Escalation and Eradication

Elegost and Parix were busying themselves in the taken ruins of Stallbluf. Elegost aided their cultists in the construction of a new stronghold, having to pause every few moments to sacrifice a captured pony, the shade was given some time to think. He fondly remembered with pangs if depression the feel of driving an accursed blade into soft flesh, feeling the victim quiver in fear, shock, and pain before their very Essence was imprisoned within the hellblade's deepest sanctum. All around him, piles of used slaves and rebellious ponies were set ablaze in meager offering, not only that, but these creatures had also proven to be fair sustenance, butchers prepared unruly prisoners before their imprisoned comrades, effectively demoralizing any attempt of rebellious spirit. Food he could not bite, scents he could not appreciate, emotions that appeared only as faded versions of their former grandeur, the sorcerer, though hiding it under his calm demeanor, was ready to burn the galaxy to cinders to meet these desires.

To be fair, Parix was faring arguably worse. He stormed about in a state of not sheer anger, but if sheer, unrelenting, irritation. Both he, and Elegost felt their former emotions, which had been largely dulled in the process of their rebirth, explode that day. Hunger, thirst, bloodlust, zeal, all cascading in the minds of both specters, and like most other dark followers, Parix blamed it on others.

Parix thought he heard two prisoners feuding over plans for an uprising, when in reality, the two were simply expressing their frustrations aloud. They, along with fifteen other ponies, were tasked with tearing down the city hall of Stallbluf, including the grand statue of the elements, staring off ever triumphantly into the distance. Rainbow's head was already gravel, and they were working on Applejack, when the two disgruntled workers heard the ghostly, and yet mechanical shouts of their overseer.

"Scum! You delay?! You are already trying my patience Xenos, by merely existing! By stealing away precious oxygen! Now, twice as fast! The Great Gods demand it!" Parix was immediately brought down from his rant, however, when he heard the familiar sound of defiant spitting. And turned to see a singular pool of pony saliva sitting where his foot should have been,
As well as a very irritated colt.

"To Tartarus with your weak Gods..." The more broad of the two ponies said, "Celestia will make you all SO SORR-" he choked before being grabbed by Parix. The tech priest's robes issued a piercing red glow from each opening, and the mechanical hand of Parix was firmly clamped around the back of the poor horse's cranium. And yet, the pony still smiled.

"Work. Slave" Parix uttered, shortly before feeling more spit pass through his form. "Work" Parix repeated with a tone deep enough, and menacing enough to make a company of blood angels turn tail. "I've got a headache, looks like I'll just take a sick day, get out of here for a bit ya know?" The prisoner arrogantly said, and while his voice remained strong, his sweating and slight shaking made it clear to everyone, and especially to him, that his courage was swiftly melting away.

"A headache eh?" Parix asked with a slightly lighter tone, "I remember those, and more importantly, I remember an old cure for them!" Parix sounded half insane by this point, as he dragged the pony over to the rocky foundations of a destroyed building.
The pony was struggling to escape the lunatic which held him still, now openly begging to go back to work.

"You just have to... Pound Them Out!" Parix said, and before the pony could react, his head was rammed into the stone with horrible force, he could feel bones snapping at first collision, and cried out in newfound suffering. Another strike landed, and now the pony couldn't think straight, everything was slowing down, even the pain was subsiding, he still felt his injuries, but for some reason couldn't remember how he got them. With the next strike, and a powerful grunt from Parix, the pony's head burst, thoroughly painting the foundation.

"You see?" Parix said to the crowd which had gathered, primarily composed of now disgusted or weeping slaves. "No more headache!" Parix shouted almost gleefully, throwing down the broken corpse before the crowd, who dispersed immediately with screams and tears accompanying them. "Get this to the butchers." Parix said to the serfs, who had not fled with the rest of the crowd. The little spectacle had done nothing to distract him from his own struggle, and while prisoner morale was low and work output was high, he still burned with the desire to be whole again.

Elegost had just finished raising a second dark machine pit, and was already tired of his work. He wandered amongst the ruins of this newfound civilization, almost everything was made of wood and straw, which made demolition easy, but denied them any useable resources. Aside from the palisade walls and two of the once seemingly endless sweet shops, there still stood, untouched, a great library. The statues of their weak champion had been destroyed, but aside from that, the building had survived, and now the thousand son inside every sorcerer urged him to venture inside. Knowledge of their foe could aid in their conquest, as well as aiding Elegost's agonizing boredom.

Unfortunately for the sorcerer, he had just entered the room, when he felt an odd sensation in his feet. Looking down, he saw that they were no longer there, but were leading his entire lower body in a spectral trail out the door. In seconds, he felt like a thought flying through the air, he raised into the sky and began to move away from the city. Elegost also noticed a wisp similar to himself traveling in the same direction, for Parix too. Had been collected. The two flew over the entire countryside, noticing towns and cities belonging to their enemy, as well as patrols of their own marching around in the forested regions. They saw seas and creatures, and at one point what appeared to be a large craft flying through the air, and elevated by balloon. Suddenly, the two specters descended rapidly into the solid rock of a mountain, and traveled in darkness for several minutes.

Eventually, they arrived at the dark altar within their original mountain fortress, however, now the pool was practically overflowing with blood, and all kinds of chaotic followers and warriors were emerging from a dark portal adjacent to the pool. Sorcerers, plague bearers, berserkers, and even followers of the dark mechanicus emerged, and joined in a strange ritual taking place before the pool's edge, a ritual being led by a group of heretics, bearing the colors of Malal's cult. After a group if ponies had been thrown into the pool, the surface bubbled, and spawned waves from it's very center, the central force of these waves and tremors reached the pool's edge, where two forearms emerged. Parix and Elegost were immediately thrust by some unseen force toward the two arms, and upon reaching them, melded into their bodies and raised themselves from the bloody pool. Both were unconscious for a time, until Elegost awoke with horrible shaking, the process of rejoining his soul with his body had disturbed him horribly, and now arose, shivering like a frightened pup.

Almost immediately, he ran from the altar, full of dark and curious purpose. He had to read the contents of that library. He had to learn! He had much studying to do.