Chapter Two, featuring the second adept of the Stare
-Tartarus-
In the deepest abyss of hell stood a strange being. It had these weird caracteristics that make us call its kin 'human' : it stood on its two hind legs, and wore clothes at all times. The odd creature more specifically wore a yellow hard hat, and a red suit. Goggles were laying on its neck. Since they weren't on its eyes, everybody knew not to meet it. Every other one dressed like it wore the goggles. It didn't, and its green, souless eyes were visible for the entire world : there stood Staregineer, staring, as he was destined to.
He was staring at a very interessant lava pool. And if you want to know what made it so interessant, go ask him. However, his gaze turned to a red sphere. It wasn't there a minute ago, and he had to know what it was doing here. So he stared at the red sphere. But not for long, since it immediately attracted him towards it, taking him away from Tartarus, to you-know-where.
-Everfree Forest-
A brave manticore stepped towards the bright red nebula. He was determined to show his kin how courageous he was, and firmly gazed at the crimson door to hell. Suddenly, he couldn't see anything, as a bright flash replaced everything around. When he could finally see again, the manticore saw a strange being in front of him. It was a pony. A small, earth pony was standing in front of the red light. If this was what the entire forest was afraid of, he would prove how brave he was. So he took a fighting stance, and ...
Stared. He wanted to fight, but he couldn't. His gaze was now stuck into the small pony's. He couldn't look away, he couldn't do anything. And he was scared. Because the pony's lifeless weren't just staring lifelessly, they were staring lifelessly RIGHT INTO HIS SOUL. He couldn't stand it anymore. He was slowly dying inside ... until everything went black. His soul was now Staregineer's.
And Staregineer stared some more at the lifeless body of the manticore. What he saw in this soul was fascinating : creatures, plants he had never seen before ! He needed more, it was such a fulfilling experience ! So he stared at everything, and everything's soul ended up in his eyes. After a while, he teleported off-screen.
-Later, Canterlot-
Everypony was celebrating the defeat of Discord, the Spirit of Chaos. Everypony ? No ! Princess Celestia was worried. Discord was sealed, all of his powers were taken from him ... so why could she still feel the chaos energy in Equestria ? It was coming from the Everfree forest, that she was sure of, but she couldn't precisely locate it. Of course, she wouldn't share her fears with her subjects : she didn't want any single one of them to worry.
But the worry still came. Princess Luna, ruler of the night, was found lying in a corridor, hyperventilating. It took a lot to even scratch an alicorn, but cause mental trauma to one ? The rumor slowly spread across the castle. Some said it was Nightmare Moon trying to take over; others said that Discord was still lurking in the castle. It took a lot to assure the ponies that Luna only fainted from exhaustion, and half of the court still didn't quite believe it.
Celestia herself decided to check on her sister. Whenever she asked a question, Luna stressed more. When she finally calmed down, she described what assaulted her. "It-it was an ea-earth pony," she said, shivering. "A very, very scary earth pony. It-it was an average p-pony's size, but his eyes ..." she started crying. Celestia wanted to comfort her, but she saw it. Right next to the throne room's doors, glaring at a guard. She quickly put a sleeping spell on her sister and the traumatized guard, and gazed at the pony. He wore a hard hat, reminding her of her construction team. But he didn't correspond to anyone of them, so she dismissed that thought. Instead, she focused on the eyes.
What she saw in those eyes, was absolutely terrifying. Not having any escort as a princess meant being ready to defend yourself, so her soul wasn't taken. Instead, she tried to read those eyes, and saw two things : a massive knowledge, ten times superior to her's, and horror. Pure horror could be seen in the creature's eyes. The horror of hundreds of souls, all panicking in their last breath. Worst of all, she saw most of Luna's thoughts in these eyes. Realizing what her sister had felt, she thinked fast, and, for lack of better ideas, levitated the goggles at the pony's neck up to his eyes, and fetched two guards to take him to a high security dungeon.
Everypony but Celestia forgot the incident, as most of Luna's soul was given back to her using an ancient spell. The Princess of the Sun took a decision : she would find what made this pony to be. And crush it.
Chapter One, or Discord's rapid fall
"All right, ladies, let's show him what friendship can do !"
This was it. Discord ... was beaten. By six mares. With ROCKS. He couldn't accept it. He just couldn't. All of these years, during which his seal was slowly weakening ... all of this waiting, his long patience, all of it, was it ... a waste ? His body was turning to stone. He had to act, quick. So he concentrated all of his powers in his mouth ... and spat. He would've entered the Guiness book of world records for that spit, if it existed in Equestria. A sphere of pure chaotic energy was sent towards the Evrefree forest. Nopony noticed it. Right after that, the transformation was complete. He was now sealed again, for Celestia knows how long. But he was satisfied.
A wave of pure chaos was felt by every living creature of the Everfree. Some felt a shiver, some remained calm, others decided to hide. But it was there : a massive, red nebula, in the middle of the forest. Using the power of science, it linked Equestria with a dimension nopony wanted to see with their own eyes : Tartarus. But Tartarus wasn't just a little chunk of space. It was made of tons of individual hells, for each creature that the Gods banned from the overworld. This specific portal in the Everfree directly led to the hell corresponding to a violent dimension, struck by war. However, it wasn't a massive butchery of thousands of men. There were only eighteen fighters, really, duplicated, cloned, again and again. But sometimes, RESPAWN ( Reanimation Emulation Software for Preserving Authorized Weaponery and Neurons ) messed up, influencing either the capacities or the psychology of the clones. That said, those who were judged too dangerous for the world, were sent to Tartarus.
They were called the freaks, and Celestia knows what happens when they're unleashed.
