Sollus, still getting used to his younger form, watched from afar as Sigil led the three strangers throughout the town. For what reason, he didn't know, but it at least bought him time to reengage with his bearings. It had been so many years, after all. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to live in the center of the valley, where the grass was lush and the moods of others weren't so dreadful. He wondered what became of the others who had been relegated along with him so long ago, but quickly dismissed the thought. With his newfound capability for caring, the emotions tied to their remembrance were almost too much to bear.
So instead, he focused his younger, more capable eyes at the town center, still getting used to how different it felt to be youthful again. But the memories of his times as a Niril remained sharp in his mind, despite how dull and miserable they were. After so much time feeling so little, and yet aching for so much more, the memories bled over into his emotions in the present. But along with them came the emotions he hadn't felt for ages, good and bad. Hope, joy, peace. But also sadness, and especially guilt.
What was it he'd said to them? You'll pay for this. Pay for what, exactly? Trying to escape? He couldn't blame them for doing so, but at the time, the anger and frustration was his first taste of feeling emotions in what seemed like an eternity. But the freshness of anger quickly dissipated and guilt took its place. Looking back, he tried to ignore the pangs of guilt that pestered him mercilessly, but they only returned minutes later, demanding to be heard and acted upon. In a way, things had been easier when he was a Niril. That kind of life required little to no energy or effort, but yielded just as little reward. There was no joy, but at least there was also no shame, or duty, or guilt. Only apathy.
But he reasoned the guilt away, albeit temporarily, hoping that perhaps his actions would be forgiven in retrospect when his self-imposed mission was complete. At least that's what he told himself as he took a closer look at the town, considering how he would go about undoing the mistakes of the past. And it was enough to keep his mind focused on the task at hand, which was currently to wait until the time was right.
He continued to watch as Sigil pranced around on top of his statue, likely going off about how important his duties were to their kind. The three strange visitors stood around him, gazing upward as he spouted off nonsense. He worried what purpose their presence meant, and what he wanted out of them. Or even worse, what he might use them for. Truthfully though, he knew that the most likely reason was simply to feed his pride and ego, as it so often ended up being the case.
Sollus stood still and watched carefully, in awe that Sigil looked almost exactly the same as so long ago, when they separated and this whole mess first began. A few new emotions made a resurgence when he thought about that, but he pushed them away like the others. There would be a time for that, and it wasn't now. But there was one more emotion that had come back; one that he couldn't decide was good or bad. As flawed and misguided as he was, and despite what he'd done to him, Sollus missed his brother more than he ever thought he would even after all these years.
But then he stopped, feeling his gaze upon him from coming from the town center. Sollus moved out of view in hopes that his presence would remain unknown, but he knew that wasn't the case. He'd have to move quickly.
"Ouch! You're bending my wing!"
"Quit yer' belly-achin' and sit still!"
"Well, my belly wouldn't be aching if you stopped poking it so hard."
"You said you wanted my help, and I'm givin' it to ya. Now hush!"
"Girls, girls. Please stop. We need to make sure we're prepared for when they come back -- not about to get into a fight. Right, Rarity?"
"Hm? Oh yes, right..."
Rarity sat alone on a rock, watching the water ripple across the lake they'd found near the mountain their sisters were currently atop. Trees dotted its shoreline, although they were fairly sparse due to the altitude. The mountains loomed high above them on most sides, casting long, cold shadows along the valley below. The lake itself was almost still, aside from the ripples made from the gusts of wind that blew across it from high above. The breezes mostly seemed to come from a river inlet on the opposite side of the lake, which came from a source further above that they could not make out.
"...Rarity?" asked Twilight. "Is everything alright?"
Twilight left Applejack and Rainbow Dash to continue their bickering and carefully made her way to the water's edge with Rarity.
"Oh, I suppose so," she replied, not instilling much confidence in her reply. She sighed. "To tell the truth, darling, I'm feeling a bit glum."
Twilight sat down next to her. "We all are. But I don't know what else we can do but wait."
"Waiting almost makes it worse," she replied.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash stopped bickering and joined them. It was odd to see Rarity in a dreary mood that wasn't laced with melodrama.
