Author's Note
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Celestia
It is easy to discern the difference between my homeland and Equestria. I know that after a millennium of rigorous care the vast wasteland that I consider my home has greatly improved, but it has not even regained half of the beauty my brother and I snatched from it. While in Equestria trees and lush vegetation propagates rejoicing its inhabitants with its beauty, at home nothing but moribund and sinuous branches delight our sight. Green meadows on which young ponies can jump and play with joy flourish almost everywhere, while we have to be content with sterile grounds on which not even the remotest vestige of grass has been witnessed in centuries. Happiness is not a rare resource in this land, and I can´t help but feel envy. Was that the reason why I agreed to assail Equestria and its joyful inhabitants, apart from the pleasure of serving my brother as he would have served me in a common quest? I can´t be sure, and damn it, I don´t want to. The things we did… There is no day in which I don´t regret every single action, every single crime. Though we both were equally guilty, I committed one more sin than him. The vilest sin of all: betrayal. I condemned my brother to an eternity in Tartarus while I remained free solely because of my election of siding with the Royal Sisters. I was redeemed, seen as a hero before the pony kind. When I returned home their reception was quite different. There was little they could do, in fact. Still weakened and consumed, their most optimistic hope was for me to bestow them a benevolent death. Instead, I confer them what was legitimately theirs; their magic. I would be lying if I said that I expected them to be as indulgent with me as I had been with them. Fragile, despondent, and alone, I simply desired to die. The culpability corroded me as venom, slowly flowing through my veins while poisoning me with impious patience.
But they did not take revenge for what I had done to them, not even taking advantage of my frail state to perform their finishing move. They offered me a gentle gesture of forgiveness, a redemption I did not and I still don´t deserve. I could say that if I have come to Equestria is seeking for that exemption.
Canterlot is a beautiful city, irrefutably. It has suffered many changes through history. I have even heard that it was once destroyed by some creature with unimaginable power and subsequently rebuilt. My brother and I once knew the responsible, but I can´t remember his name. Anyway, that is not important right now.
The sunbeams bath the golden roofs and reverberate in blinding shimmers. The diverse towers rise with majesty until reaching the very blue sky. The mountain onto which the city rests appears to have been formed precisely for hosting it. Like bees circling their hive, numerous flying artifacts soar cutting the clouds, entering and departing from what seem to be harbors. I have never seen such transports at home. The flags placed over lots of buildings dance along the wind. They are mere confections of fabric which aren´t meant to represent any emblem, but I presume they are simple decoration. These ponies are quite blusterous for the most mundane issues, but that doesn´t suppose a problem to me. The erected constructions have been built with maximum décor, polished until achieving an impeccable marble surface, and this is given in every single example my eyes see.
I espy at least three different waterfalls originated in the metropolis and plunging into a river on the base of the mountain. They pale when I compare them with the enormous origin of that water right behind the walls. I have never seen such amount of water in a thousand years. We don´t need that much at home, but the wonders it has done with the land are astonishing. The mere surroundings of the city are upholstered with such vigorous grass that they could shelter more life than what I´ve seen in the healthiest areas of my distant home. I hope someday we´ll be able to raise a metropolis like this. Someday…
And finally, two edifices which I can´t help but identify as my destination. I have traversed inhospitable lands, I´ve fought avid monsters, I have defied the limits of my own body in order to arrive here where I stand; flying before the city which shelters the mares who have occupied my thoughts for five dawns and sunsets. And now I feel the abrupt impulse of backing off while they don´t know that I am here. Our relationship is in precarious balance, and what I am here for might result in its fall. Yet I must do it.
My heart beats uncontrolled, so I try to assuage it. I inhale great breaths of air and then proceed to exhale them. One, two, three times. When I have finally soothed, I dare to enter. I cannot face the idea of walking by the city; becoming object of everypony´s eyes and with the risk of being arrested by the guards, so I go directly to the castle. Gargoyles aren´t precisely what ponies are used to these days, although a millennium ago they were quite gentle with me. But mentalities change, especially after crisis like the one these poor creatures have recently experienced, and I prefer not to take any risks.
Avoiding the sentinels is insultingly easy, but I´ll accept any facility presented to access the castle. From the distance I couldn’t discern the ponies roaming by the streets but now I can see them as clearly as they could see me. Fortunately, the busy pedestrians don´t appear to notice the flying figure above their heads.
