Stage One: Subheccha, the Desire for Truth
~BlackRoseRaven

In which Scrivener Blooms and Luna descend into the abyss, turning on the very things they once sought both aid from and the defense of; in which friendships are forged, tested, poisoned, and broken; in which evil's seeds first begin to take heinous root. Colts and fillies, allow this humble Draconequus to present to you the beginning... and the end.

An Excerpt from Ancient Creatures of Equestria

...unknown where or when they first came into existence: all that is known for certain is that the breed of monstrosity known as 'Tyrant Wyrm' are neither dragon nor drake, and do not share any major traits with any other living or extinct species in Equestria. All the same, Tyrant Wyrms seem unique to Equestria's environment: the existence of similar creatures has never been reported anywhere else in the world.

The presence of a Tyrant Wyrm is made clear by two things: widespread destruction, and the ground becoming corrupt and poisoned. Anywhere a Tyrant Wyrm spends an extended period of time in will shortly fall prey to this effect: it is as if the Tyrant Wyrms ooze such malice it warps the world around them. While at first thought to be a minor concern compared to the poisonous breath and the feared 'Black Verses,' it was eventually realized that the creation of this 'mire' is a defensive instinct. Tyrant Wyrms are able to use the mire for both offense and defense, but its main purpose seems to be both to slow down attackers and to permit a wounded Tyrant Wyrm to begin the process of rebuilding itself.

It is also known that the breath of a Tyrant Wyrm has its own corrupting influence. A bane to the living, some would say that its effects on the dead are worse: corpses saturated by the Wyrm's breath become zombie thralls to the Tyrant Wyrm, serving it and spreading its corrupting influence into both the living and the dead alike. The one fortune is that these thralls quickly burn their usefulness out, often within only an hour of being granted unlife.

But the most fearsome weapon in the arsenal of the Tyrant Wyrms is known as the 'Black Verses.' Channeling psychic torment into the minds of those who hear the Verses, all things – living, dead, supernatural and otherwise – seem to be affected by the Verses, apart from the Tyrant Wyrm's own Thralls, but this is unknown whether or not it is due to some form of targeting or because of immunization granted from the Wyrm's corruption. The Verses bring out the worst memories and agonies suffered by those who hear them, compounded by psychic pain, and further amplified by proximity to both the Wyrm and others: the rare survivors have often reported witnessing the worst memories of nearby allies as well as their own. The Verses are purely designed to cause pain: Tyrant Wyrms feed off spiritual essence, said to consume not just the body but the very souls of those whom they devour, and negative emotions are known to be their 'flavor of choice,' so to speak.

Exposure to the Verses usually results in insanity, catatonia, and death: very few ponies – in fact, very few known beings at all – have demonstrated an ability to resist the Verses. There are only two known methods of combating them, likewise: either blocking out the sound completely, or daring to speak the Black Verses themselves back to the Tyrant Wyrm, which legend says disrupts the power of the Wyrm's speech. But it has also been rumored that taking this course of action dares a significant risk...