Death's Bargain

by Haseo

Chapter 4 - The Element of Insanity

Chapter 4
The Element of Insanity

The havoc had taken hold of Ponyville. Ponies caught a glimpse of the disturbing appearance of Spike and went out of control. The little dragon hissed and snarled at the ponies in front of him. In terror Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Shadow watched his dreadful existence.

Applejack grabbed her hat and pressed it firmly against her chest. “By Celestia's merciless soul, what has she done to you?”

Spike stumbled forward but could only barely manage to keep his balance. He fell down and began to crawl on all of his four claws towards them. Shadow's horn ignited faintly, ready to extinguish the rest of the life that once belonged to Spike.

Applejack leaped forward and struck Shadow down in order to break his concentration. “Ya can't kill him! Spike is our friend! We have to save him!There has to be a way!”

The stallion bucked the mare off his flank and quickly rose back to his hooves. “Are you insane? Just look at him! He is dead, Twilight Sparkle must have killed him to practice her resurrection spell!”

The eyes of the farmer shrank to the size of little dots. “Practisin'? Does that mean mah brother is...?”

A single tear rolled down her orange cheek. The stallion of Princess Luna's Night Guards didn't realize what he had said until now. “I'm very sorry, Miss Applejack. I should rethink my words before I speak them. But don't lose faith, we still don't know about his condition.”

The lovely tune of a lyre rang through their ears. They pointed their view inside the still darkened library. It seemed like another shape was stumbling towards the exit. The black shape had the silhouette of a pony standing on its rear legs. A faint golden light shun above its head and something was levitating right next to it in the same hue of the magical aura.

The song was familiar to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, almost everyday it sounded through the parks of Ponyville and cheered everypony up. The being stepped into the light and revealed itself.

Applejack had to hold back the urge to vomit. The horrifying appearance of the mint-green musician could be straight from a nightmare. Lyra's head was awkwardly tilted to the right side, as if her neck had been broken and poorly reattached. Her mane fell over her face and covered the place where her eyes once were. But with every step she made, her mane swung back and forth and exposed the hole in her head for a second.

But even the beauty of her lyre play couldn't make up for the scene in front of them. From across the road a cream-coloured mare broke out in tears. With a terrifying high-pitched scream, she ungracefully sank to the ground and let her saddlebags full of groceries slip to the ground. Her deep blue and pink mane framed her face and soaked her tears up. “Lyra… Were you there all the time while I missed you so much? Please tell me you are not… please Lyra.”

Bon-Bon tried to summon the last of her strength, and she rose up again to make her way towards Lyra, step for step. “Lyra please say something, it doesn't matter what, but please say something. Honey, please...”

The shattered neck of the mint-green mare tilted in Bon-Bon's direction. The mare couldn't speak, but the tune of her lyre play changed. It became sad.

Shadow noticed the desperate mare closing in to the monster in front of the library. “Stop! Don't go any further! She isn't the mare you used to know!”

Bon-Bon didn't even attempt to stop, slowly albeit steady, she made her way towards the creature that looked so akin to Lyra. “Don't tell me she is not. That is Lyra, my Lyra, my beautiful Lyra.”

Lyra and Bon-Bon were only separated by mere inches now and the lyre play stopped immediately. “Lyra, what happened to you?”

A strong gust blew through the field of grass they were standing on blasting through their manes and ruffling them. Lyra's mane was carried away from her face and waved in the rhythm of the wind.

Bon-Bon began to cry frankly. In between sobs, she managed to express her sorrow. “What has she done to your beautiful golden eyes that I loved so much?”

It seemed like the creature was about the tilt her head in a questioning way. Shadow was still suspicious but the tension inside his body fell. “I guess she is harmless.”

Applejack couldn't bear the sight of the two loving ponies. She bit her lips and tried to suppress the thoughts about her still-missing brother. “Bon-Bon, please step away from her, we will find a way to rescue her, but we don't know what they are capable of.”

The cream-coloured mare stepped protective in front of her sweetheart and shot the agent of the Night Guard a dark gaze. “You won't even scratch her. I don't trust the regime of the Night.”

Shadow's frown grew and the vein on his forehead began to pulse in the same pattern as his heart beats. But his anger didn't last for long, it faded when the thing called Lyra opened its mouth for the very first time.

The teeth of a pony are supposed to be even and rough to grind their usual herbal food. But not the teeth of this pony. Somepony had changed them with the help of magic. They were sharp and spiky, the light reflected on their surface.

