A Promise Not Forgotten

Dan:

I stay kneeling down as Celestia spoke to Aidan. Her voice faded away as my vision blurred. I got real dizzy and a huge headache, then everything went black. I awoke in some black room or something. There were no walls and no light anywhere. I looked around the empty abyss, “So, this is what it’s like to die?” I asked myself. There was no one there to respond so it was useless calling for help.

I wandered in the darkness for a few minutes. There was absolutely nothing in this place. Death is really gonna blow if this is all there is…

=Music=

From the ground in this abyss of nothing, a door rose in front of me, just barely cracked open. It looked right out of the gothic days, like some big cathedral door. It was a door and the frame, nothing more. There was a blood-red light seeping from the cracks under the door, and through the small opening. Through the crack I could see things moving, whatever they were, they wanted out.

Believe me; this door had an air of ‘Get the fuck away!’ The ominous door started creaking open so that faint whispers could come through. They all were muttering at the same time and all impossible to understand. The whispering continued to get louder and louder until I could barely hear my own thoughts.

Then, nothing. All the whispering stopped at the same time and left the void deathly silent again. I stood staring at the door worrying that something would come through. I took a few steps back in preparation, only to run into something else.

I swung around to see Discord marveling at the door. “So, you’re dead too, huh?” I asked.

Discord glared at me insultingly, “You aren’t dead, stupid,” He said.

“Then where are we, and why are you here, too?” I asked.

He shot me a deadpan stare, “We’re in your mind; the part of it that you could use. I’m here to make sure this goes along smoothly,” Discord said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Vis said something was going to happen here, something to even the odds. He said that I needed to be here to guide you or something,” Discord answered.

“That what is this?” I asked pointing to the door.

“Remember our little conversation earlier, about Mendax only cracking the door?” Discord asked.

Oh, right. This must be that door. If I gained all this power from just that small opening, then what can I do if I open the door all the way? Thoughts of the impossibilities now made possible with such power flooded my mind. All I knew about the old way we lived was now out the window. This kind of power could end all our problems.

“Careful, now,” Discord warned as he pulled me back.

“Why? With all this power we could easily defeat Prophet!” I half shouted. How dare he get in the way of me and greatness…

“Too much power could easily kill you. Because you had the link severed for so long, it takes time to reintegrate the magic,” Discord said.

Kill me? I suppose that the immense energy that lies behind this door –is- more powerful than anything I’ve ever known, it would make sense that it could kill me. Wait a minute…

“Severed?” I asked as I looked to him.

“Oh, right. Well, long ago humans could use magic as freely as unicorns. I was sent to disrupt that, as you know, but the humans were reluctant and more powerful than the magical beings I was used to. They were near impossible to defeat, so I looked to a different solution. Sabotage. Blocking the mental link to their magic rendered them useless. The humans went crazy at their dysfunction and their society collapsed. Humans slowly but surely degraded in intelligence, their full power was never met again. With their greatest weapon, and tool, removed they fell victim to the predators on the planet. That is until they found out how to reintegrate that link, that was near when your version of human history starts,” He said.

“How the hell did it take us that long?” I asked.

“I have my ways.”

“So, you know how to get this open?” I asked.

“It’s just like a normal door, only problem is that the magic could kill you if your body rejects it,” Discord responded.

“Can you help with that?”

“Nope, I’m just here for moral support. It helps to know that someone is there when it happens.”

“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing,” I said.

“The flood of power usually makes you go a teeny tiny bit, um – completely insane,” Discord said.

“Well, shit,” I said looking back at the door. The red wisps of light were flowing out continuously. “Can it be fixed?”

“You will regain lucidity only if your body accepts the magic. If it doesn’t, well, then I’ll have to put you down,” Discord said looking down. Seems I have grown on the guy.

I looked back to the door, then down at the floor.

“Dan, I’m sure you know what martyrdom is,” Discord hinted. “Think of all the people you would save.”

“Fuck, never was one for martyrdom… But, what about Aidan?” I asked.

“There is a good chance that neither of you will make it through this in the end.”

Discord stopped talking and looked down again. This was a time of need. This was a time of war. This was the time for me to make a decision.

“What’s it like… to die?” I asked.

“Dan, don’t do this to yourself.”

I looked up at the door, “Discord, if Aidan makes it through this, please take care of him.”

Discord stayed silent at my request.

“Time to end this,” I said as I walked toward the door and kicked it open as hard as I could.

Discord watched in awe as the dim red light swallowed me whole. The dark void began to shake, and the door began to collapse.

“I hope you’ve made the right decision, Dan,” Discord said before he left.

