Guardian Demon
Edited by Slayerseba, Halusm, and Clawder.
Guardian Demon
<<>><<>><<>>
"It's strange how mortals think in times of danger. Their best efforts at survival failed, and death hangs thickly in the air," Gummy mused in contemplative thought as he, hidden from view, watched the group of ponies, changelings and conflicted human, with never blinking eyes.
"A strange moment where logic becomes illusion, when they will believe just about anything if it means salvation; reaching out to a 'higher' power, laying the foundation for misguided beliefs, and further, religion when unexpected events eventually lead to their sought after rescue; believing their wishes and pleas to be heard by their created deity, and changing their lives to the will of a fevered illusion."
"I've seen it countless times, over countless years, with countless cultures. Yet despite the obvious similarities, I can't help being surprised with all the differences. Whether a belief grows into religion fueled only by the accepted thought of a greater being, or beings, are watching them, unseen, unheard, but ever present; or how creatures of great power, created by machinations unknown to them, rose up to become the shining example for those willfully under them to live up to."
With a wet slap and a slow lick, he dragged his tongue over his right eye.
"Yet what about those chosen deities, those who are more than fictional creations of mass delusion? Creatures more powerful than the common mortal, longer lived sometimes as well, but just as much a mortal as any other. Creatures who crave the same needs and wants, placed in a position they themselves don't want to be; forced to uphold the standards and beliefs those who chose them made themselves. Beings capable of making mistakes like any other. And how such an unexpected flaw from a being greater than those mortals believe themselves to be, can shake the very foundation of their beliefs; the shift, or rupture even, it can and, as I've seen, often causes."
With a slow pull, his tongue slid back in his mouth.
"But despite all of this, I have never before witnessed something quite like this. Two beings of great might, both fallen from grace. One to hate and rage, another to guilt and shame, joined together to create something lost to a dying race neither belong to: Hope."
With a barely perceptible tilt of his head, he refocused his aim on the human ghost as he fell apart in darkness and shadows.
"Now I wonder, how will they react to the arrival of their salvation? Salvation in the form of a beast fallen to rage and corruption, cast out from his world, his kind, remembered as nothing more than a demon of blood… But none of that matters, of course. Nearly none of those present know your true history, giving you a chance to forge a new path for yourself, both of you."
With a narrowing of the eyes, he watched the building events unfold.
"You don't know it yet, but you have already begun your journey on this path of Destiny. A path that will see you as the saviours of more than just these changelings. A path of a warrior, a saviour, a protector… No, something much more, and much less. A being of incredible might and the ferocity to match: A beast with a heart. A guardian demon."
<<>><<>><<>>
"D-Danny?" Sweetie Belle stammered as she hesitantly shuffled towards the coiling mass of pitch black shadow.
"Did… Did he just fall apart?" Scootaloo gasped, wide eyed.
"But… he cain't have. He's supposed ta save tha changelings, right? Ponies who help others cain't just die like that, can they?" Apple Bloom fretted nervously, fearfully, every so often glancing at some of the deceased changelings. "He just cain't hav-"
With a clip clop of her hooves, Erlea wordlessly pushed past Apple Bloom, cutting her off while staring incredulously at the mass of black smoke. Abella, Devora, and several of the more daring changeling foals joining her, standing around the dark mass in a semicircle.
Erlea blinked, the tip of her tongue flicked past her lips as if to taste the air, her eyes growing wider and wider by the second.
"What the…" Devora trailed off, taking a small step back.
"Are you sensing what I am?" Abella asked nervously.
"I… I think so, but- Wait, where are you going?" Devora balked, looking at Erlea as she hesitantly took a small step closer to the darkness. Raising a leg towards the shadow, then pulling it back as if changing her mind, she bit her lip as she forced her leg to stretch out to the disintegrated human.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Abella yelled as she saw what her friend was doing.
"I… I'm not sure," she answered as she pressed her hoof into the black smoke.
The instant she touched the billowing darkness, a ripple spread out like a pebble being thrown in a still pond, and the young shapeshifter hastily pulled back her leg… except, she couldn't.
A thick strand of smokey darkness clung to her hoof, pulling her back and even further into the mass.
Screaming and kicking, Erlea tried to break free while her friends, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle rushed to her aid; grabbing hold of her and pulling back with all their might. To no avail.
Further and further Erlea was pulled into the darkness, consuming more of her leg and spreading past her withers.
The others, still trying to pull her out of this fresh nightmare soon found themselves locked in moral dilemma as they either held on, trying to free Erlea and have the shadow smoke claim them too, or let go of her in an attempt to save themselves.
