Chaos born from nothing

Fire crackled and popped. Such a satisfying sound that could give a sense of calm and euphoria, yet despite looking at the beautiful flame the being could only feel...little…

Chaos King had his eyes transfixed on the little fire pit they made, not saying a word.

Spec was laying down on the sand peacefully out cold, his body drenched in black tonic, save his head. He snored without a care in the world.

Archive was on his haunches reading a book he bought from the small town. Earlier they left to continue their journey while making a great heist: the news of Spec being released spread like wildfire. Guards of both ponies and minotaurs alike searched the streets just to recapture their criminal.

Archive never felt like more of a criminal before. It left a bad taste in his mouth like a rotting apple. It was an experience that he’d never felt. Back when he was with his group before they were butchered, he had stolen some notes from the castle just to perform those illegal spells, and even then he felt like a criminal, but not to this level. His new group were lucky to sneak away without a hitch and into the smoldering hot desert.

During the long journey Archive found Spec to be quite the conversationalist despite his...dark background. He had asked Spec about his condition noting that he had never seen any minotaur that looked quite like him. Spec grimaced but replied nonetheless; it was birth mutation as he put it.

A very rare mutation that's been known among the Minotaur race with a name: Ápnoia. Realizing that word was in the Minotaur dialect, it took the pony time to decipher it. It came up as Apnea. Spec explained to Dooley in a small story that Apnea was a deity among the minotaur race. The god of breath: it was the one who gave the ability of breathing to the minotaurs lending them the power of breath. He then explained that, through unknown means, the god of breath somehow became corrupted with its own power, and it created suffocation. Taking the breath away, he continued to explain that the other gods had to fight Apnea or else the deity would cause every minotaur to go extinct.

Apnea was defeated, and the gods were able to let the minotaurs breathe again. While it was intriguing to learn about the history and story about one of their deities, Archive still wondered why they would call a birth mutation Apnea? Spec again explained that Apnea was different from the minotaur gods because he possessed no horns and looked less bull-like, and Spec looked identical to the god. The Minotaurs feared him because they thought he was the reincarnation of the evil god and wanted to end his life. His parents unfortunately paid the price by trying to defend him...

That's mostly why he’s taken live and lost most of his sanity, because of that incident, he became known as Crazy Spec among the ponies and among the minotaurs. Lípsi Anapnoís, or Breath Taker. It’s a dark history but a known history at least.

Despite that long yet interesting conversation.

The young stallion noticed that Chaos King hadn’t spoken a word. Instead he had a blank look as if he wasn’t listening. The king was mostly in his thoughts.. Thoughts that led to here. The creature had made a small fire pit for warmth against the bitter cold of the desert nighttime. Again hasn’t said a word only staring at the dancing flames.

Archive lowers the book to peek at the distracted creature. He lost count on how many times he’d done this, and at this point may as well be sightseeing.

‘That’s an interesting thought.’ He commented in his head. ‘I wonder what’s got him like this?’

“I know you’re staring.”

The Unicorn jumped. ‘He knew?!’

The King looked at the archive annoyed. “You have a strange habit, am I that fascinating in the eyes of a pony?” He inquired. Putting a hand on his chin.

“I uh...w-well!” Archive stammered with embarrassment, to the creature's amusement. “W-well, I mean...yes, t-there is nothing like you on this planet s-so yes,” Archive sputtered out. Hoping this did not anger the chaos king.

The King hummed then returning to his activity. “I see.”

Archive released a sigh. ‘Well at least he’s not angry at me. I really need to stop making this a habit,’ he thought. ‘Still what’s on his mind?’

Archive started contemplating asking him what was wrong, but a part of him said if he did that he’d risk being turned to paste, while another part said that Chaos King wouldn’t do that as he would lose his only guide.

‘Well, might as well jump the cliff and see what happens.’ Gulping. He took a deep breath to get his mind in order so he wouldn’t stutter like a shy colt. “So you’re majesty,” he called out. Though saying that left a bad taste in his mouth.

The king replied with a hum of acknowledgement.

“I was wondering,” he started. “You’ve been silent for a while, ever since we left that town. Not once have you spoken a word and I was wondering if you’re ok,” Archive asked.

Chaos shifted his eye at the unicorn but not his head. The purple iris glinting from the moonlight, staring intently at the pony, measuring him up.

The young unicorn gulped slightly. That eye just didn’t seem right and it felt like his soul was being pierced by it. Phantom pains began ripping into his head. Sweat began to accumulate on his fur. It was as if Chaos King was using his eye to inflict pain on him. Though that statement was not true. The pain soon dispelled as soon as that eye glanced back to the fire.

The young unicorn released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in., That experience was just unnerving… he felt a bit disappointed somewhat, strangely.

