Episode 167: Twilight’s Faith
The smell of sea spray, salt laden and tanged with life, tickled Astra’s nose. Her focus was upon her experiment, but it was hard not to admire the fundamental beauty of the ocean reef, vibrant with a quilt of natural colors that teemed with aquatic life.
The alicorn stood upon the shallows of a large barrier reef in the eastern hemisphere of the physical plane, with the white sands of a long tropical shore stretching out behind her. In front of her a large device made of several layered metal rings surrounded a pillar of solidified light that was immersed into the lapping blue waves below her. The device was an astral detector and projector, designed to analyze and display data on various forms of esoteric energy within a limited area. What made it special was that it did this not only on the physical realm, but the astral plane and other layers beyond. Attuned to both the fundamental astral energy known colloquially as “magic”, and the weave of spiritual particles that interconnected all things, including the “souls” of living beings.
This particular spot was chosen due to the fact that the reef had a very high rate of predatory activity amid the various species inhabiting it, as such providing a continuous source of test data for Astra’s spells. All she had to do was attach magical markers to prey species, wait for nature to take its course, and then ideally the markers would remain upon the “soul” of deceased prey animals which would in turn provide active data to the analysis device.
Not alone, the mare lounging in the water beside her watched curiously as the pillar of light flashed and displayed a spherical projection of several points of energy as they traversed from a flat projected plane and descended through what appeared to be a barrier of sorts until falling like snow drops into the lower portion of the sphere. The mare in question was a large aquatic beauty with azure skin of such fine scales that she seemed to glitter in the sunlight. A marvelous mane of deep purple shades that faded to lighter blue at the times fell in waves around a regal head, and intelligent blue eyes regarded Astra with interest as Domare, lazily flipping her tail through the water, swam around the device.
“You’ve certainly been at this for awhile, Astra. Won’t you consider taking a break and returning with me to Bastion Largitas? I promise a perfect night of enjoying the ocean’s bounty and witnessing my daughters’ grand performance. It is the debut of my youngest’s first time on stage, singing for the whole of the city.”
“I truly appreciate your hospitality while I conduct my research, Lady Domare.” Astra said, her eyes not leaving the device’s projected display as she started fiddling with the adjustments to the astral sensors, trying to get clearer readings on the departed souls of the recently preyed upon sea creatures, “However I feel any time spent on frivolity at this time would be ill advised. Every day the arguments between Eos and Iah seem to only darken. If I could get more accurate data on just what is occurring with the Cycle, then perhaps I could alleviate tensions before they get worse between the sisters.”
“I’ve known those two for quite a long time, young Astra, and let me tell you, sisters fight.” Domare said, smiling a beauteous smile as she propped her chin on her hooves while leaning upon one of the exposed portions of the reef, “My own daughters often get into squabbles. Our Sun and Moon were all but born to butt heads with one another. Still, I do confess Eos has seemed especially ruffled of late. Came to my own court to try and get me back into the chambers of the Highest Dominions, hoping I might break the stalemate she has with Iah. I keep telling her I abandoned those affairs for the sea. Even gave up my horn and wings for a much more fitting form below the waves.”
“As was your right.” Astra agreed, knowing full well that Domare’s physical changes made her no less an alicorn in terms of magical might, but still finding it interesting the mare chose to alter herself to better suit her environment. Those traits were passed along to her progeny, who in turn spawned variants of different sea dwelling equines. “I admit to being interested in seeing if your daughters’ divergent genetic traits will continue to develop over generations. Those gems seem especially interesting. The way they can store and resonate with magic have all sorts of potential applications.”
“Ah, my Siren and her children’s gems are quite beautiful indeed. You should see how it affects their singing voices. Truly do you intend to spend all day here studying the soul’s passage into the Cycle? What could you learn from the deaths of fish?”
“Quite a lot, actually. Look.” Astra gestured to the data on the projection, “Each time one’s physical form perishes, the soul is swiftly drawn into the barrier between the physical realm and the Astral Sea. It passes through this barrier, here. A barrier that I believe acts as the means by which the immense, quite possibly infinite energy of the Astral Sea is kept from leaking into the physical world and causing imbalances. Each time a soul passes through... look, look here!”
Astra pointed at an image of the thin film-like sheet between the lower and upper half of the projected sphere. When the small, glittering dots representing the departed souls of the local fish went through the ‘barrier’, a small imprint of color was left behind. “You see that? The soul’s energy leaves an imprinted set of data on the barrier. Then look at this...” she caused the projected image to zoom in upon the imprints, focusing on one or two.
Domare rose from the water, floating in the air with the same ease she could swim through water, and moved closer to peer with interest at the image. “I confess I’m not as learned as you are on these matters, but that looks very much like the fish themselves.”
“It’s a perfectly preserved format of the soul’s essence.” Astra confirmed, “As if the departing soul’s energy leaves a deliberate and exact record of its existence before being absorbed back into the Astral Sea.”
“But those very souls eventually return to inhabit living bodies again, do they not? Rising from the Astral Sea to be reborn once more, as is the natural case of the Cycle?” Domare lashed her tail in puzzled thought, “What purpose would an imprint like that serve?”
“Well, we know that upon rebirth a mortal doesn’t retain any memory of previous lives lived.” Astra explained, “Even for alicorns, who die so much more rarely than mortals, we have no record of someone remembering a past existence. Yet it’s a commonly reported phenomenon among mortals that individuals will display talents they can’t explain having, developing feelings towards others rapidly for no apparent reason, or having a sense of familiarity with places they’ve never been. I have a theory, just a theory at this point mind you, that when a soul returns from the Astral Sea as part of the Cycle, it passes through the same spot it left its previous imprint at. In essence, a returning soul is imprinted with elements of its past life, even if the new physical form is essentially a blank slate ready to receive new data. And considering that the level of data density among these imprints of fish have such massive variations among them, I think my theory already has evidence to support it.”
Domare nodded to this, but her expression turned darkly contemplative, “Tell me, Astra, does this have anything to do with the suspected damage to the Cycle that’s been spoken of. The reason Iah is so up in arms against allowing mortals to worship us?”
“I can’t say for certain yet. I wanted to conduct these tests first, and make sure I understood what these imprints are and how they function. Yet I’ve similarly conducted tests on mortal worship practices and how it affects our own magic and astral signature. An alicorn worshiped as a deity receives imprints very similar to what we’re seeing here on this barrier, almost as if the worshiper is conferring a... part of themselves to the one they worship. However imagine what the imprint of an alicorn would look like if they were worshiped by so many, and then they passed through the barrier. The result would conceivably be something less like a clear image and more like a... hole. It might even tear the fabric of the barrier itself.”
“I see that Tomearchis’ daughter shares her father’s rather keen mind.” Domare said, who then shook her head and with a flick of her hoof, splashed Astra’s face with water. Astra sputtered and blinked at the smiling mare.
“W-what was that for!? I’m talking serious business here, Lady Domare!”
“And giving me a stomach ache in the process. You’re likely doing your own health no favors, young Astra. No need to glare so, I’m not saying your work here is not important, possibly critical, but I’d be a poor hostess indeed if I let you fret your mane gray. That said, I insist you set the experiments aside for today and return home with me for a relaxing night of frivolity. As a former Highest Dominion, I demand it.”
“Hmph, you know as well as I that there’s not ‘former’ Highest Dominion. Just because you don’t attend meetings doesn’t mean you’re any lesser for it, and your authority supersedes my own by several magnitudes.” Astra sighed and stepped away from the device, “I suppose I can take a night off, but I’ll need to leave this here to keep collecting data. Perhaps with enough to support my claims I can get Eos and Iah to stop arguing with each other and instead look towards compromise. There’s still so much we don’t know.”
