Chapter 7: Transcendence
Twilight watched from within her spherical prison as Jeff was engulfed in darkness. It swirled in a vortex before dissipating into nothing, leaving behind only a dead patch of grass.
"Where is he? What did you do?!" Demanded Fang. He tried to move but his legs refused to do so.
"Fang! What's happening to you?!" Twilight yelled through the barrier.
"I cannot exist on a separate realm from Jeff," Fang's fur and tail began to grow stiff and harden. "So I am reverting to my natural state... Please be... Careful." Fang's eyes lost their light as his body hardened and turned to stone.
SuCH a pitiful CReAturE
The shrouded figure lashed out with a tendril of darkness, shattering Fang into bits of ruble, much to the horror of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
Jeff awoke with a start. His back was sore and he felt cold, something terrible either has happened or was about to happen, or both. He rolled onto his side, the stone ground he laid upon sapping the warmth from his body. He slowly managed to get to his feet, then began rubbing his arms and jogging in place in an effort to revive his body.
Once he was sufficiently warm he began to take in his surroundings. He seemed to be surrounded by stone, no, the entirety of everything he could see near and far was stone as black as onyx. A feeling of nostalgia washed over him, a feeling of such familiarity for a place so unrecognizable.
Jeff began to wander the strangely familiar place he found himself in. Wherever he was it was no illusion. He came across a deep chasm that seemed to wind its way into the distance on either side of him. Taking a closer look, the edges of the chasm were smooth as though ground by running water. Just then he heard a shuffling sound behind him. Jeff spun around to face the potential enemy.
"I see you're finally awake, good thing too." The creature said. It was tall, stood on two legs, and was wearing a torn and tattered black cloak, hiding its body and face. The creature held out a skeletal hand and beckoned Jeff to follow.
Princess Celestia was in her throne room sipping some tea with her sister during a break from the nobles when a royal messenger pegasus burst through the doors unannounced.
"Your highness!" He paused to gasp for air, "Emergency!"
"Phantom Blaze, what is the meaning of this?" Questioned Princess Celestia.
"Reporting in... Information concerning the elements!" Phantom panted. The princesses’ eyes widened as they waited impatiently for the messenger to catch his breath, he must have flown as fast as his wings could carry him all the way from Ponyville to be in such a state. "The Elements have been kidnapped and are currently being held as hostages in the Everfree Forest! Reports state that the god Jeff and his familiar followed after them but have not yet returned!"
"Thank you for your urgent delivery, now go and get some rest. Sister, let us hurry to their aide." Celestia said in a regal tone in an attempt to hide her fear and anger.
"Of course, Celly." Luna replied in a near whisper.
“Guards!” Celestia called out, a small battalion bursting into the throne room in answer to her call. “Gather the fastest flyers and have them rendezvous with myself and Luna near the entrance to the Everfree Forest. Hurry!”
“At once, your highness!” The guards saluted before running off down the hall.
Together the sisters walked out onto the balcony, and with a mighty flap of their wings they took off into the sunset, heading in the direction of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest.
THe sISteRZ aPproACH, SoOn tHIs WoRld WILl bE MinE
The shrouded figure said as it waited patiently. Trixie and Scratch sat silently, waiting for the moment they have planned for all these months. Twilight was trying every spell in her power to either overcome the shell through sheer magical power or dispel it in some way, the others helping in any way they can.
Both Rainbow and Applejack were bucking away at the barrier with all their might, Rarity was using her telekinesis to throw whatever rocks or gems she could find. Spike was burning it with his flames and Fluttershy was keeping an eye on the beasts beyond, staring them down should they venture too close.
"This is hopeless!" Rainbow yelled in frustration, panting and sweating heavily from the exertion. "Twilight, are you sure the Princess can take this guy? You saw what he did to Jeff and Fang, and they were both stronger than Celestia."
"I know, Rainbow." Twilight said. "But I'm sure the Princess has a plan, she always does."
"Um, Twi?" Applejack began, "Don't the princess’s plans usually involve us using the Elements an whut not ta beat the bad guy?"
"Like I said AJ, Once the Princess gets here she will know just what to do." Twilight reassured the group as they resumed their continuing assault on the barrier.
