To keep the balance of all things, you need both light and shadow
Equestria is generally at peace, true, there are some problems from time to time, but ultimately Harmony and peace prevail. But what if the darkness, that always fights with the Light grows stronger and one perceived defeated enemy rises again without notice? Why is acting Carrot Top so strange lately and how is it possible that Prince Blueblood is acting more hostile than normal?
Please note, that english isn't my first language.
Twilight Sparkle had during her ascension said that all would be fine and this was true. There seemed no new monsters, malevolent demigods, until then barely unknown infestations or any other threat to Equestria or Ponyville in particular. To the contrary, the little town had seen a growth in prosperity since Twilight Sparkle had become not only an Alicorn, but also royalty. But this didn’t influenced the behavior towards Twilight and her behavior towards the rest of the townsfolk much, that is, if you excluded the four stoic royal guards, who followed her wherever she got. Mostly those four would only be a slight inconvenience for her closest friends or the unlucky pony who would be too loud inside the library.
The farmers around Ponyville were the ones who had gathered the most profit out of the prosperity which came with being the homestead of one of Equestrias princesses. One of the biggest was surely Sweet Apple Acres, but all the other farms as well had grown in size since the town was frequently visited by ponies who sought the newest addition to the rulers of Equestria. It had grown close to a point where the Apple-family would need to hire seasonal workers to help in their harvest. Luckily for Big Macintosh and Applejack, the two main owners of the farm, until now the two hard work-ponies were able to shoulder that load by themselves, which they enjoyed quite a bit. But it was spring, not autumn and between taking stock of the trees, their state and the state of the buildings, there was relatively little to do. The first harvest was due in a few weeks’ time and today was one of little work, so that Applejack would normally occupy herself with baking some apple pies to sell tomorrow at Ponyville’s market. But currently she was chasing Rainbow Dash, who had decided, that for one reason or another only the speedster was able to tell, it would be a good idea to snatch AJs trademark Stetson and zoom of. This occurrence had recently become somewhat standard, because the daredevil Pegasus with the polychromatic mane was often bored. Training, napping and pranking could you only bring so far and so she had developed the habit of sneaking on AJ and stealing her hat, which was a sure way to get a reaction from the otherwise level headed mare, which in turn was sure to get her at least some entertainment. The chase went to and fro in Ponyville, causing quite a distraction from everyponys every day work and soon there were bets on how long it would take AJ to acquire back her beloved headgear. But until now Applejack was unable to get a hold on her airborne friend. Every time she got close, Dash would make a sharp turn or even fly a few feet higher, turning around to tease her with a snicker and waving AJs hat.
The first few times, AJ got rather angry about Dash’s antics, her hat meant a lot to her and having it taken without her permission from her infuriated her a good bit. After Dash’s game of ‘snatch-a-hat’ had become more common, AJ had found it a good distraction from her work, but today Rainbow was stretching it a good bit and she grew annoyed. She knew that it would be no use to ask politely. Dash didn’t mean ill, but she enjoyed this little game too much to care if AJ wanted to just put an end to the game and get her Stetson back. Fortunately AJ had come up with a plan by now. There were a couple of small alleys in town, whose grounds where shielded from the sky by the roofs of the buildings on both sides. A fair share of said alleys ended in dead ends, so Dash would be unable to make a break for it and disappear into the sky. Slowly but surely AJ heralded Dash toward one of those alleys and it wasn’t without a victorious smirk on her lips, as she had finally her multi-hued friend cornered.
“Ok, RD. Fun’s over. Now give me mah hat back!” Dash ignored her, searching frantically for an exit, not wanting to go back to, well, probably napping. Not that she had something against napping, to the contrary, if there would be a contest of ‘Best Napper Competition’ she was sure she would have won a few times in a row, but she had too much fun to let this pass.
“No way, AJ. I’m too awesome to give up already!” AJ snorted and narrowed her eyes, taking slow steps towards her trapped friend. “Ah said: Give me mah hat back.”
Dash shook her head and stuck her tongue out, tempting AJ with a teasing, sing-song tone “Make me,” which caused AJ to put her smug grin back on, “Ya have nowhere to run now, RD, ya’ll never git past me now. So Ah asking ya kindly once more: Please give me mah hat back.”
“Oh yeah? You’re on!” exclaimed Dash suddenly, speeding directly towards AJ with narrowed eyes and a confident expression on her muzzle. She threw the hat in the air, high over AJs reach, getting it almost stuck on one of the beams of one of the roofs, and faked a move to the left, which was unnecessary. AJ was too distracted with her hat to notice RDs maneuver or even really notice that Dash had pushed her to the side while she watched the arc of her headgear, which landed, to her chagrin, slightly askew on Rainbows head. With a cheerful “later.” Dash was off again, lifting herself a good couple of feet into the air, being sure to keep out of her farmpony friends reach for a few minutes.
AJ meanwhile just stood there, watching her beloved hat and her friend Rainbow Dash, who she wanted to hug very, very hard, because one doesn’t just strangle ones friends, but she was certain, that a very, very firm, hard hug would be alright. She stomped a hoof and was after her cerulean friend. Said friend was waiting for her, but kept her distance just barely out of AJs reach, teasing AJ by flying upside down and playing with AJs hat in her fore hooves. AJ, having nothing better on her hooves right now, played along for the moment and tried to jump high enough to grab the hat, but she knew, that Dash wouldn’t let it happen that way.
“Oh, come now, AJ, you know as well as me, that this won’t work. I want a challenge, not an easy win… like always,” Rainbow joked and continued to withhold the hat from AJ. AJ stopped her jumping and tried to spot anything that would help her to get back her hat, while she chased Dash around Ponyville some more. While her eyes roamed around for something that would act as some type of substitute for her lasso, she failed to notice another pony and barreled right into her, sending them both tumbling down into a heap of tangled limbs.
From above Rainbow watched with poorly contained amusement as the two ponies tried to free themselves from each other. Halting into a hover and bursting into laughter as it seemed, that their attempts were futile and only succeeded in entangling them more, leading ultimately to a position where one pony laid atop the other. After their struggle, they only now were aware of the awkward position they had maneuvered themselves in and they stopped almost instantly. The pony on top, an earth pony mare with somewhat swapped colors to AJs orange coat and straw-blonde mane and tail, slid from AJ, sat on her haunches and glared at the apple farmer.
