On any other night, the scene Trixie awoke to might possibly have passed as sweet. The heat of a roaring fire was warming her coat, she could hear foalish laughter all around her, and the sky looked so vibrant and pretty overhead. Indeed the only things tarnishing an otherwise lovely evening was the pounding migraine in her skull…oh yes, and the fact that she yet again was securely trussed up with rope.
“What the…” The blue unicorn mumbled as she struggled and felt her hooves kick at thin air. Looking down she noticed she was tied to a post, hanging about a foot off the ground. Looking up she was met with the surreal image of Luna in a likewise state of imprisonment, along with Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, the sentries, and the human undead. “Princess Luna? Am I dreaming?”
The black alicorn whinnied and slowly turned towards the light, revealing several streaks of dried blood caked onto her temples.
“Trix…Trixie? What are…oh…oh Faust.” Luna struggled against her bonds and found she was pretty much immobile. “I wish I could say yes, if for no other reason than it meant I could do something about it, but no. No, this unfortunately is reality.” She looked around and noticed she and her fellow ponies had been arranged in a circle around the bonfire. A small pile of branches had been placed at the foot of each of their posts, and for good measure, she, Trixie and Rarity were all now sporting suppressor rings on their horns.
“Well…Trixie would then like to know what’s going on…but somehow she senses the answer will not please her.” Trixie sighed. Hearing the maniacal giggling again, Luna turned to stare at something in the distance.
“I fear we may be finding out anyway.” She lamented as Pinkie Pie entered the circle, singing loudly to herself and dancing about in the light from the Sunlight Maggot.
“Here comes the sun!
Here comes the sun!
And I say, it’s alright.
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes!
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes!
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes!
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes!”
“Pinkie…what are you doing? What is all this?” Luna asked. Pinkie paused, turned, then promptly bounced and cheered.
“Ooooh you’re all awake again! Perfect timing! I was worried I conked you so hard you’d miss the sunrise!”
Luna arched an eyebrow then winced in agony as Pinkie piled more branches under her post.
“Conked? Trixie’s latest headache is a result of your actions?” The blue unicorn asked in dismay. Pinkie’s smile faded for a moment, then instantly reappeared.
“Oh, oh no silly! Rocky was the cause of that. I told him to not get too rough but well, he is quite a stalwart at the best of times!” She giggled and whipped out a very bloody rock.
“I told you your friends wouldn’t agree to this if you asked in the normal way. I merely used a more persuasive collection of words.” Pinkie said, dropping her voice to a rasping growl and shaking the rock as if it was the one talking.
“Yes, yes, you’re a very profound speaker, Rocky, but I still say you got a bit too passionate, as always. That’s why I asked Mrs. Potts to take over.” Pinkie returned to her normal voice, set the rock down and pulled the cast iron pot out.
“It’s all fine to be passionate, but I kept myself polite and to the point! And the results speak for themselves.” The pink mare continued, now affecting a high pitched voice with a posh accent. “I got everypony on board with a minimum of fuss!”
Trixie looked to Luna for clarification on just what manner of madness she was witnessing. Luna scrunched her face up and indicated she was equally baffled.
“Only because you bored them to sleep! Look at them! They almost slept right through the main event!” Pinkie continued in ‘Rocky’s’ voice again. The Sunlight Maggot glowed brighter as if to spotlight this bizarre vaudeville act as Pinkie sighed and patted her props.
“Now, now you two! What did I say about fighting? You both did me a huge favor and I’m very grateful, but I’ll not have you arguing with each other now!”
She crossed her arms and pouted before responding in the respective ‘Rocky’ and ‘Mrs. Potts’ voices.
“Sorry, miss.”
“Indeed, my apologies, good sir.”
Pinkie smiled and hugged the two inanimate objects, much to everyone’s increasing concern.
“Anypony else gettin' a sense of deja vu? Like when we had that surprise party fer her?” Applejack whispered.
“Yes but that was due to our, perhaps, ill judged attempts to keep her in the dark. I can’t imagine why she’s relapsing now…unless…” Rarity’s eyes narrowed as the light from the maggot danced with the light from the bonfire. “Pinkie, why are you still wearing that…thing on your head? What IS that anyway?”
Pinkie again lost her smile for a moment, then her face twitched, contorted itself and the cheeriness reappeared like magic.
“This? It’s my official party hat, Rarity! Can’t have a celebration for the sun without party hats right?” She giggled and tsked as if the answer was obvious. Rarity arched her eyebrow.
“And where did you find such an…ahem..unusual attire?”
Pinkie twitched violently and her eyes went wide.
“Oooh, uh, it was in a pile of her stuff!” She pointed a hoof at the Chosen Undead. “Sorry where are my manners? You don’t mind me using it do you?”
All eyes turned to the human, many of them casting very accusatory demands for an explanation. The undead exhaled slowly as she found herself back in the hot seat for the umpteenth time in so many days.
“I found it during my travels through the ruins of Izalith, inside the body of another larger insect creature. Aside from that, I know about as much as the rest of you: it emits light and it…may possibly be alive.” She said, glaring back at everypony as if daring them to try to pin their predicament on her. “I just took it with me in case I needed an alternate light source. I didn’t try to wear it, or use it, or do anything else with it!”
Applejack snorted and turned away to give the female warrior some breathing room.
“Well, Ah think that’s still cause enough to think it’s time you took it off, Pinkie. It…well, this don’t really seem like the right occasion to bring it out.” She very tactfully stated.
“Indeed. It…really doesn’t match your coat either. Completely the wrong shade to be paired with pink!” Rarity quickly followed, adding a little more pleading to her words in hopes they’d hit harder. Pinkie definitely seemed to break from her mania for a moment and give it some thought.
Then her face violently twisted itself back into a smile again and she laughed uproariously.
“Oh you two! Such jokers! This is the perfect occasion for it! It’s the standard we all must abide by if we are to rise and shine with the sun!” She proclaimed. Rarity nervously bit her lip and tried to move again. The ropes tying her to the post remained as resolute as ever in keeping her immobilized.
“Pinkie, it’s six o’clock in the evening. This is the time when the sun sets, not rises!” Luna pointed out. “Well…at least it’s supposed to be…”
She looked at her sister’s burning star, still hanging motionlessly above the horizon. As pretty a vista as it made for, the fact that it wasn’t descending as normal was quite unsettling. She hoped nothing had happened to Celestia up in the Crystal Empire.