Yet as the darkness continued to crawl its way onto Erlea's body, already spread past her neck and busy swallowing her head, the last the young shapeshifter saw before the shadow consumed her eyes were changelings and ponies, all working together to save her; not stopping in their struggles, even when their hooves, legs and bodies were claimed by the darkness brought forth by Danny.
Then darkness seeped over her eyes. And her world went dark.
<<>><<>><<>>
"Sooo… what happened?" Danny asked, confused, looking around, but seeing nothing besides Eclipse and Fenris standing before him.
"Well, I possessed you… I think?" Eclipse responded, tapping a hoof on her muzzle as she thought.
"Seeing that we stand apart from Danny, as our own being, it stands to reason you did. But the same also implies something went wrong," Fenris surmised.
"Well, things going wrong is the theme of the day," Danny groaned sarcastically. "So, how do we fix… this?" He waved a hand at the nothingness surrounding them.
"To answer that, we need to know where, or what 'this' is," Fenris said, slowly turning on the spot to observe his surroundings.
"Well, 'this' looks like a whole lot of nothing to me," Danny remarked humorously.
"No," Fenris rumbled, turning to Danny. "We've been here before. It's where we faced each other, fought, then faced the storm to save your shade."
Once again Danny looked around, frowning, slowly combing a hand through his hair. "... Well, at least the weather cleared up. I guess that's a good thing," he half joked. "But, what? We're inside my head, or something? … I expected there to be a bit more than, well, nothing."
"No," Eclipse spoke up. "This isn't your consciousness. Not entirely, at least."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Stepping away from the two, Eclipse looked into the endless nothingness, remaining silent.
"Eclipse?" Danny urged on.
"It's a shared consciousness. A part of us, combined, allowing us to interact as we do without putting strain on either one of our individual minds by forcing it to deal with more than one mind not our own."
"... I guess that makes sense. But even so, why are we here? And more importantly, if we're here, mentally at least, then what is happening to us physically?" Danny queried, pacing on the spot.
"I possessed you, this I'm certain of," Eclipse told him.
"And my shade, or not, a ghost possessing a ghost always results in one thing, or the other. Never nothing. Experience has taught me as much."
"Then the questions we must ask now: What happened to you, us, to return here? What state is our physical being in? Did we come here because we now lack a proper vessel to interact with, or did something else happen which forced us back here?" Fenris told them.
"Or, you know, we didn't know what we were doing, and that's why we're here," Danny said simply, sighing while slumping his shoulders. "It's pretty much the same reason over and over again when something goes wrong around me. Not knowing what I'm doing. It's how I ended up with Eclipse, or Shadow actually," he hummed, scratching his chin while looking at the orange eyed shadow mare. "Speaking of, there are still some questions I have regarding what happened over at the Empire, among other things. Then again, I also wanted to go to bed, and instead we're here, stuck in our own minds, presumably, while trying to save a dying species."
A heavy sigh escaped him as he rubbed an eye with his fist. "Okay, all that aside, how do we get out of here and help those kids?"
"The same way we did before," Fenris rumbled in answer. "But this time we don't have the Elder's aid in showing us how. We must work with what she showed us when she pulled our minds free, and do it ourselves. Using our shared bond that links our fates together."
Looking at Eclipse, Danny released a tired groan, yet it was Eclipse who gave word to his thoughts.
"It's never easy, is it?"
"No," Danny said grimly. "It never is."
<<>><<>><<>>
For the better part of what seemed like an hour, but could have been days, weeks, or perhaps just minutes as time appeared to be just as meaningful as the emptiness around them, Danny, Fenris and Eclipse tried to come up with, and execute whatever plan seemed likely enough for them to escape this shared expanse of nothingness. So far, nothing had worked, much to the growing frustration of all present.
This, unnoticed for now, also had an effect on their surroundings, as still small, but growing clouds of turbulent nature started to billow around them.
"This isn't working," Danny groaned loudly in frustration after yet another failed, half assed attempt. "Let's face it, we have no idea what we're doing."
"That has never stopped you before, now has it?" Eclipse asked rhetorically.
"Well, maybe it has now. I mean, just look where all of this got me. Us! We're stuck in this endless nothing, while out there there are people who need our help. And what do we do? Heck, we don't even know that! We're completely stuck, and once again those who depend on me to actually help them end up dying because of my own inability to even understand my own powers. Let alone these freaky abilities I somehow gained over the last few weeks. SERIOUSLY, WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME ALL THE TIME!?" He roared, his eyes burning fiercely.
Around them, the turbulent clouds grew in size and strength; becoming several shades darker as a cutting wind began to pick up, finally drawing the attention of two of the three beings. But where Eclipse and Fenris now noticed the beginning vortex they only recently escaped from, Danny was too lost in his frustration and anger to see.
