An Elegy of Enlightenment

by Algoortheviking

Chapter Six: The Catacombs

“The catacombs?” I thought being in the eerie foggy cemetery was bad enough, but to go underground into some dark wet tomb was terrifying. I wouldn’t be able to escape, I won’t be able to fly, there is only one way out, this was a nightmare!

The door creaked as it was opened. The tunnel stairs curved downward, deep into the ground. There were some lit scones lining the wall so at least it wasn’t completely dark. Spectra led the way as she entered in first, I followed second and Platina followed behind me. The sconces were well spaced out, their glow were slightly visible around the curvature of the tunnel, so it was still dark to some degree. We must have walked for about a minute or two before we reached the bottom. It was a long dark corridor with different chambers along the way. The walls of the catacombs were carved into stone shelves which housed an array of coffins. The floor was masonry, covered by dirt while the walls were smoothed out stone. The air had a moldy smell to it and I could almost taste a trace of salt in the atmosphere as well.

As we entered the third chamber, there was another door to our right. A faint glow was visible from underneath the door. Spectra nodded at me as we quietly brushed up against the sides of the frame. She looked at me and nudged her head at the door. I knew what to do. I positioned myself in front of the door, rearing up my hind legs and kicked it as hard as I could. The buck sent the door flying off the hinges. It echoed throughout the catacombs as the door slammed onto the floor. Spectra immediately rushed the room, her horn glowing at the ready. Platina followed directly afterwards.

This room was a lot different from the rest of the chambers in this place. It was well lit and tidy. Bookshelves, desks, and storage creates lined the walls of the room as a large woven rug lay in the middle. There were a few candelabras scattered around and an old suit of armor next to a tapestry. The place was full of cobwebs and dust covered the books and furniture.

“He’s not here. Spread out and see what you can find,” Spectra ordered as she made her way to the bookshelves. Platina started searching the desk in the corner while I examined the storage containers. “Find anything yet?” Spectra asked as she shuffled through the bookcases.

“Nothing yet,” I replied as I tried moving some of these barrels out of the way. I immediately noticed a large chest hidden behind the barrels. I brushed it off and blew the dust away. It was a worn blue with brass fittings. It was big; you could probably fit a pony in there. What if there was a pony in there, I wasn’t sure if I should open it now. It had a rusty pad lock on it anyways so I wasn’t getting in… I grabbed a piece of the legging from the suit of armor and started bashing the lock; I was going to see what was inside that thing! Again and again, I smashed as the lock refused to fall off.

“Autumn, What are you doing?” Spectra inquired as she looked my way.

Suddenly the lock broke off; I heard it hit the floor with that last swing. I set the armor leg piece down and proceeded to opening the chest. Spectra and Platina started to make their way to me to see what I found. As I rummaged through the chest I felt something, something big.
Spinning around, I lifted it up into the air above me with my right hoof, excitement on my face. “Da data da daaaaa!” I whistled as I stood there on my hind legs, balancing whatever it was above me.

“What the hell are you doing?” Spectra asked. “Quit playing around, this is no time for games.”

“Way to kill the moment,” I replied as got down from my pose and actually examined what it was that was in the chest. Whatever it was, it was wrapped in a raggedy old cloth. As I unraveled it, my eyes grew, my heart began to race and my body was trembling with excitement.

It was a sword, the hilt was a brilliant light lavender with turquoise engravings that crossed and wrapped around the hilt. The guard was a thick chevron with grooves running up the sides, it shined a magnificent silvery blue. The pommel was just a rounded cap at the end, made of the same metal as the guard. The scabbard itself was beautiful in its own way. The head and cap of it were brushed steel while the sheath was worn brown leather. I sure hope that the leather wasn’t made from ponies; that would be creepy. The rest of the sheath was wrapped in silver like belting.