“Well, this time it’s definitely not good running into you, Applejack.” The mare huffed and then shifted her gaze to Dash’s form, which still shook with laughter and could only barely keep in the air “You should by now know be aware of the tricks that mischief-maker has up her sleeves.”
“Hey!” Rainbow landed and shoots Carrot Top a glare of her own, but kept still a safe distance from AJ. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded, mocking AJ by putting the Stetson on her head and pushing it into a position that emphasized her remark. Well, at least it was Dash intention, but she failed miserably, pushing the hat too far so that it fell over her eyes. “Gah! Dumb hat!” Rainbow took the hat back into her hooves and herself back into the air.
Applejack was now glaring at Rainbow too “Mah hat ain’t dumb!” she looked back to Carrot Top “Sorry ‘bout that, sugarcube.” Carrot Top answered with an exasperated sigh and a shook of her head. She was normally not the best of friends with Applejack, but that was to be expected. Not that she had anything major against the other farmer personally, but being a rival tended to stop them to be too much acquainted with each other. She flashed Applejack a smile and fixed Rainbow Dash with a glance out of the corner of her eye. Applejack noticed this and gave a short nod in response. Together both earth pony mares pounced suddenly on the surprised Pegasus. Dash was taken off guard, but recovered in time to avoid the combined attack.
“Nice try, but you have to be faster than THE Dash. Which, we should be honest here”, she smirked towards AJ, “is way out of your league.” That statement earned her groans from both earth ponies, who righted themselves for another double attack against the amused Pegasus, who had herself started to circle her earthbound companions. But before neither Applejack nor Carrot Top could try to catch the airborne mare she shoot of into the general direction of Carousel Boutique, calling to them in a mockingly sweet sing-song tone “Bye-bye, gotta dash.”
Both ponies paused and Applejack scratched her neck in slight embarrassment “Sorry again ‘bout this, sugarcube.” Carrot Top shook her head again, but a genuine smile on her muzzle and said, “Don’t worry, Applejack. Now go and get your hat back. Almost everypony in town knows how much it means to you. I would help you, but I need to get to the newest patch of land I bought. Staying competitive against your farm and all that, you know…” Applejack nodded and took off after the rainbow maned Pegasus.
As Carrot Top continued her walk to the outskirts of town, she was sure, that she heard Applejack shout, “Come back here, ya thievin’ vermin!” Carrot Top chuckled and wondered how long it would take her rival to get her hat back. Her thoughts drifted to more serious matters, as she neared her destination. The patch of land was on the outskirts of town, quite a ways from her farm, but somehow this patch was really cheap for the amount of Bits that it provided. Rumors had it, that there was a curse or if you believed Pinkie Pie an old haunted graveyard for misbehaving pets who died under spooky circumstances during Nightmare Night, but whatever the case, Carrot Top didn’t believed in both stories.
The simple and obviously real root lies in the fact, that the land is a bit uneven and it would take some extra work to remove some larger stones here and there before the land can be used properly. thought Carrot Top as she took her newest possession in. The land was large enough to allow almost as much carrots to be planted as she already had around her farm, but the land seemed a bit softer and was littered with stones. The biggest ones were about the size of a hoofball and some were rather planted firm into the fertile earth. Carrot Top noted, that some rocks appeared to be out of another material, which made them look rather crafted then anything, but she just shrugged it off as a weird light reflection.
Carrot Top, like almost any earth pony farmer was rather pragmatic and so she got to work, removing the stones, depositing them onto the edge of the land she owned. I will just have to haul them to one of the masons in town; maybe earn a few extra Bits this way. occupied Carrot Top her thought as she worked her way through the soon-to-be fields. As she removed one of those artificial looking stones, she had the impression that it glowed shortly and the area around it grew dimmer, but as soon as that impression came, it was also gone. She shrugged it off and continued her work, but every time she removed one of those stones the same things happened and she imagined it to become colder.
After some time, the sun indicated it was already late afternoon; Carrot Top had nearly removed all stones and was taking a short break. As her eyes took in the sight of her almost complete work she noticed something odd. There were grey-white lines on the ground, running hither and wither, painting a sort of pattern or something on the rocky earth. The lines seemed to glow a dim red. Or are they pulsating? Must be the low hanging sun, playing tricks on my perception. She chastised herself, but her gaze was locked on the lines. She followed the biggest line, which wound its course through the entire field. A feeling of unease started to grow in her guts, because the line seemed to follow a circle. In every cardinal direction there were ominous drawings, extending the line. Her feeling grew stronger and stronger that maybe Pinkie Pie was right about this place. As the logical part of her brain realized what she just had thought it made her laugh out loud, forcing her to release the tension that had built into her mind. Unwillingly her eyes fell on what seemed to be the center of this strange circle. In the middle of the center there was one rather large rock, build out this same mysterious, seemingly artificial material, because it looked to smooth to be any regular stone. She walked back to the pile of rocks she had already moved aside and searched for a few moments before her gaze fell on a similar rock. She examined it. It was black, with a smooth, glass-like surface. Here and there weather had chipped its surface, revealing a porous core. “Well, I’m no expert like Pinkie, but I think this is obsidian. What does it do here and better, from where is it? Here is no volcano,” Carrot Top shrugged. It was unlikely, but stranger things had happened in Ponyville before, so she continued her work with the rocks, deliberately ignoring the odd grey-white lines. It took her some more work, but finally the rocks were removed from the field and she would be able to begin to plow the land tomorrow. As she had dragged the stones across the earth it had been unavoidable to disrupt the grey-white lines, which were, to Carrot Tops astonishment nothing more than rock salt, something she had discovered during her work. There was only the stone in the center of the circle left, its surface shimmering in the last rays of sunlight, beckoning her to remove it and finally be done with work for the day.
