Forgive But Don't Forget [History Overwritten]
As far as mane brushes went, the claws running through her mane ranked as a solid seven out of ten. Again and again, they ran through her mane; the knots had long since been brushed out. Sparkle rested her head against the cool scales of Thorn's belly as he slowly, softly stroked her coal black mane. Her breath came in uneasy gasps, the last remnants of tears run dry.
For as gently as his claws were stroking his mother's thick mane, Thorn's face was contorted in a furious glare and each breath came out as a deep, rumbling, furious growl. Visions of his aunt's eviscerated corpse filled his mind, and he longed for the taste of her flesh and blood for what she did to Sparkle. And yet, for his mom, he pushed those thoughts aside and buried them under immediate concern for her wellbeing.
His claws paused their brushing. “Mom, do you want to keep going?”
“Yes, more brushing,” Sparkle thought back.
Thorn’s expression softened slightly and he resumed his brushing. “Of course, but that’s not what I meant.”
“Hmm?” The sound came from her throat instead of just as a thought.
“I mean,” he thought through their link, “do you want to continue this charade, or do you want to just... move on? We could finish ageing you up, you could join me on my quest, and... we never have to go back. There’s more to the world than just Equestria.”
The fluffy mare-turned-filly readjusted her position on Thorn’s belly. “I’m already really invested in this...”
“In what, a miserable life living near a mare that hurt you in a country that hates you? Look how well it’s turning out already, and it hasn’t even been a week since you got there,” Thorn replied. He sighed, despite having no real need to breathe.
Sparkle turned around to look him in the eye, the glasses that had adorned her face no longer present. “Thorn,” she said aloud, and then paused. “Thorn, I’m...” She paused again.
Her head lowered down until her chin was lying flat against the drake’s scales. “What’s it like, out here?”
Images from above of an arid landscape, covered with canyons and red mesas, filled Sparkle’s mind. Below them was a small caravan of gargoyles and centaurs, of which Thorn knew that none possessed a soul weapon. The memory shifted, and they were standing by a crystal clear river flowing through the base of a canyon. One of the gargoyles floated above the river, eyeing the water and trailing the tip across the surface. A fish bit onto it, and the gargoyle flicked it up and caught the slippery animal in his claws. The memory shifted again; they were walking into a small town built along the bank of the river. Despite being the only dragon in the group, the gargoyles, centaurs, and occasional minotaur never gave him a second glance. Memory Thorn smiled.
“I like it,” Thorn said. “I got a job as a mercenary guard for a merchant caravan. They were heading to Cengoyle’s capital city, and I thought I’d tag along and earn some local money in the process. It’s fairly easy,” the lich remarked. “We’re about a day and a half’s flight north, although it will probably take two weeks on land.”
“Most mothers would be worried if their sons became a mercenary,” Sparkle replied, her mental voice more lighthearted than a minute prior.
Thorn’s face had gradually softened until the beginning of a smile was there. “Most sons can’t eat souls or grow into an armored behemoth on demand.”
Sparkle looked down, her expression darkening once more. Thorn noticed this, and frowned again. Lifting up a claw, he placed it under her chin and lifted until she was looking at his eyes once more. “If this is about what she said, then screw her. Screw ponies. We can go wherever the buck we want and do anything we so choose.” Sparkle started to argue, but then Thorn cut her off. “You want to be a teacher; who said you had to teach ponies? Come on, this world is full of magic, and not just the kind that comes from the soul. Let’s go explore it.”
Sparkle’s smile had returned. “Thanks. You know just how to cheer me up.”
Thorn grinned, showing off his razor-sharp fangs. He tried to give her a thumbs up, but stopped when his stomach rumbled. Sparkle giggled, feeling the dragon’s flesh gurgle beneath her. At the same time, Thorn let out a huge belch and a jet of flame, which quickly materialized into a scroll.
Thorn snatched it out of the air before Sparkle could grab it with her magic and unrolled it swiftly. His eyes flickered over the contents in few short seconds, having inherited his mother’s speed-reading ability. The frown returned full force.