Jeff followed the robed figure for some time, the landscape barely changing no matter how far they traveled. They passed mountains, rock formations, statues of various heroes and villains of old, all worn and weathered beyond anything recognizable. After what felt like hours the duo came across what appeared to be a small camp.
A row boat served as a makeshift shelter, propped upside-down over a few tattered sheets of linen. The cloaked figure gestured for Jeff to sit, and then the figure itself sat opposite him. Between the two of them a small fire of green flames burst to life.
"Now, do you mind telling me who you are and where I am?" Jeff inquired.
"Do you truly not remember this place? Granted, much has changed during the recent years, but have you really forgotten me? The one who ferries the souls of the damned?" The cloaked skeleton asked as he gestured to the small boat behind him.
"Wait, you're the ferry man! Kharon, if I recall. Then that makes this place the Underworld. That prick, to send me to the underworld and trap me in an illusion…” Jeff trailed off as his mind began to overflow with vengeful images. After a moment he shook his head to clear his mind. “So, what happened here? Where are the lakes of flame? What happened to the River of Styx? What happened to all the souls and monsters? Where is Hades? He would never allow this to happen!" Kharon waited patiently for Jeff to ask his questions. Once Jeff quieted down, Kharon explained the situation.
"It began about two thousand years ago. Since the extinction of the human race, the busiest day of my unlife I'll have you know, we have expanded to include all souls of sentient life which included the apes and the ponies once they came to be. One day, I go to collect a soul only to find the soul had gone missing. Of course, questions were asked and things looked into, but we never found the cause for it.
“Over the next thousand years, more and more souls had vanished before I was able to collect them. Eventually it led up to the point where even souls deemed for not only the underworld, but for the realm of Mt. Olympus as well, were all being taken by an unknown third party. After seven hundred years of no new souls, the realms had weakened severely.
“During that time of weakness we were invaded by a single figure shrouded in darkness. It began to absorb the souls residing in the realms. Both Hades and Zeus amassed large armies to fight against its power. Fat lot of good that did, wound up feeding the damn thing every soul on a silver platter. Once it finished with the armies it went after the gods. Hades was the first to fall, his power added to that of the figure of darkness. After that all the other gods of the realms fell before it's dark power. I survived by hiding in the place between the realms, as the ferry man only I know how to safely navigate it." Kharon finished, gazing deeply into the green flames.
“How could this have happened? Surly a being of pure darkness was no match for the gods of light." Jeff said.
"As you know there are exceptions to everything, you being one of such exceptions. Its darkness is all consuming like that of a black hole, not even the powers of light can affect, nor escape it." Said Kharon, now poking at the fire with a stray stick.
"And that's where I come in." Jeff said as he sat back.
"Yes and no. On an even field you would no doubt be more resistant to the darkness, possibly immune even. Unfortunately it is no longer your world; it now belongs to the pony princesses. Without an actual realm you hold no real power to completely undo the creature after you defeat it. It will hide and begin again." Kharon tossed the stick into the fire, sending sparks of fel-flame into the air.
"I see. Then I would have to use the power of the Elements to finish it off." Jeff pondered, stroking his chin in thought.
"That might work, but we must hurry. If the creature obtains the power of the princesses then nothing would be able to stop it." Kharon focused his gaze upon Jeff.
"Alright, how do I get out of here if the river is dry?" Jeff motioned toward the bottomless chasm.
"I have power enough to take you to the Gates of Tartarus, but to actually enter the realm of the living is beyond my power." Kharon said while slowly shaking his head.
"I can take care of that." Jeff said, standing and dusting himself off.
"Then let us be off." Kharon said, also getting to his feet. He made several gestures as they were shrouded in green fel-flames, disappearing as the flames died away.
Celestia and Luna flew low and fast, grazing the tree tops as they frantically searched for Twilight and her friends. They met the dispatched guards on the edge of the Everfree and debriefed them on the situation before quickly beginning the frantic search. They needed to find the elements quickly, there was no time to slow down and wait for the rest of the guard.
"Luna, keep an eye out for anything peculiar!" Celestia yelled across the distance to her sister.
