Embrace of Light and Dark

by Knight of Crows


Chapter 70.

Equinox POV

(Canterlot Castle medical center)

I was unconscious for almost two days according to the doctor. I didn't remember what happened clearly, but he, along with a few other ponies, basically told me the same thing. That the wedding was attacked by a hive of somethings called "changelings" after the bride was revealed to be a fake, and Princess Celestia and I fought against the ones present as well as the Heartless the Queen summoned. After pushing the Queen back, somepony resembling a human came out of a dark portal and "slaughtered" the hive. After I stopped the Queen from turning into a Heartless, "Abaddon" turned his attention to me, running a sword through my torso, but miraculously missed anything vital.

After I lost consciousness, Celestia attacked Abaddon in an attempt to save everypony, but he blocked her magic with those wing shaped swords of his without even looking and blasted her back with a ball of dark fire, knocking her out in a single attack and leaving afterward. After I woke up, I was visited by Celestia first, who apologized repeatedly for not being able to prevent Abaddon from nearly killing me. I don't really understand why, I mean, if I died, would it really change anything? She wasn't exactly happy to hear me ask that, but she remembered halfway through her rant that according to Chrysalis, I have no emotions, and left me alone.

Princess Cadence and Shining Armor visited me next and thanked me for trying to save everypony and the wedding. Something else I wasn't able to understand considering I only stepped in once the Heartless became a factor. Had her aunt not asked me to do that, I wouldn't have. Before they left, Shining mentioned that if I want, he could find a combat instructor for me so others like Abaddon shouldn't be able to put me in a hospital so easily. He suggested I train regardless.

Then one by one, Fluttershy and her friends showed up. Fluttershy and Pinkie spent so much time crying that I couldn't understand anything they said. After they left, I noticed a cupcake next to the bed, "from Pinkie" it said. Spike and Rainbow kept going on about how "cool" I was until Abaddon almost killed me. Rarity fixed up the suit I wore and returned it to me when she visited with Applejack, both complimenting me on how "brave" I was. Twilight looked troubled, but thanked me for saving the wedding before leaving. One pony I hadn't met yet, Princess Luna, was the last to show up, she basically said the same thing as Rarity and Applejack, and said she would have a gift for me delivered to Fluttershy's home soon.

With permission from the doctor, Fluttershy was allowed to bring Nightshade with her into the hospital room. The kitten would keep trying to get under my arm and curl up on my chest. It was getting all the attention it wanted, but one thing still confuses me most of the times I'm near her.

Why do I keep getting flashes of another girl who fades away as quickly as she turns to face me?


Twilight POV

(Castle library)

"Do you think there might be something in here?" I asked Princess Celestia as we kept looking through the shelves.

"Hopefully, Chrysalis didn't have much to gain, if anything, from Equinox if he does have no emotions." She answered.

"Is that even possible? For a pony to not feel anything?" No, not this one either.

"To an extent, yes. Just as there are ponies incapable of feeling or understanding certain emotions, whether it's because their brains work differently, because they forgot how, or learned not to feel or understand, magic can force the same things to a potentially more dangerous extent."

"You mean ponies like Spoiled or Cassiel?"

"*sigh* Spoiled was a sociopath, even a psychopath. Cassiel, he wasn't always so callous." He wasn't?

"What do you mean?" Does she know something we don't?

"From what he told my sister and I, he watched as his parents we murdered, his mother's violated after, lost his grandparents and his sister to the same stallion, his sister suffering a worse fate than his mother, and the killer went free with bloodmoney from his family." She began to explain.

"How? How could anypony be so cruel? I think- I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Anypony else would've taken their own lives just after that. You've studied foal and pony psychology, I'm sure you can call the way he turned out to be an expected result, especially after being taken into an abusive home and forcibly transferred into a horribly managed school afterward." She looked me in the eye. "I'm still questioning whether or not I made the right choice with him back then in Ponyville."

"You mean not arresting him?"

"If I did, Ponyville would've been overrun with Heartless, and despite the town's opinion of him, he did still nearly get himself killed trying to save a town he had no personal reason to defend. I thought back to something Commander Hurricane once said moments before Cassiel attacked the giant Heartless; 'what difference does it make who the executioner is when the proof is undeniable and the reason is the same'? Legally speaking, Cassiel was wrong, but how does one justify imprisoning somepony for killing a mare guilty of filicide moments before saving dozens, hundreds of lives, including royalty, and when that pony was the only one with a fighting chance against those creatures?" She tried to explain her reasoning.

