Penned IN

by Qwix

Chapter 34: To Kill a Mockery

"Right! To the right!"

The four of them barreled to the right, narrowly avoiding a lightning strike.

"Whatever you do, don't touch the clouds below! We're entering a highly charged sector!" yelled Dash.

Luna obliged, angling upward. They barely cleared a few boulders; Lyra scraped a few of them with her blade while astride Dash's back.

They were barreling above a cloud-bank; lightning arced from every side, hail forming before their eyes. Despite the chaos below, the wind was much calmer up here.

"We should only have to worry about random airlifted debris up here," said Dash. "But remind me what we should be looking for?"

Pennaprose readjusted his seat on Luna's back, trying his hardest to keep his glasses on his face. "Nothing physical, I assure you," answered Luna. "Gosthette is a part of the storm, but as a windigo, she needs to keep a magic core somewhere in the epicenter."

"So... look for something shiny?" suggested Dash. "Why do we need four ponies for this?"

"One to focus on dodging the weather, one to strike the actual blow. We only needed two," said Luna. "But lovebirds fly in pairs."

"If he's risking his life, so am I," said Lyra.

"If she's risking her life, so am I," echoed Pennaprose.

"If you two are risking your life, your nuts," smirked Dash.

"Said the volunteer flier," snipped Lyra. "Hello pot, I'm kettle."

"I'm just doing my job here! Or do you want some magic floating traffic cones to appear while I'm at it?" snapped Dash.

"Nah, your mane is a good enough beacon in the sky!" joked Pennaprose. "O' fair spectra-maned maiden, hark!"

"Like a married couple already," remarked Luna. "Remind me when this is over to let you two meet Princess Cadance. She knows a thing or two about exciting weddings."

Through the storm and high speeds he could see Lyra giving him a sly glance. "Will do!" she yelled.

The four of them continued to skim the top of the clouds in relative silence, save for the occasional thunder. The top of the cave trapped them in while the storm raged below, leaving a very limited clearance. The lighting was minimal save for whatever light the thunder provided below them.

Without warning, the clouds below seem the stir. They erupted upwards beside their path, hitting the ceiling and rebounding downwards. Lava dripped from where they hit.

"Watch out!" screamed Dash. "Tornado area, we've got flying debris to watch for!"

A boulder the size of a house flew upwards towards them, punching a massive hole in the cloud below. Dash put on a spurt of speed, racing ahead of the danger. Luna cast a spell, causing the pair of them to become translucent. The boulder hit the ceiling and cracked in two, falling back through the clouds. Dash slowed down to meet up.

"I've never seen weather quite this out of control, to be honest," said Dash. "I'd say this is less of a hurricane and more of a magic-end-of-the-freaking-world hurricane."

"Then there should be an eye somewhere, correct?" asked Pennaprose.

"Yes," answered Dash. "Are you suggesting–?"

"–That Gosthette is there?" finished Lyra. "It would be the epicenter."

"Yes!" exclaimed Pennaprose. "Lead the way, Dash!"

She gave a snappy salute the best should could while airborne, then motioned for Luna to fall in behind her.

They flew, dodging and swatting countless boulders and thunderbolts with dodges, swerves, and slices that almost unseated both of them.

After what seemed to be forever, the clouds broke; nothing was between them and the ground. The winds were so calm as to be standstill. The sound, zeroed out.

"There! In the middle!" exclaimed Dash.

What appeared to be a miniature sun was suspended in the middle. Wisps of magic were flying off of it ever few seconds, flying outwards almost immediately to enter the storm.

Lyra drew Djiingoh carefully. "Don't hold it up too high, Lyra. It'll make for a nice lightning rod if you do," warned Dash.

On cue, half a dozen lightning bolts shot from the center, narrowly missing them all. Pennaprose raised his head and readjusted his glasses from the sudden swerve; he could have sworn that he smelled something burning.

An unholy howl echoed from the center. It sent shivers up Pennaprose's spine, but he thought he heard sadness in the tone...

"Dash, you know what to do," said Luna. "Pennaprose and I will try to cover you. When you get close enough..."

"Let me talk to her first," asked Pennaprose. "It might still be possible that she can fight back!"

"I know," answered Lyra. Her face was still as set with determination as when they took off; he felt suddenly appreciative. She really has no reason but my own to have come on this dangerous mission. I'm blessed.

