> Rebirth of The Demon and Angel > by Timeless Lord Slayer > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: Part 1 - The First Loss > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Log #2/447 The first loss. That's what we called it now. The time we both- well, all of us, lost everything, but...since me, Dawn, and Asala are the only ones who got out alive and intact... -Slight static. Sounds of shifting fabric- ...Regardless, it was the first time everything was lost. It started like any other day. Going out on patrol with Asala, making sure the Cabal and Sombra weren't making any more moves and- -Static. Sounds of muffled conversation- -Ugh. Right, forgot that that fucking weird asshole said that. Guess I'll start there, instead. Aherm! So, since the 'multiversal records' of most of this shit were basically Corrupted - Corrupted with a capital 'C' there - by someone I'm not allowed to say the actual name of, I'm apparently obliged/forced to explain what happened after the Cabal made their first attack on Canterlot, and after Kelly got back to her own world. -Long pause. Sounds of fabric shifting before more silence follows- ...I'm honestly more sad that I don't cry about thinking back to all that anymore. Back to when things were more simple. -A long, drawn-out sigh- To summarize, after Kelly left, I think like...2 or 3 weeks after, reports came in from other nations of utter devastation. Griffonia was gone, Minotaurus was gone, Changelings were gone, Dragonlands were gone... The remaining two - the Saddle Arabians and the Yaks - even asked for refuge, since their nations had been completely conquered. Me and Dawn hadn't exactly been idle, but we didn't yet have a network or satellite system to use for information gathering, so we couldn't tell when the Cabal had actually started invading the other nations. The Princesses initially told me and Asala to go and save them, and we did, killed two 'Bond-Brothers' of the Cabal Lieutentant even, but then... -Another pause.- ...Then they suddenly attack Ponyville. We tried to rush back, but by the time we got there, the place was a complete ruin. The entire unicorn population had been taken, the Elements were nowhere to be found...and the Cabal Lieutenant had stayed behind after his troops left. He knew we would come. ...Asala lost his heart because of the bastard. Literally got it torn out. Because...because of me. -Extended pause. Sound of fabric shifting and minor sniffling- ...Nettlekiss and Trix blamed themselves, I know, but...it was my fault he got hurt so bad. We were just lucky he was what he was, or...or he would've been dead. -Extended pause. More sniffling, followed by a deep, shuddering breath- ...He kept fighting despite it all. But even after he won, it was clear he needed medical attention. He was coughing up blood, since the fucker's hand was so big it tore out part of one of his lungs too, and he was bleeding internally and had already lost a bunch of it. Nettle and Trix kept him stable while we brought him to a doctor. He...fought us a fair bit. Said he'd be fine, that he needed to keep fighting, but... -Another sigh- ...We had to sedate him in the end. Princesses knew we couldn't win at that point unless we had him, but agreed with me that he needed to be in top-form. So...they issued an evacuation order. Everyone was sent to the caves under Canterlot. Apparently, they stretched across the whole country, so it worked well. But it meant we'd given up pretty much our entire advantage. Nettlekiss and Trixie knew this, so...so they went to the surface every chance they got. To fight back. Meanwhile, I tried to figure out a way to make a new heart for Asala. Regular pony hearts weren't able to handle his blood, much less pump the amount he needed. We thought about using hearts from other races, but that meant going topside to find fresh corpses. So, that's what I did. And none were compatible. Two weeks passed and I had nothing to show for it. Asala was growing weaker, and we no longer had to use that much sedative to keep him asleep. Then, Dawn came up with the idea of growing a heart. The problem? That level of tech was not only too advanced, but we needed a sample of a race that had a compatible heart, since without Asala's actual heart, I wouldn't be able to tell the structure he needed for one, much less what else it would need. -A brief snort- Ended up stealing the tech from the Cabal, though when I tried using one of their hearts, well...that didn't work either. Their hearts needed different blood. Blood that had far more moisture in it than what Asala's did. Asala's people, based on what I found out from studying his blood and his body, apparently didn't even really have that much water or moisture in their blood. It had some kind of substitute for water, one that, when tested, was far, far more efficient at carrying nutrients. That was when I started looking at the hearts of more powerful races and creatures. Manticores, Cragadiles, Cockatrices, Hydras...heck, I even thought about Phoenixes when I found out Celestia had one. But after those all either failed or were shot down... I looked at the Princesses. I didn't ask for their hearts, that...that wasn't something I was capable of doing, not to rulers who were genuinely trying to help not just their people but other nations' people. But after discussions and debates throughout another week, they acquiesced and let me get samples of their DNA at the least. Problem was that even that wasn't enough. Not with just some DNA. I had to get creative. So, I combined multiple samples of hearts, and found that a combination of Alicorn DNA and Cragadile heart worked pretty damned well. The last problem came when I finally transplanted it into his body. Turns out the new heart didn't have enough chambers in it. Normally that wouldn't be too big of a problem, but his body...it rejected it multiple times. So, I added in Hydra DNA, and...let's just say the process involved a lot of cutting and hoping things would regrow into duplicates. -A chuckle- Still can't believe that worked in the end. He woke up about a week after the new heart was plopped in. I'm...not going to go into the details, but...there were a lot of tears. Even more when he up and left for a whole week. Only found out after reports of the Cabal being pushed back that he'd somehow gotten stronger. A LOT stronger. -Extended pause. Silence continues for a solid minute- ...That new strength didn't mean jacio when The Hand came. All of a sudden the Cabal had gotten just...stronger. Felt darker, too. Evil. Sombra was suspected, but that was debunked when the bastard came to us, scared out of his damned mind and having the audacity to ask for sanctuary. Asala killed him on the spot. Compared to what happened next, it might as well have been a mercy. Nettlekiss and Trixie eventually reported entire landscapes just...changing. Becoming dark and molten or fleshy or just plain wrong. Badlands got turned into some weird ass brown desert. Everfree got turned into the creepiest and goriest forest ever, complete with - you guessed it - red trees that weeped blood and commonly had entrails on them. From what, we never found out. Rivers and lakes suddenly became rivers and lakes of lava instead of water. We even had to call Rainbow Falls 'Lava Falls' after that shit. Weird portals kept popping up, spitting out these...these...anghenfil. Creepy-ass tiny T-Rex's that vomited their own fucking skeletons and somehow stayed alive as those very skeletons grew into clones and became rapid-cloning cavalry. Werewolf things that could just mold any weapon or armor they touched into part of their bodies. Even these fucking Golem things that were immune to any ranged attack we tried! -A loud laugh- For fuck's sake! My bullets didn't work, my rockets didn't work, Asala's ki blasts didn't work; it didn't give a shit what kind of ranged attack it was! All that could hurt those things were melee attacks! NOTHING ELSE! -More laughter- God, and don't get me started on those fucking dragons! Completely alien to the planet, apparently made entirely of fucking Void energy and residue! And all those things are just some of what attacked us! We were outmanned, outgunned, outsmarted- we were FUCKED! -Louder laughter ensues for a few minutes, becoming hysterical for a long time before a sigh is heard- ...In the end, we never stood a chance. Not a single one. We only escaped because of that shadowy Displacer asshole. -Extended pause. Following audio volume is low- ...And we were the only ones. End of Entry