The Book of Salzar

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

Finally. It's all over.

The bearers of the Elements, along with the princesses, were finally able to defeat the foul being that threatened to consume all of Equus with its lust for power. The battle with Salzar, the Dead God, was perhaps one of the most frightening battles that the ponies had to go through, one that will undoubtedly be remembered for generations to come.

Truly, Salzar was a being of origins unknown. Even the two princesses, while able to feel its presence, were unable to comprehend its nature. It mocked them whenever it could, it laughed at their pathetic attempts to bring it down. It, a living god among mortals. But after great effort and incredible luck, they banished it into the void, now being nothing more than a statue in the gardens of the royal castle, waiting for the moment when the chains outlive their usefulness. Even today, the princesses claim to be able to feel its terrifying power leaking out of its cursed prison.

The cultists were slowly loosing the war after that tragedy. Day after day, the armies all over the planet would discover a carefully hidden coven, usually in the middle of their grotesque rituals, and imprison every member they could find. Most refused to surrender peacefully. Sadly, there was no other option.

Perhaps the most unsettling was the fact that one coven thrived in Ponyville, right under the princesses' noses. When discovered, no time was wasted, and the best warriors were sent after it. Even if the coven had lesser numbers, they were still posing a threat to the royal army, so much so that it took three days to imprison them all. Celestia, in all her love for her subjects, gave a chance to pardon their sins against the ponykind, against Equus as a whole. The answers she received were far from nice. Granted, the ponies in question weren't the most stable of individuals. Much to her sadness, she had to order their execution. The threat was far too big, forcing her hoof into doing things that she hoped she would never do.

As for the coven's location. It was burned down and destroyed for the fear that it could corrupt new ponies into joining the ranks of the cult. The objects used for the rituals found in the coven were sickening, even for the princesses who were used to see all kinds of things. Effigies depicting Salzar, tomes containing the ramblings of madponies, idols devoted to some horrifying beings, engraved minotaur horns, chipped claws and rusty knives, glyphed skulls, conjuring bones, enchanted codexes, archives, spellbooks, red-colored crystal orbs, stained golden chalices, pots decorated with various grotesque motifs; all of which were destroyed immediately, all...

Except for one.

Yet another day came for Celestia and her sister. Despite the tragical events that occurred during the last few months, everything in Ponyville came back to normal. Well, as normal as it could be, for while the cult was surely stopped from causing the apocalypse, there was the other threat which, while they were busy with the cult, was far from idle. One could say that the cult was nothing but a distraction, as much as preposterous such statement sounded, that they squizzed in their favor.

Staring at the city below from her balcony, princess Celestia frowned as she recalled that cursed day. The day when they decided to show up.

The room was quiet, as everypony stared at the unicorn trapped in a magical bubble that served as a prison, courtesy of Shining Armor and princess Cadance. The bearers of the Elements were ready to attack as soon as the suspect decided to act funny. Celestia stared at the grinning unicorn and walked forward until she was able to physically touch the barrier if she wanted to. She could feel an otherworldly presence emanating from the prisoner.

"Who are you?"

The unicorn raised its head and stared at Celestia, the confident grin never leaving its mouth. There was something unnatural in those eyes, she thought as the unicorn's irises were glowing in ethereal green. The voice that spoke from her ex-subject was the ultimate proof that she was dealing with an unknown threat.

"Others of your kind calls us... "the Ancients"."

Its voice sent chills down everyone's spine. The royal guards that were in the room freaked out and pointed their weapons at the prisoner, which were completely ignored as it was focused on her and her only. Cadance spoke up.

"Princess Celestia, while I appreciate your courage, I must warn you that I've never trapped a being like this. It feels... weird... but the prison will hold."

"Thank you, princess Cadance. I appreciate your concern, but worry not for me. I can take care of myself."

The unicorn prisoner laughed.

"What's so funny?!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"It's funny how dumb you are. All of you. There is none that can stop us, not even one."

"Why you-" A hoof stopped Dash from her intent.

"Wait, we need to know more about this new enemy before we can do anything! This threat may be more powerful than anything we faced before, so we need to be careful."

Rainbow sighed but listened to her friend.

"Why did you invade our kingdoms?"

"Your kingdoms? Do you honestly think that this... "Equestria" is yours?" It giggled. "Oh, you are about to learn the truth soon enough."

At the obvious threat, Celestia responded.

"Do you know who are you speaking with? You are in no position to threaten any of my little ponies."

"Is that so? Then go ahead. Destroy this vessel. I can always find another. All of you are nothing but weaklings. You lost this war before it even started."

"I heard enough!" Her sister, Luna, roared as her horn started glowing. Before she could do anything, however, the unicorn laughed once more before opening its mouth and releasing a spectral mist that easily passed the magical barrier and dissapeared through the roof.

Celestia shook her head as she went back inside. The mere thought of that event made her head hurt. This was a war on two fronts, where even the smallest mistake could lead to gargantuan consequences. On one side, there was the cult of Salzar, a bunch of madponies that worshipped the Dead God in the form of cruel and disgusting rituals. Even Discord, the embodiment of chaos, would cringe in disgust at the sight. And yet this Salzar, this Dead God, enjoyed and thrived on it. What kind of a heartless monster could enjoy something like that?!

She was now in the royal gardens. More precisely, in front of the statue that was Salzar. It stood tall and proud, few hooves taller than her, staring at her highness with a look of hatred and hostility. Despite being trapped in the void, she felt nervous around it whenever she was close.

She sighed as she turned around. One enemy was, hopefully, out of the game. Still, she wanted to learn more. She wanted to know of its origins. And the only way to do it was to read that cursed book. Who knows, perhaps it had something that could aid her in her fight against the Ancients?

After some fifteen minutes, she reached her private library and took the book confiscated from the coven. It was the only remaining object that testified about the cult's existence, as much as everypony knew. In order to prevent another possible rise of the cult, Celestia placed the book in a special box that could only be opened by her and Luna, for only they knew how to do it. Not even her student was able to know about the method, as much as she pleaded and told her she would be careful. There was simply too much at the stake. Not to mention the ever-growing threat of the Ancients...

Her horn glowed as the box opened and the book flew out. She took it to her private rooms and sat comfortably on her cushions. Before opening it to the first page, she gave one last look at its covers; hard and pitch black, covered in glowing, bright red runes. Among dozens of signs she was unable to recognize, there was one that stood out like a sore thumb. The best way she could describe it was two squares placed on top of each other, fusing together to form a star, surrounded by a circle where every inch was covered in eighteen symbols, each more complex than the last. Inside the square-star was a triangle, which in turn had an eye that stared at the reader. In fact, she was sure that, no matter in what angle the book was placed, the eye would always stare at her. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. A small ruby was engraved in each edge of the cover. Sometimes they would glow, sometimes they wouldn't.

With a final sigh she opened the book on the first page and immediately noticed something strange. The pages looked... different. No, not different as in the color of text or whatever, but in its... roughness, as if the pages were crumpled time and time again before used for their intended purpose.

She began reading.

In the beginning, there was only blood. The blood was with life, and life was blood.

The Sacred Vein formed blood, and the blood formed the Great Lake, which is to this day abused by mortals who roam in this realm of uncertainty and entropy. Their flesh weak and rotting, their hearts slowly beating with something that is not theirs. But what all fail to understand is that the stolen blood is borrowed blood, which must be paid sooner or later, thus returning to the Great Lake and repeating the cycle over and over again until the end of time.

Truly, the Great Lake is a caring mother. And like all caring mothers, it brought a child to the world. But even a caring mother can be fickle at times, and her child would suffer for it.

I was no different.

Immediately after I gave my offering to the Great Lake, I found myself in the middle of a wasteland, unsure of how, or why, I was sent there. Could it be that the great mother cursed this child of hers and wished for its suffering? There was seemingly no other explanation for my limited understanding.

I was confused, shaken, rivers of blood fell from my eyes. I cursed the great mother just like she cursed me. She wished for my death, for I was only an unplanned side effect in the great scheme of all things.

There was defiance still left in me, so I moved on. My feet touched the ground scorched by the unforgiving sun that surveyed the land. Time was irrelevant and so was my journey. There was no meaning to it all, no greater significance, no destiny, no fate, nothing. Only blood that boiled within me.

