Liberation of shackles
All around Equestria rumors started to pop up. While these were normally nothing to be alarmed of, this particular rumor was starting to become a legend, and Twilight was getting tired of it. The rumor consisted of the existence of a haunted cemetery to the north-west of the Everfree forest, and in this poorly maintained cemetery, there lived a single grave-keeper. He was a very old gray pony known only as the shovel holder. However, in this cemetery, there exists a very tall tower of which the upper area is cut-off from the rest of pony-kind. The lower catacombs are still accessible, but they span for eternal lengths. This particular tower is supposed to drag in anypony unfortunate enough to enter and keeps their soul locked away, for all eternity. They then become a damned soul that tries to bring in others with it so that it never feels alone.
"T-Twilight, you sure that w-w-we should go there? I-I mean, I'm not sc-scared or anything but," Spike mumbled while twittering his fingers.
Twilight was grabbing the necessary materials and putting them in her saddle bag. The library was closed that day for a little vacation. The lavender unicorn chuckled at her assistant's fear.
"Spike. You know there's nothing to be afraid of. That's just a rumor. There's no such things as ghosts. Now come on. I've got a carriage that will take us to this 'haunted cemetery'." Twilight took on a ghost voice to tease Spike.
"You know what, how about you go. I'll...stay here and watch the library."
Spike tried to tip-toe away, but was caught by Twilight's magic and placed on her back.
"Like I said, ghosts don't exist."
"But--"
"SPIKE!"
"Fine. Let's go become cursed spirits. Yeah!" Spike weakly thrust his arm into the air.
Twilight didn't care, and she simply walked into the plain wooden carriage being carried by two royal guards. With a hoof slam, the two pegasi took the carriage away to the skies and headed towards the spot Twilight had indicated to them awhile earlier. Spike nervously looked outside the windows if he could see the tower. Unfortunately for him, he could, and it was pretty tall. Yet, even from this distance, one could see that it was in terrible shape. A tall, grayish tower with chunks missing here and there, but with several gaping holes where the windows should ave been. The top had a bell that, somehow, swung lightly from side to side by itself. There were quite a few destroyed statues on the edges of the arcs. One could wonder what had happened to that place for it to be in such a state of disrepair. The carriage then gently landed on the ground, allowing Twilight and Spike to get off.
"Miss Twilight, when do you want us to return?" one of the guards asked.
"In about an hour or so. Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome."
Spike grabbed the guard's leg and begged:
"Please! Don't leave me here! I don't want to become cursed!"
"Spike! Stop that. Get off his leg. You're coming with me anyways." The baby dragon rolled his eyes and nervously walked away towards Twilight.
The entrance of the cemetery was made of extremely thick , gray stone walls. They reached at least five meters high and were certainly a meter thick.These walls were slightly engulfed by the thick forest of Everfree, its vines starting to take root in the walls. The only entrance...and exit was an equally tall gate of twisted, black steel bars.
"Okay Spike, let's go."
"Ah-"
"Wha-?!"
Spike turned around immediately to see that the guards and carriage were already gone. He looked around and hung onto Twilight, who sighed again in annoyance.
"What is it again, Spike?"
"Th-the guards! They disappeared!"
"What?" the unicorn semi-laughed. "Of course they did. I told them to pick us up in an hour."
"But, you didn't hear the yell?"
"What yell?"
Spike began shaking even more than usual as he began to nibble on his claws. The sinister sky above full of black and grey clouds wasn't helping either. Even though those kinds of clouds announce storms, the air was dead and desolate of any true amount of heat or winds, and the chattering of the twisted and bent gate were the only real sounds around. Twilight laughed again and used her magic to open the cemetery gate. She had to use it again to get Spike inside. What they hadn't noticed, however, was the hole in the ground that was pushing outwards. It slowly closed itself and reset the small area around it.
This cemetery was definitely creepy and eery. There were tombs everywhere, and the plant-life was taking its toll on the old foundations. Vines grew everywhere, weeds climbed the buildings who knows how, the grass was short in some places and taller in others. Tombstones were tipping, some were destroyed, while others barely gave the location of where they once stood. At the far end of this creepy place, stood the semi-destroyed tower. It was an impressive sight. Spike huddled closely to Twilight who took her notebook out and started to write in it.
