Evil never dies.
It is true that the darkness can be pushed back, held at bay, and sometimes forgotten. But somewhere, dark and sticky, it always dwells. Such was even true when something as powerful as the Elements of Harmony were used to vanquish a foe, for something so pure is not used to destroy. This was very much the cause of Equestria’s continued aggressors. Whether the recurring returns of the Windigos, no matter how minor, or the return of Discord each time the Elements lost the connection to their wielders, one could say the Equestrians inability to kill was an undoing.
Such was sadly the case when the Elements vanquished Nightmare Moon upon her return. As princess Luna was purified of the darkness that dwelled in her heart for a thousand years, her pure and kind mind being unveiled once more, the evil that had possessed her before still lived. The disembodied spirit of Nightmare Moon still existed, unable to harm, unable to exact her influence upon the world around her, but still very much alive and whole.
As the smoke lifted, had any of the Elements taken closer notice, they would have seen the thick darkness seep into the cracks on the floor, disappearing from the rejoicing group. The mind controlling the embodiment of fear knew only rage now. It had no brain to formulate plans, no body to know feeling or sensation, only the anger at having been defeated. The dark mist continued its travel through the cracks of the ancient castle, before meeting the soil beneath.
The great evil, at last at home in darkness, seeped in like polluted water. As celebrations went on above, heralding the return of the lunar princess by those who were brave enough to view her, critical events were beginning to unfold beneath the Everfree Forest. The darkness touched and probed the new structure it had found. Smooth and cold, metallic like the armour its former body had worn.
The large structure rounded smoothly under the tons of soil pressed on top of it, its surface all but flawless. But the evil cared not for the facts of its construction, it’s anger merely demanded it pass through the space. Its liquidated body passed across the surface, searching for a way through. There, a crack. Like a rat desiring food in a maze, the evil crept its way into the narrow gap in the otherwise perfect surface.
The inside of the structure was dry, pristine, the air holding no heat. But the evil was not deterred by the cold temperature within, it had spent a millennia in the absolute zero temperatures that made the moon’s surface. Though the evil did not have eyes, it saw the only object that was contained within this space, this tomb.
A body laid upon the slab in the centre of the room, its limbs bound by strips of ancient, buckled leather. Poorly mummified, the body showed great rot upon its surface. Shrivelled eyelids clung onto the spheres that rested beneath them, the lips long gone from the series of incisors they once served to protect and hide. The air had not been cold enough to preserve the body completely, but much of what had dwelled beneath the skin and hair was still pristine. The muscles were still perfect in their state, the bones untouched.
Although the evil spirit that continued to press itself onwards had no eyes to truly see, it believed it could see something around the body that it felt was there, like millions of tiny pinpoints of light. And that it heard voices, endless voices speaking in unison together. But it was a body, empty and lifeless, a potential host for it to use. After moment of the liquid hanging, like a person deciding to leap from a branch, a single droplet fell from the mass, colliding with the teeth of the dead body. Then another, and another. Each droplet that didn’t immediately miss them slid slickly off the teeth into the awaiting mouth they bordered, gliding across the tongue nestled in the jaw before they coated the throat.
Each and every cell was taken, probed and infested. The soul of Nightmare Moon needed to have a shell to puppeteer for her own ends. But the mind. Oh, what she found was such a complex one. Every last fibre of it screamed intelligence, brutal intelligence. It would serve her well. Her will began to pour through its being, ready to take for her own. But the element Nightmare Moon was most impressed with, she herself overlooked. The will to survive.
Slowly, the eyes crept open. Once, the dry irises had been green, but as fresh liquids finally began to coat them, they began to shift, taking on Nightmare Moons slit pupils, glowing green irises and piercing gaze. Then all at once, her hold faltered. The great pony of fear and darkness was bombarded by the lights. Then she could perceive them, spectral faces that held her in place, with one, far larger one amongst them. The owner of this body.
The massive manifestation of the mind seemed to contemplate her for a moment, as if deciding she was worth removing from the mental scape. Then, in some way, she knew it was smiling. Its great maw opened, before the teeth came crashing down on Nightmare Moons mind, and she was reduced to oblivion.
But though that the mind of Nightmare Moon was reduced to nothingness, the power of her evil, the effects of her fear, the sheer force of her magic’s remained, claimed by a new wielder. The eyes lurched open once again, spinning wildly. The body knew nothing but pain now. Ages without sustenance had drained the body, only magic keeping it alive. The lungs wheezed as they tried drawing breath through a rotted windpipe.
With an arch of it’s spine, the body tore the leather straps that bound its limbs. The strength of its muscles failing, the form fell from the concrete slab, impacting hard upon the ground. The bones cracked at the impact, splintering through the papery skin. For a moment, it laid there, broken. And then it moved, more carefully. The broken bones realigned, before suddenly healing altogether.
With exaggerated care, the newly resurrected creature held itself upon all fours, breathing the stale air of its own tomb. Raising its head, its sharp eyes stared around taking in the few structures, before, with a powerful exhale, it screamed in rage.
A/N: Ok, this is my first story submitted up here, so I'm not exactly sure how to use a lot of it. I'm not too sure where to go with this fic, but if I get enough people asking me, I'll continue it. AH
Berry Punch hummed to herself as she gathered the delectable fruits from the trees above her. True to her cutie mark, as were so many ponies, she had developed a minor obsession with both grapes and berries, crucial ingredients to the punch she adored. She didn’t mind that many of the town regarded her as a drunk, they meant no harm by it anyway, it was just a little fun. She staggered a little as she stood to reach some of the higher, plumper fruits on the tree. Maybe she was still a little tipsy? Indeed, she normally knew better than to be out late picking fruits, especially when her personal orchard was so close to the edge of the Everfree.