At one point, there was something that my eyes caught a glimpse of, flying in the air like the sons and daughters of the wind. My presence was known to it, so it landed not far away from me. It was no bird, unless my rotting eyes were deceiving me. But if they did, I would be eternally blind. There was no deceit present in the heathen that dared to stand in my way. A heathen malformed, a twisted creation of nature.

It happened when it began talking, that I realized its reason for exsistence. A challenge. Blood in its solid form.

It called to me. It begged me.

"Return me to the Great Lake, oh chosen one. Time is of the essence."

So I came forward and ripped its eye out of the socket. Blood gushed out the wound, spilling on the sands below and giving birth to new life unfathomable to me. Then I took a knife I held all this time and slit its throat. It was methodical, precise, so that the precious liquid can be finally free from the cage that was the flesh.

It was then when something within me roared. I could feel a desire that I never felt before. My own soul was drawn to it. When I realized my mistake, I fell on my knees and praised the great mother. The meat, although that of a heathen, filled my pit while the blood satiated my thirst. As soon as my lips tasted the copper and my nose caught the pleasant smell, I felt reborn. Even the Sacred Vein didn't brought so much pleasure as this did. My head felt numb, my senses relaxed, my soul ecstatic.

Such was my journey. For forty days and forty nights I feasted on the corpses of the heathens, drank their blood and ate their flesh. At first, it was painful, it was an object of nightmares, just like the Great Lake. Some begged. Others fought. It made no difference to me. I was the chosen. Through me, the world will finally learn the truth.

Then I found a cave...

Author's Note

Hello! My name is MarioBrosMan and, while I am new to this site, I am not new to writing. So, why did I decide to start this story? In all honesty, it came to me as an idea, one morning. And here it is. I know, I know, not really the most awesome of backstories but hey...

Anyways, this was the first chapter. Be sure to write your thoughts on it. What you liked and what you did not. The second chapter should come out soon... hopefully.

Chapter 2

There, waiting for me, were the denizens of the earth; wretched souls cursed to satiate their eternal hunger for stones of various colors. They attacked with such ferocity to rival the best competitors known to mortals. I, a mere weakling, a worm with no place under the sun, was chained and forced to become a slave, grinding the earth for useless pebbles.

It took a significant amount of time for me to understand everything. This punishment was meant to reveal my nature to this forgotten world. Such was the plan of the Great Lake.

I raised my voice enough to be heard in the whole underworld. The wretched souls brought me to their masters, who ordered the initiation of festivities in the form of combat. The winner was the one who spilled the blood of the other, proving once and for all that they are the top predator.

My first fight was with a nameless soul. Tiny, insecure, imprisoned. Just like me. But unlike me, it had four legs. The ones in power gave the order. Our fight had begun.

It was an easy victory. The branded was trembling, terrorized by my presence. I could see it. Not one of these mortals ever saw a creature like me. Their eyes gave it away.

I lunged at the tiny soul, throwing it at the ground with strength I was sure I never had before. It begged me to spare its life. The blood refused to return to the Great lake. Selfish blood.

So I tore its throat open with my teeth.

The joy returned once more, filling every vein of my body with warmth, knowing that I had fulfilled my duty once more. The wretched gem hunters barked at my victory, some in genuine dissappointment, others in true happiness. To me, this simply meant that I already acquired loyal followers, or, at least, adulants.

My second fight proved to be more challenging, as it was meant to be. This time, it was a daughter of the skies, able to not only fly, but walk as well. It was different than I remembered. No hatchling should have four legs. And yet, there it was, countering my own knowledge of the world around me.

Such brutal fight was never seen before. The daughter of the skies flew above me, opening a wound with every opportunity she got. It became so bad that my faith in the Great Lake was nearly shattered. This proved to be the turning point, as the daughter became more confident. Much confident.

She swooped down, aiming to deliver one final strike. At that moment, I pulled out my knife and stabbed it right between her eyes, ending the duel.

But something felt wrong.

My hands began shaking, my mind conspiring against me. How could such a thing even be possible? There was no reason for me to be so powerful and so thirsty. I looked around myself. The gem hunters began praising me, adoring me. How absurd, I thought. Before, nothing but a slave. Now, I became an idol in their eyes, deserved to be worshipped. Some higher powers were definitely at work, and their aim was my ascension.

Their praises reached my ears. My soul was crying in joy. Finally someone who recognized its efforts and strenghts, its significance in the great scheme of things. Not insulted, not berated, not chained. Worshipped.

I could feel something changing within me. My heart began beating faster and faster. My blood was boiling. My hands ready to spill more blood, to give new offerings.

"Who shall prove their might against me, Salzar, the chosen of the Great Lake?" I bellowed to the crowd. The heathens looked at me and began laughing, especially the ones in power.

"Prove to us that you are the chosen one." They taunted. "Fight against our champion, Rufus!"

And so it happened. Out of the shadows came Rufus, the champion of these gem hunters. What a magnificent creature, truly worthy to be my opponent. Every gem hunter suddenly became quiet at the sight of the beast. Just then, the feeling I received was slowly escaping from my grasp. I had to judge them all.

"Why are you so faithless? Why did you stop singing my name? Come! Start chanting! Scream in joy! Your savior is here! The one that will set you free has finally come! Watch, as I smite the heathen in front of me!"

"I do not know you, creature." Rufus said. "Who are you to oppose me and my masters?"

"I am the truthbringer! I am the god you all desired for so long! The one who returned from the dead to judge the living and show them the error of their ways! The ignorant shall perish while the worthy will march on the streets built from the tombstones of the wicked, singing songs of the kingdom that has to come! Fear me, for I am Salzar, the Dead God!"

My words warmed the hearts of many souls. The very instant I stopped talking, they began showering me with even more praise than before. Rufus, along with the ones in power, became scared, knowing that they already lost their war against me.

But Rufus was stubborn. He refused every chance I gave him to surrender. He was a warrior, and perished as such.

It went like this: Rufus barked as he lunged at me with all his might. Our power struggle scared even the most brave gem hunters. The enlightened ones started chanting in unison. Some started praying. Just then, I felt the familiar power rush back to my body and I easily overwhelmed Rufus. After he fell before me, I used my knife to cut off his head. A sign of my godhood.

The public was euphoric, recognizing their savior. Some of them brought to me the heathens and the ones in power. We celebrated that day by slicing their throats, gathering their blood in large buckets and decorating the walls with psalms and prayers I carefully created for them to use in their time of need, which can be seen to this day. Disciples responsible are: Fender, son of Bronson; Dynamo, son of Crumpet, Stinker, son of Sage and Roscoe, son of Argus.

Celestia cringed in disgust. The horrors described in the book were clearly ramblings of a madpony. What sane mind could willingly spill blood of the innocent? Just thinking about it made her head hurt. She was benevolent and kind, but also just. Criminals who wished nothing but trouble had to be defeated, for the sake of every living being on Equus.

Nevertheless, she wanted to know more. There were many secrets surrounding the strange cult and she needed to know them all. So she flipped several pages forward and began reading a new chapter.

Shortly after the Dead God's victory, Brutus, son of Scamper, son of Citron, fell in front of Salzar and spoke up: "Great Salzar, we are running out of gems to feed our families. For generations we were digging the earth in search of its treasures. But now, it is slowly turning on us, leaving us with empty stomachs. Help us!" And Salzar answered: "Stand up! I, Salzar, the Dead God, had chosen you as my people! As long as you are loyal to me, your families will never lack the material possessions they so desire. Bring here everyone!" Brutus did as ordered. The Dead God stood up from his throne, raised his hands in the air above his disciples and said: "From now on, anyone who believes in me shall never be abandoned! I, Salzar, the Dead God, decided to give you a blessing. Let your hunger for worthless gems and thirst for water away! Throw them out! Despise them! Your new bodies now require meat and blood! But prove it to me that you are worthy of this gift." And he threw at them a piece of raw meat. They wasted no time and immediately tore it into chunks. Satisfied, they praised Salzar even more.

But Brutus asked: "Forgive my foolishness, oh great Dead God, but how are we going to acquire more meat and blood? Where can we find those in the middle of this wasteland?" And Salzar replied: "Your bodies are gifted! Go, go outside, hunt down every creature that dares to stand in your way. Eat their flesh and drink their blood. But beware to not hurt your own brothers and sisters, for all of you are bound by blood. And your blood belongs to me."

