and Twin Blades had laid down to try and get some sleep, but they had stayed awake watching Celestia, just as Twilight. Now, all three rose back to their hooves and moved in closer.
“What did you find, Princess?” Twin Blades asked.
“The words Luna wrote on the back of the page are names. They are names of six demons of Tartarus that can be invoked and controlled using the instructions in this book. These... things, these rites, these rituals... these entities... They are the ones that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon.”
Celestia lifted a hoof, pointing at the first name on the back of the piece of paper, which was laid out on the floor between her and the others. “Arabus the Greedy, invoking him gives a pony the drive and ambition to accomplish their dreams. Leraje the Archer, one who causes great battles and disputes. He grants his summoner the advantage in any conflict. Barbas the Liar, he changes ponies into other shapes, granting the power of self-transfiguration.”
“Like when Nightmare Moon turned herself into a cloud of magic,” Twilight commented, her voice a hushed whisper.
Celestia nodded before continuing to read down the list. “Catrina the Cruel, she makes the summoner remorseless, allowing them to do what is necessary without guilt. Furfur the Traitor, he grants power over storms and lightning.”
“A power Nightmare Moon showed when she shocked the guards at the Ponyville Town Hall,” Twin Blades said.
“Finally, Grogar the Demon Wizard. He grants power immeasurable. The book also says that when invoking multiple creatures at once, Grogar can be used as a commander. Controlling him will control other lesser entities that are summoned.”
“So all the power Nightmare Moon had, the power she used to try to take over Equestria—”
“Came from these six,” Celestia confirmed as she nodded to Path Finder. “And it would only make sense that this is why Luna returned. This book is filled with warnings and cautionary notes about what can happen if summoning should go bad. It says the summoner may become possessed or cursed. Truthfully, these spells are equivalent to breaking criminals out of jail.
“And once they are out, there are only a few things on their mind. Making sure they stay out—” Celestia turned the book to the last chapter. It was an incomplete chapter, with only a few words scrawled on the page beneath a sketch. Yet, the sketch alone made the blood of everypony in the room grow cold. It showed a great, black horned centaur with skin as red as blood. He bore great horns and carried a small, leather pouch around his chest. “—and helping their leader escape as well.”
“But why now?” Twilight asked. “Luna did all this, she made herself into Nightmare Moon, a thousand years ago. If these creatures wished to free Tirek, why haven’t they done it already?”
“If what this book says is true, it is because they require a summoner. They themselves cannot pierce the veil of magic that protects Tartarus. Only one mare in all history has, and that is the unicorn queen who wrote this book. They would require somepony who has read and understood this book as thoroughly as the unicorn queen herself.”
“Somepony like Luna,” Twilight whispered, as if she was scared to even mutter the words.
Celestia felt the air go stone cold in her chest as guilt weighed heavily on her heart. She looked to the book, on the verge of tears. What had she driven her sister to do? A millenia ago, did Luna truly grow so jealous that she would resort to such drastic measures? Celestia didn’t want to believe it, but the truth was staring back at her. Luna knew the Clavicula Concordia Regis was here, and she scrawled the names on the back of the page for a reason. Now, they had to find and save Luna.
They had to save her before Tirek himself walked the earth.
=====================================================================
Questions, Comments, Concerns?
pen.stroke.pony@gmail.com
My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic © Hasbro
I do not own the intellectual properties this fan-fiction is based on.
=====================================================================
For the curious minds, here are where the demons come from. Some are true demons from a text known as the Lesser Key of Solomon, a mythological book. The others are classic villains from generation one of My Little Pony. Follow the links below to learn more.
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That awesome feeling when you finish the current chapters of a fic, wish there was more, refresh the page and.. awwww yiiish. *reads!*
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Amazing job.
Dat gen1 reference.
Great chapter!
That is some serious backstory... now I have to wonder if the original MLP was really as pansy as it is claimed when there are necromancer rams wandering about.
MOAR!!!!!