But suddenly Carrot Tops feeling of unease returned. There seemed to be something about this particular rock that looked unnatural, more so than the few other obsidian rocks, which she had found on the edges of the rock salt circle that marked the four points of a compass. She got the feeling that it would be better to leave this particular rock alone and to turn away and never come back, but without her notice she had already started to move towards the strange rock. She came to a stop directly before it and although her instincts screamed at her to stop she reached out, wrapping her forelegs around the rock, which didn’t move at first, but slowly and surely gave way. Finally she was able to move the rock, shoving it from its spot, letting it land with a muffled *Thump* on its side. And suddenly there was blackness.
I sense it. There is a disturbance in my unnatural slumber. My grasp to the mortal realm is weak, very weak, but that is to be expected after so much…time. I don’t know how much time since my last return has passed and it doesn’t matter. There is nothing like a normal pony would call a lifespan to my being. It is more a curse than anything, but that’s part of my destiny. I lie here in my half slumber and because there is currently nothing I can do, I just wait. I can afford it, I’m not in a hurry. As time passes on and nothing happens I get tense, something is wrong. The ritual should normally complete by now and I should have already taken control over the body of one acolyte, but as it is, there is only this half-slumber and I can nothing more than wait until somepony frees my power to look at the world through its lay lines. But until now that hasn’t happened and I simply continue to wait. If there is something wrong with the ritual then I would be stuck here, for better or for worse, that is something somepony that isn’t me has to judge, but if somepony was foolish enough to disturb my slumber without the need to bring back the balance between light and darkness, then…I really don’t know. Normally there shouldn’t be any motivation to bring me back without the need for balance.
There goes a ripple through my essence as the second binding stone is removed and some of my powers return to me. I can’t sense my body and I panic a bit as it occurs to me, that I must be longer in my undead slumber than I expected, but I realize there is no need to panic, because the complex rituals, enchantments and spells that were casted on my body in the past will ensure that it will rebuild itself from the memory engraved in my essence. It will take time, so obviously I need a host or at least an avatar, depending on the grade of decay my body has. It ultimately doesn’t matter anyways, the always existing magical energies in Equestria will guarantee that I will have access to my full potential, no matter how twisted and against all things natural they may seem to anypony.
At least I now have access to the ability to get a good look at today’s world via its ethereal lines. I let my spirit wander along those lines, careful not to disturb anything. There is currently no need to alarm anypony about my presence. I take my time, focusing my will on the strands that are more pronounced than the others, feeling my way along, observing what the lay lines tell me. True it isn’t as precise as astral sight, but it has its advantages. I’m surprised to see that there a four princesses now and the world has changed since my last wandering through the plane of existence. The Elements of Harmony are now split up and bound to six ponies. That could make my task a bit more difficult, especially since one of them is one of the four princesses, but then again, she is rather new to this princess-business. Interesting, that could mean, that Luna’s possession through the Nightmare is over, but maybe it just means Celestia has found another pony that can perform Luna’s tasks. Anyway, I only know two of the four princesses for certain. One is Celestia, which is made obvious through the extreme thick strand of ethereal energy which was always connected to her being; the other is one of the bearers of the Elements. The other two I don‘t know, yet. Interesting, but no big surprise as far as I’m concerned. But more important is my realization, that there are no disturbances in the balance between light and darkness and that my awakening is a mistake. Something or somepony was unfortunate enough to stumble upon my prison and is now removing the binding stones. The pony in question probably doesn’t even know what danger lies within these ritual grounds. Well, the pony will be in for a big surprise.
My essence starts to vibrate as the third binding stone is removed and I’m now able to sense that is in fact one pony. I still don’t know what could be the cause for the pony to upset the magical bonds that trap me within. I withdraw my mind from the lay lines, enjoying the peace and quiet here in my unearthly tomb. It will only be a few more hours until I’m free again, but without a task at hoof, there is nothing for me to do. I can only wait in my involuntarily hosts body until my own body is restored and then…I will most likely simply see to it, that the Celestia is informed about my untimely awakening and will seal me again. Hopefully she will keep track of where the ritual takes place this time. I wonder what race this pony is, if it’s a Pegasus it may be a minion of some sort, who his master has masked against my powers. It could be a unicorn, trying to dig up knowledge, but it will find something much darker here. Then again it could simply be an earth pony, oh how do I hope it is one, that stumbled upon this ground on accident, not knowing what lays beneath its surface. Until the last binding stone is removed I will not know for certain, just thinking about the possibilities and waiting. Waiting, as I said, doesn’t bother me, but the possibilities are a pain. I never understand why some ponies think possibilities could be something that is positive. I had my fair share of possibilities and they led me to now, buried under a binding stone in a ritual circle, denying my soul to be at rest.
The fourth binding stone is removed, sending a jolt of invisible lightning through my very core and soul. Lucky for me I can’t feel pain in this state between the planes of existence and death, but even if I could, I currently have no mouth or any orifice to let any painful noise out. Pain is a good motivator, but not as good as doubt and mistrust if one need to scatter any kind of gathered beings. Otherwise, I need trust from my temporary host, maybe I should rather make the pony my avatar, but I hate the feeling of being bound to an inanimate object, it just feels like a permanent state of unrest. The soul of a being cannot be bound to inanimate objects for an indefinite duration without taking damage and I don’t like having not my whole mental faculty.
Time passes and I once again use my powers to observe the pony above. The pony stopped working, walking along the ritual circle, but seems oblivious to its meaning. That kicks Unicorn out of the equation, but still no further information about the race of that pony. I still hope it’s an earth pony, Pegasi are fun and ideal for fast travel, but their hot temper always makes them hard to keep in line. It is just now that I realize, that my whole body has decayed to dust and that I have no other choice as to intrude into the body of the pony. That could be a problem, because as far as I know that procedure is at least uncomfortable and I need the ponies trust. I retreat my ethereal senses again, focusing instead of building enough magical energy for the needed spell.
The spell is almost finished, but it took longer than I thought. My powers are still limited and…A sudden surge of magical energy courses through my essence and I would need definitely a mouth to voice adequately how much pain that caused, but more important, the spell got disturbed. It still seems active though, but know I have to alter my plan. At first I just wanted to seep into the pony, but now? Now I have to force my way into its very being before the spell discharges and fizzles away without accomplishing anything. The pony on the surface is a foal, disturbing the magical circle just like that, so at least it definitely isn’t a unicorn. But no matter if Pegasus or earth pony it should in the very least know basic handling of magical rituals from its school days. But it could be, that they nowadays don’t teach such things anymore, how long have I really been gone?