“Knowledge can wait until tomorrow. Remember Astra, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, before one achieves understanding.” said Domare, giving Astra a moment of wonderment as she considered whether or not this is what it felt like to have a mother. Regardless, she left the device where it was so that she could return to it the next day and continue her study of the Cycle.
She had a sinking fear that one day soon she would need to achieve the very understanding that Domare spoke of if she was to help avert disaster.
----------
The memory was Astra’s, but it had not come unbidden this time. Twilight had recalled it in the very moment the light flooded the dark rift of the Abyss, stemming from Charybdis’ body as Domare’s Relic, the Eye of the Sea, had the controlling medallion containing shards of three siren souls removed. She knew that Charybdis must have had her mind filled with various memories of Domare’s past, although if it had been anything like Twilight’s experience when first dealing with Astra’s memories it would have been a disjointed current of thought, emotion, and recollection that would have been like being buried in a jigsaw puzzle the size of a mountain range.
Within moments the intensely saturated white light faded enough for Twilight to see what was happening. Charybdis remained suspended in the air, writhing back and forth as uneven currents of power pulsated out of her from the central point of the Eye of the Sea. The pearl-like Relic was sending a stream of light into the medallion that Sonata and Aria both held, and in seconds the medallion’s metallic surface began to crack, then shatter. The three red slivers of their siren soul shards floated in the air, and then two of them flew right into Sonata and Aria’s chests, flaring bright red. The third shard, Adagio’s, glowed brighter and then gathered a glittering stream of light around itself that then solidified into the form of a pointed, but smooth ruby crystal about the size of a canine tooth.
”Give it... back...” Charybdis’ voice was haggard and pained as the seapony’s mutated form struggled to reach a hoof towards the two sirens, her eyes frantic and wild as her voice cracked, ”You don’t need... that power! You don’t even know what to do with it! Gugh! Ggaaaagh!”
Her words warbled into a pained howl as there was a loud cracking sound and the Eye of the Sea shook and twisted on its own, ripping itself free of Charybdis’ chest. The pearl sphere flew to hover directly between Aria and Sonata, and proceeded to double the size of the stream of flaring white light, now also rimmed with streams of azure, that cascaded into the two sirens. Twilight realized that the power of Domare was draining out of Charybdis and transferring to the sirens, which occurred to her might be a problem in and of itself given that the pair were in no way prepared to deal with Domare’s memories themselves.
The flow of energy around the pair of sirens turned into cocoons of swirling white and blue energy, which then began to swell and burst with beams of power until both cocoons blasted outward in a shower of droplets of light. Aria and Sonata floated there, changed into what Twilight assumed were the forms of Inheritors. In their siren forms, neither had manes, but instead crest shaped head fins, but now those were joined by flowing, water-like manes of hair of similar shades to what they had in their human bodies. Their bodies became armor clad with smooth metal chest pieces bearing flaring skirts of side armor, Aria’s a deep shade of blue lined with gold, and Sonata’s a bright shade of purple highlighted by silver. Bands of running, liquid energy rose from the shoulders of these armored pieces and curled around both sirens’ like mantles, while a similar stream of liquid power flowed down their spines and down the lengths of their tails until at the tips of their tail fins the energy sharpened into the shape of pointed blades. Each siren bore a different weapon in their hooves, Aria’s the shape of a large glaive of the same coloring as her armor, and Sonata’s a blue metal crossbow with four arms and silver strings, bearing bolts the size and shape of harpoons.
The last thing notable about their appearance was that in their chests, where the armor was open at this single point, were shining red gems. Their siren gems, restored fully.
Twilight had only a moment to wonder if the pair had been overtaken by the memories of Domare, but then Aria and Sonata simply looked at each other, then at Charybdis before Aria gave her trademark scowl and said, “Pretty sure we know exactly what to do with this power.”
“In other words; get bent!” Sonata said, and then both sirens aimed their muzzles forward and opened up with air rending shouts that generated twin gigantic sonic rings of concussive blue force. The rock walls of the rift cracked further and the very air vibrated relentlessly as the twin sonic blasts drove right into Charybdis and slammed her straight down into the ruins of Bastion Gnosis with cratering might. The pair kept that up for a few seconds before cutting their loud, ringing voices out, after which Applejack took her hooves off of her ears and grunted.
“Coulda warned us ‘fore ya blew out our eardrums.”
Aria snorted, “You can deal. Now let’s finish the witch off.”
“Wait.”
Twilight flew in front of the pair, holding her hoof up, to which Aria glared and Sonata blinked curiously.
“What’s the hold up? We’re totally going to wreck her now, right?” Sonata asked innocently.
“Firstly, are the two of you alright? You’re not having trouble with any memory or personality issues?” Twilight asked, wanting to confirm that the two were wholly of their own minds before they proceeded with anything else. She had a theory that perhaps because Domare’s power was being split between the pair, that might mean the memory and personality infusion wasn’t as intense, and that was why the pair seemed largely in charge of their faculties. It wasn’t as if her friends had had a lot of trouble with the initial infusion of memory from Astra’s friends either, although the longer term effects remained to be seen.
Aria shrugged, examining her glaive and giving it a test spin in her hooves, “Got a feeling like my brain is being inflated like a damn balloon, but really don’t give a crap about this Domare chick’s baggage. I’m way too pissed off to deal with any of that.”
“Eh, my head’s usually pretty empty anyway, so all this weird memory stuff fits right in,” Sonata said, as if that was enough explanation on its own.
“Okay, I just had to make sure. The two of you might want to hold back for the moment and take a bit of time to collect yourselves,” Twilight said, to which Aria’s body became shrouded in an agitated aura of clawing purple light as the water from her mantle began to boil.
“Collect nothing! Charybdis is down, and it’s time to start kicking until she can’t get back up, ever.”
“Aria, Sonata, I need you both to trust me and my friends to deal with this, and we really don’t have time to argue it.”
“Good, because I’m not arguing, I’m doing.” Aria shot back, and leveled her glaive downward, readying to throw it at Charybdis’ body, which remained barely moving in the broken mess of debris that was the upper half of Bastion Gnosis.
However before she could make her throw, both Rainbow Dash and Flash Sentry appeared in her way, both having used their respective techniques of Blink and Flash Step to interpose themselves all but instantly. Not more than a heartbeat later the other mares all lined up beside Twilight, all nursing various states of injury, but looking no less prepared to back up their friend for it.
“Might want to listen to Twilight,” Rainbow Dash stated simply, holding her own sword out in a not-quite ready to strike pose, but certainly not relaxed either. “She’s usually got a good head for this kind of thing.”
“Believe me, I more than understand your anger,” Rarity said, “I sincerely doubt Twilight intends to simply allow a creature as dangerous as Charybdis to go free. That having been said, please control yourselves.”
Aria still wore a darkly fierce look, teeth bared, muscles tense, until Sonata’s hoof dropped onto her shoulder and the other siren leaned in to whisper, “We got Dagi’s soul back. Pretty much why we came here, right? We let the ponies do their thing, and if Crazy Chary tries anything, we can still go whacky-whacky with our shiny new weapons.”
“URGH! Fine!” Aria shouldered her weapon again, eyes still aflame, “But if she so much as looks at me or Sonata funny, I’m ramming this thing right through her damned heart.”
“Thank you, both of you,” Twilight said, and then turned to her friends, “I’m going down there. The rest of you keep an eye out and be ready in case she makes a move.”