I drew the blade out slowly, it shined brilliantly. I could see a good bit of my reflection in the polish. The blade was nice and strait; about a sixth of the way down though, it then angled inward about a fourth of the width and continued downward. The tip was triangulated rather than rounded like other swords. There was an inscription along the middle of the blade where the fuller would have been. It was written in some language I couldn’t understand. The blade itself was about thirty-two inches in length, making the whole thing roughly forty inches total.

“You know, I was frightened as to what we would encounter in here. But after finding this, I’m kind of glad we came into this gloomy place!” I said as I sheathed the blade and swung it onto my back.

“It is very pretty. I’ve never seen a sword like it,” Platina replied happily.

“That thing isn’t a toy, Autumn, you need to be very careful with it.” Spectra lectured, as if I didn’t already know better.

“Yeah, yeah I know that. I used a sword to fight that creature that attacked my house, remember,” I told her as I fought to find a way to connect it to my saddlebag. It was no use; my bag wasn’t designed to carry a sword, especially one as big as this.

“I can get you a sword belt from the guild once we get back,” Platina offered in a sweet and charming voice.

“I’d appreciate that, Platina.”

I guess I’ll just have to tuck it under my wing for the time being. I feel like a true adventurer now; with my scarf, my saddlebag, and now this sweet ass sword. I’ll be able to actually defend myself! Spectra may have magic but I feel like I can take on the world with this blade.

“Yeah! Come on out zombie, I’m ready for you this time,” I shouted, unable to withhold my hype.

“GET DOWN!” Spectra screamed.

I didn’t even have time to think, automatically dropping to the floor. The wall behind the tapestry busted outwards as the zombie bolted into the room. Stone and dirt was raining everywhere. As he landed on the large rug, he slid a bit. “Yep, you’re a loud one alright!”

“YAAAAAA!” Spectra yelled as her horn lit up like a star. She formed a large domino thing out of light, similar to the cube she made back at my place. Swinging her head, her horn guiding the light rectangle, she smashed the zombie against the wall. The force was great enough to make books start toppling off the cases. The zombie’s legs were spread out as if he belly-flopped the wall, pressed up against it by the block of light.

“Oww, oww, oww! Damn it, this hurts you know!” the zombie griped, his face was pressed against Spectra’s spell. It looked just like when somepony presses their face against a glass window.

“Alright, it’s time we get some answers,” Spectra demanded as she approached the zombie with caution, her horn was shining brilliantly.

“And don’t think about trying anything, because if you do, I’ll sever every limb you have,” I replied as I bumped the sword guard with my hind leg. It started to slide out of the sheath, I was ready to grab it and show off my new piece. The sword slide out about a third of the way and stopped. The whole thing then leaned forward and fell to the ground with a clank; most of the blade was still in its scabbard.

“Hehe; nailed it!” the zombie responded sarcastically.

“Shut up!” I yelled furiously, picking the sword up off of the ground. I had it planned so perfectly, it would have made me look so cool if I would have pulled it off correctly.

“You know a sword isn’t really that intimidating when it’s still in its case you know.” This zombie was really starting to piss me off.

“Both of you shut up!” Spectra demanded glaring between the two of use. “Alright let’s start with something simple, why don’t you start by telling us who you are exactly,” Spectra asked the zombie, waiting for his response. He just chuckled a bit as he kept on grinning, not uttering a word.

"You think this is a joke? DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" Spectra yelled, her horn increased in brightness as she gave more power to her spell.

There was a large blast, parts of stone started to chip off the wall as Spectra increased the pressure of the light block. “OUCH! Damn it! Alright I get your point!”

“Talk! Who are you, and how did you become a zombie?” Spectra asked, not playing any games.

“… Ruuke,” He responded, snickering as he remained pinned between the wall and the spell block.

“That’s it? Ruuke? Quite an odd name for a pony, don’t you agree? What about becoming a zombie, how did that happen?” Spectra continued to inquire.

