What happens when you add a cosplayer, the Witch king of Angmar, and the peaceful land of Equestia all in one story? A twisted tale of good vs evil... what else?
The one time I decide to go all out on a costume is apparently the same time I get sent to a land of little pony creatures. You would normally think, "What's so bad about being sucked into a land of happiness?" right? Well, it sucks when they are all scared of you and your very soul is being corrupted by a dark lord. So, I make do with what I have.
It was Halloween, and I got invited to go to a costume party. I wanted to go as something pretty scary. So, I chose to go as the Witch King of Angmar. I was a fan of the Lord of the Rings universe, even if I didn’t go that far in depth with the lore. So why not go as something scary?
I was at a party, being my nerdy self. The nerd with the best costume in the room, might I add. I got plenty of compliments on how cool it looked, because I went all out with this one. I had realistic gauntlets and shoulder armor and this really cool black cloth that I cut up and stained towards the bottom. It was tore up with a hood. I also got this nice deal on a long sword and a dagger, both not real of course. Last but not least, I bought the helmet online. I swore that it felt heavier than it should have been, but it didn’t feel like metal so I shrugged it off.
The party was a classic college party. The girls were dressed all slutty and the tough guys were in their silly costumes. There were some people like me at the party too: pretty good costumes, but not really there for the party. They were here for the free booze. I fell into the “good costume now let’s get wasted group”.
I was drinking my seventh or eighth beer before I started to feel really dizzy. The guy throwing the party was a friend of mine, so he let me crash in one of the guest rooms. So, I walked up the stairs, leaning on the railing to whole way. I found a room with a bed and flopped down on it. I didn’t even bother trying to take off my stuff. In a minute I was out like a light. I hoped that I would feel a little better in the morning… I was sadly mistaken.
I had a dreamless sleep, granted I passed out versus actually sleeping. There was only one thing I could recall. It was a voice saying this weird phrase or something. I couldn't remember what it meant but it was familiar. I ignored it and started to wake myself up.
When I woke up, I wanted to roll over to my side. The mattress felt like a slab of stone. My costume also felt heavier. It felt like I was wearing real armor. So, when I tried to move, I couldn’t. I tried again and again but I just couldn't move. It didn't feel like the armor was wearing me down. It was like some unknown force was pushing down on me… constantly.
Another thing I noticed was I was face up. I remember passing out face down. All this confusion started to raise my anxiety levels. Feeling more alert, I tried to move again. Once again, my limbs stayed in their position. I was on my back, facing up, unable to move, and the worst part was that it being pitch black.
This had to of been a prank. I opened my mouth to see if anyone would let me out. Except, nothing came out. I tried and tried again, but no noise. I didn’t even feel my mouth open. There was nothing covering it. It just... wouldn’t open. I’ve never had a reason to be claustrophobic, but this was a good start. I was freaking out. I was able to move my eyes at least, but that was it.
Someone must have kidnapped me. But why? I am not worth anything. Well, to my parents yeah, but they aren’t exactly rolling dough. ‘What if I am never found? What if I am tortured to death just for some fun. Oh God! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!’ I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. I didn’t know what I did to deserve this. I only hoped for a way out. Then I heard the voice.
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul.
‘What the hell was that!? Hello!? Can someone hear… my thoughts?’
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul.
‘I don’t understand you! Please help me!’ The voice repeated with a bit more force.
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul.
'I don’t know what you want me to do!’
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul.
‘WHAT DO YOU WANT!’ The voice just continued to ignored me.
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul.
It went on for what felt like hours. The voice just kept repeating and repeating itself. I started to pick up on parts of it. Over time, I found out that I wasn’t breathing either. At first, I flipped shit, but I never felt the need to breath. I also felt more hollow: as if I wasn’t completely there. I assumed that I was dead and this was sick torture in Hell. Being closed up in probably some casket with a menacing voice repeating in your head would fit the description. I thought it would have more fire though.
The voice never did stop repeating. I found myself trying to repeat it. It was the only thing to do. I had the first phrase down pretty fast. The next part wasn’t hard. Now, trying to remember both and put them together was difficult. I won’t even mention the other half. ‘Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul’ When I finished the second part I felt my box shake. ‘So it wants me to repeat it? Ok. I got this.’
I saw my chance and took it. I repeated the two phrases over and over again. The box never did shake. It must have wanted me to say the second half. I was now paying very close attention to the voice. I was happy that it spoke slow and enunciated itself. The third word was giving me all kinds of trouble. It just wasn’t something I could pronounce: even in my own head.
Eventually, I got it down and was able to pick up on the rest pretty fast. The third word would gave me some trouble. I used a trick for trying to remember something: say it seven times. After saying thrakatulûk seven times, I said the second half of the phrase seven times. I felt confident in my ability to combine the phrase. I started to think with the voice, syncing our words.
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul.