“What exactly is the plan, Twi?” asked Applejack sincerely, looking about as pleased by the situation as Arai was, “This ain’t exactly like talkin’ down Starlight, or using the Elements ta depower Nightmare Moon or Tirek. Heck, even with Discord all we had ta do was haul a statue back ta Canterlot when all was said n’ done. Right now we’re still n’ the middle o’ enemy territory n’ Charybdis is down, but she ain’t out yet, is she?”
Twilight took in a deep breath and focused all of her attention upon Charybdis, who was only now trying to push herself up into a halfway upright position. The sea witch’s whole body was showing fleeing wisps of energy, as if magic and spirit power alike was just leaking from her akin to blood. Even her bulky size appeared to be slowly deflating and losing color. Twilight wasn’t even sure if the injuries Charybdis had sustained were fatal or not, but regardless she had to make sure this ended, here and now, otherwise all of this was for nothing.
But unlike so many times in the past, where Twilight had no real agency over the fate of the villains she’d defeated due to either the Elements doing their own thing or the Princesses taking charge afterward... she was the authority on site in this moment. Charybdis fate was in her hooves.
She felt a warm presence beside her, and saw Flash had moved close to her side, wingtips touching hers. She saw the wounds on his body and felt a pained tug in her heart, but all he did was nod to her. “I’ll be alright. You do what you have to do. I’ll support you, no matter what, always.”
“I’ll be counting on it,” she told him, then refocused on Charybdis, “Right, here goes nothing.”
It was probably unnecessary to teleport down in front of Charybdis, but Twilight didn’t want to waste any more time. Any second the sahuagin might regroup their forces for an attack. Even now she note that Divistus and the shamans who had been incapacitated were, oddly enough, laying still unharmed amid the few unbroken parts of Bastion Gnosis’ roof, almost as if they’d been moved there deliberately. It occurred to Twilight that Charybdis, when she’d used that spell to rain destruction down on the Bastion, must have moved the sahuagin to safe zones amid the chaos.
I want to do nothing but hate you, but I can’t deny that the one thing you seem genuine about is that the sahuagin really are your people.
Twilight trotted amid the rubble of Astra’s home and faced Charybdis. The seapony looked back with a withering glare, but one that was lacking in strength as her whole body continued to shrink as motes of magical power fled her. In mere seconds she’d grown to half of her original size, the immaculate right half of her body losing it’s azure luster, while the mutated half grew lax and cracked like mud.
“Do you still intend to fight, even with your power broken?” Twilight asked plainly, and Charybdis let out a rasping hiss. Sparks of uneven magic tried to gather around her, and she tried to raise a hoof to direct the sputtering energies, but all that happened was that a spurt of useless, undirected arcane light and spiritual particles harmlessly went a few meters and petered out to nothing.
“Arrrgh... I’ll... I won’t accept this...” Charybdis said, her voice weak, desperate, “I won’t let you win. I can’t! Not after all I’ve sacrificed to get this far.”
Twilight sighed, and with a gesture brought down her Astral Sphere, which had remained up above to await her command. Charybdis flinched at the glowing sphere of light, which did not harm her, but did pass over and through her as Twilight used it to analyze Charybdis on a metaphysical level. Twilight’s voice bespoke of no pride, or joy, no satisfaction in her actions, only simple, calm facts.
“With my magic enhancing Flash Sentry’s Zanpaktou he struck a blow to what Soul Reapers refer to as a ‘Soul Sleep’, although from Astra’s memories I think they had a different term for it. A spiritual organ of sorts, that regulates the flow of spiritual power. Yours is damaged, to the point of nearly being destroyed. Without it you can’t make use of any soul based powers or spells, and since it seems most of your magic integrated spirit energy... that means all of your spells are effectively disabled. Furthermore it looks as if all of Domare’s power has fled your body and returned to her Relic and proper Inheritors, leaving you with only your own magic reserves, which appear to be utterly drained to the point of burnout. I estimate it’d take you days, even weeks, to get enough magic back to so much as cast a light spell. And I doubt without help you’ll ever use a snifter of soul magic ever again.”
Twilight eyed Charybdis directly with an unbreaking gaze. “It’s over, Charybdis. You’ve lost. All that’s left is to decide what to do with you. From what I can tell from my Astral Sphere, your body is barely holding on. I don’t think you’ll die, but you... must be in a great deal of pain right now. I doubt you could even move much at this point. So tell me...”
Twilight’s eyes grew hard, a bit of simmering anger creeping into her voice, “What would you do, if our positions were reversed? What fate would you be dictating to me and those dear to me, if it were us laying broken and helpless in front of you?”
Charybdis’ face screwed up in a mixture of rancor, shame, and yes, a small current of fear that was hidden by a mask of unbroken pride. “A pointless question. You already know the answer. I never once make any allusion to mercy if you lost, Twilight Sparkle. So stop playing games with me. If you’re going to end me, then end me. Drawing this out... even I at least intended to make your deaths quick. Who knew Equestrians enjoyed cruelty so much?”
“That’s just it, Charybdis, we don’t,” Twilight said, allowing her horn to fill with magic, until it became a sparkling purple beacon. She raised her staff as well, the orb of purest void at it’s tip spinning with a kaleidoscope of starlight. Around Charybdis, magical circles of void formed, and from them grew intricate lines of arcane symbols as Twilight’s voice continued in somber echo.
“We don’t seek to punish our foes out of cruelty. That is not the way of Harmony that we cherish. Tirek nearly destroyed us, and all we did to him was place him in a cell, where he can live out his days in peaceful bitterness. Chrysalis, if she ever rears he head again, will likely end up the same. Discord, well, the Elements encased him in stone, I think because his power was too great to be contained otherwise, but even he was eventually given the chance to become something else. I sometimes wonder if the same might not be possible for Tirek and Chrysalis, but I’ve never thought I had the wisdom to determine that in place of Celestia and Luna. Yet I still gave Starlight a chance, when she nearly wiped out all of time. I suppose... it’d be hypocritical of me to treat you any differently, even if a part of me, to my shame, wants to do nothing but see you buried and forgotten.”
Chains of void-light extended from the circles of magic and began to wrap themselves into circles of varying diameter, not touching Charybdis but rather forming a prison shaped like a sphere around her, with the chains acting as rings around wavering spans of void magic that fully encased the seapony witch. Within that space, Charybdis was effectively physically separated from the material world, with spell effects applied solely to the interior being unable to leak out into the exterior. Which is why the anti-magic seals she was placing along the perimeter of the “Void Cage” would direct all of that anti-magic to the interior. Unlike the field of anti-magic produced by Chrysalis’ throne, which was so overwhelmingly powerful it could cancel out any type of magic, even Discord’s, the spells Twilight was weaving had to be designed to interact with an individual’s specific magic or attuned to a broader category of magic. It technically was far less effective, unless one had specific information about a target's magical makeup. Fortunately her Astral Sphere had given her all the data she needed to craft spells to counter what little magic Charybdis might try, even if she recovered some of her power, which Twilight reminded herself wouldn’t likely happen for days.
She’d have Charybdis in Equestria by then, to be interred into Tartarus, or... well, whatever else they decided to do with her. Twilight knew a part of her was foisting a final decision off for later, until she could consult with the other Princesses. Still, she felt that this was the best choice she could make, for a multitude of reasons. But in the end, perhaps it really just came down to faith.