Platina suddenly had a surprised look on her face. “Wait, you don’t mean the clan Ruuke, do you? If that’s the case, then you’re Shadow Shield of the Ruuke family, Lord of the manor on the cliff?”

The zombie let out a strained laugh. “Somepony knows their history. Yes, you are correct, I am Shadow Shield Ruuke; Master of this plateau. Prodigy in the art of necromancy and the science of reanimation.”

“Necromancy? So am I to assume this is the result of some backfired spell,” Spectra ask, seemingly intrigued with any form of magic.
“Backfire, hell no, I’m not some amateur. This was intentional, though I will admit this wasn’t how I planned to turn out but it got the job done.”

“Why would you do something like this to yourself?” Platina asked, unable to comprehend why somepony would do such a thing to their own body.

“When you start playing around with dead things, ponies tend to despise you. When you start bringing dead things back to life; well, ponies start to fear you. It was only a matter of time before I was found out and executed, so I needed a way to live on and continue my research. Vampirism was out of the question since it would only expose me sooner not to mention that they would know how to finish me off for good. By becoming a zombie, I transcended death and was able to continue my work and no pony would be non the wiser,” Ruuke replied with a sinister look on his face.

“So why young pegasi mares; why so specific?” Spectra questioned now that we were getting somewhere, gradually getting closer to as the conversation drew on.

Shadow Shield dazed off for a moment, lost in thought as to what Spectra was asking. “Though I was able to live again, it is an incomplete existence. Technically you can still consider me dead or at the least undead. I’m fine with that, however that kind of existence is unfit for my love, she deserves to be complete.”

“But why; why did you need other pegasi?” Spectra demanded as she was starting to loss her calm composure. Trotting up to the spell block, she glared into the zombie’s eyes, eager to know what he hoped to accomplish.

Shadow Shield just smiled, suddenly his horn began to glow and he teleported away. Spectra’s spell crashed into the wall, shattering into pieces. Light fragments went flying everywhere as they slowly dissipated.

“Ruuke! You bastard! Get back here!” Spectra screamed as she stumbled backwards; her face full of rage as she grinded her teeth.

“So, Platina, what all do you know about Shadow Shield?” I asked seeing as she was able to identify him on the spot.

“Not much. All I know is that he was caught kidnaping ponies and performing magical experiments on them. He was sentence to death shortly afterwards. But this happen a long time ago,” Platina replied. She was just as curious as I was on the rest of the subject.

“Alright you two, stay alert and follow me; it’s high time we put an end to all this. We’ll continue to search the catacombs for Ruuke.” Spectra ordered, exiting the room as she slouched forward in anger. Platina and I just glanced at each other as we began to follow her without question.

---

Back in the cold dark chambers of the catacombs, we continued our search, heading deeper into the tunnel. The air was incredibly damp; water could be heard, echoing as it dripped from the ceiling. As we passed through more chambers, it grew darker and the foul smell in the air grew stronger. We reached the end of the tunnel. The last chamber had a door at the end of it. It was dark but I could tell that this door was old, the wood was decaying, and there were large gaps between the boards.

“Ewwwhhh, what is that? It smells like sulfur,” I asked, wrapping my scarf around my muzzle, which didn’t help much.

“We are underground; it’s possible that there is a sulfur deposit nearby,” Spectra replied as she slowly opened the door. It was dark in there but as the light from outside the room filtered in and our eyes adjusted… it wasn’t sulfur that we smelled.

Lying along the floor and on the shelves where bodies, all wrapped up in rags and casted aside.

“I think I’m going to be sick-” I cringed as I saw all of them laying there, wrapped and piled up like plague victims. Pegasi, at least that was the majority of them anyways. We couldn’t see much under the rags, but their wings made a bulge in the wrapping, that or a wing or two just hung loose.

“My God… why… why would someone do something like this? Why? I don’t understand…” Platina said, trembling in horror at the sight, tears building up in her eyes. I wrapped my wing around her and steered her away, trying to guide her out of this revolting room. Spectra was at a loss for words.