“Oh not THAT sun, princess! Our suns! The ones in all of us!” Pinkie giggled and grabbed two large sticks that were wrapped in cloth soaked in a thick black liquid. “I’ve been shown what it’s like to burn like the brightest star, now I’ll make it so we all can burn together! So many suns rising at once!”
Nobody required further clarification on what the pink mare meant exactly. Her thrusting the sticks into the bonfire and setting them alight was just the visual aid to accompany the very cold, sickening feeling in everyone’s stomachs.
“Pinkie! Ah’m serious! Whatever you’re plannin’ stop it right now!” Applejack said, looking both angry and very alarmed as her friend swung her torches about.
“Nope! Suns gotta rise! Gotta burn! You’ll see! Oooh, all the sunlight will be glorious! Hee hee hee hee hee!” Pinkie declared, her face twitched, stretched and twisted itself with each movement, as if it was getting harder to keep the maddening grin in place. “Now…hmm…how am I going to do this so everyone shines equally? Maybe start with you?”
She pointed a torch at Green Bean and Armored Core.
“Mmm, no, too much muscle on you both. You’d burn long, but slowly. Need something to really make a flash…hmm…how about you Rarity? You LOOOVE glamor and glitz and all the sparkly things!”
Rarity’s heart leapt into her throat as the flaming torches were aimed at her. Amazingly she managed to keep her expression calm and her voice measured.
“Pinkie….please…I have a family. I have Sweetie Belle!” She said, sounding angry rather than scared. Pinkie blinked and backed away as her face kept twisting in on itself like taffy.
“Huh? Buh…oh…OOOOH right! You’d probably burn brighter together with her then! Okay I’ll wait and come back to you!”
Rarity glowered, pondering just what was this…mentality that had possessed her friend, and what was she going to do to punish it once she got free? Well, if she got free.
“Who else could really be the star to kick things off? You, Luna? I mean you are the Princess of the Night after all.”
The black alicorn looked to the ring on her horn keeping her magic suppressed and sighed.
“Pinkie, please, for all our sakes, think about what you’re doing!” She pleaded. Pinkie did so. Her smile slowly became more forced, as if some other being was literally pulling on her lips to keep them correctly positioned.
“Right…think…hmm, I see your point. All that black on your coat wouldn’t make for a really bright flame. Too much smoke probably too. I’ll have to slot you in somewhere else.”
Luna hung her head, cursing whatever force had seen to it that this was an appropriate new venture for their entertainment.
“Oooh I know! YOU!”
The torches came to bear on Trixie.
“You’re a showpony aren’t you? Being a bright, shiny spectacle is your entire schtick! You’ll be perfect!” Pinkie declared. Trixie humored her for approximately three fourths of a second.
“Right that’s it, Trixie is taking her leave from this mad house!” The unicorn aimed her horn and forced it to cast a spell at the pink mare. As expected the ring around it just fizzled as it neutralized the magical charge but this did little to discourage the unicorn from trying again, and again. Pinkie stared in confusion at the frantic jabbing in her direction, then giggled.
“Hee hee hee hee, no, no, that’s not going to work, silly! Rocky told me you all might have some second thoughts and I should pat the guards down for any gear that could disable unruly unicorns.” Pinkie turned to the rock and switched back to her 'Rocky' voice. “Always be prepared, as I say!”
Trixe grit her teeth and kept trying to do something with her magic, which in turn made Pinkie Pie laugh harder at her futile efforts.
“It is funny to watch you though. Hee hee hee ha ha ha!”
Trixie continued to fight against the ring, eventually causing Pinkie to tumble over backwards such was her mirth.
“Seriously, Trixie, she’s right. You can’t force your magic through a suppression ring!” Luna whispered. Trixie glowered and kept trying anyway.
“Trixie is well aware, but it’s keeping her distracted!” She whispered out of the corner of her mouth. On her other side the Chosen Undead twisted her head to glance behind the unicorn, seeing her front hooves were frantically wriggling themselves free of the ropes. Quickly she snapped her attention back to the giggling mare.
“Do me first. I wish to join you in bringing out my sun!” The female declared. All eyes again focused on her, now to see if she had likewise snapped.
“Huh?” Pinkie picked herself up from the ground.
“My quest from the beginning was to become the new Lord of Sunlight. If you can promise to help me achieve it, then I accept your offer!” The undead declared. From the other side of the bonfire, Applejack and Rarity both silently mouthed their demand to know what the hell she was doing. The Chosen Undead looked to them and silently pleaded that they trust her on this.
“Ooooh, you’re volunteering? Oh aren’t you helpful! Hee hee hee!” Pinkie wasted no time in tossing one of her torches onto the branches piled at the Chosen Undead’s feet. “Thanks! That‘ll make the next part so much easier!”
“You’re welcome.” The undead grimly replied, bracing herself as a blaze erupted around her feet. The agony of merciless heat was instantly upon her, yet as if wishing to follow Rarity’s example the undead grit her teeth and bore it out.
“Are you bucking crazy!? She’s going to kill you!” Trixie whispered. The undead shot her a deathly glare.
“She’ll be far…ngh…from the first. Urrrrgh…just keep…working on…your…ropes!” She whispered before throwing her head back and thrashing from the growing heat.
“Oooh look how quickly the flames take to you! You truly are a healthy, bright and shining sun! Oooh so shiny!” Pinkie cheered and danced around the bonfire as her first victim writhed and thrashed in the consuming inferno. Her other pending victims alternately stared in horror or tried to look away from the massacre that was now underway.
“No, no, no, no! This can’t be! I didn’t…I didn’t think she’d actually do it!” Rarity whimpered as she shut her eyes and folded her ears against her head. “Oh please tell this isn’t how it ends, Applejack! I can’t bear to think my nightmares about Pinkie’s more eccentric habits are actually coming true!”
Despite her own chilled terror, Applejack forced herself to look, to notice how the Chosen Undead was valiantly keeping her mouth shut and testing the strength of her bonds as the flames slowly burned them away.
“Well…erm… not that Ah wish to instill false hope…but Ah think our human friend may have a plan here.” The farmer feebly whispered. “Remember, she took a minotaur sized blade to the torso and still came back kickin’…”
Despite now feeling nausea creeping up on her from the smell of roasting flesh, Rarity bit her tongue and dared to crack open one of her eyes. She saw the Chosen Undead was now completely enveloped in the flames yet still she did not scream. Though her thrashing body told of how much agony she was in, the warrior tugged at her fraying ropes, working herself out of them as they were consumed by the fire. She tumbled forward off her post, using what little strength she could muster to start tearing off her burning clothes.