Sure, she could have made any number of logical arguments for taking Charybdis alive, not the least of which was the sahuagin. If Charybdis was killed, there was no telling how badly the sahuagin might react, and the last thing Twilight wanted was to cause them to go on a vengeance spree against the seaponies. With Charybdis held as a hostage, it might work to subdue the sahuagin threat for now, until a more diplomatic solution could be found.
Another rational reason to keep Charybdis alive was for interrogation purposes. Her knowledge clearly extended to a wide range of esoteric magic, and she also seemed to know a lot about what was going on in the human world and it’s own spiritual wars. It’d be foolish to ignore all of that wealth of knowledge if it could be preserved.
But really it just came down to the fact that Twilight, in her heart, believed fully and firmly in Harmony. She wanted to at least try to reach out to every soul she could, in the hopes that one day, one day they might learn a different way of living. What was the point of her being the Princess of Friendship if she didn’t give friendship a chance to grow in every heart she could? Charybdis would still receive punishment for her crimes. It was impossible to ignore her role in centuries of conflict. Twilight did not ignore that some level of consequence was still rightly deserved. Yet she’d be an absolute hypocrite if she denied Charybdis the same chances given to the likes of Discord and Starlight, although such chances might be a long time coming. After all, Tirek remained locked away tightly, and Twilight wasn’t sure when or if the same would end up applying to him.
Something to talk to Celestia about, sometime.
With her temporary prison erected around her, Charybdis pressed a hoof to the edge of the Void Cage, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. To her clear surprise, her voice carried through the barrier.
“What do you think will happen to my sahuagin if I’m gone, Sparkle!? I was a large part of what kept the vengeance of the seapony tribes at bay. Fear of me! If I can’t protect them, then they’ll be slaughtered, especially since... since my champions sacrificed themselves to allow me to fulfill my plans.”
At that fact, more than anything else, there was a note of regret in Charybdis’ voice, and Twilight found herself sucking in a pained breath of her own that she let out slowly as those words sank in. So that was what had happened, when Charybdis had gained that strange boost of power out of nowhere? “You’re speaking of Morgawr and those other two?”
“Yes. A final, foolish act of faith in me,” Charybdis said, teeth clenching, “And even with that, I could not... They gave their souls so I might succeed, and you made even that sacrifice come to nothing! Without protectors, who will see to the safety of my people? You!? You’ll return to Equestria and leave them to die, and even if you didn’t, they’ve spent ages with me as their holy protector, their Deep Mistress. None can just replace me! You’ve doomed them, Sparkle!”
“No,” Twilight stated bluntly, with force, “I have not. I will not. I came here not simply to stop you, Charybdis, but to end what you created here. The sahuagin deserve a fresh chance at life, and a path to ending the bloodshed with the seapony tribes. That would never happen as long as you continued to be a goddess in their eyes, who only ever made them feel like victims who were justified in continuing to war with the seaponies. It had to be ended.”
“And what then was your plan for after defeating me? Give a grand speech on friendship and harmony and hope it’d erase generations of war, sacrifice, and death? Are you that monumentally naïve?”
To that, Twilight shook her head, eyes not leaving Charybdis’, but her harshness slightly softening. Only slightly. “This isn’t Equestria. Even there, friendship... only goes so far, and takes longer to work it’s magic on some than others. I don’t think I can fix the mess you helped create with one speech. I never assumed it’d all be over with your defeat. But it’s the first step. The balance of power had to be broken. Wars don’t end unless there’s a reason for the sides to stop fighting, to be forced to be brought to the negotiation table. As long as you were in power, that would never happen. The sahuagin and seaponies won’t stop hating one another overnight, probably not even within a generation, but without you egging everything on for your own gain then there’s a chance to get things moving in the right direction.”
“You still think I did all this for myself?” Charybdis said, voice almost flabbergasted, then she let out a high, bitter laugh, “If I cared about myself, I’d have abandoned the sahuagin a long time ago. I never needed them to complete my plans. It would have all been far easier to do by myself, with a few select apprentices. I didn’t have to take on the role of their ruler and goddess. But they... they just did it, on their own. Asked me for help, constantly came to me for protection, willingly offered themselves to me time and again, even in the earliest days when I told them no. They needed me, and I couldn’t help but want to protect them, because... just like me, no one else cared about them. They were pariahs, same as I. I became their goddess not simply because it benefited me, but because it’s what they desired of me.”
“Even if that’s true, it doesn’t mean it was right, or that you didn’t continue and encourage the cycle of violence and hate. And for what? To change a Cycle you didn’t even understand? I know you must have seen Domare’s memories now, disjointed or not. You know what she and Astra knew, what they discovered about the nature of the Cycle and how mortal worship damaged it.”
At Twilight’s words, Charybdis’ expression grew rigid with denial as she slammed her hooves into the Void Cage’s barrier, to no avail of course, but there was desperation there all the same. “I understood enough! Those memories... they can’t be the whole truth. In all my centuries studying the soul I never saw proof of these imprints, or that reincarnated souls retained anything of their former lives.”
“Inheritors are living proof of it!” Twilight snapped, “Those imprints are the basis for Inheritor Relics! You just experienced Domare herself, reborn in Aria and Sonata! You must have known the second you took a piece of Adagio’s soul that you were seeing the soul of a reincarnated individual, returned to the world with personality traits and dormant memory from previous lives. You knew, Charybdis, and you refused to believe it, because it inconveniently didn’t line up with what you wanted to believe! That is your biggest misstep. Not ignorance, but refusal to accept the truth once you knew it. Worse, you kept letting the sahuagin worship you, knowing full well the energies they gave you would mean damage to the Cycle’s barrier if you ever died. You also forced souls to remain in the living world, like in Aqualania, knowing that the longer a soul remains without the necessary rest that more pain it is subjected to, until it becomes a Wraith. You even did it here...”
She could still sense the magic dormant within the portions of Bastion Gnosis that remained intact, beneath the rubble of the destroyed roof. Some of the edges of the walls and roof still bore the crimson arcane markings that Charybdis had embedded within them as part of the massive sigil that contained who knew how many souls. Just as the souls of Aqualania had been preserved by a magical seal, the seal on Bastion Gnosis likely bound countless souls, although unlike Aqualania they did not wander as Wraiths it seemed. Twilight wasn’t certain why that was, but Charybdis provided an answer with her own dark tone.
“Yes, you are damned right I did it here! Every sahuagin that has died, even every seapony who has died here in Rift Mouth, I preserved their souls within Bastion Gnosis. I would never let them perish within the Cycle I wanted to save them from. The larger seal prevents them from wandering free like those in Aqualania, as does... did my powerful presence. And with that power gone this seal will fade in time, and they’ll all be lost.”
“Not lost, freed. Free to go to a proper rest, and eventual rebirth, as it was meant to be,” Twilight said, to which Charybdis shot her another death glare, but by now it was as if the seapony had been drained of so much vitality that even her glare looked more like an exhausted stare as she slumped in the Void Cage, letting out a small sob.
“I am beyond tired of arguing with you, Sparkle. You’ve won. I can’t even protect the souls of my people any longer. I... hate you so much, but I have to swallow all of that and ask something of you.”
“Ask something of me? Seriously?”
“It’s not great boon, damn you. I just need to make sure that I’ve done everything I can to protect the sahuagin before whatever is left of my magic drains to nothing. You’ve beaten me, and your allies all remain strong enough to wipe out any resistance I or the remaining sahuagin could muster with ease. So I have no choice but to...”
It looked as if it was taking all of Charybdis’ willpower to do this, her body shaking as she put her hooves on the wall of the Void Cage and bowed her head low, voice cracking. “... to beg you to protect them. Kill me, execute me, give me to the seaponies, throw me in whatever prison you want, I don’t care. Just swear to me that you won’t let the sahuagin be destroyed. Please.”
