Son of Black Magic
“Daddy, tell me a story!” asked the blue filly, while jumping into her bed, hugging the Smarty Pants doll.
Her father, a unicorn with the same blue coat as his daughter, used his magic to tuck her, gently.
“Very well,” he smiled. “Which story would you like to hear?”
“Tell me the legend of Black Magic again!” said the filly, excited. She knew that tale from beginning to end, but she always loved to hear it one more time.
However, her mother, a brown-coated coated earth pony, didn’t seem to like the idea. In fact, she stared at her husband.
“You told her that story?” asked she, almost scolding the stallion. “It’s not an appropriate tale for foals!”
“Oh, don’t be like that, honey,” said the male unicorn. He tapped the head of his daughter. “Our precious Mintstar is not a foal anymore, she’s almost a big pony!”
“Are you sure you don’t want to hear another one?” asked the mother, to the filly.
“No. I want the story of Black Magic.”
“But you’ll have nightmares.”
“No I won’t! I’m a big pony!”
Her father laughed, and the mother just shrugged.
“Fine,” she sighed. “Do whatever you want.”
“Very well,” the blue unicorn sat in the bed, near to her daughter. “The legend of Black Magic, the pony witch, the unicorn who almost destroyed Equestria...”
As you know, before the discovering of our beautiful land, the three tribes of ponies lived in disharmony, hating each other. When Equestria was founded and the Windigoes defeated, the three races forgot about their differences and came together, working to create a bright future for all of them, earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi.
But not all ponies had left their hatred and distrust behind. One of the many disciples of Starswirl the Bearded, maybe the most talented of all, still didn’t like the idea of living in peace with the other two tribes.
Her name was Arcane Magic.
At first she was only angry at the situation, but she didn’t bother anypony. Arcane used to shut herself in her room, practicing her magic. However, as time went on, her behaviour became worse. She started to attack random pegasus and earth ponies at the streets of the young Canterlot, casting terrible curses upon them.
Why did Arcane Magic hold that much hatred towards the other ponies? Why didn’t she embraced the spirit of Harmony? Some say that she couldn’t get over the racist views which had passed down for generations: that the pegasi were barbaric and unintelligent, and the earth ponies were inferior beings only worthy as slaves. Others say that she was jealous, that she had been working on several spells to stop the blizzard, and she didn’t like it when the Windigoes were finally defeated not by her unicorn magic, but by the power of Friendship. Some others say that she was secretly in love with Clover the Clever, and that his marriage with Smart Cookie broke her heart and caused all of her grief. Maybe it was the three of them, who knows...
When Starswirl the Bearded scolded her, she reacted by defying him to a magic duel, saying that he and all the other unicorns had become weak, and that she should reign over Equestria and restore unicorns as the master tribe of the three. However, she lost. Her powers were impressive, but still nothing compared to the powerful magic of the old wizard. When she, defeated, refused to change her mind and live in harmony with pegasi and earth ponies, Arcane Magic was exiled from Equestria.
Angered, she swore revenge upon ponydom, and changed her name to Black Magic. She became a cruel witch and started to learn forbidden spells from the darkest corners of the world, although she knew that, no matter how much power could she gather, Starswirl would always be stronger than her, and Clover the Clever was close to become as skilled as herself, or even as their master. If she wanted to destroy their enemies, she would need help.
Black Magic explored the regions beyond the frontiers of Equestria, and eventually, she discovered the Tartarus. Knowing that freeing all the demons and evil spirits would be too much for her to handle, she chose only one of them, a fairly powerful one, and released him. His name was Asthapheles the Defiler.
They ran away from Cerberus and took refugee in Hag-Dahgar, the Northern Land of Shadows, which I’m sure you’ve seen in the map hung on the walls of your classroom, only a big black spot above Equestria with the words 'Hag-Dahgar, to where no pony must go' written in big and white, for it is land as dangerous as the Everfree Forest, maybe even more, and of all hooves who dared to enter there, only a few managed to return.
There, in the dark bowels of Hagrahum, the Mountain of Bane, Black Magic and Asthapheles combined their unholy powers to create a progenie, a hideous being of pure destruction, an abhorrent monster which would be their weapon to take revenge on ponydom and plunge Equestria in an age of doom and desperation.