"Master!" Eclipse said cautiously, eyes shifting between the vortex and Danny.
"CALM DOWN!" Fenris roared as he grabbed one of Danny's arms and pulled him closer; lowering himself to glare into the human's eyes. "I did not join you just to be swept away in some uncontrolled burst of misplaced anger of some welp," he said so low his voice was barely above a whisper, yet each word could be heard with perfect clarity as his gaze bored into Danny. "You will calm down and control yourself, now!"
Grabbing Fenris by the wrist with his own, comparatively much smaller hand, Danny grunted as he tried to wreck the offending appendage off his arm.
"Let go of me!" He demanded, struggling without much success.
"You keep struggling, even when you know it is futile," Fenris grunted. "Desperately trying to stay in control. Why?"
"BECAUSE OTHERS GET HURT IF I DON'T!" Danny bellowed, eyes aglow. "Something you should know about."
Fenris tensed, his grip on Danny's wrist tightening painfully. Then a heavy sigh escaped him as he forced his hand open to release the human.
"This much is true," he admitted ruefully. "The greater the power one possesses, the greater the struggle to control it."
"Tell me about it," Danny muttered as he held his throbbing wrist, flexing his hand to restart the flow of blood to his fingers.
"But… what if…" Eclipse started, then trailed off as she looked to the side, lost in thought.
"What if, what?" Danny turned to her, still flexing his hand.
"You're both fighting yourselves to stay in control over your powers?"
"I wouldn't say fight, but yes," Danny calmed his hand, dropping his arm to the side while Fenris gave a grunt of acknowledgement. " What of it?"
"What if that is the problem?" She suggested.
"... What?"
"Think about it," she told them. "You made me possess you, an act that takes away control of one's body, in order to allow Fenris to appear. But by your own admission, you are still working to control yourself, thus fighting against my possession, making it impossible for me or Fenris to take over. That is why we're back here. We're all subconsciously fighting for control, and are locked in struggle because of it."
"If this is true," Fenris spoke with a low rumbling voice, "one of us must release control for the other to take over." Both he and Eclipse turned to Danny, who in turn stared back at the duo.
"And it all comes back to me doing something I'm not comfortable with," he groaned, shoulders slumping. "Well," he sighed out in part frustration, part exasperation, "might as well give it a shot." He blinked, looked around for a moment, then scratched his head. "Soo, how do I give up control?"
"Oh, I'm certain we will find a way," Fenris rumbled, towering over the pale human, obscuring him with his shadow while showing a fanged grin.
An uncharacteristic whimper came from Danny as he looked up at the wolf, dreading what was to come.
<<>><<>><<>>
Erlea was not having a good time.
No, that didn't properly convey how she felt.
Yesterday she didn't have a good time. Her day being truly bad, but simple at the very least. Her friends and family lay dying as a result of that tainted love spell, potent enough to blast every changeling in and near Canterlot halfway back to the badlands, leaving her and every other foal and scarce few healthy adult to tend to the sick, and dying, while also scrunching for whatever food they could find.
Today, she met them. From that point onwards, the world stopped making any sense.
Ghosts, spirits, a passage to the world beyond. A demonic wolf, an undead human of sorts, a weird green dog, ice giants, windigos, and more questions and confusion than she had ever experienced before.
And now, now she was stuck in… well she didn't really know. Nor did she want to know, just that it was very, very dark.
Yesterday was bad. Today had been nothing short of catastrophic.
At least she had her friends with her.
Unfortunately, they were also here.
"Well, this can't be good," Scootaloo commented matter of factly, trying her hardest to see anything, but failing miserably in the blinding darkness.
"Gee, what gave you that idea?" Sweetie Belle snarked, unable to see her friend, but turning to the source of her voice.
"Probably gettin' pulled inta tha cloud of darkness Danny turned inta," Apple Bloom offered. And though she was just as blind as the others, she could still feel their eyes bore into her. "... What?"
"INSANE!" Erlea screeched as her anger erupted. "YOU PONIES ARE ALL INSANE!"
"Well, yeah," Scootaloo admitted, shrugging as she looked at where she heard Erlea scream come from. "I mean, you've met us, right? Spirits, ghost wolves and what not. No pony in their right mind would stick around for long when dealing with those things."
"Ah feel like Ah should complain 'bout tha," Apple Bloom muttered, "if it wasn't also true."
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle sighed in agreement. "We're certifiably insane."
All changelings present stared blankly as they processed that, fumbling for any kind of reply to this admission.
Eventually Abella managed to utter the one thought all changelings currently mulled over: "Are all of you ponies this insane?" There was no anger in her voice, nor any other hint of emotion. Just a monotoned question from one past the point of caring.
"Not really," Sweetie Belle was quick to answer.