"Maybe we can keep explorin'," said Applejack, her eyes on the opposite end of the lake. "If anythin', it'll help keep our minds off worryin' so much." Applejack laughed at herself. "Well, look at me not goin' out of my mind worryin' about my little sister. A'int that somethin'." She paced around a couple hoofsteps. "...maybe I should be. Should I? What if they're not okay right this moment? What if they get trapped up there, and there ain't nothin' we can do?"
"That was short-lived," said Rainbow Dash.
"You mean to tell us you're not worried? Not even a little bit?"
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment about delivering her typical response of playing it cool, but after realizing how much losing her wings affected her, she decided against it. "Well, yeah. I'm worried. A little."
She received a raised eyebrow in response.
"Okay, a lot. I'm worried a lot."
"Then we should go with Applejack's suggestion," said Twilight. "Let's check out the perimeter of this lake and see if we can find anything. And if it starts getting dark, we can set up camp."
"You think it'll take them that long?" said Rarity.
"I don't know," said Twilight. "All I do know is that we just need to stay put and wait. We can't wander off much farther than this valley."
"Stayin' put and waitin' is what I tell Apple Bloom to do if she ever gets lost," said Applejack. "I didn't ever think I'd be the one takin' my own advice..."
As they walked along the shoreline of the lake, the sun gradually drifted lower into the sky and the long shadows cast by the peaks above stretched toward the horizon, symbolizing the beginning of what would be a long, cold night.
It wasn't very long until they found themselves standing in a large foyer, with intricately carved stone staircases on both sides of the room leading to a balcony above. The room was adorned with decoration of all sorts, including a large round rug that served as a centerpiece. Sigil's hooves clacked on the polished floors as he walked up to it and turned around to speak to them.
"This is the town manor," he said regally. "As you can see, it is quite nice and roomy. Plenty of space for holding town meetings and hosting dinner parties."
"Speakin' of parties," said Apple Bloom, "where are all the other Lirins?"
"They come and go as they please," he replied, his focus obviously elsewhere as he peered out a nearby window.
Apple Bloom thought momentarily to ask where they might find some Nirils who hadn't committed any heinous acts, but decided that question would be better suited for a later time. The effects of her mood transformation had started to wear off, but she still felt lingering traces of doubt and insecurity that had come veiled along with it, which she was beginning to have troubles separating between which were her's and which were not.
Sigil began walking further and they followed, gazing left and right at all the decoration to take in. It was odd to see regal portraits of what looked to be young colts and fillies, but the reality was that Nirils just happened to look that way on the outside more than anything. Even at this point, seeing a creature with comparable appearance to her own being in charge of an entire town was slightly hard to wrap her mind around. But as they walked by several portraits hung up in a long hallway, the expression on the portraits' faces seemed to change in a way none of them could quite understand.
"What's with these portraits?" asked Scootaloo. "Everyone seems like they're getting...sadder."
"These are portraits of past leaders," replied Sigil. "You'll see mine coming up next!"
At the end of the long hallway was a portrait of Sigil, looking just as smug and prideful as himself, standing right next to it. It was in stark contrast to the last few, which were more stoic in nature.
"Yep, that's you alright," said Sweetie Belle.
Sigil led Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle into another room, but Apple Bloom stood behind for a few moments. Throughout the hallway, every portrait had been equally spaced to meticulous standards. But at the end of the long lineage of leaders, Sigil's hung slightly further away than the others. She wondered for a moment if her doubts were running amok as she stared at the wall for no reason other than an odd feeling in her gut, but it almost seemed like something was missing.
Her stomach gurgled, however, and she realized she was starving. Trotting off to catch up, she hoped Sigil had something for them to eat.
~
After what seemed like an eternity of looking at rooms and decorations, that was indeed the case. It was almost like he wanted to spend as much time within the walls of the manor as possible, because at nearly every opportunity, he had been intently gazing out of windows.
"Please, feel free to sit down and wait here while I attend to some other manners," said Sigil, his eyes once more peering out a nearby window. This time, he seemed anxious to leave. "Some servers will be bringing you some food while you wait for my return."
"Free food? Awesome," said Scootaloo. "I'm starving!"
Sigil left in a hurry, leaving the three of them alone in the dining hall of the manor. But not long afterward, several Lirins wearing fancy clothing entered with plates of food to place on the table. These were the first Lirins beside Sigil that they'd even seen up close, and Apple Bloom saw it as an opportunity to gather more information.
