[Shade POV]
“So, do ghosts know they’re dead?” Twilight asks.
“Not at first, no. But they’re quick to figure it out.”
“What’s death like?”
“Simpler than falling asleep. You bore me, Tweezer.”
“Twilight!”
“Whatever. These questions bore me. I want to find Cinder. Let’s go find her, hmm?”
“Does The Creator exist?”
“Yes, and he’s an asshole. Can we go now?”
“A what?”
“Nevermind. Twilight, don’t you and Applejack here have an arm to find and a boyfriend to avenge? Why wait here?”
They both blush. Ooh, how cute these two are. He’s screwed if he has to pick one.
“He’s not our boyfriend! Well, he’s our friend….and a boy...but that’s not what I meant!”
“If you insist. But that bovine you call a princess is no ruler of mine.”
That struck a chord. “Princess Celestia is not a bovine!”
“Temper temper. But, that’s besides the point. I believe Applejack wants to avenge him, too.”
She looks at AJ. “Applejack?”
“W-well…..we ought ta be helpin them find her!”
“Finally, someone with a shred of common sense! Yes! And I may know where to find her. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a forest that you all fear closeby, isn’t there?”
“Yeah...The Everfree. Ya think she’s in there?”
“Oh, both of you are so adorably nieve. Of course she is! She’d hide in the one place where no one would dare go.”
Twilight sighs. “It’s against my better judgement, but even the Princesses would avoid that place unless they had to go in….Rrrgh, fine! But you’re taking the fall if we’re caught, Shade.”
“Fine by me. Six may not understand how to be a ghost, but I do. And I can just...poof!” I make myself become invisible, save for the necklace.
“Woah! Yer gone! Jus a floatin necklace!”
I reappear and chuckle. “Just as blunt as always. Now, shall we?”
Twilight nods and her hand glows again as the barrier disappears. I smile and float down the steps towards the front door.
“Uuh…, shouldn’t one of us wear that so ya’ll can hide if ya need to?” AJ asks.
“Hmm...you may be right.” I take it off and toss it to Twilight. She beams.
“Haha!” She puts it on, making AJ pout.
“No fair! Why’d ya pick her?”
“Unlike Six, I prefer my women to be fiery on the inside.”
That makes both of them blush.
“That means that….Six likes me….but Shade likes you?”
“I...I guess so….”
“Are we all going to gawk at my ghostly ass or are we going to locate a killer?”
“R-right!” They quickly follow me through the castle doors into the street. I turn myself invisible again, just to be safe.
“Shade? Ya didn’t run off, didja?” AJ asks.
I float back behind them and grab both of their asses, making them both jump.
“Hardly. Now, come along.” I float through the street, chuckling to myself.
Why did you do that!?
Oh, like you wouldn’t if you had the balls.
…….
Exactly.
We all end up at the edge of the Everfree forest before I make myself visible again.
“Now, if I know my geography, there should be a castle in here somewhere, yes?”
“The Princess’ old castle? Yeah. It’s near the center.”
“Then let’s start there. It’s a good chance that she’s there, as is my arm…”
Twilight leads the way, and I float along behind both of them. The further we get into the forest, the darker everything becomes. It becomes so dark that Twilight has to light her magic so we can all see.
“This is a pleasant walk. We should do this more often.”
“This ain’t fun….this is spooky…”
“Oh, come now. You’re not enjoying an evening stroll with me? I’m hurt…”
“Ya sound more and more like Discord every minute….”
“I’m offended! I’m thrice the man that...beast is!”
“Ya know him?”
“Well, not personally. But, his methods of evil are so...childish! I mean, chocolate rain? And candy streets! By God, he must be five!”
“Yer one ta talk.”
“Don’t tempt fate, Applejack. I’m not a fun person to toy with. I know many spells that would make your life very difficult.”
I said no threats!
I’m not. Come now, you remember that book. What was it again? Kinks Through the Ages?
You promised never to bring that up again!
Hehehe.
“Ah doubt Six’d let ya hurt me.”
“Who said anything about hurting you? Not those kinds of spells, Applejack. The, how you say….dirtier ones.”
