An entire day had gone past since Shining woke up and comforted Celestia. He spent most of his day continuing to comfort her and talking with Zecora. The captain sighed, taking another sip of wonderful herbal tea that Zecora gave him, completely rested until someone had the gall to knock on the door and bring his headache back. Zecora stood up silently and walked over to the door. When Zecora came back, a saddened Noteworthy slowly walked into the tree behind the shaman. Noteworthy sat down and closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths before speaking.
"I have some horrible, horrible news..." Noteworthy said quietly as one tear fell down his face. "Shining... I'm so sorry but... Twilight's no longer with us."
There was an uncomfortable silence for an entire minute before Shining spoke up with a shaky voice. "Tell me... right now... that you don't mean what I think you mean."
"I... I... I'm sorry." Noteworthy whispered.
"Twilight died... You let this happen to her?!" Shining yelled in despair and anger.
"S-spike killed her in mere seconds... with one swipe of his claw..." He said quietly with a sad sigh.
"Oh... Oh my gods... he... he actually did that? To Twilight? My little bro...? N-no, you're lying!" He yelled weakly as he fell to his haunches.
"I'm so, so sorry, but it's the truth..." Noteworthy looked away from Shining.
"Wh-what'd you say happen to my little girl?" Said a voice from the other side of the room. Shining and Noteworthy looked other to see that Twilight Velvet and Night Light, Twilight's parents, had awakened. Velvet had a look of horror on her face and Night, the pony who spoke up, looked at Noteworthy in disbelief.
"I'm so sorry... but I-I'm afraid Spike has... has murdered your daughter." Noteworthy could barely get the words out of his mouth.
Velvet began wailing and Night Light also cried as he held his wife. Their little girl had died too young. She had been denied the chance to really grow up, fall in love, get married, have a family, and live life to the fullest. Shining walked over and hugged both of his parents. Instead of crying, he sat there, refusing to believe that his little sister was killed. By his own little brother of all creatures. Things were only getting worse. Shining had tried to be hopeful. He tried to believe that it would get better. But he realized that he had only been lying to himself. In a situation like this... it doesn't get better. It just gets worse and worse until you can't take it any more. You lose your happiness, your hope, and finally, your will to live. When you have nobody else to hold you up... all you can do is fall.
"Y-you want us to do wh-what?!"
"I said TRAIN THEM! Can you not hear, you imbecile?!"
The royal guards looked away from me nervously with awkward looks on their faces. They were such idiots. More worthless than cheap garden gnomes. Are they even good when it comes to combat? Knowing them, they'll hardly know how to dodge an attack. I want my children to be stronger than that. My children will not be weak. They will be fighters.
Your children? Do you realize... how dumb you sound?
Sounds like you're getting weaker... Soon, I won't have to listen to your stupid babbling.
I won't... go away until you release Spike
I think I'll drown you out now. You're too weak to fight back.
"B-but Darkness, sir, they are only little foals..." Said one of the guards.
"What's your name, pony?" I asked the guard.
"S-s-silver Wings..." He stuttered.
"Silver Wings... Nice name. Though I think that it could be changed to 'Red Wings' as I put blood and scratches all over them. Or, even better, 'No Wings'." I said, raising my claws threateningly.
"No! No! No! I-I-I'm so very sorry sir! We'll teach them to the best of our abilities!" He exclaimed.
"Good... now get out of my sight, you disgusting maggots!" I yelled. They immediately ran away from me as fast as they could. I sighed and walked over to a large window. From it, I could view all of Canterlot. There was nothing but debris and ashes all over the place. I sighed as I saw a few corpses littering the streets. Nopony had stood a chance. They ran, they fought, they pleaded for mercy... but nopony survived. I thought about Twilight and swallowed. Why... did I even care that she was dead? She's the filly who hatched me... I never asked to be hatched. I wish it had never happened. But... she was one of the only ponies who cared... if only just a little.
Wait... no! Spike, stop controlling my thoughts! Spike! S-spike...?