“Oh, whoops! Should’ve checked you were more properly secured before I started! Ah no matter, you were a brilliant first act! Hee hee hee hee” Pinkie complimented as the undead finally succumbed to the flames and vanished. “This is so much fun! Who wants to shine next?”
With her eyes still fixed to the ashen silhouette burned onto the ground, Applejack bit her tongue and grit her teeth.
“Faust please forgive me for this stupidity, and stand by mah side now.” She whispered before calling out. “ME! Let me become as the sun that nurtures all mah apple trees, Pinkie!”
Rarity stared in breathless horror, as did everypony else.
“Applejack, now what are YOU doing?” The fashionista demanded.
“Takin’ a gamble…and hopin’ mah luck holds.” Applejack cursed as the crazy eyed pink mare approached, shining the light from the maggot on her head at her friends.
“You, Applejack? But you said earlier that you wanted nothing more to do with fire, after all the nasty creatures that tried to kill you with it.”
Applejack let a moment pass for Pinkie to realize the hypocrisy of her statement. Sadly Pinkie seemed oblivious but the orange mare noticed her manically cheerful visage didn’t look as sincere up close. Her mouth appeared strained from having to keep grinning, her pupils had shrunk to pin points, her eyes looked blank and weren’t blinking, and her cheek muscles were throbbing as if exhausted from keeping everything turned upward and in a jovial arrangement. She didn’t look happy, she looked like she was being forced to act happy, no doubt by the damn spiky abomination sitting so smugly atop her cranium.
“Yeah well it ain’t the first time Ah’ve had to face somethin’ that scares me. Least if you are gonna be the one Ah can rest easy knowin’ Ah’ll…urgh…burn for the sake of friendship.” She stated, adding considerable emphasis to her last word. Pinkie’s expression cracked in a few more places but whatever was controlling her refused to let the façade shatter. Applejack risked a glance behind her and saw Trixie paying her a silent commendation as she slowly pulled one of her limbs free.
“Awww, that’s so sweet of you to say! I knew you’d warm up to the idea eventually! Hee hee hee, ‘warm up’!” Pinkie raised her other torch as if to hurl it at the farmer.
“Jest one thing first!” Applejack interjected with a little more panic to her voice. “Ah can’t stomach the thought of shinin’ like the sun while Applebloom and Big Mac have to sit it out. Apples stick together through anythin’ and everythin’, and that includes becoming brightly burnin’…hurk…balls o’ fire.”
Rarity felt as sick hearing this as Applejack looked saying it. If there was any mercy to their situation it was that Pinkie lowered her torch and seemed to be taking her friends’ request very seriously.
“Mmm, that is true. You all are as tight knit as a family could be. I’d hate to leave one of you out…” Pinkie Pie looked in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres and sighed. “Oh but they’ll both be out harvesting your apples right now to try and make up for you not being there. I don’t want to interrupt them…”
Applejack’s blood turned to ice as Pinkie smiled so wide it was as if she was trying to decapitate herself via linking the ends of her mouth. Heck, for all anypony knew that was exactly what she was trying to do!
“OOOOH I KNOW! I’ll get you going, then have them join you later! You’ll shine for a long while, long enough for them to finish their chores!” Pinkie finally declared. “That works perfectly, oh I’m such a bright, clever pony! Hee hee, ‘bright’…bright indeed!” She said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as much as those around her.
Realizing Applejack was running out of ways to keep Pinkie distracted, Trixie violently wrenched her other limbs, trying to get another one free. The interlude between her very humiliating capture by the Diamond Dogs and her meeting with Twilight had given the unicorn some time to brush up on the art of knots and how to bypass them, but her own impatience to settle the score with the alicorn had denied her any real opportunity to practice. Despondently, Trixie hoped her own fear at the threat to her life and those around her would make up for the lack of experience.
“Pinkie…please. You know Ah can’t leave mah family now!” Applejack pleaded, her tears only making her eyes sting more in the heat of the torch.
“Oh it’ll only be a little while, Applejack. They don’t need you that bad…bad…no..baaaaa…” Pinkie’s voice trailed off as her face made another attempt to resemble a surrealist painting. “Bad…no….I mean no. It’ll all be fine, trust me!”
“Pinkie! Stop! This course of action bodes well neither for thee nor thine friends!” Luna commanded in her Royal Canterlot voice. Pinkie turned as if surprised as the sudden booming tones. More pain etched itself onto her visage as she giggled.
“No…no….nope…noppers! Can’t stop now! Suns have to rise! Hee hee hee! You know that! Hee hee hee!”
The torch was raised, and the orange mare braced herself for the worst. With her own face now wet with despairing tears, Trixie yanked and pulled, her limbs growing slick with either sweat or blood. As much as she wanted out of this nightmare she couldn’t leave everyone else to suffer in her wake. She couldn’t!
Fortunately she didn’t have to as in the next instant the bonfire suddenly bloomed like a red flower and out of it stepped the freshly resurrected Chosen Undead. She dropped to her knees as if still reeling from the pain of her own pan searing, but just as quickly she put a finger to her lips and pulled off the rest of her charred clothing. Pinkie’s ears twitched at registering a new arrival, but as she turned the warrior reached into the leather strap fastened across her breasts and retrieved a little surprise she’d been keeping close to her for an emergency such as this.
“Huh? Oh no, does your sun need a relight?” Pinkie asked as the undead struggled to her feet and faced her. In her hands she clutched what appeared to be two small stones, one with the silhouette of a dragon’s head carved on it, the other with the silhouette of a dragon’s body. Pinkie cocked her head as the human held these up and tightened her grip. The stones glowed for a moment, then her body burst into a fresh inferno, this one a mix of green and white flames. The rewards from the Stone Dragon did their work, burning away the human’s original form to release an incredible transformation. As the flames dissipated she now stood with the angular head and heavily scaled mane of her eternal lord, her back was graced with a small pair of wings, and a ruddy tail now extended from her waist. From brow to toe she was covered in freshly grown stone scales, a fitting attire for her now dragonoid self.
“Ooookay….well that’s just silly! Heh heh heh heh. What do you think you are, the Dovahkiin?” Pinkie teased. The dragon warrior opened her mouth and roared. The force promptly knocked the pink mare off her hooves and mercifully blew out her torch at the same time. Applejack let out a tiny whimper of relief.
“Whoah…ha ha ha ha ha! I guess that’s a yes then! Oooh, let me try now!”
