Onyx blinked his eyes.
He shook his head, and his mane tumbled across his neck like it was supposed to. He looked behind him, and there was no smoke. There was only a grey coat and his cutie mark. His body was devoid of armor or adornment.
"What?" His voice seemed foreign. It was smooth and full of wonder, and he spoke again to confirm that what he'd heard was real. "What?"
The light was dim, but he recognized the marble floor of the throne room. Tapping it once, he confirmed that it was solid.
He looked up at his horn. There was no red at the tip. There was only a grey spiral that seemed so ordinary and yet so bizarre.
Onyx gasped as he realized that his mind had gone silent. He felt no desire to conquer. He wished not for dominion nor accolades nor victory. He wanted only peace, and he smiled broadly.
When he looked again, Princess Luna stood rigidly before him with her wings flared out. "Auntie!"
She remained silent. The tip of her horn glowed weakly, and tears flowed freely from her eyes.
"Auntie! You… You don't need to cry." He bounced up to her, like he had when he was foal, and nuzzled her face. He felt no warmth. "You stopped him!" He backed up, grinning ear to ear. "How'd you do it?"
Luna remained still a moment longer. "I did not need to." She looked to her right, and her horn glowed brightly enough to light up the entire throne room. "You did."
Onyx turned his head. "What do you–" He froze at what he saw.
An image of two figures sat before him. When he looked closer, Onyx saw that the figures had depth, like two masterfully crafted statues. On the right sat a dark blue alicorn princess on her throne, mouth agape and tears in her eyes. She was leaning forward and shouting, transfixed by the dark cloud looming over her. A ray of blue light reached out from her horn and touched the face of her opponent.
The head of a fierce-looking unicorn sat atop the dark cloud, pointed teeth bared and red horn aglow. The monster's pupils were tightly constricted, and the green eyes glowed only dimly. It seemed to be crashing down on the princess, its movement stopped by the whims of time. In its chest glowed a green orb, flickering weakly.
And there, through the center of the orb, rested a sword bathed in frozen red magic. It had an intricate black handle like curved tree roots with rubies on the guard and pommel. Its wide, black blade twinkled like the night sky.
Onyx stumbled in place. "This is… an illusion?"
Luna spoke slowly. "If only it were so. You are asleep, my treasured nephew, for now." She turned back to Onyx. "Forgive me. I could not bear to let you go so swiftly."
Onyx squinted at the scene before him. Nearly imperceptibly, the wisps in the monster's smoke continued to move, and blood dripped impossibly slowly from the hilt of the sword.
Slowly, without tearing his eyes away from the scene before him, Onyx brushed his chest with a hoof before bringing it up to his face. The grey fur was stained red.
Luna spoke quietly. "I… I am sorry."
Onyx turned his head to his aunt. She had bowed her head and closed her eyes, and she quivered with each shallow breath.
He looked back to his hoof. "I did this?" His eyes burned.
Silence hung in the air, interrupted only by a drop of blood ringing against the marble floor and resonating for many moments.
Onyx felt dizzy. He sat down on the floor, and Luna rushed over.
"Onyx?" she asked weakly.
There was no pain, and there were no voices in his head. Onyx stared at the giant monster in front of him, and a smile spread across his face. "I did it. I beat him."
Onyx glanced to his left and saw a large, black bubble far away from the two figures. "Noble!" He jumped up and galloped as hard as he could, but though his legs moved, they did not propel him forward. "What?" He looked down to find that he now hovered slightly above the floor. "Huh." With a shake of his mane, he stopped exactly where he started, and he began to feel the pain of the hole in his chest.
Luna appeared next to Onyx. "He will live, and he will remember you fondly."
"But I won't be around." Somehow, Onyx knew he was crying. He felt no tears in his eyes or lumps in his throat, but he knew. "Is he going to be happy?"
"His wife is beautiful, and their filly is healthy. Yes, I believe so."
"Tell him I'm sorry." Onyx shook his head. "Tell him I'm so, so sorry." He looked over to Luna. "Can I tell him myself?"
"I… think you will have a few moments, yes."
The two of them looked back at the scene before them, but it had begun to change. The dark mist that clung to the walls of the throne room began to fade, and tiny beams of light started pouring in through the windows. The wisps of smoke behind the demon moved more quickly, and little by little, everything began to speed up.
