Fable 2: Equestrian Cove

CHAPTER TEN: THE NIGHTCRAWLER

"God damn, that kids work fast!" Sparrow laughed as he walked away, noises of Prince and AJ's...'fun'...echoing through the immediate area.  Sparrow vaulted over the railing, landing in a fruit cart. "GAH! FUCKING.... cabbages? That's not a fruit!"

"MY CABBAGES! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" An older stallion screamed.

"Take...uh...twenty thousand gold?" Sparrow held out a bag.

"T-twenty! Thousand! B-bits! DEAL!" The cabbage merchant jumped with joy.

"I'm guessing that's a lot..." Sparrow tossed the bag...which hit the merchant in the muzzle. Still didn't break his smile.

"It's more than I've made in ten years!" The merchant started hopping.

"Don't spend it all in once place." Sparrow waved as he made his way down an alleyway. "I know twenty-thousand is a lot, but I wouldn't get that excited...maybe it's cause I make thirty times that in a week..." He murmured to himself.

"Thirty times that, eh? Than I guess you won't mind giving it all to me." A dirty stallion emerged from the shadows with a small knife in his magical grasp.

"...Are you...retarded? Did you not see the arena battle?" Sparrow put on the most dumbfounded face.

"I saw it, yeah, but I can take ya. Now give me your-" Feeling a bit darker, Sparrow just decided to rid the world of his stupidity by slicing his skull in two.

And no bad karma points! The mugger was registered as an enemy.

Sparrow, humming an unknown tune, strolled away from the bloody mess with a smile on his face. As he walked, he felt a slight pain in his forehead. He reached up and felt something...that shouldn't be there.

Horns.

He still had his halo, but it had changed from blue to black. He know had both a halo and horns...that's not possible.

The black lines, which were originally blue, had moved up his hand and went completely up his arm. These things aren't supposed to happen. It's blue or red, not black.

"I-I'm sure it's nothing..."

"Come on, can't we just do it now?" An unfamiliar voice chimed.

"I want to, I mean, I've never been one for waiting. But patience is important right now." A second voice, most likely female, added.

"Who the hell are you two?!" Sparrow shouted, making those around him turn in his direction.

"You said he wouldn't be able to hear us!"

"He shouldn't be able to! Maybe he is finally weak enough...?" As soon as the female voice stopped, Sparrow felt an intense burning sensation all over his body. As if someone threw a bucket of magma on him. All the lines over his body had become pitch black, his horns grew, and he grew fangs. FANGS DAMMIT.

"Um, sir? Are you all right?" A waiter from the nearby bakery asked. Without thinking, Sparrow unsheathed his sword and struck the waiter down. Screams from the ponies that saw echoed down the streets.

"Yes! Finally!" The voice rang.

"Took him long enough. With Sparrow's immense power, I can summon my shadows and destroy Equestria. "

Ponies fled from Sparrow, towards the castle. "I want to take out those horrid Princesses!"

Prince shot up from the bed when heard the screaming. "What could possibly be causing this havoc?" He asked himself quietly. Applejack was still sleeping, worn out. "Whatever it is, it must be stopped." Prince jumped the rail and ran towards the castle, which was already being consumed in flames.

He passed Fluttershy, who was in tears, and stopped. "Fluttershy? What happened?" He asked.

"Some big meanie was hurting ponies! He ran towards the castle!" She half-shouted. Prince took off again and passed several corpses.

Then he saw them. The Shadows. Minions of The Crawler. It began to click together in his head. Sparrow, darker eyes, insufferable headaches, dementia. Sparrow was taken by the Crawler.

"How does it feel, Princey? How does it feel to know that you couldn't stop me? All you did was evict me from that weak teacher of yours, now I have your father! The Hero of Albion! Most powerful Albian to date! You might want to turn around." A voice rang in the streets. Prince turned and was struck to the ground by his father's hand.

"Another goody-two shoes. What should we do with him?"