In an instant Pinkie was back on her hooves. Out of nowhere she pulled out a giant megaphone and shoved it to her lips.
“FUS RO…DAH!” She bellowed, now returning the favor to the Chosen Undead. The dragonoid braced itself against the surprisingly powerful breath, giving Pinkie enough time to slide a boxing glove onto her hoof and finish the job of knocking her opponent to the ground.
“Hee hee hee hee hee! Oh let’s try another one! Umm…ooh, can you do Fire Breath?”
The dragonoid scrambled back to her feet. Deciding to take this as a straight request, she let loose with a searing stream of flames.
“Super! Now let me think…oh yes! FO KRAH…DIIN!”
Suddenly the fire was repelled by a wall of ice. The Chosen Undead found her breath literally freezing in her throat as the cold extinguished her flames and left her reeling. Gagging she clutched at her face and puked ice crystals onto the ground.
“Hee hee hee hee! Oh what fun! Another one! Um…JOOR ZAH…FRUL!”
The words hit the undead dragon like a punch to the stomach, forcing her to her knees again as she struggled to get her breath back.
“Ha ha ha! Now uh…how does the next one go? Oh right…GAAN LAH…HAAS!”
The Chosen Undead collapsed as she felt the mare’s voice suck the strength right out of her scales. Frantically she fought to get herself off the ground again and just as frantically she flopped back onto it like a limp rag. Pinkie clapped her hooves and laughed at her plight.
“Trixie, while I don’t blame you for staring, could you possibly see about resuming your escape attempt while we’re still not the focus of attention?” Luna asked as the dragonoid slowly gathered what she had left and used it to face the pink mare again.
“Right…right…grrrr…Trixie swears, after this is over she is never returning to this insane town again.” The unicorn grumbled as she inched her other limb out through the ropes. “That’s…rgh…after…however!”
With a burning scrape of coarse threads tearing at her skin, Trixie finally got both hooves free. Frantically she grabbed the suppressor ring on her horn and twisted it off, sighing in relief as her magic returned to full power.
“Finally!” She gasped, grabbing the ropes in her aura and undoing the knots. Weakly her body tumbled to the ground, giving Pinkie pause from her torment of the undead warrior.
“Awww, Trixie no! You can’t come off your post yet! You still need to show us all how you burn like the brightest star!”
Trixie glowered as she retrieved her hat and slapped it full force back onto her head.
“Oh, The Great and Powerful Trixie intends to burn alright. Just not herself!” She threatened before firing a magical beam at Pinkie. The pink mare danced wildly out of the way, giving the Chosen Undead a chance to get a second wind and follow with another flame attack. “Playtime’s over, you pink psycho!”
“Nah uh! Not while you can’t catch me!” Pinkie giggled. “Feim Zii…GRON!”
In a flash she literally vanished from sight, leaving Trixie rubbing her eyes.
“Hee hee hee hee! Wow, who knew this stuff actually worked! I thought the designers just liked playing around with funny words!” Pinkie’s voice came from every direction. Unicorn and dragonoid shared a disgruntled look.
“Please, a disappearing act? Trixie can do that in her sleep!” The unicorn grumbled as she charged her horn and fired at a seemingly random spot. Pinkie promptly cried out and there came the sound of hooves frantically scrambling away. “Not to mention the light from that thing on your head makes it pretty obvious where you are.”
On the ground a shadow of Pinkie looked at itself, trapped in the illuminated cone from the Sunlight Maggot. It made a gasping motion, shocked to see it was still present despite its caster being in an ethereal state.
“Oh darn! Well no matter!” Pinkie materialized into physical form again. “How about a little…Lok Vah…KOOR!!”
Trixie and the Chosen Undead braced themselves for another attack, yet strangely this time nothing seemed to happen.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know, what was that supposed to do?” The unicorn scowled. Equally puzzled, Pinkie shone the light from her head piece at the surrounding area.
“Uhhh…actually I don’t remember. I was laughing too hard at all the funny words by the time I reached that entry in the manual.” Pinkie looked upwards and cooed. “Oooh what a lovely clear sky we have this evening!”
Smacking a hoof across her face, Trixie turned to the undead.
“Do you think you can keep her busy? Trixie needs to go work on her inner escape artist.”
The dragonoid cracked her knuckles and signaled she’d recovered from the previous onslaught. Pinkie grinned like a demon possessed as the scaled warrior approached her.
“Another round? Wait, I’ve got the perfect one for this! Su Grah..D-rrrmmm!”
Pinkie’s shout died in her mouth as the undead simply reached over and forced her jaws shut. She murfled a few more unintelligible words but her opponent just dug her talons in and kept her muzzled.
“This is why I treat silence as a virtue.” The dragonoid muttered as she wrestled with the mad pony. Behind her, Trixie grabbed Applejack’s ropes in her magic and began undoing them.
“Not that the Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to infer a lack of knowledge, but were any of you aware that your friend had this side to her? Or that she could do so many things not inherent to earth ponies?”
Applejack sighed as her bonds loosened and she fell forward onto her hooves again.
“Yes and no. She’s had…episodes like this before…though not quite as bad. As to how is she literally spewing magical spells? Well, we got no idea what that thing on her head is doing to her so that could be the case…” The farmer sighed as Pinkie reached into her mane and yanked out her party canon. The Chosen Undead grabbed her hoof and twisted it till she was forced to drop the weapon. “Or it could just be that it’s Pinkie…cranked up to eleven…look at this point Ah don’t really care as to the how or why, Ah jest want her back to normal.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow as she released Fluttershy, then Rarity.
“And…do any of you have a plan for how to accomplish that?” The unicorn asked while helping her white comrade get the suppression ring off her horn.
“We’ll think of something. We always do.” Rarity stated confidently. “Just keep working on getting everypony else free.”
“Mmmmfffff…frmmm…free!?” Pinkie bucked the Chosen Undead in her stomach, forcing her to let go of her mouth. “No…NO! Can’t have you free yet! Raan Mir…TAH!!”
The otherwise quiet night was suddenly awakened with the sound of chitters and squeaks. Dozen upon dozen of animals suddenly popped their heads out of the bushes and trees, apparently answering some call to aid. They swarmed on the ponies, angrily voicing their displeasure at how dare they keep fighting against one of their own friends.
“Don’t…even…”
The animal hordes suddenly stopped in their tracks, their eyes losing their ire as Fluttershy stepped between them and her friends.