They named it Necrosis.
For the next three years, they took care of the demonic spawn. Asthapheles remained with Necrosis in the caves under the Hagrahum, training it to destroy Equestria and break havoc among the ponies, while Black Magic traveled through the surrounding lands, stealing magic artifacts from shamans and wizards and using them to feed her creation, making it grow big and strong. She even released more demons from Tartarus, lesser beings of not much power, and dragged them to the Mountain of Bane, where they became snacks for the terrifying creature.
However, Necrosis grew much more powerful than even its progenitors could predict. It started to show desires to destroy not only Equestria, but also every other land. Pony and demon realized, albeit too late, that the monster they had created had become the very avatar of Death, an abomination which would seek and cause the demise of ponies, griffins, dragons, minotaurs and every other creature who dared to live under the sun and the stars. Not even the evils trapped in Tartarus would be spared, as Asthapheles discovered when Necrosis devoured him.
It tried to eat Black Magic too, but the unicorn managed to escape. She returned to Equestria wounded and scared, seeking the help of his old master to undo the unspeakable evil she had created.
She was not well received, of course, and the ponies distrusted her, believing that her story was just a stratagem to attack them as soon as they got their guard low. However, when news started to come from the northern frontier about an unstoppable monster whose advance was accompanied by death and illness, the ponies took Black Magic’s words seriously, and planned their defense. The renegade mare helped, too. Although her heart was still full of hatred towards Equestria and its inhabitants, she was smart enough to realize that Necrosis had to be defeated, or even she would perish.
A huge army was reunited and sent to the north of Equestria, thousands of ponies working together to save their land and loved ones. The earth ponies created several large barricades with stones and trees to slow Necrosis down. Once the monster was momentarily stopped by those traps, legions of pegasus gathered stormy clouds over it and unleashed a brutal tempest, with fierce rain, blinding lightnings and piercing hail. At the same time, the unicorns attacked from the ground, launching a myriad of energy blasts at the entity. But Black Magic and Asthapheles had done their work too well. Necrosis resisted the attack and hit back, wounding hundreds of ponies and dispersing the equestrian army.
Desperate, the ponies released the Fire of Friendship, but although the flames burned Necrosis, the monster still didn’t stop.
Now, they say that it’s in the darkest moments when we can appreciate the virtues of ponydom. At the worst hour, with Necrosis advancing again, Black Magic saw how the wounded ponies were helping each other to retreat and survive, and how the ones who were still fine kept attacking. They made no distinctions between themselves: unicorns helped pegasus, pegasus helped earth ponies, and earth ponies helped unicorns. There were no three tribes, just one big family.
Black Magic realized how wrong had she acted, and crying, she promised to save them from the same evil she had unleashed. Taking advantage of the fact that Necrosis still wanted to devour her, she acted as a decoy and leaded him back to Hagrahum, helped by Clover the Clever and Starswirl the Bearded. Under the mountain, the mare performed a last spell to redeem herself, a powerful one which could seal Necrosis, at the cost of her life.
Black Magic made the ultimate sacrifice, and created two mystic objects:
A pedestal, carved in the very black rock floor of the caves of Hagrahum, an immobile altar which could not be destroyed by neither brute force nor magic, with a four-fingered claw at the top.
A beautiful emerald, also indestructible, of perfect geometry and symmetry.
As soon as the gem was put at the top of the pedestal, embedded in the four fingers of the black claw, Necrosis was sucked back to the same underground chamber in which it had been spawned, and it would remain there was long as the two talismans were together.
Starswirl and Clover returned to Canterlot, carrying the lifeless body of Black Magic. She had died with a smile on her face, though, accepting the values of Harmony and knowing that her sacrifice would allow the ponies to live in peace, free from the monster she had created. No one could hold a grudge against her after that, for although she had been the cause of their nearly destruction, she had also been their saviour. And so, Black Magic was buried back in her homeland.
Mintstar clapped when her father ended the story.
“One more time!” she asked.
“No, it’s very late already,” her father replied, with a smile, “and little fillies have to go to sleep.”
“But I’m a big pony!”
“Big ponies also have to go to sleep. Right, honey?”
“Right, deary,” said his wife, kissing their daughter. “Good night, my little Mintstar.”