When I finished the phrase, the voice stopped and a large crack went right down the middle of stone, mirroring my body. The weight that was pushing me down was gone as well. I immediately moved my arms up and pushed on either side of the crack. It was heavy, but I was determined to move it. The stone weigh as much as I thought though. There was a bit of resistance but it slid off the sides. Once the stone was removed, I leaned up and bent my legs. They felt so stiff and my back didn’t fair any better. I thought it would have popped some, but it didn’t. After leaning up, I looked around, but there wasn’t much to look at. The room was made of stone, but it looked like it was carved into a rock rather than being made out of it. There were scratches and imperfections everywhere. The room looked ancient, and the only light source was coming out of a doorway. Well, it wasn’t a door way, due to it being closed by bars. There were no hinges, no locks, just bars.
I made my way out of my coffin and hopped to the floor. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard the sound of metal hit stone. I looked at my hands. They were still in gauntlets, but ones made of metal. The ends were sharp and jagged. Looking down to my feet a metal shaped shoe protruded from the black cloth. I moved my hands up to my helmet to try and take it off. It, however, wouldn’t budge. It felt like it was fused with my head. I left it alone for now. Priority number one was to get out of this tomb… my tomb. I have given up on the fact that this was a prank or a kidnapping. This was something different. Much different..
I walked up to the bars and gave a push. They didn’t move an inch. I pushed and pushed again, but they didn’t move. Then, I remembered how I got out of the coffin. I placed my hand on the bars and repeated the phrase. It didn’t budge an inch. I opened my mouth to say ‘dammit’, but something else came out.
“Zanbaur!” I almost jumped at the sound of my voice. It sounded echoey and drawn out, like an actual wraith. On top of my voice sounding weird, I spoke a completely different language! A language that I didn’t even know! I would have freaked out more it I hadn’t already been trapped in that stone coffin. I walked back up to the bars, having an idea. If I using words worked to get me out of that coffin, it could work on these bars. At least I hoped.
Placing my hand in the middle I thought of something to say. In my mind I was saying ‘open’. My mouth had different ideas.
“Kaul.” The bars immediately busted open, snapping in the middle and exploding outwards. I jumped back due to the abruptness of the noise of metal breaking and bending. Moving towards the opening, I peaked out. There was only about a foot of walkway before a bottomless shaft. I could faintly see other tombs like mine before a never ending blackness. There was no way I could make it to any of them to see what was inside. Not that I wanted to go further in.
I turned around to make sure I wasn’t going to leave anything behind. On the wall I saw three objects: a flail, a sword, and a dagger. I picked up the sword first. I could swear that I heard voices when I grasped the handle, but I found a holster and put it in place. It wasn’t a full blown sheath, just a loop in a belt. I picked up the dagger next. A cold energy come from it. After some digging around, I found it’s spot in my cloak. The last thing to pick up was the flail. It had a long wooden handle with old looking chains. The end of the flail, however, was huge. I couldn’t even wrap my hands around it.
I didn’t see any place to holster the weapon. Looking for a place to put it, I moved my hands all around my new body. My hands made the way to my back and found a large loop with what felt like a strap. I dug the star side of the flail in the large loop and strapped the handle in the best I could.
Looking around the room again I found a book on the floor. The book looked to be bound in leather. The cover had no title but an imprint of, what looked to be, a demonic dragon skull. I didn’t observe it too much since I wanted out of my prison. Under my robes I found a pocket and deposited the book inside.
On the last look, I only found rocks and a broken stone coffin. Satisfied that I found everything, I made my way out the opening. My foot slipped as I almost stepped off the narrow walkway. I grabbed the jagged bars and pulled myself up. That was close.
“Nar Thos!” I hoped that meant shit, because that is what I was thinking. I repositioned myself on the ledge and shimmed across. It was hard because of the flail on my back.
A few parts of the ledge shook when I stepped on them. I was just happy that none broke off and let me plummet to my doom.
Once I rounded the second corner, I walked into the passageway where the light was coming from. The farther I walked, the colder it got. Although, I never shivered or tried to rub my arms for warmth. I could feel the cold, but it didn’t make me any colder.
I eventually made it to the last length of the passage. The light got brighter and brighter. I had to shield my eyes and let them adjust to the light. At the end of the passage, I found myself staring at a mountain range. I could see dozens of snowcapped peaks making up the landscape. The sun was high in the sky with only a few clouds here and there. Each mountain, oddly enough, looked the same. There were no differences from each peak that I saw.
I landed on my knees. It finally sank in that I was nowhere close to home. I didn’t know where I was or what I was going to do. I was lost in a land that I knew nothing about in a body I knew only a little. So I did the only thing I could do in my frustration. I screamed. I screamed a scream that would be used to describe a human. The scream was one I was all too familiar with.
It was the scream of a Nazgûl.
In the city of Canterlot, Celestia sat upon her throne, taking a break from dealing with the pesky nobles that would bug her about every little thing. The last one had the audacity to suggest tearing down Ponyville and make it a huge farm land for the nobles to own. He was hauled out by the guards.
