Death's Bargain

by Haseo

Chapter 17 - Burning Skies

Chapter 17
Burning Skies

Applejack rolled over the soft grass she was lying on and looked for the stallion that was laying next to her. Her hooves were gliding over the ground in order to find him, but her search remained unsuccessful. She opened carefully her eyes and blinked rapidly. At first she thought her eyes were lying to her. But as the sleepy blur faded from her sight the conclusion became definite.

Her entire body tensed up and her head shot upwards, hastily searching through her surroundings. There was nothing but trees and bushes. “Soul ya cheap trickster! How could ya leave meh behind and flee? Where are ya?”

Applejack's scream was well audible in the light forest and so it reached Soul's ears as well. The black stallion raced downwards the rocky path, jumping from boulder to boulder with high-speed, leaving no room for mistakes. He gulped when he recognized Applejack's voice in the far distance. She had fallen asleep quickly after their little amusement. Soul took the chance and procured himself a little protrusion.

The field beneath his hooves had changed while they got distracted from their aim. Right in front of him was once a wide field. Now there was a wide path burned into its centre, leading to a pearl-white boulder.

It was obvious that somepony wanted to him to appear and Soul wasn't willed to disappoint this somepony. His hooves met the ground the path consisted of. His speed even increased when the path flattened. The white boulder came closer and closer in his field of view. A small dark spot became visible. The pictures inside his memories began to rattle in front of his mind.

Lunacy had sat on such a boulder when Soul and he met for their final encounter. Soul was victorious at that time but he was still facing the consequences from this fierce encounter.

Soul's head began to hurt. It felt like every single coil of his mind was burning inside an eternal fire. But he had to focus on the black dot in front of him. He closed one eye and ripped the other wide open. The black dot slowly formed into a pony. But something seemed to be different about him. There was no horn nor wings. It was an earth pony.

He hissed at the thought of an earth pony belonging to the apocalyptic four. But his breath stocked slightly when the picture in front of his eyes became more detailed. The pitch black earth pony was staring at Soul with his purely white eyes. Only a faint black line parted the eye from the pupil. The flesh around his muzzle was rotten and lapsed to the ground. He was thin and underfed. Even his mane was mostly torn out. Only a few long strands of his white but dirty mane.

What could this broken creature do against him? But Soul didn't make the mistake to underestimate the seemingly magicless opponent.

Soul's gallop decreased and became slower until he stood only five feet away from him. The pitch black stallion licked over his rotten lips and flashed him a smug smile. “Nice to meet you, Soul Tearer. It has been a long time since my sister told me about you for the first time. It is good to see the one that shall take the place.”

He ignited his horn and let his magic whirl around its tip. “Nice to meet you, too, stallion named Famine. You will be the second one of your siblings that will fall. But I have to disappoint you right away. I don't have time to chat with you. I'm sorry.”

Black spikes emerged from the ground and pierced through Famine's body. Blood was spilled at the ground underneath him. But the rotten stallion began to laugh instead of wincing in pain. “You aren't naïve, my young friend. But you are still underestimating me. We are four brother and sisters. War is our youngest; ponies had created this kind of senseless behaviour. Pestilence is following shortly after; he is only slightly younger then life on Equestria's surface. I'm older than both of them. Living creatures had always suffered from starvation. The older our aspect is, the stronger are we. But nothing can rival the power of my sister Death. She is absolute; nothing can stop her. And as I could see, not even the wielder of Time and Space.”

The spikes dispersed into thin air and let the pitch black stallion fall to the ground. His injuries healed in seconds. Famine still wore this smug smile in his face. Soul hated that with every fibre of his body. “You are one to talk. Already knowing that I burned one of your brothers, you are still calmly talking. Your sister and I may have made a deal. But that doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want.”

Famine made a noisy whistling sound through the hole in his cheek while he breathed. It was annoying and made Soul's headache only worse. “Listen, young one. A fight would be meaningless. You can't kill me and I probably can't kill you. If you wanted to devour my power as well, you have to burn down every living being in a radius of ten miles. Above us is a city filled with thousands of pegasi. So it seems like you just have to talk to me.”

Soul spit at the ground in front of Famine's hooves. The muscles in his face twitched. He knew that this manipulative piece of trash was right. “Fine. We can chat a little bit. Why don't you start with your precious mistress? Who is she?”