"T-Twilight, can we go now?"
"No. The rumor is centered around that shovel holder and that tower. Until we find the source of these rumors, we won't be leaving anytime soon."
"Awww."
"How about we look at that grave over there? It seems to be the only intact one, even if it's covered in all sorts of plant-life."
Walking upon the gravelly path, the two soon cut-off the normal pathway to walk along the lining of destroyed and damaged tombstones...even if some were monument-sized. The tomb that Twilight's eye had caught was standing tall, and was also a monument-tomb. The unicorn used her hooves to swipe the plants away in order to see what was written.
Here lies Grounds Keeper, a fervent and loyal graves-keeper. He will be remembered by the souls that he comforted as much as possible by watching over their resting places. May we also watch over his.
"Huh? 'Grounds Keeper'? That's a strange name," Twilight thought out loud.
"I don't know why, but I feel comfortable around this tombstone, and that's saying something," Spike chuckled nervously.
"Isn't that something."
"AAAAH!" the duo screamed.
"Calm down. It is only the grave keeper."
It was an elderly gray pony with a scruffled up mane and tail. His eyes were brown and his cutie mark depicted a shovel. He was even holding one in his arm, allowing it to rest on his shoulder. The stallion had a tired demeanor on his face, but still took the time to smile.
"Oh. S-sorry about that."
"It's alright. I suppose I owe you an apology for sneaking up on you two like that."
"It's okay. I'm only scared by the cemetery here," Spike replied nervously.
"Ah. One who does not deny their fears. That is good. You know, we don't get many visitors here. Perhaps you have come to pay a homage to the souls here...or is it for something else?" the stallion tilted his head.
"Well, yes. You see, there are rumors going on around here about...wait...are you the shovel holder?"
"Hm? I am the graves keeper here. Why?"
"Everypony has been saying that you are a soul that has been damned here. Plus, you aren't doing a very good job of taking care of these graves."
"Really now? It's true that I've gotten too old for this job. I assure you, however, that this place is far from cursed. I would still suggest that you stay way from the tower and conclude whatever business you have here."
The trees began to rustle furiously as a strong gust of wind began to kick up.
"Well, thanks a lot for the offer, but I need to prove to everypony that this is just a normal cemetery. By the way, would you be willing to come with us so I can get a bit more proof?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I have a job to do. Have a nice day."
The elderly stallion began to walk away while Twilight watched him. Spike distracted Twilight for a few seconds though.
"Twilight, you see? This place is creepy. We need to go."
"No, Spike. We don't. I just need to ask our graves keeper here..."
Twilight's mouth was now gaping open. The stallion had just disappeared. There were but a few dead leaves flying around in his stead. The unicorn readjusted herself and laughed.
"That's a neat trick. Anyways, I need to see the lower levels of the tower."
"B-b-but he told us not to go in there. Just look at it! It's falling apart."
"Yes, but only the exterior. This place is hardly haunted. It might be creepy, but that's it."
"I hope you're right, because my legs are shaking so much I could batter eggs with them."
"That's a really bad joke."
"It wasn't a joke."
The crunching sounds made after every step were nearly muffled out by the storm winds that began to blow loudly.
"Ah? Now we HAVE to get in there. I don't want to become drenched because of your fears Spike."
The little dragon looked up at the menacing sky, rubbing his arm. There was an ominous presence in these grounds, but he just couldn't figure out what it was. The door to the tower opened with a grinding creek, allowing the duo to enter it before impressive amounts of hail began to fall.
"Woah. That was pretty close," Twilight sighed.
"What are you talking about? That hail is too big to be normal."
"That's just how Everfree works. Don't forget there are monsters in there that are far from normal."
"Yeah...I know. So...now what?"
"I dunno. We can't go upstairs, obviously. There's a bunch of rubble in the way and it looks like half the stairs collapsed a long time ago."
"So we wait here for an hour?"
Twilight suddenly saw a red glow behind the stair case. When she went to check the source, it was coming from under a trap door. It was locked by what shut like a skull-shaped padlock. A curious grin formed on Twilight's face as Spike poked his head around the staircase.