He crumpled the letter up and threw it to the far side of the inn’s bedroom, where it bounced off the wall. “Bah. The bitch wants you to apologize to her. If anything, she should be apologizing to you.”
Glaring at her son, Sparkle stood from Thorn’s belly and walked to retrieve the letter from the other timeline. She too quickly read the scroll’s contents, although it wasn’t worded nearly as badly as Thorn’s reaction had made it seem. “She wants me to apologize for lying to her,” Sparkle said, “but if you’d read the whole thing, you’d know she wants to apologize for insulting me.”
“Insulted?” Thorn asked, flabberghasted. “Mom, you’re still shaking. I’m still shaking. We’re both a hair’s breadth away from snapping, and you think she just insulted you?” He shook his head and exhaled a plume of acrid, black smoke from between his teeth. “No. That was not just an insult, that was a blow against our very existence. I still think you should kill her, but I know you won’t.”
Sparkle rolled her eyes. “Thorn, save it. You’re not helping.”
“I’m just saying...”
The necromancer’s eye roll made an encore. “Look, I’m just going to get this straightened out. If we get a happy ending out of this, great. If not... I’ll deal with that if and when it comes. In the mean time, why don’t you go blow off some steam for us, alright?”
“There was this centaur mare in the group that was eyeing me. Could I...” He made a ring with one claw and stuck two finger from his other claw into it.
“You’re a kid.”
“Who’s had first-person experience with it thanks to you, and who can become an adult anytime I want.”
“The virginity sacrificing rituals-”
“Also work if your partner is a virgin. Besides, it’s not like I need them,” Thorn countered.
“And getting her too drunk to think straight doesn’t count.”
“Duh,” Thorn replied, rolling his eyes. “There’s no fun in it if she’s drunk enough to say yes to anything.”
“And don’t eat her when you’re done.”
A beat. “... I wasn’t planning on it.”
Sparkle eyed him closely. “Alright. Do whatever you want. It’s your mess, though.”
“I know,” Thorn replied. “Now, don’t you have an undeserving sister to attend to?”
Sparkle waved a hoof dismissively. Her eyes focused on a point in front of her as she created the portal to to their pocket dimension. Using the fake-wraith she’d left in Ponyville as an anchor, she stepped through. The portal instantly vanished behind her, leaving only a small, quickly-fading ripple in the air.
Thorn flopped down, sprawling across the wooden floor of his room. He absently stared up at the similarly wooden ceiling. “Sheesh , I wish there actually was a centaur with the hots for me. Anything would be better than this shitstorm.”
Sparkle reappeared within her own bed in the orphanage, much to her surprise. Apparently, when she had warped away without thinking, her wraith had decided to fill in for “Rhodium” using an illusion. She giggled slightly when she realized her blunder, thankful that she had made the specter as smart as it was.
The specter itself nodded and then drifted away to do whatever specters did when Sparkle wasn’t commanding them. Sparkle, meanwhile, hopped off the bed and headed for the door of the room. She took note of the clock on the wall and was mildly surprised to see that she had spent the whole night away with Thorn.
A short walk later ended with Sparkle in the same park where she had been discovered by her sister, who was waiting for Sparkle on the same bench as before. Twilight’s face was stern and hard; Sparkle knew her anger was still as intense as ever, even if it had cooled from an inferno to a frosty chill. The necromancer walked up to the paladin and plopped down beside her. “I’m sorry, Twilight. Can you ever forgive me for lying to you?”
“That depends on what you say next; can you tell the truth about everything?” Twilight answered, her voice even and tightly controlled.
“Heh. Figures.” Sparkle’s eyes turned upwards, gazing at the crisp, blue sky. “I guess I should start with an introduction. Hello, I’m a monster with many names and many faces. To the public, I’m a little filly named Rhodium. To my family, I’m a mare named Sparkle, and to my enemies, I am a soul-eating abomination nicknamed the bone mare. My soul is a chimeric hybrid composed of a pony’s soul, half a dragon’s soul, a fifth of a centaur’s soul, and a soul weapon. Thorn, my draconic other half, has a taste for pony flesh that’s slowly been bleeding over to me. My student is an assassin that I am training to be even more deadly, and I secretly worship Lady Death in the vain hope that I won’t end up in the pits for the death and destruction I’ve caused. I study and practice the blackest of arts and am the antithesis of all that paladins stand for.