"Oh really? I thought we were out for a nice evening flight!" Luna yelled back sarcastically. "I don't see anything strange or unusual, but the forest is interfering with my senses, we could be right on top of them for all I know!"
They returned to their searching, every now and then they would dive down into one of the many clearings, often finding nothing, sometimes finding a few ruins or wildlife. They had nearly finished scanning the forest in its entirety when they spotted another clearing in the distance much larger than the ones they had investigated. With a nod to each other they both decided to investigate the last remaining clearing together.
When they drew near they were buffeted by enormously powerful winds of darkness. Caught off guard the sisters were sent crashing to the forest floor.
"Luna! Luna are you alright?!" Celestia called out to her sister from her position in the mud. She was covered head to hoof in mud, twigs, leaves and dead blades of grass, hardly befitting of royalty.
"I'm up here, sister." Celestia looked above herself and saw Luna stuck in a tree, not the branches but the trunk itself. Luna's horn was buried up to the base of her skull as she frantically tried to pull herself out of the trunk without hurting herself.
"Hold still, I'll get you out." Celestia charged her horn as Luna stopped moving, her one eye facing Celestia focused on her sister. Celestia released the magic onto the tree, dissolving it into nothing. Without a tree to be stuck in Luna was free at last. She fluttered down and stood next to her sister.
"Thanks Tia." Luna said as she warmly nuzzled her sister.
"You’re welcome, now we must hurry to the clearing if we wish to save the Elements and my student. The guards won’t be able to make it past this wind, it will keep them at bay, we will need to be extra careful." Celestia said as she broke the embrace.
The sisters turned back to the clearing and took a step forward. Another gust of wind billowed and pulled at their manes and tails. Another step and the winds doubled in power, attempting to hold them at bay. The wind, no matter how furious, was no match for the sisters as they trudged closer and closer to the clearing.
With a final step through a thistle bush, the princesses emerged into the clearing where the Elements were held captive. Twilight and her friends were to their left encased in some type of shield spell and directly in front of them sat a figure shrouded in darkness. The dark entity stood from its throne and slowly stalked toward the princesses.
We aRe So gLAd yOU cOuLD mAkE iT
"In the name of Equestria I demand to know who you are and what you’re planning!" Celestia yelled to the beast.
OH liTtlE CELEsTia, hAVe YOu fORGotTen mE aLReaDy?
"What? No... It can't be...Azule!" Celestia whispered as she slowly backed away.
oH IT cAN Be, aNd iT Is, My dAUghTer. IT tOOk oVEr TWo thOUSaNd yEArs oV feEDInG on tHe SOulZ Of THe weAK, BUt i Am NOw sTRonGer tHAn eVEr BefORe
The sisters’ shadows cast by the moon pulled themselves up from the ground and grabbed them, holding them in place. Celestia and Luna quickly shot off several spells at once, trapping Trixie and Scratch while shattering the dome over Twilight and the others.
"Run Twilight! Take your friends and don't look back!" Celestia called out to her student, hoping to at least get her to safety if all else fails.
"I can't leave you princess! I won't!" Twilight yelled as she took an aggressive stance against the beast.
"Twilight, you can't beat Azule, even with the elements! Go and find Jeff and Fang, quickly! We will need their help!" Celestia begged her student.
"But princess, they were killed!" Twilight yelled back over the quickly forming wind, fighting back tears as she tried to help her mentor in any way she could.
"Death won't be enough to stop him if I gaged his strength correctly; Luna and I will hold him off while you get to safety!” Celestia let off a burst of light, shattering their bonds of darkness.
“Twilight! Let’s go! We need to get out of here!” Rainbow Dash yelled into Twilight’s ear as the others fled into the forest. Trixie and Scratch struggled against their binds, but were unable to move and their magic had been sealed.
She didn’t hear her, Twilight was too focused on the fight to pay attention to anything else. Princess Celestia’s appearance had changed; she was pure white with angry orange flames for her mane, tail, and wings. She stood firm, Azule’s attacks of darkness were being deflected while the princess shot powerful blasts of light burning like the heart of the sun towards her father.