“Why do you want to know?” The king asked, making Archive jump slightly.

“W-well-!”

“Stop,” the King interrupted. “Take a breath and talk to me when you’re better.”

Archive was stunned for the moment but did take the time to clear his throat. “Mhm right,” he began. “When we left the city you’ve been less talkative, now if I’m honest I barely know you, but I can tell that something is amiss, and I’m just wondering what’s got you…” he stopped to think of the right word. “Spooked?”

He hopes that was the right answer.

The Creature didn’t seem to say anything. At first. Until he lifted his hand and pivoted his wrist upwards. Unnatural white veins glowed dimly like the moon light. “Spooked isn’t the word I would describe myself.” Chaos king used his other hand to dig into his hard flesh, then he just ripped a chunk out straight to the bone.

Archive yelped, from the sudden and unnerving scene of the creature casually mutilating itself. ‘Why did he do that?’ he thought.

Then he noticed it. The creature's blood wasn’t normal. It slowly gushed out from the wound then dripped to the sand. Rubbing his eyes with his hooves he took a closer look at the ichor. It was deep black. Not coagulated but just an inky, oily pitch that resembled the darkness of the sky, if a bit darker.

The sand didn’t even absorb it at all. It just stayed there like there wasn’t any space to fit ‘How can any living thing have that…’ Archive shuddered.

“Unnerving is the proper term I feel.” The creature stated. His wrist began to form back, the muscles were also pitch black with white veins beginning to reform.

Archive breathed steadily. “S-so you didn’t know at first?”

Chaos shook his head. “No...that was until yesterday night. I was testing my powers, seeing what I can do.” He smiled. “It was amazing at first, watching every drop become the crimson water that all life forms have. I used my memory to create life… it was beautiful.” He then scowled. “My creation turned against me, and it was then I found out what happened.” He jeers. Violet flame began to brim on his silver hair.

“That...Faust forsaken place changed me more than I imagined.” The flame extinguished. He scooped up the sand with his blood on it and stared at it.

Archive listened to the creature. For an odd reason, he felt sympathy for him. A thought came. ‘What does he mean it changed him? Was this not his original form?’ Archive wondered. “Where did you actually come from?” he inquired.

Chaos king was deathly silent at first. “I…” he paused for a moment. “I’m not sure at all. But I will tell you this…” he sneered. “Tartarus is nothing but a sting compared to that damn void...If it can be called that…” he growled and threw the sand and blood into the fire.

Unexpectedly, the fire exploded, turning from a calm, amber orange to a violent purple.

Archive yelled in surprise and jumped back. While Chaos King reeled back from the surprise. “My blood did that?”

Spec however was still asleep and didn't even realize what happened. However a piece of flame landed on his tunic and began to spread.

“Uhh...” Archive stammered. “How is he still asleep?”

“I’m not quite sure,” the creature replied back as he extinguished the flame.

———————————————————————

In Equestria, the Princess of the Night was perched on her tower like a silent guardian, watching above the bustling city below.

Despite it being night, Canterlot was still bustling just as much as in mornings, if not a bit more. Some night restaurants and stores were open allowing the citizens to buy what they needed and eat what they desired.

No matter how many times she’d seen over the past years since returning, she could never stop feeling tranced by the sheer beauty of it, yet despite this a lot was weighing on her mind.

After that explosion a few days back she was shaken to say the least. When she saw it for the first time she admittedly thought that an undiscovered, dormant volcano erupted. Only to find out later that it wasn’t the case as soon as those unnatural plooms of purple smoke began to spread in the air like a virus.

It was fortunate that no pollution traveled to Canterlot otherwise there might have been a problem. Poor Twilight. It seemed like that poor mare could never catch a break, worse, they had to postpone her coronation until this whole ordeal was over.

What she did learn, though, is that the explosion was caused by...something. It was also responsible for the slaughtering of those unicorns. Yes they did illegal magic, but that didn’t mean they deserved death. Not like that.

She shuttered remembering their burnt, charred corpses they had severed limbs.

She gagged from remembering that. She’s seen worse but she didn’t know why that was unnerving or why it’s caused to be in this action.

Clearing her mind her stomach quelled back to normalcy. Whatever creature could be so cruel to do that was something not of this world, it didn’t belong.

Yet perhaps she shouldn’t treat this creature as an evil being. It could, for all intents and purposes, just be a confused and frightened being that was taken from its home, which was why it killed.

Sighing, she returned to her room to begin her work. She laid on her bed and closed her eyes, her horn beginning to glow and hum a translucent blue that sparkled and twinkled like stars.

In her field of vision, she didn’t see the darkness made from her eyelids. Instead she was traveling at millions of miles a second and she could see colors that resembled distant stars flying past her, leaving trails behind.

