//------------------------------// // Picking Up The Pieces // Story: The Lost Sibling // by Teotle //------------------------------// A few days later, after everything was fixed up and back to normal, Teotle and Nyx prepared to for their day at school. They were about to leave the front door to to the library when Scarlet, who had just moved in, stopped them and said, "Hold on." "Yeah?" Teolte replied. Scarlet hesitated before continuing, "I wanted to say sorry for what said about you. I now know that mom loved both of us." Teotle smiled and said, "Already forgiven. I know she didn't intend on having me, but she still loved me. She saved my life when she sent me away fro home." "How?" Nyx asked, entering the conversation. "She had faith in the ponies in equestria to give me a life where I could not only survive, but where I could live as well." Teotle answered. "Whats the difference?" Scarlet asked. "Sister, you need to understand that just surviving isn't living. Why survive if you have nothing to live for?" "I never thought about it that way." Scarlet replied. "If you only care about survival, that's it." Teotle continued. "The bottom line becomes that there is no room for family or friends, no space for success, happiness, or meaning in general. If we all survived just for the sake of being alive, then we wouldn't get anywhere. We would be stuck in an infinite loop of hopelessness." Nyx and Scarlet looked at each other and then back at teotle. "How do you know this?" They asked. Teotle frowned and said, "Because Shadowflame did the same thing. After he got everything he wanted, the magic powers, the control, and the worshiping subjects, he didn't know what else to do but survive. He didn't know how to live." "What could he have done to actually live?" Asked Twilight, who looked up from her book at the breakfast table. "He should have used what he had for others, rather than himself." Teotle answered. "He used his power to benefit himself. He partook in self-indulgence, instead of friendship. As a result, there was hardly anyone who genuinely mourned for him. I actually feel sorry for him." "Why?" Scarlet asked. "How could you feel sorry for Shadowflame after all he's done. Shouldn't you hate him?" Teotle shook his head and said, "No, because he simply didn't know how to live a good life. He was miserable all his life. Not only do I have some of his power, but I also have some of his memories. Before he died, he split his soul into seven pieces, and each piece was channeled into the embryos of his children, me and my blood siblings." "Really?" Nyx asked in shock. "Yeah, pretty crazy." Said Teotle. "That's how Shadowflame's vessel was going to be chosen. whichever of his children survived the ritual and had all his power, would piece his soul back together would become him or her." Scarlet raised an eyebrow and asked, "How come he didn't try to possess you and the other six until now? Why wait until all his power was in one body?" "Well, that's because he wanted the strongest of his kids to fulfill the role. He wouldn't have accepted anything less. But after i stopped his plan and brought back all the other's back to life, He had no choice but to settle with you, Someone who didn't understand at the time." "What does that say about you, Teotle?" Asked Spike, who had been feeding his phoenix, Peewee, at the time. "You came closer than anyone to having all the power. What stopped him from trying to possess you?" "Who said he didn't try?" Teotle asked. "When Fracture submitted her power to me, and when I beheaded Brimstone, I felt more of his presents within me than ever before. He took me into the part of my soul where he dwells and offered me the chance to accept him fully. But when the time came, I refused." "Wow." Everyone said together. "That's amazing. Nyx commented. "Yes well, you two are going to be late for school if you don't go now." Twilight said with a nervous smile. "Ok, see you later." Teole said, leading Nyx out the door. "Have fun, you two." Twilight said, bowing them a kiss for the road.