“Please, all of you, stay out of this.” She quietly requested while piercing every single creature with her trademark Stare. The animals’ resolve quickly faltered. They turned and scurried back to their hiding spots while meekly squeaking and chirping their apologies. Fluttershy sighed in relief as Pinkie Pie wailed in dismay.
“Awww no fair! A sunrise is no fun without an audience!” She protested while bucking the Chosen Undead off her. “Alright that’s it! I’m saying you’re all going to get back on your posts and do this properly, and I mean GOL HAH...hrrrrrk!”
An arm around the neck from the Chosen Undead silenced the mare again, and a dual tackle from the freshly released guards soon had her on the ground.
“And as much as we regret having to show any measure of harshness, I must insist you shut up now, Miss Pie. Also it’s time to take this damn helmet, or whatever off!” Green Bean grabbed one of the Sunlight Maggot’s spines and tried to pull it from Pinkie’s head, only to find it appeared to be firmly anchored to her skull.
“Owww! NO! Nghh…let go! Get off..hrrrkk…off my body!” Pinkie cried, her voice noticeably losing its usual perky edge as the maggot glowed all the brighter in resistance. On the other side of the bonfire, Luna impatiently waited for Trixie to finish untying her and sighed in relief when the ropes finally fell away.
“Trixie trusts you, as diarch, has some means of resolving this before anyone else gets massacred?” The unicorn panted grumpily as she rubbed her aching horn.
“Well, now that I’m back in the fight again I’m certainly going to try.” Luna replied as she pulled the suppressor ring off her horn. “Thank you, Trixie. Your skills with knots are surprisingly effective.”
The blue unicorn shamefully pulled the brim of her hat down to hide her face.
“Trixie has had…previous cause to improve. Let’s leave it at that.” She grumbled as the two ran over to the building struggle.
“Hold her down, I need to have a look into her mind.” The moon princess said. Green Bean and Armored Core duly pinned the pink mare’s hooves to the ground, while the Chosen Undead took over trying to wrench the maggot off her head.
“Nghh..NO! My body! Nghhh! My sun! ARRRGH! MY SOUL!” Pinkie cried in an increasingly lost and empty tone. Blood began to trickle down her temples as the maggot clamped down harder, tearing her scalp in the process. Luna placed a hoof on her chest and focused a starry beam of her magic at the mare’s head.
“I don’t know who or what you are, but I will not let you use this poor mare as a means of hurting us or achieving your own ends. Release her now!” The black alicorn demanded. Pinkie just thrashed and snarled like a rabid beast.
“No…rrrghh…you not take! Hrgh…needs to shine! To dazzle! Hrgghh…needs to be the sun!”
Luna grit her teeth upon hitting a mental wall. She increased the strength of her spell and slowly drilled her way through, which only seem to increase Pinkie’s agony.
“ARRRGH…let go….RRRRGH…mine now!” She wailed. Luna folded her ears against her head and continued to focus. Bit by bit Pinkie’s defenses fell away, revealing a strange white fog beyond from which came the harsh monotony of white noise. Taking a quick breath, Luna burned this fog up, leaning in to see what manner of cerebral torment was going on behind that.
A second later she wished she hadn’t when an avalanche of maggots suddenly flooded into her mental landscape, the wrenching sensation of thousands of tiny mouths eating away at her mind and soul forcing Luna to break the connection and reel back.
“Heh heh heh…no…FUS…nrgh…RO….ergh…DAAAAAAH!!!”
Now Luna was flying back, and not of her own volition. It was literally like a class 5 hurricane had leapt from Pinkie’s mouth to flatten her against one of the posts, leaving her aching and shaking from the combined battering to both her head and her body. The guards, Applejack, Rarity, Trixie and Fluttershy joined her as the blast sent them all crashing in multiple directions.
“Hee hee hee hee h-rrk! Hrgh! Hrgh! Mine! Not yours! Hrk! NOT YOURS!”
Pinkie threw her head forward then violently snapped it back, smashing the spines of the Sunlight Maggot into the Chosen Undead’s face. Roaring in pain, the dragonoid released her and she duly scrambled back to her feet.
“My soul! MY SUN! Hee hee hee hee ha ha ha ha ha! MINE!” She cackled. Thick streams of blood now stained her face from multiple tear wounds, yet her eyes danced with a zombie like wildness to them. “This body has so much light! So little self-esteem! HRRRRGHHHH! So easy to tempt! To coax into giving up! HA HA HA HA! MY NEW SUN BURNS SO BRIGHT!”
Spying the discarded torch on the ground, Pinkie snapped it up and thrust it into the bonfire to set it alight again.
“AND NOW SO WILL ALL OF YOURS! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”
Nursing a sharp pain in her ribs from how she’d been wrapped around the post, Applejack pushed herself up off the ground. Her Stetson lay crumpled underneath her, she picked it up and gently placed it back on her head.
“You want us to burn that badly, you’re welcome to try. But that’s our friend you’re possessin’ and the fact still stands: we WILL do everythin’ we can to stop you and free her from your control!”
The farmer looked to Rarity and Fluttershy. They wasted no time in stepping over to stand by her side.
“All of us!”
She looked to Trixie. The unicorn hesitated, looking to the castle’s back door as if debating on whether to make a break for it and escape the madness.
“Together!” Applejack continued with a little more insistence. Heaving a sigh, Trixie walked over and stood by her as well.
“Why not? Going at it alone hasn’t done Trixie any favors.” She sighed while glaring at the pink mare. Luna fiercely fought back the phantom sensation of the maggots and stood as well.
“As…unusually gifted as you are, this is a battle you cannot hope to win. Let Pinkie go, or so help me, I will make you!” She threatened while charging her horn. Pinkie swung her burning torch at her friends, staring at them with her dead eyes and her agonizingly tight grin.
“Hee hee hee…still got time. This is a strong body…erghhh…and your world is full of other hrgk…other souls…” Pinkie’s head leaned to one side as if her neck was getting tired of supporting it. She reached up as if to right it.
“So…hee hee hee…either way…my suns will…hrghhh...RIIIIISSSSEEE!”
Violently the mare drew her hoof back, revealing a can of gasoline she’d pulled out of heaven only knew where. She threw it at the ponies, followed by her torch. In an instant a giant wall of fire separated her from her friends. Luna quickly threw up a defensive barrier and focused it around everypony as they scrambled away from the flames. Pinkie made use of everyponies’ panic to turn and make a mad dash for the castle.
