//------------------------------// // The Friends I Never Had, Part 1 // Story: Pinkamena's Awakening: From Malice and Hate // by Kingsley //------------------------------// Chapter 6: The Friends I Never Had, Part 1 Einna plummeted down into the Castle Gardens below. She fell down until she collided with a tree, breaking branches and tumbling down onto the ground. "AGH!! Ughhh..." Einna cried, her right back leg broken from the impact. "I have to hide... and fast!" Sparks of purple electricity emitted from her broken leg. She limped into a nearby shrub and laid inside, breathing heavily and still somewhat sobbing. She looked at the brooch that she clutched onto and breathed a sigh of relief seeing it was unscathed. "Why... why won't you work? Is all of you power gone? It can't be... there has to be something left!" Einna cried, putting the brooch to her forehead. "Even if it's just a wisp of power..." Einna attempted to generate a small spark of her own power, and infused it with the brooch. At first nothing seemed to happen, but suddenly the bright, green glow returned to the jewel of the brooch. "Ah! Yes! Thank you so much!" Einna said softly. She attached the brooch to her shawl once again and her body began to flicker and regain her disguised image. "Thank goodness... I was afraid it was never going to work again..." Einna said, attempting to get up but letting out a pained groan from her shattered leg. "What? My leg should have healed by now... are my powers getting weaker?" Einna rubbed her leg and only a faint amount of sparks was emitting from it. "I guess it makes sense... I'm not acting the way I used to be... and it was those actions that fueled by powers." Einna said softly. "Even so, I'm not reverting back to what I was! If turning my life around means forsaking my powers, than so be it!" Einna looked through the shrubs leaves and saw the moon illuminating the sky from above. She also heard the sounds of guards rushing about the area. "I don't think I'm in any position to go anywhere at the moment... maybe I should just sleep it off here... until morning..." Einna said tiredly. "I have to stop Mora..." The night passed by as Einna slept peacefully in the shrub. When dawn broke, she was awoken by the sun shining through the leaves. "Mmmmmm! Ahhh!" Einna said as she stretched out of the shrub, looking around to make sure no one was around. "That was a surprisingly comfortable place to sleep... and my leg seems to all healed up finally." Einna jumped out of the bush and carefully looked for a way out of the Castle Gardens. As she was making her way to the exit, she was stopped by a familiar voice. "Einna!? Hold it right there!" Luna yelled, flying down to meet her. "O-Oh... hello Princess Luna! How are you this morning?" Einna asked nervously. "How am I? I should be asking you that! What happened last night in the Throne Room? I heard that something had happened while I was transporting the thugs." Luna said. "But when I arrived there was no one there, only a shattered stain glass window." "Oh! That! That was um... well that was... that was me!" Einna said sorrowfully. "S-Sorry! But I accidentally broke it when Eternal Sleep was showing me some of her unique abilities! I got excited and I kinda fell through it! Heh heh..." "You... you fell through the window? You're not hurt after falling from... all the way up there?" Luna questioned. "N-No I'm fine! The shrubbery broke my fall and I was completely fine! I was just tired after that and decided to sleep it off." Einna explained. "That's why you found me here in the Gardens." "Ah, I see... well as long as you're alright, just try to be more careful okay?" Luna said. "Speaking of Eternal Sleep, where is she? I haven't seen her since I sent her to the Throne Room last night." "Eternal Sleep? Well I think she um... I can't tell her what really happened! That would just make things worse for me!" Einna thought. "I think she said she had some important business to attend to! She could only talk for a little bit so she left in a hurry! I don't know where she is now though..." "Is that right? Well then that's fine then, she's always busy so I'm not surprised." Luna said, walking past Einna. "Well why don't you head on back to Ponyville? I'm sure you've had an eventful night by the sound of things and you can always come back later." "Right! But um... I understand if I'm asking for too much Luna but... would