She rubbed her temples trying to rid herself of the migraine the nobles blessed her with. Her relaxation was, unfortunately, stopped by an ear piercing screech. It sounded sick and twisted, like a long lost monster. Below the actual layer of the screech, she could feel an emotion that she thought she would never have to feel again. Fear. The warmth of the sun left her as an icy chill took its place.
The guards didn’t fair any better. They all dropped their spears and shook in fear. They have never had to deal with anything worse than a robber or a noble who thought he or she was better than somepony else. Some were even on the ground, their helmets splayed across the floor. They were holding onto their heads, screaming for the awful screech to stop.
Just as fast as it started, it ended. The guards were starting to pull themselves together. Celestia felt the chill run out of her system and her warm magic take its place. She could feel her heartbeat pumping heavily from her chest. On of the guards looked up to Celestia.
“P-Princess… What was that?” He was still shaking in his armor. She took a few deep breaths in order to calm down.
“I-I don’t know, but we need to investigate this disturbance. Please bring me Captain Iron. I want to see what he thinks of this.” The guard gave a bow and went to look for his superior. She gave the rest of the guards the rest of the day off. She needed to talk to Iron Fist in private.
The scream echoed on the mountain tops, reminding me that it was no longer mine. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I had no clue where I was or what I was going to do. I knew that scream couldn’t come from a human. I was something else entirely, and it scared me. I sat on my knees trying to take in this information. Seconds soon turned into minutes. Minutes then turned into hours. The sun was on the horizon before I figured it would be best if I made it off this mountain and at least try to find some people. There were some stones jutting out the side of the mountain. It looked like stairs that have seen better days. As I stepped on the jagged stones, I was careful not to slip. I may be undead, but I was pretty sure I could still feel pain.
I reached the bottom of the sketchy looking stairs and planted my feet on solid ground. It wasn’t snowy like the caps of the mountains. There were plants and moss all around, blending in with the rock. I continued down the slope till I saw a forest. I didn’t want to sleep in the forest where there might be predators trying to eat me, but I did want to take a look at that book.
The sun was now being enveloped by the horizon and the moon was starting to peak out on the other side. I hurried to the edge of the woods and picked up the dead branches laying around. I remembered the ents of Fangorn forest and how they didn’t like their trees to be harmed. It was better to deal with a little fire versus an angry tree monster. The woods itself looked as wild as Fangorn, although a bit shorter. It was wild, green, and most of all, dark. The trees themselves were a bit spooky, but I knew I would be scarier that anything coming out of the forest.
I walked up to the slope, back to where I was going to set up camp. I honestly didn’t feel sleepy, but that didn’t surprise me. To quote Boromir “I am an evil that does not sleep”. I piled up the dead branches into a campfire, but I didn’t have anything to light it with. I looked around for some kindling. My luck must have been running out, because I didn’t find a thing. Then, I came up with an idea. It was a bit of a long shot and sounded stupid in my head, but it was worth a try. I held out my hand towards the sticks. I made sure my palm was facing the campfire.
“Ghash.” I was surprised to see a flame shoot out of my palm and into the fire pit. The branches immediately caught fire and started to crackle. I was happy that I didn’t turn them into ash since I was starting to get use to my new found powers. It still didn’t make me feel better about getting ripped out of my home to be the reincarnation of a greatly feared evil.
With my new found light, I was able to take a look at that book. Taking another look at it showed my initial observation was correct. It was an old book, well more like ancient, with a dragon-like skull imprinted on the front cover. I sat on the ground and opened the book. A moment later, I wished I hadn’t.
There was no time to prepare myself for what happened next. My small fire erupted into an inferno. Flames started gathering above the fire and took shape of a flaming eye. The eye of Sauron.
“Lat!” My body seized up and was hoisted into the air as dark clouds swirled above the eye. Voices then started to echo in my head. It was not like before. It sounded as if there were millions of voices saying something different. My mind felt like it was on fire as flaming tendrils surrounded my head. It was as if someone cut off the top of my head and held me over a fire.
As I felt power being pushed into my being, I let out another signature scream as I was forced to absorb the power. I simply could not handle the torture I was being put through. Through my pain, I was able to hear a wispy voice, that actually spoke english.
“You! You will lead my armies.” I have heard that voice before. “War is coming.” War, what war? “Death will come to all.” Right after he finished, I was dropped onto the ground screaming in unimaginable pain. The flames swallowed themselves up in an instant, taking the pain along with them.
I no longer felt the pain of being pumped full of, what I guessed to be, power. Instead, I felt… empty. The best way I could describe it was as if someone dulled all my emotions and removed most of my memories. The memories I have lost were then replaced by another’s, probably the actual Witch King. I saw myself doing terrible things to men I didn’t know. I saw myself practicing witchcraft and I remembered all his spells. I saw myself riding on a beast above a burning white city. I knew I wasn’t any part of that, but it seemed so real.
