The Temperament of Gods

Mirthless cackling filled the stagnant air of the ancient temple. The enchanted minotaur hefted a massive pearl white axe upon her shoulder. Her huge form bent down slightly and rolled the unconscious body of a yellow and pink pegasus mare onto her back. “Oh was that all your little assault could do?” The deep baritone voice took on a mocking tone. “Oh Twilight have all our strength, something something friendship! I gotta give it to you ponies that almost tickled. Even through the gift of the seven ancients.”

“You'll never win Pasiphaea!” Yelled the bloodied princess of friendship defiantly. “We've defeated worse than you and we'll do it again!.” She pushed herself up on a shaky hoof however the amulet around her neck flared to life. It's cruel orange light radiated a vile energy that sapped the very life from the alicorn’s bones. In an instant her hooves gave out, sending her to clatter noisily back to the cold stone. An exhausted whimper escaped the mare, one hoof trying in vain to lift the deceptively heavy amulet.

The minotaur smiled wolfishly and walked over to the struggling alicorn. “Oh but princess.” She tapped a finger to the pendant about her neck. “I won the moment i tricked you into putting that on. Now that you and your pathetic friends are out of the way.” She spat on the prone pile of multicolored ponies. “I will have all the power i need to put the minotaur species back as the rightful rulers of all the lands we once owned. Including your precious little equestria.” Her smile widened to reveal teeth that glinted in the sparse moonlight.

Her axe scraped across the ground as she moved to stand over the ponies. “It's almost sad in a way. Without any witnesses i cannot have my deeds be wrought in stone for every future generation to look at in awe. However-” She heaved her massive alabaster axe above her head. “That just means I will have to enjoy this even more.” Her corded muscles began to bulge slightly as she flexed her arms, rippling the thin fabric of her robe.

A pain filled gasp escaped the alicorn as she tried in vain to reach out to her friends. Her horn began to glow and within the panicked mind of Twilight Sparkle a desperate spell began to form, hoping against hope that this one would be able to get around the amulet. She felt the power build and take form only for at it to vanish and be replaced by a sharp pain. As if the amulet entered her mind and ate the spell before it could be brought forth into the physical world.  Her hooves slipped out from under her as she tried to throw herself between her friends and their soon to be killer. The minotaur's face became a twisted mask of glee as she reveled the moment before victory. “Wait!”

An orange furry hoof reached up pleadingly. “We can talk about this, maybe work something out.” The timid voice became more confident as it spoke. The weariness slowly being replaced by conviction. “Maybe we can gift you more land?”

Twilight smiled as she saw applejack slowly extract herself from the tangle of unconscious limbs. “I know that gorge y'all live in ain't the best but there's lotsa land out there for all of us!” The farm pony’s voice confidence grew as she noticed the minotaur's slacking grip. She looked over at Twilight pleadingly. “She's a princess i bet she could make it official and everything right here and now.”

Twilight felt waiver of hope glimmer as a plan formed. “I could give you-”

The sound of the alicorn’s voice broke the weak train of thought that was growing within the would be tyrant’s mind. “ENOUGH!” The minotaur stomped the ground with enough force to crack the ancient temple floor. “ALL THIS LAND WAS OURS AND IT WILL ALL BE OURS ONCE MORE!”

Calming slightly as a vile idea wormed it's way into her mind. A large furry hand reached down and pushed applejack aside. “The only thing-” It gripped a pink form that giggled in unconsciousness. “This changes-” She placed the pony on it's back with it's neck exposed. “Is i get to enjoy-” Another pony found herself placed quite unladylike beside the pink one. “Killing you-” a small bundle of pink and yellow hair was dropped with a squeak beside her friends. “With more witnesses to my glory.”

With each thump of a dropped body a fury surged within the purple alicorn. A rage so great that she felt her very bones begin to rattle in angry defiance to the necklace’s continued assault on her magic. When all of her friends were laid out she felt the rage start to twist as if it was a physical creature within her very body. Joining with a far darker emotion that made her skin crawl and her eyes burn. She hated this foul creature. Never before in her entire life did she hate another being not discord, not nightmare moon, not tirek, not the seemingly limitless villains and bullies that came after them did Twilight sparkle ever let herself feel the cruel touch of hate. She felt her hooves become lighter, her body less weighted down by the powerful amulet around her neck.

No i cannot succumb to hatred and anger. Reluctantly even she had to acknowledge that she no longer believed that sentiment. She knew she would do anything to protect her friends, Anything. If the black rage that welled within her could overcome the amulet then so be it. Slowly she raised her head in time to see Applejack throw herself onto Rarity as the minotaur raised her gleaming axe high. I have to save them. But there is nothing i can do. A thousand thousand ideas whirled within her mind trying to gain prominence. With a surge of burning hatred and blackened rage a new thought burned it's way through her mind, obliterating the nagging thoughts of failure. We will kill this monster.