Then Brutus gathered a few individuals and went outside when look! there was a pony caravan travelling through the desert. Brutus sneaked up on the caravan and killed every heathen he could find. Five ponies died that day. That is why that place is called Shrog'Danar.

And the enlightened celebrated that day in the glory of the Dead God, whom joined the feast.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia!" A guardpony yelled as he banged on the door.

"Come in!"

The guardpony opened the door and ran up to the princess. He bowed his head.

"Princess, the Ancients attacked once more!"

She sighed worriedly.

"We lost five brave guardponies. Two unicorns and three earth ponies. Three more had been possessed and escaped with the enemy. We were unable to track them down in time to catch them."

Celestia stood up. "My little pony, please be so kind and guard this book while I go outside. You are forbidden to read its contents. Do not allow for it to fall in other hooves. Can I trust you with such a task?"

The guardpony saluted. "Ma'am, I swear on my honor I will follow your orders."

She nodded and went out of the room.

He sighed as he sat down, next to the book. Everything was quiet. Quiet and boring. But he was a member of the Royal Guard. His duty was to protect the Princess as well as every living pony with his life. There was no better job than his.

Fifteen minutes passed after the Princess rushed outside. As expected, not one single pony came to visit him, which actually made his job easier, albeit more boring than ever. Soon he found himself checking out the whole room of the solar diarch. The key word was looking, for he didn't dare to touch anything of hers.

He was busy inspecting intricate decorations on a vase when he heard whispers.

"Who is there?!" He turned around. "Show yourself!"

There was no response. Instead, the whispers seemed to grow slightly in volume, despite being barely audible, even for a pony like him, who mastered the ability to pick up sounds that others couldn't.

"If I find you, I swear to the Maker..." He muttered as he slowly circled around the room.

At one point, the whispers became more pronounced. He was able to hear them clearly, even if there was not one single pony in the room with him. In the end, he sighed and went towards the center of the room.

And that was where the book started acting weird.

As soon as he lay down near it, deciding to rationalize the whispers as a result of stress, he was absolutely sure that the book moved on its own. It was brief, barely noticeable to the common eye, yet his eyes didn't betray him, even if it happened at the corner of his vision.

Ah, but maybe he was tired, he thought, maybe his mind really did play pranks on him. He, like everypony else, was in a time of war. A time that may as well mean the turning point of whole Equus, where every move could have significant impact on the future and-

There! It happened again! This time there was no excuse available, no way to deceive himself. The book moved just as the whispers became slightly louder than before, as if they begged him to open its pages, to discover its secrets, to...

"No! Get out of my mind!" He screamed loudly, smacking himself with his hooves. Carelessly, his right hoof slapped the book, throwing it away. It fell down on the floor, pages flipping before finally stopping at some random passage.

He gasped. The book! He was supposed to protect it, not destroy it! Oh Maker, what had he done?!

Rushing towards the book, the guardpony noticed how the whispers stopped abruptly, He was unsure why, but it was an improvement he welcomed with open arms. Intending to grab the book with his mouth, as he was an earth pony, his eyes casually glanced at one of the opened pages.

"What the..." He muttered, the page catching his full attention. "A song? What?"

Finally giving in to his curiosity, he allowed himself to read a verse.

Just one verse. Nothing more.

Author's Note

Here is the second chapter of the story, like promised. As you noticed, I placed the texts regarding the book in italics. That is because I thought it would be easier for the reader to follow when there are two/more plots going on (the book and the "real time"). However, should I in future write chapters where there is only the plot of the book, I will write it normally, since there is no reason to use italics.

Anyways, I would like to thank you all for reading, reviewing and liking the story! It really helps my creativity. Also, be sure to share it with others! More people equals more fun!

Chapter 3

"Don't be afraid, brothers and sisters! The Dead God Salzar will return once again to collect all the blood of the living and purge the lands with his children! For it is his will! All blood shall return to the Dead God! The heathens will be punished!"

Two guardponies jumped on the podium, grabbed the cackling madpony and took him away in front of the eyes of a large audience that came to listen to the "speech". The bearers of the Elements decided to go around and ask how it all happened while Celestia was forced to look at one of the members of the royal guard, perhaps the most prestigious military position in Equestria, the elite of the elite, dragged away like any commoner. Not only it was sad, but also humiliating.

Now, to a simple pony living in the capital of Equestria, this might have been an extremely rare sight, maybe once in a lifetime. When it happened, it would always be a pony who had such traits as their talent. Such individuals would do something simple yet efficient enough to draw everypony's attention, like yelling out loud or throwing pies in somepony's face. But this... this was on a whole new level.

The bearers returned to Celestia, each with a valuable piece of information that helped her unravel the mystery. A mystery that served only to make the Princess feel horrible about herself.

It all happened so suddenly. There was this armor-clad pony walking down the streets, staring forward as if mesmerized, moving his mouth as if speaking to somepony, yet not one passer-by heard him say anything. There was even a colt who approached the guardpony, staring in awe at the majestic member of the royal guard. However, the guard pony ignored the colt completely and continued walking forward, despite the colt showering him with praise as much as any colt his age would.

Then, as if on command, it reached the podium, jumped on it, turned around and started yelling. What the guardpony yelled about was not remembered completely, partly because it was a very long speech and partly because the audience gradually grew bigger, meaning that some came a bit later and thus unable to know what was said in the beginning. Luckily, some ponies were able to remember at least a tiny piece of the whole thing. The following are pieces of the madpony's fanatical talk.

"...All begins and ends with Salzar, the Dead God. The blood that runs through our veins belongs to him and him alone. Yes, you heard me correctly. The blood is not yours. You are simply holding it for someone else. But now that he has returned, said blood must also be returned, for the blood of the living belongs to the Dead God..."

"...rejoice! Rejoice! The Dead God walks among us! What deity is capable of doing what he did?! What deity could give birth to the Great Lake, the lake out of which his avatar was born?!..."

"...My whole life was that of servitude. I lived only to serve the tyrant that runs Equestria! But no more! No more! The Dead God spoke to me, whispered to me, showed me the truth! Indeed brothers and sisters, there is a whole world beyond this one! The realm of the Dead God's children! The Void between worlds is their domain!..."

"... But prove it to me! Prove that you are worthy to receive the glorious gift of reunification! I will be detained, as it is written by fate! But fear not, as I will return to my shackles, you will be free to advance on this broken world and bring the end of all times. The end, where all shall be reunited with Salzar, making the Dead God complete! Where all wrongs will be righted, wrongs committed by those who you praise even to this day! These wannabe goddesses, who manipulated the course of our destiny, will receive punishment from Salzar himself for their blasphemy and crimes against ponykind!..."

"...The end of all times will also bring a final end to the Ancients, the past lords of Equus who were cast into the formless aether by what they thought to be their allies. They were rocks on our paths, slaughtered our brothers and sisters, all for another attempt to regain control of what they lost a long time ago. And yet... and yet, we must be thankful to them, for while they are our sworn enemies, they did a great job by keeping all kingdoms busy long enough for our ranks to swell in thousands! Still, they are unaware of the world's history, much like their representative, a sworn enemy of the Dead God. The Ancients are completely unaware of our end game and, when they finally find out, it will be already too late to stop it! Where once we suffered the ultimate defeat, our return shall be reborn in the form of the Ghizhir, forerunner of the end of all times, the voice of Salzar himself!..."

The revelation left a mark not only on Celestia, but on the bearers themselves. Ranging from shocked faces to worry and outright rage, the emotional burden proved to be too much for some, as Fluttershy almost fainted from the terrifying words. The one known as Pinkie Pie helped her the very moment she saw her best friend in sucha pitiful state.

"But that is impossible!" Twilight protested. "There are no more covens on whole Equus that are left intact! How do they plan to-"

She, like Celestia, immediately received her answer. Five minutes after the mad guardpony was taken away, somepony, a mare to be precise, yelled out loud words that would be soon stuck in the minds of everypony present for days to come.

"Let the blood flow!"

In an instant, just like that, the citizens of Canterlot scattered in random directions, as a colt yelled loudly. It was a yell of agony, of somepony who was stabbed when least expected. As more and more ponies moved away, the elements and the Princess were able to see the culprit of a crime that happened in front of their very eyes.