"Will Equinox be fine?"

"In what way?" The Princess asked.

"Is he going to be charged for anything at the wedding?" I clarified.

"He could be charged with threatening royalty, but that could be dismissed as he was attempting to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that one of the Cadences were fake. If you're worried about those he killed, if he really does have no emotions like Cadence and Chrysalis said, him functioning as he does is a miracle unto itself, and would carry a great deal of weight in the trial if he were charged."

"'If he were charged'?"

"What the Changelings did was a declaration of war for all intents and purposes, especially since Chrysalis was able to control Heartless. Now add in that he wasn't in what could be considered a lucid state of mind to what I know is no fault of his own, he did exactly what I asked of him in regards to the Heartless, then correctly targeted the Changelings after the Heartless were summoned. Even if he could be charged with anything, he wouldn't be convicted. What has brought this about?" She asked, concerned.

"It's... Ever since Equinox was found, I've wanted him gone! I didn't want another incident like with Cassiel, and I've been nothing but a horrible pony to him!" I struggled to hold back the tears. "The first thing I did after the Dragon Migration was look through the library for answers he couldn't give because I thought everything with Cassiel was going to repeat itself and I hoped to find something that would warrant getting rid of him! How he could kill without any hesitation! How he wasn't even the least bit disturbed by the events then!"

"Twilight-"

"How he could just say he's going to hurt somepony just to see who's being truthful! How he could just walk away from everything until the Heartless showed up! How he could kill those Changelings without a second thought!" The Princess wrapped her arms around me. "How he can't even be angry, happy, or sad! He can't remember his life, and he can't feel anything because they were all ripped from him! He can't even understand why everypony is thanking him or why it's a good thing he's still alive!" The Princess lifted my chin to look up at her.

"I am proud that you feel you can look past what you think of- what you feel about Cassiel so you can help Equinox, but there's no guarantee this is even related to magic. It's possible he has had a similar life to Cassiel and perhaps the only way to help him would be to remind him of these things he's forgotten. It's also possible he's a victim of foul magic, which is why we're searching through the library. If you want to help him, here is the best place to start."

"*sniff* Thank you."


Equinox POV

(Fluttershy's cottage, a week and a half later)

Fluttershy is currently out buying groceries while I'm tending to the animals here. I can't do too much on my own though without risking reopening my wound, so a few of the larger animals are helping with the heavy lifting.

"Heal your wounds and become strong enough to end me so we may become one again."

I remember those words from before I passed out from either pain or blood loss. Why does he want to die? Why do I have to be the one to do it? What does he mean by "becoming one"?

My thoughts were interrupted by one of the foxes standing on their hind legs and using me to balance themselves with their front legs, lightly biting my hand to get my attention, not enough to hurt though. It wanted me to follow it into the woods. Though with how long we were gone, I'm sure Fluttershy had returned and put everything away. A little further in and we reached our destination.

It was another human, though it was unconscious. Black hair with red tips, a red hooded cape, a strange looking metal object on it's lower back, and what looked like leather over it- her clothes, except for the skirt.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I shook her. She groaned for a few seconds before rubbing her eyes, cracking one open to see her surroundings.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"The woods by Fluttershy's cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville." I answered.

"What?!" She quickly stood up and looked around some more. "Yang! Weiss! Blake!" She yelled, but got no response.

"If the animals haven't found whoever you're looking for, they're probably not around here. The fox here led me to you after all." I told her. She looked in my direction, a spike of pain came and went just as quickly as I saw her face, which was smiling with teary eyes.

"CASSIEL!!!" She yelled before her body looked like it was covered by her cape, red petals falling from her position and I was tackled to the ground in a... Hug?

"I'm not Cassiel, I'm Equinox." I told her plainly. She pulled away and took another look before her expression changed.

"Oh... Oh. *sniff* I'm sorry." She tried to control her breathing as she tried to rub the tears out of her eyes.

"So how long do you intend to stay on top of me?" I asked. "I kind of need to get back to the cottage." She looked down between us before doing that thing again and getting off.

"OHMYGOSHI'MSOSORRY!!!" She quickly apologized before looking intensely at me.

"Is there something on my face?" I asked.

"You have a silver eye, and you look just like him." She answered.

"And you have two silver eyes, and I don't know you."

"..."

"Okay. So who are-" The fox got my attention again by licking my face before turning towards the direction of the cottage. "We should get going. So who are you?" I asked as she helped me up.

"I'm sorry, my name's Ruby. Ruby Rose."