Once More, with Feeling

by Amaranthine Thought

Chapter 17: ...

Twilight was frowning, trying to think. Her eyes were shut as she focused, pushing back against the gnawing fear, and trying to work out what to do. The others were nearby, growing nervous and fearful as well as Applejack wandered around, nearly pressing the gem into the earth with an increasing desperation.

It wasn't glowing anymore.

Following Rarity had been… easier said than done. Her finding spell didn’t give direction, only proximity, which made the entire trip nerve wracking. The glow had flickered a lot during the experience as they had wound their way through Ponyville, including a few worrying moments when the trail passed under a house, or building. But they had managed to follow it, and other than the occasional gasp of fear when the gem went dark, it had gone mostly fine.

Until now, right at the edge of the Everfree when they had lost the glow again, and it wasn't coming back. A few reasons came to Twilight’s mind as to why.

The tunnel had gone below fifty feet, which seemed unlikely. Rarity had made a sharp turn, and continued at such a pace that they had been unable to reestablish the connection before she left the area, also unlikely. Tunnel construction precluded the idea of sharp turns, or particularly deep digging. And those were the nice ideas.

The others were not so nice. The next best was that perhaps she had found the tunnel exit, and had ceased her spell to hide her horn glow, because of the ghoul’s proximity. It might even be looking in her direction, necessitating her hiding. And the last…

If the ghoul had been in the tunnel…

They would never hear anything.

“What are we going to do?” Fluttershy whispered, as Twilight wrestled with her fears, and sought some answer, some course of action.

“…Master…” she hissed as silently as she could, daring the chance, despite the bearer’s nearness. She had to have his help, she was trapped, things weren’t working!

She felt it more than heard it, and froze.

Death had turned away from her, and given his answer:

He wasn't going to help her.

For an instant, an anger like no other bloomed within her, until it was suddenly cut dead by Applejack’s heavy sigh.

“I can’t find it.” the farm mare said, Twilight looking to see her, worn, defeated. “She’s gotta have moved on by now… What do we do Princess?”

They all looked to her, and Twilight stared back, feeling the weight of it. Their fears, her fears, their hope in her, the trembling terror, the thought of death…

A single thought came in that silence as she stared.

How long had they been searching? In fact, the sky above was overcast, hiding the true color of the sky, and the nearby forest was very dark already…

Twilight almost buckled under that, but something within her resisted. Something stronger than that, stronger than her shoved her back up, gave her strength, lifted her upon a bed of power and strength. Where her legs failed her, where her heart gave, it lifted her back, and emboldened her. She felt warm.

She stood a little differently, her mane and tail gaining the faintest of glitters. She relaxed upon it for a second, before heaving herself back up.

There was hope yet! They had a chance! Act swiftly, act in assurance, and think!

The ghoul was obviously intelligent, trying to hide its tunnel, both sides. It avoided large groups of ponies, going after individuals, and at least sounded like it would take some care in its actions, instead of being a mindless monster.

Tunnels of this size would take some time to dig, and thus, possibly serve multiple uses; breaking into several different places. Either way, it would take some time to dig it, and doing so only at night would be inefficient.

So the tunnel start would have to be someplace where ponies normally weren’t, and where it could be hidden easily in case of any searchers.

The Everfree was almost overqualified for that. Nopony went inside, and the heavy underbrush would make hiding a tunnel and much more easy. That did make the chances of finding it very slim, and the ghoul had every chance in the world to hear them first, but Twilight had one more thing that might just help.

“The stink, that horrible stink.” Rarity had said.

Undead let off a strong scent, an unpleasant scent. Since ghouls had a mind in all likelihood, it would know that. And act to hide it, with a strong scent. Like, say… certain kinds of flowers.

And Twilight knew of a flower that possessed a potent scent within the Everfree. There might be others, but there was only one grove she knew of, and it was close. A perfect place to hide the tunnel, any victims, and something that stunk.

Everything pointed toward that place as where the ghoul, Trixie, and possibly Rarity were.

“Into the woods,” she said, all her thoughts taking instants to complete, “as silently as we can. Be ready for a fight.”

Then she headed within, and the bearers followed her.

---

Twilight didn’t know their name. A tiny purple flower bloomed upon a vine, a whole grove of them encasing a small area with the Everfree, encapsulating it in a kind of fence. Blocking view inside and driving away anything with a nose. As small as they were, those flowers had a scent that burned, like it was less a scent and more a kind of scent based attack.

Twilight and the other hurried along, and Twilight heard every crack and rustle as they went. She gave her hopes to the idea that it was just her fears that made the sounds louder, ignored the nagging idea that it was very dark, and kept going. Taking speed over stealth.