"Excuse me, can I ask you a question or two?"
The server eyed her nervously, placing her entree on the table quickly before scurrying into the kitchen.
"Hello?" Apple Bloom continued, addressing a different server. "Do you speak Pony?"
That one, too, gave her a concerned look and trotted away conspicuously.
"Rude," said Sweetie Belle, before diving into the plate of appetizers.
There was one Lirin remaining that seemed conflicted between addressing the strangers and running away.
Apple Bloom did away with being polite. "What is wrong with this place?"
The Lirin looked around nervously for several moments, but came closer to the table and provided a chilling response.
"You're not safe here," it whispered before joining the others in the kitchen.
"...What do you mean?" she asked carefully.
The server appeared nervous. "You might be fine, I don't know. Nobody knows. It's better to just go along."
It left in a hurry, forgetting to put down the dish it was carrying when it came in. But before any of them could say anything, Sigil opened the door at the opposite end of the room, returning with a semi-familiar Lirin next to him.
He pushed him further ahead and gestured towards him. "Is this the one who stole your youth?"
Apple Bloom knew immediately that it was, despite only seeing him in young form for only a few brief moments. "Y-yeah, that's the one..."
"Good," Sigil replied. "I found him sneaking around the town and this manor, trying to find and harm you again. But here the criminal is, detained and neutralized."
The Lirin spoke. "That's not what I was trying to do. I was trying to save the others--"
"Remain silent," Sigil interrupted him sharply. "Or face worse punishment than you already deserve."
"No punishment could be more worse than I have already endured," he replied, earning a kick to his side and falling to the floor below.
Apple Bloom felt conflicted, despite seeing justice playing out in front of her eyes. While the creature had truly done something wrong, she couldn't help but feel a sense that there was more at play than previously thought. When the Niril had transformed her, it had felt like the life had been pulled from her body. But at the same time, it had felt like there was an exchange both ways, not just in one direction. Sigil's words from before about balance and equity echoed in her mind. Something didn't sit right with those words and the way he acted and treated others.
"As punishment for his crimes," Sigil continued, "I will transfer the youth he stole back to you. Do you accept this?"
Apple Bloom thought for a moment. Sigil had told them they were slightly older than previous, due to the unbalanced nature of youth, but for all intents and purposes, she felt no different than before. And her friends seemed the same.
"Well," her voice trailed, unsure of her thoughts in the moment, "I think I'm alright. I'm just about the same as before. What would happen to him if I did?"
The Lirin spoke out. "I would be relegated with the rest of the Nirils--"
Sigil snapped. "Speak out of turn once more, Sollus, and I'll ensure you don't see the light of day anymore!"
"I won't be silent of what you've done, brother" he replied coldly.
"What did he mean, the rest of the Nirils?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Sollus?" added Scootaloo. "Is that his name?"
"That's a complicated matter," said Sigil. "Please, let me allow justice to run its course." He began kneeling his horn against the Lirin.
"Now wait just a minute," said Apple Bloom. "I didn't agree to no transfer!"
Sigil ignored her and began anyway, performing the same act that had originally been done to them in the caves before. Tendrils of energy began to emanate from out of him and into Sigil's horn as Sollus began to slump down toward the floor. His eyes drooped downward, tired and lifeless, his guilt causing him to be accepting of this fate.
"Stop!" said Apple Bloom, galloping over toward them. She crashed into Sigil, interrupting the transfer of youth and allowing Sollus to scramble to his hooves and make an exit.
"You fool!" Sigil yelled, trying to get to his hooves. "There's no telling the damage he could do, performing transformations upon all the Lirins in this town!"
Apple Bloom, in shock, looked at him blankly. But he ignored her and quickly took off after his brother, leaving them alone in the dining hall.
"Shouldn't we go after them?" said Sweetie Belle.
"Come on, let's go!" said Scootaloo, heading out the door, followed shortly by the others.
They found themselves galloping along the cobblestone streets of the town as the sun was setting behind the mountains that loomed high above. The air quickly became cold and crisp, but the movement kept them warm as the attempted to keep up with Sigil and Sollus, who had taken to the skies and headed toward where the river emptied at the lowest point of the valley. It was a sight to behold, seeing their vibrant blue outlines below the skies of orange above, their wingspans considerably larger than their bodies. Sollus swept downward as Sigil attempted to knock him out of the air, sending them both tumbling onto a few rooftops. But they quickly took to the air once more as they headed toward the outskirts of town, where the river that flowed through it continued onward to the lowest point of the valley.
