The thing laughed, a grating and deep note that sapped everything the sound touched of all traces of warmth. The frozen rain that began to bounce off the green aura that surrounded Bones proved that this was not merely an illusion. He steeled himself and concentrated, forcefully renewing a second layer of shield charms around himself. His aura of power swelled; gaining in strength.
"Check yourself, if your caught unprotected by that attack your blood will freeze in your veins." He tried to keep his voice from shaking, and almost succeeded.
"Got it,” Scarlet said, off his right. “Keep it together Bones."
She sounded reassuring, but a glance her way showed she must have been just as terrified as he was. Her red mane was matted with dirt and blood, and there was a long bleeding gash across her cutie mark. Her chest rose and fell as she panted through her nostrils; and even through the shield aura around her, Bones could see that Scarlet was shaking.
The soul parasite began moving closer. Its horrific appearance was amplified by the desecrated corpse of a beige mare that the served as the entities host. Six heads had torn themselves out of the pony's back, their necks long and slim, while innumerable tentacle-like legs had sprouted from her belly like roots. The creature itself wasn't actually very big, but its many long writhing limbs made it seem much larger than it was, and it towered above the buildings around it. The legs slowly carried it forward, carving gashes into the ground wherever it stepped. Its appendages were anathema to existence itself, and utterly destroyed anything it came into contact with. This included visible light, which caused its limbs to appear to be nothing more than black moving shapes that blended in with the clouded night sky. He could disrupt the limbs with magic, causing them to dissipate briefly, but they would reform moments later. He needed to get to the source.
"I need to get under it." He said, gritting his teeth and pulling the ring Celestia had given him out of his saddlebag. They would have to take care of this thing themselves, it wasn't as if Celestia herself would be showing up anytime soon. There were bigger problems to worry about that night, as difficult as that was to believe.
"No problem,” Scarlet said, sounding painfully cheery dispite the situation. “Want me to be the distraction?" she asked, knowing this wasn't a good time to argue with his insane plans.
Their eyes met, and they both smiled, in that end-of-the-line kind of way.
"Don't get yourself killed." Bones found himself not wanting to be the first to look away.
"I'm sure you wont give it the chance." She grinned, and dashed off towards the creature, circling around its left side. Bones saw the first strike. Three of its heads shot towards her and vaporized with a loud crack and flash of light as they triggered Scarlet's proximity defenses. The beast roared in fury, its destroyed heads already reforming.
Bones managed to convince himself that what he was about to do wasn't guaranteed suicide, and sprinted towards the thing, levitating Celestia's ring beside him as he did. He sent a concentrated blast of sharpened kinetic energy at the monsters legs, severing the ones nearest to him. He managed to get in through the gap he made just before the legs reformed, trapping him inside the many-limbed cage. It was all or nothing now.
Just as he had taken in his surroundings he heard the sound of his proximity spells going off, setting his nerves immediately on edge an a jolt of panic through his body. He had already lost his lifeline. There was now nothing between those reality destroying legs and his bare flesh. He cleared his mind, and focused solely on what he was doing in this moment. He couldn't afford to think of anything else, he was still far from his goal, and if he didn't stop this monstrosity then it would kill him and Scarlet both and run riot until Celestia had time to deal with it herself. And who knew when that might be?
He let loose a few most concentrated blasts of magic to clear the way, and leaped through the small opening. He bit his tongue as he felt something lash across his flank, leaving searing pain in its wake. He had to focus. He was beginning to feel as if he was dancing through a pitch black black forest of thrashing monstrous trees. He was starting to get close, just a few more steps. He slid the ring he carried with him over his horn, feeling its power radiate through him. He performed one last jump that would bring him in range of his target. Mid flight however, Bones's body became consumed in blazing agony as one of the roots clipped the back of one of his his legs, taking a chunk of flesh with it. He collapsed on the ground, paralyzed by shock and pain. That was all the beast needed to trap him. When Bones stood up again, he was surrounded. He could try to blast the legs away, but using any kind of magic would activate the ring, and he only had one shot. Terror gripped him, and he fully grasped the reality that he was probably about to die. He fought the urge to run away, running would only see him sliced to pieces.
"Bones!"
There was another crack, a flash of scarlet light, and a scream of pain. Abruptly the pitch black tendrils surrounding him vanished, and Bones found himself in the clear, Scarlet had given him his opportunity. He stumbled forward, and fell forward as his injured leg buckled beneath him. Time seemed to slow as the adrenaline in his system peaked, and as he was falling he saw the creatures heart. It was a shriveled and black thing, and he might have mistaken it for a stone if he hadn't known better. Now was his chance. He must not miss. Bones closed his eyes and focused as much power into his horn as he could.
