Chapter 49
“Here we are m’lady, soup’s up with a nice frothy mug of siegbrau!” Siegmeyer set down a bowl full of blazing amber, and a beer stein brimming with similarly golden liquid. “Both made from family recipes passed down from generation to generation and beyond.”
Applejack looked at the offerings, detecting a strangely familiar burning citrus smell from each.
“Much as Ah appreciate this Siegmeyer, Ah gotta ask… is that estus Ah’m detecting in both?”
The knight nodded cheerfully as he sat down beside the roaring fire.
“It’s truly a shame no one really seems to care about the true versatility of the stuff. It can be used as so much more than a simple pick me up.” He replied. Applejack reached for the stein, noting that at least the smell, coupled with the familiar sight of a nice, strong drink, seemed pleasing enough.
“Well, since Ah’m the same as you now… guess Ah gotta get used to it.” The farm mare raised the stein as a toast then proceeded to pour it down her throat. Spicy, fiery nourishment briefly burned her oesophagus before settling into her stomach, instilling a sense of warmth she only just now realised had been missing.
“Heh, and that ain’t at all a bad way to be introduced to it either. Definitely packs the kick needed.” Applejack said as she grabbed a spoon and began eating the soup.
“I will confess, your pink friend is probably the more experienced chef, but that’ll at least put a spring back in your step.” Siegmeyer replied. Applejack snorted sadly as she turned to view the fire under the cooking pot.
“If it does that much, then I’ll happily praise this soup. Right now Ah’m feeling pretty darn short on reasons to still click mah hooves for anything.” The farm mare sighed, curling her ears forward to listen to the cracks and pops of the flames. “How do you do it?”
Siegmeyer turned. “Pardon, my good lady?”
Applejack pushed her stetson back and massaged her brow, shutting her eyes tightly as if to block out a great pain.
“Yah seem so gung-ho about bein’ undead, like it’s barely an inconvenience. What’s yer secret for not losin’ yer mind like everyone else at the thought of not bein’ able to die like normal now? That you could end up goin’ hollow if you aren’t careful?” She asked. Inside Siegmeyer’s helmet there came a soft clang, as if he was cocking his head, then remembering his armor didn’t have enough joints to follow suit.
“Oh, it’s scarcely a secret, I treat it the same as I’ve treated my status as a knight of Catarina. Life is inherently fraught with risk. You can either try to hide from it in fear, or face it, and dispel that fear. The key to doing the latter is remembering a simple, yet oh so critical truth…”
The knight picked up a set of calipers and reached for one of the coals blazing away before him.
“As you’ve no doubt gleaned by now, in this realm, fire and life are like two halves of the same coin. Both are powerful, quick to spread, yet require considerable care to maintain their brilliance.”
Siegmeyer plucked a burning coal out, demonstrating how it glowed and smoked in the grip of the metal tongs.
“Yet, as is being proven now, even that can’t stop the inevitable. You can feed a fire all you like… but sooner or later, it goes out, just like life does.”
Siegmeyer set the coal down on the stone floor, grabbing a pair of bellows and using them to keep it glowing with air. For a time, the coal glowed brighter from the rush of oxygen… but as its fuel reserves dwindled, with nothing around it to keep it burning, it eventually was reduced to a small lump of useless ash.
“Once you accept that, the question then becomes much clearer. Some folk prefer to stay where their lives and their flames can’t be prematurely extinguished. A safe option, for sure, but what use is a fire that one won’t let be used for anything besides heating, or perhaps cooking? Rather a waste of resources, don’t you think?”
Applejack looked down at the ashen pile, furrowing her brow at the small example of destruction.
“Well, what if yah got a family that’s relying on that fire too? I got mah brother, and mah sister, and mah granny, all relying on me to help support them…”
Siegmeyer mmm-ed softly.
“One could say that’s even more incentive to utilise the full potential of one’s life, then. Think of it like this bowl of soup.” Siegmeyer pointed to the burning broth. “Most treat the Great Lord’s flames as a quick fix medicinal source. A fine application, for sure, but as this soup demonstrates, rather short sighted. Anyone can fill an estus flask, but only those who’d really want to help those around them would take the time to learn how to cook and make other items with it.”
Applejack pursed her lips in thought.