In addition to having my memories altered, I felt as if I was given a new goal in this place. It was no longer to just survive. I was to conquer this place, but I didn’t know where to even start. Well, that’s not true. The first thing I had to do was find a place to set up my “operation.” With this goal in mind, I picked up the book and headed off into the forest. Since it was night, I felt more active and ready to go.
Celestia waited in her private quarters for her captain to enter. The city had a near panic attack after the scream ended. She first thought it could have been her sister, but the sun was still out, so she doubted that. The other thing that was bothering her was that she had just sent Twilight to Ponyville earlier that day. She kept thinking about teleporting her student back, but then Twilight wouldn’t find the elements and cleanse Luna from her jealousy.
“Princess Celestia?” The princess looked up from her thoughts to see her guard captain standing in the doorway. She almost forgot that she called for him.
“Yes, please come in.” Iron walked into the room as the guards closed the door behind him. Celestia wanted to be discreet as possible with this meeting in order not to cause any more panic. But even then, it was hard to keep something that everypony in Canterlot heard in the dark. Celestia stood up from her bed and motioned towards the balcony. Iron followed her out onto the ledge that overlooked the Canterlot and had quite a view of the mountains. “It’s so peaceful, isn’t it Captain.”
“Princess?” The captain looked up at his ruler with a confused expression.
“Equestria. isn’t it peaceful.” Celestia ignored her captain’s confusion and continued to stare out at her kingdom. “I have ruled over this land for a little over one thousand years now. One thousand years of uninterrupted peace.”
“What are you trying to say?” Iron, like everypony else in Canterlot, knew about the foul scream that echoed through the city. It was scary, yes, but he didn’t think it would interrupt Equestria’s long reign of peace. The princess didn’t even break her gaze from the world when she responded.
“That scream wasn’t just any scream. It isn’t one that could come from anything you or I know: not a pony, griffon, or any race that is commonly know. This scream inspired fear in everything it touched.” She finally looked down at the captain. “Even me.” The stallion’s eyes widened when she said this. The princess was supposed to be the most powerful being in Equestria. The fact that something scared her made him shiver. Swallowing his anxiety, he stood a little straighter.
“What can I do to help?” This was a chance to prove himself, to show her that he was fit to be captain. Celestia smiled at Iron’s brave display. Her ponies weren't so easily defeated.
“First, we need to locate the source of the scream. Then we need to capture the creature. I do not know what to do until I see the creature. Perhaps we may communicate with it and have it refrain from using its awful screech.” Iron nodded.
“And where should we start lo- WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS THAT!” Iron pointed to a group of dark clouds, swirling above the mountains. It didn't look like anything the pegasi could do. The clouds were too dark and moving too fast. It was as if they were being generated in that very spot. Before Celestia could study the clouds any further, she heard the shriek. It was as horrible and wretched as she remembered. The princess had to pin down her ears to try and shut some of it out. Iron wasn't doing much better than her. He was actually holding his ears down with his hooves.
The scream didn’t last as long as last time, but it was no less frightening. Once the last echo of the horrible sound faded away, Celestia looked right at her captain. He cautiously lifted his hooves from his ears to make sure the sound was gone.
“I suggest starting there. Take whatever you need, just stop whatever that thing is. And please, be careful.” Iron gave a salute and galloped out the door. He wanted to get this thing defeated and in chains… if he could.
I continued to walk through the forest I dubbed, Fangorn. However, the forest itself wasn’t as wild as I thought. In fact, it looked like the same tree was placed in random patterns around the ground and called it a forest. Either way, I still had to find a cave or something. That’s when I came across some ruins.
The ruins looked as if it was once a castle. It still had most of its walls intact, but all the decorative structures were reduced to rubble. Overall, it was an okay place to start. It was old and scary looking, so it could work, but something inside myself told me this wasn’t the right place. I fought against the feeling and pressed onward to the castle. From where I stood, it looked smaller than it actually was. It was nothing the size of, say, Dol Guldur, but it was the closest thing that resembled it.
I walked up to the front of the ruins and saw a gorge separating the castle from the other side. The only thing that connected the two sides was a rickety bridge. The bridge itself has seen better days, but it looks like it could be used a few more times before it snapped.
Turning my attention back to the gate, I pushed the doors open. I was immediately greeted to a throne room. The room had arching ceilings and was very tall. There was also some kind of weird centerpiece that blocked my view ot the thrones. I walked around the centerpiece to get a better look at the thrones. They each had their own tapestry above them. The on on the right had the sun, while the one on the left had the moon. I walked up to the moon throne and took a seat.
The seat itself is wide, very wide. The back was also quite short. I doubted that this chair was made for any human or elf. A dwarf and orc stronghold would mostly be underground. These were made for something different. I wasn’t sure what, but I had a feeling I was going to find out.