There are a few more magical surges, but I adapt with every surge a bit more. The last five only leaving so much as an dull itching in my core and I can at least stabilize the spell. Suddenly it occurs to me, that now that there only remains the head stone of the ritual, that the enchantment upon it should be active by now. It will draw the pony towards it, telling its subconscious to free me. Normally that would be a desired effect, because some acolytes were very skittish and needed this magical will-bending to take the last steps. This time its different, my spell is roughly ready inflicting probably much pain in the target and that will ignite its fighting spirit. It could get ugly, if the victim of this spell is to frail it will break its mind and body, killing it and more important disintegrating my essence in the process.
Suddenly there is something else, I can’t place it at first, it’s too small and it may be caused by the spell itself, but there seems to be a shifting dark presence somewhere in the far, far north. I can’t be sure, the magical interferences of my active spell are to severe and I’m unable to cast more than one spell at a time, one of my limitations, I’m no princess after all, so I can’t counter the effects of the headstone and it would take to much time to channel this spell again, so I’m left unsure if it were anything or just my imagination. But I should investigate further, it’s my duty at least. so I try to decide what to do...
While the events in Ponyville took place, there were others starting to unfold. Far, far up north, deep within the ridges of the Crystal Mountains a lone Unicorn fought its way through heavy snowfall. Its journey had brought it here, a fair distance from its home. Anyone who could have seen the pony would be unable to tell what race, gender or color that pony was, partly through the snowfall, partly because of its saddlebags and partly because of the heavy cloak obscuring his features. The only indication that it was indeed a pony and not a goat or any other animal, whose homestead was located in these mountains, was its general size and stature. The pony climbed a particular steep slope, sliding down a few inches every time it took a short break to catch his breath because the pony was not used to strenuous walks or any kind of physical labor, but it felt, no knew, it had to do this. If it found what it was looking for, than the measly peasants who normally mocked and scoffed at it would finally praise it. Powered by this thought of his great victory over those looked upon it, the pony trudged on towards its goal. The goal was near; the pony could feel it, sense it in its very being. More so, the pony could hear it, the invisible voice, whispering promises of desired treasure and grand fame into its dreams and its mind, was louder now, pushing the pony onward.
Finally, near the summit, there lies the destination of the pony. The entrance of an enormous cave lay before it. After the pony had ventured far enough inside, shielding it against the sticky snow, the howling wind and the unrelenting cold, the pony allowed itself to let slip the saddlebags from its back and to push the hood from its cloak back. The pony revealed itself to be a white Unicorn stallion with blonde mane, blue eyes and a compass rose for a Cutie Mark, it was non other than Prince Blueblood himself. Prince Blueblood stood there for a couple of moments, panting heavily, too exhausted to even think about a fitting curse for the weather outside the cave. His thoughts traveled to the first time he had heard the voice, which still encouraged him to continue down the cave, making it hard for him to formulate even one clear thought.
“Will you just be quiet already? If it weren’t for the possibility to redeem myself I would never had stepped even one hoof into this forsaken place!” he exclaimed frustrated, but only his own voice bounced back and forth among the cave walls. Yes, redeem him, which was one of his most sought after wishes since that accursed Grand Galloping Gala and that wretched Unicorn mare. Since then, even after all this time, there still were enough who remembered his ungentlecoltly display. He gave a derived snort. Why was it his fault that this witch took him for somepony he wasn’t? It clearly was her fault, not his, but this obvious truth seemed to escape all but him. With time he had learned to ignore them or to blend them out, but that did nothing to improve his reputation and he became an outcast among nobility. So he had begun to turn his mind to more pleasant things; himself, art, himself, sport, music, himself. However, in the back of his mind, there was always the memory, the feeling that haunted him. He started to collect all kinds of monetary pleasantries to assuage his mood, nothing seemed to help though. But then, then he had found it, the very trinket that had brought the invisible voice, promising him redemption in ways he could normally only dream of. He would be hailed as a great treasure hunter, like the hero in one of those books the commoners seemed to enjoy so much. His body, the very picture of stallionhood would be preserved in various statues, placed among the palace statue garden, in the section where all heroes of Equestria were placed and then he would be admired again. After that, he was sure, the very mare who had been the cause of this entire soporific ordeal would crawl back to him, begging him to take her back, but of course he would reject her, casting her away back to her measly shed where she would dwell upon her loss, crying her eyes out.
With this thought in mind and the invisibles voice encouragement he journeyed on, deeper into the cave. His path illuminated by some ominous light, coming in part from the light of his horn and in parts from the phosphorescing mushrooms which grew on the walls. The light casting eerie shadows between stone pillars, stalagmites and stalactites, making the whole cave shimmer in an unworldly light. Prince Blueblood was too occupied with the thought of his redemption to take notice of this foreboding signs. He came to a stop atop a flight of stairs that lead down into the heart of the mountain. He groaned and huffed, but he had gone too far already to turn around and return to his home in Canterlot. Besides, the voice was screaming, shouting at him to move on. Blueblood noted with no little concern, that the voice had taken on a dangerous edge, as if threaten him to harm him if he so much as look back to the exit.
“You know very well, that I’m my own master, not some ominous, invisible voice. I do what pleases me,” Blueblood exclaimed, turning around and taking a few steps towards the caves mouth. As soon he had taken only two steps the trinket around his left forehoof began to glow in a red light, sending searing pain through his limb. He recoiled and the pain stopped and the voice in his head, which had risen to a screeching crescendo of noise, normalized to a bearable level again. Upon this he realized that it all was a trap, but it had snapped shut already, so he had no choice but to play along. He turn towards the stairs and descended them, but taking his time, trying against the noise inside his head to form a plan or at least an idea to get out of this. He bemoaned himself to acting so foolish.