His mouth opened, but before he could pronounce any words, Lyra's teeth made their way to Bon-Bon's throat and snapped her neck without any effort. The monster pulled its teeth out of her flesh and lashed out a second time to bite deeper. The sound of the flesh being ripped apart sounded familiar in Applejack ears. “Bon-Bon! NO!”

The second bite separated her head from her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. Her body collapsed under its weight and the blood began to spread on the ground. Bon-Bon’s head rolled over the ground until it came to a halt.

The cold eyes of hers looked directly into Pinkie Pie's eyes. The pink mare was torn between her personalities, the bright side of her mind denied the reality and searched for anything that could cheer her up. While the dark side just wanted to bath in Bon-Bon's blood so badly. Pinkie began to shake violently. While she sank to the ground, she covered her head with her hooves and cried out loud. “Why? Why has all of this happened?”

The cry of the usually so cheery pony woke the dark stallion out of his anxiety. His horn ignited once more and created a ray of darkness. It raced towards the mint-green mare and cut through her left arm. The neatly cut arm fell to the ground, and the monster simply tried to examine her wound. There were no screams of pain or any reaction. She just stared at her missing limb.

Spike crept over to the lifeless body of Bon-Bon and began to rip it apart. He stuffed the small pieces of flesh into his mouth and ate them, his face showing obvious signs of pleasure..

They had to watch the horrifying scene that occurred in front of them. Shadow ignited his horn a second time, but it didn't stay hidden in front of the creatures. They concentrated their gaze upon Shadow and screamed a terrible ear-splitting roar.

His concentration broke and the aura around his horn dispersed into a million tiny sparks until they faded mid-air. Silence turned in besides the weeping of Pinkie Pie.

The dull sound of something very heavy grew louder from inside the library. Heavy hooves were pounding against the wooden surface of the basement stairs. The being turned around the corner of the basement door and his shining red eyes made him clearly visible inside the protective darkness of the library.

The thing struggled to fit through the basement door, and it was panting and puffing under the enormous strain. The door frame cracked under the force of the massive body and it broke apart into countless small pieces with an ear-splitting sound. He fell to the floor and caused the ground to shake underneath Applejack's hooves. Her common-sense already told her the identity of the creature. “This can't be true, please! Ah don't want to lose another family member.”

Shadow gnashed his teeth and concentrated upon his horn. The dark energy swirled around him, the stallion lowered his head and aimed between the two red dots inside the library. The tension reached its peak and small sparks ignited from the surface.

“NO!”

Applejack rushed to the side of the Night Guard and tackled him once more to the ground. The magical energy escaped towards the library, and cut a deep scar into the flesh of the stallion in the dark. Shadow struggled free from the heavy mare and immediately regained his stance. “Are you crazy? Why are you protecting these things?”

Shadow looked Applejack in her eyes and saw his own reflection in the watery orbs. “That's no thing, that’s mah brother.”

His eyes wandered towards the stallion in the dark. What once was Big Macintosh came closer and closer until he stepped through the entrance door. His red coat was soaked with deep red blood that filled the gaps that the various scratches and scars left inside his flesh.

Big Mac's eyes shone in an unnatural red shine that underlined their natural green colour. The cutie mark on his flank was ripped by the claws that could easily be traced back to a certain little dragon. From his snout dripped a unhealthy-looking, purple liquid.

The moment its hoof touched the ground, the grass was vaporized and floated as gas towards the sky. Shadow gasped at the sight that was the turned stallion. “Acid? Seriously? I have seen many things in my life, but this surpasses everything. What sick mind could do something like that to another pony?”

Shadow tried to talk to the orange mare in depression next to him, but she seemed to be too distracted by the horrifying appearance of her brother. “Miss Applejack, please listen to me, we can't let them rampage through Ponyville. I have to stop them before it’s too late!”

“Do you really think that any of you are able to stop me now?”

The voice seemed to ring from all directions at once. The ponies looked around their surroundings but couldn't identify the source of the bookish sounding voice. Not until a spark of lavender magic appeared between the wretched form of Lyra and Big Mac'. This very spark expanded and made a gap large enough for a unicorn.

Applejack gasped at the appearance of her friend, not only Lyra, Big Mac', and Spike had changed, but she had as well. “Twilight? Is that ya?”

The lavender mare waved back her now-longer mane and threw it over her shoulder. “Of course, I am. Isn't it obvious to you, little farmer girl?”

Triggered by the voice of Twilight, Pinkie Pie raised her hooves a tiny bit and caught sight of her friend. “Twilight! Finally, you are here! Please say that you can stop it!”

Twilight began to laugh maliciously. The insanity in her eyes scared Pinkie even more. “Stop it? did quite a good job. I've gotten better with every test subject.”

