//------------------------------// // Twilight's Decision // Story: Windigo Whisperer // by Misty Shadow //------------------------------// Meanwhile, back at the news station, after Cloud Shroud had left to confront the Windigos... Once Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy arrived at the news station in Cloudsdale, their first priority was to check on Rainbow Dash.  “Rainbow!” Twilight called out to her friend, who had just watched Cloud Shroud fly off in astonishment.  “Twilight!” Rainbow called back, rushing over to greet her. “I’m so glad to have you here! You will not believe what’s gone on! Things went from crazy, to Freaky Town, to Freaky Town and back to a mental hospital!” “Heh, yeah...we could...kind of tell from what transpired on the TV.” Twilight sheepishly responded to Rainbow’s over-the-top recap. “I still can’t believe King Sombra’s really back...and that we’re…”  Twilight paused as both Rainbow and her turned their heads away guiltily in a moment of silence. It was soon interrupted by Fluttershy asking… “Hey, where did Cloud go off to? Is he doing alright?”  “I...think?” Rainbow replied, honestly uncertain, but coming off to Fluttershy as uncaring. “He was talking to me like he was pumped to get up and at ‘em before he left, so I think he was in a good mood. I tried to tell him he didn’t have to hide anything from me, but he insisted that he was fine.”  “And why would he be fine?” a scowling Fluttershy asked with a hint of anger in her voice.  “Beats me.” a somber Rainbow answered, filled with remorse that Fluttershy misinterpreted as denial that she had done Cloud any wrong. “After all, I tried everything to get him to-” Rainbow was about to finish her sentence by saying that she tried to get Cloud to open up about how he felt about what she did to him before she was interrupted by Fax First calling out to Twilight in a loud, pervasive voice… “Hhheeelllooo, princess!”  Twilight and her friends turned to see Fax First and King Sombra approaching them, both with smug grins plastered on their faces that filled Twilight and her friends with unease. “Greetings...sir.” Twilight said timidly, trying to keep with formalities despite the way she and her friends had been treated by this reporter and his team. “I’m Princess Twilight and these are my-” “I’m Fax First,” interjected Fax shamelessly, “great to meet you and your friends, both the blue and yellow one!”     “Di-Did he really forget my name already?!” Rainbow cried in rage in her mind. “And they call me full of myself!”  “Great to meet you too…” an irritated Twilight retorted, most perturbed by the feeling Fax thought he was being polite. “So, how do you want to do this interview?”  “As much as I love the spotlight, Sombra actually wanted to ask you a few personal questions…” Fax answered slyly. “Would that be alright?”  “Of course.” Twilight replied honestly. “What integrity could I claim to have if I didn’t hear Sombra out?”  Sombra’s smug grin faded, replaced by a blank expression.  “Do you really mean that, Princess?” an astonished Sombra asked, formally addressing her in a sincere tone of voice.  “Again, of course.” Twilight answered wearily. “How could you even think for a second that just because you did bad things, that means I truly hate you and would be comfortable with truly hurting you?”  “...How curious.” a still bemused Sombra thought before his confident smile returned. “I don’t sense that she’s lying, but that should only make toying with her all the more entertaining, ha ha ha…”  “My first question is…” Sombra began. “Who do you feel is responsible for my death?” Twilight gulped, replying without full sincerity… “...Me. I take full responsibility.” “...Twilight?” a bemused Fluttershy thought. “You’re not…”  “You don’t sound too sure of yourself.” Sombra said cockily, looking right through her. “Come now, surely you feel that your friends bear some responsibility here too?”   The look on Twilight’s face twisted into an admonishing glare accompanied by a grisly frown, diminishing Sombra’s confidence.  “NO.” she answered bluntly, seeing right through his trick. “I am a princess, I am a leader, I take full responsibility for the actions of my friends.”  Sombra was more disappointed than surprised by this response. Obviously, he knew how powerful Twilight’s friendship was, he just never expected her to actually care so much. In his mind, “friendship” was just another means to an end...  “But if I believe that…” Sombra thought, noticing an inconsistency in his mindset as he remembered Cloud Shroud. “Then who is he to me?”  Noticing the upset look on Sombra’s face, Twilight took advantage.  “Why the long face?” Twilight remarked. “Having a tough time digesting the truth that my friends and I aren’t monsters out to get you?”  “No, I just-I just-” Sombra stammered, the look on his face growing unsettled as he could feel a premonition that something wasn’t right with Cloud, as could Rainbow.  “Hmm?” Twilight asked. “Is something the matter?”  “It’s nothing to do with you.” Sombra answered. “I just sense...a disturbance.”  It was at this point that Rainbow had flown off to check on her friend despite Fluttershy’s cry of protest. Twilight had attempted to console Fluttershy before turning back to Sombra with a smug grin, confident that she had gained control of the situation.  “We all have friends we care about, don’t we?”  These were the words Twilight had said that were haunting Sombra’s mind. He was genuinely worried that Cloud would be the catalyst for him to change. But he didn’t want to change. He didn’t want anyone else in his life. For he didn’t want to repeat what had happened long ago… He recalled a time when he was with Princess Luna, reading a book on black magic...  “NO!” he shouted in his thoughts. “NOT AGAIN!”  Sombra’s eyes began to exude purple mist, leading Twilight’s confident grin to fade.  “I will never die again!” Sombra declared with vigor in his thoughts. “NEVER!”  And with this reclamation of his energy that Twilight could sense, she became nervous once again. As one could expect, Sombra was the one with a haughty smile on his face again.  “How it humors me that our roles have already been reversed again…” he goaded Twilight. “It’s as if we’re more alike than we appear to be...it’s as if we are like light and darkness...ha ha ha…” “Spare me the cliches.” Twilight retorted. “I’m nothing like you.”  “Ho ho, but I’m sure that as the Princess of Friendship,” replied Sombra, laughing as he was giddy to try his new way to get to her, “you would agree that even two ponies who have nothing in common...can become friends?”  Both Twilight and Fluttershy were stunned, this sentiment catching them completely off-guard. Fax First, on the other hand, was smirking, fully aware of where this was leading.  “.....You want me to be your friend?” Twilight asked in bewilderment.   “That confounds you, why?” Sombra responded, acting as if he was hurt. “How can you ever atone for what you did if we are to be enemies? How can you make something up to a pony you don’t trust? You can tell I’ve been different since Cloud’s love touched me and set me on the right path. I’m willing to forgive you, how come you can’t forgive me? Unless...you don’t believe you have anything to be sorry for?”  Twilight grunted in frustration.  “This is obviously an act…” she thought, irritated. “But he has me!” “So, what do you think of this most generous offer, Your Highness?” Fax interjected. “As the Princess of Friendship, surely you could never pass up the opportunity for both sides to put the past behind them and work together to make amends? On live TV, no less?”  “Gah, this can’t be happening!” Twilight yelled in frustration in her mind, having never dealt with a situation like this before. “How are they giving me the illusion of choice while essentially forcing me to say what they want me to?!”  “This is insanity!” Fluttershy exclaimed in her mind, equally frustrated. “How could Rainbow take off at a time like this?!”  Twilight knew something was terribly wrong here...but ultimately determined that she had no choice. For the first time in her life, she was lying about the way she felt to keep those she knew were shady content. Over and over, she had to tell herself that she had to keep her friends safe...but deep down, she knew she was scared. To make things easier on herself, she turned against what her will was telling her…  *dwoom* ...and the consequences of this decision would soon change the world of Equestria forever, as for the first time, the fire in Twilight’s soul began to dim… Celestia and Luna, able to sense this anomaly, knelt their heads in sorrow.  “I knew it…” Celestia thought, regretful. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to see that this was only a test...forgive me, Twilight...I should’ve been a better mentor…”  “This is all on me.” Luna thought, also regretful. “So much grief could’ve been spared for all of us, if only I hadn’t defied Sister then…”  “Of course I accept your friendship, Sombra.” Twilight said half-heartedly and despondently. “It’s my fault you’re dead and I have a lot to pay penance for.” “Twilight, no!” Fluttershy exclaimed frantically. “You know you can’t bear this burden alone! We’re all in this together!”  “Fluttershy...be quiet.” Twilight solemnly ordered her friend. “You don’t understand how serious this is.”  “What’s that supposed to mean?!” a shocked and hurt Fluttershy yelled. “Because I want to be there for you and protect you, that means I don’t understand?!”  “I said, be quiet!” Twilight yelled back, continuing to command her. “I’m the princess, I’m the one who needs to protect YOU!”  “...As you wish.” a disgruntled Fluttershy replied, angrily crossing her forelegs.  “First Rainbow Dash, now you!” Fluttershy proclaimed angrily in her mind. “What is happening to my friends?!”  Discord, still in the form of a cloud, was observing Fluttershy’s display of anger and empathizing.  “Dear Fluttershy…” he thought somberly. “How it pains me that I can’t make you understand what is going on right now...but Twilight has made her decision...and I can only have faith that I won’t have to be gone for long…”  Sombra, also observing the anger being displayed, attempted to mollify Twilight and Fluttershy.  “Calm down, you two.” he told them, smiling warmly, unable to deny that he felt good being a mediator for the first time in over a millennium. “No need for fussing or fighting. You only need to know that “all of us being in this together” now includes me. So long as you trust me, you shall be rewarded.” “Rewarded with what?” Twilight asked curiously.  “Now that I’ve turned over a new leaf,” answered Sombra, “as you would put it, the next logical step for me is to make a name for myself. I’m going to make Equestria better than ever before, and I’d love for all of you to receive credit for helping me.”  “What exactly do you want to do?” a still skeptical Twilight replied. “I need specifics before I agree to anything.” “I can start by explaining to you the penance you’ve agreed to pay.” Sombra said with a devious smirk on his face.  “With good deeds!” Twilight assertively declared. “That’s what I meant by that promise! I’m not helping you do anything dirty!”  “Do you believe purging this world of all death and suffering to be dirty?” Sombra retorted, his smirk growing wider. Twilight and Fluttershy were shocked, and even Fax First was caught off-guard.  “No one...told me about that…” Fax thought nervously, smiling sheepishly.  “Now, don’t take that too personally.” Sombra told them, returning to his pacifying tone. “It’s just an idea. However, it is an idea I feel you should both consider...especially you, Princess.”  Twilight gulped, knowing what Sombra meant as he gestured to her.  “As the successor to Celestia, I’m an immortal alicorn.” she thought solemnly and sadly. “But my friends…”  “Don’t sweat it.” Sombra said in encouragement. “Just do what I say, and everything will work out perfectly for every pony!”  “...I understand, Sombra.” Twilight replied in a more submissive tone. “I trust that you won’t ask me to do anything evil. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you for killing you.”  “Wonderful!” Sombra exclaimed in delight. “And don’t worry, I don’t blame you or your friends at all for my death! Do you truly believe that the magic of friendship could ever kill me?”   Once again, Twilight and Fluttershy were shocked, but this time, their shock also came with relief.  “He’s right…” they thought. “How could something as wonderful as our friendship ever take a life? There has to be something we’ve overlooked!”  “Gotcha.” Sombra thought sinisterly. “You know there’s only one way out of this hole, and Fluttershy’s not going to like it…”  “Let’s review the situation with full objectivity now, shall we?” he gleefully proclaimed. “Who brought me back? Who staged my return to test you? Who gave you the encouragement you needed to supposedly “defeat me” before revealing to you that everything was a lie?”  Twilight’s jaw sank lower as Fluttershy gasped. “NO!” Fluttershy cried with tears in her eyes. “IT CAN’T BE!”  “I’m afraid it is the truth, Fluttershy.” Discord spoke from behind, back in his normal form. “You did not kill Sombra. I did.”  A morbid silence filled the air as a flabbergasted Twilight and Fluttershy knew that things were soon to never be the same… “Heh heh heh…” Amoros snickered sinisterly to himself, sensing that Sombra’s plan was going well.  “If only that fool knew that what he’s doing to defy me will ultimately come back to bite him…” he thought. “He thinks he’s safe because the Windigos don’t know enough about him...but no one knows enough about me and who I really am…not even the one I’ve entrusted with an immortal, immaterial body...” Amoros was, of course, alluding to the fact that even Cloud didn’t know who he really was, but he also meant that his own subordinates didn’t know his true identity either, ironically… “I know that it’s not just what you helped me do to him that gives you your confidence…” Amoros continued in his mind as he recalled the ice in the far reaches of the North where King Sombra was once banished to. “It’s also what you think you know about Belohzhero…”  A scene in Amoros’ mind showed that Belohzhero was still frozen in that ice, bearing resemblance to the hybrid between a lizard and a pony that had appeared in Dandy Rose’s painting. He had an equine shape, but was covered in scales and had claws instead of hooves. His right claw was clutching the part of his chest where his heart was as he had a dead look in his eyes…  “You and my subordinates think he wasn’t punished enough…” Amoros mused. “You think there’s nothing worse than death...but believe me, sometimes death is better. Believe me, especially…”  The scene of the ice in Amoros’ mind soon shifted to the scene of the snowy terrain Cloud was in. He was still in spirit form watching the earth pony by the painting, putting the finishing touches on his work with his signature… ...Dandy Rose.