The pitch black stallion didn't bother to make himself comfortable and laid carelessly down. He rubbed his chin and watched Soul only from the corner of his eyes. “My mistress? Hmm... how could I describe her to you? She is truly a wonderful creature, I think without her my sun wouldn't shine so bright. She had freed every single of us and only imposed one rule upon us. 'Bring everything down that opposes my plans...'?

Soul heard the stallion in front of him talking but the words seemed to blur into one long noise. His headache got worse with every passing second. “Listen, I don't want to hear about your entire life. I just want one simple answer! Who is your mistress?”

Famine rolled on his back and pointed his gaze towards the city of thousands above them. He tried to reach the plush surface with his hoof and smiled calmed at his own pathetic attempt. “You know... it isn't important that you know her. Soon you will meet her. She will bring light to your life before you will be finally thrown into the eternal darkness you once wandered in. Just accept the flow of time and wait.”

The cold gust blew through Soul's mane while he stared at the pitiful stallion to his hooves. How could somepony be so calm when his enemy is standing right next to him? “You tell me to accept the flow of time? If I would have agreed with every hardship time gave me, I wouldn't be standing here today. I'm the only pony that is allowed to mess with time. So don't tell me what I have to do. I can hardly guess who your mistress is but what is the matter with Discord? Why is he helping your mistress?”

The rotten stallion rolled to his side and shot Soul another smug smile. “Oh, Discord. A funny little fella. No matter how hard he tries, he simply can't rise back to power again. Everything that made him strong is gone and summed up inside of you. He hates you as much as you do. This fight will go on forever. Both of you are unable to die, may it be because he is divine or because you are allied to my sister, Death. As long as you keep up this wretched form, nothing will change in your life. You will loose everything dear to you once more. Someday you will find somepony new but you will loose her as well. You won't ever find idle and happiness. Forever you will be alone, forsaken and sad.”

Soul's hooves began to shiver. He wanted to beat the ancient stallion in front of him to death. Sinister thoughts crept into his mind while his headache suppressed his rational thoughts. A dark oddly familiar voice rose in his mind. The voice of a equally dark stallion from two years ago. “What is wrong, Soul Tearer? You hadn't any problem to beat me! You managed to trick me but not this old fraud in front of you? How pathetic! Just burn him and consume his life, like you consumed mine!”

Soul was listening closely to the voice in his head. He hardly noticed that his horn began faintly to glow under the influence of the dark voice. He shook his head and dispersed the magic inside of him into the air. “Stop talking such nonsense... I will never be alone. The Princess... Applejack! They will be always by my side!”

Famine eyed Soul closely. He noticed the stallion dwell inside of his own mind and the faint magic raising around him. “Hmm... yes, I can see my presence is taking effect on you.”

Soul cocked an eye at the poised specter. “Your presence?”

The rotten stallion raised back into a sitting position and let his tongue hung at his chin. “It is quite simple. Mortal beings, may it be a pony or a plant, are slowly fading under the influence of my presence. If your little fillyfriend would have come along with you, she would be dead by now. But you are something special. You are not only wielding your own mortal soul but a few other divine souls. And this is exactly the point of my plan... your own mortal soul is slowly fading under my influence but your divine souls are not. They will take control of your body and devastate this world! It may sound harsh but you wouldn't be that vulnerable to me if you had consumed your beloved Princess as well. Everything good inside of you is mortal and will fade. Everything evil is divine and immortal. It will survive and take over. Soul Tearer will disappear and Black Terror will return.... I could even imagine him fight for my mistress...”

Once more Soul ignited his horn and tried to fight back the poisonous effect inside of his mind. Famine couldn't resist but laugh at Soul's desperate attempt to keep the upper hoof over his own mind. Soul bit his lip until blood flew down his chin to keep his concentration. “I will never become like this ever again! This time is long gone and won't ever return!”

The voice inside of his head became louder with every second. It was screaming at him with all the constantly raising power he had. “Cut it out you pathetic fool! You've killed before, why not now? Burn him alive and consume more darkness!”

Famine watched Soul eagerly. Everything was planned out into its last detail. Just a little longer and Soul might lose his free will. “I'd bet you want to know why I've chosen this place to face you. Well, the mountains around us are working like a like giant wind enhancer. The wind is blowing against them and driven upwards. But shortly after the top they are racing downwards again and force it to race towards this valley. The gust here is strong enough to blow away your little fireflies which burned my brother. Above us is the city of Los Pegasus. It will shield me from your 'Urano Metoria', the very spell that helped you to defeat Discord almost twice. You won't go that far and kill recklessly every single of the innocent pegasi above. You can't use the your two most powerful spells here. So you can't defeat me in time!”