“Ah… hmmm… Ah guess I can sort of see that… kind of like how yah can just eat an apple straight off the tree if yah want a quick snack… or take a bit more time to chop it up, or mash it, and make something more unique that’ll feed more than one pony.”
The farm mare reached for her saddlebags and pulled out one of the ripe red fruits she’d brought with her. She set it down and slowly turned it around, studying each face of the deep red skin as the light of the fire danced across it.
“Still… that reminds me of the other reason Ah’m feelin’ so despaired right now. Mah parents both died when Ah was very young… like, right after mah sister was born.” She replied.
“Mmm, left you and your siblings sitting in quite a pickle I can imagine.” Siegmeyer replied sympathetically. Applejack nodded morosely.
“Granny Smith did her best to step into the role, till Big Mac and Ah were old enough to assume the majority of duties in runnin' our farm. Did a good job giving us a happy life, but mah fleeting memories of mom and dad, coupled with her tales of living with them… always made me hope that one day we’d be reunited… even if it meant I had to join them in… wherever souls go after death.”
Again the mare shut her eyes tightly, yet still tears seeped through the thin crack in the lids.
“But now… Ah know what it’s like to die… and that’s all just a bunch of foalish hooey. Yah don’t get to see yer loved ones again. There’s no reunion in the spirit world. What happens is everything goes black… then there’s fire, and heat, and more pain… and then yah wake up again looking like a strip of burnt leather… with THIS markin’ yer flank!”
The mare looked in tearful disgust at the black circle around her cutie mark. It flared briefly to life as if to spite her further. Siegmeyer tensed his gauntlet as he felt a similar burning sensation come from the back of his hand.
“The Darksign is indeed a most foul pox upon all of us… but again, it leads us back to the same question as before. Now that you’re undead, what will you do? Hide yourself away somewhere, where no further harm can come to you, nor rob you of your humanity? Or step out, and put your new existence to the best possible use, if at the risk of going hollow?” He asked. “You are a guardian of your world, are you not? Would lamenting over loss, tragic as it is, be more beneficial than trying to protect those of your family that are still living?”
Applejack snorted and glared at Siegmeyer.
“Well, Ah can’t really answer more than one way when yah phrase it like that!” She said. The knight simply shrugged.
“Originally I saw being undead as the beginning of a new adventure, but now that I know my own daughter is somewhere around Lordran, I have all the cause I need to keep going and not lament my status. A knight of Catarina cannot neglect their duties to dwell on personal problems. I scarcely think you can do the same?” He asked knowingly.
Applejack narrowed her eyes, then turned to look at the apple on the floor again. She looked past it, towards the fire, contemplating the similarities between the two as sources of life.
“Well, again, yah make it mighty hard fer me to answer no… but Ah can see yer point. Ah may be undead, but Ah’m still the embodiment of the Element of Honesty, Ah still got mah family and mah friends depending on me… which means, while Ah’m here, Ah still got a job to do.”
Sighing heavily, Applejack finally bit into the apple, tasting its sweet juice.
“Which means Ah’m gonna need something more to try and chase away the doom and gloom. Any chance of a second round on this siegbrau stuff?” She said after chewing and swallowing. Siegmeyer laughed and picked up her stein.
“Certainly, my fair lady. ‘Twould be a pleasure to drink another toast to our health with you!” He replied.
***
In another wing of the archives, Seath was feeling like he could do with a similarly strong drink. On the other side of the room, Priscilla knelt before the bonfire stationed on one of the balconies, gazing meditatively into the flames. With his business with the Chosen Undead concluded, and there being no other present danger, he had no reason to not go and finally talk to her, to at last meet the daughter he’d helped create.
Of course, after so many centuries, now would be when he’d discover he was still capable of feeling uncertainty, of being beset by hesitation and jitters. Twilight could tell from how unsteady her footing was due to the dragon’s restlessly thumping his crystal covered tentacles against the floor.
“Nervous, Seath?” She asked, finally spreading her wings and flying up to alight on her teacher’s shoulder. He gave her a withering glare, then withered himself as his shaking grew worse.
“So it doth seem.” He muttered while hugging himself. Twilight gently patted him on the cheek.
“I don’t blame you. This isn’t exactly a normal sort of reunion.” She said with a sigh. Seath exhaled slowly as Priscilla traced the ascent of an ember watching it slowly rise from the flames to vanish into the air above.
