Chapter 29
"You made the mistake of interfering with my affairs. Now look at you,"Aiden found himself laying in a dark void of nothingness, with only one light on top of him,"The very thing you feared and once cowered from is now what you will become!"
"Never! They'll figure out a way to reverse this! And I won't stop fighting!"Aiden kept his eyes closed and yelled out to the demonic force infecting him.
"There is no reversing it. The darkness exists in all Equines, and it is meant to take over. Sooner or later,"The demon mocked and sighed, inputting some of obvious demon philosophy,"And you'll learn that soon, when you take the life of your most beloved pony. Who so foolishly lays at your side."
"No… I'll never hurt her…!"Aiden growled and resisted the mere thought of harming Flurry Heart.
"Tell that to the true you. Your true self…! Your demon…!"The voice vanished with a slow and dark laugh before a figure appeared.
It's long hind three toed foot stepped forward, it's thick dark skin twitching and crawling from within. Claws scraped the ground as a red eyed creature of impressive bulk walked into the light. It's tail was longer and slender, capable of whipping and slicing through all manner of things. It wore only tattered shorts and nothing else, as it's familiar face bared it's needle like teeth at Aiden. It was a ghastly creature that brushed it's four finger claws against his chin, while it's two devil like horns poked against Aiden's head.
He was not as deformed or monstrous in appearance, but he certainly remained a gruesome sight to behold. The blond short hair was a give away to who he was, but Aiden only shook his head at it. He swallowed, as a toothy smile formed on the demon, for it knew who he was staring at.
"You can only resist me for so long… Every human knew it for themselves…!"The demon dared to use Aiden's voice to mock it's true owner.
"I'll never give up…"Aiden refused and stood tall against his own demon.
Meanwhile, outside the dream, Aiden laid in his bed to this very approaching night. Flurry Heart and the royal sisters remained at his side, the bringers of day and night sat at the bed side. Offering prayers to their ill son, while Flurry still snuggled up to his side, regardless of the dangers. The mothers said nothing more, and left only their deepest prayers to do all the talking. But the night was on the arrival, and princess Luna had some work to do for the night, it also meant Celestia needed her sleep for tomorrow.
They finally stood up and stopped their prayers, opening their eyes to a darkening bedroom. It pained them to see their son sick and changing before their eyes, his own soft skin giving away to demonic thick hide. Claws replacing his fingers while a horn on his left forehead was starting to grow in. He barely had any shirt covering the rough skin that grew over his own human skin. His breathing was shaky and rattled in his throat, as he lightly turned his head towards Flurry.
His mouth opened slightly, showing his canines that had sharpened to needle like fangs. He gazed into her innocence, studying it, wondering if he looked at her with love and care, or perhaps hatred and hunger. Such thoughts of torture, soiling, and murdering began to rise in his head, fighting with his good conscious.
"It's time… I'll awake Flurry and take her out while you watch over his dreams."Celestia decided on what came next before the night could truly begin.
"Easier said than done. She won't want to leave so easily, and her presence seems to keep him docile,"Luna explained after a quick assessment of the conflict she saw in his head,"It's risky, but she might help him continue to fight if she was to stay with him tonight."
"That is risky. He could hurt her, maybe even kill her if he can't fight off the darkness."Celestia was reluctant to agree to such an idea, but there really was no other options.
"You forget, this is Aiden we're talking about. He'll find any reason to fight,"Luna reminded her sister before looming over both kids,"I'll watch over them, and make sure nothing happens to either one of them."
"I hope so… This won't go over easy with Shining Armor and Cadence,"Celestia sighed and accepted the suggestion before leaving the room,"I hope you know what you're doing…"
Luna nodded, and stuck around just a little bit longer to pray once more for her son. Flurry opened one eye, listening to her grandmother as she wished the most deepest of hopes for Aiden. Her eye the rolled towards the boy, nearly squinting from the pain of seeing him in such a state. Finally, Luna went silent and turned away to leave the bedroom, and let both teens slumber together. Flurry began to reach out slowly, not wanting to get caught by the mother, just to touch him.
Her hoof brushed his cheek, feeling the the one that remained unchanged on the left side. His hair was messy and growing greasy from the sweating that came with these slow changes. A sigh of fear and sorrow escaped Flurry, for hope seemed to be dwindling for Aiden, seeing how much he has already changed.