I feel the temptation of wandering around the avenues embracing the joyful atmosphere, but I have to remind myself that I have a task to carry out. With great pity, I am forced to ignore the bliss that reigns everywhere I look. How could I possibly ever consider destroying such beauty?
I land before the wide stone steps that lead to the door of the castle. I can´t help but giving a glance at the sumptuous garden, whose land has been gifted with some of the rarest plants my eyes have ever laid upon. A sinuous fissure that transports water connects at least three ponds which much to my surprise don´t contain any vestige of animal life as one would expect to see. As I land a group of birds escape in flock before I can distinguish any of their species. They disband occupying different branches of the numerous trees as they observe with curiosity the newly arrived intruder. I feel something similar to a smile forming on my lips. Now I realize that it is the first time I grin in all these days of exhaustion. Remembering the desert I had to traverse makes me inexorably thirsty. I look around, ensure no one is watching me and direct to the water in order to satiate my impious avidity. I fall on my knees and start drinking.
This must be the most glorious pleasure of all I have ever experienced. My parched lips effusively thank me for the refreshment as I took anxious gulps of the crystalline substance. Once satisfied I dispose to resume my commitment. Despite the well received rest, my body feels heavier than ever when I attempt to straighten, yet that is not an impediment to get up. I indifferently clean the last drops from my mouth and direct my attention to the castle.
Now again, what is the reason of my distress? We are equals, aren´t we? I made them a favor; I saved their land. Of course, I saved it from myself and he whom I call brother. Perhaps I fear their reaction. “Hello, I´ve heard that Tirek recently escaped, stole every inhabitant´s magic and took over the land before being defeated again. Would you mind to free him so I can take him home with me?” That surely will convince them.
I sigh with resignation but unable to move. What if they decide that they were far too indulgent with a beast like me, and that I should share a cell with my brother as well? I can´t decide whether Tirek would be delighted for seeing me sharing his sentence or simply furious because of my presence there.
I repeat to myself that there is nothing to be afraid of. In the worst case I´ll simply take down Celestia and Luna –and any other guard stupid enough to face me- and flee to never return again. But I have made a promise, and in favor or against their will, Tirek and I shall meet.
I gather as much determination as I can find and slowly yet firmly approach to the gates. Once I am close enough of them I can discern that the stone wall´s perfection was nothing but a mirage aroused by the distance. Sinuous cracks crawl by the stony surface; some of them of major prolongation and wideness than others. The two wooden doors are covered by numerous slots, enormous pullers and a ridiculously big knocker. I grasp it with the intention of giving it the use it was designed for, but I am suddenly interrupted.
“Who are you?”
“The actual question would be: What are you?”
I turn around to see two guards, so alike that I´d swear they are twins. Once more I have to remind myself how similar ponies look to each other. Unicorns it appears. They are holding spears and have adopted a defensive position leaving a space of a meter between them and the end of the weapons. If they wanted they could simply sink the blade in my throat; if I wanted I could drain all the magic of their bodies leaving nothing but a defenseless pair of shells. But as they don´t seem to be willing to do so (at least by now), I will show them the same conviviality.
“In answer to your question, I am Scorpan, come from a far away land. Do not fear; I don´t intend to cause any harm. And I am a gargoyle, in case you ´re interested.”
They seem hesitant, but their weapons don´t.
“And why did you come here in the first place?” One of them asks. Apparently they don´t know who I am. I would have comprehended that my appearance was a matter of ignorance, but not my name. I cannot risk assuming that this oblivion is collective and not solely given in these two ponies. I simply hope Celestia still remembers me. And if she didn´t, I am sure that Tirek´s escape was an ideal reminder.
“I would like to request an audience with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” I respond.
They share an inquisitive look, meditating the question. And me; well, I am prepared to act at the sight of any imprudent movement from their part.
The white one nods solemnly and the brown one follows his example. Then they look back at me.
“Alright visitor, come with us. But don´t try anything weird, you hear me?”
“I wouldn´t dare.” I respond with a little condescension.
They seem to be slightly disturbed by my reply, but if they are they won´t tell me. The white one pushes the gigantic door and opens it. I attempt to advance, but the brown guard rebukes me with his arm. The white one steps forward and then he leads me inside. The brown one is placed behind me, leading my steps. Clever. One of them behind, one of them in front of me so that I can´t perform any suspicious movement. Perhaps I was underestimating them.