"I say we let him live with the sorrow." Sparrow raised his boot and brought it down on Prince's head, knocking him unconscious.

Hours later.

Prince shot up, the buildings around him were in flames, ponies running around screaming, corpses lining the streets, maybe three hours.

He saw The Elements running towards the castle and ran after them. "Prince! Do you have any idea what is happening?" Twilight asked.

"A creature from Albion took over my father and are using him to do something. Not just one though, there was another, female voice." Prince drew his sword.

"Female? What did it sound like?"

"I can't really describe it, but I heard The Crawler refer to her as 'Nightmare'." Prince struck a nearby Shadow.

"Nightmare?!" They all stopped in their tracks. "Well, that's kinda good. At least we can expel Nightmare, and maybe even this 'Crawler'." Twilight said  in a logical tone.

"Okay, you all work on that while I go find my father." Prince ran toward were he felt his father would be. After reaching what looked like the castle gates he spotted his father slicing some guards down.

"Filthy, pathetic creatures. They don't even pose a threat!" The Crawler laughed. Prince shot a bolt of lightning at him, making him stumble.

"He's awake! This should be fun!."

Prince drew his sword and slashed Sparrow, knocking him over. "Did you get weaker?!" Prince spat. Sparrow jumped up and clocked Prince in the jaw, sending him reeling back. "I guess...not."

"Weak. You will always be weak. What about Elise? Did you think about her when you fucked that skank of a pony? What would she have thought? Don't you miss her? Did you even miss her after you had her executed?" The Crawler laugh softly.

"You leave her out of this! She wanted me to choose her! To save the people!" Prince shouted, bringing his sword down onto Sparrow's. "If I could go back and save her, I would!" Prince struck Sparrow again, eyes closed. When he opened them, he saw Elise.

"Don't you miss me? Why did you kill me? I thought you loved me. Why did you kill me...? Why?" The Crawler mocked Elise's voice.

"I said! LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!" Prince knocked Sparrow's sword out of his hand and jabbed his sword into Sparrow's chest. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." He removed his blade and stabbed several more times. After ensuring he was dead, Prince gently sat Sparrow's body onto the ground. "At least you're the real one..."

"WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" An odd creature sprang from Sparrow, a mix of The Crawler and Nightmare. Had the general shape of The Crawler, but it was darker and armored. Sparrow grunted, signalling he was still alive. "WE ARE THE NIGHTCRAWLER!"

The Nightcrawler rushed towards Prince, changing it's arm into a blade and slashing him. "GO TO HELL!" Prince roared, driving his blade into it's chest before firing his rifle into it's head. "JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY!" He rapidly stabbed and slashed it.

The Nightcrawler grabbed Prince in it's massive claws and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest. Prince countered with a tier-five Shock Spell, causing it to drop him. While on the ground, The Nightcrawler jumped onto him, punching and slashing quickly.

Prince was getting beat quickly, The Nightcrawler knew this and was lining up the final blow. "ANYLASTWORDS?"

"My only regret," Prince coughed up some blood, "is that I...was never married...actually...I was...and I regret it..."

The Nightcrawler raised it's arm to strike, before it made contact, an orange blur flew by, followed by a the splatter of blood.

"The hell...Apple...?" Prince looked towards the orange mass. "Applejack!" Prince tried to push The Nightcrawler off but couldn't.

"EAT DICK!" Sparrow slammed his fists down on The Nightcrawler's head and yanked him off. Prince took his chance and crawled towards the bleeding Applejack.

"Why?" He asked weakly.

"You'll be needed, I'm just dumb ol' Applejack, I just work the farm..." She laughed sadly.

"Don't be silly, you're not dumb! I could have survived, you can't." Prince grabbed her hoof. "Who's a silly pony...?"

"I am...I'm a silly pony..." Her final words, 'I'm a silly pony'. Prince stood and clapped.