This was always her favorite part. What seemed like hours was only a second. ‘The realm of endless dreams’. She smiled.

It was a realm Luna frequented all of her nights. The realm had a beautiful dark blue hue that resembled her mane with twinkling stars that complimented the beauty of this realm.

At first it may seem like empty space however as soon as she took a step a River appeared. A river glowing like the very moon itself. Beauty itself couldn’t describe what she was looking at.

The Princess of the night lowered her intangible horn into the liquids which were as warm and mending as the neighboring sun, leading a sigh of relaxation to escape her smiling lips.

Everything came into view; She saw every dream that was occurring by the second. Her mind was strong enough to deal with the overwhelming information that was being sent to her. She released a composing sigh after removing her horn.

So far there hadn't been any nightmares so far until something reached her mind: A pony was having one so strong and realistic that Luna worried for their life, and she even felt suicidal thoughts mixing within.

She hadn’t seen a nightmare quite like this in a long time.

She hummend for the moment then promptly entered the lake of magic and then submerged. It was like being covered head to toe by actual water but the temperature was indescribable, it wasn't warm yet it wasn't cold. Yet it wasn't entirely uncomfortable. More on the lines of just being neutral.

A portal began forming right in front of her eyes with a slight blue hue. Despite not entering she could already see that this pony’s dream was not just a regular nightmare: it was nearly pitch black with a mix of dark, sandy brown.

She took a step through, her hoof touching stone along with sand. The portal closed behind her. None of the liquid magic spilled into the dream as if said magic never existed.

Luna took a good look at her surroundings. Massive chunks of stone floated aimlessly with buildings attached making this dream look ancient and abandoned for a while.

Flapping her majestic wings, the lunar princess took flight towards one of the still-intact spires in the distance. Her eyes scanning the area, she just could not find the dreamer anywhere, and the dream was vast and would give any pony a fear of Agoraphobia.

‘Just where are they?’ she thought.

She jerked her head to the side as she heard the sound of hoofsteps galloping on the stone. The pony was a unicorn with a sandy brown coat and a black mane. He was sprinting fast, fear present on his face. Luna couldn’t tell what he was running from.
Suddenly, she heard a howl. This howl was the sound of an angry wind, a hurricane, yet she did not feel any sort of gust. The Sand around her began floating around her. A massive plume of dust and sand flew right in front of the unicorn that tried desperately to get away.

Laughter. Luna heard laughter from that cloud of dust. Despite this being a nightmare conjured up by the stallion, the laughter chilled her spine in a manner as yet inexperienced by the alicorn.

It sounded like pure evil.

The sand began molding together, shaping into a titanic fist. The unicorn just noticed screamed loudly and skidded along the ground in a desperate attempt to stop and run back the other way. The massive fist came down like the hand of an angry god and smashed through the stone, destroying buildings around it and uprooting all around Debris was thrown to the sky and descended like hammers. The stallion dodged and weaved around the falling stone. However, he failed to dodge one, and it landed on the back of his hoof, breaking his ankle and earning a pained screech.

The Unicorn looked at his mangled leg; Bone stuck out, punctured through the skin like knives. Tears stained his cheeks and dripped onto the floor, yet he still crawled just to get away. The laughter got louder as the sand began forming into a face.

Eyes glowed a hot magma red which started maliciously at the dreamer, yearning to inflict more torturous pain.

“You asked what I have to say about going to prison.” The monster raised its massive fist. “I say bring it.” The titanic fist came down to smite the unicorn into fine paste, who screamed loudly as the void was starting to take over.

Luckily his savior had come. A condensed beam of pure magic shot at the nightmare construct, earning a shriek from it. Luna had seen enough and would end this.

The construct threw its gigantic wrist at her, but she dove under it and dodged. She fired another beam at its face; further hurting it.

She snarled slightly. ‘Of course this type of nightmare would be harder to put down. No matter. I will smite it like the rest.’

Luna fires another concentrated beam of magic which turns a chunk of dust and sand into glass. The nightmare construct roared in defiance and tried to crush her in its hands, again failing to do so as its hand was turned to glass.

The Unicorn stallion watched in awe, tears of joy now replaced the fear as the Lunar princess was fighting the monster, saving him from a dark fate.

The Lunar Princess dodged another massive strike and flew back 50 feet. Her horn hummed with pure magical energy design to destroy nightmares. Lowering her head, a massive pillar of energy exploded from her horn, it’s mass larger than her and caused a shock wave that blew all the dust away. The massive beam of magic penetrated through the abstracts chest.

It looked confused at first like I didn’t feel any sort of pain, that was until slowly it’s entire body was becoming glass. It shrieked loudly until it became completely silenced and became a statue. Cracks appeared and then it crumbled away.