They guide me through endless corridors. The floor is carpeted with a pink and smooth texture my tired feet vehemently express gratitude for. The walls are sporadically interrupted by sumptuous windows of colorful compositions by which the sunbeams go through in diverse tones. Blue, yellow, green… Those vivid colors bright my mood.
I wonder how big this castle (or should I say palace?) is. I bet it could host thousands of servants, guests, or families. In its many years of service it must have given shelter to an endless amount of members of the royal lineage, as well their respective servants.
My conjectures are abruptly cut when turning on a corner we appear before a huge arc that leads to the throne room. I discern Celestia in the background of the room, sat on her throne as she appears to be devotedly reading something. We are too far for her to notice any of us, which I thank. I wish I could postpone our encounter as much as possible.
As we advance beneath the arc I notice an unusual feature. The doorstep presents some cracks which ascend by its sides to the superior part. They don´t seem to be product of the pass of time, but a great force. Then I realize that there are some vestiges of splinters on the sides and diminutive rests over the carpet we are steeping upon. As if something had dragged the aperture. I know few who could do such thing.
He was here; Tirek was here. And judging the state of the door, he was not exactly a gentleman when he arrived. I don´t believe he employed his magic; since he was a kid he always enjoyed bragging of his strength, a characteristic I couldn´t compete with. I suppose some things never change.
Only once we are only a few meters away from her, I can finally identify the object which is hoarding her absolute attention; a letter. She is so plunged in her lecture that the white guard has to cough to divert her attention from the piece of paper. In the moment her glaze lays upon the guard and immediately after over me, I can distinguish how the base of her serenity lurches. However, I appear to be the only one to perceive this; I deeply doubt that Celestia herself has noticed that her lips have slightly contracted and her pupils have shrieked, along the heavy exhalation that has left her snout.
The guards remain in a respectful silence waiting for Celestia to formulate the same questions they set me out before. Now I will see if I am right about her memory.
“Guards”. The two stallions erect at the pronunciation of that word. Her voice sounds with firmness and calm, a perfectly opaque mask to the uneasiness that must be struggling to find a way out of her serene demeanor. I suppose she must be quite experienced in that ambit. “You have my permission to retire now.”
One of them gulps and questions with unease:
“Are you sure, your highness?”
She slowly nods as a warm smile that even comforts me spreads by her visage.
“He is an old friend, you don´t need to worry. Please, leave.”
Simultaneously the couple assents and prepares to leave the room. However, when they are about to leave the arc where a door used to be, Celestia exclaims.
“Wait”. They instantly turn around like a sophisticated and infallible machine without a second thought. “Please, notify my sister that I require her presence. Don´t worry, it is not an urgent matter, but bring her here.”
No other word is needed before they leave once more the room in the search of the mare of the night.
Once we have been left alone, Celestia abandons her throne and descend the short stretch of stairs that separate us. I cannot help but think how different our situations are. Her aspect is incorruptible; the years have been gentle with her. On the other hand, I am drawn as a remnant of silk that served as aliment to the moths. There is little left of my former young vigor. I am too old and tired. Of course, that was my sole decision; the decision of restraining the magic consumption. All the magic I possess is the one I wasn´t able to return to my people one thousand years ago. It´s better in my body rather than in a cadaver I suppose.
It´s been a long time since I met a royal, but I still remember the procedure. I kneel my right knee upon the smooth carpet. It´s touch is comforting. I lay my hands hand over my left knee and lower my head.
“Princess Celestia” I say with all the humility I am able to collect, which frankly, is much.
“Prince Scorpan” I heard her saying. I cannot hide my surprise by her statement. As much as for what I am seeing. In the moment I raise my head to look at her, I am able to see her bowing before me. The ruler of Equestria, one of the most powerful beings on this world, for whom the Sun is a toy to control, is exposing her respect for someone like me. I can barely contain my stupor, but her giggle makes me realize she is as sagacious as me.
We stand up again without retiring our eyes the one from the other.
“I fear I don´t hold such title, your highness. You can simply call me Scorpan.”
“Thus you can direct to me as Celestia”. She responds with a smile. After all, she remembers me.
