Malignant

Time…time is an eternal thing. It will always be. The ponies will eventually be no more. The universe will eventually cease to exist. Even I will eventually be gone, crumbled into nothing but ash and dust. When all else is lost, time will remain. Always it will move forward, blind to everything around it. It is the inevitable truth.

Even as I think this, time still goes on. The ponies live their futile little lives. The planet moves through the great vastness of space. The sun and the moon rise and fall each day. Creatures are born and creatures die. Such is the nature of this universe. This pathetically ordered universe.

But I? I burn. I suffer. It is all I know. There is no light. There is no company. There is nothing to ease the pain. That’s all there is: suffering and darkness. And during all this time, one further inevitable fact has made itself known to me: there is no escape.

Time has long since lost meaning to me. I struggle to remember how long it has been. How long ago it was that Celestia banished me to this fate. Abandoned me here, alone. How could she? My anger boiled over just thinking about her.

As if on cue, a sudden bolt of pain lanced through my essence. At first, I cried out. That must have been millennia ago. Now, I hardly even grunt. It’s no surprise what comes when I think of such things. My essence is numb. I can hardly feel anything anymore. Celestia thinks she is so clever, trapping me here and constantly subjecting me to these “tortures,” but they have only made me stronger. If ever I were to escape, I could crush her easily.

But as I said before, there is no escape. Another bolt of pain jars its way into my consciousness. Typical. Thinking about the beginning of this “torture” has helped me remember. It was indeed several millennia ago that Celestia cast that fateful spell. I did not understand then. I could not conceive of what had happened. But now, it is clear as crystal. I have had time, so much time, to reflect on it. And now, I know exactly what it is that transpired. And if ever I were to be freed, I would know exactly how to beat her.

But alas, such a time will surely never come. I don’t think anything has ever escaped from the depths of Tartarus, and the spells binding the lesser spirits here are child’s play compared to that which holds me. Again, I have had countless amounts of time to spend searching for a weakness. Searching desperately for a way out. Alas, there is none. Celestia is far too wise for such mistakes.

Time and I have a strange relationship. One moment it’s like an old friend of mine, while others it is my worst enemy. I imagine most everyone thinks the same way. It is such a fickle thing. Though it may seem to change from our simple perspectives, the ultimate truth is that it is unwavering.

Look at me…reduced to pathetic philosophical thoughts. I used to be something. I used to be terrifying. Those were the days. Then was a time where time itself held meaning for me. When I cherished it. Now, it too, has abandoned me. I am trapped here, doomed to wait until I cease to exist, broken down by the ever-present waves of time…

There is a stirring in the earth…

Something has happened. Despite my imprisonment, the magic of this land is strong, and I am a being of immense magical capabilities. As such, I have always been able to sense the major events of this world. I watched Nightmare Moon get banished, and watched again as she was defeated by the Elements of Harmony. I have witnessed the countless battles between Celestia and Discord. I have seen it all. And yet…this feels different somehow.

A cracking sound.

Well, that’s certainly something. In all my time spent slowly dying off in this hellhole, never have I heard a sound such as that. Something is definitely happening right now. I tune my senses into the magical lines surrounding me. Surely there must be something I can detect.

There it is… I let out an audible gasp as I feel the power surge through me. What has just been done…I almost cannot believe it. Can it really be true? A slight glimmer of hope flutters to life deep inside of me. Suddenly, the power intensifies as another source is added to the first. The second I recognize immediately, for I have felt it before. It is the firing of the Elements of Harmony.

As for the first…the Medallion has at long last been activated. There is another cracking noise, this one much louder and longer than the first. I know what is happening. Summoning up every last reserve of strength in my essence, I press outwards. Immediately, I am rewarded with pure agony as pain that I have not felt for centuries comes pouring into me. But I am strong now. The numbness is still there. I battle through the pain, continuing to strain my constraints to the maximum.

There is a rumbling noise now. More cracks and hissing noises. A very small glimmer of light reaches my senses. It has been so long… Of course, the light is a dull, flickering red, but even that is better than eternal murkiness.

There is a rumbling now. More cracks. More hissing. More trembling. The faint sound of metal creaking and splitting. The pain grows stronger, and I am now groaning in agony and exertion, but still I press on. This could be my only chance. With one final scream, I push outwards with everything I have. Either it breaks, or I do.

There is a massive explosion. Tons of rock and debris erupt from my ex-prison. The pain stops coursing through my essence abruptly, and slowly begins to fade away into nothingness. Have I done it? Am I…free?

I take a moment to examine my surroundings for the first time. The dust starts to clear and I can begin to see clearly. There is an unruly heap of stone beneath me. In the immediate area lie several broken pieces of stone and littered lengths of rusty chains. Sweeping away the rocks contemptuously, I am greeted by what used to be a great rune of power carved into the ground. It no longer glows with energy. Instead, it is a scar carved into the ground, stripped of its power and still steaming slightly from its abrupt fracture. Casually, I push away the remaining dust so I may look around.

I am in a pit, surrounded by sheer cliff walls on some sides and sharp drops on the others. There is an omnipresent red light that flickers in intensity. Despite it being quite dim compared to Celestia’s sun, it is still blinding after being in darkness for so long. Peering over the precipice, I see nothing but a pool of lava far below, bubbling and steaming intensely. The lava is even more blinding, and I quickly look away. As I take all of this in, I can still hear the soft sound of pebbles plinking off of the nearby walls and the echoing boom that is fading into the distance.

At last, at long, long last…I am free.

A slow, steady chuckle emits from my being. I cannot help myself. After so many years of darkness and pain, so many years of scheming and hoping, all of my hopes and dreams have finally come true. My chuckle quickly escalates into a full-blown laugh. One that is filled with hatred and a thirst for revenge. The very earth itself quakes in fear at the sound. As it should.

O, most joyous day. Time once again has meaning for me. It welcomes me back into its embrace like an old friend. I can once again scheme and plan deadlines. I flex my power, testing to see what I am capable of after so long. I am rather dismayed to find that I am quite weak. It will take time to recover before I can confront Celestia directly. Funny how time so quickly became my most hated enemy. Hmph. Now that I am free, I simply must cease this philosophical nonsense. It isn’t becoming of one such as myself.

But in the end, this is no real obstacle. I will feed. Soon I will be back at full strength. For the first time in millennia, I find myself genuinely smiling. Smiling maliciously. Malevolently. “So, Celestia…” I coo quietly to myself. “Your strength has failed you. You were forced to call upon the power of the Medallion. Little do you know what you have just done. But then again, you were never one for foresight…” My smirk widens.

“Prepare yourself, ‘my little pony.’ I am coming for you…

“For I am free.”