Luna landed on the ground with a sigh. ‘I haven’t had a nightmare challenge me like that in a while, and I never thought I would see this type of it again,’ she thought.

It was true that these types of nightmares were rare and usually wouldn’t fight back, this one did. Which means the dreamer is having a serious mental problem. She was glad she took care of this matter at hand, now, however, she had to calm him down.

Turning around, she trotted over to him. She looked at his injured leg and sighed. Her heart ached seeing him cry. No one deserved that kind of horror.

He sputtered out. “P-p-Princess Luna...?!”

“Yes, my subject.” She stopped in front of him. “It is I. You are safe.” Her horn glowed and the unicorn's leg began to heal and reconnect the splintered bone and skin.

After finishing the dreamer moved his leg to test it out. The pain was gone and tears yet again welled up in his eyes. “T-thank you Princess…” he sniffed “thank you…”

The lunar princess gave a sweet smile and nodded while placing her horn on his. The magic in it hummed and began to take away the dark thoughts they were surfacing in this dreamer's mind. The process would usually take some time but this was recent and allowed her to easily absorb it. The stallion felt like all the weight that was crushing him was at least somewhat lifted off.

Luna looked at him with a sad expression. “I know why you feel guilty after what happened, little pony,” She placed a hoof on his shoulder. “It is not your fault, your cockiness wasn't the cause, so please don’t hurt yourself over something that was unpreventable.”

The stallion reeled back slightly, his mouth quivering, tears streaming down his cheek. Clenching he gave a nod to her which earned a smile from the lunar princess.

With a flap of her wings she took flight leaving the dreamer to dream peacefully, she knew it would still take time for that stallion to recover more. The portal opened again. Stepping through she was now back in the realm with the magic lake.

Her features morphed, becoming serious. Closing her eyes and then reopening them immediately she was back in Equestria.

There was a reason why she was like this. When she tapped the unicorn’s horn she realized he was a guard for a desert town, Yedril. A place where both ponies and minotaurs alike live. That was all she learned.

When seeing those memories she saw the merciless slaughter, the brutality that was brought upon those stallions. It had been so long since she’d seen such… she couldn’t put words to what she saw, but she did see something, something not of her world.

Despite it being a memory she couldn’t help but feel like that ‘thing’ was staring at her, even if it was under that pitch black tunic. Now she knew.

She found the creature.

Luna saw the sun was slowly rising over the horizon. ‘Perfect’ she thought. ‘Sister needs to know about this.’ Immediately she galloped and flapped her wings to gain speed. As if her life depended on it.

————————————-

The trio continued their journey through the blistering dessert. Despite the clothing that was made for this kind of trip, Archive still couldn’t bear the heat; though he was grateful that his skin wouldn't get blistered.

Spec however didn’t react at all, though sweat had accumulated on his skin. He’d already gotten used to this kind of environment so this was only natural. Though he would admit it was a little hotter than usual at this time.

The creature known as Chaos King kept trudging through the hot sands barefoot. By this point the bottom of his feet would already become blistered, though his healing helped negate that problem.

They started their journey as soon as the sun rose, to Archive’s dismay. Hours, they walked, until the sun was fully above their heads and it was pure torture for the unicorn. He did have a right to complain. “S-s-sir I don’t think I can keep g-going…”

The Chaotic King growled out. “Quit you insufferable complaining. You don’t see Spec whining.”

“That’s because he’s lived in the desert. I just barely had a day!”

“It is true,” Spec chuckled.

The King grumbled incomprehensibly. “Alright fine. If we find some shade then we can take a break.”

“SHADE!”

The King jumped as did Spec from Archive’s shout. A trail of dust ran past the two giants towards some convenient trees. They could even hear his hysterical, grateful laughter as he made his way towards the pine.

There was awkward silence at first. “He ran fast, I didn’t even see him move,” Spec said, stunned.

“Indeed,” The king agreed with the same stunned expression.

The red unicorn laughed loudly. There was even an oasis with flowing water. He took out one of the empty canteens then dipped it in, filling it up. He took a swig and felt the cold water cool his body and released a sigh of relief.

“Feeling relaxed, servant?” the King said with amusement. Archive turned and looked at the king. He felt embarrassed.

“I haven’t seen a lake in awhile!” Spec shouted with glee. “Please, your lordship, can I go for a swim?!”

The creature rolled his eyes. Spec was acting like a child and suddenly he felt like a father. “After we eat, we have been walking for hours and it’s only fair if we take our break now.”

Spec nodded, understanding. Archive opened one of the packs they bought. It was a hay sandwich, a delicious snack for the red unicorn, for Spec; however, he had a bag full of dumplings. This was always his favorite meal.