“I’m a big pony!”
Her mother laughed.
“Ok, ok...” she said. “Good night, my big Mintstar.”
The two adult ponies turned back to abandon the room, while Mintstar curled under the blanket.
“You shouldn’t have told that story to her,” whispered the mother. “She’ll have nightmares.”
“Have a little faith in our daughter,” replied the stallion, with a smile. “She’s much braver than she looks.”
“Uhm... Daddy?”
Stallion and mare looked back. Their daughter was staring at them with a worried expression on her face, as if she had just realized about something not very good.
“Yes, sweetie?”, asked the father.
“What if... What if somepony goes to Hagar... Hagragag... that mountain, and takes the emerald away?”
“Don’t worry about that!” laughed the stallion, feeling the unfriendly stare his wife was giving him. “As I said, nopony would ever enter in such place as dangerous as Hag-Dahgar. And if somepony did, they would never ever enter in the Hagrahum. And if they do... look, sweetie, it’s just a legend. Maybe there’s nothing under that mountain!”
***
“I don’t like it,” said Queen Chrysalis, as she stared at the huge, dark, seemingly pitless tunnel in front of her.
She and a small chunk of her changeling army had found a rather good place to rest. After being blasted out from Canterlot, they had landed at the doors of a shadowy land, surrounded by tall mountains. There was no love in that place, but also no ponies. Actually, there was almost no life there, save for a few beasts who wouldn’t bother them, as long as they didn’t go anywhere near their nests.
They had flown over the gray dusty plains and a dead forest, and landed in a big black mountain right in the middle of that weird land. They had found the entrance to a small web of underground tunnels, and they had been wandering through them for a few days, recuperating in the calm darkness. Their situation was not very good, they still had to find the rest of the swarm, and the Queen had lost nearly all the power she had gained by feeding on Shining Armor's love; but it could be worse. At least, they were alone and in peace.
Chrysalis and her changelings had stopped in a big and impressive room, to the point that the Queen had had to increase the glow of her horn to illuminate it all, although there wasn’t much to see, actually. That mountain was as black on the inside as it was on the outside, to the point that, even with light, the changelings would have difficulties seeing each other if it wasn’t for their big icy blue eyes.
The only interesting thing on that room was a pedestal, growing from the very stone floor and holding an emerald on its four fingers. ‘Leave it’, had said the Queen. ‘Jewels are garbage only valuable to ponies and dragons.’
“I don’t like it,” repeated Chrysalis.
The tunnel she was looking at was the only exit to that room, but there was something eerie with it. Maybe it was the darkness, or the fact that the tunnel was descending even more into the bowels of the mountain, or maybe it was that disgusting smell which was coming from its deeps. Chrysalis wasn’t sure. Maybe it was all of that.
The Queen decided that they would go back and search for an alternative route. There were more tunnels which they had left unexplored on their journey through the insides of the mountain.
She was about to give new orders to their subjects, when a sound was heard, a shy CLICK. Chrysalis looked, and saw that one of her changelings had picked up the emerald, curious. She didn’t care.
The Queen of the Changelings gave a last look of disgust to that tunnel, wrinkling her nose at the awful smell. Yes, definitely they were going to try another route. But, when Chrysalis was about to turn back and order their soldiers to do the same, she heard a weak sound coming from the thick darkness, from the deeps. It was the noise of something crawling, the sound of sharp claws clashing against the stone walls of the tunnel. Some creature was coming.
She kept looking at the tunnel, on alert, ready to face whatever could come out, in case it was a menace. Then, Chrysalis saw two tiny dots of green light in the dark distance. Like two stars, shining shyly in a black empty night, although their glow was not beautiful, but sickish, and it was getting stronger at each second. At the same time, the crawling sounds also became more intense.
A dragon, maybe? No, dragons didn't use to carve their burrows so deep inside the mountains. A manticore? Neither, manticores lived in forests, and they didn't have green eyes.
