The Corrupt Man

I wake of from my forced slumber. My eyes are still closed and all I can see is empty space. It feels like my limbs are as heavy as stone. I can’t say I feel anything, other than my hands and feet end in wooden stumps. My body aches, a cold sweat envelopes me. How long have I been asleep? My body continues to shiver. A thought popped in my head. Celestia. What little witch! She probably did not believe me and cursed my body with paralyses. When, if ever I get out of here, I will have her crucified and torture her loved ones in front of her forced open eyes, until she begs me to dissect her alive! My mind was whirling with anger, but I felt a presence, a thing, as I would call it, very similar to me.

I expanded my consciousness, “feeling” around for the presence I felt. Even though I couldn’t exactly see, because my mind wouldn’t allow me to manifest “eyes”, I could however, feel around for the energies that permeate through everything. For instance, I could tell if an object was a chair, table or potted plant, and where it was, just by feeling its aura. Unfortunately, telling if it was a t-rex, lady bug, blue, green or black. I would have a hard time, as auras do not exactly “fit” the body. This makes it hard to tell what exactly it is. For all I know, I could be a blue hedgehog.  I continued to feel around with my mind, walls, doors and a few life forms, until I found what I was looking for, Corruption. I should have known.

What is what is it doing here? I felt something holding Corruption, it was a large pot of some kind. A cauldron maybe? It was speaking to another entity. I wonder what they’re talking about? I would merge my mind with Corruption, but expanding one’s mind is not an easy task. Mentally tired, I retracted myself back to my body and promptly passed out.

--

Celestia gracefully sits on her throne. Perched on top of a golden platform, raising her body high into the air to show everyone that she was not a lowly commoner, but of royal blood, no one would dare argue that she was not the undisputed ruler of her kingdom. Her throne room was lined with stain glass windows, each depicting an event throughout Equestria’s history. From the advent of Nightmare Moon to the defeat of Discord, by the hooves of the six Elements of Harmony, strangely enough, it also showed the future and possible outcomes. Banners hanged high, displaying the might and majesty of the solar and lunar crest, each representing their respective princess.

A lush red carpet ran from the dais, where the princess sat, to a steel gray cauldron, no more than thirty paces away. Corruption, the vile ooze that lay in the pot. Black as charcoal and thick as tar, it bubbled, like if there was flame beneath it. It did not show steam, nor was it hot, it was whether cold to the touch. With both beings satisfied with their surroundings, Celestia spoke to the bubbly liquid.

“I told you, I can’t have him running around in the current stated that he’s in.” Celestia said, unsure if her guest would understand having a human running around Equestria, would cause mass hysteria. Humans have not been seen in over 1,500 years, and a sudden introduction of one would be far from pleasant, especially with this human, he is far from being a hero, but not quite a villain as most would think.

“Why a pony? Female no less, we have come to terms with form, we have many. We know of such implications, ‘tis cliché. Though, we do have to admit, you are a master of stone, crafting a statue of flesh and bone. Beauty like nothing we’ve seen, many claim, but so few stand.” As if Corruption was expecting something like this to happen.

“I understand your concern. Ponies are the most common being in this country of Equestria, and as for turning him female, well, let’s just say we mares are running things here. I do have to agree, I could have turned him into a griffon, but turning him into a mare still stands, he won’t go very far as a male. On the bright side he is a unicorn, so he will be able to use his powers without drawing attention to himself, and as an added bonus he can use magic.” Somewhat surprised, she could have sworn that Corruption read her mind. She also had a feeling of gratitude, it had complemented her on her craftsmanship. It was not every day she had to craft a new body from scratch; it was both tedious and hard, but the ending result was always worth it.

“Might as well slap a pair of wings on him and call Mary Sue along with her partner, Gary Stu. What will happen when your little ponies discover our little half cadaver has god like abilities? The he-she is limited, but even bugs will grow stronger. We are not worried about genders, such useless things, only meant for reproduction, but your kind turned it into a class. There are so many mares, way more than stallions. Not a surprise.” Sounding displeased with Celestia’s actions. Corruption preferred its deities kept their original forms, unless they chose otherwise. To it, genders were a mere tool used to make children. How can you have a child if no one has a gender?

It continued. “Since we are done talking about our little friend and his now nonexistent male genitalia. We would like bring up an issue about your previously attacked town.”  Celestia cringed at the thought of having one of her settlements burned down. She could never again go back to that site ever again, not without crying many tears. Mutilated bodies of her subjects laid everywhere on the blood soaked ground. The human did offer a solution to her problems, but it was something she could not do. Sure, they were alive again, but they would be slaves to their own flesh. That was something she would not allow.

An uneasy feeling filled the room, her voice faltered. “What of Foalsom? And please, what should I call you? Calling you an ‘it,’ is hardly suiting.”

“Very well. You may refer to us as Corruption, and our false gender will be that of a he.”  He replied

“I will see to it then. Please, continue with what you were going to say about Foalsom.” She replied back

“We know who attacked Foalsom-” shocked, Celestia shouted “What?!” slight anger overcame him. “Let us speak woman! Now… the ones who attacked Foooaaalsooomm, are called the League of Vices, or as you call them, Elements of Disharmony. We do not know much about them, other than their names, Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. These homunculi can be in the shape of any living creature, but will most likely be in the shape of your precious ponies, pitting brother against brother and sister against sister.”