I came to looking down at the floor. I could –hear- Aidan turn as the power flowed coursed through me. It enhanced everything about me, but it also made me uncontrollably angry. Why? Fuck if I know. All I want to do now is end this, and if that means killing, then so be it.

Aidan:

We turned behind us to look for the source of the loud crack. Only Dan was there. We looked at him closer, he was shaking now. Rather uncontrollably. His head was hung as he stared at the floor.

Dan slowly looked up at us with red eyes and an angry glare.

“Oh, how cute,” we mocked.

“It’s. Over,” Dan growled, barely able to make the words as he lunged for us.

Dan grabbed our head and tackled me to the ground. He grabbed us and started ramming our head into the hard stone floor. We sent a surge of lightning into him before throwing him off.

“How dare you! You cannot touch those of a god!” I shouted as Dan slammed into a pillar, causing it to fall.

“You are no god! You’re a COWARD! NEVER BEEN ANYTHING MORE!” Dan shouted at us.

We had laugh at that, “You are a fool if you think you could challenge us!” I screamed back. The double-voice I had was intimidating to his simple mind.

Dan:

I watched as I exploded into a human light-socket. I’m just barely able to endure this much power at the same time, it’s hard to not let any out. Aidan is gone now; there is nothing left in that shell. I have to kill him.

I ran, faster than I thought possible. The punches I threw hit him like a truck. He reeled back in awe. “So be it!” Aidan said through barred teeth.

He ran at me, every hit connecting and as precise as ever. He was faster than me, but that doesn’t stop me from being stronger. I grabbed his leg and threw him through the thick stone wall to the setting sun outside in the gardens. He landed and skidded across the ground. I jumped out to meet him.

I walked over to the crater he had made to find that he had already vanished again. I was alone in the maze of these gardens. Aidan’s double-voice echoed in all directions around me as he laughed. “There is no way out, Dan. It’s over – for you,” He screamed as he jumped out of seemingly nowhere and punched me in the face.

I was knocked back before shooting a wave of power at him that knocked him into the air. He regained his composure mid-flight and rocketed back down at me. It’s time to mix things up a bit. Wonder how Aidan fares against fire?

A ball of scorching hot fire was shot to Aidan’s rapidly approaching face. He was swatted out of the air as the fire burned his hair and skin away. Just because we are immensely powerful doesn’t mean that fire doesn’t burn. Aidan landed with a thud and a resounding scream. He desperately tried to swat away the flames taking his face off.

After a few moments of watching Aidan writhe in pain I walked up to him as he lay on the ground. He was barely breathing now. Fuck I hate to see him like this, but – I have to kill him now while I can. I stopped just over him and brought my boot down on his face.

Aidan:

Ever been burned alive? Well it fucking hurts. We knew Dan was watching, and did nothing as we burned. Where is our friendship now? Where is our brotherhood when we are dying on the ground. I caught the boot as Dan looked down at me in shock.

“You really shouldn’t have done that,” We said with a barely human face. “Now I will have to kill you.” We said as we sprung up from the ground and unleashed a storm of lightning upon him. We dug our fingers into his face as we electrocuted him. “HOW DOES IT FEEL, DAN? KNOWING THAT WHATEVER YOU DO, YOU WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH!” We yelled over the scream of the lightning.

Dan reached around and sent another blast of fire to my face, this time igniting my body, too. Being severely burned was a problem for fighting, and our slowed healing wasn’t making this any better. Let’s kick it up a few notches.

Dan:

I watched Aidan burn as his Eyes glowed bright before sending matching lines up his arm. He had a sleeve of pulsing energy now. Must have amped up somehow.

I see you are handling the energy well.

Better than I expected, to be honest.

Be warned, Aidan has just tapped into a new tier of power. You can do the same thing, but your mental status will devolve much like his has.

This has to end, I have to do this.

Are you sure?

Never more.

Aidan flew towards me and threw more punches and kicks that all connected, some were blocked, and all hurt like a bitch. He has grown exponentially stronger. With every counter attack I tried I only found him beating me more savagely. He was relentless at this point.

With the blue and purple electricity flowing through him and leaping off of him he stared into my eyes. He let another wicked grin sprawl across his face and he sent the magic flying at me. “Shit!” I grunted as I dove out of the way.

The magic he sent was more than I thought; it hit the ground with an explosive crack and sent chunks of dirt everywhere.

Aidan:

We looked down into Dan’s eyes as he lay in the grass. “Why do you resist?” We asked.

“Because, no matter what you say, no matter what Prophet does to you, I know that the real you is in there. The real you that is my brother,” Dan answered.

A wave of guilt washed over me, what have I done? I looked down at my arms, covered in magical glyphs that spewed electricity. Why?

We shot more bolts at Dan, “WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN TO ME?” We screamed. “YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!”