“Need it be a reunion at all? For a bond that was but a moment, and then nothing more?” The dragon asked. “For centuries hath we stayed, separated, alone, and exiled by the gods. She in her painted world, I in mine archives. For so long hath the barricades between us stood. When now they fall, what ground hath we to share?”
Twilight turned as her teacher pulled off his glasses and massaged his eyes.
“The babe I cradled in mine hands she is not. A most impressive soul she is… but mine daughter? What right hath I to call her such… when all she may know of me is madness and cruelty? When I am no more worthy a father figure than any hollow?” The dragon painfully extolled. Twilight took a deep breath.
“Seath… is that really what you believe you are? Or what you believe she thinks you are?” Twilight pointedly asked. She hopped off Seath’s shoulder and flew in front of him. “Priscilla didn’t shudder when I mentioned your name, heck, she positively leaped at the idea of being reunited with you when she learned you truly had come to save her! She showed that Gwynevere didn’t betray you, and let you at least gain closure by knowing the truth of what happened. That’s not the behaviour of someone who hates your guts.”
Seath squinted at the chaotic blur of purple in front of him. Slowly he slid his glasses back on as Twilight continued.
“That soul out there, is someone who’s hurting as much as you are to try and get back what you were both denied: a family, and a chance at a happy life. Are you going to turn away and deny her that, now that you have such a chance? Deny yourself the relief of knowing you brought at least one shining light to the abysmal darkness?” The alicorn asked. Seath now gave her a healthy dose of dubiousness.
“Dost thou intend to sway me by flowering thine words with poetry now?” He asked. Twilight’s confidence faltered as she gave a weak shrug.
“Erm… well, I had to give it a try. If I can’t convince a father to at least speak to his daughter, then I don’t stand much chance of being able to handle more serious diplomatic negotiations.” She bleated. Seath sighed and reached out to take the alicorn in his hands.
“Thou needn’t concern thyself with the thought of mine cowering from this moment. T’is not a desire to flee that stays me, but apprehension at making a long overdue first impression.” He said with a dry chuckle. Twilight nodded.
“Tell me then, Seath, how did you feel for that brief moment you held your daughter in your hands?” She asked. Seath looked away as he searched his memory, trying to recall the sensations from a past so long ago it seemed more like a non-existent fantasy. He thought of the moment, when his newborn daughter had been presented to him…
The first time she and he had locked eyes….
Seath’s wings rose along with his tendrils, his fingers curling possessively around Twilight.
“I felt… such sensations as art now needed… for this present task…” He looked to Priscilla, and crossed the length of the room, no longer shaking and no longer hesitant.
Twilight allowed herself a small smile of triumph as her teacher approached the crossbreed. She might not be a seasoned diplomat yet, but she knew enough about basic psychology to make most souls cooperate with her.
“Wouldst thou prefer company, Priscilla? Or dost thou need time to adjust to all that has befallen thee?” Seath queried, feeling his body tense as Priscilla looked up at him with mere surprise.
“Oh! Only if thou hast concluded thine other business.” She rose as Seath moved onto the balcony. “How… how did what dealings thou had with the undead fall out?”
Seath snorted as he set Twilight down on the railing.
“Well enough. With mine student’s help, the wolf rests easy, now relieved of her burden. With luck, I need fear no further hostility from at least one enemy.” He sighed. Priscilla clasped her hands together as she joined her father in looking out at the courtyard.
“Then she is as I suspected, the Chosen Undead that Ornifex did warn me about.” She said. Seath turned in alarm.
“Warn thee?” He asked. Priscilla started, then raised a hand.
“Not in that way… the crow did foretell a prophecy of Velka, that an undead would one day pierce the canvas of the Painted World and discover my whereabouts. Whether it be to kill me or save me, the goddess knew not, only that I be ready for when she appeared.” The crossbreed explained. Seath’s alarm smoldered down to suspicion.
“And t’was in her cell that the Chosen Undead found a doll that would permit her entry to the Painted World. By and by, the evidence of gods, or some similar power again playing with our fates doth mount.” He seethed. Priscilla squirmed uncomfortably.
“Yet at the moment of truth, she sought to first spare me, then save me, when so long I had anticipated another fight for my life…” Priscilla pulled at the fabric of her gown uncomfortably. “In such light… mine desire to punish the Dark Sun Gwyndolin doth ring, perhaps, of misguided impulsiveness…”
Seath turned, narrowing his eyes as his daughter folded her arms and covered her face with a hand.