Twilight had to wonder how it was somepony could stray so far from the path of Harmony, be responsible for so much wrongdoing, yet retain the most basic facet of kindness one could have; the desire to protect another, at any cost. She imagined life would be so much easier if good and evil were simple things, existing in stark colors of bleached white and stained darkness. But that wasn’t really how the world, or the many different people living in it, worked, even in Equestria where on the surface it might look that way.
“You have my word,” she told Charybdis plainly, “I’ll do everything in my power to ensure they aren’t harmed.”
“Then, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I have one thing I must do before you haul me away. I can’t leave my people like this, without a final word, and a final act. Can you bring Devistus, the shaman who was leading the others, and Ulgriv, the warrior whom you captured, to me?”
Twilight frowned, “I’m going to have to ask why, first.”
“They need to hear my last command, as their Deep Mistress, and I have... a gift to give to Ulgriv. Sparkle, you have me contained and can end me at a second’s notice. If I try anything, it has zero chance of working, and we both know it,” Charybdis said flatly, “Please. This is all I can do for them, now.”
Twilight wasn’t entirely satisfied with that answer, as it didn’t really explain what Charybdis intended to do, specifically. Yet Charybdis wasn’t wrong that under the current circumstances there was next to no chance of her turning the tables. Twilight supposed if she was going to continue to place her faith in Harmony, she had to accept that doing so was always going to involve risks when dealing with defeated villains. Unless she wanted to abandon her principles and end her opponent’s lives to ensure there was no risk at all, but then she’d essentially be admitting she never had any faith in friendship or Harmony to begin with, save for when it was safe and convenient to do so. She wasn’t ready to become that pony.
“Alright, but know I’m going to be watching your every move,” she promised.
Fluttershy took care of grabbing Divistus from among the knocked out shamans, while Rainbow Dash proceeded to go find Ulgriv, whom Charybdis promised was also lying unconscious at the top of her lair’s cliff. While this was happening, the magic that had generated the maelstrom finally petered out and the waters came flowing back down, buffeting them until the rift was filled once more with murky, freezing cold water. Flash and her friends now joined her in surrounding Charybdis’ magical cage, and Twilight glanced at Flash Sentry’s Zanpaktou. The weapon remained in its released Shikai state, the bladed tonfa mounted on his arm continuing to glow with a fairly intense hue of bright purple magic.
Blinking in curiosity, Twilight said, “That’s odd. It shouldn’t be doing that, should it?”
He looked at her, showing an uncertain frown as he held the weapon up and examined it. “It shouldn’t? I mean, I don’t actually know what you did back there.”
His face gave a pained grimace as he adjusted his stance, trying to ease the wounds on his limbs and chest, none of which were too deep, but still were far from ignorable. “Felt your magic sink into my sword, and I just struck as hard as I could. Was a little like being smacked by a jolt of electricity, only warm. Kochi Yojinbo has been glowing like that since it happened. I just thought it was whatever spell you used hadn’t worn off yet.”
“I didn’t even use a spell,” Twilight admitted, “I just shoved as much of my magic as I could into you and the sword, hoping it’d be enough to penetrate Charybdis’ defenses. I’ll... have to examine it later, if that glow doesn’t fade away. I hope I didn’t break it.”
Rainbow Dash’s voice snorted from above, “Worried you broke a stallion's sword, Twi? Didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Guh! R-Rainbow, please! We’re still in the middle of serious business, so no dirty jokes!” Twilight stammered as Rainbow Dash swam down, with Ulgriv carried on her back. Dash set the faintly stirring young sahuagin down in front of Charybdis’ prison, next to Divistus, who was also slowly awakening. The ponies gave the two sahuagin a bit of space as they both came to, and upon seeing the sight of their Deep Mistress defeated and caged, the reaction was to be expected.
“You foul surfacers! You dare try to imprison the divine!? I’ll skin you all and drain your blood and souls to restore her!” Divistus howled, although the effect was somewhat lessened by the fact tha the looked like he could barely move and was clutching his gut where Dash had struck him earlier as much as he was menacingly waving his dagger.
Ulgriv, unarmed, rose and looked miserably back at Charybdis before protectively floating in front of her and faced the ponies, “You will not take her while I live.”
“Cease,” Charybdis said, her voice, despite being weakened, still carrying the ease of such a long held aura of command. It cut through to reach both Divistus and Ulgriv, not with magic, but with simple ingrained obedience as both halted and turned to her, all but automatically bowing to her.
“Deep Mistress, the surfacers, I can defeat-”
“Nothing,” Charybdis said simply before Divistus could get another word out, “Not now, not as you are, and not as they are.”
“But... but... what does this mean? You cannot, we cannot be...” Divistus sounded completely, mentally snagged, as if his brain was just not able to complete the thoughts trying to press upon him the reality of the situation. Ulgriv, as if the youth had gained some measure of wisdom beyond the shaman, only looked to Charybdis with... sadness as he nodded.
“We are beaten, aren’t we, Deep Mistress? You, and our people, have lost.”
“NO!” Divistus screamed, “That cannot be! It is impossible!”
“Silence yourself, Divistus, or I swear by what little power I have left I shall still claim your soul,” Charybdis said, a tiny measure of her old power seeming to bleed into her voice, and causing Divistus to go quiet in reflexive, god-worshiping fear. Yet Charybdis’ harsh tone soon softened as she then said, “I need both of you to listen to my words. What I tell you now is more important than any other commandment I have ever given you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Deep Mistress, we are yours.” both Ulgriv and Divistus spoke as one, and Charybdis placed her hooves upon the edge of the Void Cage, looking down on them with the melancholy eyes of a mother who was about to see her children off without knowing when she might see them again.
“I am no longer able to protect you, my precious sahuagin. My power has been all but shattered, and I don’t know when or even if it will ever recover. You can no longer rely upon me to keep the lethal cold of the Abyss at bay, or to help you control the beasts of the sea. I cannot defend you from the wrath of the seapony tribes, or open the way to the promised realm of warm seas I wished to bring you to. Now comes a time of hardship, perhaps the hardest the sahuagin will ever face. So I give you this, my final commands. Take care of one another, and survive. Do not seek vengeance upon the surfacers or the seapony tribes, for to do so would invite your destruction. Seek solely to survive and thrive as only sahuagin can, until the day comes that you can find warm waters on your own.”
“Deep Mistress, I will not argue your commands, but how can we be expected to survive without you? And to not seek vengeance? It is as if asking us not to breathe! These... monstrous surfacers are depriving us of you, with their foul, unnatural magic! They are taking our goddess! We exist for you, Charybdis! What are we shamans without you!?” Divistus was near wailing at this point, and Charybdis met his eyes with an arresting stare, one that still bespoke of the centuries spent as the ruler of the sahuagin race.
“You must have the strength of spirit to find out. I have trained your elders, Divistus. You are young, strong, ambitious, and cunning. Perhaps too self-serving, but I have never found that an unworthy trait in my faithful. As long as you continue to serve your fellow sahuagin, and guide and protect them, then you will find your way. Listen to the elders who remain, and never forsake your kin. Do that, and you will still serve me, even if I am long gone.”
He went silent, shaking from snout to fin, but the shaman lowered his dagger and made no further argument. Charybdis’ gaze turned to Ulgriv, who looked miserable yet alert.
“Does finding out your goddess was not all powerful break your faith, young Ulgriv?” Charybdis asked and he shook his head with conviction.