"Twilight. What are you doing?"
"We're going in. I'm going to find proof that this cemetery isn't haunted."
With a loud clink, the padlock was broken off. Twilight had picked up a piece of metal and forced it onto the skull. The situation was filling her full of adrenaline as the red light pulsated from bright to dim coloring. The lower areas were definitely unvisited for quite some time as the stairs were made of old, fracturing stone and covered by cob-webs. The lavender unicorn eagerly put her hoof on the first step, but noticed Spike cowering.
"Spike."
"What."
"Come on. We haven't got all day."
"But-"
"No means no. You are coming with me. Besides, maybe the ghosts will-"
Spike ignored the rest of what Twilight was saying as he saw something frightening near Twilight's hoof. It looked like a white pony with no eyes and expelling quite a lot of mist. It was smiling evily as bits and pieces of its body were missing, leaving the bones to stick out of the rotting flesh. The ghost's hoof was getting closer to that of Twilight's, causing Spike to scream:
"TWILIGHT! LOOK OUT!"
"What?"
Before Twilight looked down, the spirit retracted its arm and looked annoyed before disappearing in a poof of mist that sounded like quiet exhaling. The unicorn looked around and saw nothing, then turned back towards Spike whose pupils were now nearly invisible dots while the majority of his face was hidden behind the staircase rails. Twilight was mocking him, but he didn't hear as he just watched the spirit look angrily at him and motion that it would cut his neck, before finally disappearing. The little dragon puffed up his courage and latched onto Twilight's back while shaking like a leaf in a tornado.
"That's still that. Well then, let's go."
Walking down those steps proved treacherous. As every step was met by cracking and a huge amount of paint and rock dust falling on the duo. Upon reaching the bottom, Twilight awwed in amazement. The walls may have aged, but the many decorations of red and gold organized into beautiful drawings dissipated any feelings of discomfort. A cold breeze and the odor of stale air still floated about like oil in water while the entire catacombs were illuminated by that glowing red light that originated from who knew where. Looking at this place, Twilight couldn't help but take notes as the two continued down the steps.
"Okay Twilight. I think that's enough. Who knows what's lurking down here. I certainly don't want to find out."
"You know, you're getting pretty annoying now. These are just surprisingly beautiful catacombs. Ooo! Look at this. Whenever there is a coffin, the golden handles are mixed in with the designs. This one makes up the stars in the sky, while these ones are wheels on the wagon. I wonder what's over there?"
Spike hung on tightly to Twilight's back as she galloped towards a wider portion of the catacombs. It lead many ways, but there was a door on the right. This portion actually wasn't decorated. It just held four empty caskets and a few damaged pillars. In the next corridor, however, the decorations continued. Spike hopped off Twilight and adorned his "suspicious face".
"I wonder what's behind...HNNNGH...HERE! Agh. That door is really well closed."
"Don't worry. I've got my claws."
Spike pushed Twilight aside and fiddled through the keyhole of the thick wooden door that had taken the coloration of ash and cinders. A loud click resonated through the catacombs, and Spike smiled smugly while directing the unicorn i,side. With an eye-roll, the lavender unicorn entered the room, followed by Spike, who closed the door carefully and quietly. This place was in a worse state then the exterior. However, there was at least a desk and a few shelves with books that could certainly turn to dust. Twilight set her saddle bags onto the floor as she stood up and opened a small notebook on the desk. Spike was observing some weird masks on the wall.
"Hey Spike."
"Mmyeah?"
"This book is from Grounds Keeper."
"Really? Let's see what it says."
"Ok. Well, it says-"
Twilight was cut off by a square of light flashing onto the wall right above them. It was showing a frozen image of a brown stallion with a shovel as a cutie mark looking proudly upon a bright and beautiful cemetery. Twilight took her gaze off the image and began to read. A very eerie and sinister aura began to fill the room as she continued to read.
"This is my final notebook. I just wish my assistant was able to get this out in time. I am Grounds Keeper, caretaker of this cemetery and its soul tower."
The images began to move to show the stallion trimming the grass and cleaning the tombstones.