“I hope we can be good friends.”
Twilight’s face had slowly worked its way through an number of expressions as her sister, or the thing that called itself her sister, introduced itself. The non-sequitur at the end, however, completely threw her for a loop. “What?”
“You heard me,” Sparkle replied. “I’m an utterly irredeemable monster, a danger to society, a walking mass of destruction, and I want to be your friend.”
“Sparkle, take this seriously,” Twilight said. “I don’t want any bullshit; just tell me the truth.”
“Alright then. I’m a normal mare, as normal as a natural dark mage can be. I’ve accidentally killed a few ponies, but I always apologized. I’ve never broken any laws, excluding the whole reincarnation thing. How about that?” Sparkle asked, seemingly serious, and then her tone changed dramatically. “Is that enough bullshit for you? Because that first story was the truth. Or are you going to keep deluding yourself even when I tell the truth? You asked for it, you better damn well listen to it.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Twilight yelled at her sister as she loomed over her sister’s little body. “Drop the theatrics and just tell me the straight truth.”
“Fine. Let’s start with your whorse of a teacher and all the ways she screwed me over. Sound fun? Let’s see...”
They talked. More accurately, Sparkle talked and Twilight listened. Aside from the occasional question, once Sparkle started really talking, Twilight barely spoke at all. And while it might have started out angry and heated, Sparkle’s tale eventually cooled into a confusing ball of emotions.
The shadows around them as the sun approached noon, and then lengthened again as Celestia’s orb started its return to the western horizon. Ponies passed by them, seeing them as just a mare and a foal having a conversation, unaware of the stakes. With the cool breeze and the puffy clouds, it would have been a lovely day, but Twilight and Sparkle had no attention to spare to notice it.
At long last, Sparkle finished speaking. Her throat was dry, her mouth was exhausted, and her stomach furious because she hadn’t eaten since lunch, the day before. And yet neither thirst, nor hunger, nor fatigue were on her mind at that moment; the only thing Sparkle cared about was Twilight, and the silence that had fallen between them.
Finally, Twilight spoke her mind. “I’m not sure what to think. This is all just a bit too much for me at the moment. But, I think I understand why you did what you did. I don’t like it, not at all, but I understand.” A pause. “Here’s what I do know with absolute certainty. First, you did tell me. I feared that you’d run off or lie to me again; you have no idea the relief I’m feeling because that isn’t the case. And second...”
She looked Sparkle right in the eye, brushing aside the glasses so that she could look right through her sister’s window-like eyes. In a significantly softer tone of voice, she said, “Second, you are my sister. I love you, and I always will. Perhaps I forgot that yesterday when I yelled at you, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Maybe I just needed a little reminder.”
Sparkle released a breath that she didn’t know that she’d been holding. Tension flowed out of her body like water rolling off a duck’s back, causing her to slouch semi-contently.
“So, for those two reasons alone, I’m going against everything I was taught as a paladin and the student of Celestia,” Twilight continued. “I’ll forgive you on three conditions.”
“W-what?” Sparkle asked, her breath hitching.
“First, tell Shining Armor everything.”
Sparkle’s body stiffened instantly.
“Maybe not now, but at some point, he deserves to know the truth. Do you really think he’d turn you in? Of course not; he’s our BBBFF,” Twilight stated.
Even with that argument, Sparkle didn’t want Shining Armor to find out. She’d poured her soul out once already; now she wanted nothing more than to bottle it up again and never, ever speak of it. But upon looking at her sister and subsequently remembering the very last moment she’d seen Shiny, Sparkle changed her mind.
“Fine. Not now, but eventually.”
“Good,” Twilight said, nodding. “Second, and this is the big one: No more secrets and lies between us. I’ll never use them against you, so you never have to be scared of telling me. I feel like my emotions have been torn at by a hydra; I can’t take any more lies. The next time you do or know something, tell me straight away. Trust me; I’m your sister. We always need to be there for each other, and if we can’t trust each other, then who could we? It would be the end of us. Will you promise me that there won’t be anything but the truth between us?”