The Chosen Undead, having been lucky enough to be caught on the same side as her, saw that Pinkie didn’t make it past her. She let loose another force roar, knocking the pony face first onto the ground, then rolled over and grabbed her back hooves so Pinkie couldn’t just buck her off.
“Hee hee…no…not going to work…” Pinkie giggled darkly as she drew out a gleaming butcher’s knife from under the maggot. The dragonoid bared her teeth and braced herself as the blade came down upon her arm with great force...
...whereupon it promptly bent and snapped in half as her new stone scales proved too tough to be penetrated. Pinkie paid her respects with a gasp of shock.
"What? Awww, that was my best flaying knife!" She cursed before giggling. "Ah no matter, I have more."
Another blade was drawn. The Chosen Undead spewed fire at the hoof holding it and Pinkie growled as she was forced to withdraw. She tried butting her opponent again with the maggot but the dragonoid grabbed one of the forward spines and forced her head down to the ground again.
"Grrrr....hee hee hee...that's right keep making me angry! Ha ha ha ha...oh I'm going to have so much fun with you when I...hrgghhh...get free!"
The two wrestled and viciously writhed in the throes of their impromptu third round of the night. As if seeing this was not going to be resolved promptly, a new challenger decided now was the time to enter the fray. The bonfire bloomed with the resurrection of a fresh soul and out of it stepped a most unexpected nightmare.
“AGGHHH! AH! Ha...hah...Wha..What? What just happened? Where am I?” Twilight gasped as she stumbled onto the grasp. To say she looked decidedly less well than she had earlier in the day would be an understatement. Her rich lavender coat had lost its sheen, the colors faded as if she'd been through the wash too many times. It was also cankered and missing huge patches of hair as if she’d picked up a severe case of mange in the process. Her flesh was dried, brown and appeared as if she’d just come from a long nap in the dirt. Everywhere her dirty white bones were visible through holes that had rotted through her body, and her wings were devoid of all but a few mottled feathers. On her face, two black, empty sockets marked where her usually vibrant eyes had been, and her mane and tail were now reduced to a paltry wisp of limp hairs.
“Pinkie? Wha…Rarity? Fluttershy? What are you doing here?” Twilight turned and stumbled again at the sight of her own castle standing tall and true. “How did I get back here?”
Despite presenting a very real threat, the blaze encroaching through the backyard was forgotten as every pony stared at the zombified alicorn in slack jawed horror.
“Tuh…Twilight? Is…Is that you?” Rarity asked breathlessly.
“I…uh…yes! Of course it’s me! Why would it not be?” The equine husk asked before reality finally smacked her in the face. “Why is my backyard on fire???”
Quickly Twilight erected a magical dome around the flames then focused on filtering the air out of the space inside. The fire was efficiently starved of any means to keep burning and went out with ease.
“What in Equestria is going on here?” The rotting alicorn demanded.
“We…We could ask the same of you…” Fluttershy shakily stepped forward, her mouth hanging open as if her jaw was paralyzed and her eyes blinking rapidly as if to purge some unpleasant irritant from them. “Great Faust…what happened to you, Twilight?”
Twilight cocked her head, then cringed as she felt her spine creak with the movement. She reached up to nurse the resulting ache in her muscles, and her own jaw went slack as she encountered a patch of bare, crinkling skin. She drew her hoof back, noticing it and the leg it was attached to were both in a likewise state of decay.
“Wha…What is this…What’s happening to…” Twilight continued to check herself, her now zombified state bringing more confusion than it did horror. Even when she finally saw her cutie mark and noticed it now bore a black ring around it, the alicorn just looked resigned as the truth became clear.
“Oh Faust…I’m an undead!” She gasped.
“Twilight?” Rarity cautiously stepped forward, swallowing in fright as her friend sat down on her flank and placed a hoof to her chest.
“Some…Something attacked the Crystal Palace: another monster from Lordran. It stole King Sombra’s horn…and I guess it killed me when I tried to stop it. Killed me, and cursed me…like the Chosen Undead…” She stammered, her hoof pressing against her chest as if searching for something, a heartbeat, the feel of her lungs inflating, some sign she was still alive in some respect. Her friends all stared in the most awkward and terrifying silence they’d ever experienced.
“No…No please! That can’t be…” Applejack finally ran forward and pressed her own hooves to Twilight’s face, smooshing the dead flesh and withered hair in outright denial of their presence. “You aren’t…oh Faust…”
Twilight’s black eye sockets wilted in sympathy as her friend now found new cause to shed tears.
“You are…oh Twilight Ah’m so…so sorry!”
Twilight held up her hooves as if to give assurance…only to then realize she was at a loss as to what assurance she could give. The truth was right there, plain for all to see, there was little else to be done besides try to come to terms with it…if that was even possible.
“I…I…It’s…” Twilight stammered before being distracted by the sound of Pinkie growling and snarling as she fought with the dragonoid. “What’s going on with Pinkie?”
Luna felt her cheeks getting wet as her own tears fell. “The creature on her head’s driven her insane. It made her try to burn us alive, saying we all needed to shine like the sun. We…well we’ve not had much luck breaking her free of its influence.”
Twilight stood and walked over to the struggle. “Pinkie?”
The mare whipped her head around with such a frenzy it was a wonder she didn’t break her neck in the process.
“Huh? Oh Twilight! Glad you could join us!” She exclaimed before taking note of the alicorn’s state. “You’re looking…a little worse for wear.”
Twilight looked over the blood running down Pinkie’s face and her manic, soulless expression. She felt an urge to be nauseous, but from her stomach there came only a forlorn sensation of nothingness.
“So are you. What’s going on?”
The Chosen Undead and the guards pulled Pinkie up from the ground, keeping her limbs secured in case she tried any other nasty tricks.
“Well duh, I’m trying to raise some suns! But no one seems keen on the idea!” She said with nary a hint of care. “I mean what’s the big deal in wanting to shine? To burn? Burn like our souls….hee hee hee…our bright, pure souls…”
Twilight stepped back, looking to Green Bean and Armored Core who were likewise staring at her in terror.
“Uh…Princess? Wha..What happened to you?” Green Bean gasped.
Twilight sniffed and rubbed her leg.
“I faced another force of Lordran, and found I wasn’t strong enough to defeat it. It killed me and now I’m in the same boat as our human visitor.”
Unwisely, the Chosen Undead let go of Pinkie to muffle her gaping shock. Fortunately Pinkie seemed too confused to take advantage.