Princess Luna looked like darkness itself, she teleported around attacks and counter attacked with such speed and agility that Twilight could barely follow her movements as she seemed like nothing but a cloud of smoke.
No matter how many attacks hit their target, Azule was unfazed, bored even, as he patiently watched his daughters quickly tire themselves out from their relentless onslaught.
“Twilight we need to get out of here NOW!” Rainbow Dash yelled while trying to shove the unicorn away from the battle.
I gROw tIRed Of THis, I wiLL tAKe bACk wHAt IZ RIgHTfuLly mINe
Twilight watched in horror as a tendril of darkness blasted up from beneath where Princess Luna stood while she tried to catch her breath. In an instant Luna teleported away just before it could catch her, instead it shot towards Celestia in an attempt to catch her from behind. Without thinking Twilight teleported herself to her mentor, using her magic to blast Celestia out of the way. Twilight took a moment to relish the fact that she had just saved the princess, a moment she never had.
Twilight’s chest felt tight and cold as she saw Celestia get caught by a second tendril of darkness. But what scared Twilight the most was the look of horror on Celestia’s face as she stared at her. She slowly followed the tendril from the princess, it seemed to arc over her head but it wasn’t coming from the other side of her. The color drained from Twilight’s face as she looked beneath herself. The tendril had come from the ground where Celestia was standing, much like it did for Luna, except when Twilight saved the princess, it was her standing there instead. The tendril had pierced through her entire body without her even feeling it.
Twilight turned to look at her friends, the look of horror on each of their faces as they struggled to fight back their tears. She saw their mouths moving and forming words, but they failed to reach her ears. Twilight wanted to reassure them that this was her choice and to save themselves, but instead of words, thick globs of blood and torn flesh burst from her mouth, eliciting screams of pain and misery from her friends.
The tendril dissipated, with nothing to hold them inside, Twilight’s entrails and organs splashed onto the ground beneath her. She stood shakily for a moment, blood streaming out of the gaping wound and dying the ground a deep crimson. The last thing Twilight saw was her friends rushing to her, rushing far too slowly. Twilight’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, she was dead before she hit the ground.
Luna saw Twilight fall, dead, in the puddle of her own blood as though it was in slow motion. The embodiment of the Element of Magic was dead. Her sister, Celestia, has been absorbed into Azule. As a final resort, Luna reached out with the last of her strength and wrapped her magic around her friends, the traitors, and Twilight’s cooling form. In a flash of light she teleported herself and the remaining elements to safety, an underground tunnel deep within the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. The silent halls were instantly filled with a chorus of wailing voices grieving for their friend.
Luna stood watching as Twilight’s friends held each other as Rainbow and Applejack positioned Twilight’s body to look as though she was merely sleeping. After everything that Twilight had gone through in her last few moments of life, she still managed to look peaceful. Luna looked away, no longer able to watch the ponies grieve for the loss of their best friend, her expression cold and emotionless.
“Princess Luna,” Fluttershy spoke up, her friends quieted down in order to hear the pegasus, “What happens now? What will happen to the rest of the world?”
Luna took a deep breath and held it for a moment before sighing in defeat. The truth, no matter how terrible, needed to be told. “He has captured my sister and no doubt has taken her power for his own. Equestria should remain safe from his influence for now, he cannot force his rule upon the land so long as I remain alive. All we can do now is wait for Jeff’s return, he has enough power to possibly weaken Azule, allowing me to deliver the final blow. Without someone of this world to kill Azule, the souls will be forever trapped as a source for his power.”
“What about Twilight’s soul? Was it taken by Azule too?” Pinkie Pie asked, her hair had been deflated since the death of her friend, tears constantly streaming from her eyes.
“I don’t know. I’m sorry but there is no way to tell.” Luna said sadly, pulling all the little ponies into a tight hug.
Twilight felt herself spinning incredibly fast, yet she was still. The world was upside down and upside right at the same time. Looking to her left she was also looking to her right, nothing was making sense. She had no idea who or what she was, she seemed to be everything and nothing at the same time. All she really knew was that she stood in a place of white, mists of clouds were slowly floating all around her. With the sudden sound like a gong a giant gate appeared in front of her, seemingly out of thin air. She cautiously took a step forward and reached out with a hoof when a burst of vibrant green flames erupted in front of her.