While the two were eating; Chaos King went towards the water. He stared down at his reflection. Emotion didn’t seem present at all but deep inside his core he felt… angry. This is what he looked like yet he didn’t feel any pride. Opening his mouth, he saw many crooked teeth. He didn’t even realize they were crooked at all, with each tooth having a sharp point. Closing his jaws he huffed knowing he couldn’t really do anything about it.

Dipping his hand in the water, it felt cool to the touch. He wished he knew how long it must have been to touch water once again. He didn’t care much as he took a handful and drank it down. It felt like the water was purifying his body, and he felt a bit refreshed and drank more.

While drinking he noticed something in the water, creatures with slender bodies, the same color of the sand, were swimming upstream to somewhere. “Hmm… Servant.” Archives turned to the call of his name. “What are these… creatures?”

Archive tilted his head a bit and went next to the creature. Looking at the water his eyes widened in surprise. “Those are sand cobras.”

“What?” Both Chaos king and Spec said in unison.

“Sand cobras, they are usually in the sand but sometimes they will swim in water to catch their prey, but…” he stopped for a moment. “They're usually solitary predators, seeing this many and swimming in one direction means…” Again he stopped to think, trying to process this.

“Means what?”

“It means all of them are attracted to something. But, I don’t know what…”

_________________________________________________________________

Screams of terror could be heard but was soon silenced by a deafening, horrible crunch.

Crimson dribbled to the sand like rain creating a puddle of blood. A deep growl was made along with more crunching: its purple, swirled eyes swiveled and danced around like a chameleon trying to catch sight of any prey. Its split jaw was holding an unfortunate victim: A minotaur, body halfway swallowed leaving only the legs sticking out.

The monster Golgotha swallowed the rest down with ease. It found this minotaur walking around the desert wearing a bronze helmet and an iron chest. It tried to fight back but soon found itself in the serpent king’s gullet.

It sniffed the air, the forked tongue coming out tasting any particles. It found out that there was more prey not far, however tempting as it may be to go and feast more. The one that it had been searching for was no longer there. Its ‘master’ was gone.

It huffed with anger, the tendrils on its black whipped about in displeasure, then it caught another scent. This one seemed...familiar, but it couldn’t tell what.

It moved its massive legs towards the scent, curious to what it is.

It took at least two hours to find where the scent originated from, but it found it: a stream of water. Golgotha went to the water, dipping its head down to drink, gulping down gallons with extreme thirst.

Suddenly, to its surprise, a creature crawled out, a sand cobra, its hood unfurled and looking up at the theropod. More were coming out. Doing the exact same thing looking up at It.

Golgotha didn’t attack, instead it just looked back. There was a connection between it and these serpents, it was talking to them yet words weren’t spoken. Golgotha bared its razor fangs at them and they bowed their heads. It had total control of these snakes now.

The flaming tendrils on its back launched towards one of the cobras, latching on. Soon a few more cobras were grabbed, loud painful hisses were made as their flesh were both being burned and fused, and the serpent king was satisfied with this. Golgotha tendrils were no longer the same: Now they resembled cobras coated in purple flamed

They twitched and hissed loudly, flailing and twisting in unnatural ways. As if the creature wasn’t menacing enough. The serpent king made its way into the water, its legs sinking in, water under its jaws.

While converting these cobras, it gained some of the memories of their lives. Not only that, but the creature’s intelligence had increased as well. When it cycled through the memories, it saw something. It saw...him. It found him.

It growled and dove deep in the water. For a creature of such massive size, it swam frighteningly fast, its bulk and mass creating a wave as it headed towards its destination. It didn’t even notice that a swarm of those cobras were following it.

___________________________________________________________________

“Are you certain, Luna?” the solar princess asked.

Luna nodded. “Positive, it was nothing that I had ever seen. It was the same size of a minotaur but…” She stopped for a moment. “It just seemed so unnatural. It had small claws and they looked more like hooks, and even though it was a dream, it felt like it was staring at me.” Her spine tingled.

Celestia however had a neutral face. At the moment she was thinking that for it to travel from the Canterlot forests to Yedril meant it teleported, and at a great distance meant it used a lot of magic to get there, yet for whatever reason she was certain it wasn't using any. Otherwise she would have sensed it.

After thinking up every possible solution, she came up with one. “Luna, it seems Twilight's ceremony will have to be postponed much longer then i have anticipated.” her sister raised a questioning brow at her.

“How long?”

Her elder sister didn’t reply which gave her the answer. If she were honest, she hasn't seen this serious in a long time. “Luna, we’re going to saddle arabia. Along with Twilight and the others.”

To say her sister was shocked was an understatement, the lunar princess just could not believe it at all. Things are more serious than the invasion.

____________________________________________________________________________

“So which way do we go?” Spec asked.