At first he thought he had gone blind. There was nothing in his vision but pure white light, and an absolutely piercing silence as his horn exploded into a massive beam of raw solar energy. The heat was incredible, and the parasite, its heart, and its pitiful host were obliterated in an instant.
Bones finally hit the ground, blinking as his sight slowly returned to him. He felt tired. More tired than he had ever been in his life. He wanted to close his eyes and not wake up for a thousand years. His eyelids grew heavier, and his consciousness began to fade as he slowly began to let go..
Then something red caught his eye. Something far away and blurry, but something he recognized. Life returned to his limbs, and he desperately pushed himself to his hooves. He could feel lifeblood leaking from several small nicks and wounds he hadn't noticed until now. But that was pushed far into the back of his mind. There was only one thing in his head now. One blaring thing that overrode everything else of any sort of importance.
"Scarlet," Bones tried to shout her name, but failed. It came out instead as a hoarse croak. He started limping over to her, his maimed hind leg dragging against the muddy road.
"Scarlet!" he shouted, voice cracking.
She was laying motionless on her side, and as he neared, he could see that half of her gut seemed to have been just scooped away. Blood still oozed slowly from the gaping wound. She wasn't breathing.
Bones could feel his heart skip a beat.
"No. No no no no no." Bones collapsed next to his best friends corpse, refusing to believe what he was seeing. He frantically began attempting to rationalize what he was seeing. She must have just been knocked out, she would be fine. He just needed to rouse her and get her some help!
"Wake up. Wake up!" He began gently nudging her with his nose, trying to coax her to life again. She probably wouldn't be able to walk herself. Even if she could, then the entrails she had that hadn't been unraveled by the beast would just fall out onto the ground. That would be a problem. They would have to watch out for that. He wasn't sure if he was strong enough to carry her right now, but he could use magic. That would work, but she had to wake up first.
"Come on," he insisted, stamping his hooves nervously and looking around before his gaze was drawn to her face.
Her eyes were still open, but they were bleak and dull, utterly absent of life. He got a dreadful sinking feeling in his stomach, and started to feel sick.
"Please, Scarlet." He begged, tears were welling in the corners of his eyes now, and he nuzzled her cheek.
There was no response. She was not going to wake up. She was dead.
He buried his face in her blood soaked mane, eyes clenched tightly shut. He began praying for this to just be some terrible nightmare, that he would wake up in a second to Celestia's morning sun. But the dawn didn't come, and Scarlet's body began to grow cold. Reality was sinking in, and the grief came with it. Bones broke down into uncontrollable sobs. What was the last thing she had said to him? He couldn't remember now, but he felt it was important somehow, that she had trusted him. She had trusted him to keep her safe, and he had failed.
He stayed with her like that for a while, just venting his feelings as memories flowed through his mind.
He looked up at the starless sky, and anger began to fill him. How could she have been taken away so easily? He had known her for so long, she shouldn't have been allowed to just be stolen from him like that. Stupid monster, stupid death, stupid world.
"I just want to say goodbye," he whimpered, and slowly rose, wiping his nose and barely holding back tears. Why did things have to be this way?
A thought occurred to him as that question flashed through his mind. They didn't have to be this way. He could fight this. He could do it, he could bring her back. He knew how, and he had done it before. This was his special talent.
Bones let out a soft cry, and reached into his friends torn belly, coming back with a hoof covered in slowly coagulating blood. He walked around Scarlet in a counter-clockwise circle, dragging his bloodstained hoof on the ground as he did so. He began to sob again as he rolled her onto her back and began splaying out her limbs so that each of her four hooves would be in a different quadrant of the circle. Bones stood over her, concentrating necromantic power into his horn. It began to glow its usual dull green, though this time it was infused with small swirls of dark energy. Celestia would banish him for this, he was sure. But he decided he didn't care, so long as they were banished together.
"I love you." He said, looking down into lifeless eyes. And with that, Bones angled his head down and plunged his horn into Scarlet's heart.
"I'm sorry." tears streamed out of his eyes and into the wound he had just made. A massive surge of incredibly powerful magic surged out of him, bubbling and swirling in purple auras mists before flowing into Scarlet. Her body twitched briefly, then became still.
Bones shakily pulled his horn from the body and sat down next to her, waiting, contemplated what he had just done.