"Well, there's Pinkie Pie," Scootaloo added after a second of thought.
"Ah don't know if insane is tha right thin' ta call Pinkie," Apple Bloom said doubtfully.
"Well, what else would you call her?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Ah don't think that word has been thought up yet," she said honestly. "Jus' Pinkie bein' Pinkie, Ah guess."
"But then, what about you?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Who, me?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Oh, no," Sweetie Belle chuckled lightly. "I mean, Erlea… Abella and Devora too, I guess. You guys did go through all of this, too and didn't run away."
"Except where Erlea did, when ya revealed ta be a spirit an' ya had ta catch her ta stop her from runnin' away," Apple Bloom reminded her.
"Well, okay. But except for that, they're still around. That has to count for something, right?"
"Yeah," Scootaloo hummed, nodding. "We're all insane together."
"WHAT!?" Erlea shouted, insulted. "YOU DARE COMPARE ME WITH THE LIKES OF YOU!?"
"Well, you did poke a hoof into that smoke thing Danny turned into. It's kinda why we're here now?" Scootaloo calmly interjected. Unseen by her, or any other for that matter, Erlea's mouth hung open as she was reminded.
"Though I hate to admit it, the pony has a point," Devora hissed in disgust.
"Why did you even do that?" Abella asked.
"Wha- you all felt the same thing, right?" Erlea turned to her friends.
"Yes, which is exactly why we didn't touch it," Devora stated flatly.
"Most of us even backed away from that thing," Abella added. "Yet even when we asked you what you were doing, if you were insane even, you still poked a hoof where you really shouldn't have. Why?"
"Well, I…. ehhh," Erlea fumbled, unable to give an answer.
"Don't forget the energy she spent controlling and wiping the minds of those two other ponies back at that orchard," Devora interjected while Apple Bloom harumped, crossing her arms while glaring at where she believed Erlea sat.
"FINE!" Erlea shouted, frustrated. "I messed up. Happy now?"
"You know we aren't," Devora sighed out. "But I get it. We tried everything else, and nothing worked. So why not try something insane instead. Not like we've got any other options anymore."
"Then why don't you try to believe in Danny?" asked Scootaloo. "I mean, I know this is all kinds of bad, the way things are now. But I know Danny wouldn't just give up just because of this. He'll pull through, and save all of us."
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed wholeheartedly.
Erlea groaned loudly, angrily. "You're still going on about that freak? I tried trusting you, and look where it got us. What's next? Time travel?"
"Nah, I tried that myself," Scootaloo admitted readily, and Erlea was stunned into silence. "Went back in time to save my parents, but met my future self instead."
"Wait, what?" Apple Bloom balked.
"It's a long story," Scootaloo told her friend.
"You mean you really went back in time?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Like I said, long story!" Scootaloo repeated.
"Ya went back in time ta meet yer future self?" Apple Bloom asked, confused.
"Looooong story," Scootaloo groaned. "Look, just trust me on this," she turned back to Erlea. "Yes, things are bad now. But as is, now it can only get better. And if nothing else, you can trust in Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and me to stick by your side and do whatever we can to help."
"... Why?" Abella asked.
"Life is unfair," Scootaloo told them, shrugging. "And no matter how much you might wish for things to be different, you will always run into something to knock you back down. I know this. So do all of you. But there is one thing you can always count on to help you through the worst of it: Friends. And we'll help our friends, no matter what," she answered strong and proudly, head held high.
****
With a flash, one of the seeds of life responded to the growth within the young pony; growing in turn, its branch hanging down from the increased weight while Zecora gasped out, witnessing the event as she stood besides the Elder; eyes wide and unblinking.
"And so another grows into their destined role," the Elder hummed proudly.
****
"And don't you think we'll give up on you, or Danny!" Scootaloo stated firmly, stomping a hoof on the ground with a resounding 'crack'.
A flash of orange suddenly blinded them, and they all yelped out in surprise and fright.
Blinking the spots out of their vision, they snapped their heads from left to right to find out what had happened; realizing that now, somehow, they could see without any hindrance as faint orange light illuminated everything. Which did nothing to ease their worries, as now they could see the billowing cloud that had sucked them in, shrinking down onto them.
Several of the younger changelings cried out as they huddled together, while Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Erlea, Abella, Devora, and several other changelings stood around them, glaring at the shrinking darkness.
"Come on, Danny. Snap out of it!" Scootaloo shouted, wings flared.
Then, as if a bubble burst, the darkness around them fell apart and they found themselves right where everything had started: The throne room.
A layer of fine smoke like mist still hung above the floor, hanging still for a short moment until, with a ripple of orange light covering it entirely, it slid away, moving towards the group of changelings lying near the dying embers of what once were the fires made to keep them warm.