"Aiden… You're stronger than this… You can't become one of them,"Flurry whispered, hoping Aiden was still self aware and hearing her words,"They killed your old parents, they haunted you in your dreams. You don't want to become one of them…"
"Flurry…"His voice was hard to understand, it could have been gentle or there could have been wrath in his voice.
"Are you still with me, Aiden…?"She hoped for an answer, and she got it in the form of claws brushing against her cheek.
She resisted every urge to reel back from his malformed right hand that twitched. Feeling the solid sharp claws lightly petting her cheek as he let out a sickening high pitch inhale. His hand trembled against her face, as his eyes trailed to the limb that changed so much, from innocent to evil. And he dared to touch something so loving and so innocent with the limb of a monster. Finally, he was forced to pull his claws away from her with a feared cringe, he hid the changed hand away from sight.
A hiss of pain came out as the other hand weakly gripped at the right side of his face. Trying to cover up the monster he was becoming, Flurry got more of an answer than she expected. Seeing his fear of the creature he was turning to, and in front of a pony he cared for so deeply. She was now witnessing the monster that was taking over his body, he was breaking, tearing up with shame and disgust in himself. His left eye glittered before the water filled it and stung his eye with it's warmth.
Her own eyes widened, seeing this sudden behavior before the tears began to flow. His demonic side remained dark and unmoved, but the human side was growing sad as tears flowed down his cheek. He truly was feeling the darkness of this monster, and Flurry was watching it. He closed his eyes and yanked the sheets over himself, wanting to hide the monster away from the filly. If he were ever to become such a creature, he would want Flurry to remember what he was rather than what he was becoming.
"Aiden… Don't… It's ok…! We're going to find away…! You'll be yourself again…!"Flurry's heart broke to see the boy full of such grief and humiliation.
He only covered the rest of his face with his demon limb, trembling with humiliation and sorrow. The voices in his head did not help, taunting him, trying to make him surrender his humanity. And Flurry Heart would serve as his first taste of flesh and pleasure as a soulless monster.
"Take her…! Do not resist your true destiny!"
"Devour her soul, make her your slave!"
"She can be yours and only yours to do with however you please!"
"No… I won't…! I'm better than this…!"He growled, trying to silence the demands of royal blood and slavery.
Suddenly, their morbid struggle was interrupted by a gentle knock that repeated three times. A distant slug could be heard connecting before a grunt followed with it. Flurry was the only one to hear it, it sounded like some sort of company, but she did not know if it was good or bad. She swallowed, and slowly stood up in bed to ready herself in case of unwanted visitors. But thankfully it turned out to be the twins of all ponies, quietly snaking their way into the room.
"One tap is all you need…! Don't just flat out knock, you moron…"Faze whispered to his brother as they quickly searched the room to ensure it was secure.
"Right, cause there's a quiet way to knock on some pony's door. You're right, you're right."Haze mocked his brother being overly attentive to ridiculous detail.
"Haze, Faze? What are you guys doing here? It's late…!"Flurry quietly exclaimed as Haze checked the window for any onlookers in the towers.
"We're getting him out of here… We're going to take him to the lost Equine village,"Faze checked the closets before approaching the bed,"Saphira says there's a chance we can talk with the old gods there, maybe they can save him."
"Uh…What…?"Flurry was a bit confused, for she had believed her mother, her aunt, and her grandmothers were the true gods.
"There's apparently some old village under the mountain and it may have a way to get in touch with some old gods that the Equines worshipped,"Haze decided to explain a bit more clearly for the filly,"The gods had something to do with the fate of the Equines, so maybe they can help us with Aiden here."
"It's the only chance we got to save him."Faze added while Flurry looked down for a bit of reflecting on this news.
She needed a moment to process, just when the adults made everything look hopeless. Saphira pulled through and told them a way to save Aiden, it was almost too good to be true. The way they spoke sounded as if there was a big risk that this wouldn't work, but it was much better than the current situation. And after seeing the state Aiden was reduced to, anything would be a good idea. But they still did not know what to expect on this trip, just getting there was going to be trouble.
"Any idea how we're going to get there?"Flurry stood up, wanting to know the details of this plan.
"Saphira said it was somewhere under the mountain, so we just get to the bottom of the mountain."Haze responded simply with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Surely it won't be too hard to find a cave or a hole or something that will open up into a sort of Daring Do dungeon,"Faze tried to rationalize the complicated flaws in their plan,"We go through the dungeon, and we find the village. Easy peasy. Up and adam, Aiden. We're getting you out of here…!"