We exited through a second door which led us into another series of chambers. After we put some distance between us and the corpses, we took a moment to rest. No one said anything. Platina was shaking, her eyes watering up. Spectra just sat there, looking down at the floor. I wasn’t fairing any better, hanging my head, I drew my sword blade out a bit; looking at my reflection. That could have been me; a body tossed to the side, never to be seen again. The thought sickened me. The blade screeched as I pushed it back into the scabbard. What the hell have I gotten myself into? We sat there for a few more moments.

“Well, you all look so depressed. What happened to all that fight you had earlier?” Right down the hall in the next chamber was Shadow Shield, wearing that same vile smirk as before, taunting us.

The sound of steel ringed throughout the chamber as I yanked the sword out of the sheath, dashing right at him. “YOU BASTARD; I’LL KILL YOU!”

“Autumn wait!” Spectra called out as she leaped up, not able to react in time.

“That a girl, come to me,” he said grinning. I spun around and swung the blade down vertically. He stepped to the side as the sword fell, scraping against the earth. Following up immediately for my next attack, I used the momentum of the first swing, twirling around to level out the blade horizontally. Sparks flew as the sword tip cut into the stone, leaving a gash in the wall. Again he dodged it, springing backwards as the swing neared him.

“Gotcha!” He said as his horn shined an ominous purple.

There was a blast of magic energy, I felt myself stunned by the pain, dropping the sword as he grabbed me and spun me around. Pinning me up on my hind legs again, it was just like how he had me last time.

“No, Autumn!” Spectra yelled as she finally made it into the same chamber. Platina was right behind her.

“You got some fight in you now! That’s good, maybe you’ll be successful, the final piece to the puzzle!” He said chuckling. “Or perhaps you’ll just end up like the others, dead and useless-”

There was a loud crack as I swung my head backwards into his muzzle. I hoped I at least broke the bastard’s nose. It was enough of a hit for him to loosen his grip. I twisted around and reared him with my hind leg, right in the abdomen. Ruuke was sent flying backwards as I fell to the ground. I landed on the sword as it echoed throughout the halls. Using what strength I had left at the moment, I reached for the blade and clutched it between my teeth; the metal grinding across the floor as I pulled myself back on to my hooves.

Spectra immediately attacked with her light magic, though Ruuke just teleported away at the last moment. He left with a scowl across his undead face, annoyed by my escape, and his bleeding nose.

“You’re hurt, here let me help,” Platina said as she rushed up, her horn glowing as her magic enveloped around my body.

“It’s nothing, just a scratch, that’s all,” I replied accidentally dropping the sword as I spoke. That magic she was using sure did feel good though.

“Are you alright?” Spectra asked calmly as she glanced around the room, levitating the sword and sheathing it for me.

“I’ll live. Just need a moment to catch my breath, that’s all.”

“Look, I’m just as angry and as eager to take him down too, but you need to cool your jets. Rushing in like that without thinking is not the best strategy,” Spectra commented as she returned the sword to me. “You’ll have your shot, but we need to be more cautious for now on, got it.”

Taking back the blade, I nodded my head. I was feeling a lot better now than I was before. “Thanks for the help, both of you. Sorry for losing it like that.”

“Just be more careful next time; right now we need to remain vigilant,” Spectra said as she turned to face the rest of the catacombs. Platina just smiled and nodded her head at me. “We’ll continue searching the catacombs, and we’ll put a stop to Ruuke once and for all.”

Continuing our search through the underground tomb, we were nearing yet another door. Spectra stopped and motioned for us to get close. “Alright, I sense a strong magic aura up ahead, so we need a plan before entering,” Spectra said softly. “We’re only going to get one shot at this so pay attention.” She looked us in the eyes, dead serious on what she was about to propose. Platina and I sat there and listened closely to what she had to say. It was a simple plan but it required precision. If we failed then it would come down to Spectra's pure skill in combat.