"I was quite happy with my work, because, thanks to my efforts, the souls of those who had passed on could truly rest in piece as their bodies stayed here. However, as time continued to pass, I could feel that I would be joining them soon."
The image turned to a darker shade with an old and tired Grounds Keeper forcing himself to do the tasks he did in his youth.
"I could not bare it. I just couldn't go into the after-life if no pony could get a decent rest, so I went to the top of the soul tower and shouted out to the elements about my intentions to sacrifice my eternal resting to aid those who needed it."
The tower began to glow a bright gold as some sort of entity floated near the top.
"The messenger came to me as a being of the Creator. It told me that my intentions were pure, but that there were still some souls trapped in my cemetery. If I followed its contract, then the souls would reach eternal resting in my stead. I accepted."
The image showed a joyous stallion signing a piece of paper being held out by the ball of light. Once the contract was rolled up, a black smile formed onto the entity's face while three sinister eyes grew eyes well. The eyes were red and yellow, with the iris and pupil being separated by a thin black line. The room the duo were in began to shake violently and uncontrollably; causing the books and rotted shelves to break into pieces as they fell upon the floor, but Twilight continued.
"I was tricked, however, as this was not a being of the Creator of the skies, but a demon under the command of the Ruler of the Abyss. He chained me under intense torture and enslaved the other souls, damning them for all eternity and...and he twisted the poor souls. They became mad and wished only to bring more with them. I was torn to pieces."
The images showed the poor stallion being torn to shreds by a black being that evidently, found the situation quite amusing.
"It would do the same thing to the damned souls here, and it would corrupt them. Twist them. Torture them."
A huge room full of beings attached to walls and screaming in pain as their bodies became nothing more but bone and bits of flesh and muscle. Suddenly, an abyssal roar came from behind the door.
"Twiliiiiiight." Spike shook as he tugged on the unicorn's tail.
"As it mocked me, it told me that the only way to free every trapped soul was to get my contract and destroy it. I didn't understand its actions, but then I learned why. It destroyed the stairs leading to the top of the tower. We are now stranded here for all eternity and-"
"More souls for my feasts," an evil voice echoed.
There was suddenly silence until the masks turned out to be damned souls trapped in the rocks. They began to moan and scream, forcing Twilight and Spike outside. The entire catacombs were now drenched in a fluorescent red liquid that oozed everywhere.
"What's going on?!" Spike yelped.
"Do not worry, little dragon. I shall take good care of your soul."
The three eyes appeared suddenly in front of the duo and slowly formed its body from the dripping red substance. It looked like a tall pegasi with bat wings. It smiled immediately, revealing its black spiky teeth twisting in every direction. Twilight prepared a spell to throw the demon far away. It simply chuckled.
"And what, my dear, do you plan on accomplishing with that?"
"This!"
The demon roared in agony as it was thrown away on the opposite side of the catacombs.
"Quick, Spike! We've gotta get out of here!"
"I'm with ya!"
"Do not let them escape! They can become new companions!"
The sounds of some creatures waking up reached the ears of the duo, who looked around to see that the decorations had all but faded into brown twisted figures of their former selves. The coffins started to shake and all fell down. The two didn't waste anytime. As they continued to run, the bones of those that left the coffins began to rise from the red liquids. They looked like semi rotting corpses dripping with the red substance. From the walls erupted strange bony arms that tried to grab Twilight, only to be destroyed by Twilight's magic. However, two more erupted from the ground and got the unicorn, who cried out for Spike. He was panicking, terribly, and the sight of the cursed souls inching closer to Twilight who began to sink deeper in the red liquids. Naturally, Spike gathered up his courage and, with a great inhale, managed to burn the arms off Twilight and the two ran further away. Once they finally arrived at the the first stairs, they locked the trap door behind them. They tried to leave, but the hail outside would kill them. The balls of ice were the size of a dragon's head!
"Oh no! What're we going to do now?!"
"I WILL DRINK YOUR BLOOD FROM THE PUREST OF CALICES!" the demon roared.
"Um...um...the notebook said that the contract was at the top of the tower."
"But that passage is blocked!"