The three of them followed as closely as they could, and managed to catch up with Sigil as he stood outside a cave that had been eroded into the base of a cliff. The water streamed into it from the valley behind them.
"Stop!" Sigil cried out, as entering the cave that Sollus had fled into.
"I don't...understand," said Scootaloo, catching up on her breath. "Where's he going?"
"Not right now," Sigil replied curtly, stepping into the cave below.
"Wait," said Apple Bloom, growing annoyed at the lack of answers. "Is this where the rest of the Nirils are, like he said earlier?"
"Yeah, and I thought you said he was going to go after the Lirins!" added Scootaloo.
Sigil sighed angrily. "If you want to truly know, you'll know soon enough if you follow me into this cave."
They silently agreed, and made sure to keep their distance as they descended into the depths below. The cave was dark and damp, but easy to follow since the river was always nearby. But the rocks were slippery and wet, and it was considerably difficult to navigate in the downward direction. The sounds of running water echoing off the cave walls overpowered their ears as the light slowly faded and they descended further.
But eventually, they came upon an opening.
Inside were several Nirils, hugging the walls and laying nearly motionless, their eyes appearing like bright dots in the darkness. But Sollus appeared from the shadows, still in Lirin form.
"I'm going to undo what you did," he said, looking at Sigil and then the Nirils who watched emotionlessly.
"And how is that?" said Sigil.
"By sharing my fortune with them," he replied.
"Share? Sharing is what got us into this mess!" Sigil exclaimed in response, laughing. His voice echoed off the walls.
They looked confused. "What mess, exactly?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I'll tell you. Many years ago, the Lirin and Nirils leaved together, right here in this valley. They went on with their pathetic lives, clinging to us, demanding we share our youth and energy with them. But for what reason? They had gotten themselves into their own predicaments, not us, so it should have been them who were to get themselves out."
Sigil began walking though the cave, in and around several stalagmites.
"All was well for awhile, as our resources were plentiful and times were good. But when the rains stopped falling and the drought fell upon us, that was when things became scarce. Without water, there was no food. And without food, there was no energy. In those tough times, our kind gradually fell victim to the dreaded transformation of Lirin to Niril. One by one, our numbers dwindled, and with every one that became lost, another dead mouth to feed replaced it."
He leaped onto an elevated area, kicking off a few rocks in the process.
"So I decided," he said loudly, "that enough was enough. In order to save our kind, I needed to divide it. Through the culling of the weak, the strong could remain strong in those tough times, instead of dragged into oblivion with those who could not. But it was not so easy," his voice trailed as he looked toward Sollus below, "for there were few of us who disagreed on the necessity of our actions. And so in their idealistic endeavor to save even those who could not be saved," Sigil continued, "they relegated themselves to be among them."
"That's not what happened," said Sollus, barely able to get to his feet. His voice had become soft and weak. "You banished us to the caves..."
Sigil jumped down onto the stone in front of him and faced him directly. "I banished you, because you were the only one standing in my way. I couldn't gather the numbers required to save us if our own leader disagreed with my methods. You were an obstacle."
"I wasn't just our leader," Sollus replied, " I was your brother."
Sigil didn't have an immediate response, but eventually found one. "It was the only way," he replied, somewhat unsure.
"We could have helped them," said Sollus. "It's the way our kind has always gotten through these hardships. It's in our balance that we find our strength. Why wouldn't you listen to their pleas for help?"
Sigil's eyes searched for meaning, staring at the floor below. "Because no one was there to listen to me when I needed them to!" Sigil yelled, his emotions growing stronger. "Why should I have to care about their problems? Why should I let them pull me down to their level? I got here on my own," he said, the pride still clearly evident in his anger. "By myself -- alone! And I've never been happier or stronger!"
His sheer frustration contrasted those words as they echoed in the air, and over again in his own mind. He was silent for a few moments, gauging their reactions and seeing only pity on their faces. It enraged him to see them perceiving him as weak.
Sigil let his emotions get to him. "I had to be strong in order to keep us all strong!"
His voiced echoed off the walls.
