Entities of Emotion 2: Dark is the Night

by Michael_Ravencroft

Episode 8: The Night Begins to RISE (part 3)

All was peaceful in the home of Fluttershy and Derpy, everypony had just had their dinner and were swapping stories in the living room in front of the roaring fire of the hearth. Amethyst Star watched her adopted brother and sister’s interactions closely, there was a quiet tension. The unicorn mare could spot Dinky’s tells easily, but Proselyte could still pull off that mysterious stoic air about him. Being the Entity of Compassion afforded him the ability to tap into all the other Lights of Emotion, but his light, Compassion, had a calming zen like attribute to it, allowing him mask his emotions.

About the only other pony in the room who probably did know what he was feeling was Fluttershy, her now adopted mother. Amethyst was still getting used to that, calling or even thinking of Fluttershy as a mother. Honestly, Amethyst’s current mother wasn’t her real mother either, but she was her real mother to Amethyst.

When her mother first told her that she was attracted to Ms. Fluttershy, Amethyst was taken aback. All this time her mother was bisexual and she never knew! All that time she was married to their father, she secretly had a thing for mares too! It rocked her worldview, but she endured it and rolled with it, after all it was so that Dinky and Proselyte could spend more time together. Suspicions cast aside after a certain event, she trusted the pegasus and even now more than ever.

But the last thing she expected was for her mother to marry Fluttershy, heck, she didn’t even think marriage was a possibility with Ms. Fluttershy given how she normally was, well, painfully shy about things. But after the marriage and a little before, she noticed Ms. Fluttershy become stronger, no, even before that, she saw the day she returned from the Battle of Canterlot. A lot of what happened was kept quiet, but those who were in the know knew what really happened. They were given a light version of events during the battle, but it didn’t take a genius to piece together that Proselyte and Ms. Fluttershy were instrumental in Canterlot’s saving.

Still, even during the holidays, certain truths were harder to take…some more than others.

*\*/*

It was a couple of weeks before Hearth’s Warming, and Amethyst was finishing up her last few examines at Canterlot University. The testing was grueling, the teachers probably given double their salary just as extra incentive to make their testing as brutal and torturous as possible. But it was nothing for Amethyst, her talent for organization helped her ace practically every test they threw at her. In the end she walked out with an A letter grade.

Most of that day was spent in class so she’d have to catch the train tomorrow to head back home for holiday vacation. But in the meantime that didn’t mean she couldn’t go shopping for her family while she in the capital of Equestria. Amethyst hit the nearest magic shops, looking for any spellbooks that might interest her little sister. Her mother wrote that Dinky was studying under Princess Twilight and was greatly progressing with her magic training. Of course she expected no less from her amazing little sister, and the teaching skills of Equestria’s most talented magic user.

Her mother was easy to shop for, she never wanted a lot, but something from her children always brought a smile to her face. Ms. Fluttershy, she didn’t seem like a mare who was overly concerned with her looks so makeup was out of the question, fashion didn’t seem to interest her, despite the fact that she was once a model. If for a brief period of time. And then there was Proselyte, that stallion made it even harder. He never wanted much, and seemed content with pretty much everything. However, a letter from Dinky did help with what kind of gift to buy him.

‘Sis, I need a favor! Lyte wants to look into being a doctor! Isn’t that great?! I mean, with his abilities he’d be great at it! I was hoping to get him a book on pony anatomy or something for him to start reading up on, but Ponyville’s new library doesn’t have much.

So could you please visit one of the bookstores while you’re there in Canterlot and maybe find one for him?

I’ll pay you back I swear!

You can put that it was from the both us, and if you have to you can skip getting me a present. I’m sure Mom and Momma Fluttershy will get me something, if not then Lyte probably will.

Hope you’re examines aren’t as Faust awful as I’ve heard rumors of.

Can’t wait to see you back home!

Love, Dinky

P.S.: Have you found a coltfriend yet?’

Amethyst rolled her eyes at the last line. “Honestly, I’m too busy to think about stallions.” She then levitated the letter back into her saddlebags and took out the book that Dinky had asked her to get for her.

