Atlas blinked, stepping forward into complete darkness. He looked around, and none of his companions were there. After a full minute of silence, he took a breath and spoke into the darkness.
"If you think leaving me alone will do anything to my mind, Asphodel, you are sorely mistaken." He exhaled, remaining expressionless as the larger pony appeared before him, followed by each of Atlas's friends, chained spread eagle on an invisible wall in the darkness.
"Perhaps not, but I think I know what will. For a thousand years you were unbreakable, Atlas. A thousand years that I admired you for your strength, for your indescribable will to continue suffering for those who had wronged you so harshly. Now, let us see if they would undergo that same punishment for you." He stomped once, and Atlas was immediately chained to the ground, unable to move despite his efforts to free himself. He glared up at Asphodel, his eyes quickly becoming bloodshot with rage.
"Make no mistake, Asphodel. Should a hair from them fall to the ground, I will ensure that you never die. You will spend the rest of your eternity in my care." For the first time, he grinned, his eyebrows lowered and his pupils shrunken, giving him the impression of one near madness. The Alicorn blinked once, then turned about, stepping first up to Twilight. He looked her in the eye, holding her head in place with his magic.
"So, child. Do you believe yourself strong? Do you think you have what it takes to stand up to me?" Twilight's horn sparked, countering his magic with her own and jerking her head away.
"Maybe not, but I know he does. And that's all I need to know." Asphodel threw her back against the invisible partition, rattling her against it violently as he moved back and forth across the line, glancing at each of the ponies in turn.
"Unbelievable. All six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony here with three of the Princesses of Equestria, and not a one of you can lift a hoof to stop me. Tell me, would you like to know what you put Atlas through? Each of you specifically? Oh, who shall I start with?" He looked back and forth along the line, stepping forward eventually to Fluttershy. He smirked at her as she tried her best to turn away, but to no avail. "Come now, little one. See what your friend has done for you." He jerked her head around, forcing her to meet his eyes, and in them she became lost.
In his eyes she saw Atlas standing alone in the midst of a field. He was staring toward the ground, looking sad and dejected, when suddenly a thump came from the ground beside him. He glanced over, and there was a bear. He shook his head, looking back toward the ground, and by the time he looked up again, he was surrounded by woodland animals. Bears, beavers, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, and even Timberwolves. He glanced at them all in turn, and only one word escaped him.
"Please..." They all rushed him, piling upon him in wild rage, even those that were so fair tempered as a rabbit. They cleared away moments later, leaving Atlas in a bloodied heap, barely alive. He shuddered with every breath, trying desperately to lift a hoof to push himself up, but to no avail.
Fluttershy gasped nigh silently, tears streaming freely down her face. Through her sobs, she managed a question.
"W-what did you do to him?" Asphodel shook his head, his sparkling black mane shaking with it.
"Not me. This is your nightmare, banished by Luna. You did this to him by refusing to take your own medicine." She gasped, only adding to her already pitiful expression. Asphodel turned to Luna, one eyebrow raised.
"Speaking of which, Luna, I have to ask what exactly gave you the ingenious idea of passing all the negative energy generated by nightmares out into the middle of nowhere, where it would naturally come to me. I'm not complaining, to be sure, since they provided so much inspiration for me." He stepped back, giving both her and Celestia a look. "Of course, Celestia played no small part. Her own suffering for a thousand years, constantly repressed by the need to actually rule the kingdom was absolutely delicious, I must say. How was it, Atlas? Feeling as though you had abandoned your closest family to the worst endurable suffering whilst enduring it yourself?" Atlas glanced at his opponent, still silent. Asphodel rolled his eyes, stepping up to Celestia and placing the tip of one hoof at her temple. "Let me make it very clear, fool. Give me your word now, or I swear to you she will experience all the suffering you have endured in a thousand years in a single second." Atlas snarled, two hooves straining against his chains.
"You swore you would not kill any of them." Asphodel raised an eyebrow, smirking smugly.
"I don't plan to. Insanity is not death." Atlas reared up, smashing his hooves into the ground. His chains shattered into black smoke, but just as he started forward, Celestia began to scream in unbearable agony. He stopped cold, his teeth gritted in desperation and anger. "Don't test me, Atlas. I've given her the slightest taste of what I'm capable of, but take another step and you'll see what happens when she watches you all die." Atlas took a single breath, then spoke one word.