I give a glance around the walls of the enormous lounge. I have seen so absorbed by her that I had not even observed my surroundings. The stained glass that adorns the room reminds me to the one I saw on my way here, but these are different. They appear to represent events, possibly related to Equestria´s history for what I see. Among the most interesting ones I see one representing the so called “Spirit of Chaos”, whom my brother and I had the “pleasure” to meet. Powerful as my brother and eloquent like me, he was quite an interesting… I cannot call him friend or even companion but a mere acquaintance. In fact, he appears to be the protagonist of this gallery. I see representations of his reign, his defeat and what appears to be a repetition of the image dedicated to his defeat but with six ponies on it. I have no idea what this can mean. The same ponies can be seen in many other images, such as combating a dark mare who slightly resembles to Celestia. I feel the temptation of inquiring on them and their meaning, but for some reason I have the hunch that that could be inappropriate.
An absurd thought overcomes my mind. Why aren´t neither me nor my brother there? Was Celestia trying to hide the calamity we were so close to perform? Perhaps as a signal of respect towards me? Anyway, musing about such a pernicious idea is the last thing I should do right now.
“Interesting gallery.” I mutter. I immediately bite my tongue. However, her discrete chuckle proves she does not seem to feel reviled due to my words.
“It is certainly interesting, Scorpan.” She sentences with an affable tone. “They may appear to be old, but this ones where shaped quite recently. After a little incident with the palace’s art.”
“May I ask something?”
“Go ahead.” She says without vacillation.
“All of this happened after my brother and I or later?” Once the question is pronounced, I feel the stupidity it oozes. Yet, she does not seem bothered to respond.
“Except for Discord, all of this succeeded your arrival.”
Once again, a heavy silence of discomfort reigns in the atmosphere. Damn it, I know for what reason I am here, thus she probably knows as well. She has proven to be quite perceptive; it would be foolish assuming she ignores the purpose of our meeting. Abandon your cowardice and do what you have come for, Scorpan!
“Celestia… I must confess that our already eroded friendship is not the only motive of my visit”.
She sighs with resignation before responding.
“You heard about Tirek´s recent escape, didn´t you?” Her voice is quiet and weak, yet not for that less respectable.
“Despite the distance that separates my home from yours, I am afraid I have. Tirek and I are profoundly connected, and in the moment his magic consumption began once more I perceived his actions again. If I ever snatched magic from anyone he would sense it as well. I felt how he grew stronger and stronger, more and more powerful as every second passed. The third day after I noticed the first perturbation, he had already doubled any amount magic we had ever achieved together. I suppose that when you don´t need to share, ambition can become quite a powerful force, mightier even than what he was. I knew you would not be able to stop him when he acquired the power of a creature that contained much more power than a regular pony. Then is when I feared he had finally obtained the Alicorn magic he had yearned for so long. But eventually I sensed his might reaching an unprecedented level, much greater than what I could ever conceive, an unfathomable power. In that very moment I knew that this world was at the mercy of an implacable and insatiable beast which knew no match. But somehow you stopped him. In an instant, I felt how all the vigor he had gathered dissipated from his body until leaving nothing. As if he were…”
“…Dead.” Celestia says, knowing how difficult is for me to say that. As I said, she is really sagacious. “Is that why you came for? In order to confirm your brother´s decease?”
The effect her words have on me is similar to what a gelid blizzard would do to a lizard. I feel my blood freezing by that glacial coolness.
I nod solemnly. Her answer is a profound sigh that makes me think about the worst possibility of all.
“There is no existing force in this world to constrain the power he possessed, Celestia. Be honest with me. Did you kill my brother?”
Each one of my words is sheered with frost.
She escapes from my inquisitive eyes and begins wandering by the room, avoiding by all possible means eye contact. I sincerely doubt I would be able to bear her glance either.
“You err in that, Scorpan. There was a way. I wasn´t present to behold its execution, but I know who was”. Celestia directs a furtive glare at the stained glass; the one with the six ponies and six jewels.
“Are you insinuating that six mere ponies were capable of standing up against my brother, even when not even you could?” I sound more outraged than what I intended. But I can´t help it; I can´t stand this kind of fallacies.
“They were not six mere ponies, Scorpan.” She replies, not even the slightest trace of reproach can be heard in her sweet serene voice. “They possess which can possibly be the mightiest bond I´ve seen in my vast life. With it they have overcome tribulations and defeated foes of fearsome power.”
