Trapped

by Gylden Glor

New Elements

I curse under my breath as I die in the game "Hell Fire," which is an amazing free game for the iPad that I suggest you play. Breaking the fourth wall? What is this fourth wall you speak of?

Okay, I've got to stop speaking to myself.

I place my iPad down, and turn to go to-

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

I jump, and my heart skips a beat as I see the white eyes staring right at me. I take a deep breath to calm myself, and shake my head.

"Goddammit, Grendel," I mutter. "You scared the shit outta me..."

Grendel simply blinks. "I apologize."

I nod. "It's fine. Wait, hold on, it's the middle of the day! How are we going to-"

"Peter?" I hear Rainbow Dash mumble. "Honey? What's going on? Who're you talking-"

She stops speaking as she sees Grendel.

"MANNEQUIN!" She cries, reeling away from the dark figure.

"Dash, calm down," I say, reaching over to grasp her. "It's not a mannequin." It's just an embodiment of negative emotion and the thing that killed one of your friends. Yeah, I could say that, and make everything much better!

"Th-Then what is it? And why does it look like you!?"

"What in the hay are you two goin' on about in there?" I hear. I gulp, and take a deep breath as Applejack opens the curtains.

"What in the hay is that thing!?" Applejack shouts. "Hey, you stay the hay away from Peter and RD, ya hear me?"

"Applejack!" I shout, holding out my hand to calm her. I look behind her, and see the other ponies, shrinking away from Grendel. "This is Grendel," I tell her, raising another hand towards Grendel. "He's just a being that doesn't know anything, that's all. There's nothing to be afraid of, Applejack."

"Nothing to be afraid of!?" Rainbow cries. "That's the same thing I saw when I was attacked!"

I look to her in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She shakes her head. "I thought I was seeing things. I thought, that maybe it was Gilda, trying to get back at me. But now, we know that it's not...We know that this thing was trying to kill me!"

Applejack paws at the ground, like a bull preparing to charge. "That's it. Nopony, and Ah mean nopony, fucks with mah friends!" As she speaks, Rarity ushers the three fillies, Granny Smith, and Fluttershy away. Pinkie and Big Mac stand just behind Applejack, ready to leap into action as they watch Grendel carefully.

"Applejack!" I shout, somewhat panicked. "He didn't know! It's how he survives, don't you get it!? He feeds off of pain! He doesn't know right from wrong, he just acts on instinct! I'm trying to help him!"

"Why!?" She demands. "Why are ya tryin' t' help somethin' that almost killed yer' girlfriend?"

"Because he didn't know any better!" I shout back. "He doesn't know it's wrong to kill! He only knows that he gets hungry when he doesn't! That's why he killed Spike!"

Oops. I cringe, realizing that I've said too much.

However, it's not Applejack that I have to worry about.

Rather, it's the enraged lavender unicorn that's hovering on a cloud of hatred as she bursts through billowing curtains.

"This is the bastard that killed my son!?" She roars, her eyes steaming green with fury. "And you're trying to help him!?"

With that, Applejack rears up on her hind legs. "Ah'm gettin' Celestia!" She declares, before running through the door.

"Should I go?" Grendel asks. I shake my head. "No. Celestia is a fair ruler. She'll understand."

Grendel nods, and returns to his stone-cold, straight stature. I sigh, and Twilight's horn begins to glow.

"Twilight," I say, my voice as deep as rolling thunder and as rugged as a Rocky Mountain, "don't do anything rash. Let Celestia take care of this."

"It killed my son!" She cries, tears and green mist mixing together. "It killed Spike! You expect me to just...Let it go!?"

I stand between Grendel and Twilight. "No. But I expect you to keep your fucking head straight." It takes her a few moments, but she's eventually composed herself, and is simply glaring at me, and through me to Grendel, in pure scorn.

"What're you gonna do?" Pinkie Pie asks, walking forward. "How're you gonna help him?"

I sigh. "Celestia made me promise not to tell you," I inform her.

"You can tell us," Rainbow Dash says, softly, walking next to me to rest a hoof on my hand. She keeps as far away from Grendel as possible, while as close to me as possible at the same time. "We won't tell Celestia."

I debate telling her for a few moments, but then shake my head. If I tell her, she'll freak out, and try to stop me from doing it.

As I'm about to tell them that I can't say, Shining Armor bursts through the door, along with three Royal Guards.

"Take him, boys," Shining commands. I move aside so they can get to Grendel.

"They're going to help you," I lie. He nods, and leaves the room with them as they usher him towards the castle. Like a child trusting a parent...