you mind taking me back to Ponyville now?" Einna asked. "I know it's not my place to ask but I would really appreciate it!... also I don't have any bits for the train..." "I suppose it's no trouble, come with me." Luna said. "We'll leave immediately." - Ponyville, Atop Twilight's Castle - "Such an interesting combination of abilities!" Hermaeus Mora said, sitting on top of Twilight's Castle. "I've never seen anything like it anywhere else before... this was truly worth the effort." Hermaeus Mora conjured green sparks in his left hoof and green flames in his right. He smiled as he observed them. Suddenly his smile faded and he closed his eyes, only to have his smile reappear. "It's truly something else isn't it? How countless undiscovered plains have countless undiscovered secrets..." Hermaeus Mora explained. "Some being boring and some being truly amazing... that's a great thing to strive to see... wouldn't you agree Einna?" Hermaeus Mora got up and turned around to see Einna on the other side of the roof. "I thought I exhausted all of the energy from that brooch, but I guess you have your own way of doing things don't you?" Hermaeus Mora said. "I'm not going to question how you found me because I already know obviously, but now that you have... what will you do my dear?" Einna's face got more and more annoyed as she lifted her hood and started to channel her electricity, which was only a faint light purple and only coming out in sparks. She looked at her hoof with a discouraged face. "All out of gas?" Hermaeus Mora said, releasing a blast of green fire from his hoof. Einna sidestepped out of the way and jumped closer towards Mora. "You're agility doesn't seem to fail you it seems." Mora said, jumping backwards towards the edge. "But you won't be able to stop me with just that... you're nothing more but an empty shell of your former self my dear." Einna gritted her teeth and started to get extremely angry. "MORAAA!" Einna yelled, leaping towards Mora at full speed. "It looks like you've gotten stupider as well." Mora chuckled, disappearing in a flash of light like before. Einna realizing she couldn't stop herself, tumbled towards the edge of the building and grabbed the ledge before she was able to fall. Hermaeus Mora reappeared in a flash of light and looked down at Einna dangling. "Here I thought you came here with a plan..." Mora said, putting his hoof above Einna's. "But I guess I overestimated you..." "No! Mora please don't do it!" Einna cried. "Don't! Please!" Mora slammed his hoof down on Einna's , causing her to cry out in pain and release her grip. Einna fell down to the ground in front of Twilight's Castle, leaving a small crater in the ground. "Aghhh! M-My back! Oh my..." Einna cried, lying on the ground in pain. After about a minute, ponies started to crowd around the area and see what happened. The doors to the castle sprang open and Twilight and her friends came out. "What on earth was that?" Twilight questioned, looking around and seeing Einna lying on the ground in excruciating pain. "EINNA!" Twilight and her friends rushed to her side. Twilight sat next to her and held her in her lap. "Einna! Who did this to you!" Twilight asked, noticing the faint sparks of purple electricity emitting from her back. "Einna? Are you okay? What are these... sparks coming your body?" "Twilight!" Hermaeus Mora yelled, coming to the ground under the guise of Eternal Sleep. "Get away from her!" "Eternal Sleep!? What are you doing here!?" Twilight questioned. "Why do you want me to get away from her? She's our friend!" "Friend? She's been lying to you Twilight! All of you!" Hermaeus Mora said. "All you have to do... is remove her brooch, and you'll see for yourself who she really is." "NO! T-Twilight! Please! Don't take it off! I-I'm begging you!" Einna cried. "What's so special about her brooch?" Twilight questioned, looking into the swirling vortex of the jewel of the brooch. "When I look more closely at it... I feel as if I've seen this pattern before... somewhere..." Suddenly, memories of The Apocrypha came rushing back to Twilight. The jewel resembled the same pattern as the ocean there. "No... N-No it can't be..." Twilight said, as she dropped Einna and backed away. "What's the matter Twilight? What is it?" Applejack asked. "...Everypony get back, now." Twilight ordered, as she moved closer to Einna. "NO! TWILIGHT PLEASE!" Einna cried as she lifted a hoof up in desperation. Twilight went up to Einna and pulled the brooch of her shawl, throwing it on the ground next to her. Einna tried to crawl away but fell on her side. Her body began to flicker back to her old self for everyone to see. "IT'S HER! SHE'S BACK!" A Townspony screamed, running away along with the rest of the town. Twilight and her friends all backed away from Einna. Rather than feeling fear however, they were all consumed with rage. Except for Pinkie, who was more shocked than angry or scared. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING BACK HERE!?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "YOU SHOULD BE LOCKED UP FOR ETERNITY!" "Please! I can explain! If you'd just give a chance I'd-" Einna pleaded, but was cut off. "WE GAVE YOU MORE THAN ENOUGH CHANCES!" Twilight yelled. "There's only one course of action left to take for you..." Twilight's horn started to glow a strong, resonant purple and everyone got close to surround Einna, except for Pinkie. Eternal Sleep was smiling as she waved her hoof to Einna. "NOOOOOO!" Einna cried loudly, jumping up from the crater, biting the brooch and bursting down the street, her back still in shambles. "DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!" Rarity yelled, as they all chased after her. "Twilight! A moment of your time if you wouldn't mind..." Hermaeus Mora said. "What!? Now? What is it?" Twilight replied. "I'm sure you and your friends can handle Pinkamena, so I want to tell you that I'll be leaving to other places because my duty calls for it." Hermaeus Mora said. "I probably won't be back in Ponyville or Canterlot for a while, but when I do return I look forward to hearing about your triumph." "Right, I'll tell you everything when you get back Eternal Sleep!" Twilight said, as she sped off to catch up with her friends. Hermaeus Mora waved Twilight goodbye as she smiled and left in the opposite direction. Einna sprinted down the street as fast as she could, but her speed was drastically reduced due to her injury. "I... I don't know how much farther I can run before I..." Einna said, breathing heavily. Einna made a sharp turn down the street but suddenly she was grabbed by a mysterious hoof and pulled into a nearby dark alley. The hoof was covering her mouth and her brooch fell to the ground. "Stay quiet if you don't want to die." The mysterious voice whispered. "We'll wait for them to pass." "W-Who are you? I can't see you because it's so dark..." Einna whispered in a muffled tone. "You forgot my voice already? I have to say I'm hurt Einna." The Voice whispered. Einna looked at the color of the hoof that was over her mouth. It was a pure white color and she tried to think hard about the voice. "Wait a minute... Lilith? Is that you?" Einna muffled, trying to move her head upwards to look at her. "Bingo." Lilith whispered. "We'll talk later, stay quiet now they're coming." Lilith and Einna ducked farther down in the cover of the shadows and hid as they saw Twilight and her friends searching frantically throughout the streets. Lilith's hoof started to glow red as it started to engulf Einna. "H-Hey! What are you doing?" Einna panicked. "Relax, I'm only masking your aura with my own, that way Hermaeus Mora will think you have been... taken care of." Lilith whispered, as the red aura shortly vanished afterwards. "It looks like they've passed." Lilith released her hoof from Einna's mouth and picked up her brooch. "Wait... you know about Hermaeus Mora?" Einna asked. "I know Eternal Sleep when I see her." Lilith said, handing her her brooch. "...and that wasn't her." "I see... thanks." Einna said softly, fastening the brooch to her shawl as her appearance flickered back to her disguised form. "That look isn't gonna fool anyone anymore." Lilith expressed. "I know, but I still prefer using it rather than be my old self..." Einna admitted, kneeling down and rubbing her back. "Aghh!..." "You hurt your back from the fall before didn't you?" Lilith said, helping Einna up. "Come on, lean on me." "O-Oh... alright." Einna said, slowly moving towards Lilith and putting her right hoof around her. "Alright, hold on tight." Lilith said, her horn glowing a bright red and teleporting both of them to her house. "Come on, I'll help you upstairs to the bedroom." Einna walked painfully with Lilith through the living room and up the stairs. "Hey Einna, didn't expect to see you again like this