Archive held the map with his magic and hummed for a moment before answering. “Well, since we are at the oasis or at least part of it, we should head south, since that section is where the Arabian Lake is. We get there then we’re in the city.”

“You seem to know your way,” the king commented

The red maned unicorn stallion beamed with pride, which honestly seemed off character. “Well, Saddle Arabia is where I would always go on vacations! Though I usually wouldn't get bused to the heat,” he chuckled a bit embarrassingly

‘There he is,’ Chaos said amusingly.

“Though the problem is we need to get there by boat. On foot it would be a day's journey, but on boat it should take maybe.. Half the day? It usually depends on the river mostly, since it’s flowing fast it should take us hours at best,” Archive finished.

“But we don’t have a boat,” Spec stated.

The red stallion’s ears flattened. Embarrassment once again flooded into him. “R-right…”

The tunic covered Chaos King was about to speak until Spec annoyingly interrupted him. “Wait! I can just swim there!” He shouted, a childish giggle came from the fractured minded minotaur.

“Wait, you can swim?” Archive asked in slight disbelief.

“Of course I can!” he said with a smile, though it dropped upon realization. “Right. I never told you two this. Well before I came to town, I would practice swimming a lot; learning both how to swim fast and hold my breath longer. The exercise worked out: I can hold my breath for a long time. Not sure about the time but I know it’s long.” He continued. “And I know I can swim fast. Hell, I can get to that place maybe under 30 minutes or an hour, just need your permission Lord Chaos,” he finished.

‘Lord Chaos? Sounds really appealing now.’ The chaotic king thought, ego slightly growing. He was honestly surprised to learn new information from his second follower. He could tell Spec wasn’t lying and, in fact, his aura was glowing with excitement. The color was Aqua which was riddled with cracks. ‘Wait since when can I see...?’ The aura disappeared instantly when he noticed it.

Shaking his head from his stupor he focused again. “Right, well, Spec, this is an interesting revelation. Alright, I give you permission to swim up there and we’ll catch up.”

An excited smile appeared on the minotaur’s face. “Thank you sir!” He stripped the tunic off then turned towards the two. “I’ll see you soon.”

He dove into the stream, submerged into the cool water. He reappeared further down, leaping out, his powerful muscles pushing him out of the water covering him every time he submerged. He was using the butterfly stroke, and while for others it caused great stress to the body, for Spec it was just a standard warm-up of his muscles.

Chaos and Archive watched with awe. Spec had already made it far and had become a literal speck in the distance.

“Wow, look how fast he’s going…” Archive exclaimed. “I didn’t think a minotaur could go that fast.”

The chaotic king just hummed.

“Wait, how are we going to catch up with him?”

The king didn't answer. Instead he placed a hand on one of the palm trees then pushed it gently. It split in half and fell into the water. With one hand the tree ignited and began to change and morph into shape, becoming more rectangular. The wood began to change, becoming harder and slicker, until it was fully metal. The flame disappeared and revealed a raft made of metal.

Well, silver was the appropriate term. It had rails with gold edges while the main body itself was silver. Archive couldn’t understand how silver -a heavy element- could float on water. He really shouldn’t be even more surprised at this point as Chaos king stepped on the raft.

It didn’t sink.

He stepped on it as well. No signs of sinking. The raft began to move as the current pushed against the metal, it was slow at first but began to gain speed.

Spec at this point was just gone, nowhere to be seen. ‘I need to write this down, a lot is happening, and history is being made!’ The red maned unicorn beamed mentally.

There was surprisingly peaceful silence, with the only sounds being of running water and a gentle breeze. The duo actually enjoyed it, though Chaos King had to say something that was on his mind. “I have to ask something, Archive.” The unicorn was surprised as soon as his name was called out by the chaotic lord, he turned to the King. wondering what he was going to say. “You have been surprisingly calm over the past few days. Why is that?”

The unicorn's eyes winced, but he answered anyway. “Well in all honesty I'm a bit more accepting. I mean no offense you aren’t exactly the first evil overlord or some sort of eldritch abomination that tried to destroy the whole of Equestria. For a thousand years threats would constantly pop out and yet, the Princesses would always subdue them.” He continued on. “Not long ago we had an invasion. It was the biggest yet, and three villains came. Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Crazy Glow. Though in honesty I knew little about her after her fiasco. They were all defeated by the princess of friendship and her friends, not sure what happened to them, probably sent to Tartarus, but I tell ya I had fun documenting all that, and actually that princess was supposed to get a coronation, but after reading one of the newspapers in town that seems to have been postponed.”

“Why's that?”

“You came.”

“...oh”

“So yeah and that's mostly why, but if I'm completely honest, I'm not sure about you.”

“And why do you say?” He raised a brow.

“Because you didn’t hesitate at all,” he said. Remembering all the dead corpses of his colleagues including the elder, he did miss them but he had no choice but to move on.