I follow, and Rainbow Dash makes a move to come, as well. "Stay here," I tell her. "Stay here and help Twilight, do you understand?"

She nods, and, before she retreats into the room, she jumps up and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. "Good luck, Peter," she whispers as she hugs me. "Come back, would'ya?"

I smile, and hug her back for a few moments, before separating myself from her. "Time to go," I say as I leave.

I arrive at the palace within five minutes, and I see the Royal Guard, waiting for me at the gates.

"Come on," Shining Armor growls, before escorting me to a flight of descending stairs. We go down into a surprisingly well-lit cellar, and I notice a few things.

Firstly, there are three chairs, two of which are occupied. Their occupants, I'll point out later.

Next, there is a table with restraints installed every few meters or so.

And, lastly, there is a table with seven artifacts on it: a large, black coin; a black, malevolent arrow; a black, double-edged knife; a black helm with only a small slit carved into the armor for a soldier's visibility; a black, stone-like heart; a black, ominous glove with purple lines and runes; and, lastly, a sword with a black hilt, and blade of two colors: one side is silver, the other black.

The aforementioned occupants of two opulent chairs are Celestia and Luna, and they're both watching on in disciplined silence.

"You," Celestia points her hoof at Grendel, "lay down on the table. On your back."

Grendel nods, and does as he is told. The guards close his restraints, and Shining Armor takes a post by the entrance to the underground room.

"Peter," Celestia continues, "sit here." I do as I'm told, and I'm relieved when I feel a profound lack of restraints. I look left, at Luna, and right, at Celestia. They both seem to be very serious, as they should be when doing something like this.

"Peter," Celestia says, "we decided it was too dangerous to seal all of him away in you."

"Quite," Luna agrees, cutting across any and all words I may or may not have had. "Rather, we will be splitting him into seven different parts."

I look over at the objects I mentioned before. "So, that's what the artifacts are for..."

"Exactly." I nod, and Celestia continues where Luna left off.

"Those artifacts are made out of the same material that the Elements of Harmony were made from, but have been tempered for their negative counterparts. Each part is going to be made into a new Element. The Elements of Disharmony." I raise an eyebrow at the name. "After they are created, we will place each of them in different areas, with several magical security measures in each."

I nod, and point to the sword. "So, why's the sword made out of two materials?"

"It will be both an Element of Harmony and Disharmony," she explains. "To keep balance. It will be the Element of Sacrifice." I nod, and gesture to the artifacts again. "What are the others?"

This time, Luna answers my question.

"The coin is Greed. The arrow his Hatred. The knife is Betrayal. The helm is Lies. The heart is Empathy. And the glove is Sorcery." I nod, and sit back. "What part of him will go into me?" I wince as I speak, and I mutter "that's what she said" under my breath. The two Princesses look at me strangely, but shrug it off as an Earthling mannerism.

Celestia answers me this time. "The question is," she begins, "what part of you will be in the Element of Sacrifice."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Oh?"

"Your willingness to put others before you, and his heart, will go into the Element of Sacrifice. The two will become true Sacrifice, and will also give you the power to banish him, should he ever be released. Without his heart, he would be a ruthless killing machine."

I nod, and the blade is magically placed in my hands. "When we are done with the rest of him, you'll know what to do." I nod, and she and Luna stand. "Let us begin, sister," Luna says, softly.

With that, their horns glow, and so does Grendel. In all honesty, I did not expect it to be this easy. I expected Grendel to be screaming, and screeching as his body was torn apart. However, he simply dissolve into smoke, and this smoke is then placed into the Elements of Disharmony. They begin to glow malevolently, and both of the Princesses sigh in relief, and seem to lose their balance for a little while. I stand, carefully handling the blade in my hands. In all honesty, it's incredibly heavy.

"You two okay?" I ask. Celestia and Luna both stand after a few minutes, and nod. "That...That was very difficult. Upon removal from the heart, the essences of the Elements were nearly impossible to contain..."

I must admit, I'm impressed. It looked pretty damn smooth to me. But that's not important now. Celestia and Luna are standing to their full height again, and are pointing their horns at me.

"We're going to bring forth your willpower," Celestia explains.

"And then, you will impale the heart on that table," Luna continues.

I look at the table, and see that there is a black, pulsating, crystalline heart, which is glowing softly and releasing a low thump. I nod, and their horns are engulfed in an inferno of light. I grasp onto the blade as their magic wraps around and through me, and I feel the blade grow gradually lighter. Eventually, it feels like an extension of my arms, and it moves with a mysterious liquidity as it glows a bright blue.

"Now, go," Celestia grunts. "Impale it. We can't keep this up for much longer..."

