Eternal Night

by Lucaro

Chapter 6: Initiation

Sirius stood on the skyscraper’s balcony, seeing the entire metropolis sprawled out before him. It was like a field of constantly moving lights, a nest of stars that fluctuated constantly. The wind swept up his black cape, the cold air running through the breaks in his black and violet armor. He spread out his wings, tasting the night.

He felt like he was on top of the world. Sirius could literally reach out and touch the clouds from his high perch.

It had been so long since he had taken a recreational flight. He wanted to go swim among the clouds while the moon was still out, but the smell of food lured him back inside.

He trotted across the moonbathed balcony and pushed open the glass sliding doors to his personal apartment. The room was luxurious as well as spacious. It had a master bathroom with a sauna and a roof that mimicked a starry night. He also had these devices called a refrigerator, microwave, oven, all common appliances which Sirius had lived without back at home.

What excited him the most was the king-sized plush bed with the big feathery pillows. Sirius had never slept in an actual bed before, though the bed seemed more suited for two or three ponies rather than just one.

Ember had said the extra room was for “entertaining guests”, and the way she had smiled at him afterwards had caused him to blush. She had then said that all his Night Terror training would be done in bed, which had caused him to blush again.

After Darkheart made a joke about him being a virgin, they had left him alone.

He needed to mentally prepare himself for his Night Terror initiation. Ember had advised him to sleep on his side in case he threw up. After tonight’s initiation, he would be provided an attendant to take care of his bodily needs as he dreamt and trained.

Sirius looked up at the poster on his roof, right above his bed. It was a giant portrait of Nightmare Moon, with the caption “Do your duty.” He smiled to himself. After tonight, he would officially be a part of the Empress’ elite secret police. He would become her eyes and ears in the dark.

He had done it. He had told them he had wanted to join the Night Terrors. They had cheered and congratulated him, and after giving him his initiate’s sleeping robes and armor, they had shown him this room.

Sirius beamed with pride. He was serving his nation, and when he graduated as a full-fledged Night Terror, he would move to Canterlot so he could be close to his Empress. He would then see Nightmare Moon daily, and he would be among her most leal servants. It was rumored that he might even have a chance of being granted immortality when he joined her inner circle.

He had finally found his place in this world. This was where he truly belonged, and it was right at Nightmare Moon’s side. Sirius grinned. “Who would have thought that I would actually amount to something?” he said to himself jokingly.

Sirius felt a twinge of sorrow then. Even though the memories of home brought him pain, he knew that there was one pony who had truly loved him: Cepheus. Sirius missed him sorely. What would his brother think of him becoming a Night Terror?

Sirius didn’t know, but he hoped that they could still be friends. Cepheus had a heart of gold and hopefully they would meet again someday. Sirius sighed, realizing that he hadn't even said goodbye to him. “Oh, Cepheus. I miss you already.”

He sat still for a while, the melancholy seeping into him. He didn’t want to think of it anymore.

His stomach rumbled, and he sat down on the floor to eat. He uncovered the platter of food. Sirius’ mouth watered, and he began to drool. There were things he had never seen before. A T-bone steak smothered in mashed potatoes and fragrant herbs was surrounded by these strange green vegetables called “asparagus”. He also had a plate of wheat rolls and all the butter he could want. Then there was also this strange can that had the dew of condensation on it.

He knocked off the lid, and he could hear the sound of the liquid fizzing inside. He looked into the can. White froth and bubbles had accumulated over the orange colored drink. He lowered his muzzle over the can, and tilted the lid of the can into his mouth. He took a sip, and giggled as the bubbles tickled his snoot. He drank the drink down, and hummed in pleasure as the orange flavor blossomed on his tongue.

After Sirius finished his food, he became drowsy and plunked himself down on his bed. He slid into the white covers, and tucked himself in. When the pegasus put his head on the pillow, he heard a crinkling sound.

Puzzled, Sirius pulled out a wrinkled paper from underneath the pillow. It was Mother’s wanted poster from Intelligence Central, but this time, there was something else with it. Above Mother’s picture, was a small note in a mare’s clean and curly handwriting.