“Now what is this sitting on my throne?” I didn’t dare move my body as my eyes scanned the room. There was nothing different about the room since I entered. “This thing is positively ugly. Who thought I would like this statue sitting on my throne. No. No. No. This won’t do.” The voice was a female, that was for sure. My thoughts were interrupted by a purple mist sneaking through a window to my right. The mist seemed to be condensed into a single cloud that lazily floated through the air. Once it reached in front of the thrones, the mist swirled and condensed into a… unicorn? I was confused at this dark armored unicorn that came out of no where, and the fact it also had wings. Did that make it something else? “I guess I will have to do some cleaning.”
She lowers her horn to point it right at me. I thought she was going to charge me, until her horn lit up. I had no time to react before she shot a bright bolt of magic right at my chest. The blast pushed me through the throne and stone wall, leaving me in a vast empty room. I wanted to grunt when I landed, but my new body would not allow me to show pain. As I slowly stood up, she walked through the hole I made.
“What’s this? Some sort of guardian? Or is it just some strange creature?” I stood up to my full height, letting my power flow. I actually wasn’t doing it consciously. It was as if something inside was doing it for me. “Mmmm, I can taste your fear, and it is delicious.” She licked her lips like a predator. It wasn’t my fear she was tasting. It was the fear that I inspired. She lowered her horn again to fire another bolt, but I raised my hand, anticipating the spell. As soon as it left her horn it was absorbed into my hand. If you would have asked me how I did it, I would have just said on instinct, but I think it is a little more than that.
Paying attention to the unicorn, she was in shock that I was able to stop her spell. She was definitely more surprised about what I did next. I took out my sword and gave a violent shriek. It was that moment that she realized that I wasn’t full of fear. I created it. Her eyes lit up and she started to backpedal, firing spells as she went. As she backpedaled, I raised my sword in front of my face and slowly approached her. She ended up tripping over a loose stone and hit her head against the centerpiece. I never hesitated while walking towards her. Before she looked all powerful. Now, she looked pathetic. The unicorn looked up at me then closed her eyes, thinking her fate was sealed. Instead, I reached my hand down and grabbed her by the neck, dragging her up till her hooves could no longer touch the ground.
“What are you waiting for? Do it.” Her voice was strained, due to me holding her up by her throat. While getting a better look at the creature, I decided that I could use her. She knows her way around, and I am in need of a guide. Loosening my grip, I held her by the bottom of her jaw, giving her a chance to breathe.
“You will serve me.” My voice was as cryptic as ever, and I could tell it had an effect.
“I serve no one.” She then spat on my face, or where my face would have been. I tightened my grip and drew my dagger. I then stabbed her in the chest.
“You will now serve me less you decide to become one with the shadow.” I pulled the dagger from her body and showed it to her face. She watched in horror as the blade faded into dust, sealing the damage that was done. Letting go of her throat, I let her drop to the ground. She coughed and wheezed while holding her chest. It took a few moments before the unicorn looked up at me with eyes of rage.
“What did you do to me!” I leaned down and pressed my armored thumb against the wound.
“You were poisoned by my blade. If you don’t serve me, I will let the poison take you. If you serve me, I will stay the poison, keeping you amongst the living.” I gave a quick push on the wound before standing up. She seemed to forget about the pain for a moment and thought about the choice given to her. I had to admit, she was taking this much better than I thought she would.
“I…” She let out a defeated sigh. “I will serve you.”
The Captain of the guard took a squad of his best stallions and traveled to where the dark clouds originated from. When he arrived, he was disappointed with what he saw. The only thing that was there, was a burnt out fire pit. The rest of his soldier spread out to find anything suspicious or find any evidence of dark magic. They weren't too lucky on their initial search, but eventually they found something.
“We found something!” Iron stood up to see one of the guards pointing up towards the mountain.
At first, he didn’t see anything, but upon a closer inspection, he saw a faint path leading up the mountain side. The path ended in the middle of the mountain side. Right where a solid black rectangle laid.
“I’m getting too old if I couldn’t see that,” Iron grumbled to himself.
“Don’t worry sir. I didn’t see it either. It’s probably because how dark it’s getting.” Iron looked up in the sky to see that it was in fact getting dark. Awfully fast too.
“Well, come on. It’s going to be too dark to see soon. Let’s finish this up and come back tomorrow,” Iron ordered his troops. One by one, the ponies climbed the stairs and headed inside the opening. They, however, didn’t go farther than the entryway.
“Does anyone else feel… weird?” one of the soldiers asked.
“Now that you mention it yeah. It feels… cold… and--”
“Disconnected,” the ponies looked at Iron. “I can’t feel any magic in here. Like something is blocking it,” he said as he inspected his troops. They were all shaky and nervous, not the ideal troops at the moment.
“And I don’t like it. I am calling it a day. Let’s go back home, and come back tomorrow, after the Summer Sun Celebration.” The guards were all too happy to get out of that place. Iron would be lying if he said he wasn’t even a little relieved that he was leaving, but he wouldn’t say it out loud.