Sparkle looked long and deep at her sister. All at once memories flooded her mind. Every time she sat next to Twilight and held her, the times when Twilight cried for her when she herself had no more tears to shed, and when Twi smiled for her when she couldn't. She vividly recalled the all-consuming emptiness she felt when Twilight had walked away. Sparkle knew that laying her soul to bare before herself after all she had done had been difficult enough; doing that before somepony else, especially someone that meant the world to her, would be painful, but not as bad as this had been.
However, there was something even more unacceptable that she couldn’t possibly deal with and expect to remain intact after: the loss of her sister. And so, with a grim, yet determined smile, Sparkle chanted, “Cross my heart, the end is nigh, stick a spear point in my eye.”
Twilight scooped up her little sister and held her deeply against her chest. To Sparkle, the warmth of the contact felt like a warm light in a sea of darkness, and to Twilight, it was exactly what it felt like: a scared, little foal who needed solid, stable love. “Thank you,” Twilight said. “Although you could have used a more pleasant vow, you know, like Pinkie’s swear.”
“I’d rather get a spear through my head than lose you,” Sparkle replied with absolute certainty as she snuggled against her sister. “By the way, what’s Pinkie’s swear?”
Twilight leaned back, letting her little sister go in order to free up her forelegs. “I’ll show you. I promise that I will never lie to you, and that I will never willingly hurt you, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Seriously? That’s like a filly’s version of my swear! Mine’s better!” Sparkle replied, somewhat boastfully. Underneath that, her sister’s promise did resonate with her, building up a little bit more trust between them.
“Well, maybe for you,” Twilight mirthfully replied.
“Hmm...” Sparkle wrapped her short forelegs around her bigger sisters skinny body. “What was the third thing?”
“I’m sorry. Can you forgive me for insulting you? I was mad and I wasn’t thinking and-” A tiny hoof on her lips stopped Twilight.
“Easy,” Sparkle replied. “I forgive you.”
Twilight hugged her again, harder this time. “Thank you!”
Sparkle pushed away a little bit. “Just steer clear of Thorn for a bit. He was very... colorful... in his description of what he wanted to do to you for insulting us.”
“Sure,” Twilight said.
“I’m serious,” Sparkle insisted. “He’s been watching us the whole time through my link, and he’s still furious and still insisting that I at least maim you for that, and now he’s cringing and trying to bury the thought because he knows I caught him.”
“You’re using the link? What about that Nightmare of yours? What was it called? Sparkrovitar? Is it safe to use the link because of it?”
“Still there, but still bound by Luna’s spells, thankfully.” Sparkle rubbed one hoof against the other, silently noting that she needed to get the feathering on her fetlocks trimmed. She didn’t like thinking about Sparkrovitar, and so her mind automatically sought out distractions. “We haven’t ever opened the link that far since then. But, without the junk thoughts that became Sparkrovitar, it feels cleaner. We stay more distinct than before. I’m tempted to say that we’d stay separate now, even if we opened it up all the way.”
“That’s good... I think,” Twilight hesitantly replied.
“It is.”
Silence fell between them. As good as their reconciliation had felt, the lull in conversation exposed something between them. Sparkle could feel it in her chest - an ache that had no source but from the pain her sister had caused. Similarly, Twilight’s heart was heavy, still stinging from the pain of the loss, return, loss again, and return again of her sister. Neither mare would forget, and no apology could ever make them feel whole and unwounded again.
But that was alright. A cleaned and bandaged wound can heal without festering, but in the end, it still leaves a scar. They forgave, but would never forget.
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Not sure what to think about Thorn with him being open to having sex. Telling everything to her sister might have been the best think Sparkle could have done.
Ha! Knew it!
Lady Life - Twilight
Lord Death (Reaper) - Thorn
Lord Death (Keeper) - Sparkle
Lord Death (Sleeper) - Cobalt
Sparkle mk2 will eventually become Lord Death confirmed. Also, Twilight becomes Lady Life, fun little parallel ying/yang thing.