“You both understand what needs to be done, right?” Spectra asked waiting for assurance, looking us both in the eye.

“Yeah, I got it,” I replied, nodding my head knowing the severity of my role.

“I’ll do my best,” Platina responded with a hesitant tone to her voice, lacking confidences in her offensive skills yet still determined to see this through.

“Alright then, I’m counting on you two. This is our only shot, let’s give it our all.”

Spectra walked up to the door as we backed off. Opening it slowly, Spectra peeked inside. She motioned for us to come to her. It was another stairwell with a distinct purple glow at the bottom. Spectra proceed down the stairs while Platina and I waited at the top. As Spectra reached the bottom of the stairs, I creeped down slowly half way, barely able to get a glimpse down below.

There was a door cracked slightly open, Spectra waited beside it, listening in onto what was inside. Suddenly the door creaked as she opened and went inside. As quietly as I could, I made my way down and hid by the wall. Peeking inside, I could see a large sarcophagus in the middle of the room, the candelabras burn with a violet flame. Ruins and diagrams were drawn all over the walls.

“So what’s this?” Spectra said out loud. I could see a mirror in the corner, allowing me to see what was going on in the reflection. Shadow Shield was in there standing by table a filled with books and scrolls. He seemed to have been waiting for us.

Shadow Shield turned to face Spectra, who was now circling around to the far end of the room. "You're not who I need, where's your little friend? Planning to ambush me or are you stalling for time to let her get away?"

"Does it really matter? At the moment I'm your opponent so you better start focusing on me. Now I'll ask again, what is this place?"

“Oh alright, I'll play your game, not like it will make much of a difference though. This is the resting place of my love,” he said chuckling.

Spectra glanced over the sarcophagus. “Who was she?”

“An angel, the most beautiful pegasus I ever laid eyes on, she had a voice sweeter and more addicting than honeyed mead; wings as soft as the clouds she rested on, and a spirit as innocent as a child. Winter Wisp, that was her name back in life,” Shadow Shield said in a soft, reminiscent tone of voice. This wasn’t the same zombie we were dealing with before, was it?

“What happen to her?” Spectra asked drawing his attention away from the door.

“She fell sick one day; it only got worst from there. She was so young, so much more for her to experience in life. I dedicated myself to trying to bring her back. Time went on and I discovered the forsaken art of necromancy. With it I could bring her back, but this was a dark magic, it would bring her body back, but it would not heal her corpse. I couldn’t bring her back to live that way.” He said as he touched the tomb with his hoof, rubbing the granite gently as he slowly mirrored Spectra’s path around the room.

Spectra continued to hear his story and he felt obliged to tell it. "So why all this? You just said necromancy was an option for you, I don't see any difference in what you are trying to do now."

“I needed to reconstruct her body first. This proved to be the most challenging part. She had been gone far too long for medical science to be of any use. So I turned to magic, it too proved to be pointless in the end. No amount of light, life, or necromancy magic could undo the damage of death and time. Alchemy proved to be of no use either. Everything I tried could not restore her.”

“So why did you start kidnapping other pegasi, what drove you to commit such atrocious crimes?”

He chuckled as he looked up at Spectra. “If I couldn’t rebuild her body then I would have to find her a new one. I knew that I needed a female vessel, one particularly close to her own. I need a vessel that was both young and had wings if I was to give her back the life that was taken from her.”

“And it failed. You were caught and executed. You cast a spell upon your body right before you died so as to reanimate yourself, right?” Spectra summarized, gazing into his eyes as he returned the favor.

“I guess you are the smart one after all. Yes you’re right, a minor setback, that’s all it was. I laid low for a while, studying as to what might have gone wrong. After I was nothing more than a memory I continued my experiments trying to find a solution. Was it an age difference, maybe phenotypes? I tried all sorts of methods, different types of vessels but they all proved to be useless in the end.”