How could I be so foolish? This wasn’t my first treasure hunt and I should know already, that this very trinket was enchanted to lure unsuspecting fools into this cave. Oh, this is all the fault of this cursed mare! She…No, Blueblood, there is no time for this know. You have to…to…Ugh, this unholy voice, I can’t think straight! Be quiet, I’m moving, you know! Wait? Did you…did you laugh at me? How dare you? I, Prince Blueblood, will break free of this curse and then I will… his thoughts trailed off as he realized that he had reached the bottom of the cave. The room he was in was frightening in its proportions and in its purpose. The room was as high as it was wide. The light of the mushrooms was replaced by an unworldly, ethereal glow, shimmering in a sickly yellow color. The walls and the floor wore grotesque paintings of some sot which he didn’t dare to look directly upon. Additionally the floor had not one or two, but at least five runes embedded within, all markings filled and oozing with and black, oily, ink-like substance that seemed to shift and churn as he walked towards something that looked like an altar from this distance and position, but it looked somewhat to crude, most altars would be made more skillfully.
As his walk neared the altar he became aware, that this altar was no altar at all, but a coffin, engraved with old runes. He was not able to place them and even if he could, the voice in his head, which laughed and cackled victoriously, made it impossible to finish even the smallest of thoughts. But be it as it may, the sights alone were enough to send a shiver down his spine, awaking a more primitive part of him, telling him to bolt, to flee, but no matter how loud this side of his mind screamed it was more and more drowned out by the laughter of the being which had betrayed him and led him into this Celestia-forsaken cave. He summoned all the will he could and dug his hooves into the ground, stopping his walk to the coffin for a moment. He tried to force his body to turn, but he succeeded only in moving forward, his newest failure accompanied by the dark laughter of the enemy in his mind.
All his struggle was in vain, finally reaching the coffin. Mentally too weak to use his magic to lift the top with his telekinesis, he simply pushed it open, hoping it would finally would silence the voice. After the top hit the ground, a pitiful whimper escaped Blueblood, as he saw what was inside. Before him lay the bodily remains of nopony less than the feared and abhorred King Sombra, the very Unicorn who used dark magic to enslave and terrorize his own subjects. The very being, whose soul had been trapped in eternal ice only mere months ago, Blueblood was too shocked to move even so his mind was no longer haunted by the dead King’s voice. It took Blueblood a good while, but finally he saw it, there, on the ankle of Sombras left forearm was a missing piece of jewelry, the very trinket he so foolishly had bought in the dimly lit shop of this merchant. It was to his great horror, that he himself was about to bring him this missing piece. He realized in a sudden flash of clearance, that he was not the first, but merely the last of many inauspicious adventurers, who sought fortune and fame only to end in this unholy cave. With very realization, his already diminished will gave way and he ceased his remaining fighting against his fate. With a defeated, pained sigh he placed the jewelry in its rightful place.
Blueblood was somewhat disappointed that nothing happened immediately, but as he tried to leave, he noticed, that he couldn’t, magically bound in place, forced to witness whatever sick, twisted ritual was bound to take place.
Suddenly there was a low howling sound, barely audible, but it grew in volume, louder and louder until it seemed to Blueblood, like the whining of a tortured soul, ripped from its body, misplaced somewhere, bound by dark magic. He allowed himself a short chuckle in light of this clichéd description but it died as quickly as it arisen. There, amidst the bones and the jewelry, enchanted with dark magic, gathered black smoke, which shifted, churned and twisted. Black bands of forsaken magic began to coil around the remains, connecting themselves with the bones and the jewelry. The howling of the soul had ascended to a shriek, but begun to wind down into an uproarious laughter as the smoke inside the coffin started to gain shape and form. It took Blueblood quite some time to realize that he wailed like the forsaken soul, the soul of King Sombra. He looked on in horrified wonder as the form of the accursed King grew more pronounced until the body of said warlock King, who was a monster to any Unicorn foal in whole Equestria, was unmistakable.
“Yess! Vessel!” Sombra hissed in his husky tone and Blueblood could take nothing more than to stare on in pure terror as he was lifted into the air by dark magic and Sombras very soul was channeled into his being on the sinister King’s command. Searing pain coursed through his very core as Blueblood essence was torn apart, his mind shattered into fragments, his body burned with fire hotter than aunt Celestia’s sun. He didn’t care if he was weak in the end, he cried like he had the last time as he was but a mere foal, wishing that it would just end.
Why me? was his last conscious thought.
^v^v^v
Blueblood awoke some time later, he didn’t know how much time, but the pain that coursed through his system told him that he must be alive, but he didn’t know why. The last thing he knew was…Sombra! Blueblood bolted upright and looked around. He was still in this forsaken cave, somewhere in the Crystal Mountains. A sudden surge of vertigo brought him back to his knees and he groaned loudly.
I should be dead by now, shouldn’t I? I would be simply ridiculous if… “Uhg…” Blueblood cried out in sudden pain and held his temples with his hooves.
No, for it was I that was dead, bat you pathetic fool are my vessel now. Don’t try to fight me, it only will grant you pain and suffering for the time I need to share this body with your ridiculous excuse for a soul, but don’t worry, I will turn your body into something to be envied. It’ll be a pity that you won’t be around to witness it. But for now, I will allow you control, I’m still weak but don’t worry about simple old me, Blueblood shuddered as Sombras voice echoed through his skull, grating on his mind. If he wanted to fight his inevitable doom, he had to comply for the moment. He would play along, back on the way or in Canterlot itself there he would sure come up with a plan to get rid of Sombras soul and if he had to tell aunt Celestia, so help him her sister, he would do it. He would not go down without a fight. .
As he stood up and walked slowly up the stairs, he noticed, that his body gained strength on an unnatural rate. He stopped where he had laid off his cloak and supplies, taking his time to put them on, the whole time accompanied with the low, dark and quiet snicker of King Sombras essence. After he had put his cloak and supplies back on and adjusted his hood, he allowed himself a swig from one of his water bottles. Sombra seemed to not care, instead it seemed to Blueblood that his cruel companion had withdrawn himself, taking his time to rest and get accustomed to ‘his’ new body. Blueblood allowed himself a smile. If Sombra had to strengthen himself before he had control over his full powers, Blueblood probably was able to find a solution. But he needed to act fast, he could feel how his mind slipped away, lost its grip on reality and if that happened completely, his soul would be damned to wander among this plane aimlessly, never to find the ultimate peace. At least his mind fought back, allowing him to hold on his existence longer, hopefully long enough to find a cure and to ban Sombras soul back into the darkest corners of Tartarus.