“You haven´t answered my question yet. Did they kill my brother?” I can perceive as well as she must be doing how my patience is wasting.
“They didn´t. He is still alive… for now”. She responds with such brutal frankness that it shivers my bones.
“For now? What do you mean for now?” My teeth are grinding, my claws closed in fists, my body tenses as a predator´s before pouncing over his prey.
“Scorpan, I want you to comprehend this.” Her voice rises over mine, and for an instant, I feel fear. I remember who I am talking to; the solar princess, she whom dictates the course of days and nights, she whom could eradicate me with insulting ease. She stares at me, as I attempt to hide my woe. “Tirek has committed crimes not only against one sole individual or city, but to an entire nation. He drained the magic of thousands of innocent without the least unease. Elders, children… He did not care whom he was stealing from. He plunged Equestria into a greater chaos than the spirit of chaos himself ever did. At least he never intended to kill anypony. And after his defeat, the only penitence he received was returning to his former captivity where he had been secluded during the last millennium. My subjects now are aware of his capabilities; they know what he will do if he ever has the chance. Something similar happened after Discord´s escape, but it solely affected one town. I was forced to protect Discord´s statue or else the citizens would have killed him without second thoughts. Isolating that information was child´s play compared to this. Because, whom would I be hiding this information from, if he took the totality of Equestria´s magic? They want to ensure he never causes any harm again; they need to ensure he will never hurt them again.”
She takes a deep breath and exhales the air slowly. I can´t react to something like that. I have only felt this weak once in my life.
“Will you yield to their demands, Celestia?” I ignore the origin of my sudden bravery, but that doesn´t keep me from employing it.
She hesitates before answering.
“I… I don´t know. Sentencing the death of somepony, no matter his actions, is the absolute antithesis of what I believe in. I´ve had the chance to reap the lives of my enemies every time they were defeated, and instead I offered them benevolence. Sombra, Discord, Nightmare Moon…”-with every pronounced name her eyes point at one stained glass each time.- “And for some time, it worked. They had disappeared; they had been expelled and never heard of again. I never regretted my choice, never. That is; until the recent months. They reemerged more powerful than ever, and I was unable to defend my subjects from them. If it hadn´t been for my faithful apprentice, Equestria would be a sterile wasteland without daylight, harmony, love, joy or magic. I cannot permit that to happen. I must not allow it.”
Her voice reduces to a tremulous murmur as she attempts to hide her visage behind her bushy mane. I feel the imperious need of approaching to her, and even though all my instincts and senses reprehend me not to do so, I rest my hand upon her back.
“I comprehend how you feel, Celestia. Look at me; I made the same mistakes once, and you can contemplate what succeeded them. My ravaged home and the memory of my culpability have snatched many hours of my sleep, but you don´t have to be tormented by those pernicious thoughts.”
She is strong, probably the strongest mare I´ve ever known. She proves it once again raising her head and looking at me directly in my eyes. Her purple twinkling eyes enrapture me. I feel my heartbeats becoming more promiscuous, and that sensation is not welcome. No. I can´t afford those feelings, either now or ever. I cannot fall in that trap.
“If only it were so simple, Scorpan.” She lays her hoof upon the claw that reposes over her. “If only I could know what to do with your brother. Keeping him captive during all of eternity, or else concluding his suffering for the relief of my citizens.” The grief that ballasts her words concusses my shivered heart. However, it as well enlightens my mind.
“What about a third option, Celestia?”
Her expression alters in order to display as much curiosity as skepticism. I take it as an indicator for me to continue.
“I could take him, far away from your kingdom. Take him home, safe from your ponies.”
“My ponies?!” She seems more reviled by the mention of her subjects than by the proposal itself. Celestia retires my claw from her with impious coarseness. “It is him who must be isolated from them! Scorpan; Tirek ravaged cities, snatched innocent´s lives, consumed this land. We could throng a complete cemetery with the deceases he is responsible of since he broke free.”
“I had no idea he had killed anyone while he was powerless.” I respond with a tangle of surprise and incredulity in my throat.
“He had to nourish during his weakened state, didn´t he? Despite being a magic thief demon something as mundane as alimentation was one of his afflictions. And how could he obtain food from others? He stole it, Scorpan. And since ponies most times are “reticent” to bestow it, he limited to terminate the impediment between his objective and him. Several disappearances had been denounced during the last months in the Canterlot´s slums, and until now I hadn´t basted those events.”