“Besides, I just got a holiday bonus in my pay from my part time job, so this didn’t set me back at all.” She levitated the book back into her bag and took out one more item, a picture of the whole family on her mother and Ms. Fluttershy’s wedding day. All five of them stood close together, each one with a genuine smile on their faces. Amethyst didn’t think her mother would ever smile like that again, but now, she does so everyday. “Well, better get back to my apartment before -”

“Amethyst?”

The unicorn mare tensed up, she recognized that voice, she wished to Faust she didn’t, but she did. The fuchsia unicorn slowly turned her head to glance over her left shoulder, and there he was. A dark brown unicorn stallion, with blue eyes and white mane, and a cutie mark of a quill pen creating an ink streak. Written Word, or Writ as he was called by his colleagues, but to Amethyst, she knew him by another name.

“Dad…”

“Hey it is you! How you doing?”

“Doing alright ‘til I saw you, so goodbye.”

Writ gave his daughter a cockeyed look and trotted alongside her. “Whoa, kiddo, where’s the fire?! I haven’t seen you in a long time, don’t you want to catch up?”

Amethyst scoffed. “No thank you, now would you kindly leave me alone? I have errands to run.”

“Jeez, Star, what’s with all the hostility?”

The unicorn mare came to an immediate halt, glancing at her adopted father with some anger in her eyes. “Did you seriously just ask me that? Why wouldn’t I be hostile after you told Mom that you didn’t want to see Dinky anymore, or her!?”

Writ swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “Honey, I’m sorry about that, really. I was just at a point where I couldn’t make time for Dinky…”

“Oh right, your big career as a journalist in Manehattan, how could I forget,” said Amethyst sarcastically.

“I’m in a better place now I swear! It won’t be like last time, we’ll have money, and I can take care of all three of you,” said Writ.

Amethyst snorted in indignation. “You ditched Mom because she was quote: ‘Keeping you from reaching your potential’. And if I remember correctly, you said you didn’t want foals.”

Writ rubbed the back of his head. “I-I don’t know if I said it like that exactly…and what do you mean?! We adopted you didn’t we, gave you a good home?”

“Mom adopted me, I know you didn’t want her to, but she did and you were stuck with me.” Amethyst turned to face her father fully, and pointed her hoof at his chest. “I can live with you not giving a damn about me, fine, I’m the unwanted adopted daughter. I could live that! But you actually made me believe you cared, and then come to find out you never wanted foals! Guess you should’ve thought of that before you knocked up Mom!”

“Hey! Watch your tone Star, I’m your father!” Writ warned.

Amethyst Star smirked at that. “‘Father’, once upon a time, not now. You never showed up when Dinky and Mom almost died in that blizzard a couple of years back, and you never came to cheer for Dinky at the Bro Hooves Blast! You never even sent a single present to her on her birthday, or even wrote a single measly letter! You know what, kindly stay away from Mom and Dinky, and me, we don’t really need you in our lives anymore.”

This time it was Writ’s turn to smirk. “Star, honey, be reasonable. Despite your mother’s weird eye thing, Derpy’s still a hot mare, even after having Dinky. And no offense, but I can’t imagine her clumsiness has gotten any better since last I saw her. I’m sure she’d be happy to see me again.”

“Humph, for being a journalist, you’re sure not up to date on current events. Mom’s remarried,” said Amethyst as she held her smirk.

The stallion’s eyes narrowed at the mention of this. “Oh, so who’s the lucky guy? Probably that Trottingham stallion with the scarf?”

Amethyst shook her head. “Nope, not Doc, they’re just best friends. Her name is Fluttershy.”

Writ shook his head as his eye twitched. “Okay, I think I heard that wrong? Sounded like you said ‘her name was Fluttershy’.”

“I didn’t stutter. I said: her name is Fluttershy. A mare, Dad, Mom married another mare.”