"Wha- what is happening?" Abella asked, confused, worried.
"IT'S GOING FOR THE OTHERS!" One of the children yelled, pointing a trembling hoof, which slowly fell down as they all witnessed what happened next.
The shadow flowed in between the sick like thick oil, moving through the numerous holes in their legs and wings, clinging to their bodies.
One by one, the changelings started to twitch, then groan, before shouting in distress; a wavering glow of sickly red surrounding them as small streams of black rose up from their bodies, before being sucked in by the darkness still surrounding them.
Hooves reached out to the sky as more and more darkness was pulled out of their bodies; their voices hoarse and ragged as they cried out.
Then, all at once, the screaming stopped, their bodies slackened, and legs falling to the ground.
The shadow still surrounding them flexed and twitched in the crushing silence that followed, then, slowly, pulled away; slithering off to the side where it coalesced into a small but dense spot on the floor; all eyes locked on it, wide in fear and morbid fascination.
With a faint gurgle coming from the blot on the ground, it began to rise up; taking a familiar bipedal shape, and for a brief moment Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked hopefully at the increasingly recognizable form of Danny, until his form started to fill up more and more.
His size became greater, his chest grew broader, as his arms became longer, thicker, while his face grew more elongated, a muzzle sticking out as he became more and more wolf-like, while still covered in the obscuring darkness of the shadow he spawned from. Then, with a wavering flash of orange, his cloudy appearance became sharper, more defined, and a grating growl escaped him as he dropped to a knee; catching himself with a hand while panting heavily.
"Danny?" asked Apple Bloom, taking a hesitant step towards the frightening beast.
"... Fenris," Sweetie Belle said, daring a step as well.
Upon hearing his name, Fenris' head snapped towards the fillies, his pitch black eyes void of any kindness, and the two fillies backed away twice as fast.
His labored breath increased, his chest expanding and shrinking with each lungful of air he struggled to take and he threw his head back; a strangled howl escaping him as darkness spewed forth from his mouth, filling the air with a black, oppressing cloud that, all conscious to witness it, recognized as pure evil.
Fallen to both knees, holding himself up with both massive paws on the ground, Fenris growled through teeth with each breath he took.
Lifting one of his hands, he wiped away some of the disgusting filth still clinging to the side of his mouth, flicking it away as he pushed himself up with a grunt; glaring up at the concentrated cloud of extracted hate with pure loathing, both his claws unsheathing, aglow with spectral might.
With a ferocious cry, he slashed both claws deep within the concentrated hatred. Deep, glowing gashes remained after his claws passed through, sizzling loudly as if a hot iron was pressed against bare skin; small wisps of the darkness leaking away, dropping to the ground while the glow of his might spread out in small fissures throughout the darkness.
With a deep rumble, Fenris destroyed the escaping wisps with a flurry of slashes; not stopping for a moment as he continued to destroy the accumulation of poisonous hatred until nothing remained, unleashing a bestial roar as the last of the hate was cut down and destroyed completely.
Then, his legs gave out, and he once again fell to his knees, catching himself with both paws while panting loudly.
All children watched the terrifying beast as it heaved for air, until another sound forced their attention.
With a gasp from them all, they saw the sick twitch and move; some even sluggishly trying to push themselves back up, but lacking sufficient strength to do so, and falling back to the floor each and every time.
No longer thinking about the wolf and what they just saw him do, Erlea, and the other changelings rushed to their friends and family, unable to believe what they were seeing while they did what they could to aid the sick.
"I removed, ghraa… all of the hate which consumed them," Fenris' deep rumbling voice filled the room, grunting in fatigue and disgust as he looked up at the foals with, now, blue eyes. "They are still weak, but should recover… given time and proper medical care."
"Fenris?" Sweetie Belle asked warily, taking a small step closer to the wolf.
"Yes," he confirmed with a grunt, pushing himself back on his feet, standing unsteadily for a bit before finding his balance.
Biting her lower lip nervously, Sweetie Belle dared to ask: "What just happened… with you, and Danny I mean?"
Taking a deep breath, swelling his chest immensely, he pushed the horribly familiar feeling of hatred clinging to him through and through away from him. A minute passed before he exhaled and answered the young pony.
"The Phantom and I were at odds over control, yet did not realize this until later. When we did, it was a simple matter of asserting dominance," he explained, then suppressed a shudder.
"Are you okay?" Scootaloo asked him, looking at him quizzically, head tilted to the side.
"I am. Or will be," he stared at his claws, flexing them. "The shadow and I are back together again. A part of myself I cut out countless years past. Only now do I realize the hole that resided within me. It will take time for me to get accustomed to this again. Time these shapeshifters don't have."