“And you think more senseless murder will help you achieve your goal?” Spectra asked as she stopped on the opposite side of the room in a larger open area.

“I believe so, such is the nature of progress, wouldn’t you say?” he replied with his sinister laughing as he too stopped in the larger open space of the study.

“I believe dead is dead, there is no returning to the living once you die. You need to let her go.” Spectra rebutted in a more resentful tone of voice, taking a few steps towards him.

“What would you know; magic and science are the same. You keep experimenting until you get it right! That is how it works; I will have my beloved Winter back some day.” He responded as he glanced at the sarcophagus before returning his gaze towards Spectra.

“You don’t get it do you? Nothing is going to change; you can’t bring her back! You will fail again, and again, and again! There’s no changing that fact; it’s what happens when you try to play God,” Spectra explained as she stopped only feet from him.

“You don’t get it. I will have my Winter back, no matter what it takes,” He replied glaring down at Spectra. He was a towering figure to say the least.

Spectra sighed as she stepped back, gazing into his heartless yellow eyes. “There’s no reasoning with you, is there?”

“Hehe, damn straight.”

“In that case, as my sworn duty as a soldier, it’s my job to protect the innocent. Shadow Shield Ruuke, Lord of Canterburg. You are here by declared a threat to the citizens and the nation of Ponytopia, and for that reason, you must be eliminated. All I can offer you now is a swift end,” Spectra exclaimed as she backed off and stepped to the side.

“You actually think you stand a chanc-” Ruuke stuttered, his face exhibited shock as he glanced to his left. His eyes meeting mine, our faces parallel to one another. It felt as if time stood still, if only for a moment, as he gazed deep into my eyes and I back at his. Falling forward, I landed in front of him, rolling forward as my hooves slid across the brick floor. I was biting down, clutching the sword between my teeth as I glanced back.

“No… this can’t be,” Ruuke muttered as his head fell forward; his body severed as it collapsed behind him. There was the distinct thud as his body hit the ground while his head bounced away. “How? How could this of happened?”

“What the hell? I cut off his head, yet he still won’t shut up!” I mumbled with the sword still in my mouth. “That’s it; I’ll finish this once and for all!”

“No, that’s enough, Autumn, you did well. Take Platina and go wait outside. I’ll be along shortly” Spectra replied as she put her hoof on top of Ruuke’s head, turning him so she could see his eyes as well as shielding him from my blade.

“Alright, whatever you say,” I replied as I sheathed the sword. I took one last look at Shadow Shield, his head lying on the ground. It was too much for me to take anyway, not being able to finish that creep. I headed up the stairs to inform Platina that we were successful.

Spectra held Ruuke’s head in place with her hoof as she looked down at him. He continued to ramble.

“Winter, oh my beloved Winter, just you wait, I’ll have you back some day; I promise. I’ll find you the perfect body, you’ll be so happy to finally sore the skies again! Don’t you worry, Winter, it will just be a little longer…”

Spectra lowered her head in disappointment, batting her eyes as she listens to him. “You poor soul; consumed by grief, you chose to live your whole existence in denial, because you couldn’t let her go. I truly feel sorry for you. But… you have committed unspeakable crimes and for that, there is no redemption, only retribution…”

---

We waited outside the mausoleum for Spectra to return. It was a little after noon, I kind of lost track of time while we were down there. The fog had dissipated and the clouds had broken up, still cloudy but the sun was visible now. It was still a bit chilly but the warmth of the sun fixed that easily.

“I’m sure glad everything went according to plan.” Platina commented as she stared up at the sky, the large cotton clouds drifted slowly in the wind. “I’m not really a fighter, so I’m not sure if I could have pulled off my part if it came to it.”

“I’m sure you would have done fine. You did rescue me the first time after all.”

Spectra soon emerged shortly after. Her face was hard to read this time, I couldn’t make out if it was good or bad.