“Year after year, decade after decade, century after century I did wrestle and dream of such horrid things. Were I to hate thee for thine madness and crimes against Lordran, or Gwyndolin more so for his murder of my mother? Was my imprisonment a curse, or a blessing with all that hath befallen these lands as the flames fade? Have I truly the right to live? Or would indeed have things been better if mine end was met at Smough’s hammer?”
Twilight cringed at the crossbreed’s negativity.
“Priscilla, don’t talk like that. No soul deserves to die simply for being what they are!” She proclaimed, retreating back a few paces as Priscilla eyed her with doubt.
“Kind as thou art to say such, equine, now hath I witnessed that Gwyndolin spoke at least one horrible truth. Mine dreams did reach the ear of another, so horrid a soul, and as the Dark Sun hath preached, mine presence did seemingly draw it to our time. For all of his illusions and deceptions… the last god of Lordran’s fear was very real.” Priscilla leaned against the railing, still massaging her face. “Prithee father, his accusation that thou wast charged to remake him in the image of a woman, and that thou wrongly did so…”
Seath nodded solemnly.
“T’was indeed such a charge. No argument nor barter would sway the Great Lord’s mind. Gwyndolin’s affinity for the moon did decree he be raised as daughter. Mine role was to make such a reality.” The dragon snorted dryly. “His final form though, was not entirely of mine own error. More time was required to refine the sorcery, more tests needed before enacting it upon his flesh. Robbed was his patience by the desire to gain the same acceptance his siblings were freely given… just….”
Seath paused, then clenched his fists in quiet anger as a terrible realisation gripped him.
“Just like you made use of the Primordial Crystal to try and gain what was freely given to the other Everlasting Dragons.” Twilight offered. Seath raised his fists as if to strike something, then let them flop limply back to his sides.
“Yea, mine student.” He growled. “Thus, he was driven to madness… as was I driven to madness….”
Priscilla lowered her hands, looking at her father.
“As art many such monsters. T’is cause to ponder what truly maketh evil. Is it born, or made?” She queried while taking a step towards Seath. “For that matter, whence doth a soul cease to be a tragic figure, and become a monster?”
Seath clenched his fists again, feeling an overpowering urge to back away. A truly stupid idea, given this was his own daughter who was standing next to him, but then again, her proximity just made the weight of his dread, his shame, and his guilt grow heavier.
“Dost thou wisheth an answer?” He asked. “For I cannot say.”
He turned to Twilight.
“Few art they in Lordran that still deem me worthy. United art all others, souls, hollows, and demons alike, that I am truly one of the worst blights upon this doomed kingdom. Yet across the plains, beyond the lands we know, there exists a realm that now knowest me equally well… yet sees me worthy of their sympathy, and their forgiveness.” The dragon nodded to his student. Priscilla followed his gaze, but then immediately turned back to lock eyes with Seath.
“And, from he that standeth accused, is thine guilt true and the fear of all justified?” She asked. Seath stared at her for a moment, finding it painful to behold the crossbreed in such sharp focus. He pulled off his glasses again, reducing her to an indecipherable chaotic blur. How ironic that blinding himself made facing the truth so much easier.
“Beneath this floor is all the proof thou needs. With the loss of thee, thine mother’s betrayal, and Gwyndolin’s exile of me from Anor Londo, mine mind was shattered terribly. Mine research into the Primordial Crystal only warped it further, and for centuries I did all that story and lore may tell. I did order mine channelers to kidnap maidens, and they obeyed without question. I did conduct experiment after experiment, and unleashed horror after horror upon imprisoned souls, and with each new nightmare, my apathy only grew. Few cared to stop my insanity, so I cared as little for what I did to this realm.”
Seath looked over the railing, down at the courtyard that was half green grass and leafy trees, and half glistening crystal chaos. Amid the mess, he heard the tell tale thump of crystal golems standing sentry over the entrance to his cavern, echoing that his sins were still here and present.
“Like Gwyndolin, I was granted all that I ever wished for, and like him it did naught but destroy me further. Heh, t’is perhaps that our resemblance was too great that he grew to loathe me so.” Seath replied. Priscilla sighed and shook her head.