“He was always an innate survivor.” I chunter.
She turns around abruptly. Her sudden movement causes her substantial mane to wave, yet without the grace or serenity that usually accompanies her. I meet her eyes once more, but this time they flash an inexorable wrath that makes me dread for myself.
“Are you defending his actions? This is innocents we are talking about! The ponies for whom you betrayed your brother!”
I feel the rage augmenting inside me, freely flowing through my veins making their way to my mouth.
“Don´t you dare to name so!” I exclaim.
Her brief shudder proves she did not expect my reaction. However, her humor does not alter the slightest trace. She contemplates me, with her absorbing and penetrating glare. She sees me as a foe to destroy, a potential adversary whose following movement cannot be anticipated. Would I be lying if I told I knew it myself?
The silence among us is imperturbable; breaking it would be sacrilegious. Thus here we stand, sharing profound glances ignoring the world that surrounds us. As two docile devotees in a church, we maintain a solemn quiet, only interrupted by the distant hoofsteps of some inhabitants of the caste echoing through the wide corridors.
This quietude is a disguise to the fervor that stands between us. So, I uncloak it.
“I am going to take Tirek with me, and I do not want to hear any objection. If you know what convenes you, don´t stand in my way.”
I can hardly recognize the voice that comes out of my mouth, and neither can Celestia. She has never seen me like this, the same way I have never witnessed her once her serenity has been broken. Now, it has undermined.
“Is that a threat?” Her eyes dazzle, defiant. Curse those eyes; I would gladly snatched tear them right now.
“It is a warning. Now, step aside. I do not need your consent to liberate Tirek on my own.” No emotion is perceived in my voice.
“It appears you have forgotten about Cerberus.” She responds nimbly.
“The custodian of Tartarus? Please…” I say derisively. “It is simply an overrated mutt. Bedsides, can a dog bite if his guardian isn´t
there to order him so?”
The words that flow by my mouth without the least musing remind me of who I used to be before arriving to Equestria with my brother. The brother that dammed mare is keeping me from releasing. She is an obstacle, a mere tribulation in my quest. Why would I require her permission to see my own brother? Why would I bother requesting her acquiesce when I could simply take what corresponds me? She is nopony to give me orders.
I perceive the sensibility urging me not to commit anything imprudent, but my unleashed emotions overpower that weak voice
contemptuously.
“Scorpan, I insist in you departure. Forget what we have discussed today and return to your home. I´ll decide what to do with Tirek on my own.” She says cutting. Her response is surprising. I didn´t expect her to profess such display of disdain. What right does she have to repudiate me? She will listen to what I have to say.
“No” I object, as the ardor of my fury increases. “I will not leave if Tirek does not accompany me.”
“Scorpan, don´t oblige me to do this.” She mutters. It is not a plea, yet I perceive the sadness it carries.
“Do what?” My mouth is unable to stay shut by this moment.
“Guards!” She exclaims looking at the arch where a sumptuous door used to be. The same stallions that guided me here emerge from the corner and before I can realize they have already promptly passed by my side and prostrated before her.
“Yes, your highness?” One of them asks with the most servile voice I have ever heard.
“Accompany our guest Scorpan outside the palace, if you please.” No tone of petulance or pride can be discerned in her voice. She
is genuinely remorseful it appears. I regret not being able to sympathize her.
“As you wish” the other guard responds. They firmly hold my arms, but I do not even attempt to oppose resistance.
“Is it so, Celestia? You are going to hide behind your guards? You used to be a combater; I remember those days.”
“Please, take him out of here” she burst out, once again her calmness staggering.
Aware of the effect my words have had onto her, I persist.
“Your defenseless subjects were completely dependent of you and your sister´s care. I think I´ve heard you defeated a dement demigod in order to protect them, didn´t you? What have you become? Another princess, contemplating the placid lives of her vassals from the top of her crystal castle. Days continue their course, and you begin to wonder what purpose you are serving. How many battles have you leaded during this millennium? How many occasions have your citizens had to laud your glory justly? You are nothing but a shadow of who you used to be. I cannot believe that I once admired you.”
