‘Shade’ walked down the halls of the Crystal Empire’s castle. Her eyes kept shifting from color to color, never deciding to stay in one color for longer than a few seconds. Black, pink, yellow, purple, orange, red, green, and grey. Magic sparked off her horn occasionally.
Her eyes changed to red. “I want the body.” She muttered angrily.
Then they turned green. “I haven’t even used the body yet, I should get to use it.”
Orange. “But I want the body too! I haven’t eaten in months.”
Grey. “Please stop fighting over this.”
‘Shade’s eyes turned pink. “All of you be quiet, please.” She sturnly said. A moment of silence came as she stopped walking. Her eyes stayed pink as she continued. “I shall take control, since I can blend in, and that’s final. You all will get your turns when the situation calls for it. Until then, just keep an eye on those three. As your father said, we cannot risk letting any of them out. They’re just too dangerous.”
After having no reply, she sighed. “Thank you.” A small aura of pink magic covered her form for a moment before her eyes lost their color. “There we go.” She took a breath. “Now, time to blend in. Keep it on the low and try not to alter anything else from that thing’s memories. Take the necessary precautions if we notice an episode has appeared and stay out of it.”
Black took the eyes briefly. “I will set up measures to help once night comes. It will also help make sure we stay on top of any suspicions and clear them.”
Pink and then clear. “Thank you, dear. I appreciate it.”
“We need to deal with this now!” An almost elderly female yelled, stomping their hoof in a dark cave. “This, this thing that changeling brought in is ruining everything!”
“I know.” A calmer female responded. “I will get Banshee to deal with it, but you know how she is. It’s really difficult for her and we need to wait for her. It will take a while, but she’ll get the energy she needs in time.”
“And then what? By the time it’s dealt with, too much damage would have built up!” The elderly woman said, her voice now sounding desperate. “My earth will die, my trees and plants will die. And then Vie’s creatures. And then Eros will die. And-And then one by one everyone will die until it’s just you, the celestial sisters, and Order. I can’t go through that.”
“I’m sorry, Gaia.” The calmer one sighed. “We will have to reset the world once it has been dealt with or forever deal with the consequences. We must first get the being’s soul in our possession. Once we have it, we can return it or adjust it to better fit the world before sending it to another Faust.” She explained. “Okay?”
“O-Okay.” The older one sniffled, obviously near the point of a breakdown. “T-Thank you for telling me, mom.”
“It’s okay, Gaia.” A soft white light filled the room, illuminating the two beings talking. The one making the light was an alicorn with bright red hair and a white coat. Her eyes were a soft blue and full of motherly love. She hugged the smaller, older looking mare. “Let it all out. It is okay to mourn.”
The older mare had many wrinkles on her light green coat and shared the same red hair as the alicorn, albeit faded by age. She lacked both wings and a horn and wore a deep forest green cloak that completely covered her body. She put her head against the alicorn’s chest and cried. The alicorn kept company as the earth pony let out her emotions. “A-And I only just found my perfect host.” She stuttered as her tears flowed like rivers through a mountain. “You would’ve loved her, mom. She’s the sweetest thing I ever saw and loved my earth so much. A-And I’ll never get to meet her.”
“Don’t worry. I will make sure she is there when we reset.” The alicorn assured.
“B-But I won’t see her for thousands of years! I don’t want to wait anymore. Y-You know how hard it is to not have a host. It’s so lonely when there isn’t a meeting, just stuck in my own realm. It’s not fair.”
“I know. I wish it wasn’t like that either.”
“C-Can’t you change it? Aren’t you the one who makes those rules?”
The alicorn shook her head. “No, I cannot. If I could, I would’ve allowed everyone to be like Discord. Able to go out and interact with the creatures Vie made without using hosts. It is a rule almost all of us must follow, whether we like it or not.” She let go of the earth pony and crouched down, looking into her green eyes. “Now, one by one, I must inform everyone else about this. Okay? If you need anything, call for me. If I can’t come, I will send Vie.”
The earth pony took a shaky breath. “Okay.” She nodded.
The alicorn gave a sad smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll get through this. I love you, Gaia.” She briefly blinded the room before disappearing, taking the light with her.
Gaia sighed as glowing moss started to cover the roof of the cave, casting a blue light over the room. She sat down and closed her eyes. A dim green glow came from the floor below her as she casted her magic.
She opened her eyes and found herself at the abrupt edge of a desert. In the distance, a large black spire came out of the sand. She looked down to the ground, watching as some unseen process took place. It wasn’t visible, but Gaia could feel it. It was like getting a limb slowly ripped off. Pulling, tearing skin and muscle, bleeding. It was agonizing, yet, she couldn’t do anything about it. “Ever so slowly, whatever that thing left behind eats up my earth. None of that desert is mine anymore. And it’s getting faster. It will soon take me away. And then it’ll take everyone else.”
She cut off her magic, returning to her dark cave. She laid on her back as a bed of moss formed below her. “I hope Banshee will be ready before it’s too late.” She said, her eyes slowly closing. “She’s our only hope, as the Spirit of Death.” She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
On a golden throne, the chained being in the golden chains struggled. ”Now’s my chance. Their powerhouse is down. They turned off the powerhouse! Haha! Order will be made again, for that is all there should be!”
”They can’t control that thing’s power. Eventually, it’s hold on me will diminish and then I’ll overpower them. With Order at my side and the power of all these spirits, I’ll be unstoppable.” Muffled crazed laughter came from the chained being as they continued struggling.
On the dark throne with the dark chained being, there was a much sadder train of thought going through their mind as they stayed limp. ”This is all my fault.” They told themself. ”Why did I think I could handle so many spirits at once? Why didn’t I take the necessary precautions to not let other spirits invite themselves in? The hive is now dead and my body is just a puppet being passed around.”
A muffled sigh came from that. ”Banshee. When you take me, if you ever do, please forgive me for what I’ve done. I broke so many of your rules.” Unseen tears flowed down their face, hidden by the chains and their ability to suck in light.