Even as a shade, Onyx's voice seemed shaky. "Do I… Do I get to come back? Like he did?"
"It is not for me to know." Luna turned her head. "But I am certain that Sombra will not return. The Starlight Blade has severed whatever connection he had to this world."
Onyx nodded, and a weak smile spread across his lips. "Then that's enough."
To their left, rays of light fell on the bubble of darkness. It slowly peeled back to reveal a battered Noble Shield. He looked at his hooves, then up at the light coming in through the windows, then to the two figures near the throne. Stumbling a little, he dragged himself to his hooves and dashed toward the blue princess and the rapidly deteriorating monster.
Onyx watched Noble slowly gallop across the room. His body was as svelte as ever. "Can I give him the sword? I'd like him to have it."
Luna nodded. "If that is your wish. It still follows only your command."
"Then I relinquish the Starlight Blade to Noble Shield."
Though the scene before them still moved slowly, the Starlight Blade transformed instantly in a flash of light. It no longer resembled a black longsword, but instead a rapier made of white gold. Intricate runes decorated the handle and guard, and a large crimson ruby served as the pommel. He couldn't see most of the blade, but he imagined it was just as beautiful as the rest.
Onyx felt pain again.
The monster had burned away to nothing. In its place stood a handsome grey stallion with a rich black mane and a sword in his chest. Ponies rushed at him from either side, one from a throne and one from the doorway. The edges of his vision began fading to white.
Next to him, Luna shuddered. "It is time."
"Kay." Onyx nodded solemnly. "I… I love you, Auntie Luna. May I make a last request?"
"Anything."
"Will…" He turned to her. "Will you hold me? I don't want to be cold."
"Absolutely, my dear nephew."
A sound like a thunderclap rattled in Onyx's head. He suddenly found himself staring at Luna, who rapidly descended from her throne. Searing pain shot through his entire body, and his head throbbed with intense agony. He tried to scream, but the sound caught in his throat. Warm stickiness covered his chest. The rest of his body felt icy cold. His legs buckled, and he collapsed onto the red carpet at the base of the throne's steps.
Luna screamed. "Onyx!" She lie down next to him and wrapped her forelegs around his body.
Her warmth penetrated and dispersed the cold, all the way down to his soul. Onyx tried to say something, but his tongue didn't respond, and all the tasted was copper. He turned his head upwards to see a dazzlingly white unicorn in blood-stained robes standing over him.
"No! Nonononono!" The tip of Noble's horn shone brightly, and with a flick of his head, the Starlight Blade flew across the room and rattled on the floor. Noble's voice was panicked and choked. "C'mon, bro! Nonono, c'mon!" Another flourish of his horn, and a large swath of his robe ripped off, magically tightening around Onyx's middle. "You're okay, you're okay. C'mon!"
Onyx gagged. "I'm suh… I'm suh…"
Luna held him tighter.
Noble ripped more of his robes off with his teeth and rapidly started trying to bandage him. "Don't talk! Don't talk!" His horn flared again, and much of the pain in Onyx's chest melted away. "I've got you, bro." Tears fell from his face and onto Onyx's. "I-I've got you."
"Sorry…" Onyx coughed. "So sorry…"
"Dude, shut up!" Noble pulled back. He scanned all over Onyx's body, and his head began to shake more and more. "No…" Noble collapsed forward and clung tightly to Onyx's neck. "No!"
Onyx could feel nothing below where Noble hugged him. He could no longer taste nor smell nor move. He could only barely hear. But his mouth still obeyed him, if only just. "Suh sorry," he wheezed.
Noble sobbed and clung tighter. He kissed Onyx's cheek and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay. I forgive you. It's okay." His chest heaved, and he stroked Onyx's mane. "Th-that… That feel good?"
"Than… yuh." There was a loud ringing in Onyx's ears. "Love… yuh bro."
"I love you, too, bro." He sniffled, and his voice broke. "I love you, too."
Onyx could not see. He felt like his body was growing and shrinking all at once. "Luh yuh, br..."
The ringing ceased. No dark voice came to replace it. Instead, Onyx could think only of the ponies he loved: his parents, his brother, and his dear auntie. He saw visions of them laughing and crying and living their long happy lives, and in his heart, he felt at peace.
The throbbing in his head stopped, and his chest felt strangely still.