Soul's widened in shock. He has to think of some plan quickly, before his mind is finally ceasing under this enormous magical influence. “So you are saying that this particular environment is protecting you? How pathetic...”

Famine cocked his eye. But he noticed a slight change in Soul's behaviour. Even the air around them seemed to chill. For a short moment the member of the apocalyptic four took his eyes off Soul. But when they returned the stallion was gone. Famine's eyes zoomed through his surroundings but Soul remained lost to him. Carelessly he let his tension fall. Decades of immortality made Famine imprudent.

He managed to take a single little step before he felt something hard piercing through his back. Black blades were soaring through his flesh. The strength of Soul's blades forced Famine to the ground. In mid-fall he turned around and saw Soul sitting right above him with his eyes ripped wide open. Famine's face met forcefully the ground and his blood was spilled all over the fissured ground.

Soul leaped just in time from his back to avoid another collision with the ground. With an elegant turn he landed forcefully.

Famine rose slowly back from the ground. The blade inflicted wounds healed immediately under his divine power. His pain faded but he was still forced to cough under the immense pressure of Soul's strikes. “What are you doing, moron? You are only wasting valuable power! Nothing can be done to bring me down here!”

Soul's eyes began to glow faintly, his teeth became sharp and spiky. Without verbal response the black stallion drooled on the ground. This was the first time Famine was scared since he become one of the apocalyptic four. It seemed like Soul had lost his sanity. The enraged stallion pounded his hooves against the ground.

Famine looked around himself while the entire ground around them began to shake violently. Out of every single crack in the humid ground radiated a black light. The fissure broke wider with every second. Famine could feel the cold chill of a raising shadow behind his back. From the corner of his eyes he saw black stonewalls emerging from inside the ground. His eyes followed the dark border. It was surrounding them in a great manner, shielding them from any outside influence and from escaping at the same time.

There was no time to take a breath. Once more Soul charged at the astonished earth pony and drove another blade deep into Famine's chest. Famine couldn't breath anymore, the blade pierced through his lungs and prevented his breathing entirely. The force lifted Famine from his hooves and smashed him into the black wall. Not even a single crack was visible on the massive wall while Famine was thrown back onto the ground.

Once more the stallion's wounds healed. Never before he had to face so much pain. Every other pony would run in face of the terrifying earth pony but not this one. Famine felt the coldness around him fading. The air got dry and heated. He cracked his eyes open and faced a massive wall of black flames. Merciless they burned every particle in their way. The flames enveloped the demonic pony and consumed his flesh in the relentless heat.

Famine struggled with his pain. The burnings forced him to roll on the ground. The last flames extinguished but the sound of steps that belonged to a big heavy being came closer to him. Famine needed time to regenerate, he was still immobile laying on the ground. He reached out for his predators hoof and hold tight upon it. This hoof began to rot under Famine's magical presence. But its owner didn't winced nor whined. He simply stood above his victim. Famine bit his burned lip and forced his eye tightly shut. “Without Lunacy's power you couldn't do anything to us... You bastard, you’re just messing around. You can't possibly get rid of me here!”

Coldly, Soul raised his voice in front of the regenerating stallion to his hooves. The rotten parts of his hoof started to regrow and his dark magic began to press back Famine's magic. Famine's own hoof began to rot. The grin in Soul's face became wider with every second the stallion had to suffer. “And yet I'm bringing you down.”

Famine's blood froze. Something had changed from the moment before. Soul's voice had changed. It was hollow with a faint echo. Famine cracked his eyes open again and looked upwards to face the stallion. His eyes widened in fear when he caught sight of Soul's face. The coat of the superior stallion was slightly waving like it consisted out of an eternal burning fire. Drool dropped from his razor sharp teeth. His eyes were black while his pupil were blood-red and slit formed. Only the colour of his coat reminded of the formerly so collected and calculating stallion. Famine's thoughts got interrupted when Soul's hoof withdrew of his hold.