"And we're done with that!" He took out two green bottles and leaned AJ's head up before pouring the contents of one of the bottles down her throat. She coughed and opened her eyes, the gash on her side being covered in new skin.

"What just happened? Didn't I just die...?" She looked puzzled.

"Well, yes, but I gave you a revive tonic and...well, the effects are implied in the name. Prince smiled and pulled AJ into a kiss. The passion of the moment combined with the emotions of the night-

"GODDAMN KIDS AND THEIR MAKING OUT WHILE I'M FIGHTING A MAGIC DEMON! HELP ME DAMMIT!" Sparrow shouted, flipping The Nightcrawler and kicking it in the head.

"Applejack!" Twilight and the rest of the girls turned a corner and ran towards AJ. Prince jumped up and ran over to Sparrow, opting to hold down The Nightcrawler while Sparrow slashed and stabbed it.

"Girls!" AJ hugged them.

"There is no time for hugging!" Trixie, who had been protecting a massive group of fillies and colts from Shadows. "Blast the damn things with the Elements!" Trixie blasted a Shadow.

Twilight activated the necklaces and started charging them, her eyes becoming white as a side effect. "Sparrow! Hold it's arms!" Trixie demanded.

"This 'taking control' attitude, I like it!" Sparrow laughed, holding Nightcrawler's arms behind it's back.

"Ready to fire." Twilight echoed. Sparrow held Nightcrawler alongside Prince, The Nightcrawler was desperately trying to escape, but its moves were worthless.

A bright light filled the sky as the beam was shot into The Nightcrawler, killing it. It feel to ground, limp and lifeless. It grew several shades lighter and the armor evaporated.

Prince walked over and stabbed it in it's massive maw, just to make sure it was finished. Once he was sure he fell on his rump near Applejack, holding her tightly.

"Were you jus' pretending to sad when I was, well, dyin'?" AJ asked.

"No, after you were...gone. I remembered my potions." Prince stroked her mane.

"Hun?" She said quietly.

"Yeah?" Prince pecked her on the lips.

"Who's Elise?"

"An old friend. Just leave it at that."

Sparrow stripped his chest-piece off to check the markings, they returned to their normal colors, along with his halo. The horns receded back into his head, and his teeth grew normal again. All the corruption was gone. "Feel better?" Trixie asked. Sparrow sat and Trixie sat near him.

"So much better..." He laughed softly. "Now, earlier? Were you or weren't you asking me on a date?" He smiled.

"Aw buck it." She leaned in quickly and planted her lips firmly on his. Sparrow broke the kiss for a second, causing Trixie to shy back.

"Oh, does The Great and Powerful Trixie have a crush on little old me?" He smiled once more before returning the kiss.

"Well look-y here." Prince gestured to the rest of the girls. Pinkie with Rarity, Fluttershy with Rainbow, and Twilight with some other pony.

He was a black pony with the occasional red mark. His mane was alternating shades of black and red as well. A unicorn with eyes that just didn't fit. The mark on his flank depicted a runic symbol of sorts, maybe his talent was magic?

"Uh, who are you?" Sparrow asked.

"My name is Arcanus." He answered.

"Works for me." Sparrow shrugged before turning his attention back to his mare.

"Do you think this," Prince pull out a music box," Would grant me a wish? I know it granted yours, in a way."

"You could try." Sparrow shrugged. Prince wound the key and it started playing it's music before it opened, an eerie light pouring out.

"I wish that everyone that died here today would wake up like it didn't happen." Prince sat it on the ground and it began to spin, it's light growing brighter and brighter until it shot a beam into the sky before disappearing.

"You'll have to give it a couple hours." Sparrow said quietly.

"Now! Who want's to party!" Pinkie shot her party cannon into the sky.

"When will us Heroes ever have a day off?" Sparrow and Prince sighed in unison.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Thank you all so much for being patient with me! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.

Because no one would vonlunteer their OC, I just went with Dashieforlife's.

I'll try and start a RF chapter soon.