Tirek... defeated by the Rainbow of Light... which is NOT the Elements of Harmony!
I need to find Meagan, for she still carries the Locket and the power to vanquish the Dark Rainbow. (Humans in Equestria time!)
Yeah, I know about the Smooze. I don't consider that movie 'real'. It was a mistake, to be retconned away forever.
So, now Twilight is here, and will soon die now that she's given her infodump.
Well if Tirek is a problem just send a human after him. Should take care of the problem nicely.
Really though nice use of old ancient villains. That unicorn queen is probably a baleful form of a dragon now.
Yay!
is alright!
1586456
That is exactly what just happened to me
No. No. I'm sleeping tonight. Sleeping. You hear me!?
This will be saved for tomorrow!
Wow!
My Jaw was on the floor by the end of this chapter.
You just rewrote the definition of holyshitthatwasthecraziestmostawesomething
So their fighting their version of the devil that is also married to the greatest warrior queen in Equestrian history.... Well good f'in luck with that Twilight
! I would say your screwed, but thats almost like saying I told you so... so I'll refrain.
Random fact of the day: Many scholars of the Equestrian University of Knowledge, hold true to the theory that Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are only two of three royal siblings. Their is evidence that there is another alicorn, believed to be male and a generator of war.
(I'm refering to the fanfic Upheaval; if you haven't read it, then read it!)
This story is really amazing,I love it!
Please write more!
You revealed more, and now all I can think is "When will another chapter be out?!" Wonderful work!
Why is it I only see this updated at night?!
DUN DUN DUN
Feels like this just took a turn from horror to epic.
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That's all I can say at this point
I'm going to bet that all those demons are actually the children of Tirek and the unicorn queen, with Grogar being the firstborn. Also the Nightmare itself could be a representation of the queen herself...
At first I was like: "Well gee, that's some major cannon crashing!
"
then I clicked those links: "GENIUS!"
MOAR CHAPTERS!
Great now that Twi's fine shit will hit over head ventilation unit.
I also take it Luna is dead and she was the skeleton with the book. I think she found the book went back for Twi and was killed.
Because it was professor Plum with the candlestick in the observatory.
Great chapter mate.
~Reggie
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I am to amazed to say any thing els
1586664 your last sentence nicely showcases why I don't really consider this a horror fic. After all, the spoiler at the beginning gives away that they are all going to die, no chance of survival - and without that I can't bring myself to worry about them.
Still a great story though and nicely written, I just wish the first bit in the first chapter wouldn't have been there. (Also the first chapter kinda spoilers the abilities of the thing in the darkness, which takes some of the horror stuff away as well in my opinion)
1588913 that is impossible because the queen wrote the book before she got dragged away by tirek
1587343 Jup, terrato is only true 3rd alicorn. Cadence is a unicorn with a genetic defect, after all :D
Glad my History of Animation professor recommended we watched the first episode of Gen1 MLP. I come reading this fic already knowing much of the lore.
I'll check out the rest of the lore you linked later.
Old school villains used in an FIM fic that makes sense yay. I am really enjoying this story so far and can't wait to read more <3
This fic has apparently been viewed 666 times.
Screenshot taken.
Hmm, I just ordered the Lesser Key of Solomon, you piqued my interest,
probably shouldn't take the book to my gf's parents house, her mom might get the wrong idea 
This story already needs a sequel starring Luna. Its understandable that she would want to correct her mistakes herself. But by not informing anypony of what she was doing or the nature of the threat they might face she got a lot of good ponies killed coming into this mess completely unprepared. She's going to need to take responsibility for that. Assuming she comes out of this alive I think she should be the one to inform the guards families of their falling in the line of duty, really hammer home the consequence of her decision.
You're*
I think that should be "dragged".
Gettin' iiiiinteresting....
You're doing a good job of holding the suspense while keeping the story moving. By all means, carry on!