The King looked at him blankly then hummed. ‘Perhaps I have been rash on my actions.’ A sigh escaped from his lips, really contemplating if that was ever a good idea since he left, but for now he had to push those feelings of guilt aside.

Now he really needed to plan out, if what Archive told him was true then the severity of him failing to take this world was high. Even at this moment he needed to execute plans and create backups in case all failed, but in order to do that he would actually need to see how this Princess of Friendship worked and how she operated, and what her support was.

He felt a bit frustrated knowing that might take awhile so at the moment he decided to check something else. He looked down at Archive who was reading a book and writing on a notepad to pass the time. Then he viewed the aura again, but this time its color was different;, instead of the aqua blue filled cracks that floated around Spec, this one was a solid blood orange.

‘Interesting-’ he thought.’-It seems I can literally see the magical aura that all ponies have. How many new abilities will I find?’ His lips twitched into a small smirk.

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Spec had been swimming for a while, and his body was slowly starting to lag and strain, yet he moved quickly and fluently with each high bound. The water was becoming colder which meant he was getting closer.

The broken minded minotaur didn’t know how long he was doing this; it might have been an hour or it might have been a minute5. He didn’t know, but what he did know was that he was somewhere by the city, just not which part..

His hand gripped firmly on the stone edge using it to lift himself up, tiny rivulets of water fell from his body like a stream. With the help of his hoof he lifted himself on land then shook his body, throwing water all around. As soon as he opened his eyes a sharp pointed object was close.

He didn’t react at all despite this. In front of him was a hairless, purple dog-like creature. It wore a mix of leather and rust colored steel armor on its chest, while the legs and shins had black leather with holes. Spec shifted his eye and saw more of these creatures around. Some were different in shade and size while others had different placement of armor, and the minotaur knew exactly what they were.

Diamond dogs. It was strange to see them out of their caverns, usually they hated light, especially in the desert.

The Diamond dog in front of him shouted. “Hey ugly why are you here?!” the dog demanded.

Spec frowned slightly, bloodlust was starting to form in his chest from that insult. “Now that wasn’t nice to say, I just got here.”

The Diamond snorted and barked with laughter, the other joined. “You hear this guy? He says we aren’t nice!”

“Hey, ask him if he wanted a balloon!” One of them shouted

“Oh yeah you want a balloon, ugly? I got one right here.” The dog chuckled as he lifted a bow and arrow in front of Specs face, who at the moment was blank. “Careful though, this once super sharp! It can poke your eye out, like what I’m about to do right…”

It happened so quick that none of the Diamond dogs expected it. The one canine who was insulting Spec was suddenly thrown, the body violently smacking and bouncing on the stone finally crashed against the wall, leaving spider web cracks. The dogs starred in horror at their dead comrade.

The dead diamond dog’s lower jaw was just smashed in, teeth and blood leaking out, along with the tongue which hung loosely and dripped with crimson.

Laughter was slowly starting to calm and all attention was turned to the Minotaur who had his fist out. It was covered in blood and some teeth. It even steamed slightly from the impact.

The broken minded minotaur chuckled then spoke, no longer was he acting like a large child but more of a professional serial killer. “Well now, I did say that wasn’t nice, but then he did try to stab me in the eye.” His psychotic smirk formed showing his pearl white molars. “Now tell me, you magi mutts: What are you all here for?”

None of them answered as they were to frighten at what they saw, one however spoke up. “And why should we tell you, you freak!” Shouted the dog.

The Diamond dog moved past the frightened crowd, he was two feet taller than the rest and had more armor on. This one had a violet mohawk that curved back, he had tribal paint that was etched across his face, small spiked implants on the right side of the face. He had two axes in his hands: the bladed ends were spiked and were covered in viscous, sticky green slime that smelled foul even from afar.

This was a captain, or another character of similar importance

“Why should we tell? You trespass in this area then kill one of my boys, you have no right to question us,” the captain said, which earned murmurs of agreement from the other dogs. Anger began to course their being from the death of their brethren. Some raised their swords, others bows, axe, maces, and anything that really acted like a weapon to them. “You killed him because you got lucky, you won’t be so right now.” The captain smirked.

But to his surprise Spec actually giggled and then full on crackled with psychotic glee which slowly became higher pitched. “Oh luck had nothing to do with it you stupid dog, but this is good. This means I can finally let loose again!”

Spec’s eyes rolled back like that of a great white shark, his jaws slightly jutted from his lips, and veins began piping from under his skin. It seemed the world began to warp around him, like his bloodlust and killing instinct took form.

The dogs were hesitant at first however their captain dispelled that fear quickly. “Attack!” The roars and howls were made as the dogs charged at the psychotic Minotaur.