Celestia didn’t know what to make of it. Her little ponies fighting, and possibly killing each other? The very thought of seeing her ponies fighting each other tore a hole in her heart. Ever since the war between Nightmare Moon and herself, she would go down to the old capital where the Everfree Forest now lays. So many lives were lost, all because of a small disagreement between her sister. Even with the old castle in ruins, she still could hear the restless spirits fight for their goddesses. It’s like what the human said, “You can free some of them from their torment, but the rest will remain,” but instead of giving up, she still, to this day does what she can to help the trapped souls.

A royal guard slams open the doors leading to the throne. It was horrid sight. One of his wings was completely snapped off. The other was dangling by the thread of his skin, exposing bone on both ends of his broken wing joint. A deep wide gash ran down diagonally from is neck to his chest, revealing part of his rib cage. Celestia couldn’t tell if his armor was painted red and his coat was already that color. The most disturbing thing however, was his face. The skin on his face was stretched back, eyes gouged out by a crude fork and tongue no longer present. “Fffffoooeeeeefeeeeeeiiiaaaaa!” he cried out. Right then, and right there, he collapsed on the floor, blood came out of his mouth by the pint. The blood than began to write itself on the floor next to the now deceased guard. “We are attacking one of your towns.  Bodies lay on the street and the blood stains ground. Your town burns as we speak, and we now have slaves for the slaughter. Come and stop us, if you dare Celestia. Don’t bother with sending more guards; we have already dealt with the ones your sister sent. ”

Celestia nearly buckled under her own weight. Paralyzed in fear, not sure if she can make sense of the monstrosity she had just witnessed. “wha… wha… what,” stuttering under her own breath. “Celestia, not to make matters worse. Allow us to make sense of this. We may not be omnipotent, or omniscience, but we still maintain our omnipresence.” Spoke Corruption. Hesitantly, she nodded.

“A hamlet to the east of the wild forest, bodies mutilated and gutted dig into the ground. Blood of children and sacrifices line the streets and on the outside walls of the buildings that have not been burnt to a crisp. The tower of ivory stands proud and unscathed in center of the hamlet. In the tower of ivory, sits a child of the sky and her fading mother, she cries wondering if her mother will ever wake up again. The army of sin also hears the child’s pleading cries. Slowly, they carve a path of blood to the tower. The child’s fate is sealed. Or is it?”

Celestia understood the last part, she knew when it came to dealing with creatures like him, and there was always a price to pay. “What do you want?” Does he want land, a place to stay, or even worse, ponies?

“The only thing we ask in return for repealing the undesired, is your power.” Celestia’s eyes widen. “Not all of it mind you, but enough of it to allow us the control of stars.”  She could not decide what to do. On one hoof, she would no longer needlessly risk the lives of her ponies to stop the invaders. On the other, Corruption would be able to take control of the stars themselves. In the end she knew what she had to do. Her kingdom came first, than herself. “Deal! But first you must prove yourself,” putting resolve back into her voice.

He was satisfied with the alicorn’s decision. “If it is a demonstration you want, rest assured. We will deal with this disturbance to prove our loyalty to the crown. When we get back however, we WILL discuss how and when we will get our payment.” Before the alicorn could say anything, the tar like substance floated above the pot and swirled around himself into a singularity, until nothing was left of Corruption.

--

Wooden cottages line a street on both sides. They appeared run down, as law was no longer relevant, thieves made their way into the now dead owners’ home. Ransacked what they though were valuable, and left the rest for rats to chew on. Unsurprisingly, bodies lay outside of the homes, mangled and dismembered. The horror written on their faces was priceless, eyes gouged out, faces dried out and tongues missing. Rivers of blood flowed out from the corpses, and collected into the street below, where it amasses into a larger stream of blood, where it than goes to the tower of ivory. The sky weeps red, clouds burn with fire and ash falls, staining the ground beneath it.

In the center of the street, the ground collapses, cutting off the stream off blood. In place of the hole, corruption fills it. This tar like substance boils, at the same time, a tendril of corruption slowly creeps along the ground, soaking up all the blood it touches. No more than ten feet away, it begins to collect itself.  It forms a blob of sorts, growing in mass until it was tall as Celestia and 10 fold her weight. It than took shape, growing 10 heads tall (1 head=1 foot), with robust features. Its arms are black as its body, as it was muscular, ending in hands that could turn stone into dust. At the end if its 4 fingers and 1 thumb, claws dominated, pearly white, and sharp enough to cut steel, but do not let the white claws fool you, corruption leaks from it, rotting flesh with every touch. The legs were nothing special, taking the shape of a regular human’s foot and legs, only meant to keep this creature afloat. It did however, killed the ground with each step it took. The head also took its own unique shape; it looked like a bald human head. Featureless, having no mouth, nose or any other visible opening, it did however, have 4 round beady glowing yellow eyes, the glowing made the eyes twice as big. Strangely enough, even though the creature had no mouth, it still breathed, taking in 3 gallons worth of air, only to spew it out later, along with a black cloud, polluting the air around the creature. Corruption was born.

He looked around. It felt like the day when Paradise Estate fell. Red skies and clouds of fire, it brought a sense of nostalgia back to him. He found a platoon of 30 night guards, scattered on the ground. “They might come in use,” he mused to himself. He sent the same number of tendrils, they went toward the dead guards. They rose from the ground, eyes black and mouth leaking tar. He commanded the guards to form a box in front of him. They did so without question. Off in the distance, he could hear the cries of a child. Corruption took his army of taint and marched toward the tower of ivory.

End