"An' what 'bout Danny?" asked Apple Bloom.
"He's with me," Fenris told her, blinked, ears twitching. "And he wants to know about your friend time traveling, when time allows for it."
"Wait, he heard that?" Scootaloo asked, surprised.
"We all did," Fenris informed her.
Shaking off the last strain of exhaustion, he straightened his posture as he turned his attention back to the changelings. Watching with a growing sense of satisfaction as he saw many of the children being held by a loved one, crying tears of elation.
Sighing, he rolled his shoulders, then sniffed the air; turning to the opened doors of the throne room, grimacing as he knew his work was far from over.
"I understand your desire to celebrate," he spoke up, loudly, "but there are more who need tending to. Those of you who are capable, accompany me so we may save as many as possible."
Not waiting for a reply, he marched out through the doors, the 'smell' of hate guiding him to where he needed to go while, with a hesitant gait, several youngsters followed after the terrifying wolf. Only Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo joined him without reservation, soon urging the changelings on to keep up, while Apple Bloom, Erlea, Devora and a small number of others stayed behind to tend to those Fenris already freed from hate's poisonous grasp.
"He did it," Erlea mumbled in disbelief. "He actually did it."
The calm breathing of her mother was the only answer.
Nothing had ever sounded better to her.
<<>><<>><<>>
He was lucky, Fenris soon realized, that the children had put so much effort grouping together those afflicted by hate. It made his strenuous task marginally easier as he wouldn't have to traverse the majority of the city to aid those still clinging to life.
Not that his task was any easier when it came to actually removing the hatred from the shapeshifters.
Whole as he was now, the centuries apart from the piece of himself he cut out that blood drenched night meant he now had to regrow accustomed to who and, more importantly, what he was, and now is again.
The power he once wielded without restraint, lost with the removal of his demon, now seemed immense and nearly overwhelming to him; draining him to the point of exhaustion as he simply wasn't able to properly wield this might. His might.
This only served as a reminder just how far he had fallen, and how far he still had to go to rise up once again.
Yet the time to do so, to get familiar with his lost self was unavailable as those around him needed not him as he was now, but the wolf of the ancient Three he used to be.
And so, with penance in mind and sheer stubbornness in action, he pushed himself onwards with claws unsheathed and aglow, trying not to show too much of how draining this was on him.
Of course, keeping his weariness hidden from the children was a simple task. Or, simple in comparison against the one now sharing in his fate.
'You won't be able to keep this up. You know this,' Danny stated in a matter of fact.
'Don't waste time pointing out the obvious,' he shot back.
'Oh, just making sure we're on the same page here,' Danny snorted. 'I'd probably do the same thing, though. Heck, I did the same thing already, while fighting Pariah Dark. Going well past my own limits.'
'Then why even bring it up?'
'Seems like the right thing to do. And seeing how I'm backseat driving right now, it's about all I can do… I think? Anyhow, just try to pace yourself. I'm all for saving the changelings, but it won't do them, or us any good if you collapse from exhaustion before the job is done.'
'Then be quiet and let me focus,' Fenris snapped.
'... So this is what it's like for Eclipse,' Danny murmured. A deep sigh followed shortly there after. 'Fine, just be carefull, alright…. Man, I hate being useless.'
With that last complaint, Danny fell silent, allowing Fenris to focus his mind on the task lying at his feet: the gathering of changelings lying and shivering before the extinguished fires; the group of foals following behind coming to a stop, anxiously waiting to see what he would do next.
Raising a hand up, he stared intently at the claw extruding from his fingers; staring past the green glowing razors and to the changelings on the ground below.
"Brothers, if you can hear me, let this act be the first small step towards forgiveness," and he plunged his claw in the chest of the nearest changeling; feeling the hate cling to his being the second he penetrated the shivering creature, sickening them both to their cores as he worked methodically, cutting out the poison with uncanny precision, then destroying it with one unforgiving swing from his claw.
With the one changeling taken care of, he freed his claw, the shapeshifter crying out in response while he stepped away, shaking his head to clear the haze that had settled in his mind; the cries and roars of combat long past rising up as hate responded to him. And had it not been for the second soul residing within, working to strike down the shadows of his unforgivable past... He shook his head and focused on the next shapeshifter, and started the process over again, and again, and again, until no changeling remained poisoned with the same curse he fell to so long ago.
<<>><<>><<>>
Across the vast expanse of stars, on a planet both similar and alien to Earth and Equestria, two large wolves oversaw their charges.
Nuntis, the white wolf, shepherd of the sun, resting on a hill covered in tall grass, watching numerous pups play in the distance.
Sköll, the wolf of the earth, burdened with the responsibility of his fallen brother to maintain the constant of night, fulfilled his duty as he shepherded the sun down to the horizon, bringing an end to this day.