The eyes... there was something very wrong with them. They were green, like Chrysalis', but the similarities ended there. They had no visible pupil nor iris, and they didn't reflect any kind of emotion whatsoever. It was a common misconception, from other beings, to think that Queen Chrysalis had no feelings, but that was not true. She didn't care about love and was unable to experience it, and why should she? Love was just food. However, she had other feelings. Happiness, anger, fear sometimes... but not that creature at the end of the tunnel. Its eyes were empty, uncaring, although not in an apathetic sense. It was an aggressive indifference, a mindless desire of destruction without hatred, born of boredom and the lack of empathy. The Queen could almost read, in the green glow, a sick will to kill all life for no other reason than "And why not?"
Those eyes fixed on Chrysalis, without blinking, as if they stared directly at her heart, piercing her soul like blades. She tried to walk back from the tunnel, but her legs were paralyzed. Chrysalis was not a creature which could be easily scared, she and her changelings had fought terrible foes through her journeys in search for food, normally they were the ones everypony else was scared of; but at that time, staring at that unseen monster which was coming for her, the Queen was terrified.
The disgusting smell became even worse, it became loathsome, for it was the scent of rottenness and decay, the smell of death. That pestilence made Chrysalis to picture the mental image of something big and putrid creeping in the darkness, like a mountain of corpses, all sewn together and moved by an eldritch will. She almost fainted, but those two green eyes glowing in the darkness forced her to stay awake and aghast.
The eyes kept coming closer, now they were way bigger than before. Chrysalis could even see the outlines of the body they belonged to, something vast and bloated which was pressing its mutated limbs against the walls of the tunnel in order to advance, to crawl. She tried to say something, but the words refused to come out of her lips, and the Queen was only able to gasp a scream of horror. It was enough to attract the attention of her changelings, who saw the creature coming from the darkness, and adopted defensive positions around their leader. However, the disgusting stench caused most of them to faint, and the ones who didn't were as scared and paralyzed as the Queen.
Unable to move her legs and with the soulless green eyes coming closer to the edge of the darkness, Chrysalis looked around, searching for something which could help them, anything. She saw the changeling who had picked up the emerald, and her brain came up with a desperate theory. It was grasping at straws, but she couldn’t think of anything better. It was their last hope.
“Put that thing back on the pedestal!” she screamed.
The creature had almost reached the end of the tunnel. Its swollen body was about to leave the darkness and show itself in Chrysalis' light. The unholy orchestra of disgusting noises had become unbearable, and the Queen wished she could transform into something without ears, but just like her legs, her powers were not responding. The green eyes were now looking at her from above, at the very edge of the shadows, ready to reveal the repulsive body they crowned. Chrysalis didn't want to see it, but she couldn't turn off her horn, as the changeling would need the light to return the emerald to the altar.
She closed her eyes, and her world was reduced to only sounds. The sound of the changeling running towards the pedestal. The sound of he screaming in pure terror, probably because the creature had come out of the darkness and he had seen it. The sound of a gigantic mouth opening right in front of her.
The sound of another CLICK. Then, a loud roar, slowly fading away. Then, silence.
Chrysalis opened her eyes. Nothing was coming out from the tunnel. The sounds had stopped, the green dots in the darkness had disappeared, and the smell had started to lose strength.
Sweating, feeling uneasy, The Queen looked around. She saw the changeling, curled in the ground, shivering and covering his eyes. Next to him, the pedestal. Chrysalis sighed in relief when she saw the emerald back at the top.
The Queen advanced a bit. Her legs answered this time, trembling. She dared to illuminate the first meters of the tunnel, and saw that the rocks were now covered by a strange green substance, stenching and of sickish look. It was disgusting for both smell and sight. There were also marks on the black walls, of claws, as if something big had tried to resist being sucked away back into the darkness.
Chrysalis stepped back, and ordered her soldiers to not touch the green fluid. Although the changelings were used to work with icky green substances, she was sure that it was poisonous, or something worse.
“We’re going,” she announced. “Out of this mountain, and out of this land. I really don’t like this place.”
***
Two ponies were sleeping on their bed, peacefully, when a voice spoke:
“Daddy. Mommy.”
Husband and wife woke up, and the latter turned on the lights. They saw their daughter, Mintstar. She had jumped on their bed, hugging her Smarty Pants doll. She was looking at them with big, teary eyes.
“Can I sleep with you?” she asked. “I’m scared.”
“See? Told you that she would get nightmares!”
SON OF BLACK MAGIC - END