The guards filed out as fast as they filed in. Each pony was happy to go home to their families and forget about that place. Iron sighed as he hopped on the chariot. His mission started out strange and it wasn’t getting any less strange. He just hoped that it could be sorted out by the time he got back.
I stood before my new servant as she stayed in the same defeated position. For this… thing to have, or had, a throne was beyond me. She obviously had some magical prowess, but as soon as I instilled fear into her, she was done for.
Still, she blasted me through solid rock, so that was something.
Now that I had a servant, who I knew couldn’t risk betraying me till later, I then needed a base of operations. Since this was my servant’s old castle, I figured that it was a good place to start.
It was isolated, and looked to be abandoned for a while. The gorge outside provided a perfect barrier on one side, and it gave me an easier access to below ground. That would be where I breed my army.
Speaking of which, I needed to know who I would be eventually dealing with and what forces I could create. So, I turned back to my servant to ask her a few questions.
“I have need of you,” I said as I pointed at my new minion. She was still weak from the poison, but I didn’t need her to move. All I needed were answers.
When she didn’t answer I picked her up by her mane. She needed to learn respect. But before I could do anything, I discovered that she was unconscious. That was just great.
The poison must have taken a lot out of her. There was nothing I could do to wake her without injuring her further. I didn’t need her to be any weaker in case something happened. So I had to find something to take up my time till she woke up.
I left the main room to explore the rest of the castle. It looked like it was built out of a child’s storybook: all of the bricks were square, all the hallways held artwork and every hallway looked the same.
It was definitely not my style of fortress, but I might draw attention if I altered it any. No, all my work would have to be underground in order for me to remain unnoticed.
The lower I went, the darker the castle got. For just anyone, they would have had to light a torch in order to see. However, my body was made to work in the dark. Even in total darkness, I could see clearly.
Clearly enough to see that there was a lot of work to do.
New passageways would have to be built to burrow further into the earth. The only problem with that was I had no one to do the grunt work. I doubted that my only follower would be good at any digging, let alone the vast amounts of digging she would have to do.
No, I needed more servants, ones that could fight and do the grunt work I needed.
I finished with my brief tour and walked back to the throne room. Fortunately for me, the horse was starting to wake up as I reached the throne.
“Ugh, my head...” my servant groaned as she wobbled up onto her hooves, rubbing her head. When she stood all the way up, she clutched her side. “Ahh! What is this!?” she said as she ran her hoof over the wound I gave her.
Apparently she was trying to remember what happened before she passed out. I elected to sit and watch to see if she could remember on her own. I didn’t like to have to repeat myself.
“I was waiting for my clone to return to me and then-” The shock in her eyes told me she recalled our fight. Good. But what was that about her clone? Before I could ask, she looked up at me with eyes full of fear. “It… it wasn’t a dream?” I didn’t answer. Instead, I chose to stare at her.
At that moment, a whispy blue cloud flew into the window and attached itself to her mane. I guess that answered my question about her clone. She seemed to forget about me and looked at the door.
“They’re here? Already?” she gasped.
At this point, I was tired of having my questions left unanswered. I stood up from my seat and grabbed the root of her mane. Then, I lifted her to my eye level.
“I have had enough of these riddles. You will answer me.”
Her face was not as full of fear as I hoped. It was… troubling to say the least. She seemed more concerned with something else.
“Look at me.” I pulled a bit more on her mane, causing her to wince a bit.
“Let go of me!” She tried to take a swing at my face, but she missed.
I wasn't about to let my subordinate try and undermine my authority. With most of my might, I threw her back into the hole she make with me earlier. She ended up tumbling through a couple more walls before finally stopping by a large window. Her body wasn’t that hurt, just a few scratches here and there. However, I didn’t care for her state of being. As I said before, she needed to learn respect. I picked her up and made her look at me with her strained eyes.
“You will learn your place!” I threw her against another wall. This time, she was embedded in the wall. Her horn was cracked and she had cuts all over her body. She was such a frail thing, not being able to take much punishment. Still, she was mine, and her weakness was my weakness. And I refuse to show any kind of weakness, either for my own pride, or for fear of my master.
Oh yes, he was always in the back of my mind. That great eye was and would forever be burned into my brain. I trembled at that thought of what he would do to me if I should fail.
I pulled the pony off the wall and let her fall to the ground. I would have done worse, but I didn’t know how much more she could take. She was very lucky to be my only link to this world. As I moved my boot towards her throat, she pointed back to the throne room. Looking through the newly made holes, I saw a small purple unicorn. I really hoped that wasn’t the only species I would find. That would prove troublesome when I start to breed my army.
I turned back to my injured servant. She would be better equipped to deal with this other unicorn. For all I knew, that unicorn could have been her servant. Dragging my unicorn to the hole in the wall, I made her look at the purple horse.
“If she is not your’s, you will rid her of this place.” Normally I would handle it myself. However, more might come to look for her, and if she escaped, there is no telling who she could have brought back. It was better for me to stick to the shadows. My servant coughed when she stood up. Maybe she wasn’t as weak as I thought.