“Yet thou, noble equine, thou knowest this and still stands by his side?” She asked to Twilight.
“I do, mostly because his story is similar to a few of my friends.” The alicorn lit up her horn and projected a picture of Discord. “This guy would be the most prominent example. He ruled over Equestria for a thousand years, warping it into a land of similar nightmares with his chaos powers. When I and my friends faced him the first time, it seemed like he truly was evil, pure and simple. But then, Celestia decided he deserved a second chance. That just like her sister was turned back from evil, so could he.”
Priscilla stared at the projection. “And now he fights by your side, as proof she was right to believe such…”
Twilight nodded. “I accept that not every soul can change their ways, but as you stipulated, many souls are indeed made to be evil, rather than be that way from the start. And honestly, that’s what I truly feel is the case with Seath.”
She trotted over and laid a hoof on Seath’s hand.
“Your father never seemed to have been given a fair chance. He was created as a force of good, and only turned out differently through the fault of his maker. The Everlasting Dragons hated him for being different, never once seeing the genius he made possible with sorcery. Then, of course, we get to Gwyn and the other gods… who… well, may have likewise embraced him with sinister intent… depending on whether that was also a lie of Gwyndolin or not.” Twilight cleared her throat. “The fact of the matter is, I still gave him a chance like Fluttershy gave Discord a chance. So far, the turnout has been the same for both of them. That has to account for something.”
Priscilla narrowed her eyes at the alicorn.
“Yet, thou art undead…” She said suspiciously. Twilight looked at her flank and let out a strained snort.
“Yes… because of Manus… that… that… rrrrghhh…” The alicorn bared her teeth, then shook her head. “It’s no fault of Seath, he did everything to try and protect me. Even if it wasn’t enough, I don’t blame him at all.”
Priscilla gaze softened again as Twilight turned to face her.
“I think the big question is, do you blame him for what he’s done? Yes, he went crazy, and did a lot of terrible things, but in every case he was both provoked and given some pretty justifiable reasons for lashing out. All the time I’ve been his student, I treated him like I would any other friend of mine, and the worst he’s ever done to me is use some harsh language and make a mess of my castle.”
Seath looked up and glared as the blurry mess of purple. Somewhere in the chaos, he sense a hint of a smile.
“Of course, then again, I sometimes do the same thing, so who am I to judge?” Twilight sighed. Seath slipped his glasses back on, and snorted weakly at her joking expression. Deciding it wasn’t worth scolding her for, he turned to Priscilla and steeled what few remaining frayed nerves he had.
“That aside, what thou sees before thee is who I truly am. One who strove for centuries to destroy the domain of the gods, who betrayed his own kin, and who now stands as an aged and broken shadow. The sins I am accused of art all true, yet so is the fact that ne’er have I once sought harm to Twilight or any of her fellow equines. Do I believe the latter absolves me of mine previous crimes… nay. Do I believe I am deserved of mine student’s forgiveness… nay.”
Seath bowed his head and hugged himself again. Twilight looked at him reproachfully.
“Do I believe myself a father figure, capable of now being a parent… I know not. T’was thine mother’s desire that I swear to be thus whence thou at last was born, yet e’en with the knowledge that her love remained pure, e’en as it caused her death…” Seath cringed and cursed himself as he felt his eyes start to tear up. “Still I believe myself a blight, a plague, one who is fit only to be a monster. No father could I ever be, with all I hath done…”
Twilight frowned and raised a hoof to interject. Priscilla, however, raised her own hand as a gesture that it was her turn to talk.
“All thou hast done. Whether t’is wiser to believe the voice of thousands on that, or the voice of one. Such did frame my turmoil for years.” The crossbreed lamented. Seath shut his eyes, demanding his tears not fall. To his shock, they didn’t… at least not yet, and not on account of his own desire.
Priscilla had reached out to take his hands in her own. Her skin felt smooth, supple, and surprisingly warm.
“Now here, when t’is at last my time to judge thee… I can trust neither voice. Instead, I shall trust what I hath witnessed with mine eyes.” The crossbreed said softly. She uncurled Seath’s fingers, gently tracing his palm. “Here I see pain, scars from whence thou was burned by the flames of the Xanthous King, trying to save me when at last thou knew I lived. Back at the entrance of this castle, I saw thee stand by thine oath to help the Chosen Undead, and succeed in thine aim. Beside me, I see a soul who hast suffered as a result of her relationship with thee, yet still refuses to speak ill of thee.”