Suddenly, Writ laughed loudly, making Amethyst have a deadpan expression. The stallion’s laughter went on for a full minute before he managed to catch his breath. “Oh-Oh okay, now that’s a good one. Derpy, a fillyfooler? Now that’s rich, oh she’ll get a kick out of that.”

With great satisfaction, Amethyst used her magic to levitate the photo she was looking at earlier and had it hover in front of Writ. The stallion looked upon the photo closely, spotting his ex-wife and his daughters, his face scrunched up when he noticed that Derpy had that same goofy, blissfully happy smile she had on their wedding day. She was also wearing a wedding dress, and standing next to a mare, both had on ceremonial earrings each with the cutie mark of the other on their ears, and next to Dinky stood a colt, smiling, and had his mane combed to one side of his face which gave this overrated mysterious appearance.

“What…What is this?!”

“This would be a photo taken on the wedding day, taken at the alter. It was a beautiful ceremony, Princess Twilight married them actually. Dinky was a cute little flower filly and I got to be Mom’s bridesmaid, and that colt is Lyte, a pony Ms. Fluttershy took in. Dinky adores him, calls him her big brother, which he takes to heart. He was actually Ms. Fluttershy’s Best Stallion.”

Writ could see it, but his brain was having a hard time processing this information. His wife was a closet fillyfooler, and now she was married to mare?! “I…I…”

“Yeah, I know, a bit of a out of leftfield thing, but it happened.” Amethyst put the photo away and held her smile as she spoke. “Dinky’s happier than I’ve ever seen her, and Mom’s back to being as happy as she used to be. So don’t you dare show your face around us.”

Amethyst began walking but felt her a strong hold over her right foreleg. She saw a magical aura around her leg and glanced out of the corner of her right eye to see her dad using his magic to hold her there.

“Are you threatening me with something?” Writ asked.

“Keep this in mind, Ms. Fluttershy is one of the Elements of Harmony, a close and personal friend of Princess Twilight, who is also close friends with Princess Celestia and Luna. And you definitely don’t want to make Lyte angry.”

“Why do I need to be afraid of a kid?”

Amethyst felt his grip on her foreleg tighten, but she grit her teeth, not wanting to give the stallion the satisfaction that this was hurting her. “Trust me, you don’t want to know what he can do.”

The aura disappeared, releasing Amethyst’s leg. “Humph, yeah, well, we’ll see about that.” Writ began walking away but paused and glanced at Amethyst from over his shoulder. “I hope you all have a happy Hearth’s Warming, be careful that fireplace, you’d be surprised how many tragic stories I see and hear about families who don’t tend to their fireplaces, and find their houses burned down.”

A shiver ran up Amethyst’s spine. “And what the Tartarus does that mean?!”

“Just telling you to be careful, accidents can happen when you least expect them.”

With that said, Writ walked away, making Amethyst worry.

*\*/*

It had been two weeks since she last saw her adopted dad, and from what she gathered, no one here in Ponyville had seen Writ around.

He wouldn’t dare, this town is small, he’d be recognized the moment he stepped hoof in town. Still…I don’t like the way he said that…I know I made it sound like the wrath of Zacherle would fall down upon him if he did anything, and considering what would happen if he did do something, and Proselyte found out, it’d be very messy.

Amethyst looked upon the scene before her, how her mother and Ms. Fluttershy were cuddled next to each other on the couch as they laughed and talked with Dinky and Proselyte. Both her siblings seemed to have exchanged some words that led to Dinky blushing and Lyte looking a little flustered as well, probably some joke at their expense. The thought of her adopted dad coming back and ruining this was too much, it made her blood boil. Her mother deserved to be happy, so too did her little sister. As powerful as Lyte is, she wasn’t sure if he was up to hurting somepony, the last time he did anything it was a kind of forced revelation of their misdeeds, or so she was told. A twinge of fear struck her heart as her gaze fell on Fluttershy.

H-He wouldn’t…! Ms. Fluttershy’s not the same as she used to be, but even so, if did…it’d…

“Muffin, are you alright?”

Amethyst snapped out of her inward contemplation and was brought back to the present, with all four sets of eyes upon her, looking at her with worry.