She blushes hotly. As does Twilight. I can’t help but laugh.
“You two are such fun to tease! You ought to see your faces!”
“We’re here…” Twilight says quietly. AJ kneels next to her behind a fallen tree, looking over at the cobblestone ruins. There was a small light flickering in one of the windows.
“It seems someone’s home. Let’s have a look, shall we?” I turn invisible and float inside, phasing through the walls.
I look around, and even I’m shocked by what I see.
There were thousands of pictures of Six strewn all over the small bedroom space, covering every square inch of the room. And I noticed a closet.
“Hmm…” I slowly open the door, and I’m absolutely floored by what I see.
There was a glass box lying on the ground, surrounded by more candles and photographs. And inside the box was my arm, preserved by magic inside.
“Cinder, what happened to you…”
What in Equestria!? She kept my arm...in a shrine!? She must really be obsessed with us…
What gave that away? Well, I’m not touching that. As much as I despise your monarchy, we should go get Suntits.
It’s Princess Suntits to you.
Whatever.
I shut the closet door and turn around, and I would shit myself if I had a body. Cinder was standing centimeters from my face, grinning widely.
“I know someone’s there. I can’t see you, but I can sense you~ Show yourself~” She coos, giggling. She was in the same blood-soaked maid outfit from yesterday.
I reveal myself, and she gasps. “Six? Oh, no….I overdid it…”
“I’m not dead, you dolt. I’m comatose. And it seems that….energy source has a wider range than I thought…”
“M-master? Master, he let you in!” She cries happily.
“Cinder, it is wonderful to see you, but you’ve been a naughty girl. You took our arm. And please tell me you haven’t done anything odd with it…”
She blushes, biting her lip.
“God damn it….Cinder, you disgust me.”
“I know! Doesn’t this make you happy?”
“Cinder, you were once such a simple pyro, but murder? That’s so...unlike you. You need to promise me you won’t harm the girls I travel with.”
She frowns. “Master...Why? They’re common filth compared to you! I’d die for you! Why can’t I just kill them! We can be together!”
“Cinder, you and I both know that’s not possible. I may be the bad half, but even I think you’ve gone overboard.”
She looks down at the ground. “Is that what Master thinks?”
“It is.”
She clenches her fists. “I won’t kill them….But I’ll be with you forever!” She cries out, vanishing in a flash.
“Oh, shit. I may have made things worse…” I rush back out to the two.
“What happened? Was she there?” Twilight asks.
“Yes, but I fear she may do something drastic. We need to get back to my body now!”
Twilight nods, and we run/float back to town. When we get closer, the smell of smoke fills the air.
“Oh, God….” We speed up. When we finally reach the town, everything’s on fire. And at the center was Cinder, making her way towards the hospital.
“IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU, NO ONE CAN!!” I hear Cinder scream as she lights Sugarcube Corner on fire, laughing crazily.
“S-Sweet Celestia….What do we do!?” Twilight screams.
“We gotta git to the hospital before she does! Come on!” AJ rushes out, with myself and Twilight in pursuit.
We get close to the town square before the guards stop us. “You can’t go any further! The Princesses ordered an evacuation of the town!”
“Get out of our way!” I grab them both and hurl them across the road with strength I didn’t even know I had. I keep going, hearing them behind me. When we finally reach the hospital, it was too late. It was already on fire.
“She may not have us yet! I float as fast as I can up to the room where they were keeping me, and I see her hovering a sword over her chest. She was lying on my body.
“We’ll both die! Together forever, Master!” I quickly grab the sword from her hands, and she screams.
“Master! Do you hate me so much?!” She screeches.
“You’re being irrational! How can we be together forever if you’re in Hell and I’m in Heaven!?”
She falls silent. “You’re right….” She grabs my body and grabs the sword with her magic, swinging it around. There was a loud snapping crunch as it cleaves straight through her neck, spewing blood all over the room as her head lands with a thud in my body’s lap. I watch as the life leaves her eyes, like lights going out. Her body collapses to the floor, twitching and spewing blood everywhere.
“What have you done, Cinder….”