He pulled off the sheets, and froze a moment, for he did not know how far the darkness had spread on the boy. Half his body was taken over and transformed right before their eyes, it seemed like Aiden fading away to the beast. This only provoked them to hasten their departure for the village.
"Geez…! He's really getting worse, another day or so and he'll be one of them,"Faze manage to get his hooves under Aiden and hoist him up for a moment,"We need to go now…! While we still have the opportunity."
"I got him… Don't worry, princess Flurry. We'll have him back soon enough and fully human again."Haze levitated the boy onto his back while Faze went for the door to open it.
"But…"Flurry was hesitate, especially since only the guards were taking him.
In light of this sudden adventure, she would have been alright to trust the twins with Aiden. But she could not help but sense a bit of bad foreboding in their future if they went alone. Plus after seeing the state Aiden was in, they would need all the help they could get in case the demon starts to over take him. If her words, her face, her touch could help keep Aiden fighting, then there would be plenty of hope. So against her better judgment, she knew what needed to be done.
"I'm going too…!"She jumped off the bed and made it to Faze just as he opened the door.
"But princess, you need to stay here where it's safe. Don't forget, you're a target too."Faze reminded Flurry of the demon's desire to kill her and her royal family.
"Yeah, you're better off with a castle full of guards and your family,"Haze supported the idea of her staying behind, and trusting them with the secret mission,"Trust us, we'll have him back good as new. Just you wait."
"No… I'm going with…! He needs me more than my family does. I can help…!"She raised her voice slightly, trying to push for a place in the group.
"I'm sorry, but we can't risk you getting hurt. It would mean we have to watch you and Aiden,"Faze insisted that there would only be more baggage, rather than help,"We need to both be thinking about Aiden. We can't risk stretching out our defenses to protect both kids."
"I can help…!"She stomped her hoof, threatening to raise her voice to alarm the castle.
"Shhh…!"The brothers tried to shush the princess before she ruined their mission.
"Who's going to help Aiden when he needs a reason to keep fighting? Who's going to offer strong Alicorn magic,"Flurry began to get desperate, realizing she was actually in a trap of her own making,"Who's… Who's… Who's…! Who's going to be there if the both of you aren't there…?"
She realized that a small commotion could have easily ruined the chance Aiden had. She was still desperate to go with, but now she was on neutral ground, no way to force the twins into letting her go. So all she could ask was what she could at least do to help, she felt the need to be useful in some way.
"Look… We know you're worried about him, but…"Faze tried to reason even more with Flurry, but they then heard walking among the halls.
"Buck…! We have no choice now, can't take up any more time. Just take her with us,"Haze lost his patience and decided to let the princess come with if it meant they could leave quicker,"You coming with us? Hope you can carry your weight and Aiden for us, princess."
He gave Flurry a nudge by her flank to get the filly moving, while Faze sighed. He had hope to spare her the hardships that could easily await them on this trip, but it could not be helped now. With a groan he just shut the door behind them and quickly caught up with them. Haze agreed to carry Aiden all the way out of the city before trading him to Faze for their trip down to the mountain base. And now Flurry needed to find her place in this group if she hoped to stay in it.
Thankfully, the noises they heard appeared to be nothing, and no other commotion stirred. So they were able to slow down and walk, but the twins were now a bit nervous with a princess on board. They were now stuck with her, and the risk of their mission only grew more so. She felt bad, but knew that she'd feel even worse leaving Aiden to just two royal guards. So at the very least, she needed to at least make herself useful in some way, even if it was simply in ways of conversation.
"He's scared, you know…? Aiden's terrified of what he's becoming…"She tried to stir up a quiet conversation, hoping to motivate them as they walked through the halls.
"We don't blame him. He saw what this stuff did to that old man, and now it's happening to him."Haze understood, mentioning the effects the darkness showed on other humans.
"It's all the more reason that we have to help him, no matter the cost…"Faze ensured sternly that they were determined to help their friend.
"He… Didn't even want to look at me… Like he was…ashamed of himself,"Flurry worried about the conflict and sorrow that was festering within the boy,"No matter the cost, right? We have to save him."
"Right… No matter the cost…!"The twins agreed in unison before there was more silence in their walk.
After awhile of walking, this subtle mission seemed to good to be true, it was too easy. Not one adult awoke or stirred, the halls were quiet and they were soon approaching the main hall. After that, they just needed to walk out the door and get into the city, after that it was a straight forward trip out of Canterlot. They could go at a much faster speed without raising alarm and possibly make it to the mountain base or even the village by morning, this was starting to look like a blessing.