They thought their numbers could take him down, all they did was end up sating his murderous hunger.

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The sun dipped slightly ,indicating early afternoon.

Dooley, during this time, had been on his notebook writing down everything that had happened these past few days. Despite it only being a few days he knew that history was being made and he loved writing it down.

Chaos, however, was more or less playing with his power. In his palm he had water and used some mental power to make the liquid move and swirl against his hand. Then he made it shape and morph into intricate shapes, like a sphere, then into a perfect cube. It then morphed into the shape of a diamond. The water hadn’t so much as dripped, in fact was so intact that it looked solid.

The king hummed there was a slight purple glow in the water, he changed its consistency from liquid to stone, it worked perfectly. He held the diamond shape stone in his hand, pride slowly filled his chest. Creating something was really enjoyable.

“Hey, king look!”

Chaos reeled slightly from Archives' loud tone. ‘His yelling is annoying…’

He stood up fully to see what the unicorn was yelling about, and to his delight they were starting to float in the city.

Archive, however, noticed something different. “Somethings...not right.”

“What do you mean?” Chaos questioned.

“Usually there would be more ponies bustling around here but I don’t see any…” an unnerving feeling began to creep along his spine.

“Maybe there’s an event happening?”

“Maybe...but there still would be a guards pony somewhere-“ he was cut off once they were at a section. A gasp escaped his throat once he saw the corpses, but they weren’t ponies. “W-what h-happ-?” He stuttered out.

“Spec’s doing,” Chaos King lamented.

The raft stopped, allowing the cloaked Chaos King to stroll off with his servant behind. His eyes looked upon the mutilated corpses: Some had their intestines torn out, others had smashed skulls.

“Spec did all of this?!” The red maned unicorn shouted, visibly disgusted. His stomach began to lurch with the lunch he had earlier.

“Indeed, although. I may have underestimated his...talent,” the king said as he turned over a corpse with his foot. This victim's jaw was torn off along with the eyes poked out, and a slight grin grew on the king’s face. He felt amazed at the bloody work that Spec had done. ‘There had to have been 40 corpses and he slaughtered them. Truly amazing,’ he thought.

Archive went behind him and stared at the corpse, and the realization kicked in. “Wait… diamond dogs?” The creature looked at him questioningly obviously expecting an answer. “Oh sorry, diamond dogs are subterranean, dog like creatures there usually underground and look for well gems and Diamonds. It’s both currency and food. But…” he stopped for a moment. “They usually hate the sun and rarely ever come out in the day. To see this many ,especially in the desert...something is going on.”

The creature hummed. “We will figure it out later, let us find Spec.”

“No need.” The voice said. They turn to see Spec, holding a pipe in his hands and smoking. “I’m right here.” The Minotaur dragged a body behind him.

The king clapped to him with all four hands. “Bravo, bravo Spec! Truly you have outdone yourself again,” he complimented which earned a giggle from the individual.

“Awww thanks, boss, though I should thank you, I feel more free.” The psychotic smirk formed slightly on his face, which the king returned with just as much glee.

The unicorn gulped slightly, feeling fear in his body. “W-well I’m kinda glad you’re back but...why are you dragging that body?”

Spec looked down. “Oh this guy? Well he’s the captain of this group and I made sure to keep him alive just for the boss,” he chuckled.

“Why thank you for your gift, now let me see this captain.” Spec threw the battered body of the captain who groaned from a shattered rib. “Let’s see what I can learn.” A sadistic smile was on Chaos King’s face as he shoved his finger into the dog's cranium. The captain froze and stiffened.

Then all of a sudden a loud booming sound was heard which caused both Spec and Archive to jump because the sound came from nowhere. The Diamond dogs eyes glowed purple, Chaos removed his finger and then allowed the Diamond dog to stand. “Good, you are under my control. Had to test it out, but listen here, get one of your trusted pack with you and find me once you are ready.” he ordered.

“Right, boss.” The controlled dog picked up his weapons, and then hopped away on one of the buildings.

Archive was confused. “What did-?”

“I tested a new ability, but that’s not the point. Things have gotten more complicated and I will explain later. Right now.” he stared down at Archive. “I need you to find us an inn and Spec put that cloak back on,”

Archive was surprised but nodded, whatever got chaos like this must be serious. He led the way by trotting towards the city, along with the King and Minotaur.

Little did they know they were being watched the whole time. The Figure hidden by the shadows hummed an amused smile was graced on their features, with a single leap the figure hoped building to building.

Things are about to be more chaotic.

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A lot is happening in this one chapter. I’m gonna have a lot of fun.

Also sorry for taking so long. Life just got in the way as always. But I’m still writing, thanks for reading. If you have questions I’ll answer.

Co written by The psychopath
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