What felt like hours passed with Bones still by Scarlet's side. All the blood had long since dried, staining the ground. He looked up at the sky and wished it would rain again, just so he could be rid of the feeling of her blood caked against his horn. He closed his eyes, hoping he had done the right thing.
"Bones?" The voice was quiet, but audible.
He snapped his head back down to Scarlet, he could see a faint purple glow behind her eyes.
"Bones? Is that you? I cant see." She seemed slightly worried, but was doing an admirable job of keeping her cool.
"Its alright Scarlet, it should return in time." Fresh tears were flowing down his face. "I'm here, I just need you to stay calm."
"Why cant I feel my body?" Her voice was rising now.
"Its okay, everything is fine now. I'll explain everything to you, just stay calm."
"I.. I think I can move, if I try." Her limbs began twitching slightly, small spasms at first, then deliberate movements. She began struggling to roll onto her belly.
Bones tried to coax her into stopping, gently pushing her back down. "Scarlet, I need you to hold still. I have to-"
"Its fine, I'm alright." She was determined to right herself, and knocked Bone's hooves away. She rolled onto her belly, and began pushing herself up.
"Scarlet, please, take it easy." Bones was getting very worried now.
"I still cant see, but I think I can feel pressure, I can feel the ground beneath my hooves." Some of Scarlet's intestines slipped out of her gut and fell to the ground with a wet, gruesome noise. Bones suppressed a gag of horror.
"What was that?" Scarlet inquired, sounding a little more confident.
"Nothing you need to worry about. How are you feeling?" He hoped desperately she wouldn't regain her sight before he could explain things to her.
"Odd, to say the least, its not good, but not bad either. Its sort of a neutral feeling. Oh! I think I'm starting to see again!" She turned to face Bones.
Scarlet was a frightening sight. Both of her eyelids were still open, but her eyes had begun sagging in different directions. she had been unnecessarily working her jaw as she spoke, and had nearly chewed through her own tongue, which was just hanging out the side of her mouth by a small sliver of flesh.
"I think I see you!" She sounded almost cheerful.
"Scarlet, I need to tell you something." Bones readied himself to drop this weight on her, he had to prepare her somehow for what would inevitably come next.
"And whats that?" she asked, and as she spoke, her tongue finally came loose. It flew through the air for a moment before smacking against the ground and coming to rest.
They were both silent for several seconds after that, both of them staring at the fallen piece of meat.
"Bones, what is that?" Scarlet inquired, her voice a neutral mask.
"That.. Depends." Bones replied, desperately trying to think of a satisfying answer that wouldn't terrify her. His mind was pulling blanks.
"Bones, is that my tongue?" She demanded.
He couldn't think of a way to dull the blow besides outright lying. So he just gave it to her straight. "Yes."
Scarlet's lungs no longer functioned, but she began making hyperventilating noises as she backed away. "What is wrong with me?" As she backed away, Scarlet's legs became entangled with her own intestines, and she fell over onto her side. It took a moment for her to register what had just happened, and when she looked down at herself, she began to scream in terror.
"Scarlet, please! Let me explain!" Bones was panicking now too, this was turning out just like last time.
Scarlet ignored him, and began desperately pushing her innards back into her lifeless body. "Bones! Why am I not dead? What did you do to me!? Ah!" As she finished speaking the temperature around them began dropping rapidly. The grass around Scarlet began to wither and die.
"No! No no no! Not again!" Bones shouted, and stepped closer to her, trying to force confidence into his voice. "Scarlet! You must listen to me! All I have done is kept you alive! You must calm down! Please!"
Scarlet did not appear to be listening, the glow in her eyes had flared into bright flames, winds of power were beginning to whip around her body, and the circle of dead plants was beginning to spread.
"Scarlet!"
It was no use, she was beyond words.
He would not let this happen again. She would NOT become a lich! He refused to let it happen. He attempted to shield himself from her life draining abilities with a shield charm, and stepped within the ring of death. Immediately he felt the warmth being sapped from his limbs as he rushed to Scarlet's side. The magical wind buffeted his face, causing his eyes to water. He grasped Scarlet's head between his hooves and forced her to look in his eyes. He tried to shout to her, but the growing gale tore away his words. His mind raced for something, anything he could do to help her. In desperation, he placed his bloodstained horn against hers, and attempted a binding curse, but she was draining his power faster than he could muster it. He closed his eyes, tears flying away with the wind. If this didn't work, at least they would meet oblivion together by Celestia's cleansing light. He reached into himself, and summoned every last bit of magic he could, focusing it into the most important spell he had ever cast.
Save her.