The axe wielding creature laughed at the feeble defence. Raising a large cloven hoof she kicked the farm pony out of the way of her axe. “Your time will come soon enough, worm. First you must watch.”

We have to save them! Twilight's head surged with pain. The rage surged through the cracks that pain created worming through the last of her mental walls. Allowing the boiling rage to surge from her neck up her face and finally taking hold of her horn twisting it with cruel intent. The intense hatred made her skin crawl and shift. The black rage filled her so completely that each thought distorted until all that was left was a feral scream of vehement anger. The scream echoed across her mind ripping apart all other thoughts before they could even form. So completely was her mind and body overcome by this other worldly feeling she didn't even hear the element of magic fall from her head and clatter across the ground. We have to save them! She repeated the words over and over as the minotaur continued to taunt Applejack. With each repetition she felt her flesh warp and the amulet become lighter.

The seething black fury pushed even the last tiny thoughts of saving her friends from her mind. With the last of her will power Twilight Sparkle reasoned that ending this threat would save her friends. Safe within her logic she let the shadow overtake her. We will kill her! The thought felt foreign but satisfying in a way she had never felt before in her entire life. The level of assuredness in the idea of brutally murdering the minotaur that had dared threaten them was intoxicating. Her secret desires to wreak bloody vengeance upon this would be tyrant made the last vestiges of Twilight Sparkle crumble. Beneath the ocean of wrath emerged a creature of cold logic.

Pasiphaea gripped another orange colored leg in her massive hands. Gripping it tightly she bent it back until her hoof touched her shoulder. Bones snapped and twisted as applejack screamed in agony. Applejack’s lip bled as she bit down on it, determined not to give another ounce of twisted pleasure to her depraved tormentor. She would not let that monster see her suffer even as every ounce of her being cried out in anguish. She lay on her stomach weakly trying to drag herself forward with her one functional leg.

Having seen that the earth pony would not yield to anymore torture the minotaur growled in annoyance and stood up once more. “Enough of these foolish games.”  Gripping her axe in both hands she raised it far above her angling it so it would neatly sever the head of her first victim.

The axe slid through the air as if in slow motion as a hollow creature ascended from where a princess had fallen. The spiraling horn of an alicorn was now little more than a blackened spike jutting from what used to be Twilight Sparkle’s head. It was far longer than an alicorn’s horn and seemed to drain what little light had dare pierce the cloudy night. It surged with ethereal tendrils that leapt into the air, ripping the very magic from the world around it. Making the whole room smell of sulfur and death. In the instant it took for the great minotaur to bring down her axe the horn gathered power into a shaft of darkness that leaped across the room into the chest of Pasiphae. The pain was immediate and intense, piercing through the protective enchantments and boons gifted to the powerful minotaur warrior. A howl of pain and confusion erupted as the creature lost control of her weapon. Her rune bound axe buried itself in the stone as if it were dirt harmlessly passing through the well manicured mane of a white coated unicorn.

The bull like face twisted towards the fallen princess in rage. Her exultation at her victory being snatched from her was quickly replaced by a numbing fear as she saw the creature rise to it's full height. The shaft of pain that burned through it's chest forgotten in an instant. An alicorn with fur darker than the night itself rose before her. It's armored form clinking softly as it straightened it's legs. The silver armor covered nearly all of it's fur save for a patch along her flanks that revealed a swirling black vortex where a star cutie mark was mere moments ago. The armor creeped up the body of it’s owner covering every other square inch of her in gleaming plate. A jet black hoof tossed the pendant that had so thoroughly beaten the princess of friendship as if it were nothing more than a parlor trick.

Doubt and fear spread through the bull woman’s face in equal measure. “How did-” Her eyes strayed from the now broken talisman to the eyes of the monstrous creature that could defeat such a powerful artifact on a whim. The monster’s pupils dilated further and further until they took up the entirety of her eyes, glowing a harsh violet in the dark chamber. “No alicorn can lift the amulet of yunkai!”

The nightmare creature merely laughed in the face of it’s former tormentor.

Applejack crawled weakly over to her friend ignoring her body’s pleas to stop. She collapsed over Rarity. Having finally reached her friend the mental fog of determination lifted to hear the cackling of a demon. She craned her neck to see what was going on, instantly regretting it as she saw the source of the horrid laughter. She had heard the clatter of the amulet and saw the axe narrowly miss Rarity’s exposed neck and had assumed they had won. This however, this was not victory.