"Remember, it's your turn to carry him outside the city. All these new parts he's growing are making the kid heavy."Haze emphasized on who was carrying Aiden after they left the city.
"How about worry about the here and now, rather than outside the city already?"Faze suggested with a shove, just as they made it to the main stairs.
"Bet you won't be talking all mature when it's your turn to carry him…!"Haze retorted with a mumbled.
"So… When we get to this village. How do you think we'll get these old gods to help?"Flurry decided to ask the more interesting and vital question.
"Oh… Uh… I guess we just… Maybe…get on our bellies and…pray…?"Faze talked completely out of his flank, thinking as he went along.
"You have no idea, do you…?"Flurry questioned with a blank and unamused look.
"Whatever gave you that idea…?"Haze mocked his brother's thinking on the fly rather than planning ahead.
"We'll figure it out when we get there, maybe learn some stuff around the village."Faze suggested options before an idea struck the filly.
"Offerings…! Ponies would occasionally give gifts and offerings to my mother, though she insisted it was unnecessary,"Flurry suggestion a peaceful and traditional form of appeasement to gods,"If they consider her a goddess, then maybe we can give an offering to these gods…! Then maybe they'll be willing to help!"
"Maybe…! But they'll need to be presented by a human for you to have any sort of chance!"A sudden announcement from a very familiar female voice sounded from the bottom of the steps.
They shot their heads towards the bottom of the stairs, and were surprised to find Saphira at the bottom. She leaned against the railing of the main steps with her arms crossed in a dignified way. She opened her eyes, staring them down before her eyes widen slightly to how much Aiden had changed.
"You're going to take him to the village, right? Try to get our old gods to help,"She questioned with a chuckle full of skepticism, for she stuck by what she said about the gods,"I told you, they forsaken us. They won't help the people that desecrated their blessings and turned to demons."
"But they'll help Aiden…! Because he didn't desecrate anything or soiled the god's blessings."Faze reminded Saphira of what made Aiden different from the other Equines.
"He's been trying to correct what all of you did all those years ago and make a good name for all of you again."Haze huffed and decided to continue walking with Aiden, regardless of who stood in their way.
"So the least we can do is stop him from suffering through the same curse his own people brought upon him,"Faze agreed with his brother for once and walked by Haze's side with Flurry behind him,"So if you want to try and stop us, go ahead and try."
"I'm not here to stop you, ya stubborn blokes. I couldn't if I wanted to with this thing on,"Saphira wised up and pointed out the necklace she still wore,"I'm here to help you. For the longest time I thought my people were truthfully irredeemable, even with a boy like Aiden around. I'll even admit, I didn't buy what he was at first."
"Really? What a mistake that was…"Haze played coy with Saphira's old opinions.
"Then I saw what he was willing to risk for a princess of friendship, even his own humanity was on the line,"Saphira admitted that Aiden's rescue feat was more big hearted than anything she has seen from an Equine in thousands of years,"If he was willing to put himself on the line, even become…this…! Then by the gods he's a human worth saving for Equestria."
"So…how do you plan on helping us?"Faze questioned as Saphira gestured to them to follow her to the doors.
"I know the way to the village, and I know the prayers and requirements needed to consult the gods,"She explained what made her a good edition to this secret mission,"Not sure if I'll even be worth a lick of salt, seeing as my father failed and became a monster like my uncle, but my presence will at least traditionally permit you all to give offerings to the village shrine."
"I know a good place where we could get some amazing gifts for some gods,"Flurry made her presence known and nearly made the women jump,"The Canterlot super market has a couple night stores that sell things from flowers to well prepared meals…!"
"Why is she here?"Saphira stopped at the doors and crossed her arms, skeptical of a filly joining their expedition.
"Moral support?"Haze responded half cocked.
"She can encourage Aiden to keep fighting while we do the more heavy lifting…"Faze offered a bit of a better suggestion.
"This is a mistake… But I suppose it's too late to quietly take her back,"Saphira sighed and took the lead as they rushed out of the castle and towards the gate,"Just stay with me and lets get to this super market if we want to get these old deity's to help us."
"Don't need to tell us twice!"Faze and Haze agreed, as they carried Aiden out of the castle and into Canterlot city.
Time for yet another journey with Aiden, this time it's for him rather than for others. As I have said before I may need to slow down a bit with how things are going over here. But I'm still going to be here, writing for all of you to enjoy. I hope you're all enjoying my stories to this day, and stay pony every one.