The pony, that had found what it had searched, but not gained what it wanted, adjusted more out of habit than out of necessity one more time its hood and then stepped out into the freezing cold winds of the Crystal Mountains. The wind howled around it, playing a sorrowful chorus as it descended the mountains. The pony, that wasn’t itself anymore, but nor his torturer, turned its walk towards the city of Canterlot, which it once called home and made its way towards the train station that would take it there. Its mind haunted by its unmercyful fate.
Carrot Top had learned with time that living in Ponyville could proof to be prone to quite a diverse set of troubles over the course of time since Twilight Sparkle had taken residence as the town librarian. She never would have expected to be the target, let alone the cause of such a thing. But now she was and she would definitely chide herself for that, if she was able to make it out of this mess alive. Unfortunately for her, it didn’t look like it right now, as this could be the case. Whatever had been buried under the field with its stone salt circle and its obsidian rocks was now free and to Carrot Tops great distress it seemed, that she was its target. She was now surrounded by a magical whirlwind of blackness, which trapped her inside its center. Sparks and bolts of magical energy shooting soundlessly across the inside of its borders. The silence of this was more unnerving to her, than a howling and crackling cacophony of wind and energy combined would instill under such circumstances. She had tried to call for help, but the magical twister seemed to void all sounds from its center. Carrot Top jumped a bit as a sudden jolt of pain rushed through her body and she watched in horror as her hind legs started to become tainted with some eerie, oozing substance, which clung to her legs and seeped into her coat and flesh. The substance begun to cover more and more of her body, sending waves of searing pain through her nerves to her brain every time the substance covered a new part of her body, leaving the covered parts in piercing coldness until Carrot Top couldn’t take any more of it and collapsed under the sheer physical exertion. After the substance had reached her chest, Carrot Tops lungs burned with every breath, but it didn’t stop there, the substance traveled up her neck and wrapped itself around her head, finally being too much for her to take. Before unconsciousness took her into its soothing embrace she thought she heard a voice whisper, “Sorry for the inconvenience.”
*~*~* Hours later *~*~*
The moon had climbed high into the sky as Carrot Top awoke in a haze, her mind still numb from the events that took place this evening. A gentle breeze caressed her coat as she lay in the grass, unable to tell if she was still alive or dead yet. She thought that if this was afterlife, than it would disappoint anypony as much as it had disappointed her until now. There were no dark tunnels that led to a bright white light or golden gates that swung open, revealing Elysium, there weren’t even her beloved, long-gone grandparents waiting for her, there was only something that looked like the accursed field in Ponyville where she had unleashed another evil being. So her mind concluded that in fact, she wasn’t dead, but just lacked any sort of repercussions of the pains she had before. Oh and whatever unnatural, evil spirit she had set free seemed to be offended that she called it evil.
I just wanted to inform you, that, in fact, I am not evil, the spirit that may could be evil, but naturally claimed that he wasn’t told her. Then again, I am not good either. I just exist. Oh, and before I forgot, I am no spirit either, but the remaining essence of a pony.
At the sound and closeness of that voice, Carrot Top whipped her head frantically around, her eyes wide, to find its source. It took her a good couple of moments before she realized, that the spirit or essence or what-or, whoever it was, was in her body. “GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, shaking her head violently as if to dislodge anything that clung to her mane or coat. Meanwhile her body lunched itself into a mad dash, but she stopped herself before she could reach a full gallop, because the pragmatic side of her kicked in and came to the conclusion that it would be no use to run from anything that was in her body or mind. So she slowed down until she came to a stop and then fell to her haunches, blinking away tears of stress and dread that had formed in her eyes and then staring dumbly straight ahead, not sure what to do now, let alone how to really cope with this. Her mind slowed to a crawl, as the realization struck home, that she couldn’t run from this thing in her head and her heart rate and breathing started to quicken even more as they already were. Shortly before a new panic could arise, her crawling mind stumbled upon the thought that she could always go to Twilight, who surely had enough experience with unnatural situations to resolve this mess, but as the adrenaline rush had subsided and Carrot Top tried to stand up again, her body wouldn’t budge, still too exhausted from earlier.
Carrot Top could do nothing more, than to just lay there, tremble with fear for her sanity and wait until her body felt ready to stand up again. So she waited and after a time wondered why the thing in her head had not spoken again, but came up short with an answer. After waiting some more and finally having calmed down enough to stop her own thought to always come full circle to the conclusion that she was doomed, she begun to gaze at the stars and the moon, the silence became hard to bear for Carrot Top and she asked aloud, albeit she knew that the thing in her head was the only one who could hear her, “Who are you and…and…why me?” At first, there was only more silence, except for the faint rustling of leaves in the nightly breeze from a distant tree, but then there it was, the second voice in her head. Who I am? The better question would be who I was, but I digress… My name was and, well, still is Fine Line and it had to be you, because there was nopony else around and after you so foalishly disturbed the ritual ground that bound my very essence to this place, you left me with no other choice then to take refugee inside your body. So I made your body my home.
Carrot Top escaped a loud whimper at his harsh reply, but at least she was able to stop her trembling. That this situation downright troubled her, was a crass understatement, she was still in a state that could just a easy grow to a full panic again, even if a somehow calm part of her brain reasoned that she herself had been the cause for this situation. She was unable to deneigh the fact, that her instincts had told her many times to stop and just to walk away from this strange place, but her rational mind had them dismissed as nothing more than foalish thoughts, that just turned up in her mind, because she worked this field for hours and had not seen anypony else for the whole time, so her thoughts had started to wander into the direction of the rumors about this particular patch of land and she had stopped herself many time from analyzing those rumors to closely. As it had turned out, her instincts had been right, at least to an extent. She was still alive, but had now another pony stuck in her body and that thought sent several chills down her spine, making her shudder in fright.