"I'll have to use my magic to shield us from the hail, then teleport us up there."
"But, how are you going to destroy it afterwards? You'll be drained!"
"You're going to have to burn it."
"But...my fire isn't that powerful."
The trap door suddenly burst open, allowing the cursed souls to climb out.
"Well, we don't have a choice now."
The duo jumped out, protected by Twilight's purple bubble. Just the weight of the hail was enough to tire her out. ith one last bit of concentration, the two were teleported to the top of the tower, where the bell swayed from left to right. The unicorn collapsed on the floor, tuckered out from the extreme amounts of magic she used.
"Find the...the contract."
"B-but...I don't know where to look! There's nothing here."
"Then let me think..."
Twilight began to look around the area they were in. Besides the huge holes where what could have been tinted glass gaped open, there was only the bell that swung from side to side but didn't...
"Spike! In the bell. The contract is in the bell."
"Okay!"
The little dragon reached into the golden giant and pulled out the dusty parchment, along with the skeleton of a pony long since dead.
"Noooo! I will not have you destroy it!"
The dripping demon erupted forth from the sides of the building, only to see Spike burn the contract to pieces. The flowing liquid stopped immediately, along with the hail. The tower began to shake and tumble and started to fall as souls began to leave the confines. The demon began to crumble to pieces, becoming, himself, a skeleton, before turning into dust. Twilight and Spike tried to keep hold on the tower, but, inevitably, they slid off. The few souls that managed to escape stayed in place and eased the descent of Spike and Twilight, before being sucked back into the tower that had stopped crumbling. It now looked like it was bowing down.
"What...what's going on?" Twilight wondered aloud.
"I...hey...why are there faces growing all over it?"
Indeed, the tower was morphing. The demon had possessed it, and the souls of the damned were screaming while bony appendages were plopping out of the tower's sides. Now, the tower was erupting with some sort of red and orange aura that was being pulled down into the opening crack of the abyss below it. Where the bell opening was, there were now three eyes, and they looked furious.
"If I'm returning to the Abyss, I'll take you two and all these souls with me!"
One of the boney appendages reached for the two who were too afraid to move. Something happened though. The shovel holder came in galloping and threw his shovel at the tower despite the distance. Once it hit, the tower exploded into a huge amount of debris that floated in the air, allowing all the little blue balls to return to the creator.
"Ha. Ha. You're Grounds Keeper, I take it," Twilight huffed at the grey stallion who cocked an eyebrow.
As Spike looked up once more, he could see that one of the souls was lowering towards one of the graves. It was that of Grounds Keeper. Spike lift Twilight, and all three went towards the grave. On it floated a mysterious essence, one that the two recognized.
"Thank you. Thank you so much for this. Due to my ignorance and thoughtlessness, I had condemned so many souls into damnation. Thank you once again for freeing us and allowing me to repent for my actions. Have a good life, and don't make the same mistakes I did."
The soul of Grounds Keeper followed the others into the bright light shining through the black and grey clouds. The tower, however, remained in place as floating rubble. Even the shape, position, and color of the pieces didn't change. However, the two were perplexed. If that was Grounds Keeper, who was that gray pony? They turned around to face the seemingly absent stallion.
"Hey, if that was Grounds Keeper...who are you?" Twilight asked.
The stallion chuckled under his breath and looked straight at the two. His eyes had become the same as that demon's, only, they were blue.
"Who indeed? I believe you will want your guards back? They are just behind me with the carriage. You'll have to wake them up first though."
He exhaled some sort of green fume, before turning into a gray being that engulfed the entire tower and dragged it into the crack below. The entrance to the Abyss quickly closed up with a final laugh and with a violent blue spark that rose into the sky.
Both had their jaws wide open. This all happened so fast and they could barely follow. Evidently, that demon had a long time of experience and had amassed several thousand souls of many beings.
"Twilight."
"Yes, Spike."
"I want to go home."
"So do I."
"Let's wake up those guards."
"Yes. Let's."
Whatever happened, it was over, and so was a legend that had actually existed for over five centuries, contrary to popular belief. Twilight and Spike would have many things to say, but how would they prove it?