“Oh, sorry, I’m fine!”

“Are you sure? You had this serious look on your face, Sis,” said Dinky with concern.

“It’s fine, Dinks, just stressing about one of my tests. Trying to remember if the short essay I wrote was good enough,” she lied.

Fluttershy smiled at Amethyst. “Don’t worry, sweetie, we know you did your best. You’ll ace it for sure.”

Derpy nodded. “Of course she will, all three you are great, so no worries!”

Amethyst managed a chuckle from the praise, her eyes fell on Lyte, who held his stoic, neutral expression. She bit her lip, no doubt Lyte saw through her lies. He could sense emotions, and no doubt hers were flashing like a strobe light in a nightclub. Amethyst figured he’d probably talk to her later when everypony was either asleep or occupied with something, but could she tell him? How was the best way to approach the “Entity of Compassion” with the news that her estranged father appeared and gave a vague threat against their family?

KA-BOOM!!!

Suddenly everypony yelped at the same time as the sound of crashing thunder echoed through the sky, followed closely by the sound of heavy rain falling upon everything. Dinky got up and walked towards the window, peering out to see that the snow was being soaked and turned to black. It was soon after that Dinky realized that the rainwater was actually black as well.

“Uh…guys, not sure if this is just weird or something we should be concerned with, but it’s raining black rainwater…”

Everypony looked to each other in confusion, most notably Proselyte. Even though he and his fellow Entities have lived in Equestria for a four of years now, there were still some things about the world that didn’t always add up. Like how a waterfall could be colored like a rainbow, so if rain could be colored black then it didn’t seem that surprising, but from what Proselyte could discern, this was not a usual occurrence.

“A rainstorm? But those clouds were all packed for snow! I didn’t - couldn’t have messed that up! Right?” Derpy asked as she looked to her wife with walleyes that teetered on the verge of tears.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, Honey, you couldn’t have! Those clouds came from the Weather Factory. It must be some -”

Suddenly the lights in the room all went dark, even the fire in the hearth went out as a chilling wind blew through the chimney and through the house. The assembled ponies shivered, feeling the cold chill run up their spines. Dinky and Amethyst focused their magic and cast an illumination spell, creating a shimmering orb of light at the tips of their horns.

“Okay, now I know this can’t be good,” said Amethyst with a little worry.

Proselyte rose from his sitting spot and looked to Amethyst Star. “Be calm, Amethyst, I’m sure -”

Suddenly, Proselyte’s body became rigid and stiff, his fur seemingly standing on end. Fluttershy, Derpy, Dinky, and Amethyst gasped as they watched the young stallion’s eyes become black as night, and at the same time a symbol made of black energy appeared, hovering a few inches above his forehead. The symbol was an upside down triangle with five vertical bars rising from it. The mares in the room had come to understand what this meant, since Proselyte was the Entity of the indigo light of Compassion, he had the ability to tap into each of the seven lights, and if the emotion or light energy was particularly strong the symbol corresponding to that emotion would appear the same way. However, this was the first time a black symbol showed itself, so far they knew of Rage, Avarice, Fear, Willpower, Hope, Compassion, Love, and Life, and what color each one was, but this black symbol was…scary.

“Lyte what’s wrong?! Are you okay?!” Fluttershy asked.

“It…It cannot be…how is that happening here?!” Proselyte whispered.

Dinky moved closer to her adopted older brother, feeling worried for his current state. “Bro, what’s wrong? What’s here? And what’s that black symbol?”

Proselyte shook his head, dispelling this trance and shot his gaze towards Fluttershy. “Fluttershy we must unite - NOW!”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened with surprise, never since the battle at Canterlot have they had a reason to unite into one being, the fact that Proselyte was demanding such a thing must’ve meant it was serious.

Unfortunately, the time to ponder on this was cut short as the front door was slammed open, striking the back wall and nearly breaking in half. Thunder roared through skies for a second time as lightning crackled, illuminating the area for a brief moment to reveal a stallion, a unicorn stallion, standing in the doorway. Amethyst quickly turned to face the doorway, and the pony who occupied its space. Her jaw clenched, and her eyes narrowed, every muscle in her body tensed up.