She quickly backed away in a panic as a pair of tall figures emerged from the flames, one was cloaked in battered robes and the other was incredibly familiar. Twilight stared at them quizzically as the figures looked around. One of them jumped in surprise at the sight of her.
“Twilight!” Jeff called out to her. “What are you doing here?”
Twilight? Why is that name familiar? Suddenly images of her entire life flooded through her mind. She saw her parents watching her nervously as she tried to make Spike’s egg hatch, her studies of magic under the tutelage of the princess, meeting her friends for the first time when they fought against Nightmare Moon, and all their adventures together. Then she remembered her last moments of life, how she almost saved the princess but was instead caught in the middle of the battle. In a sudden panic Twilight reared back to get a better look at her stomach. In its place, however, was a hole that let her see right through to the other side of her body.
Twilight broke down crying, she curled up as the pain and grief she caused her friends caught up to her mind. She was able to remember every horrible detail, the looks on their faces, the torrents of blood splashing to the ground from her body, everything broke her heart. In between sobs she felt she wasn’t alone, Jeff was with her, softly patting her head trying to comfort her. Twilight looked up at him, tears streaming from her eyes.
“Why so sad, Twilight Sparkle?” Jeff said, as though nothing was wrong.
“How can you just say that? I’m dead! I left my friends to fend for themselves and I might never see them again!” She wailed miserably.
“Celestia never got the chance to tell you, did she?” Jeff said evenly as he scratched behind her ears in an effort to calm her.
“Tell me what?” She asked, Jeff’s technique working wonders to calm her nerves.
“Okay, when the princess took you as her personal student, did it not seem odd she chose you as a personal student over every other unicorn?” Jeff asked. Twilight looked up at him quizzically.
“Well, it’s obvious. I had the most magical potential of all the students.” She said as though Jeff was incredibly oblivious.
“Think about it Twilight, there were a lot of unicorns throughout the reign of the Princess, yet of all of them you were her only student. She watched over you almost maternally as your powers grew.” Jeff said as Twilight stood, slowly backing away. “Twilight, you needed to be observed during your life in case you began exhibiting certain traits.”
“What are you talking about? I’m…I’m nothing special! I’m just me!” Twilight half yelled, panic in her voice.
“That’s the thing Twilight. You are you. And just what are you? You are the first ever natural born alicorn on this planet, a goddess just like the princess.” Jeff said, standing to face her with a look of determination. “Celestia has placed a powerful seal on your magic, limiting what you can do to that of a normal, if yet powerful, unicorn.”
“How can you say that about me?! What proof do you have?!” Twilight was almost hysterical, the recent shocks on top of her life possibly being a lie almost too much for her to handle.
“If you are looking for proof, look no further. You stand before the Gates of Tartarus, normal souls need to be ferried here first by Kharon, yet here you stand, on actual legs for that matter. You are, right now, simultaneously alive and dead. As for proof of Celestia’s seal, when Trixie was creating the prison around you and your friends your magic died off, but you could feel more deep down, did you not?”
“Th-that was beca-” Twilight stuttered.
“Did you not?!” Jeff interrupted harshly.
“Yes I did okay?!” Twilight screamed back hastily. She suddenly gasped and covered her mouth with a hoof as Jeff sat back down and smiled. “By Celestia, it is true…”
“Yes, now we have things to discuss. Come, join me and Kharon.” Kharon sat next to Jeff while Twilight sat facing both of them. “Now, Celestia is a kind goddess, and no doubt locked your powers away until you died a natural death at a ripe old age. The transition to godhood is easier once you have already lived a fulfilling life, for obvious reasons. Celestia no doubt wanted to be the one to help you transcend death, but unfortunately she is either preoccupied or taken by the figure of absolute darkness.”
“She was taken…” Twilight said sadly.
“Well in that case we must hurry.” Jeff leaned forward, “The spell was undone the moment you died and found yourself here. You now have access to all of your goddess power, yet without the proper training, once you return to the realm of the living you will be unable to control any of it. I’m talking about lifting a cup but accidently hurling the planet into the sun. So since we are short on time, I will lend you the collected knowledge of the powers of a god from myself, just as my guardian did to me long ago. It will feel like your head will explode, but trust me, it will be okay.”
