We stand together

The reddish boulder continued to fly aimlessly around past many strange things. Bowdler was sure he’d caught a glimpse of Bloodstone and, at one point, a quick sighting of a pony who looked extremely similar to himself. They sometimes passed huge mountains, floating in the air in much the same way as bricks don’t.

‘Now that looks familiar’ said Bluewing as they passed a gaping cavern which was mostly collapsed in on itself. There was a circular pad which appeared to be made of gold on a plateau coming off of the edge of the opening.

‘Yeah, that’s it alright’ groaned Dasher, ‘Let’s go’. They abandoned their rock and made towards the cavern, which began to flicker slightly. ‘It’s going to teleport!’ he shouted, ‘Go faster!’

They sped up and hurtled towards it at breakneck speeds. ‘We’re not gonna make it!’

There was a blinding flash and Bowdler crashed head first into the plateau.

‘Well that went better than expected’ he moaned and dragged himself to his hooves. ‘Is everypony OK?’. There was no answer. He looked around the plateau, Dasher and Bluewing were nowhere to be seen and the surrounding rocks were a lot different to how he remembered them.

‘Cock, I teleported didn’t I?’ he muttered to himself, ‘THAT’S BLOODY HELPFUL!’

He turned and looked at the rubble covering the entrance to what appeared to be an enourmous cave.

‘Better get this over with’. He began to use his immense magical powers to shift some of the boulders, but whenever he did more just fell into their place.

‘Damn it!’. He sat down with a thud. How was he going to get in there without Bluewing and Dasher to help him? And how was he planning to take on whatever was in there alone anyway?

‘No, sod that. I can do this...’ he said as he got back up and prepared to have another crack at the rubble. He summoned his swords and armor and began to hack at the boulders, smashing them to pieces. Huge chunks of rock fell from the pile as he continued to smash them up, either being deflected by his magic or bouncing off his armour. This was the first real test for his armour, no alien had ever got near him because of his skill with the swords. Progress was good, he could see some of the chamber on the other side of the rockfall. Suddenly, a voice blasted into his ears.

‘YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE COME HERE!’ it screeched, half deafening him, ‘YOU WILL FIND ONLY DEATH!’

‘Yeah,’ he replied, sarcastically, ‘That’s kinda the point’

He finally broke through the wall, only for it to collapse behind him, plunging him into total darkness.

‘Reference time!’ he said to himself, ‘Lumos!’

The purple light just above his horn flickered on dimly, illuminating the cave around him. Blood covered the walls. It looked like there’d been a quite big fight here. Shapes moved around behind the stalactites and stalagmites, reminding him of the aliens that could be attacking Equestria at any moment.

He didn’t have time to think about this though, as one of the shapes jumped out and straight at him, it’s claws extended. A quick upwards stab with one of his swords impaled it through the chest, but it was still wriggling.

‘Tough little bastard ain’t you?’ he yelled and sliced off it’s head with his free sword. It lay still for a second, but started writhing around again.

‘What the hay?’ He hacked at it, removing all of it’s limbs and the majority of it’s torso, but it refused to die.

‘Can’t do much harm as just half a chest can you?’ he said, flinging the body across the room. Seeing this, the other beasts crept further back into the shadows.

‘Yeah, you’d better run you pansies!’ he shouted after them as he carried on delving deeper into the cave.

There were skeletons of ponies and all sorts of other weird creatures chained to the walls, remnants of entrails dangling from their shattered forms. A pony skeleton moaned and Bowdler turned to stare at it. It appeared to be returning to life, it’s skin and flesh regenerating before his eyes.

‘No! Please!’ she screamed, ‘Not again!’

‘SILENCE YOU FOOL!’ came the voice he had heard earlier, ‘PREPARE TO DIE! AGAIN!’ it cackled insanely and the newly regenerated pony burst into flames, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her eyeballs popped and her limbs fell clean off. Then she was still.

This scared the living daylights out of Bowdler. Is this what death is like? Eternal torture? He hoped not, that it was just an elaborate ruse.

‘Oh, it’s not the only afterlife’ cooed the voice, apparently hearing his thoughts, ‘The world you live in yourself is an afterlife of sorts’ it laughed coldly.

‘What are you!?’