{Hello family, it’s been awhile,} said the stallion.

“Um, sorry, but who are -?”

“GET THE BUCK OUT OF OUR HOME, NOW!!!” Amethyst shouted in malice, interrupting her mother in the process.

Dinky, Derpy, and Fluttershy turned to the unicorn mare in shock at how harshly she addressed the stranger, Proselyte could sense the light of Rage burning in Amethyst, verging on murderous, yet laced with the intent to protect. Whoever this stallion was it was somepony that Amethyst considered a true threat, and Proselyte would have to agree, especially since, at this moment, he was sensing the dreaded evil, the original darkness, the black light of Death.

{Can’t a father visit his family on Hearth’s Warming Eve? I thought this was a time for family, to forgive and forget?}

“‘Father…?’ No…y-you…Daddy?” Dinky dared ask.

{Yes Dinky, it’s me. And you’re looking good, Dear.}

Derpy got off the couch and slowly walked towards the stallion in complete shock. “W-Writ…? It’s…It’s you! I-I thought you…”

{Yes, I know, and I’ve done some soul searching. I think it’s time we became a family again, what do ya say, my love? Ready to give this a second chance?}

“I…I…” Derpy stopped walking, hanging her head low as she took in the words of her former lover. “I wished…I hoped…that maybe one day you’d come back…that you’d say those words to me…Writ.”

Amethyst’s eyes widened, she couldn’t believe her mother was buying this complete load of bull-!

“But I can’t!” Derpy stamped her hoof, surprising the rest of her family by the sternness in her words. “Y-You left me, Amethyst, and Dinky! I know I’m not perfect, I know I mess up a lot without meaning it! But I did love you, and I was so happy to have a child with you - to have two children! But then you turned your backs on them! Me…I could live with you leaving me…it hurt a lot, but so long as you loved the girls then I could live with that! But you even shunned them! YOU, their own father!”

Derpy took a confident step forward, focusing to keep her eyes centered as she vented her pent up frustration.

“So no, no I will not come back to you! I’ve married a wonderful mare, somepony who loves me despite my faults, somepony who knows the value of family, friendship, and love! So would you kindly, GET OUT OF MY HOME!!! AND STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!!!”

If this were any other situation, Proselyte would be impressed by Derpy’s fortitude and strength, but right now, against that creature, it meant nothing.

Silence hung like a heavy fog in the room, and just as imposing. The only sound was that from the falling rain and the continuous thunder outside. Finally, after what felt like hours of silence, Writ took a step forward.

{That’s too bad, you cross eyed bitch. Honestly I’m surprised you’d find anypony willing to marry a mare with two kids, and whose very existence is a living joke! Seriously, the only true value you have was being a good lay! Huh, maybe you should’ve quit the mailmare routine and become the town whorse!}

Amethyst had heard enough, everything went red for a split second as her magical energy surged into her horn, condensing into a tightly packed sphere of mana energy. The sphere released in the form of a strong magic bolt that shot through the air, passing by Derpy’s right ear, and struck Writ right between the eyes. The blast was strong enough to pierce through his head, exploding out the back and causing flesh and bone to decorate the doorway and some of the walls. The force generated by the impact threw his head back, resulting in an audible snap of his neck, and causing the stallion to fall backwards.

All watched as the body of Written Word fell to the floor, still and lifeless. Derpy’s eyes were wide, Dinky was on the verge of breaking down mentally, and Fluttershy looked like she was doing all she could to keep herself from fainting. Amethyst’s vision returned, and it was only now she realized what she had done, seeing her adopted father’s body dead on the floor.

The unicorn mare shook her head in disbelief. How could she do that? She was so angry, she hated him, his words pushed her over the edge, but she never thought she could…do that.

“Amethyst…what have you done…?” Derpy asked in a trembling voice.