But she felt safe. The nearest houses of Ponyville weren’t all that far away. In fact, she could see them with her bare eyes from this distance. The same familiar thatched roofs that seemed to glow in the sunset. But still, something felt wrong. Her gaze directed back towards the dark recesses of the Everfree forest. The boughs of the trees bent awkwardly at the border between the environments. Berry Punch shuffled her hooves awkwardly. No, she knew she had a job she needed to finish before she left. She reached up again, plucking down another bunch of grapes delicately with her teeth.
The tree’s seemed…different somehow. Like they weren’t following the usual rhythm of her weekly fruit pickings. Circling the tree gave her an answer. Much of the leaves and thereby fruits had been hollowed away. Below the scene of agricultural carnage, pulped remains of half eaten berries, smeared into the grass. The timid pony stepped away. Many of the limbs on this tree were well over four inches thick, a size she could barely hope to shake, yet so many were snapped cleanly. Not sawed, snapped! The stake like endings seemed to glare at her maliciously. Suddenly, Berry Punch didn’t feel so safe anymore.
Grasping the baskets in her teeth, she swung her head back up to place them upon her saddlebags. She needed to leave, right now! Stepping backwards cautiously, she kept her gaze upon the trees, before turning around to bolt.
But no sooner had the earth pony gotten herself rearing to run, she was halted. The path she had previously used to come into her orchard was now swamped, engulfed by savagely thorned vines. The dark vines wept thick sap from the awkward bends in their forms, creating a disturbing visage that all too closely resembled blood pooling amidst hair. The pony backed away from the vicious looking plants, veering to one side.
She couldn’t help, but worriedly taking notice that the vines groaned and leant in the wind, a wind that was absent. Berry Punch froze, so did the vines. Did she dare to move now that she knew that, somehow, they were following her movements? She peered over her shoulder, towards the trunks and shrubs of the Everfree. Did she dare run for it? She considered it, but still there was an overwhelming fear of that single open spot amongst the plants that led into the dark.
A groaning noise caught her ear. She whipped her head back, and screamed in agony as a thorn sliced her eye open. The pinkish equine collapsed to the floor, screaming as the evil plant continued to twist within the socket. Thick, ocular fluid ran down her muzzle, Berry Punch frantically trying to convince herself that the warmth she felt was merely blood.
With motion that almost could have been seen as clinical by an observer, the thorny plant withdrew, carrying the pulped remains of an eyeball upon its barbs. It stopped for a moment, before sharply tugging, and the long, red optic nerve tore with it, the nerves valiantly holding to their mooring within the ponies skull for a moment, before they stretched taught and finally tore. The mare, too lost in the pain to scream again, simply watched as the remains of one of her precious eyes was ravaged by the thorned plants. Almost like wolves setting upon a carcass.
Larger, heavier vines arched their way towards her. Like snakes they wound around her ribs, brutally tight, but with an eerie precision. Thorns slid into her flesh with ease, hooking between her ribs. And ever so slowly, they began to lift. Berry Punch whimpered as the ground stopped supporting her weight, the vines now acting much like a snare around an animals neck. In a single motion, she was rotated to face the forest, and they started to carry her.
When the frantic pony was no more than a dozen feet from the darkness of the forests edge, she realised why she had felt so afraid. It had been watching her, ever since she arrived. It had been so well masked amongst the darkness, all but invisible, no one would have been any wiser than she was. It wasn’t just that it looked different that made her afraid, simply looking at it made her feel wrong, like it was a violation to just look at it.
The vines tightened themselves swiftly, breaking Berry’s thoughts. She now realised she was past the boundary of the forest, the heavy shadows of leaves falling on her. She gasped inwards, then retched. The smell was revolting. The smell of sickly rot. And not the rot of fermented fruits, this was the smell of rotten flesh. A rush of wind blew past them, and for a moment she was able to see it clearly. How was it even alive? Its skin was rotten, blackened and holey, showing greyed bones beneath. It grabbed her muzzle with long, reflective claws, the pressure making her jaw groan.
She yelped, tears rolling from her one remaining eye as she looked up to its face. Those eyes….both hideous and perfect, the green glaring into her face. What could she do now but watch? She was strong, all earth ponies were, but not strong enough to break this grasp. Slowly, her attackers jaw unfolded, unveiling glittering, long fangs, barely fitting into its maw. Its breath exhaled, and Berry watched in morbid fascination as a blue, starry vapour seeped from its mouth, more from between its ribs. But the blue, almost beautiful sight quickly corrupted itself.
The fog like material quickly turned inky black, a thick oily substance dripping from where it ran alongside skin. And dimly, somehow, Berry could swear she heard voices, millions of them whispering together. It was deafening without ever becoming loud. The wonderment over the spectacle was the last that Berry had as with a sick CRUNCH, the entities jaws closed about her throat.
A short gasp came from between her lips, quickly replaced by a heavy gurgle and she vomited a cascade of blood, staining her coat. A few pops tickled her ears, before a snap ended her thoughts. He head bent back, her throat torn apart, her head was held in place merely by the few strands of muscle that had not torn. Flesh was torn from her body in a frenzy. Skin was peeled back from muscle, and a quick slash spilled organs from her body. With callousness, claws grabbed at the skin of the once happy pony, dragging her into darkness, leaving only a smear of blood amidst black vines.
Authors note: Okay, yes, to all who just read this chapter, this is indeed a grimdark fic. Please don't hate me for it, I have no problem with constructive critiscism, but keep it civil. Enjoy