‘Who, me? I am Soulfeeder, Keeper of the dead, Mistress of the Final Afterlife’

‘I’ve fought Nightmare Moon and won! You don’t scare me!’

‘Oh, don’t I?’ a swirling crimson vortex began to materialise in front of him, ‘Well, prepare to be scared’ A tall, red Alicorn, easily as big as Princess Celestia or Nightmare Moon themselves, with markings similar to his own but black covering her body. She had a dark red mane which appeared to be soaked in blood. ‘ARE YOU NOT SCARED MORTAL!?’ she screamed in his face.

He staggered back a bit, ‘Of course not. And honestly, If you deem “immortals” to alicorns, I’m afraid you’re in for a bit of a shock’

‘Cut the crap Bowdler! I know all about your horn, you can’t fool me! In fact, I know more about you than you might think possible...’

‘Damn it! How come it’s all the evil alicorns that know about my past!?’

‘Evil am I?’ she chuckled, ‘I’m just doing my job, keeper of the dead. Or at least I was until that brat Bluewing and his little friends came and disrupted the way of things. I needed that pony’s family blood for something very important and now the third afterlife is collapsing without it! It’s driving me insane!’ as if to prove a point, all of the skeletons in the room caught fire and exploded.

‘Well I’m sorry for your loss, but I don’t have time for this. I’m here from Princess Celestia to make sure YOU and none of your little demon minions get out of here’

‘Oh I wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon, what with all those rocks in the way. Thanks for clearing them out by the way, much appreciated. But yeah, with them gone I’m afraid I’m going to have to, eh, kill you and invade the second afterlife. The more of a realm for me, the better’ A flail appeared out of nowhere and smashed into the side of Bowdler’s armour. ‘Elementium eh?’ she mused, ‘This will be more interesting than I thought’

Bowdler jumped at her, his swords spinning towards her neck, but just before he could decapitate her she disappeared.

‘Yoo-hoo!’ a voice came from the other side of the room. He had just enough time to turn around and register the fact that she’d teleported away before a powerful bolt of magical lightning struck him on his head, sending unimaginable pain coursing through his body. He grunted and began to muster up his own magic bolt.

She sent another one flying at him and the two bolts connected in mid air, causing a spectacular display of purple and red lightning. They stayed joined together and danced over the walls and the bones of the ponies.

‘You can’t win this, Bowdler. Face it. This is MY realm, I can do what I please’ she taunted. A fireball emerged from a wall and flung itself at Bowdler, catching him off guard. He fell to the ground and her lightning bolt connected with his body. He yelled in pain.

‘Can you feel it Bowdler!?’ she yelled over the crackle of magical electricity, ‘The oncoming feeling of DEATH!?’

He moaned weakly and forced himself to stand up.

‘No Bowdler, I’m no Nightmare Moon. I won’t let my guard down just because you’re a little hardy.’ She sighed sarcastically and rolled her eyes. The pain running through him suddenly doubled in intensity, causing him to fall over again. He felt blood streaming out of his nose and mouth.

‘Not just a bit you ass!’ he spluttered, spitting out the welts of blood. He got back to his hooves and staggered forwards.

‘JUST DIE WILL YOU!?’ She screamed, sounding irritated but not alarmed.

‘NO, FUCK YOU!’ he yelled back at her. Bolts of lightning poured from his horn and smashed against her. She screamed in agony.

‘WHAT THE HAY DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?’

‘Because you’re a silly filly and you need to die!’

‘FOAL! I CANNOT DIE! I AM DEATH!’ Their lightning bolts connected again and they engaged in a magical duel.

‘YOU THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA!?’ she moaned as she strained to keep up her magic, ‘I’LL DESTROY YOU!’

‘Doesn’t sound like it to me’ grunted Bowdler as he too struggled against her magic, ‘In fact, I’d say you’re getting weaker by the second’

‘YOU... CANNOT... DEFEAT... ME!’ she spluttered, sending smaller waves of magic up her main beam.