The single ray of hope that she had let pierce the veil of pain that shrouded her mind was snuffed out in an instant when the nightmare creature finished taking form. It's mane spread out as if a breeze carried it. A faint ripple stirred within, starting at the base of the head the vibrant purple of Twilight sparkle slowly distorted to become a deep fathomless black. The only way she could even tell it was even there was the fact that it was darker than the dimly lit wall behind it.

The creature’s armor stopped materializing just short of it's jaw before it opened painfully wide letting out a mournful scream of anguish. A sound of two different voices joined in torture cried out in pain so powerful all who heard found themselves writhing in shared agony.

The red robed minotaur ripped her enchanted axe from the ground and charged the nightmare with a feral scream upon her lips. The proud warcry transformed into a terror filled yell of a cornered animal. The axe split the night as it sailed towards the still trembling nightmare creature. An armored hoof wreathed in darkness flashed to intercept the careening weapon. The edge of purest sky silver thundered against the unyielding silver of the nightmare’s hoof. The impact alone nearly vibrated the weapon from the attacker’s hands. “That's impossible sky cleaver can cut through anything.” Disbelief gave way to dread as she thought of the implications. Sky silver could cleave through anything of this world how was this- She would have time to think of the implications later if she survived this encounter.

The axe pulled back as it's wielder leaped away from the armored nightmare.  “You will not hurt our friends!” The twinned voice spoke not in anguish but in a thunderous scream of abhorrence.

The minotaur threw her axe into a wide sweep to keep her shadowy opponent at bay. However the axe flew straight through her target as if it were mere smoke. The poorly balanced swing made the weapon leap from the minotaur's grip. With no resistance to counter the swing the already terrified bull woman couldn't account for the change in time. Sky cleaver flew across the room embedding itself hilt deep into the stone wall of the temple. A small shudder sent a cascade of rocks down on the two combatants as the temple shifted slightly.

The thin veneer of barely contained fear erupted into a terror so great it consumed the would be killer. She toppled backwards in a desperate bid to escape bloody vengeance. Armored hooves trod forward with a methodic thump until it stood before the cowering killer. “You cannot defeat me i have the strength of every minotaur alive and dead!” With a sudden surge of strength the likes of which only the desperate could produce a single fist shot out to strike the nightmare in the muzzle.

In an instant the armored pony’s head twisted and elongated bones snapping and reshaping in the blink of an eye. It's muzzle opened impossibly wide, tearing it's own flesh asunder to reveal a row of sharp spear like teeth. Before she even had a chance to pull back her magically enhanced fist the twisted abomination brought its jaws down around it biting straight through flesh and bone. So quickly was her lower arm eviscerated she thought for a split second she had managed to save her hand. All she felt was a slight pressure and than nothing.

Drawing back a bloody stump all semblance rational thought fled from the wounded minotaur. Howling in panic she held it's free hand up in surrender as it pushed backwards until her head hit the cold stone wall of her ancestor’s. No words could escape her sputtering mouth as a slew of apologies and fright spawned excuses coagulated into an indecipherable jumble of would be words. Still the nightmare strode forward, headless to the minotaur’s distress.

“Twi” A faint voice called from across the room. A faint flicker of purple surged down its mane but otherwise acted as if it couldn't hear the voice and focused entirely on the bloody opponent in front of it. Applejack tried to summon her strength to call out again but a sickening crunch squelched the thought.

A stomach churning chomping noise came from the nightmare’s mouth as it chewed the detached hand. The sound of shattering bone and ripping flesh filled the room as the horrified onlookers were stunned to silence. The forked tongue of the nightmare flicked from it's mouth, lapping up what little blood escaped it's mouth. With its meal chewed thoroughly it’s muzzle turned up in what could only be described as a perverse smile before gulping down it's ruined meal. Allowing the squirming minotaur to watch as what was her hand made the nightmare’s throat bulge slightly before passing into it's stomach. Ancestors above it's going to eat me. A wet warmth slowly spread from between her legs as the creature licked it's teeth clean of blood and gore with a thick serpentine tongue.

“We will not allow you to harm our ponies any longer.” The creature’s twin voices announced in unison. “We will feast on your flesh and learn how you are immune to our magic.” It stepped closer to the cowering bull woman as it spoke. “And after we do that we will devour every man woman and child you call kin.”

At the mention of her kin a fist struck the nightmare with enough strength to make the black creature recoil in mock pain. “Fuck you bitch.” Spitting a mouthful of blood at the blood splattered face of her attacker.

The nightmare creature continued to step back in dramatic swaying steps eliciting a small smile of victory from her assailant. “I will enjoy devouring your soul.” The minotaur's sense of victory waned as she saw the real reason the creature had backed up.