The criminal, a mare with golden mane and red fur, sporting a chef's hat, held a knife in her mouth, which was used to stab a half-grown colt in his stomach, spilling the blood all over the floor. Immediately, several guards surrounded her as she began hissing like a snake. But that wasn't the disturbing part. The disturbing part, according to Celestia, was how calm did the elements reacted to it all. They were simply so busy with defending Equestria against both Ancients and the cult, that it left a big impact on them. She still remembered how some of them cried when they first saw true carnage on the battlefield...

"What the buck is her problem?!" Rainbow Dash yelled angirly. She had to be held down by a certain pony with a hat to prevent her from doing anything rash. "How could that sicko do something like that?!"

Everyone heard Twilight gasp. "What if... and I know this may sound crazy... but what if all that talk had somehow affected everyone else?"

Now her friends gasped in return. The shyest of the bunch dared to ask.

"What... do you mean?"

"It's strange, I know! But... there are spells that can do that kind of thing. But the problem is, their users must cast them first, which in itself takes a lot of time. So my question is, how did that guard do that if he was talking to the crowd all of this time?"

"Couldn't he have done it sooner?"

"No, no." She shook her head. "For the effect to kick in, the speech should have been short, yet perfect. That guard looked like he was talking for at least half an hour."

Celestia couldn't take it anymore and sighed loudly, enough to draw everyone's attention. "I'm sorry, my little ponies. It's all my fault." She moved her eyes away from the staring student. "I recognized that guard. He was supposed to protect the book in my absence."

"Book?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"A... coven, was found in Ponyville." She winced slightly when the bearers started panicking. "It was destroyed and the traitors imprisoned... however..."

"However?" Her student pressed on.

"Several artifacts were found. All of them were destroyed, except for one."

"The book?"

"Yes. The book."

"And what does the book talk about?"

"It is a... I don't even know what it is, I'm afraid."

"Huh?"

"The first few pages were incoherent ramblings that I couldn't make nor head nor tail of it. Few pages later, and it started talking about a tribe of, what I think it described, Diamond Dogs."

"Diamond Dogs?" Applejack asked. "Ah am confused. What the hay those have to do with any of this?"

"According to the book, whoever wrote it fought mercilessly against every warrior that the tribe's leader sent in their way, only to... defeat, the leader and take their place."

"Now that you mention it..." Twilight placed a hoof under her chin. "Didn't some of the many reports claim that Diamond Dogs attacked some cities, caravans and... well... everything else?"

"Correct, my dear student."

"Hmm... all of this is very strange..." Twilight hummed. "Can I take a look at it?"

The answer stabbed Celestia's heart far more efficiently than any sword on Equus ever could. She even took few hoofsteps back and gasped, realizing her mistake. Of course her student would ask to take a look at it, bookworm that she was. But this situation was horribly different.

"I..." She stuttered. "I-I'm afraid that won't be possible."

"But-"

"My no is a no, please understand."

"But I can take care of myself! I could handle it with care and-"

"Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia shouted. "You won't touch that book until I say so! End of story!"

Then, realizing what she did, Celestia lowered her head in shame, apologized to everyone, turned around and walked away. However, such outburst of anger surprised the bearers, especially Twilight, which led her to believe that there must have been a very good reason as to why did the Princess act so surprised and angry. To her, it was obvious that she was trying to protect everypony by staying as far away from the book. She connected the dots in her head with the recent events, and realized that, if that guardpony read the book, the very book that Celestia was talking about, then that meant...

"He was the victim!" She suddenly shouted, to everyone's surprise.

"What are you talking about?" Rarity inquired.

"Hear me out, Princess said that the guardpony was put in charge of keeping the book safe, right? So if he did, then obviously he must have read it, which makes me wonder as to why. The royal guards are the most loyal ponies in all of Equestria. They follow every order that the Princess gives them. So why did he read that book?" She turned to her friends. "Why would a loyal pony disobey her orders?"

"Maybe he wasn't so loyal as you say. I think he lost his marbles." Rainbow Dash waved a hoof at the side of her head.

"No, that's not it." Twilight shook her head. "I think... that the book had somehow forced him to read it."

"Are you suggesting that the book was enchanted with such a vile spell?"

"I think so, Rarity. But in all honesty, I don't know. There is simply so much I still don't know about, even after all of this..." She trailed off, lowering her gaze. "I am such a failure."

"Hey, don't say that." Rainbow Dash hugged Twilight. "You are no failure."

"But... but..." She almost started crying. "I couldn't save them... I am... too weak to save anypony..."

"Twi..."

"How can I be a Princess if I can't even defend my own subjects?"

The remaining bearers came close to Twilight as well, performing a group hug.

"Don't worry, Twilight dear."

"Yeah, we will totally kick them all in the rear!"

"Our friendship is far stronger than all those meanies!"

Twilight Sparkle sighed in relief and smiled weakly. "Thank you. Thank you all."

The group hug lasted for a couple more seconds in an awkward silence. Twilight turned to her friends and smiled, proud that she had such loyal friends.

But there was something in the sky she couldn't see clearly. A black dot of sorts, that seemed to expand with every minute. It didn't go left or right, then it hit her...

Whatever it was, it was coming towards them.

Author's Note

So here is the third chapter. What can I say? Well, I dunno how many other authors write, but I basically make the plot as I go (which, I have to admit, can sometimes be rather hard but totally worth it). I also have to warn you all, that sometimes, depending on the chapter, there won't be bits from the sacred book of the cult, just like in this one. Don't worry, there will be more of it, but it will appear when, in my opinion, the time is right. I already have some ideas for the next chapter and there might be a possibility that it will happen there. But I guess you will have to read more to find out! ;D

Chapter 4

"Is that... a crow?" Twilight asked nobody in particular. Not once in her life she saw a crow flying like that, and towards a city no less. Heck, she was sure that most ponies thought like her, judging by their murmuring as soon as they noticed the black bird, just like she did. To most ponies, a crow was associated with something dark, something evil, mostly because many could be found in places such as the Everfree forest. And while Twilight was by no means superstitious, at least not like many of her kind, seeing that bird made her feel uneasy.

It was no secret. Ever since the beginning of the "Downfall", the first public appearance of both the Ancients and the cult, named by the media to signify "the beginning of the end for every race on Equus", everything was turned on its head. Even the most mundane of activities were prophesized to be carriers of a yet another tragedy that would befall their planet, something that, sadly, turned out to be true most of the times. When one finally understands what all of this means, they won't be surprised to know that almost everypony was on edge. One minute, everything is peaceful. The next, everyone runs out of their homes in search for another shelter. Nowhere was safe, everypony could bleed.

Even Equestria, a prosperous and stable kingdom, was now at the brink of collapse. The only things that held it together were the two rulers, the Elements and a relatively powerful army that, while not enough to wage war on either of the threats, they were somewhat capable of defending their territory, but not without heavy losses. The reason being is that both the Ancients and the cult were way too powerful, overwhelmingly so. While the cult's ranks were filled will bloodcrazed savages and creatures that Equus never knew they even exsisted, the Ancients had magical powers and knowledge far beyond that of ponies, or any other race for that matter.

"A crow? Here?" Fluttershy's voice was barely perceivable to everyone but her friends, who were close to her.

"What's it doin'?"

"It's..." Twilight squinted. "...carrying something."

The bird in question was eerily quiet as the flapping of wings could be heard more and more with each meter it traversed. Then, when it finally reached its destination, it slowly landed down on the ground.

"What is that in its beak?" Rarity inquired, trying to keep a stoic face despite the nervousness she felt at the moment. As if on clue, the bird gently placed the object on the ground. It turned its head slightly, one eye staring at the bearers. A chill went down their spine as they noticed a very peculiar detail.

"Look! That eye!" Twilight pointed out. Before she could do anything, the object, now coated with an ethereal green aura, started floating in the air as it expanded, revealing a scroll. At first, said scroll looked empty, but then dozens of symbols, sharing the color of the aura that surrounded it, formed lines upon lines of text, which, to everpony's horror, turned out to be a spell for summoning a large green object that looked more like a sphere coated with fire than an actual fireball. Its brightness surpassed that of Celestia's sun despite being way smaller. Not only did it give the impression that it was a miniature version of the star, but it also absorbed all light from the real sun, meaning that every building, every living being, was coated in green.