He's not there... I'm going crazy... I've gotta do something about this. Perhaps I could bury her? Maybe... if I did that... it wouldn't bother me. Maybe leaving her corpse just laying out in the open and letting the one pony who cared to rot out in the open for scavengers to eat wasn't the best idea. I did originate from Spike... and he cares so much about Twilight. No wonder the fact that her body is just rotting out in the open in a large field is bothering him.
I spread my wings and flew east. It took about an hour of flying before I found the spot where I... killed Twilight. I looked at her face, which was twisted in a look of shock, guilt and pain. Blood was smeared all over the underside of her body, and a large, bloody hole was left where I attacked her. I sighed and grabbed her in my claws and took off again. I hadn't planned on goin back there, but I gad to do this. Otherwise, I'd go crazy. The nagging voice in my brain that told me to do this... wouldn't stop until I satisfied it. I wasn't eager to go back... once it was in sight, I immediately wished to turn around. But... I'm not supposed to care. I'm a heartless monster. But then... why do I care about what used to be a happy, joyful place? Why do I care about...
Ponyville?
After than i read that phrase, a question came to me: where's Princess Cadance?
6289969 In the Crystal Empire of course... who else is gonna lead the empire?
6290333 by chance she (and the Crystal Empire) will appear in this story?
And the cracks deepen. Darkness is becoming more and more emotional, and now these urges to care for people are too much for him to just ignore.
Noteworthy? Oh man I had almost forgotten Derpy had died
6290413 Most likely. I'll do it if/when I feel it's necessary.
6290333 you should make an alternate ending that makes darkness win and take over equestria, also i made an account just so i can favorite and like this
Shining is about as useless as canon dictates. Is Cadence in arm's reach? No? Stinks to be you! The ones who just close their ears and pretend everything is awesome are almost as bad as the causers themselves. Almost. At least he's making sure the solar powered nuke isn't going off or going Nightmare. If envy is enough to make an alicorn go cuckoo for Coco Puffs, why not grief?
And I see what you did there. If there's one thing I can fully agree with Darkness on, it's the guards. In fact, where are they now? I think I'll go make their helmets into makeshift drums. If there's one thing Aladdin has told me, it's that guards can't touch you so long as you have a monkey who isn't jealous. C'mon, Abu, let's get Disney.
I see that spark of good is getting more and more persistent, which, combined with this Crystal Empire chat down here, makes me wonder something. What if that one spark is enough to activate the crystal heart? Heck, how would the heart even effect him? I know Sombra exploded, but that thing isn't explained too well. If Spike wants (almost) all ponies dead, the crystal ponies strike me as the one that got away at this point. That would lead to a run in with the heart eventually, whether it be the citizens activating it or him trying to take it so no one else can.
The Empire would also lead to a few more interesting points. First, they think of Spike as a hero, which would make his sudden villainy a swift kick to the crystals. Second, Cadence never wronged him directly, and her loving nature would make him question himself even more, maybe being the penultimate final strike to his berserker rampage. The Empire as a whole could be symbolic of a greater place that almost kills that stubborn evil voice much like this community was for me. But hey, this is a retelling of your struggles, not mine. Guess now you know what the ending would be like if I were in the captain's chair. Backseat driver works for me. Hey look, a Wendy's! Mmm, Baconator, my one weakness. My delicious, very unhealthy weakness. With root beer of course.
Things are starting to level out. Dark is more of a Dark Grey at this point and he's now training evil apprentices. Not a good move, dude. Remember what happened to Palpatine? Skydiving without a parachute is not a recommended evil overlord pastime. I look forward to the next update. Now, where is Discord? That chimera is late for a very important date. (Yes I know that he's not technically a chimera, but I can't remember how to spell dragon-equine whatever for the life of me. Besides, it just sounds cooler.)
heh, the red wings...hadn't thought of them in that way (FFIV reference). though i suppose it does seem fitting given the games intro, what with the killing of innocents and stealing a priceless artifact.
nice story btw, good job with the ever increasingly hopelessness as it all progresses. well, onto the next chapter.
6528946 Haha, you caught it! Yes! I was waiting for someone to catch it!
Thank you very much. I'm glad you're liking the story. I hope that, as my story progresses, it won't disappoint.