Story idea: 235

How long have I been in darkness? Had a family, a wife and two foals. Now, just nothing. Was a worker on a farm feeling the warm sun on my fur. Then. Then the strange green light came and...

No, I don't want to know. The last thing I try not to remember is are the screams of my wife and children as something in a green haze stole my body away from me.

Maybe, just maybe, I should've let the green snuff out my soul but, I was always a stubborn earth pony. When I set my mind to things, plant my hooves firmly, nothing could move me. The green tried it's damnest to crush me so it could take my body fully over. Somehow, I clung on. Just a tiny kernel holding on against pressure that would've squished a diamond like a bug.

Then I felt it shrug.

Well, have it your way. It might be quite amusing to feel your pitiful mind squirm and shudder while I enjoy your body.

For how long, I was an unwilling passenger in my body. All my senses gone except when the green wanted to torture me with sensations that no pony in its right mind would ever want to experience.

Things were different now. Don't know why. Felt a flash of gold fire and somehow, some of the fear of my green jailer. Then I heard the voices. Why was I hearing them? The green would always find a way to torture me, but it was strangely silent.

“Are you sure it's contained?” A stallion asked.

“Yes,” This was from a mare's voice.

“For how long?” The same stallion asked.

“I don't know. I'm surprised the ritual even worked,” The mare replied.

Wished I could see who was talking. But, I guess I should be happy, I could hear anything.

A brutish voice intervened. “Well, if it can bleed, I can kill it.”

“Wait, it's listening to us,” The stallion said. “Who are you? What do you want?”

The voice of the green sounded strange coming out of my lips instead of being in my mind.

“Some of your oldest and wisest called us, Aetherials. We were here before even the Alicorns. Then the false gods and the Alicorns betrayed us and threw us into the bodiless void. We just want what's ours. You have lost the war.”

The brutish voice snarled. “I've heard enough. Let's kill it!”

One of the voices said tiredly,”How can we kill a spirit?”

The mare replied. “If we kill the vessel, we might kill the spirit.”

“Enough! Let's get to it!” The brutish voice said.

What? Are they going to kill me? Considering all of the horrible things I've glimpsed darkly when the green showed me, I was probably guilty of terrible crimes. Didn't, wouldn't try to think what happened to my family. Maybe death would be the best for me. Wait for me, Warm Gaze and Sunflower and Daisy, I will be with you shortly.

Something strange happened. The darkness that surrounded me faded into light. I could feel my body and smell the air. Too bad, it was full of distant smoke and burning things. A great tightness was around my neck and I knew in an instant, I was being hung.

I couldn't breathe and my chest hurt. A great green river of light flew from me as I choked and kicked. At the edge of my sight, darkness was closing in fast. Good. I will be with my family soon.

“Cut him down!”

“Are you mad?” The brutish voice said.

No, don't cut me down. Let me go!

“The spirit has left his body!” The mare said.

I heard the sizzle of magic as darkness closed in on me. Barely felt my body hit the ground.

“The Aetherial is right. We lost the war. Now, we are the Resistance. If he lives, send him to me. If not, bury him deep with the others,“ The stallion said.

Darkness took me away.

---

I awoke with the taste of ashen dirt in my mouth and a gray unicorn with a scar over one eye peering at me. Its brown eyes seemed to weigh my soul. Not sure there was anything useful left to judge.

He turned and spat. “Damn, you live. Well, get up and go to the warehouse. Beer Slinger got a job for you.”

I got up and spat the nasty tasting dirt out my mouth. Still could taste ashes. In front of me was the unicorn. Beyond him was a muddy path that went past a warehouse and a ruined house across from it. Further down the path was a town that was a haze of black smoke and blood red flames.

“What's the name of that town?” I asked.

The unicorn laughed. It was a bitter laugh. “That was Ponyville. Now git along, I have a lot of burying to do before the sun goes down.”

I nodded and trudged along the muddy path. Could see ponies that had seen better days. All drooping ears and tails. Heard the sounds of sighs and crying of unhappy foals too. I passed a house without a roof and I felt something strange.

Looked through the empty doorway. Could feel something was there. What was it? Don't know how, but somehow I reached for it. Felt places, so many places that I could go. Couldn't see them, but they were in my mind like familiar thoughts.

My stomach growled. Yeah, let's take care of that later. Must find Beer Slinger.

He was easy to find. Across from the weird thing in the house was a bunch of ponies standing next to tables. I just walked toward them and Beer waved a hoof.

“Name's Beer Slinger,” He said.

I reached in my memories for a name and was surprised to find nothing. For some reason, I wasn't concerned. My stomach growled again.

Beer gazed at me then he rummaged in his saddlebags. He brought out a sweetroll. “It will probably be a while before I taste the like again, but I think you need it more than I.” He offered it to me.

I took it and ate greedily. It was stale, but better than nothing. “Water?”

Another pony gave me a small cup of water. It was warm and tin flavored, but again better than nothing.

“Thank you, Beer and that other stallion,” I said.

Beer nodded. “Listen, we can't trust you. You have to do a task for us. Find out what's sending the undead to attack us and you can stay.”

I looked down the path, it led over a bridge covered with corpses into the town. On this side of the bridge alert ponies watched for threats. “What happened?” Had to know before I died.

Beer looked away then back at me. “It was the Grim Dawn. Green flames fell from the sky and things were never the same afterwards.”

“What about the Princesses or the Mane Six?” I asked. Had heard how they saved Equestria from all sorts of threats before.

Beer just shrugged. “You better get going while you have daylight.”

I looked around. Fight with what?

Beer looked at me then also looked around. He found a wooden plank lying on the ground and picked it up with his mouth.

I took the plank from him.

Beer pointed down the path and whispered, “Good luck.”

I walked over the bridge, and tried not to step on the corpses. Failed at that. The first group of ruined buildings rose up in front of me. Thought I saw something move from behind a window. The stink of rotting flesh and worse hit my nose.

Well, here goes nothing.

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Yeah, so I was thinking about Grim Dawn here.
If you've played the game, this would be familiar to you.

The lore is pretty interesting.