6317563
My theory as the author is that Thorn is actually, unbeknownst to even himself, quite clever in terms of making his mom feel better. His asking for sex was less about the sex itself and more about getting Sparkle to relax and focus on something else for a moment. As Thorn said, there wasn't actually a centaur with the hots for him, and then Sparkle commented that Thorn had been watching the whole time (and not getting down and dirty).
6317569
Almost. Think of this: what role would a dragon (who hoards things) better fit? What did Sparkle describe herself as waaaayy back in chapter 5 of Split Second?
6317588
Then just exchange Reaper and Keeper?
6317602
Yep.
It's like you're dangling a carrot before my eyes, but still keep me second guessing if i'm ever gonna get the freaking carrot. Keep going i guess.
Also, reading half of chapter 5 again made me wonder how Celestia, and Luna for that matter, reacts to this whole thing, i mean, i would be surprised if both of them didn't expect something along these lines - and what actions they take.
He crumpled the letter up and through it to the far side
1. Threw.
6317574
For future reference, it's "yin/yang", not "ying/yang" and the Chinese name for the symbol itself (rather than the concepts it represents) is taijitu (which, according to Wikipedia, translates to "diagram of supreme ultimate". the "taiji" (supreme ultimate) part is their name for the philosophical system of which yin and yang are a part).
I really enjoyed this chapter ( even though I prefered the fourth ).
I can't wait to see the evolution of each characters ( especially Cobalt and Twilight since we only had Sparkle's ( and a little Thorn ) journey ).
Stupid muse, stop running ahead of the story
Seems that Sparkle is the Sleeper. Spike is half her doul, so maybe he is the Keeper? Twilight might be the Life god... Maybe.
One thing I would like to mention is that whenever Lord Death appears I feel it is safe to assume that that Lord Death is rather then Sparkle, Cobalt. However Cobalt refers to Sparkle as himself. Would this not suggest that Cobalt’s soul connects/merges with Thorn and Sparkle?
6317792
Thank you.
6317949
Actually, the headcanon I'm using for the background of this story is that the original Twilight Sparkle is Lady Harmony, and that when Twilight Sparkle ascended, she bonded to the tree.
And then time un-happened and re-happened differently.
So. We have confirmation on the exact nature of ascended Twilight/Sparkle.
And also this explains some interesting little tidbits that Death kept dropping. So that is also a thing. Fascinating, really.
So you're doing a good job. Thanks for the awesome.
The Reaper: Tirek
The Keeper: Thorn
The Sleeper: Sparkle
6318107 naw see that's the beauty of it
the reaper future sparkle
the sleeper present sparkle
the keeper the gray stallion with a briefcase or deaths beastly form which is either sparkivitar or tiereks body possessed by sparkle
You're most welcome. I love this story just as much as you do writing it, and hope for the best for both of them.
I like the whole god thing, and so many theories of who the main characters are, but who is Discord? Is he a god in you universe like so many other fanfics?
I am wondering as to what the purpose of the Sleeper is, as I see no reason for his/her existence other to, well, exist.
6318511
What is the purpose of any sleeper? To bide time until awakening. Death's life is obviously a convoluted wibbly-wobbly mess of crossing timelines, and the different faces of Death don't necessarily happen at the same time for him.
6318511 my thoughts on this would be. the sleeper is there to have a some what normal life for the other 2 deaths. or deaths way of effecting the world. gods are bound by rules about effecting mortals too much after all.
Did you draw inspiration from Jim Butcher? This reminded me of the Royalty of the Fae courts in the Dresden Files
6318995
Nope. Most of the stuff that is obviously not canon is made from scratch. When I do borrow something, It's usually pretty blatant.
6318729
Actually, all the gods in this setting, save for Life and Death, are kings, queens, princesses, and emperors. It's not stated so much in the story itself (yet), but in the blog, I've expanded on it a lot.