I nod, and step forward, raising the blade above my head. I turn it so the tip faces down, and, with an involuntary grunt, I stab it down into the heart.

The crystalline surface gives way very easily, and shatters with an ear-piercing ring. It seems to melt, and quickly begins to envelope the blade, covering the black half in the black liquid. I panic, and pull my hands back as it reaches the hilt. Within a few minutes, the metal has begun to glow dark blue, and clatters to the ground. As the glow fades, I bend down to pick it up, and find that it is heavy once more.

"Why's it so heavy?" I ask.

"The willpower is gone," Celestia responds, breathing heavily as she recovers from the intensive magic. "Not even the strongest...stallion could lift it without effort...We brought forth your...willpower with magic, but if...if you ever...must use this blade...again, you need to bring...it forth...On your...Own..." Celestia repeatedly pauses to catch her breath, and I crick my neck. "What will we do with them?"

"I'll see to the Elements of Disharmony," Luna says, once she's regained her breath. "You...You will take the Element of Sacrifice. You may tell your friends what has occurred here today, and what we have created. They deserve to know."

I nod, and bend to pick up the blade. I struggle to hold it level, and I give them a pleading glance. "A bit of help?"

Celestia nods, and brings forth a small...umbrella stand.

"So, I'll just pop it in there, and hope this thing doesn't make it weigh any more?" I ask, my eyebrow raised dubiously.

"It has wheels," Luna remarks, rather snidely. "Oh great and intelligent human."

I blush, and hang my head. I just got dissed by a ponyPrincess. All of my arguments are invalid.

After a short struggle, I get the sword into the canister, and use a handle to tilt it onto its wheels luckily, it does not cause the wheels to buckle, so I prepare to lug it out.

"Wait, the stairs," I mutter.

Celestia ensnares the blade and barrel-thingy with magic, and transports it up the stairs. "There. Now, kindly, depart, as Luna and I need privacy to discuss the locations of these Elements."

I nod, and quickly climb the stairs, Shining Armor following me.

"So," he says as I take the sword and its barrel, "that was quite a show, huh?"

I nod, but I can't help but feel a bit of regret. Is he...Dead? Does he live on within the blade? Does he still...Feel?

Did I just murder Grendel?

I shake my head, and Shining Armor raises an eyebrow at me. "What, you thought it was boring?"

I look at him, and it takes me a second to realize what he means. "Oh, no, I'm just...confused, that's all."

He shrugs. "You'll get used to it. I mean, I'm still confused by the Princesses. One time, I was patrolling and I saw Celestia and Luna, dancing in the garden together."

I chuckle. "What? Dancing? Like...waltzing?"

He nods. "Yep. Exactly. And I've never seen it happen since."

I let out a small "huh". I'm honestly stumped. Were they drunk? Happy to be back together after a thousand years? Or did they just want to dance? These ponies...They confuse me.

"So, I have to make my leave here," Shining states as I walk out of the castle gates. "Can't go too far from my post unless it's on official business. Tell Twily' I said hello! Y'know, when she's calmed down."

I nod, and walk off, humming a little tune to myself as I walk through the streets of Canterlot.

I don't know why, but I'm happy. In the light of things, I should be bummed. Grendel's probably dead, and by my hands. A creature that did not know right from wrong has been killed by the valiant, trustworthy Peter.

But I must admit, that was somewhat anticlimactic. I was actually kind of looking forward to having to fight some kind of infinite evil...

Wait, hold on. That means I would have to be physically fit, and able to carry my own weight.

Yeah, fuck that shit. I'm actually somewhat relieved that I don't have to work that hard.

Hmm...Am I so happy because I'm relieved?

Oh, wait, I think I just realized: I'm happy because I'm no longer burdened with watching after him. I no longer have to think of how I'm responsible for letting something go out and kill shit. I'm part of the solution.

I reach the guest chambers, and stop to open the door. My vision flickers a bit, and the blade begins to glow a tiny bit.

I open the door, and step inside.

The soft carpeting squishes underfoot, and it smells as if something is rotting.

I look around, and I can't believe my eyes.

Author's Note:

This is far from the end, trust me.
I know, this seemed like an anticlimactic chapter, but trust me, it's not the end. This is, like, the half time show.

Comments

[Superanon74]

The heart is Empathy.

as if thats a bad thing.... lol

and, this strangely reminds me of the sword from the stone..... and freak the mighty..... and that stupid ass sting song......

[Grabnock]

4238458 That's what I was thinking! Lying, Greed... and then empathy.

One of these things is not like the others.... What's next? The Helm of Love?