Both wolves were weary, tired from age, and the burden from taking up the mantle of responsibility left in the wake of their brother's demise. Both carried the scars that told the tale of that terrible night, with the most noticeable being Nuntis' left eye, once a burning red, now milky and dull, while Sköll carried a wicked criss cross of scars on his abdomen, his fur refusing to grow back.
A faint breeze brushed through the grass, rustling their fur as it struck, and both wolves tensed up, standing up tall and alert.
A voice, as faint as the wind that had blown, yet as clear as the setting sun reached them, and a shiver ran down their spines.
Their brother had called out to them.
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To be honest, I prefer having the shorter chapters as I have a thing where I refuse to stop reading until the current chapter is finished, so more easily digestible chunks of 5000 words is great in my opinion, plus it means chapters can come out more often as less time is dedicated to writing each one up, which is always a bonus
9136294
Agreed while big chapters are nice for major events that would have their flow broken being split up into smaller chapters, most parts of a story are better in the smaller portions. I like to think, okay does this call for a dictionary or encyclopedia level of detail to keep the flow is one of the best ways to view length
Don't worry about while shorter I still enjoyed this chapter and your work.
Love it. Glad to finally see a conclusion to the changeling's sickness.
I was just thinking about this story yesterday!
Man, it feels like it's been forever, but looking back it wasn't actually far off from normal.
There are pros and cons to shorter and longer chapters, respectively. I actually kind of like long chapters, since I don't have any real problems focusing on a story I'm into for an hour or two at a time. That does usually preclude less regular updates though.
Anyway, awesome chapter as usual! I kind of forgot that the other two wolves existed to be honest, so that was a nice reminder.
Very nice. Despite the 'lack of motivation,' you did it justice. And I don't mind chapters this small.
Thank you for this story, by the way. It's the only Danny Phantom crossover I have found that I consider to be 'good.' Or fanfiction in general. You took a generally light-hearted superhero series and added new depth while retaining what made the original so good.
And the Sweetie Belle perspective is cool as well. Writing two parallel stories and having each be unique is not something I would think is easy.
9137890
That is one of the reasons for the long wait inbetween chapters. It isn't easy. I have to go back and forth between the two continiously to make sure that something that happens in the one story aligns with the other. Shuffling scenes around, or rewriting a portion or a whole scene are a constant nuisance.
The withering curse may have been lifted from the changelings, but now will come a much more difficult time. They are all weak, most too weak to walk, let alone try to harvest positive emotion in the way that they always have. Also the possibility of a fourth world becoming involved in all of this in the not too distant future.
Poor Scootaloo really has no idea just what she's gotten herself in for. It would seem that she has unknowingly embraced the role offered her by the Tree, leaving only Bloom to reach that first growth stage.
I'm also still rather looking forward to seeing how Rolling Stone's next report to Celestia goes. They got a 100% confirmed ghost that smashed up a lot of their anti-ghost weapons...but at the same time he berated them in a manner not dissimilar from a combat instructor, and military ponies like those four will certainly recognize that.
9137916
Don't forget there are still some changelings sick and dying in Canterlot prison.
9137920
True...though the only ones aware of that right now seem to be the Princesses, the guards assigned to the area, Raven, and Chrysalis. I don't remember it ever being mentioned as something known to the other changelings, though they did have much more immediate worries at the time.
9137995
Hive mind.
9138054
Of course...though how that's interpreted changes from story to story.
Version 1) The Queen is the hub, and the others only know what she sends along to each individual. Most often for this version, the Queen can also deliberately extract information from someone connected to the hive mind.
Version 2) Hive Mind Omniscience. Each hive member knows the location and status of, and shares memories with, all others.
Version 3) Psychic equivalent of a messenger program like Discord. Can communicate and send mental impressions, but doesn't automatically send information along unless the individual decides to.
Version 4) Legion. The hive is essentially one organism with thousands of bodies.
Version 5) Telepathic Gestalt. All hive members are permanently connected to each other and have no need for verbal communications unless it is with another species or another hive. Individuals can suppress part of the information they send to the collective, to have privacy for a time. Location has to be deliberately shared, but status is generally known.
I'm sure there are other interpretations as well, but those five cover most of the usual interpretations I've seen. We know from the story that it's not one or four, and is most likely not five since the young changelings talk to each other audibly instead of reverting to speaking across the hive mind when they're talking to each other.
Could they have learned that some of their number are being held in the Canterlot dungeons? Of course they could, but that's not guaranteed just because they have a hive mind, depending on how the hive mind is being interpreted here and I don't remember anything mentioned here or in Silver Spirit that really delineates which it most likely is.