The gods are Evrfyr, the Dragon Queen and goddess of Fire; Bakhotir, Lord of the Labyrinth (minotaur king) and god of Earth; Holone, Queen of the deer and goddess of Water; and The Storm Emperor (who refuses to be called anything but that title), emperor of the Griffins and god of Wind. Then Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. All of them are major political figures.
6319062 I'm interested how Twilight from the original timeline will fit to this. If she still ascends and becomes an alicorn as in canon, will she be the goddess of magic?
6319062 I'm actually surprised you didn't include Discord in that Pantheon. Spirit/God of Chaos and all that. Plus, up until he was deposed by the Two Sisters, he ruled Equestria. He may even be a ruler of some sort now, what with that chaos dimension shown in one of the newer episodes.
6318511 I think The Sleeper's reason for existence is more of an avatar for Lord Death when he wants to interact with ponies.
The Reaper is the one that actually takes the souls of the dead, not really good for just talking to ponies. Even ones like Sparkle.
At least that is my understanding.
So everybody wonders who is Reaper, Keeper and Sleeper, but I wonder something comepletly different. We got the names of eight gods and then there is "The Storm Emperor of The Wind". Why is he the only one without a real name? Even "Lady Life" and "Lord Death" are more names than his. This is so irritating to me.
On an other note: Read the first story and this story in one go. Good job author.
6319347
Stormy doesn't like people calling him by his real name; it's a vanity thing. But, when the vain individual can use the wind for super hearing and long-distance punishment, the mortals tend to obey pretty well. There's a lot of backstory and extra stuff like that on the tumblr that's worth browsing through even if you don't follow it.
6319278
Gods in this world are a physical manifestation of a property of the universe itself. In contrast, Discord is an extradimensional being that prodtudes into that universe; the chimera-like body is simply what mortal minds see him as.
6319230
And friendship, because her existence would retroactively make friendship = magic. It's called MLP: Friendship is Magic for a reason.
6318423
^ This. Ya know since he appears to trump both Celestia and Luna in power at the very least, perhaps the elemental 4 as well depending on if he messed with them and/or they give a toss about the Sisters/Equestria. He's also at the very least passingly familiar with Death.
Perhaps the ponies who think 12 are right. The 9 they listed plus Order, Chaos and one other (perhaps an overgod figure (literally the king of Gods or God of Gods,)like D&D's Avo?)
The Elements could even be the overgods way of limiting the power of these incarnate Gods to stop them messing to much with mortals, after all the only things that can beat a God are other Gods, and it appears the Sisters together were toys to Discord so it very well could take the power of the overgod to beat him.(Overgod's have automatic I-trump-everything rules by default.)
>The Sleeper
Hav you ever played Gothic?
Sleeper be with you!
6319462
Thanks for the explanation.
6318003 Remember that Sparkle is in a male body now, though. Seems to me Cobalt is the Sleeper, not the reaper or the Keeper
As always sir that was art and thus you deserve to be told so.
So am I right in asinine that each of these gods are the overlords of a species.
It was mentioned in the previous story that the earth god was the leader of the minotaurs. And we know that Celestia and Luna are the leaders of ponykind. So I can't help but wonder about the others.
WEWT xD Missed the email on this one but YAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
Great Job!!!
Is it me or is Thorn regressing into a 2 dimensional character?
Its just when ever we see thorn now he is a blatant sociopath.
I see Sparkles and her progression down the road to Tartarus, but Thorn just seems like a random sociopath that she happens to know...Ironically enough even more so than her apprentice.
6317609 Together, they are known as Eeper.
6324500
Hey, how do you get fimfic to email you when a story updates?
I had that feature activated for my account a while back, but somehow one of the site's functionality overhauls (about 6 or 9 months ago now) changed how settings are stored, and it turned that feature off for me, and I can't figure out how to turn it back on.
I've even gone as far as to ask several of the site admins, but to no avail (they never responded
).
6331707
Edit the bookshelf and click email updates xD
6331778
Awesome!
Thank you so much!
When is the next chapter?
6352247
Very soon. There are complications delaying it, though.
I really hope Sparkle keeps her promise. I like their odd little relationship.
Well that sounds ominous