Overkill. I don’t think some people understand that word. Oh, what? You wanted a backstory? Well, boo hoo to you!

Sorry. Sorry, I, uh...just…you having an itch on your arse for 25 years with no way to scratch it. Yeah, this ties into the ‘overkill’ I mentioned. An old friend did this to me, and I use the term ‘friend’ very loosely. ‘This’ is being stuck in a statue. In Tartarus. Which is 100 miles beneath the surface. With Cerberus guarding the entrance. With a giant sign reading, ‘Keep Out!’, which itself is deep in the Everfree Forest.

Like I said. Overkill.

I’ve been down here a long time, I couldn’t tell you exactly how long though, lost my track of time after the 500 year mark. But...I think maybe...750 years? Yeah...yeah! That sounds right!

So, maybe I do have time to kill. Long story short. I went to a costume party as my own character I’d created, was having a good time, thunderstorm showed up, went outside to talk to friends, got struck by lightning, felt my flesh melting for a good five minutes, woke up in Equestria, got betrayed by someone I thought was a friend, statue, dragged to Tartarus, time passed, got itch on arse, here now.

Also, between all that I discovered I had the abilities of my character, some of the powers in the final design, some I had gotten rid of, and some that I’d never even thought of. So I have a very vague idea of what I can do.

So, yeah. I’m probably going to be stuck in here for a good long while. I ‘closed’ my eyes, though it was more like willing to not see, and tried to get some rest.

I was staring at a bug crawling across the other side of the dark, dank, room as large blobs of blood vibrated against the statue. Crack. Come on you little bug! You think you can outstare me?! I am the...wait what?! Crack! YES!! HAHAHAAA!!! Finally! CRACK!!! Crack! CRACK!!! I could feel the cracks splintering all over the statue. I started shaking my right arm as much as I could. Just...a little...more...KRUNCH! The arm of the statue crumbled revealing my arm. HAHAHAHA!!! OH, YES, AT LAST!!! I used my free arm to help pull off and smash the remains of the statue. Before long I was free and, after vigorously scratching my arse, I did something I’d wanted to do for the past 700 years. I dropped both pairs of pants, careful not to cut my pants with the two daggers I had sheathed at the thighs, and started taking a well overdue leak.

I pulled my pants up and fastened them. “Ooooooooh, yeah. I needed that.” I muttered. I then turned my attention to the cell door. “Hmmm. Huh?” I noticed the blobs of blood bouncing on the ground. “Oh! How could I forget?!” I held out my hand and the blood travelled up my body onto my hand and formed together to create a sledgehammer. I raised it before pausing and chuckling, “Stop. Hammer time.” I swung the hammer at the cell door and it...did nothing. I sighed. “This...may take a while.” After about an hour of ruthless hammering I finally broke out of my cell, I threw the blood hammer to the wall, it splattering as it made contact, and then drew my mark, an axe, before I began the long trek up to the Gates of Tartarus I collected a small amount of leftover blood and turned it into a simple ring, slipping it onto a finger.

The trip was...uneventful to say the least. Rubble here, rocks there. Oh, look! A patch of grass! But as the hours dragged on I got thinking. “How in the hell am I going to get past Cerberus?!” I growled. Punch it? ...Yeah, not happening. Play dead? Do I really want to become a new chew toy? Wing it? Best plan so far!

As I got closer to the surface I felt my strength slowly returning to me and I noticed the walls that had been carved out of a cave began to become more delicate and detailed, along with paintings of two Alicorns, one white and one blue, defending a town from an army of large monsters made of mud and stone. The townsponies cheering and throwing them a parade. Fucking self-righteous arseholes.

I eventually came upon the Gates of Tartarus, giant, black, wooden, double doors. Why are these idiots so...so...simple?! I mean, sure, giant, black, doors! That’s so original! ...God, I need to punch something when I get out of here.

I pulled off the blood ring and willed it into a liquid state again and sent it into the giant keyhole. Yes, a fucking giant keyhole. These ponies are as strange as they are presumptuous. Several moments later the lock clicked and the door swung open. I cautiously peaked around the doors...and there he was. Cerberus was staring at me growling, but he didn’t attack. He was probably waiting for me to exit the gates. That’s annoying.

I looked around and picked up a stone and threw it at Cerberus, hitting him in one of his eyes. As one of his heads yelped the others growled louder. I decided to get this over with and stepped out. Almost immediately all three of Cerberus’ heads snapped towards me, his eyes locking onto me with a predatory gleam. He tensed.

“Come on, you little bitch!” I growled as Cerberus began to charge me. I grinned as he closed in on me. A little further! I could feel the ground pounding as he was practically on top of me. NOW! I leaped to the side and rolled back up to my feet as Cerberus slammed through the gateway, I quickly ran to the doors and slammed them shut and willed the blood in there to lock the doors just in time as I felt Cerberus slam into the exit, which refused to budge. Enchanted doors you see, the more strength you put into breaking them down the stronger they become. It’s why I picked the lock instead of trying to break the door down.

“Heh, heh. Ha, ha, ha! HAHAHAHAHA!!!” I laughed uncontrollably. Finally! I’m free to do my thing again! They’re going to pay for what they did to me! They are going to BLEED!! “Ooooh, little ponies!” I sung. “You can’t run, you can’t hide, I’m going to find you!” I stopped, realising what I just said, before shaking my head. “Man, what the fuck? I need some water. Head’s messed up.” I took off jogging through the forest.