“That’s what I was,” she gave another cough, “I was trying to tell you.” I didn’t respond as I hid in the shadow of a column. She gave a sigh, turned into that purplish cloud and silently floated into the throne room. Thinking she could handle a single unicorn, I opted to look through that book in case things turned sour. I skimmed through till I found a good escape tactic. It had me use most of my spirit to travel to another area and the rest of me would be pulled to it. This would be an alright strategy if I wanted to plan an escape ahead of time.
As I read more into it, a burst of wind almost made me lose my place. With a thumb holding my page number I looked behind the column to see my servant and the new horse land on the ground. I was furious that she would bring that thing so close to me. She would be punished severely once the newcomer was dealt with. For some reason, she was also holding five stone orbs with her mane and tail. If I cared, I would ask about them later, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. Concentrating on my wraith spirit, I began to feel myself tear apart.
“Plas!” Immediately after I said that word, I felt my spirit crack in two. Most of my strength left my body and formed into a second wraith. It looked just like me, only without any robes to hide its true form. Once it was complete, I pointed out a window.
“Parpara.” With no other word, my spirit surged forth into the wild, with only the will to move forward. I had my way out in case things turned sour. The best part about using just a wraith is that no one but me could see it.
Once it jumped out the window, I looked back at my servant, to only see her be blasted by a rainbow from six pastel horses. I had no time to react when the rainbow swallowed her up in a tornado like movement. The only choice I had was to wait to see the outcome. The rainbow spun faster and faster until it erupted in a bright flash. I had to pull my head around the column not to be blinded by it. Even though I avoided the physical blast, I could feel the magic still hit me. To my shock, it weakened me. Not just a little either. I felt significantly drained, like my life force was being sucked through a straw. Whatever that blast was, I definitely couldn’t let it hit me.
By the time I turned around, all the horses were getting up and talking about their necklaces. They were completely unaware of my presence and I wasn’t about to change that. Especially after that blast.
Hiding back behind the column, I prepared to merge with my clone. Right when I was about to travel to my clone’s location, I felt my magic still pulsing where I thought my servant evaporated. Risking another peek, I looked back to where my servant once stood. Laying in the same spot was a smaller blue horse. It was like she was a younger form of herself. However, my poison was still flowing in her blood. I focused on my magic harder until I realized what those horses really did. They didn’t destroy my servant. They just sealed her away, and seals can be broken.
I began to reach out with my power, testing the limits of the seal. It was strong, but that was because it was fresh. However, the newer the seal, the more mistakes it would have. All I needed to do was find one of those mistakes and she would be mine again. While searching for a flaw, I felt myself getting weaker and weaker. Looking around, I also saw that it was getting light out. Was it daybreak already? While I could operate in daylight, my strength was in the shadows, and they were fading fast.
By the time I found the flaw in the seal, the power of the light almost drained me completely. I was lucky to be sitting in the shadow of the column. I had to make my move, or I wouldn’t even have the power to teleport away from there. The only problem was that I needed to physically touch the blue unicorn in order to rip my servant from her body, and there was a lot of solar energy weakening me every moment. I gathered my strength and stepped out of the column’s shadow. There was now a large white horse walking to my servant. Just by looking at her, I knew where the solar magic was coming from. This was not going to be easy.
“It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.” All the equines were so focused on the two, that they hadn’t seen me step out. The blue horse was about to leap up to the white one when I reached out with my magic.
I grabbed onto the new unicorn's throat and pulled her to me. All the horses gasped when my servant’s body reached my grip. The gasps quickly turned into angry glares. The worst one came from the large solar horse.
“Let go of her you monster!” The largest horse lit up her horn in anger. There was no way I could stand up to against any spell she would send my way. I needed to buy some time.
Princess Celestia watched in horror as her sister was pulled into some monster’s grip. The form of the being reminded her of a minotaur, only smaller in size. It draped itself in a black cloak with armor sticking out. It was obvious that this thing was prone to violence due to the sword handle sticking out of, what appeared to be, a belt loop. However, that wasn’t what was on her mind.
She had just been reunited with her long lost sister. After thousands of years, planning her sister’s rehabilitation with the elements of harmony and the dream of living together were torn from her grip. To say she was furious was an understatement. So, she charged her horn in a threatening manner.
“Let go of her you monster!” Her voice was dripping with venom. Celestia wouldn’t normally lash out at anything directly, even her enemies. She has had years of training to hold her emotions in check, but this was her sister. Her emotions were bubbling over even before she arrived at the castle.
Celesta couldn’t risk shooting off a spell in Luna’s state, but the monster couldn’t possibly know that. The two just stared at one another, analyzing for weaknesses. Celestia had encountered many monsters and foes in her reign, but none such as this. This thing was oozing with dark magic and fear, more so than Nightmare could ever have dreamed of. Just standing in it’s presence was weakening her. The two stayed locked in that same position. until the monster did something that Celestia dreaded.