Her leg was held tight in the grasp of twin tendrils sinister darkness. So focused on her apparent victory she hardly noticed the bizarre snaking appendages. She flexed and strained but even her titanic strength could not break her bindings. Her strength was greater than any being’s of this world. Her flesh could not be pierced by anything natural, nor could sky cleaver be stopped by anything made at the hands of mortals. This thing whatever it is not of this world. It must draw power from something beyond this realm and possibly beyond this plane.

She looked down just as the mouth of the nightmare creature bit through her leg. A pain so great it eclipsed the screaming agony of her missing hand gripped the minotaur. A howl ripped through her lungs as the nightmare’s teeth ripped through her flesh with terrifying speed. Before she even thought to kick with her hooved feet her entire leg was nothing more than a bloody stump attached to her waist. Blood rocketed out of her stump and blood loss threatened to make consciousness slip from her grasp. The magic that had just minutes before been used to beat back the elements of harmony surged into overdrive replacing the blood that promptly shot out of her now lost limbs.

Hope fled from the mind of Pasiphaea, she could only look on in dread as the mouth of the creature pulped the last of her mangled flesh and swallow audibly. Faintly she heard a voice filled with pain whimper. “Help me Twilight. It hurts, it hurts so much.” She could not tear her eyes from the beast that was consuming her very flesh but she saw a flicker in it's eyes. A violet streak coursed from the center of its eyes outwards, making her armor and color fluctuate as it passed through it's body.

A feral growl escaped the beast and it abandoned it's toying game and gripped the head of the minotaur in her magic. The minotaur fought until its dying breath, pounding with it's good hand and stump alike in equal desperation. Nothing could stop the nightmare, merely ignoring the impudent strikes of the lesser creature it sunk its sharp teeth into the bull woman’s neck and with a short jerk snapped it with ease. The last of it's screams dying in it's throat as it's the sickening snap of bone silenced it forever.

The bloody body slumped in an instant and lay there as it’s life blood pooled on the dusty ground. Slowly the magic that surged within the body released in thin snaking lines of crimson. They spread out in all directions from the corpse extending across the entire room before vanishing on aetherial winds. The still beating heart surged one last shuddering thud before stopping completely. Sending one last stuttering surge of blood out of it's devastated body.

The nightmare made a point of not looking over at the source of the voice and instead turned its head upwards to the hole in the roof that let in a few stray rays of moonlight. “We must slaughter all of their kind before they can hurt our ponies.” It said in a single deeper voice. “We must help our friends.” It's head jerked back to the sight of the bloody and broken farm pony that stared back at her with an equal mix fear and hope.

“NO!” The creature’s form fluctuated wildly, it's jet black fur gaining and losing patches of purple. Single plates falling soundlessly from its form only to reappear an instant later. “We must kill the bull monsters before they hurt anypony else.” It's dark bat like wings flared as it got ready to fly out of the broken temple.

“Twi please it hurts.” The creature froze and Applejack leapt at the opportunity. “Please make the pain stop.” It lifted a shattered leg up at Twilight. Although the act made her scream in agony she could see it had the effect she wanted.

The nightmare’s form shuddered and a growl of anger softened until it become quiver of barely contained sadness. Hooves stepped closer to the mangled form of the element of honesty. Armored hooves lost the sharp clang of metal, quickly replaced by the soft clack of natural hooves. The tendrils of darkness that had spread across the room receded begrudgingly into the nightmare’s mane and tail. It's head dipped down to look at the orange pony that lay broken beside her friends. The nightmare’s irises’ reluctantly shrunk until they slowly returned to normality allowing Twilight to truly see her broken friend. What she saw brought tears to her eyes and stab of guilt to her heart.

Three of her legs were bent and broken at odd angles making her heart leap in her chest. She would never buck another tree, if she was lucky she might be able to stand given years of intense recovery. Twilight’s mind whirled with possibility before settling into a cold and methodical approach to her friend’s injury. The familiar cold was unnoticed as a solution slowly formed within their mind.

How she had even stayed conscious through such pain was a miracle. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she realized how close she had come to losing her friends.The clanging of falling armor was hardly registered as she amassed every last bit of strength she had. The last vestiges of swirling darkness tinged the normal purple that coalesced around the now normal alicorn horn. She poured every last bit of magic she had into the forming spell. Quickly passing well over the threshold that was normally held back to maintain her very body. Her body screamed for her to stop but the guilt at what she had done made her ignore its pleas. This was all her fault, and she would right it even if it was the last thing she would ever do. The last thing she saw before the darkness took her was an orange and black pony tentatively getting to her hooves in shock and then, nothing.

The unfeeling darkness awaited Twilight and embraced her as only a kindred spirit could. Together they fell into the yawning void, uncaring if either ever emerged.