After about two hours I finally came to a place I recognised. The Circle of Tranquillity. Of course time had overrun it with plants and grass, but the Stones of Peace and feeling in the air was the same. I used to come here to relax and meditate before I was stoned. Good times. “I doubt I can use this now, but…” I muttered to myself. “If the stones are here...then old Ritual’s hangout should be…” I closed my eyes and tried to feel the way. It was one of the only ways to find Ritual’s old base. She was a paranoid old gal, but was the only one who got me. Of course, that paranoia turned out to be right, so I guess that says something, huh?

After a few minutes the wind blew through my hair. I opened my eyes and a pathway had appeared in front of me. “That way.” I smiled. This forest was amazing. I mean, sure, it had its monsters and nasties, but when you looked past that, it really was quite beautiful and relaxing. Of course, those ponies would never see it that way. Although, that Zebra shaman was always nice to have a cup of tea with. I wonder what happened to him? I shook my head. I could reminisce later, I had to get to the base first.

I followed the path for another hour until I came to another familiar spot. The entrance to Ritual’s underground cave. Blocked by a boulder. I stared at it, “Huh. I, uh, I thought she enchanted it to stop shit like this happening? Oh, well, battery life must have run out.” I pressed my hands against the boulder and pushed, it moved, little by little, until, after about ten minutes, the entrance was open.

As I walked down the slope into the cave I remembered the good times me and Ritual had here, plotting random destruction, researching dark magic, having tea parties. Good times.

I passed the Mirror Pool, Ritual’s most successful achievement, of course, she wouldn’t have completed it without my blood. Something about a strange kind of magic in it. Just as I was about to continue I felt a chill in the air. I turned around and floating above the Mirror Pool was Ritual, looking significantly older than the last time I saw her and somewhat translucent. Almost like a ghost.

“If you are hearing this, Blood, then you have escaped Tartarus and I am dead.” She smiled. “But don’t you worry about me, I had a good life. I settled down a few years after you were defeated, found a husband, had some kids.” She shook her head. “Bah! Listen to me, getting all sentimental in my old age. If you haven’t guessed by now, numbskull, this is a magical recording. But...the thing is, even though I said I regretted what I did in the past...I’d do it all over again!” She laughed sinisterly. “Oh, yeah. I still got it. Heh. Anyway, the reason I made this was to tell you something. I’ve left my diary for you. It should give you a few clues as to what happened after you disappeared. But there’s something more important. You remember what I said about your blood? The latent magical properties in it? Well...I discovered something that happened when your blood entered the Mirror Pool. It created hundreds of portals to other worlds, other Equss’! Of course, more of your blood is needed to open the gateway. But more importantly, these other worlds...I think they haven’t happened yet. Or...at least not my yet. A lot of them seem to be happening in the future. Now, before you go calling me crazy, let me finish! They all seem to be happening at the same time. And...there are humans there, but...not all of them look human. I’ve looked and they seem to be taking place after Princess Luna’s return. Listen, I know this sounds crazy, but I think they’ll all be happening at the same time as when you escape! Just...trust me on this! I can feel it in my gut!” Well, her gut has never been wrong before. “The humans...some look and act human, from what you’ve told me at least, but some…when looking it seems like they’re monsters. A common theme from what I’ve heard in there is that they were at a...a Comic-con? Whatever that is. They got an item and it transported them here and turned them into their costume.” She snickered. “It sound like cheap and overused plot device to me. But anyway! That’s my thoughts. Oh! Almost forgot. They call themselves the Displaced. Seems kind of accurate, no?” She sighed. “Well. If you want to send something to the other worlds You just need to fill something with your blood and drop it in the Pool, preferably after sending an instruction on how to summon you, I’ve enchanted the Pool to do the rest. It should multiply the ‘summon’ and send one to every world. Just...good luck. And goodbye, old friend.” And with that she slowly faded away, leaving me to contemplate everything she’d said.

“...Fuck.” I muttered. Okay, think, think, think! Summon. That...that could be both useful and fun. Let’s...let’s do that. Yeah! Yeah, it’ll be nice to meet some other humans. I looked around. “Filled with my blood. Let’s see.” I looked down at my necklaces and realised one of the vials on a string could do. I slipped it off my neck and unscrewed the top. I grabbed one of my daggers and cut myself across the finger and collected the blood. I screwed the top back on before standing over the Pool. I almost threw it in when I remembered that Ritual said that I needed blood to open the gateway and a summon chant...or...something like that. I sliced the blade of my dagger across my palm and let the blood seep into the Mirror Pool. After a moment the Pool flashed purple and I could see hundreds of spheres with images from what I assumed was all across the alternate worlds.

I dangled my summon over the Pool and spoke my summon.

“To those that would bring destruction down upon your enemies in burning rage, to those that bring terror upon those that have slighted you. To those who would see towns destroyed in the name of revenge. I care not for your so-called ‘alignment’ or ‘morality’, I care not if you seek to conquer the world or save it from tyranny, break the vial and call for the Blood and I shall answer your call, brothers and sisters of Earth, regardless.” I tossed the vial into the Mirror Pool and sensed the blood multiplying and entering the other worlds embedded deep in the Pool.

I collapsed to the ground. Man...that...took a lot out of me. I just sat there. Regaining my strength. Soaking in the serene atmosphere. Such a peaceful, calming place.

When I was finally able to stand I picked myself up and made my way to the wall with the distinct rock formation shaped kind of like an axe. I rammed the wall with my shoulder and stepped back. The wall swung open to reveal an old bedroom. I shrugged, “Better than nothing.” I lay down on the ancient bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Author's Notes:

TA DA!!! Done at last! This took me a while to get out.

Oh, well. Hope you guys enjoy!

The awesome Apex-Jarico has done some art for this story, be sure to go give him some love!