“This can’t be happening. I don’t want this to happen. Please, by Celestia, this has to be a horrible nightmare” she muttered, voice shaky as a leaf in the wind.
Aw, come now, I am not a bad hous…err, body-guest and it should not be permanently, Fine Line commented. Carrot Top could have sworn that the last part had sent a shiver through Fine Line, if he could even shiver in such a state, at the unspoken prospect of the fact, that he wasn’t sure that it couldn’t happen, that they shared her body until her – or was it now their? – end of days.
“Well, that still stands to reason, reading my thought without my permission points in another direction,” huffed Carrot Top.
R-Read them? chuckled Fine Line. You were practically screaming them in my face. Then again, I suppose having your body and mind invaded from another essence of a pony can do something to the original inhabitant of that body. By the way, I am glad you are an Earth Pony, otherwise there may have been the possibility to have ended our both existences right then and there.
This revelation caught Carrot Top off guard and another load whimper escaped her lips. So, if she, by pure chance, hadn’t been an Earth Pony she would be dead right now. Carrot Top mind reeled at that thought to lie in that accurse field, dead. The imagination of that plus coupled with the thoughts about the sadness and the loss her friends then had to face because of her wiped the few traces that kept her calm and collected out of existence. Carrot Tops head slumped forward, hitting the grass and she started to sob quietly. For a long while there was no other sound then Carrot Tops quiet sobs, which get carried away and faded to nothing. The whole time Fine Line’s essence had at least the decency to keep quiet and emit a feeling of dismay. After she had calmed down enough that her sobs were nothing more than a whimper now and then, other thoughts popped into her mind, thoughts about to be strong for her friends and more importantly for her own sake. That she, after the infestation of those pesky parasprites, had shrugged it off and rebuild her farm and fields. That she had survived the attack of those bugly changelings. By Tartarus, hadn’t she faced enough obstacles and evils in her time in Ponyville alone and had survived? Of course she had, even if she was never before involved with defeating one of those things, but that was beside the point, she had survived and nothing pointed towards anything, that she couldn’t also survive this. As her confidence climbed higher and higher until it reached most of its normal level, she was able to form coherent thoughts again and put them into word.
“So, how long will we sharing my body?” she asked. Fine Line didn’t answer right away, which unsettled her quite a bit, but then again, it sure wasn’t something that one had to guess all too often.
It should only take a few days, maybe…hmmm, something like two weeks. he finally said, sounding rather unfazed by this prospect.
“Oh, ok, that’s not so bad, I thought it...” Carrot Top started, but stopped as his words sunk finally in “TWO WEEKS?” she shouted incredulously.
Give or take one or two days, he explained calmly and Carrot Top swore that he had shrugged.
“Great. Just great. So you telling me, that I have to live with you for two weeks?” she asked agitated, shaking her head. “How can you be so calm about this? I don’t think I could even stand two hours with this situation.”
Oh, believe me, if I could, I would leave your body right this instant, but unfortunately, it will take up to two months for the spells and the ambient magic of Equestria to restore my body enough that it can host my own essence again, so there is no use to get upset with something you can’t really change. he explained. Oh, and, if you did not notice, you already surpassed two hours hosting my essence, even so you were out during that particular period of time. he added, like it had been nothing but a mere afterthought.
“Even if this is the case,” Carrot Top huffed. “Why should I trust you? I could just as easily visit Twilight Sparkle and get rid of you,” she exclaimed indignantly. Feeling, that she had at least recovered enough strength to stand back up, she pulled herself to her hooves, her body feeling stiff and sore from the time she had laid in the field in the middle of a cold night and from the events that led to her unsuspected and more so unwanted guest.
Carrot Top stretched and shook her legs and then trotted a bit in place to loosen her muscles before attempting to walk towards Ponyville and therefore to either her house or to Twilight’s place. Probably she just visit Twilight, because this was an emergency, not as bad as some other thing that had haunted Ponyville as a whole in the past, but defiantly pressing enough to warrant to be woken up. On the other hoof, she was very tired from today’s exertions and a bed and sleep sounded quite alluring right now and Fine Line seemed to have stopped reading her thoughts and could be dealt with in the morning. After she had finished with her short warm up, she noticed that Fine Line still hadn’t said anything, something that was fine with her and just as she successfully tried to take her first step, he choose this moment to pipe up again.
Who is this Twilight Sparkle? he asked, sounding more curious than frightened. Because you should know, that the magic that bound me is strong enough to withstand the power of any single, regular Unicorn.
“Then it’s good, that she is not only the newest Alicorn and Princess of Equestria, but also one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony,” answered Carrot Top, allowing herself to smirk a little. She could feel that this revelation had hid home, because a shiver had jolted through Fine Line’s essence and he seemed to try to fight against her body’s motions, but it was obvious, that he was too weak to hinder her movement much, only succeeding in slowing down her pace. Fine Line’s struggle against her own will was still going on as she spoke up again, “I can understand that you won’t simply cease to exist, but you are obviously not able to stop me right now, so maybe it would be good to explain to me, why I should trust that you won’t do anything evil.”
Carrot Top wasn’t sure why, but she still kept her rather slow gait towards Ponyville proper and gave Fine Line time to think after he had ceased his futile attempts to halt her progress. Carrot Top was uncomfortable with some of the solutions to her problem that came up in her mind, well so long as Fine Line had told the truth and he really was currently the essence of a former pony. Wasn’t that something like murder then, if he ceased to exist? Was it possible to trap him in an inanimate object like a flower? She could ask him, but that would bear the risk that he would lie to her. She could still ask Twilight, but Carrot Top was sure, that Twilight would caught on to any hint that would imply that she hosted, how unwillingly that may be, an essence of an former pony and she remembered all too well the story about her experiments to figure Pinkie Pie’s “Pinkie Sense” out. To be frank, she trusted Twilight, but was still not thrilled about the prospect to endure similar treatment as Pinkie, because obviously Twilight would never miss the opportunity to examine her in great detail, while she had Fine Line’s essence still in her. She noticed that by now Fine Line had stopped to fight against her completely, however weak his struggle against her conscious decision to move may have been from the start and that she by now had reached the middle of town and soon had to choose between the two options to go home or to visit Twilight. Fine Line still seemed to be lost in thought about whether he should tell her anything or accept that he had to face the newest Princess. Carrot Top decided that she couldn’t be too sure about Fine Line’s intentions, but she would at least give him time to come to a decision, so she walked to a nearby bench and took a seat on it. Carrot Top was sure, that she could see the moon wander across the sky as she waited for Fine Line’s answer, but finally Fine Line seemed ready to tell her at least something.