9137914
You've done that well. The wait between chapters is worth it when they're high quality, and this is especially true with parallel stories like you're doing. You've done a remarkable job of keeping the events of both stories meshing without issue, despite them having very different tone a lot of the time.
Do not forget about the stupid pony worker who is in the process of starting a war with all ghosts.
9137914
When I first came across these stories, I was initially shocked, and kinda worried at the same time. I had already seen a dual-fic story fail due to similar reasons, and that one was written by two people at once.
But I was pleasantly surprised to see it was just a long wait instead. And the quality remained quite good.
Seriously, good on you for managing to keep it up for so long.
I can wait to see more.
9138106
Number 3, basically. But what you seem to forget is that the changelings didn't become sick as if a switch was flicked. The changelings where beat up after being blasted away, and certainly sore, but not sick. That happened gradually while they were trying to regroup and figure out what to do next after such a terrible defeat. And those who were imprisoned did made themselves known over the hive mind, telling everyone about their situation. Of course, before any action could be taken, one way or the other, the sickness began to present itself, until it became what you were first introduced to in the story.
9139915
Ah, there's the important part that never got mentioned by Erlea or the other lovebugs. I had been under the impression that it was a fast acting poison and had lain them all low in only a short time after their ejection from Canterlot. Granted, it makes sense for them to not mention how swiftly it incapped the hive when they don't fully trust these ponies.
9140015
Oh, it was still fast in its own right, but it didn't register at first due to other injuries covering it up. But by the time they did realize something else was going on, it was already too late.
I don't mind shorter chapters, I think keeping them short will make it easier for you if need to go back and change it or for your editors to look it over for mistakes.
And I understand the lack of motivation and not having the time to write. When I have the time I just can't get in the mood to write and whenever I have both the time and drive something comes up that I need to take care off or it just kills my drive to write. Example: Relatives showing up without a heads up call or text and asking me for help without asking if I was busy or had other plans.
Anyway I love events of this chapter and I can't wait to see how Danny reacts to Scootaloo's little time travel field trip with Clockwork among other things. Like the two wolf brothers.
BTW - Are you considering the whole love triangle/square idea I brought up a while back? You know between Danny/Sam/Twilight/Chrysalis?
Well, time for an epic reunion!
9141766
Who Danny will get together with, and with how many, or none at all, are still spoiler material. Though it isn't much of a mystery either..... or is it?
9141917
Well I wasn't suggesting a harem/herd ending but rather a conflict between the four with Chrysalis finding herself attracted to Danny and pursuing a relationship later on which Twilight doesn't appreciate very much for many, many reasons.
That said I think it would be great for Twilight's character if she had to work with and trust Chrysalis at some point, needing to let go of the grudge she no doubt has for her, seeing her a monarch that was desperate to save her people rather than a evil, power-hungry tyrant/conqueror.
Plus a flustered and jealous Twilight might be fun to write. Hell have Chrysalis tease Twi about things she could do for Danny in private that Twilight can't or couldn't do.
Loved the commentary on pony insanity. And apparently changling as well. Really like Erlea and her interactions with the CMC.
Chapter is a touch shorter than your norm, but it still covered the main action points. Curious how things will flow now that the time sensitive problem has finally been cured.
9143117
You know, that actually sounds interesting to do. Though I need to see how or if I can do such a thing without breaking the plan I'm working with.
9147102 Thanks for pointing out those mistakes.
9143867
I kind of thought that you would have already considered for something to happen between Twilight and Chrysalis, with or without there being a love triangle/square between them.
I mean if you can fit that in then it would be awesome since it would be great for Twilight's character growth, especially if happens before or some time after she ;earns Danny's dual identity.
Plus I want for Chrysalis to tease Twilight about her relationship with Danny as I've mentioned before. Hell have Cadance* join in, bonding with the Queen as they both whisper to Twilight so rather daring suggestions or questions and etc, leaving Twilight a blushing and stuttering mess until she runs off.
*The Cadance part comes from me remembering a web comic were she bonds with Chrysalis over Shining's bad habits which Twilight can't believe is happening.
9148140
Oh, I do have plans for interactions between Twilight and Chrysalis, but your suggestion is something that hadn't really crossed my mind. Though now it has, I must say I enjoy the possibilities it creates. Just need to see if I can put it in without changing the way the story is supposed to be told.
9148895
Are you referring to the part were Twilight looks pass her grudge or the teasing bit?
Cause you could always write an omaka scene and add it at the end of a chapter.
9149317
The teasing part. The ponies and changelings forgiving past transgressions, on both sides is a BIG part of what's to come.
9149402
I'm looking forward to it.
Awsome chapter. liked the part with Gummy, nice touch even if a bit random.
9180539
Not as random as you might think.