“I never prayed to you because of that, Deep Mistress. I thought you were, yes, but it wasn’t why I prayed. I did so, every day, because I believed then, and still do now, that you love us and protect us. Even now, d...defeated, you still try to protect us. You were not an unworthy goddess. We were unworthy servants. I was... unworthy. Is that why, when the champions gave their souls to you, you did not take mine as well?”
“Do no be foolish. I sensed your desire to give your soul to me, but I only took what I needed from Morgawr, Rezarra, and Berokar, for they were my chosen whom I had invested my own power in and it was their dying desire to return it to me. I...” Charybdis closed her eyes, “Truly regret I could not make that sacrifice ensure victory, but I can make it worth something else. If you will cease your cowardice.”
“C-cowardice, Deep Mistress?”
“Ulgriv, are you a sahuagin warrior? Sworn to protect blood and kin from all threats, and to serve me in all ways, unto death?” Charybdis asked, and Ulgriv placed a taloned hand over his heart, as if ready to tear the organ out upon command.
“Yes, Deep Mistress. From hatching, I have only ever wanted to be a warrior worthy of serving my fellow sahuagin. I am no coward.”
“Then never again call yourself ‘unworthy’. I have seen your mind and your soul, Ulgriv. You have faith and courage enough for ten warriors. Against all odds you survived Aqualania, and even while captured you did not lose faith. Instead I believe you gained wisdom. You did not betray me or your people, but you did not close your mind to what you saw among those surfacers. That will serve you well, now that the sahuagin’s only chance of survival lay in paths beyond the ones I chose.”
She looked to Twilight, “I ask you to open a small piece of this barrier, if only for a moment, Twilight Sparkle, so that I may raise one last champion.”
“W-what!?” Ulgriv sputtered, while Twilight looked on with a considering glint in her eyes. She finally nodded and brought forth her Astral Sphere, placing it upon one edge of the void barrier so that the sphere was both within and without the cage.
“Place your hoof in the sphere, and channel only through it,” Twilight told Charybdis, “If I detect any hostile magic...”
“Hmph, I know, I know, I need not be condescended to by you, Sparkle. I don’t even know if this will work, but I have to try, before I lose all connection to my magic. Ulgriv, stop gawking and hold still. I cannot make this slow and through the proper rituals, so this may feel... painful.”
Twilight shared a look with her friends, communicating with a simple glance that she wanted them to be ready, just in case. Aria and Sonata remained floating somewhat above, and Twilight could see the tension in both of them, Aria especially gripping her glaive tightly, which seemed to fill with an emanation of magic as if the siren was fully expecting to have to pounce upon Charybdis.
Within her Astral Sphere, Twilight felt Charybdis’ tattered magic and frayed spiritual energies. Her damaged Soul Sleep was like sensing the broken fringes of a shredded quilt or cored out apple, with just the edges of spiritual essence intact. Really it should have been next to impossible to have any level of control of soul-based energies at that point, and from what Twilight could see what Charybdis was doing wasn’t actually control but rather... a very haphazard form of coaxing.
It was very much like how Tempest Shadow could still channel magic through her broken horn, but only vaguely control the results. With a pained, haggard moan, Charybdis wove magic through herself, in what bits and pieces of it she could still pull forth with great strain. Twilight felt that magic form a funnel of sorts that poured through the damaged Soul Sleep and like someone trying to use jury-rigged logs or rocks to create a makeshift dam to redirect a river, she used her magic to direct the remains of spiritual energy inside her.
This funnel manifested like a wavering, barely intact stream of azure light that exited Charybdis’ hoof and moved out to touch Ulgriv’s chest. The sahuagin grunted in pain, his sharp teeth clenched as the light began to burn a series of scar-like tattoos upon the right side of his chest, then up to his shoulder. Twilight felt magic and bits of spirit energy both leaving Charybdis and funneling into Ulgriv, including what felt like three distinct pulses of soul magic that had been merged with Charybdis’ own soul but were now being snipped free and re-stitched into Ulgriv.
Both the former “goddess” and her servant were holding back cries of pain as they mutually shared what Twilight suspected was an agonizing minute or so of magical transfer. It amazed Twilight that Charybdis, broken as she was, could even manage this small amount of control, or even remain conscious, yet she somehow did so through simple willpower alone. One might have thought Twilight would fear that Charybdis was exhibiting too much control, given her Soul Sleep’s state, but if anything Twilight realized that this one act was even further ensuring Charybdis would never recover anything close to her full power. The transfer of power occurring was damaging her Soul Sleep even worse than Flash Sentry’s strike had, and was draining magic in a manner that would lead to an even more severe long-term burnout. It wasn’t simply that the pain had to be horrific. Charybdis was sacrificing what little power she had left, and what small hope she might have for even partial recovery, just to grant Ulgriv the strength of a sahuagin champion.
With a final, agonized sigh, Charybdis finished her work and sagged like a slack puppet in the Void Cage. Twilight withdrew her Astral Sphere and closed the hole in the cage, triple-checking to make sure it was entirely sealed. She then looked at Ulgriv, who was looking at himself in humble awe, despite the fact that he’d been holding back a scream of pain just seconds earlier. His right chest, shoulder, and arm were now covered in swirling, wave-like tattoos that were carved into his scales in flickering azure colors.
Charybdis, voice weak, said, “I gave you what I could. It may not be as much as what the others had, but it has to be enough. You will have to make it be enough, Ulgriv, to protect your people. You, now, are the last of my chosen. The last of the sahaugin’s champions.”
“I... this honor... no, this duty I shall not forsake, Charybdis. I will protect them all, our people. But, tell me... I felt something besides pain during the process, as if Morgawr, Rezarra, and Berokar’s voices were in my thoughts.”
“They are with you, now, what of them I could separate from myself. It is possible you may see them in thought and dream, but such a soul transfer is difficult even when I was at full power. But better they be with you and our people than languish with me.”
Ulgriv clenched his webbed fist and held it to his heart, “Then I will have to work hard to match the weight of three champions' souls and their sacrifice.”
“I have not even a shred of doubt you will...” Charybdis said, then, with about as much composure as so utterly defeated an individual could manage, she gave Twilight a stare that was at once both still burning with hate, but equally resigned, like a fire just doused to smoldering smoke. “With that, I’ve nothing more. No more ploys, no more requests. Do as you will, Sparkle. I’m just... done.”
“The Treasury is holding position above the rift,” Flash told Twilight, “We might want to get back to it fast. The main sahuagin army hadn’t pursued us yet, but they might be mustering right now, unaware of what’s happened down here.”
“I and Divistus will see to that,” Ulgriv told them, the young warrior seeming to rapidly try and fill the shoes of the champions who came before as he forced his uncertainty back and clenched his hands tighter, “Our Deep Mistress has given us our instructions, and it does not involve seeking further fighting with you and yours. I will halt my fellow warriors, Divistus will see to any remaining shamans.”
Divistus still looked ready to commit murder, but wasn’t about to try anything there and now, after after a glare from Ulgriv the shaman bowed his head, “As she wills, so shall it be.”
“Then ain’t no more reason ta be sittin’ ‘round here, is there?” Applejack asked, and Twilight nodded, but did give Charybdis one more questioning look.
“There is one more thing I want to know before we leave. The souls being ‘preserved’ by your spells in Bastion Gnosis, how long before the seal fades?”
Charybdis’ teeth pulled back in a pained, if silent snarl, but she did answer, “I ensured the enchantment would be lasting, even if I were to die. But without me, it will still fade in the span of a few years. Why?”