“Spectra, you’re hurt!” I shouted as I noticed blood on her right leg as she exited the mausoleum.

“What are you talking about?” She asked confusingly, she then noticed her leg as well. “Oh, this isn’t my blood.”

My stomach churned when she said that. “Spectra… what did you do?”

“Does it matter what I did? What’s been done is done. Pegasi will be safe from now on.” She said as she washed her hoof off in a nearby puddle.

I just stood there as my imagination ran wild. Spectra turned her attention to me and Platina. “I’m sorry to ask this, but I need you two to help me with one last thing. I’m not quite through here.”

“What is it, Spectra?” I asked, still a bit unsettled at her earlier remark.

She levitated three shovels, gaving one to each of us. “Follow me.”

“What do you think she wants?” Platina asked me, assuming I knew the answer. I shrugged, not know anything that goes through Spectra’s mind.

We followed Spectra as she cantered into an open spot in the cemetery. She then started shoveling out a large out line. We watched her for a minute or two as she finished. “Alright, start digging,” she said as she stood there, using her magic to wield the shovel. Platina did the same thing with her magic. I wasn’t a unicorn so I set my saddlebag, sword, and scarf by a tree and went to work. About thirty minutes in, Spectra trotted off. She marked out the edges as to the depth we needed. Platina just sat their using her magic to dig. I was worn out from all the manual labor.

Spectra was making her way back to us to check our progress. “This should be good enough,” she said as she glanced down at the hole.

“Spectra, what is this all about? Why are out here digging a hole?” I asked as I sat there catching my breath, being the only one doing physical work.

“It’s for the bodies of all those pegasi we saw back in the catacombs,” She said with a heavy heart. “They deserve a proper burial.”

This was the hardest part of the day by far. Spectra did most of the carrying since she was the only one willing entering that room. We would wait for her in the study were I found the sword as she went back and forth to fetch the bodies. It took several trips to get them all out. Words could not describe the feeling of what that was like; it was something I never want to do again. As we laid them to rest, Spectra used her light magic to carve a monument out of a nearby stone, labeling it as the final resting place for the victims of Shadow Shield.

“So is that it,” I asked, my heart filled with mixed emotions. Platina wasn’t taking this well either.

“Not quite,” Spectra replied, trotting over to a nearby tree. There was a separate hole much shallower than the one we dug. Lying beside it was one last body wrapped in cloth. The wind just blew on by as the cloth swayed in the wind; light filtering through the braches, shining down on the fresh grave site. Spectra started to stumble on her words as she brought herself to speak.

“This one was a light blue pegasus. She had the guild mark inscribed on her hoof. I believe this is your sister, Platina.”

Platina dropped to the ground beside the body, her eyes widened as she observed it. Hesitating, she slowly lifted the cloth on the face. “Osmia… I… I,” Platina muttered, her face tearing up as she embrace her lost sister tightly. Her eyes barely able to keep themselves open. “Sister I’m… I’m so…”

“I wanted to give her a separate burial. It only seemed right,” Spectra replied as she started to tear up.

Platina sat there holding her big sister close to her chest. Trembling as the breeze blew on by. “Thank you,” She whispered as she stuttered to speak. “Thank you for this… you don’t know how much this means to me.” She just busted into tears, crying as she let out all the bottled up feeling she’s been holding on to.

I stand corrected; this was the hardest part of today. The sky was starting to change colors now as the sun began its descent. The clouds sailed across the sky; they were a beautiful shade of pink. The ground glistened orange from the light of the sun. Spectra levitated a polished stone slab into place, setting in down gently at the edge of the freshly turned dirt. We all took a few last moments of silence before we decided to head back to town. I took one last glance at the engravings on the stone, letting its words sink into my heart.

Osmia Palladium

Loving sister, proud guild member, fought for what was right when others wouldn’t.

K.I.A.