Each spoken syllable is one more stab in her heart, and the way her teeth chatter, her lips contract and her eyes widely open are proof enough of this. My body is now driven by the dementia that has proliferated in my mind. Forget me, dear mother, for what I am going to do.
A dreadful smirk gradually expands by my mouth.
“It´s time you remember your origins.”
With a quick movement I release from one of the guard´s gripping. Before he can react, I deal him a strike directly in his jaw. His head rises before he collapses, still conscious. Celestia and the other guard observe the scene stupefied, unable to react. Just what I thought: her combat reflexes have ossified. I oscillate my arm with the stallion obstinately tied to me, his arms languish and drop him while my arm is still raised, which causes him to fly in straight line until crashing against the carpeted floor. I presume his
landing has been remotely soft.
“Scorpan, stop this immediately!” Celestia blurts out. However, she stands still, waiting for something. Why isn´t she doing anything yet? Remorse? Fear? And if it were fear, does she dread for her or for me?
I ignore her. The guard whom I punched painfully stands up, rubbing his chin, in which the mark of my fist has began to take form. I cannot help but feel pride for the strengths I still remain. But they are not enough to combat Celestia. I am truly surprised that my
mind can still process any rational thought.
Two incandescent spheres of a refulgent orange emerge from my claws. The guard I propelled stays onto the floor, struggling to get up. His tremulous limbs serve as a weak support. Though pathetic, I cannot help but feeling certain admiration for his pertinacious nature. However, respect does not exempt the fact that right now we are adversaries. Finally, limping, he erects.
The guard who is the closest to me unsheathes his sword and brandishes it menacingly before me.
“It is time you start being of some utility.” I chunter mockingly.
Their determined expressions are rapidly erased when they begin floating in the air approaching to me, covered in an aura that shares the same exact characteristics than the magic in my hands. They kick and struggle, defenseless in their brief transversal that leads them to me. My jaws wildly fall down, and then and only then Celestia is able to react.
“NO!”
Time slows for both of us. From the stallion’s horns a feeble blue light flows, waving like the water of a river. The pale blue tone is an ephemeral feature, before it adopts the same tone that my magic. My eyes close, sensing the pleasure that accompanies the just acquired power. I can sense my bones cracking, producing me an unbearable yet brief dolor, followed by an immense wave of ineffable delight. My arms thicken, abandoning their skinny state until becoming the pair of logs they used to be. I feel higher; every muscle in my body screams in joy for the just acquired strength. I am unable to believe how much I had missed this sensation. I still remember it even if it has been a millennium ever since I experienced it. I have been deprived of exerting my function as a magic stealing demon, and now I finally feel complete. My mind shatters, the rationality plunges in an ocean of oblivion, my purpose here is substitute by the desire of consumption. All I can think about now, is taking as much as possible. And Tirek will be glad to see me, he shall be. Together, we will take this reign; their castles will fall; we will rise. There is one mere obstacle.
“Scorpan, what have you done?!” Celestia exclaims appalled.
Their bodies, now lifeless shells, precipitate against the floor. The colors that once imbued life to their eyes have faded. Their
respiration is the only proof of their survival.
“I will take my brother with me, Celestia. Now get out of my way!” I now notice that my voice has changed as well.
“I can´t let that happen Scorpan.”
My eyelids contract in fury and from my mouth emerges a choleric scream.
“Then DIE!”
A lethal beam surges from my hands in her direction. She limits to protect herself with a magic shield. When my attack impacts,
her transparent protection sparkles in blue.
“Scorpan, I implore you to stop right now.”
I roar and jump in her direction propelled by my wings. I land before her and shoot joining both hands. She casts the same shield spell, which effectively protects its invoker, though I perceive it has began to crack.
“Reason, Scorpan! Return the magic you have stolen and there won´t be any further repercussions.”
I describe an arch with my right claw as I try to rip her sweetly white skin. I will not desist until her untainted coat is stained of crimson red. She nimbly evades my strike backing off. If she believes she is extenuating me, she is completely wrong.
“You don´t know how powerful I am. I don´t want to harm you!” Her voice suggests true charity and not just meaningless threats. But
I don´t want to stop.
“Hurt me? You underestimate me, Celestia!”
I fire with both claws and this time she is not fast enough to summon her shield. She is thrown by the room and lands at the feet of the stained glass windows. Yet she gets up with insulting easiness.