Priscilla looked up, revealing her own eyes shimmered with tears.
“No monster does these things, nor inspires such genuine trust in another. Ne’er would a monster confess their wrongdoing, nor show such remorse.”
Seath’s shock grew, as did the wetness running down his cheeks as Priscilla lifted his hand to her face, letting him touch her, to finally experience the life he had made possible.
“Thou made me because mother requested it. Prithee, what else did motivate thine decision, Father?” She asked. Seath grit his teeth at being asked yet another question he really didn’t have an answer to.
“For thee… mine reasons… were many. To do what none of the Everlasting Dragons could. To confirm the ultimate superiority of sorcery. To proveth the Great Lord’s aversions to crossbreeds false, as thine mother desired….” More tears fell as Seath came to another realisation. “And… to please her too.”
Priscilla held her father’s hand to her face a little tighter.
“Did… Didst thou love her?” She asked, her voice starting to crack. That was the third question she’d asked that Seath really didn’t know how to respond to. He looked to Twilight, who in turn looked utterly ashamed that she couldn’t come up with an answer. It wasn’t like Seath had really given her anything to go on when she’d posed the same question to him previously.
Nevertheless, the alicorn flew over to alight on Priscilla’s shoulder. If nothing else, she had to try, to at least provide a little more closure to the crossbreed’s own doubts.
“He cared for her, as a friend, a student and a kindred spirit, Priscilla. When no one else would humor her ideas for unity, he was there for her. When she needed someone who could appreciate her potential and her desire to break down the barriers between classes and species, he was that someone. He wanted to be the light in the darkness for her, as she was for him. That says a lot.” Twilight said, much to her teacher’s amazement.
“Yea, so it dost.” He said, now bewildered as to how he had never thought of his relationship with the princess of sunlight in such a way before. “Humor did she mine theorems and mine research, no matter how unorthodox or questionable they be. I in turn supported her desire to set right the errors of the Great Lord’s rule. To that extent, our minds… and our souls, were a match.”
Seath sighed and paused to push his glasses back up.
“I cans’t say if I loved thine mother, for I, like my brethren, know not what love is. I know only that, for the time I knew her, she was a soul too bright and promising for this accursed land.” The dragon let his head wilt along with his wings. “T’is perhaps better she is no long among its residents. Lordran woulds’t be her ruin, as it hath been to all the other gods and beings that dwell within.”
Twilight balked at this.
“Seath! How can you…” She started, only for Priscilla to cut her off.
“Nay, little pony, he is not wrong… not entirely.” The crossbreed lamented as she turned to gaze at the courtyard below.
“With anguish and despair I received Gwyndolin’s confession of his murdering of mine mother… yet as the years passed and I learned what unending cruelty this land harbors… I cannot help but wonder. The flames fade and the light falters, despite all efforts of gods and men. If the Princess of Sunlight still lived, would her light still shine, or now be snuffed out by other means?”
Twilight flew herself back onto the railing as Priscilla turned to her scythe, propped up in the corner.
“Born was I to be a beacon of hope, an ember from which mother wished to kindle new flames. I was to burn as a symbol of unity, acceptance, harmony… is this not so?” She asked of Seath. He nodded softly and the crossbreed looked even more ashamed. “And in the Painted World, where kindness and care were generously given to me by its inhabitants, I nevertheless fell to the same fate as the hollows. I let anger, resentment, and loneliness blacken my soul, drive me to acquire the power of Lifehunt, to stand as a force that did attest that Gwyn and the gods were right to fear crossbreeds…”
Seath looked at his daughter’s tail, noticing the fluffy fur on it was bristling as if indicating she was in pain.
“When thou came at last, to free me from mine prison, I sought not to repay thee for thine own kindness, but to use thee to at last silence mine own demons. To enact the vengeance I desired for so long!” Priscilla scowled, balling up her fist and slamming it on the rail. “Of mine father’s great betrayal I was so often told, and as a lesson, I sought to betray mine mother by proving myself a similar monster!”
Twilight let her own spirits sink along with her wings.
“That’s not true, Priscilla!” She declared, adding in a much weaker voice. “Well… mostly.”