She stroked Big Mac's cheek and passionately let her nose strive over his coat. Twilight licked the blood from the surface of the freshly cut wound and hummed in delight. “Just look at him, there is no resistance, no own will, he does everything I please. Really, everything.”

Her saucy gaze made Applejack furious. “How dare ya talk ‘bout mah brother like that! He is not a test subject or nothin' like that! How could ya do this to him? Ah thought we were like a family… all of us...”

Twilight licked over her with blood-wetted lips and a wide wicked grin formed. “Oh, how could I do it? This is quite easy to answer, Applejack. I've waited for the moment, when he was as far away from your barn as possible and then I lurked after him. I poisoned his mind and made him the slave of my will. We had so much fun together.”

Her giggle made Applejack sick. The rage began to boil inside her veins. Drip for drip it leaked through her mouth outside. “What did ya do to him, ya sick monster?!”

Taken aback, Twilight pointed her hoof innocently at herself. “Me? A sick monster? What is wrong with trying to bring back the pony you love!”

Applejack couldn't believe what Twilight was talking about. She could only barely hold herself from charging at her. “How can this justify your actions? Ya took away many ponies from their family and loved ones. Ya are responsible for the death of Lyra, Big Mac', Spike, and even Bon-Bon!”

Twilight flashed them her teeth and ripped one eye wide open while she narrowed her other in an awkward way. “Uhh, I'm so afraid of you. I'm the most powerful unicorn in existence, who should stop me? WHO? The puny pony next to you? He is weak, weaker than you think.”

Sweat poured down Shadow's forehead, the stallion searched for the best way to restrain the threat. But the creatures were physically superior, and Twilight magically superior. “Applejack I don't know how to...”

A bolt of lavender magic struck Shadow's horn and pressed him into the ground. Sparks of her magic swirled around his horn and contained his magic.

Applejack stared at the injured stallion on the ground next to her for a moment before she leaped to his aid. The anger drove her crazy, but it was still Twilight she was talking to. She turned her gaze to Twilight and hissed at her in a warning tone. “This is your solution? Killin' everypony that could stop ya? Somepony will stop ya. Even if ya get rid of us, somepony out there will stop ya.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, the shadow underneath them grew. “What? Do you think your precious little Soul will return and come to your aid? Nopony can stop me... and now... fly my minions!”

Her horn ignited brightly and a seemingly endless stream of flying critters escaped from the basement. “Do you seem them? They are my very first test subjects, I've successfully revived all of them, and now they are under my control. The last thing to say is FEAST! FEAST, MY MINIONS!”

The little birds dived down from high in the sky and attacked the innocent ponies of Ponyville. They feasted on their flesh and pecked repeatedly at them until they lost consciousness. The mad mare fell to the incredible feeling of her maliciously laughter. “And this is not everything yet. While I've got distracted with your brother and couldn't resist to modify him, I tried another project. May I present you my greatest project so far?”

The flapping sound of a pair of tiny wings was audible from inside the library. Only barely floating the orange pegasus filly left the building. Twilight grabbed her tiny face and squeezed her like Scootaloo were a newborn foal. “Don't you see how beautiful she is? It is almost not visible that I chopped her head off. I even got rid of her annoying personality.”

Pinkie Pie gasped at the horrifying image. She raised from the ground and stared at the mare that she believed to be Twilight. “How could you erase their smiles? How could you take them away from us? I WON'T. EVER. FORGIVE. YOU!”

Pinkie's mane straightened, her gaze lost its cheerfulness and happiness, sharing the same anger that boiled in Applejack's eyes. She hissed and snarled and slowly accelerated towards Twilight.

The lavender unicorn could only offer her a weak smile. “How can a pony be that naïve? Spike! Get her!”

The little minion in form of her number one assistant stopped devouring Bon-Bon's flesh and snarled at Pinkie before he dashed into her direction. His claws and teeth were already thirsty for her blood. Step for step, they came closer to each other until the dragon leaped at Pinkie.

Pinkie tried to stop. She realized that she was chanceless against the force of the physically modified dragon. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact. But his claws never met her flesh, only a dull sound pounded through the air.

When Pinkie opened her eyes, she saw Fluttershy hovering next to her, offering her a helping hoof. Her eyes looked like she was crying before, but the tears had dried a long time ago. Only her bloodshot eyes and swollen eyelids remembered about her weeping. “Sorry I'm so late, but I couldn't find many of my little friends.” She sighed. “It seems like I've found them now.”