One can't even begin to describe the amount of horror each pony felt, especially after such blatant display of power, daring to suggest that there might be something more powerful than Celestia living out there. Many either fainted or fled. For some, their brains had finally decided they had truly seen enough, eventually breaking into fits of insane laughter. Meanwhile, the Element bearers prepared themselves for an eventual fight that would never come, as the object never moved from its place, apparently having no desire for a fight.

"Ponies of Equestria." A voice boomed from the sphere. It was loud enough that some nearby windows cracked. "Ungrateful worms that plague our lands, we have a message for all of you, especially for the royal sisters." It was already clear who was the sender. "The city you call Fillydelphia has finally returned to its rightful owner, as many other will soon follow."

It went silent, allowing the news to sink in, which unfortunately did more efficiently that it probably hoped. The bearers could basically hear despair emanating from all streets big and small. Worse, some ponies knew, even felt, that it was bound to happen sooner or later, that the army would fail to protect Equestria's cities as they failed to protect the countrysides. Nopony even knew the situation in other kingdoms. And now, to receive the confirmation of their worst fears, broke many souls and even more hopes for the future.

"You even have the audacity to mock us through the despicable act of perverting the names of our settlements and filling them with all kinds of depravity. Such a blatant attempt at provoking us will not go unpunished. We are coming for all of you. Run, we shall find you. Hide, we will burn your pitiful havens. Nothing you do can stop us from our righteous conquest. Ironic really, the very prison you banished us in turned out to be our salvation." Twilight's heart sank in her stomach. "We can assure you that, after our victory, your species will live on as breeders, since you make excellent vessels. It is the only solution that seems fair, really. After all, we lost our bodies because of you. Someone has to pay for this injustice, yes?" With a final, cruel laugh, the sphere as well as the scroll were consumed by the ethereal fire. The crow, the very one that brought the message, flew away untouched.

"So,uh... any ideas?" Pinkie Pie blurted out after few minutes of silence.

"Hey..."

"What is it?"

"How long do we, uh... have to stay here, guarding this entrance to the royal library? It's time to go to sleep, in all honesty."

"As long as it needs, Steel Helmet."

"But it's boring!"

"We have to follow every order from the Princess, so quit your whining."

"But... but where is the excitement? Where are the awesome battles and... stuff?"

"Do you want to go to the front lines? Do you have any idea how lucky you are right now?"

"Uh..."

"No, seriously. Do you want to go there, where hundreds of brave ponies give their life to defend our kingdom every day?"

"Okay, okay. I get it. Calm down."

"I..." The other guardpony noticed somepony coming down the hallway. They wore armor, just like them. "C... commander!"

"At ease, soldier." The black-furred unicorn waved with a hoof dismissively. His green irises glanced at the two of them.

"Forgive me for asking, but what are you doing here?"

"Princess Celestia sent me to inspect the library for an... item. It is of the utmost importance for me to find it."

The two guardponies looked at each other but didn't dare to question their superior, so they moved aside, allowing the commander to enter into the royal library. He closed the door behind himself and chuckled softly.

"Fools..." he muttered as he took a good look of the place. He was about to take a turn to the right when he heard something tapping on the window coming from his left. The commander turned his head and noticed a crow tapping the glass with its beak. He sighed as he walked towards said window and opened it.

"It seems you have successfully infiltrated the castle, as ordered." The crow spoke as it turned its head to stare the pony with one of its eyes.

"That I did." The pony chuckled. "How ironic, this commander is one of the weakest minds I have ever encountered. So full of turmoil, full of fear. So... shamefully easy to overwhelm."

"There is no time for boasting, I'm afraid." The crow flapped its wings slightly. "The plans are changed."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Changed?"

"Indeed. Consensus was achieved. The Griffon kingdom is to fall within this week."

"What's with the sudden change of plans?"

"While we may have endless vessels at our disposal, most of them are absolutely useless in air combat. One idea is to conquer what remains of the Griffon kingdom while capturing as many of them alive as possible to use them as vessels."

The commander unicorn hummed. "I guess it makes sense."

The bird nodded. "Yes it does. Fresh vessels can fly, the undead ones cannot."

"And tell me, why wasn't I informed of such drastic measures sooner?"

"Something powerful resides in this region. It tampers with our connections."

"What?"

"I had the same reaction when I discovered this problem."

"How is this possible? These filthy mouthbreathers developed such a powerful spell?"

The bird covered its beak with one wing, humming.

"No. I doubt it."

"Hmph. I fail to see any other explanation."

"I don't."

"Then tell me already."

"The fanatics."

"Them?! No, I refuse to believe that."

"As strange as it sounds, that is my theory."

"They would attack us the moment they felt our presence. So far, I failed to meet one."

"Hmm... who says it must be them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you feel this... tainted magic permeating this place?"

"Actually, I do. It is why I came here."

"It is the taint of the void commonly present in objects and beings touched by the anomaly."

As the pony turned around to inspect the area, the crow landed on his head. Several minutes later and they still failed to find anything relevant.

"I thought this was going to be easy." The pony seethed. "Clearly a mistake."

"Not necessarily. Most of the items present in this place leave traces of magic that fuse together, making it hard to locate one of them."

"I swear, I'm going to set this place on fire as soon as we find what we seek."

"Hey, over there. I can feel it now."

"You do?"

"I am older and more experienced than you."

"Ah. My apologies."

Both intruders went towards a table in the distance. The unicoron's horn suddenly became a living candle, bathing the place in green light. At one point, a red dome formed out of nowhere just as the unicorn made one more step forward. It was so powerful that it threw the possessed unicron right into a bookshelf, knocking it over. The bird landed on his head once more, unscathed.

"Void-based barrier. Perfect for keeping us away. The proof we needed."

The unicorn scoffed as he jumped back on his hooves.

"Well, at least I don't feel any pain."

"Enough talk. Come, we will break the barrier together."

They rapidly reached the area where the barrier last appeared. A glowing beak and horn charged forward as soon as the magical dome appeared. The clash of two types of magic gave birth to a massive burst of energy that spread all over the place, causing a brief earthquake that shook the castle to its core.

"Damn it!" The unicorn cursed as he briefly lost control of his balance. He resolved the problem by attaching himself to the table. After the earthquake stopped, both of them noticed a book with red symbols on its cover.

"Curses, we have to be quick before this place gets surrounded by every magical user of the region."

"Is... is this..."

"Why, yes. Only those fanatics use such symbols."

"Wait, I need to see what's written inside."

"We can't afford it at the moment."

"It will be brief."

The commander used his horn to open the book on a random page. His eyes briefly glanced at the content.

Welcome, atoner, to the true path.
If it's the truth you seek, then hear me out:
Go back to your family and start a bloodbath
For it's the proof that you are righteous and devout.

After the deed has been done, which should be fun,
Then come back, start reading this book.
Their blood is pure, a priceless cure,
For your dead heart, snatched away by the deceitful hook.

Spill it all, then spill some more,
On a wall that will become a door,
To the void, my domain.

The realm of eternal drought,
Where lost souls roam about,
Host of all things arcane.

His children roam free, beneath the Ashen Tree,
On the Island of Vanity.
One of many places, where mortals from all races,
Have long since lost their sanity.

If the Dead God is what you are after,
Then don't bother, your search is through.
You haven't found the Dead God, atoner.
The Dead God has found you.

He was about to flip to another page when they heard the door opening quickly and forcefully. It was a sign that some unwanted presence found its way into the library. Enraged, but not scared, the pony grabbed the book with his magic before both of them ran towards a window.

"Stop right there!" One of the guardponies screamed to no avail. However, a new voice changed everything.

"Let us pass!"

It was a female voice without a doubt. Stopping abruptly, they turned their heads, knowing exactly who it was. The group of guardponies split apart, revealing the bearers and the rulers of Equestria, side by side.

"Commander? What are you..." A guardpony that protected the door trailed off as the bearers walked forward.

"Go. Take the book. I will deal with them."

The crow nodded as it grabbed the book and quickly flew outside before anypony could do anything to stop it.