1591035 It's also bugging me that there is ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE. I mean, this thing has been set up with Murphy's Law on steroids, crack, meth, PCP, and every other stimulant possible to make sure everyone will die and Equestria will be brutally raped to extinction.
HOWEVER!!!
The new season has given us a loophole, should the author decide to exploit it.
The door where every pony's worst fears come true...
As of now, it is the last chance to avoid a dismal end for the world. (And my divine fire utterly consuming it to prevent the spread of its darkness. It's my job as the Angel of Death. Great pay and benefits package! Though treading the winepress of the grapes of wrath leaves these awful stains on the legs which take forever to clear off!)
I like that link at the end. I thought the list of names -- Arabus Leraje Barbas Catrina Furfur Grogar -- sounded familiar; and the Lesser Key of
Solomon the KingUnity, sounded familiar! I would say that the Key of Solomon isn't 'mythological' however. I've seen quite real copies of it for sale in bookstores.Very, very well-done shout out to classical European demonology here and to G1 villains.
Oh boy, they found the COnffakfja CLalfaeioffnb!!!
And now we know the names of the villains! Afarqrtg! Lfkjeaqopif! Bafhaitrop! Katrina! Fudoasdfjfasdfhl! and Griohetohawenernarhr!
And that Tirek guy.
love this story! number 1! the sh!t storm is fast approching
Wow, this story is so good, penstroke, you never dissapoint!
Anyways, i just wonder how twilight didn't run out of air in that coffin
I was a bit surprised when i clicked on those links, i was just about to look up some of those cuz' i thought it was from greek mythology but then i found it was from G1!
Basically, keep on being awesome!
I hope Luna did something to the coffin to make Twilight able to breathe in there.
I liked Catrina in her episode.
Um... is Luna trying to...free Tirek or something?
GODDIT!!! THERE'S STILL NIGHTMARE MOON LEFT IN LUNA!!!!!
1602703(dancing mop)-
1586664 one could easily see The Smooze as Tirek's blood....
Holy spit, that was so surreal, man!
Good ol' Google Translate translated "Clavicula Concordia Regis" to "drumstick harmony."
These demons sound awesome, nice use of G1. Oh the irony of using Tirek as the freaking devil, given he eventually appeared as a villain in S4. Definitely sound a lot more badass here though, he's the freaking devil for crying out loud.
Instead of 1 horror hunting our heroes, we have six, which would explain how they've been getting around so fast this whole time. I would say, either they are still hunting Luna or they have only just managed to catch, given they used Twilight as bait to trap our heroes. They don't want them interrupting the ritual, it does mean Luna is alive though so that's something.
Fear not, Luna, Micheal from Dresden Files will lend me his demon-killing sword to save you.
Time for the climactic finale. How and how many of our heroes will survive.
It's Game Over, Path Finder! Game over!
I would strongly suggest you take down the real demon names. Just speaking the name out loud "could" have serious repercussions.
Soooo..,is this a season 5 thing or?
I mean...tirek.
That big burly minotaurs that went around calling ponies names and sucking out their energy.
He doesn't seem like satin to me.
I've made characters far more terrifying then that guy.
But now i have ammo to make something even more so. Mwahahahahaha!
I hope you dont mind, sir pen stroke, if I use this book and its references in something else.
The ending of this chapter sent so. Many. Chills down my spine. First, I am SO GLAD that Twilight has been rescued. You have no idea how much my heart was bursting with happiness.
However, this happiness is not to last, now knowing what's at stake for Equestria..........for the world. If Luna is not saved, EVERYONE is screwed. *shivers*
1595950 I agree.
7489285
Tirek ain't no where near as bad as baddies from other works, just some greedy centaur that wanted to drain power from ponies. However, Penstroke has done a crazy good job of making him actually seem like a force to be afraid of in this fic.
Looks like Equestria's got some demon problems. I know a certain someone clad in green armor who phenomenal at taking care of demon's, if the princesses wouldn't mind a little bit of demonic blood shed.