The crossbreed turned her gaze to the alicorn.
“Whatever Seath did to antagonize Gwyndolin, a lot of the blame that screwed up kid stacked on him was mis-applied. Whatever that thing was that he believed you unknowingly drew to Lordran, it doesn’t excuse forcibly taking you from your parents and keeping you basically as a prisoner all your life.” Twilight said. Priscilla narrowed her gaze in dubiousness, then her expression faltered under a fresh weight.
“Thus thou intends to defend my actions, as thou hast mine father’s?” She said, her tone choked by the pleading need. Twilight swallowed heavily, sitting down on her haunches and taking a deep breath.
“I, like any pony, strive to be a morally upright individual, yet time and time again, I’ve failed in that respect. Like you, I let my bias blind me, and my emotional state lead me to act out, even against those I love.” Twilight looked up at her horn, then at her wings. “But again and again, I take the same lesson from those failings, that it’s all part of just existing. No soul, god, human, dragon, pony, or otherwise, is infallible, nor can they claim to be completely without darkness or light.”
The alicorn extended a hoof and rested it atop Priscilla’s hand.
“I’m not going to comment on whether vengeance is ever truly justified, but I will follow your lead on judging by what else I’ve seen of you. While everything else in this land keeps trying to kill us, you showed us mercy. Rather than keep us in the Painted World against our will, you told us how to leave, and stepped aside without argument. Much like Seath, and me, you showed you have good in you as well as bad. That much is worth defending.” Twilight continued, extending her other hoof to her teacher. “But in return, I ask that you still prove that good by helping another soul to heal. Seath needs his daughter right now, just as you need your father.”
Seath and Priscilla locked eyes, finding they were both wet with tears of long harbored sadness, anger, and despair. Stifling a sniffle, Priscilla forced her feet to move, to close the gap between her and the great white dragon.
“Thou accepts me for what I am?” Seath said. Priscilla brought a shaking fist to her face, wiping the tears to let him see there was no resentment or hatred beyond them.
Feeling that wasn’t enough, however, the crossbreed then almost leaped forward and hugged Seath as tightly as she could.
“If thou accepts me for not being what… what was desired.” She quietly cried. “What thou did, how thou hast sinned… I have not the time to care. If there can be only this moment for us, then let me see the truth of thine student’s words, see mine father beyond the monster!”
Seath looked down at the sobbing beauty, holding him like only a trusting soul could. To his exasperation, his mind went blank on how to respond, how to react to this outcome that he’d never, not once in his entire life, have thought possible.
And yet, the dragon’s arms moved of their own accord, too motivated by desperate need to wait for his mind to give them the order. They wrapped around Priscilla, burying themselves in the thick soft fur of her gown, with only a brief pause so Seath could tear off his glasses again and let his tears join his daughter’s.
“Th-Then I shall do… as asked… if indeed I can.” He whispered, his voice fragmenting under the final descent of a burden he’d carried all his life, a weight of self-loathing that had, at last, been given a means to slip from its moorings. “And for this… mine daughter, I am truly sorry for what I am… for… not being there whence thou needed me.”
Priscilla let her tears fall silently, giving Seath’s words the time needed to make their impact.
“T’is one great feat to apologize, t’is another to forgive.” She said, wiping her eyes. “Yet, if thou, with all thine sin, can apologize, then I must find in it myself to forgive thee. Somehow… some way.”
Two souls, father and daughter, at last reunited, let their emotions be released. For a time, no further words were exchanged, as no more needed to be exchanged. Seath and Priscilla had bared themselves, faults and all, and been met with acceptance.
From where she was watching with quiet relief, Twilight let a few tears of her own fall.
“And now, at last, the healing can begin.” She said happily.
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Yet another amazing chapter of this beautiful story!
I can't imagine what you have planned for Chapter Fifty, but I just know I won't miss it the moment it comes out!
This chapter is at the level of a Shakespearian drama play.
Um... so.. Unrelated to the current chapter but seeing as twilight has gone down the sorcery path and trixie has gone down the miracle path ._. Am I right to assume that if were folowing the pattern of the unicorns going down the magic paths is Rarity going to be a pyromancer?
7801181 Could be. Anything is possible at this point.
It's so fluffy! Very nice, though. Good job. Not much else to say.
Don't aim for maximum feels if this is the result.