"No! Not that book!" Celestia shouted before jumping through the window and chasing the escaped bird. Luna joined her sister few seconds later

"Princess!" Twilight shouted as the bearers of the Elements watched the royal sisters flying away in the night sky. "I need to go with them!"

"Uh, sugarcube..." Applejack warned Twilight. "Ah think we have our own problems."

Twilight Sparkle moved her head in the direction where her friend pointed at. She saw the pony clad in armor with a pair of green eyes and a horn covered in green aura.

He was similing.

Author's Note

I have to apologize for the poem if it sounds... weird. I am not used to writing those as much as the other stuff. Please tell me in the comments your opinion about it (and the chapter). :p

Chapter 5

Carrying the cursed book proved to be more difficult than expected. Being a bird with relatively poor physical strenght was not a problem when one had magic as support. But what the Ancient soon found out was the book's ability to... "nullify" his magical essence. In other words, casting magic was impossible as long as the book came in contact with it physically.

"Clever... very clever..."

Whoever wrote it probably thought of themselves as really smart individuals. There was only one group that was truly capable of posing a threat to their plans and that was that insane cult that worshipped the anomaly. That same anomaly that constantly tried to ruin their plans, even if they would benefit from the results. If only those lunatics knew what they worshipped to begin with...

The Ancient heard the flapping of wings behind itself, so it turned around to face whoever had the audacity to chase it through the skies. To its pleasure, it was none other than the royal sisters themselves. It felt some sort of pride, realizing that the "Equestrians" had to send their rulers to deal with it. But all traces of it vanished and were quickly replaced with tranquil fury as the princesses stood firmly in their places, clearly refusing to come forward.

"Return the book at once!" Commanded the younger one. The Ancient replied with a snort.

"You have no authority over me, alicorn." It spat. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Why, you..."

Celestia interrupted her. "Please! You don't know what that book contains! Stop all of this before it is too late!"

"Quite the contrary." The voice was as cold and calm as ice. "Perhaps I need to remind you that we are far older than you? We know what we are dealing with. You, on the other hand, don't and most likely never will. You lack... the proper enlightenment."

"Is brute force and mockery everything you know, fiend?! Do you understand how much everyone on Equus suffers because of your actions?!" Luna retorted.

"Our problem, it is not. Your kind banished us from these lands, our lands. We simply decided to return the favor."

"By killing innocents and spreading chaos?!"

"What are deaths of few thousands compared to a banishment of a whole race?"

"But we didn't even know you exsisted until recently!" Celestia replied. "Was there really need for violence where the problems can be solved peacefully? My little ponies aren't the only ones living on Equus!"

"Maybe I should explain, we have no desire to share our planet with lowly invaders such as you."

"Stop accusing us of a crime that we didn't commit!"

"You didn't, but your ancestors did. And with such ferocity that were caught unprepared. You cannot even begin to comprehend our state. We lost everything we had. Technological wonders, sources of knowledge... And for what? For a few spellcasting ponies and other mockeries of nature." The crow stared at the two princesses. "But it wasn't all for naught, you know? Thanks to you, who banished us into the formless aether, that same aether you use for your spells, now we achieved even more power. Loosing our bodies was a price to pay, however."

Celestia closed her eyes and dropped her head slightly. "I'm... sorry."

"I don't need your pity. You want the book? Here it is."

The crow let go of the book. While Celestia let out a startled cry at the crow's blatant disregard for magical artifacts, her younger sister immediately flew downwards, trying to grab the book. Before she could do that, the Crow's beak glew brightly as it shot out a green thunder bolt at her back.

"Luna!"

Her sister couldn't hear her. She was unprepared for such a devastating attack and she lost her consciousness because of it. Celestia snapped her head at the possessed crow, which spat out a fireball at her. The distraction worked and the crow was free to reach the book and fly away without any problems. Celestia decided to help her sister rather than retrieve the cursed object.

Things were going really well.

Twilight Sparkle had seen it before. She and her friends were witnesses countless of times. Ponies, Minotaurs, even simple animals, all under their control. All with those glowing green eyes. Sometimes it would be subtle, like completely normal green irises. Other times... well, their eyes would glow like two green tiny suns. The first time that happened, they were shocked beyond belief. Even the bravest ponies burst into tears of terror at the sight. To see a member of their species under complete control of another being was something out of nightmares. Apart from being a scary phenomenon, those possessed looked... off.

No, not in a possessed-sense off. Their behavior was creepy and abnormal. Some possessed ponies had trouble walking on all fours, some would scream profanities or just scream like a madpony, some would laugh as they attacked other ponies.

Worse of all, there was no way to permanently stop any of them. As soon as the vessel would suffer enough damage for them to be useless, they would simply escape and search for another. Never before she was so thankful to those who fought them on the battlefield. After all, they were the reason why half of Equestria was still safe from the Ancients as well as the cult.

And what about their magic? Their power? Even Twilight had to admit, it was beyond anything they ever fought. Summoning storms, causing earthquakes, turning lands into one giant wildifre. She guessed that exposure to the magical aether would do that to a pony.

But now it was different. All bearers of the elements, plus several guardponies, against one Ancient. She was confident in their victory. Safety in numbers and all that. But first, some questions.

"What are you doing here?" She demnaded. Her royal status made her confident like that.

"Nothing that concerns you, alicorn." The Ancient replied with a confident smirk of his own. "We already have what we searched for. Everything else in here is useless to us."

"It even speaks with commander's voice!" Twilight heard one of the guardponies whispering to another. She didn't really care though. She was to busy controlling her anger due to the entity calling the whole royal library useless.

"You ain't going nowhere, varmint!"

"Yeah! I'll buck him to the face!"

"Dash! Wait!"

Twilight knew it would be useless. Once the blue pegasus decided to do something, that something would be done even if her life depended on it. Still, Rainbow Dash, as well as others, witnessed first-hand the Ancient's power. Didn't really stop her from charging straight at them whenever she got the chance...

The Ancient kept smiling as its horn started glowing green. It shot a green ray at the charging pegasus, who dodged the attack.

"Ha! You will never catch me, slowpoke!"

If Rainbow Dash were a pony that liked to pay attention to their environment, she would find out that the ray turned around, as if it bounced from something, and went straight for her back. If it weren't for Twilight, who casted a magical barrier around her friend, thus protecting her from the attack and pulling her back to the group, Rainbow Dash would truly feel pain.

"We'll use the Elements, everypony!" Twilight shouted as the other bearers gathered near her. With the help of the Elements of Harmony, the group fired the typical rainbow-like beam at the possessed commander, who remained impassive, as if wishing to be hit.

And then everything turned white.

Every nook and cranny of the library was bathed in a blinding light. The ponies had to cover their eyes with their hooves because even their eyelids couldn't stop it. After said light died down, the six bearers opened their eyes to analyze the situation. The shock that came afterwards would imprint itself into their minds for years to come.

The Ancient was completely fine. No significant change whatsoever. Their Elements of Harmony, the same Elements that helped them defeat threats like Discord, was completely useless. It must have noticed their reactions, because it started laughing. Not one pony dared to speak.

"This is it? This is the power of Harmony, the one we are supposed to fear?" The laughter died down, it's voice suddenly becoming deep, more monstrous. "If I were a mere puppet of flesh and bone, the attack would work. But my body has long since turned to dust and I am reborn."

It pointed a hoof at itself. "What... am I? Nothing more than a being whose home is the dreaded magical aether, where I spent millenia receiving blasts of raw magical energy that peeled the flesh from my bones and destroyed my very self only to rebuild it again and again and again until all what was left... was a monster. The hatred for the crime you commited brew and grew within me, eventually giving me a shape, a reason to exsist. And you?" It pointed the hoof at them.

"Petty ponies. So captivated by the simplest things around you. So enthralled and intoxicated with Harmony that you are unable to see the harsh reality that surrounds you and the monsters it conceives in its shadows. You even went as far as to use magic to imprison yourselves deeper into your cages, tapping into the aether, our aether, thinking that, if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss won't return the favor. And so you kept digging, searching, greedy for more power, for more ways to express your "friendship". All in good fun, all in the name of Harmony, correct?"