“I…I…”

{OH! Nice shot Sparkler!}

All eyes were drawn back to the body of Written Word, which had begun to rise back up. Proselyte fanned his wings and released the light of Compassion, casting a glow upon the room and making everything visible, including Writ. The stallion was wearing some kind black uniform, with the same symbol that had appeared on Proselyte’s forehead emblazoned onto his uniform, but in a white color as to stand out against the dark attire. His coat and mane were faded, as if all life had been drained from it. The hole in his head where Amethyst shot him had begun to close, the sickening sound of flesh and bone mending itself could be heard as the back of his head regenerated.

Writ wiped his brow, flicking some of his ebony ichor onto the floor, and opening his eyes to reveal the two pools of darkness with glowing white dots for eyes. {Well, I must say, I really wasn’t expecting that, but at least now I don’t have to pretend anymore.} Writ cracked his neck, realigning it back into place. {You see, what I was really getting at was that you - and your fillyfooling wife - join a new family, because soon, we’ll all be one big happy undead family!}

Thanks to the contrasting indigo glow, they were able to watch as spheres of dark energy appeared around the stallion. The spheres then morphed into black light constructs, four in total. Each one taking on the form of a weapon of which to eviscerate and maim its victim.

Proselyte wasted no time, his wings quickly morphed into tentacles of indigo light and lashed out towards the Black Lantern. Two of the weapons, a jagged dual-edged saw blade, clashed with one of his tentacles, while the other tried to attack Writ, but was stopped by a large butcher’s knife construct. The other two made a beeline for Fluttershy and Derpy.

The Entity of Compassion focused his light, transforming his tail into a third light tentacle. With the speed of a striking cobra, the third tentacle struck both constructs, making them veer of course and embed themselves in the wall and floor. The Black Lantern grunted with annoyance and rushed towards Proselyte, succeeding in tackling the pegasus stallion. Both rolled around the floor as their opposing lights clashed with each other.

Black Lantern Writ managed to slam Proselyte into the wall, thrusting a foreleg forward and pinning the Entity to the wall by his throat. The undead minion raised his right hoof, black energy formed around it and created a claw construct, each digit flexing in preparation for the kill.

{I wonder, will an Entity’s heart shine brighter? Can an Entity become a zombie? I sure as Tartarus want to find that out!}

Before Writ could make his move, Fluttershy came at him from the left, having grabbed a chair from the kitchen table. She then used said chair and smashed it into the side of the Black Lantern’s head with all her might, which was shockingly strong whenever someone she cared about was in danger. The attack disoriented the zombie, making him loosen his hold, Proselyte used this opportunity by having his tail tentacle come up from behind and wrap around the stallion’s throat.

Proselyte knew he would be unable to kill this affront to nature and life itself, at least not without the green light of Willpower, but at least regeneration would slow it down. With a mighty twist, Proselyte rotated the Black Lantern’s head until it was looking behind itself. With a flick of the tentacle, he tossed the undead stallion across the room and into the stairs. Proselyte coughed and took in deep, raspy breaths of air as he tried to maintain focus. Fluttershy was quick to come to his side, helping him maintain his balance.

The Entity of Compassion looked up at Fluttershy with his one uncovered eye. “Fluttershy?!”

The pegasus mare nodded, knowing what needed to be done.

Proselyte’s indigo light enveloped them both, forming a sphere of pure indigo light as their forms disappeared in blinding light. Derpy had quickly gathered her daughters, keeping them behind her as she kept her eyes on her zombie ex-husband. Speaking of which, Writ’s head was currently repositioning itself as he recovered from the toss.

The sphere shattered apart, revealing Fluttershy in a new form. Her wings were made of three glowing indigo light tentacles each, her mane had become pure indigo light along with her tail. Her body was colored indigo as well, some small patches of her original fur color were still there, but in a way that formed tribal markings all over her body. The united pair narrowed their eyes towards the Black Lantern and spoke but one word.

“Nok.”

Author's Note:

Next Time:

The battle for Ponyville has begun, but will the power of two Entities and one White Lantern be enough stave off the hordes of the Black Lantern Corps?

Or will greater strife be in store for the wielders of the light?