The pained slowly ebbed... then disappeared altogether.
My vision gradually returned, and with it came a sense that something had most definitely changed—both within and without. I didn't feel that horrible ache in my chest, I didn't feel the numbness, I didn't feel like I was going over the edge.
I didn't feel much of anything, really.
I ignored the shocked and panicking fabrications around me as I focused on myself and what had changed. If I concentrated hard enough, I could feel my emotions, but they felt... severely muted—like they were far away somewhere inside of me in a place I couldn't reach.
I also felt a refreshing sense of mental clarity that I hadn't experienced since... I couldn't even remember when. It was then that I noticed the loud roaring sound in my ears. It was something akin to the roaring wind I had heard when I fell out of the sky after it drained all my magic.
It took me another second to realize the loud roar was coming from me somehow.
As I raised a hoof to inspect it, I was intrigued to find that my flesh and fur had been replaced with a bright shining light in the shape of a hoof—tiny wisps of that same light rising from the radiant limb.
I lowered my hoof and turned to look at the rest of me, only to see much of the same. My body, my mane, my tail... everything was replaced with a brilliant white light.
Rather than shadow, I was a silhouette made of pure light, streams of it wafting off my body like steam. It was interesting to say the least, but there were other things to take note of.
Namely the effect I was having on the fabricated environment around me. Merely standing there, I lit up the entire room and every single thing in it—there was literally no shadows anywhere to be seen.
As I scanned the room, I caught sight of myself in a small mirror next to the door to the kitchen. Curious, I made my way over, once again ignoring my fabricated friends as they shuffled away and stared at me in silent horror... or awe... I wasn't sure which, and I didn't particularly care.
Far more interesting was my reflection.
As I had thought, I was pure light in pony form, with the only exception being the two smoldering red dots in place of where my amethyst eyes once were. I tilted my head in confusion and turned back to where the fabrications were cowering by the entrance.
I also noted that 'Pinkie's' body was nowhere to be seen.
That wasn't what confused me, though.
What confused me, was the sudden gnawing hunger I felt. It didn't feel like any hunger I had experienced before... there was something different about it, and I realized that hunger grew more and more the longer I looked at the fabrications.
Somehow they seemed to sense this, because they began to panic, screaming and begging and trying to run as far away from me as possible. It was a curious thing to see in all honesty, but ultimately useless as—pulling from some new instinct I had gained—I opened my mouth wide.
I opened it as wide as I could... and then I opened it wider than even that.
Then I inhaled.
The constant roar in my ears became deafening as I sucked everything into the vacuum that was my maw. The fabrications cried out in fear, each one of them desperately clinging to whatever was nailed to the floor for dear life.
This wasn't working.
I snapped my mouth shut and anything that hadn't been swallowed dropped back down to the ground, the fabrications included. With a thought, several of the wisps of light coming off of me solidified into tentacles and lashed out, wrapping around the barrels and legs of the surprised fabrications.
Each of them screamed as I pulled them into the air and brought them closer. My mouth once again opened wide and their screams were cut short, right along with their 'lives'.
I devoured each and every one of them—their fur, flesh, scales, blood, bones and organs satisfying my newfound hunger in a way I couldn't have ever properly conveyed. The only thing I knew for sure as I continued my feeding frenzy, is that the taste was unlike anything I had ever come across before.
They all tasted like darkness... and it was delicious.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike... they all became the precious resources that sustained me, and I ate without remorse or regret. I ate because it was what I was meant to do, I ate because they tasted good.
I ate until I was full.
As I finished off the last of my meal, my mouth snapped shut and the tentacles of light retracted and became the steam-like wisps wafting from my body once more. I let out what could've been a satisfied sigh and suddenly felt another change overtake me.
I was... shrinking?
I looked down at myself and realized I was beginning to change not just in size, but in color and substance as well—the light forming my body fading and becoming pink flesh and lavender fur once again.
After a few moments, I was my old alicorn self once more... yet, something still felt... off.
I turned back to the mirror I had seen earlier and blinked as I saw my reflection. My eyes were now completely white, with no pupils or irises that I could see, and I also happened to notice that my cutie mark was gone.
That was the last thing I noticed before a loud hiss caught my attention. I refocused on my surroundings and furrowed my brow as I watched the entire library disintegrate bit by bit all around me.
After several long moments, I was once again surrounded in the darkness of a normal cave... well, as normal as a cave in Tartarus can get. I stood there for a moment, trying to regain my bearings before turning around and facing the cave entrance.
Rather than leave right away, I sat down on my haunches and thought about my current predicament.
Whatever that... thing was, it had granted me some kind of new power, as promised... but I had no idea what to make of it. It was like I was the embodiment of Light, but what did that mean?
What exactly was this power and why was it hidden away in Tartarus? It was clearly sapient, and had even mentioned something about a contract... so was it some kind of demon?
Had I taken the power of some sort of... Light based demon into me?
It seemed like my mind was still my own, so I wasn't being possessed. Even when I was... whatever that thing was, I was still in control... for the most part. The urge to feed had been overwhelming, but other than that, I didn't feel like I was being controlled.
So then if this was a contract like that thing said, what did it get out of it? What even did I get out of it? Sure I had this strange ability to turn into light and... eat darkness? Maybe not literal darkness, but... Dark Magic possibly? Is that what my power was? Is that what my purpose was?
I didn't know.
I knew nothing about how my new abilities worked. Everything I had done so far up until this point was due to some strange new instinct. I didn't know the full extent of whatever this power was... but I planned to find out.
I had a feeling I'd need every ounce of it to kill that monster. I no longer had a desire for revenge, nor did I want to do it out of anger, hate, or fear—it was now merely an obligation to right a terrible wrong. Whatever that thing posing as Pinkie's corpse did to me, it locked away all of those emotions and more... for the most part.
I could still feel them there somewhere far away, but for now, this was exactly what I needed. I could now think clearly, I could accomplish what I needed to do without making rash decisions based on fear and panic, and I would exploit that advantage to its fullest.
Still, what that thing had said did fill me with some unease.
"Give me all of you... and I shall give you all of me..."
My own voice didn't sound right in my ears, but I set that aside in favor of trying to figure out exactly what that phrase meant for me. What did it mean for me to give myself to the power?
That was something I would have to ponder later, along with many other things. For now though, I needed to get out of this cave and focus on the task at hoof. I had stayed here long enough, and the darkness surrounding me was making me hungry again.
As I rose to my hooves and began my long trot back to Equestria, I wondered how I would go about finding the monster, and if I would have to fight against Celestia, Luna, and Cadence to get to it.
There was a high possibility that would be the case, and I found that I didn't mind. With this new power, I may have just found a way to finally end their pain for good. I may have been able to put them to rest in a way that Cadence couldn't, even with all the hate in the world.
I could feel my current form slipping as my hunger increased and—seeing the wisps of light rising from beneath my fur—I pushed the hunger back down, causing my fur to return to normal. At the very least, if I focused, I could keep it at bay.
Still, I couldn't help but wonder what the monster would taste like.