These waves pushed the meeting point further and further towards Bowdler, until their magic only met just above the remnants of his horn. The strain was unbearable. Floods of sweat, blood and tears streamed down his face. There was a loud ‘ping’ and everything went white for a moment, but not before the whole beam of magic connecting the two ponies exploded, sending them flying across the room. Bowdler smashed into a wall and landed in a crumpled heap on top of some gryphon bones. When his vision returned to him, he could see that Soul Feeder was out cold. He propped himself up against the wall and picked up his blades with his magic. He practically fell forwards towards her still form.

‘It’s over, you end here.’ he said, raising his swords.

‘NOPE!’ she suddenly screeched, her flail appearing and smacking him straight in the legs, knocking him to the floor. This time, he didn’t try to get up. He knew it was over with. He was on his last legs and this pony seemed to be just as strong as when they’d started. He closed his eyes for what he believed would be the final time.

‘I knew you’d come to your senses Bowdler. Now, I offer you a choice.’ she said, soothingly, ‘Join me, become King of the second afterlife, or die here and now’

He smirked, ‘Why is it that insane evil beings always offer me power?’

‘Foal. It’s a pity you have to die, you could have done so well.’ she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Say goodbye to your precious little life.’ She raised her flail above her head but suddenly stopped when a loud crashing noise stunned her. ‘What in the hay was that?’

‘Did you miss me you crazy bitch!’ came Bluewing’s voice from deep in the cave.

‘OH GOOD! IT’S YOU!’ she practically squealed with delight, ‘THIS DAY JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER! You wait here Bowdler, I’ll dispatch of you later.’ Before she could go anywhere, Bluewing and Dasher soared into the room, weapons unsheathed. ‘BOTH OF YOU!? Two against one is hardly fair, you should probably go get a couple more to help you!’

She cackled at her own joke and began to fire lightning bolts at the two pegasi, who were flying around the room as fast as they could. Dasher was the first to go down, his armour conducting the magic lightning like a dream. He fell to the floor and threw off the armour, which enchanted straps had frayed and snapped, it was charged with unimaginable amounts of electricity anyway so it wasn’t that much of a loss. He felt a little odd fighting without his armour, but he’d have to cope with it.

‘Still not any better a tactician are we Soul Feeder?’ he taunted, spinning his shortsword around.

‘STILL NOT ANY BETTER AT SHUTTING UP AND DYING ARE WE YOU FOAL!?’ she practically threw her flail at his head, which he dodged with ease. He sprinted right up to her and carved a gash right up her neck, which immediately filled it. ‘You’re an idiot, aren’t you? This is MY REALM! YOU CANNOT KILL ME HERE!’

‘I think I’m doing a pretty good job of trying!’ he shouted at her as Bluewing’s axe embedded itself in the back of her head.

‘HEY! WATCH IT!’ she screeched, ‘THAT REALLY HURT!’

‘Not as much as this will you bitch’ came Bowdler’s voice from the floor. She was suddenly showered with fireballs and lightning bolts and began screaming in agony. She collapsed to the floor and Bluewing yanked his axe out of her head.

‘Well that’s just fine then isn’t it?’ he muttered, spitting on Soul Feeder’s apparently lifeless body.

‘I’d say we’d accomplished this mission’ agreed Dasher, ‘let’s get back to the real world. Bowdler, are you OK to walk?’

He got up, deep gashes covering his face and body.

‘Yeah, I’m ABSOLUTELY fine and haven’t just used all my energy in a one on one duel with a damn powerful alicorn AT ALL! Of COURSE I can walk back.’

‘Oh, good. Come along then’

Bowdler groaned.

‘Guys, I’ll catch up with you in a second,’ muttered Bluewing, ‘I’ve just got to check up on something...’

Dasher nodded and walked back towards the entrance of the cave, which he and Bluewing had knocked a gaping hole through, Bowdler followed. He stood on the gold pad on the plateau.

‘This is a portal, I know where it goes. Wait for Bluewing and meet me on the other side, OK?’

He nodded and Dasher walked through the portal which appeared when he stepped on the middle section.

A few minutes after he had gone, Bluewing emerged from the cave, his face streaked with tears. ‘Bluewing are you alright?’ Bowdler asked, worriedly.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. Do you realise happiness can make you cry?’ he replied, sniffing a bit.

‘Hm...’ he started, but decided not to go into detail with it, ‘C’mon, Dasher told us to meet him on the other side of the portal.’

‘Alright, let’s go’

They walked through it together.