“Because we have at least one soul devouring monster running around Equestria right now who’s probably on the lookout for an easy meal, and if she sniffs out these souls here in the Abyss, it could be quite bad,” Twilight said, thinking of the horrors Hollow Chrysalis had visited upon the Crystal Empire. “In case that happens, I need to consider the Abyss among the places in need of protection. I did swear to you I’d look after your people as well, did I not?”
Charybdis’ eyes showed a moment of shock, as if she hadn’t fully considered what might happen if a powerful Hollow got to Equestria and found locations where she’d preserved souls. It really would be like a giant buffet table spread out for a Hollow like Chrysalis to feast upon. The witch hung her head again, grunting, “Then... I guess I have no choice but to rely on you. Damn you, Sparkle.”
To that, Twilight could only give a somewhat sheepish shrug of her wings.
----------
The return to the Treasury was relatively quiet. Ulgriv and Divistus did exactly as they promised they would, and proceeded to go to the forming lines of sahuagin warriors in the main canyon of Rift Mouth, to both deliver the news of their goddess’ defeat, but also to control and mitigate the reaction so that Charybdis’ final commands would be obeyed. The last Twilight saw of Ulgriv was a final look the young sahuagin gave them as they moved towards the cargo bay of the Treasury.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t really have to. The freshly minted champion simply gave one last nod to the ponies that had turned his life upside down. It was not a nod of friendship, but nor was it a look of hate. It was instead simply a look and final gesture of acknowledged respect, and it gave Twilight hope that one day, eventually, the sahuagin would find a path away from the bloodshed of previous generations.
It was going to be a long time coming, she feared, but a “long time” was better than “never”.
Inside the Treasury, Twilight found herself and her friends quickly greeted by an exhausted looking Starlight Glimmer, who met them in the expansive cargo bay within the ship’s belly. Looking at Charybdis bound in the Void Cage, Starlight whistled.
“Whewww, figured you gals would win, but uh, can’t say I wasn’t a teensy bit worried, too. But looks like you got her.”
Charybdis glared, but remained sullenly silent. Flash Sentry spoke before Twilight could, his expression turning to one of creased worry, “Is Wavecrest still stable?”
“Wavecrest?” Twilight asked, alarm filling her voice, “Is she hurt? What happened?”
Starlight tilted a glowering look towards Charybdis, “She happened. Hijacked Ulgriv like a puppet, and wounded Wavecrest badly. She lost a lot of blood. If not for me and Flash, she’d be dead by now.”
Twilight looked back at Charybdis, who stared at her with no look of apology, but she did murmur, “I did make some effort to avoid a fatal injury, when it would have been easy to have put a knife through her heart. Thank Ulgriv for requesting I spare the seapony’s life. If she nearly bled out after, that is on her.”
“You’re really asking for that lifetime vacation to Tartarus, aren’t you?” Rainbow Dash said, finally deactivating her Inheritor form, now that they were back safely aboard the ship. Twilight realized they’d been maintaining the forms for a good while and expended a lot of power, so it made sense to give it a rest and return to normal. She could maintain the Void Cage without the Inheritor state, but until she could more thoroughly ground the spell so it could maintain itself without her having to keep an eye on it she preferred to keep her Inheritor form going. Meanwhile the other girls started to transform back to a normal state, safe for Pinkie Pie.
“If Wavey is hurt, I’d best keep the ol’ shiny lute out,” Pinkie said, “Give her some extra healing tunes.”
“That’d be great,” Flash said, looking at the blood that had been on the sleeve of his robes, the blood Twilight had noticed when he’d first arrived to help fight Charybdis, “I did all I could for her, but I’m just nowhere near as good as members of the Fourth Division at healing injuries that severe.”
“Is she okay?” Twilight asked again with a pointed look at Starlight, who gave a nod that was far more hesitant than Twilight liked.
“I’m not really a doctor, Twilight, but she was breathing easier and the bleeding had stopped. She’s resting in the medical bay. If Pinkie wants to try her own magic on her, that certainly couldn’t hurt. But in the meantime we’ve got to figure out where to stick Charybdis.”
“Considering we have several hundred freed seaponies on board, I suggest somewhere out of sight,” Flash mentioned, “Not sure how well they’ll react to seeing the leader of their tormentors on board.”
“I’m glad you freed them, regardless. Where are they now?” inquired Twilight.
“Other than the cargo bay the main galley was the only place with enough room for all of them,” Flash explained, “Figured it was the safest spot on the ship for them.”
“Then I’ll take Charybdis to the same cell we were keeping Ulgriv in. Once I ground this spell that’s holding her, I’d like you and Starlight to both keep watch on her while i get everything else sorted out,” Twilight said, moving while she talked, heading over to one of the communication devices along the wall beside the door to the cargo bay.
“Admiral Seaspray, are you on the bridge?” she said into the device, and soon got an enthused if very drained response from the hippogriff officer.
“Indeed I am, Princess. By the sound of your voice I trust that the scourge of these seas has been dealt a crushing blow and our wayward sirens returned to us?”
“Aria and Sonata are with us and Charybdis is neutralized and in our custody, if that’s what you mean,” Twilight said, and she sensed the moment of surprised unease from the Admiral on the other end of the line, and somewhat defensively she added, “For the moment we can expect the sahuagin to give us no further trouble. So if at all possible, Admiral, I’d like you to set a course for the surface at best possible speed.”
He paused ever so briefly before responding, “Aye-aye, Princess. The ship is not operating at full capacity at the moment, but thanks to Miss Trixie’s rather unorthodox engineering methods we can still make all due haste from this wretched place. Laying in a course for the surface now. Mister Grubber, if you please?”
Twilight heard a faint and indistinct response over the com from Grubber, but given she felt the Treasury begin to move, she assumed they were at last making their way from the Abyss’ depths. While she wondered just what Trixie was doing in the engine room and if the stage magician was actually going to be alright in there, she set aside that concern to focus on other matters. While the battle was settled, there was... much left to be done. She wanted to check on Wavecrest, obviously. Not only had the seapony been a loyal and capable companion during this whole affair, Twilight owed it to the seapony tribes to return one of their leaders alive and well. Besides, Wavecrest would be critical for future negotiations of truce with the sahuagin, not to mention getting the freed prisoners situated among their people once more.
Then of course there was the tiny matter of figuring out what to do with the very individual responsible for the majority of these events. Charybdis’ crimes were many and unquestionable. While Twilight had no intention of simply turning her over to the seaponies, she didn’t assume that in and of itself would be a choice without some political consequence. The seapony’s would, understandably so, be demanding of delivering their own brand of justice upon the one who’d led the sahaugin’s long campaign of raiding upon the seapony tribes. However, Charybdis would never have been defeated without the intervention of Twilight and her friends, and by all measures the invasion of the Abyss had been an Equestrian affair. As far as Twilight was concerned that made Charybdis her responsibility to deal with, but she wasn’t fooling herself into thinking she had any easy path forward.
Most of all she just wanted to get back home. She and the girls had been gone too long, and if the news she’d gotten from her brief meeting with the other Princesses was anything to go by, it was imperative that they return to Equestria as fast as possible to help protect it and it’s allies from further attacks by the minions of the human world’s Starlight Glimmer. Twilight hadn’t forgotten about the strange and powerful entity of shadows that had been inside the prison at Ponehenge, either, or that it was entirely too possible that the human Starlight Glimmer might escape that prison with said entity. If that happened, Equestria would need every defender it could, and every advantage it could get.
Aside from her personal beliefs and faith in Harmony, that was part of the practical reason to keep Charybdis alive and take her to be incarcerated in Tartarus. Her knowledge both of ancient magics, and her information on events in the human realm, could prove to be important.
