"AGH!" An 8ft demonic abomination was impaled through the arm. It was torn off, and he was kicked. He began to cough, blood splattering onto the scorched ground.
"Y̘̦̾͆͞O̘̮͎̔̂̍͆́̈́̑Uͬ̒ͥ̀̚̚ ̆͊̑ͧ́̋̃Ĉ̜͆̓̑ͬ̑Aͨ̑ͯ̍́̕Ň͈̥̻̱̦'̧̻̫̲͚͇͆ͭͨ̚T͇ ̲̥̮̳͍͂̄ͦͬ͆ͅH̋͏̩U͎̞̣̬̫̟͋̉̈́͑ͅRͥ͑̅ͤT̠̭̖̼̗͌͊̃̎ͥͯ̆ ̑ͣ͟M͉͉̺̮͍̖̃̓̏ͫ͞E͎̳̲͚̦,̥͈̫̙̫̤̠ ̸͉͎͈͋̈́͛͂̆́̅Ñ̷͕̹͚͛ͨͅO̗̱͛͌̒͡V̸͛͛ͦ͋̒̚IC̲͓̼̗̜̏ͣ̽̃̆ͥ͛E̡̤͚̙ ̶̖̭ͫͮ̿̒̎͊̓K̨ͬ̀̎ͬ̓̅Ǹ͔̿̈͋̽ͩI̼̠͔ͦ̒ͨ̋͂G̮̰̺͂̌ͣͦ̅H̯̹̖͔Ṱ͛́" A horrifying voice that would've destroyed the mind of anything that heard it screeched. Novice Knight dived out of the way of another swing, and grabbed a 9ft axe that was laying on the ground. Just as the creature tried to swing again, Novice did as well, and sliced the short, blood coated claws off halfway. The.....thing screeched again, and impaled him with it's other hand. A long, thin tongue trailed out of it's mouth and snaked into the wound. "Y̨̎̈O̘̜̲ͤͨ͗ͩͧͤ̒͢Ǔ̈͋͂͒͒ͮ͏Rͯ̽͗ͦ͏̼̺̲ ͖͖̫̭B̛L̦͍͓̱̃͝ͅͅͅÕ͚͍͙̺͚̮̙ͩͮͥͤ̌O̺͎̮̮̠̱̐ͮ̇̈́ͫD͈̙̰͙̜͍̓̒ͦͤ ̫̖̼ͪ͋ͣI̖͉͇͉͇̥͆̆͐̎̓́S͓̭̖̟̫ͬͣ̉ͮ̾͠ ̧̤͙̤͈̪ͧ̉ͧ͆̉D͉̺̗́Ḙ̵̣̜͚̫͕̩͌̊̑ͤͬ͒̚L̸̝͍͕͚̦̃͛I̤͙̳̺ͮͩ̃ͧ̎ͬ̀C̸͕̦͉̈Ī͈̣̞̺͓̭̰O͉̝̝͍̙̠ͨUͮͥ͊͗̚S̲̟̬̪͉̐̾̍̉̽͂́͟ͅͅ" It said again, the massive fangs sliding together perfectly. Novice thrashed as the appendage felt the entire inside of his body. "I̗̘̳ͬT̼̼̔̊ͅ'̆̈́ͭͧ̐̔̀Ṣ͗͐̇ͩ͟ ͈̖͇ͅB̴̳̳͋̿̂̏̉EͯÉ̷ͦN̹ͥ̏ ̳̥͓̟̠̹͌͑̎ͥ̓̈̚F͉̥̦̳̲͚̮́Ṷ̫͓͈̍̎̈́N͙̙͛ͦ̌̑ͮ̀ͮ ̝̝̺͈̯̓̀ͅB͍͓ͣ́̇͛͗̈̔͡U̫ͤͩ͒ͯ͒ͦ̚͢T̤͓̲̩̐̀̅ͯ͌̊ ̖̠̲̤͉I̘ͣ̀̏͑͂ͨ ̖͙̠͉ͦ͆ͬ̃̏̄D̀Ő͙̘̰͖̘̤ͭͨ͡ ͓̥͉͙̥̙̓̿̂̓͘N͆̎ͦͯO̞̩̼̯͕̭̅̏͐͡T̢̠̥̤̩͕̤̲ͥ̓̅̓̃̿ ̧̭͇͓̰̘̾͌ͥ̆̓͗ͅẈ̝͙̥̹͜A̸̐͌ͨ̄͊̒N̸͚̪̓̐͐̒T̴̃͒͑̽ ̳̬̳͈̬̔̆̾͌͑́T̹͓̽̚̕O̶̼̥̦̟̹̯ ̮͚̪̳̓̓P͇͍͇͙̣̂̋͋̒͛̚L̗̺̬̯ͦ́A̪͋́Y ̲̻̪͌͌͆̓ͩA̤͊͆ͤ̚N̩̝͔͋ͭͧ̚Y̨͚̠͒͊M̂ͤ̀̚҉͍Ŏ̰̮̠R̵̐̾E̠̞͇͉̱̻͒͒͆ͯ̍͜.̥͆̔ͤ̒̊ ̥̳̥͚͛G͎̳͋͐ͪͧ̎ͤO͖̩̟̦̼̱ͦ͋̓̔ͪ̚͟Ô͚̒͝D͓̫̳͑B̢͖͚̬̜̣ͧ͒Y͍̩̙̯̹̝ͧͧ̍͆́Ȅ̄ͧ͊̇͏̙̪̠͔̼̪ ̢̗͕̤͚̘̰̹͑̿͒ͤͤN͇̤͉̟̥̾̏ͥͮǪ͖̙̯͎̥̣̭ͦ̓͌V̰̒ͣͧ̎͐ͯ͜I̼͂͂̍̌͆C̖ͩE̟̘̿ͦ ̹̥̳̝̘̗͂̾́K̢͚͓̹͎̫͉ͦ͑̾͌̐N̰̮̪͚̰͔͖ͪͭ͑͆͛͋͟Iͪ̒ͨͨ͐͐҉̮̱̺̱G͏̲Ḫ̻̟̮̦̬́T͇͚̮̘̹̖̼̈̌ͯ" The appendage wrapped around his heart, and everything went black....