It's voice became even more frightening, despite becoing a barely audible whisper. "It all starts with one simple-minded spellcaster deciding to go beyond the boundaries that others before them never dared to cross.Then they begin feeling odd, listening to a maddening cacophony of whispers that invade their sleep, unable to be removed by the alicorn of night. Whispers which, for some odd reason, despite their strong will and sworn loyalty to the solar alicorn, are becoming more soothing, charming, convincing. It cannot be ignored anymore, so they learn to embrace the phenomenon as if it were a mere fact of life. Then one day they wake up and soon find out that they are not on their bed but somewhere out there. They dismiss it as sleepwalking, even as it becomes more frequent. By the time the learn the truth, their bodies are forfeit. We used this technique for one whole millenium without any of you even knowing."

Nopony dared to move, knowing that one wrong hoofstep might end tragically. Their best weapon proved to be worthless in restraining the Ancient. It was only a natural thing to do.

"But enough talk. I lost too much time in here. Now allow me to show you what are we truly capable of."

With a continuous scream, the commander's frame became surrounded in a greenish aura, followed by the unmistakable sound of bones breaking. It would soon become known as the most morbid display of power that the ponies ever witnessed. One that would be hard to forget.

It all started with the legs. As everypony heard the sickening cracks, the legs started twisting in weird angles. The front hooves suddenly became swollen, disgusting blobs as several smaller appendages slowly formed their way out of the mass. But this wasn't the end of the horror. The hind legs twisted some more, as if the commander pony tried to place all of its weight on them. Before they knew it, the Ancient stood only on its hind legs, in a way that reminded them of a minotaur. A pair of bat-like wings sprouted from its back as the horn became even longer than before. If the new commander bore any resemblance to a pony, the group failed to recognize it.

The Ancient roared once more as it fired several magical rays all over the library, setting it on fire. All the ponies in the room could only watch, or in Fluttershy's case fall unconscious, as they were to scared to approach the creature in front of them. Even the guardponies, the bravest ponies of Equestria, refused to do anything that would threaten it.

"The library!" Twilight shrieked. "We have to save the library!"

And so, while the ponies were busy with their precious books, the Ancient had all the time in the world to reach the nearest window and escape.

Chapter 6

Yet another village appeared below the Ancient-possessed crow. It was one in a many, for the Ancient's determination was enough for it to continue the journey until the task was complete. Although the book was heavy and the vessel's wings became less and less effective, the Ancient barely felt any of it, since it wasn't a body that truly belonged to it. As soon as the Ancient leaves the vessel, it will most likely die from exhaustion.

Its gaze was turned to the village. The ponies had no sense of architecture or even art for that matter. Every building looked like a rip-off from all the others, save for the color. To think that its people had to share their lands with such incompetent organisms was enough to make its stomach turn upside-down.

Approaching the outskirts, the Ancient was able to notice a rather mind-boggling scene. A makeshift wooden stage where a blue pony talked to its audience, which was busy staring in complete silence. As soon as the blue pony finished its obnoxious shouting, the stage burst into fire as fireworks flew upwards, straight towards the Ancient.

"Calm down! Please calm down! The Great and Powerful Trixie planned it all!"

Trixie felt like somepony cursed her. Probably Sparkle.

Needless to say, she never planned for the stage to set itself on fire. Not by the fireworks that were supposed to symbolize her introduction, at least. The entire show was ruined before it even started!

The ponies either screeched or scattered, searching for water. The little ones began crying and looking for their parents. And Trixie... Trixie just stared, then closed her eyes and slowly lowered her head.

She had it enough. The Downfall brought only misfortune to her and her business. Everypony was busy protecting themselves or being on edge. Nopony cared about her and her show. It was bad before, but now it felt like the whole thing was just cursed. Oh, if only she knew, how much that event would change her life. Trixie the entertainer would be gone, replaced by a Trixie that deserved to be called "the Great and Powerful".

She had no idea why she opened her eyes at that point. Perhaps because she could take one last sight of the world she lived in for so long. What was the point of guessing the reason when she would soon burn with the stage, since Equus rejected with extreme prejudice?

It was then when she noticed a small black dot on the floor. A small, insignificant dot amidst the burning Tartarus. For some reason, the dot started quickly expanding, leaving Trixie confused. Was she seeing things now? Strange, it reminded her of... of...

Of something falling.

Bam! Right there, right then. Something did fall and it had such an impact on Trixie that she jumped back in surprise, as if she awoke from her sleep.

What the heck was she doing?! She was the Great and Powerful Trixie! If she died, Equus would never recover! Everypony would mourn her death and eventually lose the war!

That couldn't be right, she thought. She needed to live, because at the end of all that mess, she would be seen as the true hero and savior. So without further ado, and after grabbing the object with such haste that she barely registered what said object actually was, Trixie bolted from the stage and somewhere down the road. Hopefully nopony will blame the whole thing on her.

Trixie suddenly turned and went straight into a dark alleyway, desperately hoping to hide from the eyes off the villagers. She didn't want to risk the ire of everypony.

"Calm down, Trixie. It's all in your head. Nopony is hunting you down."

After she calmed herself, the unicorn turned her eyes to the object she took back at the stage. Her first reaction was, understandably, one quick, angry thought.

"Sparkle."

It was brief and held no legit connection to the object, even she was aware of it. And yet, seeing such an object would trigger her to curse that name that brought her only harm upon harm. Not that it belonged to Sparkle herself, of course, unless that pony flew above her and threw it down just to warn her that she enjoys her suffering. But.. but no. The object, the book, definitely wasn't Sparkle's. She could feel it, even to her own surprise. It just wasn't possible. The book felt... different... from the usual boring ones that Twilight owns. Even the cover was the proof.

"Hm... if it wasn't Sparkle, then who dropped it?"

Her following thought was to open the book just to see what it was about, weird considering the fact that she wasn't really a bookworm, not like Twilight at least. She supposed that its owner wouldn't really care, if she did. Right? Maybe just one page, and she would return it! It was a promise!

There was once a Diamond Dog named Rocco, son of Jasper, son of Roger. He had no children or a wife. This Diamond Dog was a passionate miner, one of the best of his tribe, who would always find the most precious gems. One day, after a particularly long working session, Rocco retreated back to his chambers, to spend the rest of the day in the land of the dreams.

Rocco never bothered remembering his dreams, as it wasn't part of his profession. Most often the dreams would be something complex, bizzare, unworthy of mentioning. That day, however, the dream was much different.

He was able to hear a voice calling him: "Rocco!"An incomprehensible warmth filled his heart as he fell to the ground, bowing his head. He was scared, confused even, due to such turn of events. "Who is there?" He asked. And lo! He was in the middle of an oasis, where the water was blood-red and the trees were dead. It was neither too cold or too hot.

Salzar rose from the water and approached Rocco. "Stand up!" He ordered. "Blessed are you, my chosen one, for you shall be my prophet, the one who will spread my word across these lands." Rocco shed tears of joy when he witnessed the Dead God's form and soon understanding filled both his heart and mind. He knew what had to be done. When he woke up, he gathered all members of his tribe and began spreading the truth. These are the words that he spoke:

Trixie was confused. She had to read and reread the same passage over and over again. For some reason, the more she read, the more she felt as if she was at the point of discovering something, a truth, that not many ponies knew. True, it did have a certain creepy "feel" written all over it, but she knew that she could handle it... unlike Sparkle.

"Right. I need to find a safe place first."

She stopped and blinked. What did she just say?

"Doesn't matter now. I need to find a shelter, and fast!"

The Great and Powerful Trixie detested vandalism. She enjoyed making fun of ponies, yes, but she never thought of things like burning houses or destroying propriety just for the sake of it. But these were hard times. Nopony would really care if she broke a window and hid inside a house, more specifically an attic? The place looked like it was never used, to be honest...

So after she broke the window and hid into the attic, she used her horn to create a small light that would allow her to read the book further. She guessed that nopony would remember to search for her in a place like that.

"I am not ashamed to spread the truth among you. But what truth, you might ask. It is a rather simple one, brothers and sisters; our savior has come. He is the one who will free us from this prison of deceit, of oppression, of powerlessness. Indeed, the Dead God will save us all.

Have you ever asked yourself what does truly create life? Is it water? Is it nature? Is it the sun? Moon? No, dear brothers and sisters. There is only one thing in the whole exsistence that can give and take a life; it is blood.