“My dear Sirius, I am so glad that you have made the right decision. Together, you and I can ensure the continued prosperity of our family, the Nightborn ponies. You must bring this mare to justice. She is an outlaw, and the blood of hundreds of innocent foals is on her hooves. I know that she is your biological mother, but you must do what is right. I have faith in you, my beloved son.”

On the bottom of the note, it was signed “Nightmare Moon.”

Beloved son? Sirius gasped. Nightmare Moon had acknowledged him. The Empress of Equestria had noticed him, and had taken an interest in his life. That was more than his biological mother had ever done for him.

“Nightmare Moon said she loves me and called me her son,” he said to himself in awe. Sirius’ eyes fell back upon the picture of his mother. He made a flicking motion with his hoof and there was a sliding sound from within his armor. A metal blade appeared at the end of his hoof, extending a foot outwards. He jabbed the sword point into his mother’s portrait, driving it into the mare’s heart. “All I wanted was your love,” he whispered to her as he turned the blade, ripping the paper. He sniffed, tears welling up in his eyes.

Some reservoir of pent up emotion surged forward, breaking the floodgates which had held fast for his entire foalhood and early adult life. He began to slowly tear the paper, savoring the sound of the paper ripping. “I will treat you exactly how you treated me. It’s only fair.” He tore the poster into shreds. “I hate you, Mother,” he spat, anger coursing through him. “I hate you, and I promise that I will make you suffer.”

Sirius sheathed his hoof-blade and tossed the remnants of the paper away. He pulled the sheets over his head, seething. The fantasy image of him hugging Mother disintegrated. He tossed and turned, and his eyes caught the mahogany wardrobe at the other side of the room. A soft pink glow could be seen through the crack in the drawer. The Love Potion was in there. He would destroy it in the morning.

He closed his eyes, and sleep eventually came. The dreamscape opened up before him, but he instantly realized that this was no ordinary dream.

It seemed fake, artificial. Was this even his own dream?

Sirius was in a glass chamber with airtight sliding doors. The room was brightly lit, but grew dimmer as time progressed. Is this a nightmare?

He noticed more details as he looked around. He was in a hallway, behind him, past another set of airtight sliding doors, was what appeared to be a hospital corridor. In front of him were more sliding doors, which led into a large operating room.

He breathed in the stale recycled air, and leaned forward, washing his hooves in a sink. Sirius looked down and he noticed that he was wearing a surgeon’s outfit.

The airtight doors behind him slid open, and another pony entered the room. Sirius stared at what appeared to be a darker, more feral looking version of himself. He was bigger and more muscular as well. Dark Sirius acknowledged him with a nod, and slammed his hoof down on a red button on the wall.

Steam jets blasted the room, cleansing both stallions of any outside contaminants. Dark Sirius slipped on his surgeon’s mask, and addressed him. “Alright,” he said in a deeper, more masculine voice than his own. “Our patient has taken a turn for the worse, and it’s up to us to save her.” Dark Sirius hit a lever on the wall, and faced the doors. “Prepare to enter the clean room, and may Nightmare Moon have mercy on this poor mare’s soul.”

The room had been growing steadily darker, and the light turned red. The sliding doors hissed as they opened, granting entry into the dimly lit operating room. The only light they had was from the bright surgeon lamps above the operating table, and the light from the other medical equipment.

Dark Sirius rushed in, and he reluctantly followed. The sliding doors slammed shut behind him, almost catching his tail. He looked at the operating table. A tarp had been set over it, and he could see the outline of the patient underneath.

The mare sobbed, gasping in pain. “Are you just going to stand there?” the other surgeon demanded, holding up a scalpel. “She’s running out of time!”

The dark stallion grabbed the edges of the tarp and whipped it off. Sirius wanted to vomit, and he might have. The mare began to scream in pain. Vomit dripped down the side of her muzzle, large black sores all over her body were oozing blood, her eyes were yellowed with jaundice, and she was sweating profusely.

Sirius overcame his initial fright, and drew closer. She looked familiar. As Dark Sirius injected morphine into her IV drip, Sirius inspected the diseased pegasus. He saw himself. Or herself in this case. It was a female version of Sirius, and she was dying.

