My Little Pony: Friendship is Eternal

Chapter 2
The Hate that Fuels Him

The palace chamber was silent as Celestia stared back at him. It felt like almost an eternity that they continued to look at each other, perhaps it was his appearance though. Despite the fact she stared at him, she could not stare into his eyes, for there were none. He had no face, which was odd for any creature. No other creature in all of Equestria had no face. His missing face did not even have a snout, and appeared to be more like a ball at the end of a his thick neck. His body was not black, in fact it was not any color at all. It was just darkness. Darkness which seemed to have no physical presence, despite the fact that he was physically there. As she stared at him, it was like staring into infinity. His mane was like a crackling fire, but just like the rest of his body, it just appeared as a shadow. His tail was long and sleek, but also just a shadow. His large body could be compared to that of one of Celestia’s royal guards, large. However, she knew perfectly well size means nothing. He had no horn, nor did he have wings. Yet Celestia recalled how he his magical abilities could summon fire, and how he leaped from cloud to cloud, so that not even flying pegasai were safe from his rampage.

At last he spoke, his voice actually coming not from him, but what seemed like the entire room itself, as if his words were the wind. “It has been a long time, Celestia,” he said in a snicker.

“Not long enough if you ask me, Rancorous,” Celestia said, saying his name for the first time anyone had in nearly 1000 years.

“Well believe me, when you are locked away in an eternally dark prison for that long time does not move fast. You seem to enjoy banishing people for a long time. From what I heard your sister ended up being banished for 1000 years too.”

“I only banish those who deserve it. Believe me, if I could have you would have been more than just banished.” Celestia hissed.

He began to walk in slow circles around Celestia. As he moved, it seemed liked the light in the room got sucked into where he was standing. “Well now that I am out of that cursed dimension of darkness, it is time I resume my conquest. But before I do, it is time to make you pay. But rejoice, I will make your death a swift one.”

“I admit, I have the elements no longer, I am defenseless. But before you do, explain to me how you broke free,” she demanded

“I suppose I can tell you, not like it matters. The day you and I fought many years ago, you defeated me, using what you call the Elements of Harmony. Of course we both know that the battle was not easy for you to win. You chased me all the way across Equestria, until we at least came to Mount Dominius. Of course, the Elements of Harmony using their base power could not stop me. As the rainbow it protruded chased me, my speed stayed one step ahead of it the entire time. I am not quite sure what happened after that myself. I only recall a bright light, and waking up to find darkness. For the next millennia, I waited in my prison, trying to discover some type of exit. Recently though, something happened, the realm I was in...weakened. I knew this was my chance. I focused all my magical ability to one spot directly in front of me. The end result was a hole which lead back to this dimension.”

“I see, it is just as what happened with Discord. With the Elements of Harmony no longer linked to me, any spell I casted using them long ago wore off...” Celestia trailed off.

“Yes, now that you have your explanation, I believe it is time for your end.”

“Not yet it's not,” Celestia stated, her voice assuring she would not go down without a fight. She began to fly into the air of the palace chamber, her horn beginning to glow with the magic of her spell she was about to cast. Suddenly the entire room was bursting with light so bright that to anypony but Celestia it would have been like standing in the center of the Sun. Before Rancorous could decide on how to respond, he found himself quickly knocked over by Celestia as she rammed into his side, pushing him into a palace wall. As he quickly got up, the darkness that he seemed to be made out of began to expand across the room, filling it just like Celestia’s light filled the room only a moment before.

“You may be able to see in the light, but can you sense in the dark?” he asked aloud.

Now Celestia, who is dazed and confused in the light, has started to panic. Before she could even begin to cast a spell to get rid of the darkness, she found herself being tackled mid air by Rancorous. As he grabbed onto Celestia in mid air, he brought them both back to the ground, landing atop of Celestia. As he began to withdraw the darkness which he used to blind the room, it became evident that they were in the dead center of the massive chamber. He backed up for a moment, enjoying every precious moment he saw Celestia lay crippled on the floor. He had dreamed of this day for nearly a millennia, and it was just as sweet as he had hoped.

As Celestia began to struggle to stand up, she began to immediately cast a spell over Rancorous. Rancorous simply stood there, if he had a face it would be smirking. “You already know direct magic spells have no effect over me,” he said with amusement.

“Never hurts to try,” Celestia said, a weak smile on her face.

Suddenly in what seemed to be close to the blink of an eye, Rancorous was gone from where he was standing, and ramming straight into Celestia, sending her rolling across the palace chamber. Rancorous simply could not help but laugh at the simplicity of how easily Celestia was once again knocked down.

“I forgot -cough- just how fast you were, it’s -cough- easy to see why you were able to dodge the Elements of -cough- Harmony so easily before,” Celestia whispered.

“It was simply luck that the Elements of Harmony did what they did, you and I both know you were fighting a lost battle then.”

“Hehe,” Celestia chuckled underneath her breath.

“What is so funny?” he asked with confusion.

“What is your goal? -cough- Defeat me, defeat everypony and everything in Equestria? What do you -cough- accomplish? You won’t have experienced all the joys that I have, or the -cough- friendship that all the creatures in Equestria have with each other.” Celetia continued her faint cough caused by the various blows she has endured.

“What makes you think I want your pitiful friendship? What makes you think I want the company of others? No, I am the god of anger and rage, and I intend to take out all my anger on every living creature big and small across the land,” Rancorous declared, following with a sinister laugh.

“-cough- I see. I pity you then, Rancorous. You may think that being alone is the answer, but -cough- just look at my sister, she found enlightenment in friendship,” Celestia said, still laying on the ground in her crippled position.

“Ha! Pity me? Look at you! Defeated on the ground, not even having the strength to get up!” No, it is you who is to be pitied Celestia. But you will receive no remorse from me,”

Suddenly Celestia rose into the air, a magic glow around her as Rancorous casted a spell. She wiggled in mid air, but it was no use, she was too weak to continue to fight anymore. She closed her eyes and smiled.

“I’m coming...Shining Star...,” Celestia whispered, tears streaming down her face.

Suddenly she was thrown into a pillar on the right side of the room. Where there was once a powerful ruler who maintained peace for over a millennia, now lays a mangled broken corpse. Rancorous trotted over to where her now deceased body lay. With an evil laugh, he stood over her, painting himself an everlasting mental picture of this scene in his mind. Suddenly, her body burst into a multitude of bright lights, and carried off into the sky, towards the Sun. As he watched from a palace window, the last pieces of Celestia disappeared into the sunset. The last time the Sun would be set by Celestia.

Rancorous, pleased with himself, continued to laugh maniacally alone in the palace chamber. Looking at the valley below, he saw a small town in the distance, lights still glittering in the distance. “If I hurry, I can make it before they all scatter,” he said, joy in his voice as if it was some type of game.