“Huh? Buh..you can’t be dead, Twilight!”
The alicorn husk looked dismayed.
“I fear I am..well I’m undead now. Cursed just every other unfortunate soul from Seath’s homeland.”
The pink mare wildly shook her head.
“No, no! You CAN’T be! I need you alive to shine like the sun!…Except…no, your sun has gone dark…it’s burned out…you’re….you’re…”
Twilight looked to her other friends.
“I’m what you’d have made all of us if you’d been allowed to carry out…whatever it is you hope to do here.” Twilight cautiously stepped forward. “Pinkie…look at me. This is the fate that awaits every pony in Equestria if we don’t start taking this seriously! Please, if it’s even you I’m talking to, I need you to come back. Fight whatever this…this thing is doing to your mind…”
Pinkie’s smile vanished. Her mouth contorted as if something was trying to pull it back into shape, only it was too tired to resume its usual position.
“But…But…need suns…need to shine…like souls…” She said twitching as blood got in her eyes, in her ears, her nose all over her muzzle. Twilight desperately wanted to shed tears but her ducts were parched from the effects of the curse.
“Please, Pinkie, we need you. I need my friend...to help me…” She pleaded.
“Buh…But…no…”
With a trembling hoof, Pinkie reached out and touched her friend’s cheek.
“No…no…so dark…so cold…this…is death…I was going to…” Pinkie’s head slumped forward, her breath growing ragged.
“This…this…need suns…but…made me…”
Tears mixed with the blood as Pinkie kept twitching like crazy.
“My head…so heavy…need…need to….”
Suddenly she seized up and threw her head back, the Sunlight Maggot’s spine’s catching on Twilight’s dead flesh and tearing several deep fissures.
“NO!...HRRRG…MY BODY NOW!....ARRRGH…MY SOUL! NOT YOURS!”
Pausing to let out a strangled sob, Pinkie wrenched her hooves free and grabbed the maggot.
“No…made me hurt….ngh…hurt my friends….grrrgh…”
As her tears increased so did the bloodflow as the mare tore her own scalp further.
“ARRGHH…MINE!...ALL MINE!...MY SOUL! MY SUN!...GRRAAARRRGH…MUST SHINE! MUST BURN!”
Pinkie tripped and fell onto the ground. A pool of her own life fluids began to form around her as she yanked and tugged to no avail at the angrily glowing insect.
“Yes….ngh…will burn….we will burn! Ahuh…”
Releasing the maggot, Pinkie crawled back onto her hooves. Her smile was back, but this time it didn’t seem so forced. Nay, she seemed almost relieved about the situation now.
“Burn for what we did…ngh…ngh…burn for the pain….the hatred….gaaaahhh….burn for your sake….gahhh…just…BURN!”
Wailing in pain, Pinkie ran forth and jumped onto the bonfire, her insane giggling praising the flames as they licked hungrily around her coat.
“PINKIE!” Twilight and Applejack screamed as they both ran to the rescue. Staring in rapt fascination as her hooves as they blackened in the heat, Pinkie reared back and punched both her friends off the fire.
“No…don’t…heh heh heh…let me burn…please…can’t fight…can’t….GRRRGHH…resist….hurt you all…hee hee hee…can’t forgive…just…ooooh gahhh…just please…GRRRGHH…FAUST PLEASE GET THIS THING OFF MY HEAD!!!”
The flaming pink pony stood up from the inferno as if to jump from it. Instead she grabbed the maggot again and resumed trying to relieve herself of it.
“GET…OFF….NGH…PLEASE GET IT OFF! ARRRRRGHHHHHHH!”
Blood, muscle and sinew crackled as they dripped into the flames. Again the dreadful smell of fat and meat cooking away rose along with Pinkie’s screaming. The pink locks of her mane slowly fell away as they were ripped from her head along with her skin, the Sunlight Maggot fighting tooth and nail to remain latched on until, with a deathly wail, Pinkie finally tore its last few moorings free.
“Ha…ahuh…ahuh….ooooh…such a weight off my mind…” The burning mare sighed as she let the maggot fall from her hooves. “Feels so…light…”
Blood gushed and instantly dried from the raw, wet meat that remained on Pinkie’s skull. Flaps of skin snapped back to hang in tatters around her face. Her tears evaporated in the heat as her expression sank into a visage of sad relief.
“I’m…I’m sorry…my…friends…I…made a mess….” She whispered before collapsing into the flames again.
“PINKIE! NOOO!” Twilight ran forward and grabbed her friend’s sizzling corpse. The Sunlight Maggot tumbled out of the flames too as its former victim was dragged from her funeral pyre, its body blackened with ash and glowing in anger.
“Applejack, Trixie, get some water! Fluttershy, the first aid kit! Rarity, a blanket! Green Bean, Armored Core, Get rid of that…thing!” Luna ordered as she ran over to help Twilight smother the flames.
“Grant.”
The guard ponies stopped as the Chosen Undead spoke up.
“Sorry?”
“I need Grant! The club from my gear!” The dragonoid commanded while nodding to the maggot. Both guards ushered her inside, followed by Fluttershy and Rarity. Meanwhile, Applejack and Trixie ran over to a faucet used for watering the grass.
“Please Faust, no. Mah parents was hard enough, don’t take mah friends from me too!” The farmer prayed as she filled her Stetson then ran back over and doused Pinkie’s burning corpse.
“Likewise for Trixie, if Trixie is still worthy of your grace! Don’t make her lose the support she just earned back.” The unicorn followed while forming a stasis bubble to hold a much larger volume of water. She splashed it onto the charred mare, getting everyone around her wet in the process but also extinguishing the flames.
“Come on Pinkie, don’t do this. You’ve survived more than all of us!” Twilight wept as she gently nudged the blackened husk of smoking flesh. “Give me a sign! Please!”
Surreptitiously the alicorn’s hoof accidentally alighted on Pinkie’s cutie mark. Fresh flames leaped from around the point of contact and Twilight yanked the hoof back to see a new addition had been added around the balloons: a glowing ring that slowly ignited and bathed Pinkie in an eerie orange aura.
“Wha? Did I just…oh no…no!”
“Twilight!”
The alicorn looked up to see Celestia, Discord and Seath descending from the sky.
“Twilight, you’re alive! You’re…” Celestia gasped as she landed and got a closer look at her now undead fellow princess. Twilight dipped her head and sat down.
“Yeah…only sort of…” She sniffed as Celestia embraced her in her wings.