This felt like you hucked it into an olive press, then took it out and put it in a blender for a while, then boiled the remaining material to extract every possible emotional angle you could have.
You didn't need to.
These conversations could have taken place over a much larger span of time.
Readers won't get mad about it taking ten chapters to have Fluffy Tail hug dear old dad, so long as the dance is in motion. Especially not if those chapters include other, more centrally themed, elements of Dark Souls.
Like killing things. Where was the killing? Needs more killing, more souls.
7801194
7801181
To be fair, Rarity is a highly passionate soul that has a huge heart that she could use to draw flame from. Most of the mane six are.
My God, I had to use so many humanities to avoid dying from the sheer feels. Like having Lord Gwyn's charred corpse wailing on me the entire time, ripping into me yet with feels instead of searing hot pain.
If I could up vote this story again I would, and even then that would not be enough to describe how much I loved this scene. I am so happy, Priscilla finally got a bit of happiness in her life!
Now if only a certain crippled pale spider woman could get the same...so many poor souls in this setting I wished could have a happier fate. Wait oooohhh if Rares learns Pyromancy does that mean she will go to the great swamp?
Oh I do so hope that happens, both the Rarity learning Pyromancy and her going to the Great Swamp...simply because of so many things. One of which is Rarity's less than pleased reaction to having to go to such a...how would she put it 'Ugh...so...filthy...' yeah that.
7802025 my thoughts exactly, i can just imagin her getting her hooves on the chaos spells, and let us not forget eengy's poison mist
7802089 ._. Did you read my comment about rarity and pyromancy before typing that... because if not you and I seem to be on a similar wavelength here bud, and I like the way you think
7802089
Well if you want a spoiler. Yes that certain crippled pale spider woman will feature again soon, and might find fate smiling upon her too. :)
Huh, and before everyone believed Discord was the perfect fit for a pyromancer.
Well I shall have to think about this further if everyone is clamoring for it.
7802129 Well to be fair to old Discord, he has the power of chaos already so I honestly don't think it would be hard for him to fling chaos fire around on his own if he wanted. Besides while I love playing a Pyromancer...to be honest most of the spells are just various ways to set someone or something on fire. I mean sure there are some utility in it, iron skin, flash sweat, and all that...but it just doesn't seem to lend much to Discord's creative personality. Besides he is already owning so much on his own, I mean he seems to be having the easiest time dealing with threats directed at him.
Not that I am bothered by that, I like it since he generally does that by being protector for the team's resident white mage =w= Aka Fluttershy so it all good. But Rares could use a bit of a boost to help her fight on a more competitive level with the other girls.
-reads spoiler- Also yyyaaaaayyyyyyyy so glad to hear that~<3
I'm not gonna lie.. i had tons of feels with this chapter...
But I can be true content knowing this gonna have more DaS 2 "attempt of lore"...
And i'm sure i'm not alone in that matter
But well *sigh* happy holydays lime
7803397 DaS 2 'attempt of lore'? What's that?
Cue the family bonding checklist! Also, siegmeyer! I like the old chap. Making soup and such
7805192 Dare I ask, who or what else is on that checklist?
7802007 All I can say is have patience, my friend. The killing shall resume soon enough!
7815009
Manus and his shards, siegmeyer and his daughter, pinkie and pinkimena, and finally the helllite drake and the lesser drakes from the valley
7815026 Ahhh, well all I can safely reveal here is...some of those will happen, and some will not.
7815694
Why can't you have hellkite drake see his kids! He's their father dammit!
7817003
When was that ever confirmed?
7818082
Never, I can't even say it's fan cannon since I made it up for your question
7820636 Ah phew! Then my response to that should hopefully not raise too many hackles...I hope.
7841305 Considering he also would be too big to leave the room you first encounter him in in the Duke's Archives, yet somehow he manages to do so anyway to later confront you in the Crystal Cave, I just assume he's very flexible.
Given his anatomy, and what happens if you cut off his tail, it's entirely possible he doesn't even have any bones below the waist.
7841871
Stretchy dragon... now I'm imagining something like this http://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/comic.php?strip_id=41 and thus all complaints I had about him getting into cramped places are now settled and now whenever they move to another room I shall collapse into giggles.
The wisdom of an onion, right here folks.^^
Also, daddy-daughter feels for days, nay, whole cycles!