"WAKE UP! WAKE UP PLEASE!" A foal was shaking his arm as hard as possible. He bolted upright, screaming. The foal jumped back and cowered. Novice started to look around frantically. A mare in black robes grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"Novice, it was another nightmare!" He, after looking around a bit more to confirm, sighed shakily. He pried his thick chestplate off to reveal reds, cracked lines on his chest where it impaled him in the nightmare. He looked back at the mare, and she was gone. He whipped his head in the foal's direction, only to see that the foal was pitch black with a freakishly large grin. "Yes, another nightmare...." Novice Knight quickly moved backwards, but it only came closer. It, the massive black abomination with a massive grin, a mouth filled with tongues. It had one large eye with a crescent pupil, and was absolutely bloodshot. It moved on hundreds on twig-thin legs, and had two massive arms which ended in 10, inch-thin claws. It had a full moon on what you could call it's 'flank', which was surrounded in a white field that bled out into lines that appeared to look like veins.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!!??" Novice shouted fearfully. The black creature scuttled to where it was an inch in front of him, and reached with an arm to pick him up. It brought him close to it's face. One of it's hundreds of tongues started to flick over the marks on his chest. After a few minutes of Novice struggling, it stopped and stared directly into his eyes.
"Oh dear, it seems my sister is starting to break through your mental barriers." Novice's eyes went wide. That was bad.....so very, very bad. "I see you're surprised. I'm not. I have confidence that my sister will break you." Novice struggled out a reply.
"Why are you DOING THIS! WHY ME! WHY DO I DESERVE THIS PUNISHMENT!!??" Novice screamed at it, but it giggled in reply, the noise sounding far too innocent for the thing making it. "ANSWER ME!" It tightened it's grip, causing Novice to groan.
"Why should I? It's not like you can hurt me, much less kill me. But, I will humor you....we're doing it because it's fun." She then smiled wider, which somehow made what it said next worse. "And who would believe a monster....like you?" It dropped Novice, and when he looked, at it, it was gone without a trace. Novice shakily stood up and began to lumber forward. Only after a few minutes, when the adrenaline was gone, did the exhaustion hit him. He was staggering heavily by the time he made it to the closest village. The ponies there saw him and were immediately worried. A mare in black robes with white accents galloped up to him and yelled 'Novice!' in distress as he collapsed into her hooves. A witch doctor rushed to the scene.
"Turn him over please, so I may do this with ease!" The mare, a nun, did so, and was greeted with the marking on his chest. ".........Oh....Oh Faust no...." The zebra doctor backed away slowly. The mare's eyes widened. How horrible was this mark if the Zebra lost his rhyme? "He....he has been marked.....that can only mean one thing..."
"What!? What does it mean?!" The mare asked in worry.
"Celestia is breaking his mental barriers." A few ponies had gathered, and they all gasped in shock. "He...he is holding, for now. We need to get him to the hut! Now!" A few ponies carried him upon their backs. They walked past multiple things that would be considered, in other societies, to be unponane. Multiple totems, with runes carved into it and charms placed upon it, paved roads lined with salt bricks, round homes built out of clay to be fireproof and shadowless, altars for small sacrifices, and even multiple therapeutic buildings. The military was small but active asking around a lot to look for anomalous activity of any kind, or any odd dreams. They were safe from the two Eldritch Goddesses, which made them feel more hopeful, which made them safer....
But that was ending.
For one stallion, there is no happiness.
For one stallion, there is no love.
For one stallion, there is no sleep.
For one stallion, there is no beauty.
This one stallion is Novice Knight.
This one stallion has been tormented all of his life.
First his dad beat him.
Then, his family died, his father killed by him.
Then, they showed up.
Two Eldritch Goddesses who introduced themselves as Celestia and Luna.
He thought they would be his friends.
His first friends, as they were hideous, like him.
They weren't.
They were horrible, and they terrified him.
They hurt him, but nobody believed they looked like that.
Nobody believed that they would act like that.
Nobody believed him, and Luna constantly told him that.
That all changed with a village.
A village that knew exactly what he was talking about.
A village that feared them.
So, he now lives there.
So, they go there to torment him.
Luna appears during the night, keeping him awake and insulting him with the sweetest of voices.
Celesita.....Celestia is a mental assailant.
Celestia attacks his mind, so he puts up mental barriers.
Mental barriers to defend himself, if just for a while, from her.
But no barrier will hold them back for long.