“Oh Twilight…I didn’t…I mean…”
“What is that smell? Were you all having a barbecue here?” Discord interrupted. “I’m detecting an essence of caramelized sugar on the air, mixed with the unmistakable scent of wood roasted meat…which given no one here is a carnivore would entail…”
The chaos god’s eyes fell on Pinkie’s corpse.
“Oh…oh my…oh heavens oh my!” He exclaimed, covering his mouth and gagging terribly as Seath touched down behind him.
“Where’s Shining Armor and Cadence…and Spike?” Twilight asked in a panic.
“Safe. Manus escaped but no one else got hurt…no one else…” Celestia clamped her eyes shut as the tears began to flow. “Oh Twilight…please forgive me! I tried to save you, but he…he…”
Seath dropped his catalyst and approached the two, his own tears burning his cheeks as he knelt.
“We both…faltered in our duties to thee…” He stated somberly. Twilight reached out to touch both her mentors with her hooves, trying to put on the bravest face she could while currently having very little function in her facial muscles.
“It’s not your fault…either of yours…” She said before turning to her friend’s corpse again. “Pinkie…”
Wiping her eyes Celestia turned and gasped anew.
“Sister, what happened here in my absence?”
Luna hung her head. “I fear you were not the only ones to suffer another menace of Lordran. It tried to turn Pinkie against us. She made the ultimate sacrifice to save everypony.”
“T’was not entirely a sacrifice…” Seath intoned while nodding to Pinkie’s body. Slowly it vanished into nothingness, leaving a glowing bloodstain and the same short epitaph that heralded Twilight’s demise:
As Rarity, Fluttershy et all returned bearing their supplies, the bonfire bloomed and let loose a new mockery of their efforts.
Pinkie Pie stepped out looking much the same as Twilight: rotted, worm eaten and as hollow as a pony could be. The only mercy was she seemed to be in somewhat better spirits.
“Huh? Oh, hey girls! Sorry if I kept you all waiting!” The mare looked over herself and sighed softly. “Huh, well least now I’ve got the perfect look for when Nightmare Night comes around.”
Overcome with grief, Twilight ran to embrace her undead friend, both of them now sharing the impact of their new statuses as Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Luna, Celestia and even Discord joined in. Some cried, some assured they forgave whatever trespasses had transpired that night, some just silently held their friends and let them know they were there to support them. Behind it all Seath grimly removed his glasses and bowed his head.
“And then, there were two.”
As if to commemorate this new tragic twist, the clang of metal striking upon metal rang out. All eyes turned to see the Chosen Undead wrenching the giant club, Grant, off the Sunlight Maggot, raising it high into the air and bringing it down again to crush the insect beneath it. She paid them a small glance of apology for her own role in their torment, then resumed smashing the parasite till it was a bloody stain upon the ground, the light above its broken spines finally going out.
It was going to be a very dark night in Equestria.
***
With his massive hand, Manus held aloft Sombra’s horn. Out of the darkness a red aura enveloped it and carried it over to the other occupant of the Abyss.
“Mighty and most noble equine, dost thou lie so low? Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs and spoils shrunk to this little measure? Oh horror and treason! Such disgrace shall be answered forth!” A voice lamented as the horn settled into a great pair of clawed hands. They tenderly gripped the glowing artifact, cradling it with all the respect and care befitting of such a powerful treasure. “Thou hast done well. Liberation doth knock softly upon our door thanks to thee.”
The same aura enveloped Manus, yet though the monstrosity braced himself for the worst, he felt nothing but the tingle of ghostly fingers probing his injuries.
“Ah but the toll taken upon thine being t’is most gruesome. Filth as thou art, thine fortitude shames e’en the gods. Bade thee, rest now and recover. Thou shalt be needed soon enough.”
The fingers removed themselves. Manus made to move, but found himself immobilized by the aura.
“Unless…thou hast more to tell of thine travels to the pony realm?”
Manus remained mute, his oversized hand clutching one of the cavities where he’d torn his own flesh out to create the humanity phantoms.
“Mmm…thine voice may be still…but a greater weight to thine soul do I sense. Dids’t the ponies awe thee with their resilience? T’was it the sight of a world to which fate hath not yet tarnished that shocked thee to thine core? Like a work of Ariamis himself dids’t thou feel shamed when forced thou was to foul its majestic sanctity?”
Manus cringed as if his suspicious silence was due to all and none of the above. With a disappointed growl the other entity released him from its aura.
“Suit thyself then. Whatever fresh burden thou seeks to bear alone it shall be known soon enough. Rest and heal for now.”
Manus slumped heavily against the ground, using his catalyst to drag himself off to another part of the darkness. Tsking to itself, the other entity turned its great form around and disappeared into a great cavern. The glow of Sombra’s horn revealed the twinkle of numerous piles of gold coins, a treasure as vast in size as it was ironically worthless in value, a fact which the being promptly demonstrated by smashing one of the piles in its way aside so it could approach the cavern’s other occupant.
“How low the sun lies, despite thine efforts. Into this dismal existence, we both entered in the morn. At noon we faced each other for the right to claim it as our own. Now at dusk we both stand, trapped and alone in the dark , yet verging on the precipice of final escape. Dost thou still deem me enemy and monster with all I hath done for our salvation?”
The horn was brought upon a small humanoid body chained to the wall, revealing it was dressed in a set of chainmail with a tattered white tunic. A simple cylindrical helmet with a great plume covered its head, and on the tunic itself was a faded but still recognizable symbol of a burning sun.
“A true paradox thou art, Solaire. For thine father’s kingdom thou fought valiantly, yet for an obsession that has brought nothing but woe, thou sacrificed thine father’s trust, thine history, and thine own status. Thou gives praise to the sun at every opportunity, yet for many a year thou did naught to stop the spread of the Abyss’ darkness. For every soul thou saved in hindering mine own efforts, thou stood idle as ten more were lost to the terrors of this land. Thou art both hero and disgrace in equal measures.”
The knight looked wearily up from his slumped state against the wall, then dipped his head again with nary a murmur.
“Ahh fret not. In time thou shalt be gifted with a new mouth to lend new vision on our work. Thou shalt see the paradise made possible by the absence of thine lineage and thine subjects. A voice from the future shalt burn away the lies of the past, and thus mine ancient purpose in giving hope unto the world shalt be fulfilled. This time with one truly worthy to stand by my side!”
Sombra’s horn was delicately caressed, its beholder sighing in contentment at its foreboding glow.
“Welcome home, son.”