They shot forward as one. Luna countered a few incoming thunderbolts with blasts of magic, clearing a path for Lyra and Dash. Sounds of metal and stone rung, only to be taken away by the winds; cleaved boulders flew past Lyra, trails of dust meeting the same fate as the noise.

They drew close the ball of light, tense and ready. It seemed to stir in response, agitated. The magic evaporating off of it arched together and coalesced in front of it, forming a ghostly mockery of Gosthette. It was nothing more than a cheap imitation; her eyes had no warmth, her face held no compassion. Her features were distorted by the nebulous magic, still holding the general image of a changeling.

"Gosthette! Can you hear me?!" Pennaprose asked over the deafening, howling winds.

He was met with nothing but a roaring gale and a flickering of the fake Gosthette's image. An ice beam shot forth from the epicenter; Luna only barely dodged it.

"Are you so far gone that you would harm me, Gosthette?" asked Pennaprose. "Who is the master of your soul?! You know you are stronger than this thing!"

He was met with more ice beams and gale winds. "Lyra, just stab the thing already! This is getting nowhere!" yelled Luna.

"Penni?" Lyra held Djiingoh at the ready, eyes questioning.

His eyes were locked with Gosthette's blank stare. Though they have ceased telepathy a while ago, either in their original human connection or their changeling hive-mind, he still felt a kinship in the void between them. Through the wind that endeavored to push them back, he thought he could hear over the blistering howl; sadness, loneliness, regret... it seemed to pull him in.

And it's trapped in hate. She had thought only one should bear the burden of all... He looked towards Lyra and Dash, who were looping through the air; dodging lightning bolts, swiping wayward stones aside... they worked together. And Ly... I lean on your shoulder while you lean on mine. When we're tired, when we face hardship... two can face harder challenges together than one can alone.

Gosthette... I was your morality. You were my memory. But we were once one person... with a lot of learning to do. What things could we not learn in the human world that Equestria has taught us? That our morality was more than black and white? That there are memories to make in places and of others we can never even conceive?

Why am I, and you are not? Shadowed, fallen, burdened? To know nothing of the light?

Or am I not, while you merely are? Powerful, confident, self-assured. To know everything of the dark?

Is it that two is simply more than one?

Or that one is simply less than two?

Dash hid behind a cloud, using it as cover. It absorbed a lightning bolt, dispersing across the surface; she kicked it at Gosthette. Her form dissolved as it collided, sprinkling a shower of magic to the gale winds and lighting the sky like a firework display. That eerie howl filled the gap once more; the sparks flew back together, this time into something less recognizable.

The nebulous changeling form was gone, replaced with something on the edge of a nightmare. Though static, her face was twisted; fear, disgust, sadness, hope. They all mixed into a façade of terror, frozen in place. She did not move from her spot, calming the winds. Raindrops began to fall as everything seemed to stop; he could not see where the clouds came from, but the rain glinted in the low, crimson light of the lava plumes rising around them all the same. The pattering sung only of sadness.

Lyra and Dash shot forward to meet her; this time, she did not react. A silver swipe of Djiingoh creased the light, cleaved the rain; howls of wind and pain blasted into the aether, cutting across the sky and ear.

Pennaprose saw nothing but a blur; in the wind, his glasses flew off. But he could make out a shadowy form, plummeting to the ground and leaving traces of fire behind.

"Luna, we need to catch up!" commanded Pennaprose. He drew Changeré as she picked up speed in a near free fall.

The curse of hatred is but one such curse. The curse to be hated is another...

The mantra repeated, over and over as they caught up, peeling sense into his mind. By one blade you have been freed, but your curse has not yet left. With this blade of mine...

"...I free you at last!" At the last possible moment, he jumped off Luna's back, despite her sudden protests. The winds were deafening still; the forming fire, fierce. His fur singed itself, burning off in places and mingling with the trails of windigo magic that were peeling off Gosthette. Changeré at his side, he raised it with some difficulty against the wind and fire.

He closed his eyes, letting his blade down without hesitation. Though he felt it going through nothing, he could hear another howl join the wind.

Light blinded him.

The fire seared.

The noise became everything.

All that was left was the sensation of falling.

Let it all end.

Comments

[Viewpoint Robin]

I actually like this story.

The cover reminds me of fire emblem, which is a good thing

[Qwix]

6055948 I did ask the for the commission to be based off the Fire Emblem: Awakening American boxart, so that impression is certainly not misleading.

Thanks!