Before I start, let me say, that I had liked to discuss this rather at the morning, but I can see, that this whole situation is unsettling for you, he said, sounding apologetic for the first time. I assure you again, that I mean no harm to you and will gladly leave this body as soon as possible, but until then I would rather not interfere with any business related to royalty or the bearers of the Elements. Not because I in any way am able to cause trouble, but partly because it always is awkward to speak through the host, partly because I should not be awake right now, - Carrot Top flinched a bit as he brought up this point - but mostly, because at least one of the Princesses would not be all too happy to see me again so soon, he explained. By the way, I was able to sense that there are four Princesses by now. One is obviously Celestia and one is this Twilight Sparkle, but I have not been able to find out who the other two are, do you know who they are? he asked, more as an afterthought then anything important right now.
“I’m still not convinced that you are not evil,” said Carrot Top, ignoring his question or acknowledging her part for this predicament. She could feel Fine Line’s hesitance to tell her more, but ultimately he seemed to come to the conclusion, that in his current weak state he had no other option but to stay on her good side if he wanted to at least live another day.
Alright, I wanted to withhold this, because this really looks like trouble and I would rather not put you through anything that could result out of it. Before I was freed by you, awoken but still trapped under the binding stone in the circles center I sensed that something sinister had returned. I hadn’t the time to investigate more about this matter, because shortly after I was free and so I only know that something is out there, probably planning to throw over the Princesses. It is still weak, but surely will seek out ways to acquire power. Because it was way up north, it only leaves a few possibilities and every one of them looks rather grim, he explained, but knew that it sounded all rather weak. To his surprise Carrot Top seemed thoughtful, as if she had heard something, but wasn’t exactly sure what it had been. Finally she seemed to remember at least part of it.
“Well, the only place I heard from in the far north is the Crystal Empire. I know it returned, but as far as I know their evil King Som-…something was defeated by the Element-Bearers, that’s at least what the newspaper said, I think,” she said, gaining again that thoughtful look. “Do you suppose he has somehow returned? If so, shouldn’t we tell somepony about this? I’m sure Princess Celestia will know what needs to be done.”
I am not so sure about both of this. If you say that he was defeated, then it is unlikely that he was able to return so easily, unless he had somehow anticipated his first defeat in the first place and had set up anything that would bring him back, he reasoned, but hesitated before he continued. The matter with Celestia may be true, but….I would still prefer to have anything on ou…err, my hooves that would proof this all without a doubt. Carrot Top was sure that Fine Line was nervous about talking to Celestia, but she filed this away until she knew more about what was going on. “Ok, let’s assume you are right and there is something sinister, even if not King Som-thing, that still leaves the matter of being not evil,” Carrot Top said, feeling uncomfortable with acknowledging anything to Fine Line, but the possibility was enough to remind her of the havoc that those changelings had caused and if she could prevent something similar from happening she would gladly take that chance.
If I were truly evil, he sighed, sounding tired. would I have not already threatened or forced you to do my evil bidding? I know I have no real proof to back up my claim right now, but are ponies these days so quick to assume the worst in a stranger? If you are willing to live with the knowledge to have killed a pony, even if it is only his essence by now, then, do as you wish and go ahead and tell that Twilight Sparkle about your dilemma.
“How do you know that the solution would be something similar to murder?” asked Carrot Top, hoping that it was just a guess. “I mean, couldn’t we not transfer your essence to…I don’t know, a flower or something?”
No, he said. That wouldn’t work. Theoretically it would be possible, but a flower or any being that wouldn’t be a pony would lead to a dissolving mind, which would only quicken the longer my essence would be trapped inside said body. I know, that I have no prove that you can trust me, but should it not be enough, that I am willing to lay my fate into your hooves?
Carrot Top still wasn’t convinced that Fine Line had no bad intentions, but she didn’t know enough about magic to dismiss the possibility that Fine Line had told the truth and he would vanish into the nether if she would ask Twilight for a solution to this situation. Her doubts about the solutions Twilight could provide returned and she was back to the start of her inner moral conflict.
As time passed by and neither of both spoke or thought in Fine Line’s case, Carrot Top felt the stiffness return to her limbs, so she stood up and begun to pace back and forth in front of the bench. But try as she might, no easy or really good solution to her problem would present itself. No matter how she turned it over in her mind, she couldn’t bring herself to more or less sentence a pony’s life to death because she was afraid it could maybe be not trusted or be downright evil. That there was a chance that Fine Line had told the truth made it impossible for her and the lack of sleep and today’s exhaustion made it hard to think straight anyway. Making up her mind she let out a heavy sigh.
“Fine,” she said. “As much as I don’t like this, I let you share my body with me until yours is ready to host your essence, soul or whatever you want to call yourself at the moment, but I still need a lot more in depth explanation about some things and don’t think I’m unable to tell if you try to pull any funny business.” She yawned loudly and then continued, “But the explanations can wait until morning, I’m too tired for this kind of conversation right now.”
Fine Line kept quiet as Carrot Top made her way across town to her house to get a few hours of sleep before she had to get up and work her farm.
Thank you, said Fine Line, sounding relieved, as they reached the doorstep. By the way, you should probably only speak to me in thought if you don’t want anypony to question your state of mind. Oh, and you will delighted to hear, that I am no pervert, so I will not take a peek if you do some more personal affairs. Carrot Top groaned and she could envision Fine Line’s smirk, as hard as that may be, because she didn’t know how he looked.
She yawned loudly again as she climbed in her bed and pulled the covers above herself and as her head so much as touched the pillow she was fast asleep. But Fine Line wasn’t.