“You are who is underestimating me, you fool! Stop this right now, Scorpan, before you harm somepony else!”
“That is what I want!” I can hardly recognize the thunderous voice that surges from my throat. It is a portentous scream rather than
an evocation of a rational idea. I am losing control over myself.
Once more, I pounce over her, but she easily eludes my attack by taking off again. The impact against the glass is slowly painful. Fragments of crystal cut my cheeks and forehead. The rest of them hurtle against the gardens. I retire my head from the hole of the window as the crimson I ached to see in her slips by my visage. However, the wounds quickly regenerate. I look back at Celestia and see her expression. It is easy to perceive that her patience is running out.
“By the moment the only one who has been injured is you.” She points out with a smile of condescension.
“SILENCE!”
My doubts about this demented idea are beginning to flourish, but I shall not falter. Even if she is a demigoddess and I am an emaciated elder with the uncouth magic of two mere unicorns and the little I remained from my last manhunt a thousand years ago in Equestria. Tirek will be free of his shackles, and so I´ll be of my tortuous culpability. Once she has bitten the dust.
Two beams erupt from my palms, which she easily avoids, as I intended. Before she is able to react, a third an unexpected attack impacts against her right wing. She emits a loud scream that resonates in every corner of the room and spreads by every hallway. As the fallen idol she is, her wounded body crumples from the air and crushes against the floor. She is defenseless, but it won´t last. So I move on to the next and final step.
I unfold my bat wings and use them to take impulse. I jump and hover upon her. She is downed, temporally. She continues struggling to get up, but one last impact on her torso is enough to dissuade her. She mutters something unintelligible when I kneel before her for the second time this day. Quite curious, how an action can have so many diverse significances in different contexts.
She remains recumbent, heavily breathing. I intuit that last strike hit her lungs. I position upon her, and then I meet her eyes; her wroth yet beautiful purple eyes.
Her pupils cringe when my claws press against her neck. She attempts to inhale, but strangulation is not what I have in mind. My claws sink in her flesh, and the gesture is rewarded with her blood. Crimson red gushes from her sweet throat, dyeing her coat of the tonality of death. Her legs spasm, her front hooves surround my wrists, futilely trying to separate them from her. As much as she fights on the outside, as much as I fight inside me. My mind is split in two; one yearns for her death, another begs me to stop. And while their discussion continues, life slowly fades away from her. I want it to end this now; for me and for her.
“I am sorry Celestia; this was never meant to end this way.”
She coughs and the consequent drops of blood bedraggle my face. I sense their heat, and for some reason I find no bother on it.
“I…” She tries to say. Silence is my sole answer.
“I lament… it had to be this way as well…”
Her eyelids fall, extinguishing the last glimmer of the vitality that slowly escapes from her. She has died at my bare hands; I have killed my old and only friend for who has repudiated me for so long. I sigh, as I feel my eyes whelming with tears. I close them, in order to contain them from flowing. I wish I could have saved them both. But life is never fair; destiny is morbid and cruel.
My thoughts are abruptly interrupted by a white light, whose incandescence is vigorous enough to penetrate my closed eyes. I open
them startled, and find their source.
And for a third time today, I feel dread.
Her blank eyes contemplate me, irradiating such a blinding brightness that I have to protect my vision with my hands. She straightens, throwing me against the stone walls. The impact is dry and painful. I rub my head trying to mitigate the burning dolor, when I see her floating before me. Her wings are immobile, rigid as iron, yet she still maintains in the air. A white aura gleams
around her, and what could be beautiful is in fact terrifying. And there is nothing I can do but beholding.
“You fool! Did you truly believe that with the magic vilely stolen from two unicorns you would be able to stand up against who your brother couldn´t even cerebrate to attack before consuming the power of an entire nation? Are you so desperate?” Her voice makes the walls shake, tiny pieces of rock falling with every spoken world. I´d be surprised if the castle didn´t collapsed, actually.
If I could I would affirm, but no words dare to leave my throat. She is completely right. And for my fatuity, I will assume any punishment she has to offer.
“I will have to think what to do with you, Scorpan. Thank your gods that death has always been an antithesis to everything I believe in.”
I outline a languish grin, recognizing the irony.
The light intensifies, wrapping everything in sight in white. Her white silhouette fades as well, and suddenly, there is nothing but darkness.