“I know, and I’m sorry!” Dan said dodging out of the way of the blasts. He jumped up again and tackled us to the ground. We lay there pinned under him as he stared at us, “Don’t do this, Aidan! You can stop this!”

“We wish we could…” I replied.

Dan:

As Aidan lay beneath me his eyes flashed red and all of the nodes covering him turned blood red. “You can’t stop this,” Aidan said, now with Prophet’s voice instead of his double-voice.

“FUCK YOU!” I screamed in his face before he kicked me off. I flew back and slammed into the wall of the castle, sending chunks of stone flying all over the place. I hit the floor hard as the regeneration set in.

Aidan lumbered over to me, barely able to control his own movements anymore.

“Dan, you have been a problem for far too long!” Aidan said as he picked me up off the ground.

I stared into his eyes, “Fuck you, Prophet!” I said.

Prophet slammed me into the tower over and over until I couldn’t move any more. Shit, this doesn’t look good.

Colin:

I heard the slamming stop as I peered out of the hole in the wall. Aidan was below looking at Dan’s broken and bloody body. He really fucked Dan up, the bastard.

I looked back to the room full of equines, “Dan’s out,” I said. “We have to do something before he gets to anypony else.”

*THUD*

“Do what?” Aidan asked, standing in the hole with his arms crossed.

“Shit!” I said as I jumped back out of surprise.

“Oh, you are afraid? Good. Get out of my way,” Aidan said bluntly. His voice was a lot deeper now, must have been royally mindfucked. Wait, royal, that’s it!

I took a few steps back in the direction of Celestia as she sat there with her head down in defeat.

“What is it that you want, Aidan?” I asked, standing next to the ponies.

“To kill her, and claim the throne for its rightful owner,” Aidan said pointing to Celestia.

He took a few steps forward and Twilight exploded in anger, “How could you, Aidan?” Aidan stopped to look at her, “How could you do this to us? After all we did for you? After all we’ve been through?”

“Like this,” Aidan said coldly as he turned to Celestia charging up his magic.

He stared into her eyes as the electricity sparked into action, “Aidan, I love you,” Celestia said as she closed her eyes and lowered her head.

“No! God Damnit, NO!” Aidan yelled. “YOU DON’T LOVE ME. HOW COULD YOU!” Aidan yelled.

=Music=

Celestia was shocked at the outburst, "How could I not?" She asked.

"Because I murdered an entire nation and came here to kill you too!" Aidan screamed back.

Celestia took a few steps closer to Aidan, "Don't do this, you are better than Prophet, I know you are."

"WHAT MAKES ME SO GOD DAMN IMPORTANT CELESTIA!?!" Aidan yelled. "I DON'T MATTER TO THIS WORLD!"

"You matter to me..." Celestia said as a tear came down. “When you came, you reminded me of everything I lost, everything Prophet was.”

“DON’T DO THIS!” Aidan yelled as his nodes changed color rapidly.

“You promised to keep us safe, promised to come back. And most of all, you actually treated me like I’m somepony.” Celestia said.

How fucking cheesy does this world get?

It gets worse, trust me…

“NO!” Aidan yelled as he hunched over in pain, holding his head.

Celestia walked over to Aidan and laid a hoof on his shoulder, "Aidan, you can fight him, don't give into Prophet," She said as she hoisted him up so she could look him in the eye. "Do it for Dan, do it for Colin, do it for Equestria, do it for me..." She said as she inched ever closer to Aidan's face.

I noticed screaming coming from a distance.

Dan’s crazy ass flung in through the window and slammed onto Aidan, beating his ass savagely. Dan kept punching Aidan as he lay on the floor. Aidan was barely conscious after Dan’s beating. Blood covered the floor and Dan. He stepped off Aidan and walked over to the revolver sitting on the ground.

“Dan, what are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m gonna fucking end this shitstorm, right here right now!” He said as he pointed the gun at Aidan.

The shots echoed through the large room as Dan stood stone faced over Aidan’s body.

Aidan’s body lay mangled and bloody on the floor, “Fuck you, you stupid asshole,” Dan said as he spit on his corpse.

He walked over and dropped down on the steps and buried his face in his hands.

“Hey,” I started.

“Shut up, Colin.”

“Dan,” I started again.

“FUCK YOU!” Dan yelled with his eyes shut tight.

Celestia walked over and sat next to Dan, “Thank you, Dan.” Despite that rather tender moment they could have had, she seemed to hide her emotions well. I doubt she would ever talk of this again.

“For killing my brother? Yeah, you’re fucking welcome,” He grunted.

Luna, who had come when Aidan was thrown outside, was standing over his body now. She had liked Aidan. Everyone did…