"You didn't have to be strong alone," Sollus replied in hopes of talking sense into his brother. But it only rubbed salt in his wounds.
"I don't need anyone's help!" Sigil screamed in response, his voice piercing their ears.
His mood shifted from anger to filled with distraught. With the youthful energy still filling his body, he was shaking fervently as he tried to force himself to calm down. But the emotions overpowered him. Washing over him like waves against a rocky shore, they steadily broke down mental barriers, relentless with their raw, destructive power. His thoughts spiraled rapidly throughout his mind like a tumultuous storm, ripping up the mental framework that had been laid so long ago, eating away at him as he wondered what would happen if he allowed himself to truly open up despite refusing to do so after all this time. It seemed foolish. Pointless. Maybe not so much at the beginning before shutting everyone out for so long, but it certainly felt pointless now. After all this time, and all the suffering he'd caused, the subconscious guilt wracked his mind. His face contorted in misguided anger and confusion as he argued with his own thoughts and feelings.
Still shaking, his eyes moved rapidly as he stared at the ground below. An ugly scowl had taken hold over his face, dark shadows around his eyes emphasizing the pain and sorrow that continued to pour out. His eyes were red with angst and fury, but growing weary as the storm within him continued. They watched in awe as the shaking suddenly began to stop, and his anger gradually subsided into fear. Fear of what, he didn't know, but he seemed to be at the edge of a precipice, fraught with terror about what lay ahead, having no option to run away or return things back to the way they were. In an instant, the fear had subsided into hopelessness as the wave of misery crashed over him. He continued to ignore their gazes and fell to the ground below, covering himself with a wing to hide in his own self-comfort, even with as little comfort it did bring.
Seconds after falling to the ground, his shaking turned into cries and convulsions. He pulled his wing further up, burying his face to try and hide the obvious emotional breakdown he was undergoing, but knew that there was nothing he could do at this point to avoid their pity. Their sorrow. Their empathy. Stunned, none of them knew what to do except continue to watch the breakdown unfold. His cries had begun softly but quickly turned into sobs, with tears streaming down his face. The waves continued crashing over him with every passing moment, without any sign of ceasing. They could only imagine how much catharsis he was going through, slowly and arduously. But as seconds turned to minutes, his sobs lessened with intensity, and the last remaining tears slowly began to drip from his face onto the ground below.
Suddenly, the color of his horn began gradually shifting from blue to red, twisting inward onto itself like a tangle of weeds. Hair from his body began falling to the cave floor in tufts as the redness spread through him like an illness. His wings shriveled up quickly, becoming mere husks of what they used to be. His eyes became dead and tiresome, casting an eerie, uncaring glaze at them from the ground below.
His crimson body lay motionless beside the other Nirils, as he had become one himself.
They walked slowly toward him, in awe at the sheer intensity of the event that had taken place before them. In just a few passing moments, he had transformed from an angry tyrant to the very being he'd spoken so harshly against.
Sollus walked up. "This is what we could have done then, and what I was about to do now," he said as he knelt before him, laying a horn against his brother's still body. Energy emanated from his horn and swirled into the air above him, falling down like a blanket of fog and absorbing into this body. Ever so gradually, his color turned back to a shade of blue as his appearance changed back to one of a Lirin. But with it, Sollus fell to the floor, his source of youthful energy nearly exhausted.
Sigil stood up, confused and bewildered. In the storm of emotions that overcame him, he wasn't sure what to feel in the moment. It wasn't guilt or misery, but something he'd forgotten in his desperation to help others so long ago. Seeing his brother lay motionless below him, he felt empathy. Empathy for all the time he'd forced him to live out his life as a Niril, and empathy for all the Nirils he'd banished to live elsewhere and fend for themselves, instead of lifting them up and providing for them in the time they needed help the most. And with the empathy came desire to act. In a moment of hope, his horn glowed white as that hope came to fruition, giving him an extra source of energy that appeared to come from nowhere. So he shared that hope, and the energy enveloped them both for several moments until it dissipated into Sollus.
And so he rose. "Thank you, brother," he said as he got back to his hooves.
"I don't deserve thanks" Sigil said in response. "But I will do all I can to undo my mistakes." His horn still glowing, he began his way toward the Nirils who had so emotionlessly watched the entire ordeal unfold. "My only hope is that they might return the favor."