The apocalyptic pony's mouth proceed to form words but his breath was taken away by another forceful strike of Soul's magical blades. A blazing ribbon connected the blades to the ground and lifted the battered stallion high into the air.

The blades withdrew out of Famine's chest and let him fall towards the ground. Just before Famine would be forced to meet the ground another whip leash smashed against his head and send him flying towards the boulder in the centre of the stonewalls.

Famine's wounds were healing slower and slower with every single additional slice. His sight was already blurring but his divine power let him keep his consciousness. Coughing and fighting with his own body the stallion had to watch the burning stallion in front of him walk towards him. With his last power the stallion of famine raised his voice and laughed as hard as he could. “You may win this small battle against me. You with your overwhelming power that can defeat every single of us easily. If only Death weren't on your side... you would fall in an instant! Don't believe you have obtained the power of a god! You will consume more and more power until you loose yourself! Your mind will burn and your own power will turn against you! The victory of our mistress is certain, Soul Tearer!”

Just before Famine got in reach for Soul, he stopped and turned his gaze towards the sky. Famine followed his lead. His eyes widened when his ears heard Soul's final words. “I never obtained godlike powers... I just became a god.”

The sky above these two darkened, lightnings were flashing between the clouds. Faint screams from the pegasi in the city between them and the clouds became audible. Never before had Famine heard such a dull sound of thunder. It was charged with Soul's magic and only waited to roar down towards the ground.

Famine's wounds were almost fully healed. He tensed up every single muscle inside his body to reach out for the dark stallion standing above him. But his hooves glided simply through Soul's body. “Don't tell me you really want to do this, Soul ...”

Soul's eyes were hidden inside the shadow his mane and horn were throwing over his face. The magical pressure around them increased. Coldly he raised his voice and spoke calmly to the shattered stallion. “I'm not the stallion Soul Tearer anymore. I've become something greater...”

Famine stared directly into the red glowing orbs above. Nothing reminded him of a feeling and caring creature. Everything good seemed to be gone. The clouds above them changed their colour. The complete darkness was crossed by a faint red shimmer that covered the whole sky into its bloody light. For one final time breathed Famine the air of Equestria. “I understand. Farewell... Darkness...”

The red shimmer high above became intensified. For a second the sound around them vanished and a bright white light roared down through the city of thousands and concentrated upon the trembling form of the rotten stallion.

Outside the massive walls was a orange mare climbing up desperately. She almost reached the top when the lightning storm broke lose and pierced through the clouds of the city above her. Only for a second lasted their screams. Silence turned in and left Applejack astonished, looking towards the remains of clouds and burned feathers. Every single muscle inside of her body began to twitch. But she had to see what was happing behind these walls.

An odd but familiar sound was ringing from inside. With one powerful pull she dragged herself over the top of the wall and gained the opportunity to take a look at the beings below.

Tears were forming in her eyes as she caught sight of the stallion she had kissed only a few hours before. “So this is what happens if ya travel alone...”

Soul stood on top of the white boulder in the centre of the walls. His eyes were brightly shining in an intense dark light. But his horn was shining even brighter. It was the magic of darkness that he had used so many eons ago. Maniacally laughing with his jaw ripped open wide and a wisp of dark green magic were flowing from the burned heap of ashes into his horn. It must have been the remainds of the stallion Famine. This sight alone wouldn't disturb Applejack in this measure but there was more. This one wisp wasn't the only one. Thousands of multicoloured wisps were soaring down from the sky and meeting at the tip of Soul's horn.

Applejack couldn't believe what Soul has done. He killed every single of the citizens of the former so prideful city of Los Pegasus and was now in term to consume every single of their lives. She leaped over the wall and slid carefully downwards the tilted wall. “SOUL! STOP!”

His laughter hold on while Applejack raced towards the sinister stallion. With every passing step the picture that Applejack got of the stallion got more detailed. His sharp teeth and burning coat reminded her about the past. Her heart began to ache but she had to go on and stop him. Only a few feet parted them and Applejack took the leap of faith and aimed for the malicious stallion.

The burning stallion turned to the flying mare and pointed his horn at her. His sinister grin hold only for a second when arrows of dark magic aimed for Applejack's neck. The orange mare winced when she realized that there was no way out for her.

Soul's red pupils took Applejack and the arrows into its focus. Only a second passed until he realized what he has done. His sapphire blue magic flooded his eyes.

“APPLEJACK! NO! DON'T!”