Twilight nodded, “Okay…”
“Are you ready?” Twilight nodded again. “Close your eyes and point your horn toward me.” Twilight did as she was told as Jeff rubbed his palms together, static energy sparked off in every direction. He quickly reached out and grabbed Twilight’s horn.
Twilight’s eyes shot open as millennia after millennia of knowledge flooded her mind. Her eyes became half lidded and began to glow with the fury of a thousand suns as she accepted the knowledge. After a few seconds that seemed as long as the universe was old, the process was complete. Jeff broke the connection and sat back down, none the worse for the wear. Twilight on the other hoof, collapsed in a heap as she wrapped her mind around everything that was just crammed into her skull.
“I just gave you the basics, a vague history of the universe and the knowledge on how to properly exert your powers and how to limit them. Ironically, you can actually thank the being of darkness for sending me here. Since Fang no longer exists in a physical form he just rejoined me, returning me to full power.” Jeff said cheerfully as Twilight moaned on the ground. “Oh don’t be like that, you should be happy, you get to see your friends again!”
“Friends…?” Twilight muttered from her position on the ground.
“Yeah, your friends, Applewhiskey, Pinkie Cake, Double Rainbow, Commoner Belle, and Flutter-rage.” Jeff tested.
“W-what?” Twilight stood up to face him, “That is not their names, my friends are Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy!”
“Ah good you’re back.” Jeff said, patting her on her head.
“What?” Twilight was confused by his strange tactics.
“Needed to make sure you didn’t lose who you were amidst the universe of knowledge in your skull. Now, are you ready to come back to life?” Jeff asked encouragingly.
“No doubt about it!” Twilight said with absolute confidence.
“It will be dangerous.” Jeff cautioned.
“Bring it on! I need to do this, for me, for my friends, for Equestria and the princesses!” Twilight declared.
“And what about you Kharon? Will you join us in battle?” Jeff asked as he stood by Twilight’s side.
Kharon stood quickly, “I have hid myself for far too long,” he held out a boney hand, a massive scythe appeared in a burst of green flame. “I will join you for the glory of all the realms!”
Jeff placed a hand on Twilight’s head and the other on Kharon’s shoulder. “Let’s go say hello!” Jeff cheered as they each glowed a bright blue then winked out into nothing.
A/N: A manly tear was shed in the making of this chapter.
Edited by Bodaciousbabe22
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Men wrote this.
Payback's a bitch Azule! This is gonna be good, I'll have popcorn ready for the next chapter
-Glassed
MOAR!
one day, fan fictions like this would be animated and shown rather than written. until that day, keep on writing
395082 well i am working on my bachelors in game programming, who knows just what i might do?
I enjoy this but the pacing has felt really off since Twilight saw the memory. You spent a lot of time creating Jeff and Fang (who I love as characters) and setting the stage for what was to come. However, it basically ended up as "oh, there's a universe ending bad guy who wants to kill us all. Also did I mention he is Celestia's father?" Also, the Greek mythology felt kind of forced.
But you still keep me entertained, so
to you, sir.
395422 i was aiming for a shock and awe factor for Celestia and Luna, the father they thought was dead actually managed to survive and is soon to be the destroyer of reality. mentioning it soon would have spoiled the surprise.
394268 No...A man wrote this. A man of amazing godlyness! HAIL THE AUTHOR!
Stay frosty!
~Hazard~
396623 Well thank you kind sir, your words bring warmth to my heart.
Shit is about to go down
394274 Popcorn? Pfft, No. This is going to require pizza, buffalo wings, chips, dip, some beer/soda and what the hey, some custom made pony jerseys. Lets do this!
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1exqmxZ8Y1r6qwrao1_500.gif
401944 I'll bring a couch and a parasol!
-Glassed
401944 mexicanonadiet.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/bush-booyah.jpg
I thought Karon couldn't traverse the lands of the living?
722442
no he cannot if im correct it is jeffs power that let him