“It’s heavy, is it not? The weight of leading.”
Twilight turned to Charybdis, who had spoken with a hollowed out tone, and a flat stare that had never left Twilight’s face. Twilight hadn’t realized how long she’d been standing there, mind swirling with all of possible dire futures that awaited, all of the difficult choices left to be made, and dangers still to be fought. She saw that weight echoed in Charybdis’ exhausted, defeated gaze.
“It is,” Twilight said, but shored up her feelings and looked at her gathered friends, who hadn’t left her side, “But unlike you, Charybdis, I’m not trying to bear it all alone.”
“Well said, Twilight,” Rarity agreed, leaning in at Charybdis’ cage and giving her a pointed look, “Not even a goddess can take on the world without breaking her back, darling. A word of advice, from my own observations? While it does seem like you care for the sahuagin, you never trusted them nearly enough to share more than a sliver of power with them. You didn’t trust your sister, either, did you? I think you just kept trying to do everything yourself, without ever trusting someone else enough to let them in fully. Without that, even when surrounded by an entire tribe that worshiped the water you swam in, you were still ultimately fighting alone.”
“I don’t need to be lectured by a half-rate seamstress.”
Rarity’s lips twitched in a rather razor thin smile, “And that’s all the generosity I’ve got left to give.”
“Don’t waste yer breath anyhows, Rarity. If she’s ever got a’ head fer learnin’ any lessons it ain’t happenin’ today, an’ far as I’m concerned ain’t no prison deep enough or a key we can throw away hard ‘nough fer the likes o’ her,” Applejack stated bluntly, giving Twilight a somewhat apologetic tilt of her hat, “Sorry fer sayin’ so, Twilight. Heard yer might fine speech ta her n’ all, but gotta say how I feel.”
“No, I understand, and I wouldn’t want any of you to say anything other than your honest thoughts,” Twilight replied with a heavy sigh, “But for now I’d just like to get Charybdis put away and... and just rest a bit. We can have the long talks about consequences, punishments, lessons, ramifications and all of that tomorrow.”
“No complaints here!” Rainbow Dash said, “After that much laying out my awesome smackdowns, I could do with ten or twenty winks.”
“It has been a rather busy day, hasn’t it?” Fluttershy said, her wing touching her mouth in a yawn, and then her eyes went wide with realization, “Oh my, I do hope Mister Snugglefins is okay!”
“Who?” Applejack said, but then Pinkie chimed in with a waving hoof.
“It’s her shark friend, silly! Don’t you remember?”
Applejack’s brow furrowed for a second, then she shook her head with a grunt, “Kinda fergot ‘bout him. Fluttershy’s right, it’s been a heckuva day.”
“Then let’s all of us get some rest,” Twilight said and started to lead the group out of the cargo bay, “With any luck, in another day or two, we’ll be safely back in Equestria.”
“Heheh, with all that’s happened on our end, you got to wonder how Sunset and our other selves across the mirror are doing,” Rainbow Dash said, and Twilight couldn’t help but share that very sentiment.
As soon as she got home, she could use her journal and get in touch with Sunset, at least. She’d left it in Spike’s care, and told him to keep it close to him at all times in case Sunset tried to contact them.
...Now that she thought about it, hadn’t Spike gone with the dragon flight to escort Shining Armor and Flurry Heart back to the Crystal Empire? Well, assuming Spike had taken the journal with him, she’d just make use of it when he got back.
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Equestria/Crystal Empire border, that same day...
Spike wished for the thousandth time that he was old enough to have his own wings. He loved the frosty air of the sky as they flight of dragons, being led by the magnificent and burly blue form of Torch himself, reached the edge of the Frozen North. Spike admired Torch, mostly because the former Dragon Lord was every bit as huge, muscled, and intimidating looking with those huge curled horns, strong fang filled jaw, and powerful wings that Spike hoped to one day have himself.
It wasn’t precisely a big secret that Spike had a bit of an inferiority complex, although he’d curbed a lot of it over the years he’d spent with Twilight. His pony friends had time and again shown just how much they cared for him, not to mention often relied on him, and that he was pretty damn capable for a “baby’ dragon. Still, while he’d worked hard on upping his confidence, it was hard not to feel a little bothered when surrounded by a flight of some two dozen full grown dragons, all flying high upon huge wings, while he was stuck being carried by Ember.
“Could you stop squirming?” Ember asked, “Really don’t want you to fall, Spike.”
“Oh, sorry about that. Was just adjusting my backpack,” he lied, although he did do a double check on his backpack, just to make sure it was secure. It carried his gem snacks, a few personal knick-knacks, including a comic book or two, and of course Twilight’s journal that had that mystical connection to the human world. He supposed he could have left that back at the castle, but Twilight had told him to keep it close in case of any emergency messages from Sunset Shimmer.
Thinking of the human world cheered him up a little bit, if only because he always felt a tad, if childishly so, superior to his counterpart there.
I mean, a dog? Seriously? Talk about a low roll on the Ogres and Oubliettes species table, my dude. If I knew how to play the violin for you, I totally would.
At least his counterpart was just as loyal to his Twilight, which was something. Spike couldn’t imagine his life without her, and still sometimes found it hard to really find the right words to tell her just how much she meant to him as his only real family. Of course it’d be totally too embarrassing and uncool to just call her “mom”, but every now and again, when he was honest with himself, it sometimes seemed like the only word that fit.
But no way he’d ever actually say that to her face. How awkward would that be!?
“Hey, we’re getting pretty close to home!” shouted Shining Armor, who was riding upon the back of a large, forest green dragon with a giggling Flurry Heart perched on his own back. The little filly alicorn looked like she was having the absolute time of her life, wings spread out as she held tight to her father and enjoyed the feeling of the wind.
“We’ll probably make it there in about another three or four hours!” Ember shouted back, “Once we land, my dad and I will start organizing patrols to keep an eye out for any more attackers. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure nothing happ...ens...?”
She trailed off as Ember looked to her foreclaws, where she was holding the staff of the Dragon Lord. The rod of rough cut, dark purple stone, set around one tip where a huge ruby crystal was housed, began to fill with a similar crimson light. The light gave off a heartbeat both in terms of a skin tingling hum, and the pulsations of that blood red energy from within the staff. Spike was about to ask what that meant when he felt his head begin to throb in time with the staff, as if a dragon’s very claw was stomping on his brain.
Or more like stomping on a doorway inside his brain, trying to get out.
“Spike, are you okay!? Dad, slow down! Somethings wrong!”
Spike heard Ember shouting, but his vision was getting a bit fuzzy. He could see Torch flapping his wings in great gusts of wind to slow the flight of dragons down, while Ember was looking over her shoulder at him where he sat upon her back, concern welling in her eyes. Spike’s own gaze settled on the staff, which felt almost as if it was pulling him towards it with each pulsation. At the same time something else caught his attention.
Something in the air up ahead of the dragon flight was strange. A large bank of clouds that had been rolling across the sky now was billowing and wavering like ripples of water upon a frothy sea. Then, like a whale breaching the surface of the ocean, something massive that glinted with ivory scales that reflected the sun emerged from those clouds, spreading wings and emitting a roar like that of a dragon... but somehow not like any dragon Spike had ever heard.
The last thing Spike heard before his claw touched the Dragon Lord’s staff was that unfamiliar roar turned into words that resonated across the sky.
“Found at last, brother Fafnir! The time has come, and Ragnarok draws near! And I, Nidhogg, have come to take you home!”