"Serpent." Asphodel was silent for a moment, then chuckled and replied.
"I beg your pardon?" Atlas glared at him, smirking despite the scenario.
"You heard me." Asphodel's pupils slowly began to shrink, and he gulped as he released Celestia. He stepped forward, meeting Atlas's eyes, and asked the only question he could.
"When did you figure it out, I wonder?" Atlas glanced behind him, then back to his rival.
"You came here too soon. I knew eventually you would try to torture my friends, but there was one thing you forgot to show me. Even in the vision of Tartarus, you failed to display-"
"The Serpent of the Samareha Desert." Atlas chuckled.
"Your own mind beat you. You were so focused on determining my word that you couldn't bother to even portray your own. Now, take us back." Asphodel sighed, nodding slowly. His horn sparked once, and suddenly they were all back in Canterlot Castle, but Asphodel's hoof was now on Atlas's temple. He yelled in rage as he dug it in, his voice nearly deafening his opponent.
"Perhaps you'd like to see what it's like beyond Tartarus! Let me show you my true nature!" Atlas's eyes went blank for a moment as the rest of the ponies recovered themselves, rubbing their legs were the chains had been attached. Celestia shuddered with the residual pain of the purgatory Asphodel had shown her, and took a few deep breaths before she stood. As soon as they regained themselve, they all rushed over to the pair, staring helplessly as Asphodel attempted to break Atlas one last time.
Dark magic flowed off the pair like smoke from a fire, leaving behind puddles of black matter that scorched anything it touched. The group was forced back as the two began to shudder, and slowly Atlas turned his head, meeting Asphodel almost nose to nose. His voice was strained, but slowly he spoke.
"You forget...Asphodel. What you call...a hell...is my only...true...home." The pair split apart in a burst of energy, Asphodel's eyes wide and his teeth gritted in rage. Atlas dusted himself off, nodding to the Princesses. "Are you all alright?" They nodded slowly, awestruck. "Good. Celestia, I apologize for not being able to help you any more than I did. I hope you didn't see too much." She shook her head, a slight smile working its way back onto her face at the sight of her old guardian. "Excellent. Now, if you will, miladies, please take a few steps back. I believe I'll be disposing of this permanently." Atlas reared once again, stomping the ground with all his might. It shattered beneath him, the shards and clods of earth lifting up and forming into chains. They rushed forward, grabbing ahold of Asphodel and dragging him down through the ground, all the way to Tartarus.
He struggled against them, his magic tearing at them and his wings flapping desperately to pull him into the air against them. As his legs sunk into the ground, he turned to Atlas, his face filled with desperate rage. "You...you fool. You think Tartarus can hold me? I AM TARTARUS!" Atlas reached down, placing a hoof under the chin of Asphodel. He pulled the Alicorn forward, coming a mere inch from his face.
"Do you know what my Cutie Mark represents? I am the unending struggle. For a thousand years I fought you daily. Cerberus is myself incarnate with your own strength to aid him. Even if you should escape, I will hunt you down. If you are truly the body of all evil, bring it all to me. Bring me Tartarus if you can, so that I can destroy it all at once." Asphodel, for the first time in his life, stopped all anger. All his rage and all of his evil aura simply ceased, and there was left only fear. Fear of this one pony who stood up, daring to strike against the horrors of the world, and would taunt them, begging for more.
Atlas, he realized, would not stop. He could not be killed, because he refused to die for the sake of those around him. He could not be driven mad, because he refused to give up for the sake of his friends. After a thousand years of living and breathing the very essence of pain, he was willing to endure thrice as much to save these ponies. Asphodel sunk into the ground with no resistance, his own mind broken from the utter fear and defeat of having finally met his equal.
Wow...so, yeah. I'll be honest, I'm not doing another chapter here. This is going to be a choose your own ending story, however you wish to see it completed. I just...I can't follow this. I appreciate you all for reading, and please leave a bit of feedback in the reviews. If you'd like to see any particular story from me, you can leave that in the reviews as well or just PM me. Anyway, I'm OfficialBacon, and I'll see you in the next one.