Dark Sirius handed him a scalpel, staring into his eyes with dire urgency. “We must stop the infection,” he said, gesturing to the black, bleeding sores. “Necrosis: mass tissue death. That’s what those black sores are. We need to cut it all out, or else the infection will devour her heart by the end of this hour.”

Sirius felt sick, his hooves trembling as he held the scalpel. He felt like he was being watched. The pegasus looked up, and he saw the large panoramic window near the roof of the operating room. A cloaked pony was standing there, watching their every move. The pony was wearing a hood, but Sirius could see two piercing red eyes.

Sirius shuddered, and returned his focus on saving the mare. Dark Sirius had begun cutting out a patch of dead flesh on her belly. Sirius hesitated. The other stallion shouted at him. “Sirius! Remove the dead flesh or she’ll die!”

Sirius swallowed and drove the scalpel into the smallest sore he could find. It was near her groin, and instantly Sirius recalled a memory. It was when he had first come to the city. The two streetwalking mares who had sexually assaulted him came to mind. Admittedly, it still kind of bothered him. He pushed it down, and the memory filled with light, and disappeared.

Sirius opened his eyes and looked down at the sore. He had successfully cut it out, and he was still holding the bloody scalpel over it. Dark Sirius noticed it. “Good job, now go for the bigger ones.”

Sirius felt more confident, and went for a much larger sore near her heart. He cut away some of her fur, and drove the scalpel in. Another memory played out in his head, but this time it was much more painful. Mother had her hooves wrapped around his throat, and he was choking, begging for her to love him. Sirius felt a tear in his eye, but he grabbed onto the most powerful emotion he had. Anger. Hot white rage directed towards his mother erupted from within, and the memory was burned away.

He heard a mare’s voice in his head. “Good, now deal with the source of the pain. The infection itself.”

Sirius opened his eyes. Female Sirius was gone, and on the operating table was Mother.

Her beige coat was damp with perspiration, and her hazelnut mane was tangled and unruly. Mother stared at Sirius in terror, heaving, trying to break free of her physical restraints. Dark Sirius injected a sedative into her IVs and Mother stopped moving. Her eyes were still wide open, glazed with terror.

A mare’s voice echoed on the intercom, and he looked up at the hooded pony standing in the Observation Room. She was the one who was instructing him. “Eliminate the infection, Sirius. That is your initiation. She is the root of all your heartache.”

Mother moaned, and Sirius looked down at her. He was holding the bloody scalpel in his hand, and his hoof trembled. The mare spoke again on the intercom. “My power has amplified your dreamwalking range of influence. You alone know where she is, and you alone brought her here. I merely helped.”

Dark Sirius rolled a cart to him, and on top was a whole array of surgical tools. Sirius ran his hooves over the scalpels, hooks, sutures, forceps, needles, scissors and the other tools. The mare laughed over the intercom. “You know what to do. Your powers have been amplified for this test. She is at your mercy.”

Sirius grazed his scalpel across her chest, causing a thin red streak to rise up. Mother moaned again, tears running from her eyes. She deserves this, he told himself. She had turned him into this, and now she would suffer the wrath of her own creation.

Mother looked him in the eyes, pleading. Sirius tightened his grip on the scalpel, wanting to make another, deeper incision.

She deserved this. He knew that. Yet, Sirius was still unsure.

She deserves this….

Author's Note:

The end part of this chapter is intensely psychological. It holds a lot of deeper meaning.

I want to know what the readers think of this situation. What would you do if you were in Sirius' place?

Comments/Feedback/Discussion is encouraged.

Comments

[Kingofthecouch]

this is most interesting

[Harmonic Scrible]

This chapter has nearly everything needed in character developement. Ambition. Thought progression. Conflict. The character defects and questions his actions, and still continues with mentally dessicating his mother. It was fantastic.

However Sirius doesn't know why his mother is like this and he is unable to enter her dreams or memories without help. He can't find the reason why his mother hates him and it hurts him to the point where he will assault her mind because she never told him her reasoning.

As I said before well done nothing much else to say about it. Also I know you worte this a while ago but I'm hoping that I'm not seeming too harsh on you. You've been improving the more I read. Great job, keep it up!