HeHe..." Grimm said, sitting on the couch. "I hope you won't try to kill us this time HeHe..." "N-No! Never! I would never..." Einna said sadly, as she continued to walk to the next floor. Lilith opened the door to her bedroom and helped Einna onto the bed, carefully getting her settled and under the covers. "I'll get some food brought up for you, just rest for now alright?" Lilith said, as she turned to leave the room. "Wait! Lilith!" Einna announced. "Before you go..." Lilith stopped with her hoof on the doorknob. "Yes?" "...Why are you doing this? Why did you save me? Why did you help me?" Einna asked frantically. "I... I don't deserve your kindness after what I did to you and Grimm... so why are you helping me now?..." Lilith closed the door and turned back to Einna's bedside. "...I told you a long time ago, when I was a little filly... we're a lot alike, you and me." Lilith said. "I'll never forget what you did, but should I always hold that against you? Do I think ill of you for everything you did? All for the sole purpose of freedom? Absolutely not. Besides, you and me, we're technically sisters aren't we?" "S-Sister? Really?" Einna questioned. "We were both born out of something terrible, and we shouldn't even exist... If you think about it, you're my kin... and I am yours..." Lilith said, putting a hoof to Einna's chest. "I can sense it... you've tried... so hard... to change. Those malicious feelings of yours are disappearing as we speak. The only difference between us is how we were born... you were born out of the pure manifestation of negativity while I was born out of regret, sorrow, and hatred from when I was alive." "Lilith..." Einna said softly. "Our powers won't diminish completely, but they may as well not be there if we don't exhibit the feelings that created us." Lilith explained. "They will always be there, we just have to learn to control our unsavory emotions if we wish to use them to our full potential. However... do we really need a reason to use them again? If we're happy then... why do we need them?" "You're right Lilith... like you, I wanted to change myself... if that means forsaking my abilities... then I'll gladly throw them away!" Einna announced. "I'm glad to hear you say that, sister." Lilith said, with a smile. "...But I can't get rid of them just yet..." Einna said sadly. "I'm sure you know why as well..." "Hermaeus Mora." Lilith said. "I understand, and I am willing to help you in anyway I can. Eternal Sleep was the one who saved me from myself... and now it's my turn to do the same for her." "Thank you Lilith... for everything..." Einna said, tears welling up in her eyes. Lilith wiped the tears from Einna's face. "The only problem is that... we don't know when we'll see Hermaeus Mora again... he left Ponyville and won't return for some time... I have no idea where he is, but I'm sure he won't cause any substantial damage wherever he goes." "He won't, Mora is more interested in analyzing this world and what is holds." Einna said. "He's just interested in expanding his library even more for the most part." "Then for the time being, let's get you fixed and something in your stomach since you must be absolutely famished." Lilith said. "I guess I am a little hungry..." Einna said, her stomach making a loud noise. Both Lilith and Einna laughed together as Lilith left to go get food for Einna. When Lilith returned, she brought a tray of home-cooked food for Einna and laid it in front of her. Einna insisted that Lilith eat with her and together they laughed while discussing all sorts of things. It didn't take too long for everything to be eaten and Lilith removed the tray from Einna's lap. "Why don't you get some sleep now? It's getting late and I'm sure your back will feel better in the morning." Lilith said, rubbing Einna's head. "Don't worry about anything else, I'll make sure you're safe. I won't let anything happen to you..." "...T-Thank you... Lilith..." Einna said softly, as she quickly fell asleep from Lilith rubbing her head. Lilith shut off the lights and quietly left the room, closing the door and making her way downstairs. "Is she gonna be alright HeHe?..." Grimm asked. "She'll be fine, all she needs is a good night's rest..." Lilith said happily. "Tomorrow, I'll make sure ponies see her for who she truly is now... not a menace to society or a blood crazed demon... but as a changed pony... and a friend to us all..."