It screamed.
It screamed like a banshee fresh out of a grave. The high pitches rang in her ears, causing her to falter in her stance. Fear gripped her heart as the magic from her horn dissipated. The elements of harmony weren’t doing any better. To say they were afraid was a gross understatement. The element of kindness passed out due to the sheer amount of fear she was being subjected to. Luna however, had to endure being that close to the creature while hearing that horrific screech.
“Now I will take what’s mine.” The monster spoke in a wispy voice. With one of it’s clawed hands, it gripped onto Luna’s head. All the ponies watched in horror as it began to extract something from Luna. It didn’t take Celestia long to determine what it was pulling out. The blue spirit has caused her grief for a little more than 1000 years. The monster was pulling Nightmare out of the her sister’s body.
Celestia could do nothing but watch as the monster tore out the dreaded spirit from her sister. Luna cried out in pain as part of her being was ripped from her very soul. Rarity and Fluttershy have long since passed out, leaving the rest of the elements to watch the horrors of the monster. With one final cry from Luna, Nightmare was ripped out of her body and she promptly passed out due to the pain.
The creature then absorbed Nightmare’s essence into its palm and threw down Luna’s unconscious body. Celestia saw her opening and charged her horn. However, she wanted some questions to be answered first.
“What do you plan on doing with Nightmare Moon?!” Celestia lowered her horn, hoping to frighten the creature. It obviously didn’t work when it clenched it’s fist.
“Your world will burn.” Celestia didn’t want to take any more chances, but before she could fire her spell the monster spoke up again.
“Ranaz!” With that word spoken, the creature’s form warped as if it’s essence was being pulled away from the castle. The princess fired off her spell, hoping to hit the creature. Her spell didn’t make it halfway across the room before the monster vanished.
The hall fell silent after Celestia’s spell dissipated. Luna laid prone on the floor, her energy spent. The solar ruler carefully crept forward to her sleeping sister. Her plans that were a millennia in the making, gone, just with the appearance of this strange creature. She reached down with her face and nuzzled her sister. A faint breath could be heard coming out of Luna’s mouth. Tears then pooled in Celestia’s eyes.
“You’re going to be alright now. I won’t let anything hurt you again,” she whispered in Luna’s ear. Celestia laid down next to her sister and pulled her into her forelegs. She then began to pet Luna’s mane as a mother would do with her foal.
The rest of the elements were still frozen in their places. They have never encountered anything so frightening in their lives. The road to the castle was a cakewalk compared to what they just witnessed. Pinkie and Applejack were able to shake off what happened enough to go help their friends, but Rainbow and Twilight stared at the empty space where the monster once stood.
“W-what was that Twilight?” Rainbow Dash moved next to Twilight. Her voice was shaky, but Twilight couldn't blame her.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it, and by the look of the princess, I doubt she has either.” Twilight turned around to see how her new friends were doing. Rarity was coming to but Fluttershy was still out cold. Twilight guessed that that scream earlier was to induce fear into its victims. Poor Fluttershy was already timid as it was, then to have it forced upon her was just too much.
“I… I’m going to go check on Fluttershy.” Rainbow wouldn't admit it if anypony asked her, but she was scared out of her mind. Her bravo was quick to disappear when they looked at the faceless assailant.
Twilight managed to shuffle her hooves toward Celestia, who was still caring for her sister. This was the first time Twilight had ever seen her mentor like this. It almost scared her as much as the monster did.
“Princess? Are… are you alright?” The princess’s ear turned towards Twilight before she moved her head. Celestia’s eyes were red, due to her crying. Her mane had stopped flowing and remained still. Even with the pain still fresh in her mind, she managed a small smile.
“Yes, my faithful student. I will be alright.” Celestia lifted her sister onto her back. “I need to take Luna back to Canterlot. I want you to take everypony back to Ponyville. Do not speak a word of what happened here to anypony. I don’t want to cause an unnecessary panic” Celestia lit her horn, only to be stopped by Twilight.
“Wait! What about that thing? It’s still out there!” Twilight was on the edge of physically shaking just with the thought of facing the creature again. Celestia offered a hoof on her shoulder.
“I do not believe it will attack in daylight. It most likely retreated to some cave. I don’t want you trying to pursue that creature either. I know that you might feel a duty towards defending Equestria now that you and your friends wield the Elements of Harmony, but I would rather that you leave this to me.” Twilight nodded her head while listening to her teacher. Not another word was uttered until Celestia teleported out of the castle, leaving Twilight and her friends behind.
Twilight rounded up her friends and headed down on the path to Ponyville. Applejack ended up carrying Fluttershy on her back while Rarity leaned on Rainbow Dash in order to walk straight. Nopony said anything during their walk home. They didn’t know what they could say. They still had the shape of that creature burned into their heads. Twilight, was different. She still had that creature in mind, but her thoughts were different than her friends.