Truly, blood is what makes us whole. It can be found everywhere in our bodies. In our lungs, inside the heart, our brains, everything. In fact, it is so important, that our bodies simply couldn't function without it. But there is more to blood than that. Blood is the very essence of life in a liquid form, for it also holds our souls, the part that actually matters. Blood is nature, blood is soul, blood is life.

But one question remains. Where does our blood come from? Is there somedog who gives it to us? For what purpose? I know the answer to that question, brothers and sisters. I know our savior. His name is Salzar, the Dead God.

He spoke to me, revealing truths that my eyes refused to see and my soul rejected to acknowledge. Every race on Equus stole that blood from him, including ours. It was Salzar who opened the Sacred Vein, forming the Great Lake, the mother of all that is living, the mother that takes care of him as if he were its young, the mother that gave him a body, so that he could finally come to Equus and take back what was stolen.

It is true, my brothers and sisters. The Great Lake belongs to Salzar, but mortals abuse of the blood that is within, thus giving birth to next generations that will keep repeating the cycle over and over again. Such injustice, such degeneracy, must not be allowed to go any further.

And this is where we come in. We, the enlightened ones, the ones who see the truth as it is, are the followers of the Dead God. He revealed his presence to us and with it, the truth. He blessed us with gifts beyond mortal's understanding. He sees us as his children, his family. And we need to return the kindness, by retaking the stolen blood from the thieves.

So come, accept Salzar, for he is the only thing that can save us all.

Chapter 7

Trixie finally understood everything and it terrified her. The more she kept reading, the more that hidden truth became obvious, to the point of disturbing the young pony. But not because of the truth, oh no. She was disturbed by her obvious inability to see the world as it truly was. A world populated by thieving leeches whose sole reason for exsisting was the exact thing they stole!

"And to think that the Great and Powerful Trixie despised thieves... Trixie lived among them for all this time!"

She was angry at the world but also at herself. How could she, the greatest pony who ever lived, be so blind? What would happen if she never came in contact with that eye-opening book? Would she be blind for the rest of her life, acting as a would-be wizard for the entertainment of such a corrupted world?

Reading the book was truly a unique experience for Trixie. She felt not only enlightened, but humbled as well, to the point of seriously thinking to drop the "Great and Powerful" title. How could she still call herself like that, when she went so far as to help the ones responsible for the biggest fraud in history: harmony.

Harmony was a joke. It always was and always would be. Just like the ones who "fought" for its sake, not because they were brainwashed by it, but because they willingly accepted to spread such an evil that it was mind-boggling the enlightened ponies such as Trixie. Harmony propagated reason, love and goodness where there were none in the first place! It was an excuse to wash away the feeling of guilt for stealing that precious something and abuse of it like barbarians!

No. Such a crime would not go unpunished. She had to do something, anything to repair the damage, at least slightly. She was useless ever since she was born, but not anymore. Now she had a purpose, now she could do the right thing. Twilight Sparkle and Celestia had to pay for their crimes!

But where should she start? That was a task that could only be accomplished with the help of a group, much like, heh, the Elements of Harmony. Life had a truly strange sense of humor.

"Oh, Dead God Salzar. I beg you to give me the answer I seek through your holy book. Guide my thoughts to the right path, so that all blood can finally return to you."

Trixie sighed, opened the book and read her answer.

There was once a Diamond Dog named Jester, son of Old Bone, who was the ruler of a city known as Amethyst Peak, a city with big walls and an outstanding military force. During a war, the city could turn into a fort which was impossible to overwhelm with normal means. This ability, combined with its riches, its position on the harsh surface of the wasteland and the overall architectural beauty made king Jester a very prideful individual, proclaiming himself a god of Amethyst Peak.

One night, Jester had a dream. He saw his precious city in flames while blood rained from the dark sky above. A presence verbally tortured him about the city and how it was his fault that it ended up that way. The king woke up, scared and confused, and walked towards the balcony where he not only saw the city below, but also the night sky above. At that moment, the king spotted a blood red moon, something that should not be possible. He just dismissed it all as nothing but superstitions and nightmares.

The following day, king Jester received a message from his guards. There was a figure who wanted to talk to the king himself. The king accepted and the figure was brought before him. He could see no feature of the strager, since they were entirely wrapped in a black cloak. However, he could see that the stranger was tall, far taller than a pony or a Diamond Dog. And when it spoke, its voice was quite strange. It wasn't as sugary as that of a pony, but it wasn't as rough as that of his species either.

"Greetings, oh lord Jester." Said the figure. "I am an architect who came here in search for glory."

"Glory?" Asked Jester. "What glory could you possibly seek in my palace?"

"My lord," bowed the figure "it has come to my attention that this city lacks a temple dedicated to its supreme deity. This is simply an outrageous problem. How can a god be worshipped if there is no place to worship him?"

"I see." Jester nodded, feeling happy that a stranger recognized his might. "It is a big problem, yes."

"But I can solve that problem, my lord. I ask you to give me the permission to built a majestic temple in your name. A temple so beautiful, so glorious, that it will make the Equestrian royal sisters green with envy! A place where the citizens can bow down to a gigantic statue of their god! All of this, in less than two weeks!"

Everyone present, except the king and the stranger laughed and mocked the hidden figure. But the king, he was impressed by such bold proclamation of skill, that he immediately gave the stranger the permission they needed.

Just as expected, the temple was built in less than two weeks. It was so unique that its architecture was beyond anything present in the rest of the city. A giant building that made a mere mortal look like an ant when compared to it. But what the king didn't know, was that the temple was nothing but a facade for what lay beneath it. Indeed, below the very temple was a secret dungeon devoted to worshipping the Dead God. The most royal of followers inflitrated into the city, between the citizens, and began their practices as soon as the temple was built.

As time passed, more people were secretly converted to the cult or sacrificed on one of many altars devoted to Salzar. The new recruits would be immersed into the blood of the slain heathens, so that they could be reborn in newer and stronger bodies. At day, they would be just another bunch of ordinary citizens. At night, they would worship the Dead God with such devotion that even the most zealous members could bow their head in shame.

One night, the Dead God revealed himself to the coven of Amethyst Peak. "My devout children! This is the night where we will finally make our public appearance! No more we will hide in the shadows, fearing for our safety! It is time that we begin spreading our message through all Equus. And what better way to start than to slaughter the entire city? Go now! Show to the world what are the followers of the Dead God capable of! Let the heathens know that justice is coming to punish them all!"

That night Amethyst Peak fell to a handful of our brethren. Only two brothers were lost that night while the rest of the city was slaughtered, its roads covered in blood. Our brothers and sisters howled as the blood red moon shone above the city. As for the king, he was impaled on a stake with a technique where he would stay alive for a much as possible while the blood slowly dripped away from his body. He died three days later.

It was with that night that the Blood Moon festival was created, as an eternal reminder of the Dead God's generosity towards anyone who seeks the true path. The Blood Moon festival is also dedicated to the night when our cult made the first public appearance.

Trixie silently thanked the Dead God for revealing yet another piece of truth to her and her alone. And while the story was entertaining to read, it also gave her an idea on where to start.

"Trixie thinks it is time for the cult to rise once again." She smiled as she closed the book, ready to leave the attic.

Princess Celestia watched her sleeping sister Luna. That spell caused minor yet frightening wounds to the lunar Princess. Both the doctors and the Elements of Harmony were there with her was well. Some of them cried in fear of loosing their co-ruler and friend whiel the strong-willed hugged them and tried to calm the situation.

"This is all my fault." Celestia whispered as a tear fell from her eye. "It was my responsibility to guard that cursed book. And now not only it has fallen in the hands of the enemy, but Luna is hurt too!"

Twilight, her ex-student, tried to hug her. And while she wasn't exactly great in that, Celestia was still thankful for the attempt. Twilight was truly the Princess of Friendship.

"Thank you, my little ponies, for being here with me during these dark times. Now excuse me, but I need to... rest, a little... I feel so exhausted."

Princess Celestia left the room after the Elements swore to protect the injured Luna. As she walked towards her private chambers, she was reminded of all the evil that fell upon Equus ever since the war started. How many suffered? How many more had to in the future? Would the cursed plague ever end? More importantly, what will happen now that the Ancients have that book?

And for the first time in centuries, Princess Celestia, after closing the door behind her, finally broke down and cried the whole night. Despair won against her iron will.