The butter-coloured mare looked around the town, the birds were still attacking random citizens of Ponyville. Motionless bodies laid around the paths through the village. She acted calm but deep inside her boiled a raging fire.

Fluttershy turned to Twilight and shot her the legendary stare. “What did you do to my little critter friends, Twilight?”

Twilight stroked her mane with a hoof and brushed imaginary pieces of dust out of it. She put the most innocent smile into her face when she spoke to Fluttershy “I made them better. I've freed them of every emotional burden. Even their strength could be amplified. They are my perfect little animals.”

Fluttershy almost choked by the huge amount of negative feelings that were raging through her body. “Better? Or even perfect? No, no… you've murdered them, all of them. They are not the same as before, the cheerfulness in their eyes is gone, their very soul is gone, they are only empty shells. There is nothing left, I will bring them their salvation so their souls can rest in peace.”

A cold shiver ran down Applejack's spine. It wasn’t due to her friends exact words, but the fact that she never raised her voice scared her. It was calm and cold as ice. “Fluttershy, are ya okay?”

She didn't respond, together with Pinkie she stared at Twilight. A rarely seen expression shone in their eyes. It was hatred. Applejack gulped, more sweat running down her face. “Girls please! Ah'm sure we can find a solution, violence is not the answer. We should talk, Ah'm sure this is just a misunderstanding.”

Twilight giggled like the ponification of an angel, only the mandatory nimbus was missing. “How cute! You still think this can be settled by mere words? Two years ago, I lost so much, and now I'm finally able to get him back. Nopony will take that from me. Phalanx and I will be united again! Scootaloo, get them!”

The orange filly galloped towards Pinkie and Fluttershy. She increased her speed with help of the unstoppable, rapid flapping of her short wings. Her gaze was empty and dark, nothing reminded of the formerly so positive filly. Scootaloo exposed her sharp teeth to them, the same liquid as Big Mac's was dripping from her mouth.

As far as her tiny wings could provide, the filly leaped at the agitated mares. Pinkie and Fluttershy waited for the right moment. But before they could act, a barrier formed in front of them.

Scootaloo hit the barrier with full force, the sound of her neck cracking sounded through the ears of the friends. Her body slipped to the ground, completely motionless. But this state didn’t last long. The crippled form raised to her hooves and rearranged her neck by force. The horrible plopping noise sent cold shivers through their spines.

Applejack could feel the magical pressure of the pony next to him. Shadow collected all of his power to erect the magical barrier. It was so familiar to Applejack, she was the only one who had seen it before. “Shadow? Where did ya learn that spell?”

The in black cloth-suited stallion coughed under the strain and only barely managed to keep his consciousness. “Soul Tearer taught me this spell before we started the war against the Solar Empress. It is called Blood Barrier. The spell uses the very soul of the sorcerer to erect an almost unbreakable shield around its destination. It can be resolved by the will of the owner but when the barrier is broken through force, the owner dies as well. Moreover, when the owner dies by the hoof of an enemy, the barrier will fade as well.”

Twilight hissed at the weak stallion. “How dare you damaged my property? Big Mac'! Lyra! Deal with them, break that barrier down and kill every single one of them! I will revive them later and form them to perfection! I’ve got to go now, I have some certain ponies to revive, my master is waiting for me.”

She lost no time and disappeared in the blinding light of her magic. The creatures in the form of Big Macintosh and Lyra pounded against the barrier.

Shadow winced with every hoof that found the surface of the barrier. “I'm very sorry, Miss Applejack. I'm not strong enough to maintain the barrier. This is a very difficult spell, I guess I will never reach the level of mastery that my Commander could provide.”

Applejack looked into the dead eyes of her brother. Tears ran down her face, when she realized that she would die by the hooves of her own sibling. “It is okay, at least we don't have to go alone.”

The monsters’ hooves chipped away at the barrier, tiny cracks forming inside. Applejack closed her eyes and waited for her fate. The hair on her back rose up when she heard the barrier shatter. Applejack could hear the others gasp, but she didn't open her eyes until she heard a high pitched noise.

Applejack opened her eyes and saw her brother's hoof only an inch away from her. It seemed like time itself had stopped. Slowly, the movements of Big Mac' and Lyra ran backwards until they stood in their starting position.

A great shadow flew over Applejack's head, its owner landed with an ear-splitting sound in front of them and shielded them against Twilight's creations. Two sweet little fillies climbed down his black back.

Comments

[Applejackderp]

SOUL!!!!!!

[Haseo]

3095962

I wouldn't be a sequel without him

[Applejackderp]

3100591 That is so true. Also I now see why you killed Phalanx.

[Haseo]

3101115