She felt terrified yet, but something within her numbed the emotion, and readied her to fight. A hot power, not a cold one. It didn’t clear her mind, but readied her instead; as if she was moving and reacting faster than she might have normally done, even in her fear.

She held it close. If anything did happen, or needed to happen, she was going to need that hot readiness. That feeling that she could instantly snap to the attack, no hesitation.

She spotted the flowers ahead, and didn’t smile. As she approached, she had to slow and then stop for a moment, the scent too much for a few moments. The bearers actually recoiled as if slapped. It was too much for Rainbow, who had gone a little ahead of the others, who snorted.

A sudden rustle made them freeze, though Twilight’s horn lit bright, and she felt… Hot.

“Come out!” she declared, her voice firm, harsh. Her fear washed away by a righteous anger, one she accepted and thrived within. The bearers started faintly before readying themselves, Princess Rest starting to gently glow with a golden light. “Foul monster! Come and face your judgement!”

No response came, and Twilight acted. A beam of light from her horn seared through the plants ahead of her, and she stepped within the clearing, her eyes blazing.

Only to suddenly stop, all the glow suddenly leaving her as she saw. The bearers rushed after her, to do the same, though they were not yet focusing on what she was. They were happy and relived.

“Rarity!” Applejack yelled, seeing the unicorn, unharmed, though currently brown. “Yer alright!” she said, before she, and the others, finally noticed that she wasn’t looking at them. That she was shaking, that Princess Rest had suddenly become perfectly still.

Rarity was looking at what Twilight was, and as the others noticed, they paled, much as how Princess Rest was.

Near Rarity was the tunnel. Near that, a tree, the tunnel partly hidden by its roots.

And near the tree, the focus of their focuses…

A splatter of blood. A lot of blood. It wasn't very fresh.

It pooled thickly in an area, but it looked like something had been taken out of it, dragged out of it, leaving a smear across the ground and plants. A short, brutal trail that went toward a few bushes nearby.

A few bushes that still had a few slivery blue strands of hair trapped in them.

Rarity turned to them, her eyes wide with shock, her form trembling. She looked to Princess Rest, who had simply frozen in place, and tears formed in her eyes, little streams slightly washing away the accumulated dirt and mud on her.

“…She’s gone.” Rarity whispered, giving voice to what they all knew. “She’s… Trixie’s…” Rarity stopped, unable to continue, hanging her head, a dirty hoof going up to help muffle the first sob.

Rainbow only stared as Applejack went forward, moving as if on strings. Pinkie’s hair straightened, and Fluttershy went to Rarity, her own gait heavy, and slow. After a moment, Rainbow looked to Princess Rest.

Then, seeing her face, she looked back to where the others were gathering near Rarity, and went to them, the group staring at the stains.

After a moment, her mind silent, Twilight walked toward the trail, and looked out, into the dark wood.

There wasn't even the faintest hint of a trail after a few feet.

“…This place isn’t safe.” she said after a moment, looking to the other bearers. They, or most of them, looked to her. She gave no indication of any emotion at the pained sorrow on their faces and in their eyes. “I shall join you momentarily.” she said after a moment more, and cast them back to the library. She did not go with them.

Instead, she only asked, “Death? Where do I go?”

A few moments passed, Twilight waiting.

Ghouls are not truly dead. Death said after a time, And as such, I do not know where they lie.

“I see.” Twilight said, her voice calm, measured, and mature. “So, is there some other way I can find them, or am I to burn the whole forest in my search?”

Twilight… Your mind and soul suffer, but you must not give into such feelings.

“I am not.” she said, perfectly calm. “I am in perfect control. Please, answer my question.”

…You would fall upon them like a vengeful goddess, and tear their souls asunder.

“They deserve nothing less.” she said, still perfectly calm. At least outwardly.

Inside, she was a maelstrom of emotion, fear, anger, despair, terror. She was awash in it all, and all of it was hot. A heat that let her hold onto it, let her focus, let her ignore the trembles in her soul. In the heat, she was strong.

Death didn’t respond, and Twilight felt a cold touch at her, one colder than what she had ever felt. She flinched from it, clung to the heat more as it slowed the emotions within her. Her mane and tail glittered and then shone as she did so.

Calm, think about what you wish to do.

“I know what I have to do.” she responded. “I must bring judgement to these monsters who dare such things. End their hideous existences and purge them of their evil. Let their souls pay the price for their sins.”

That is not what you wish. Your price would destroy them, and deny them rest. You are the guide, not the judge. It is not your place.

Twilight huffed, her mane and tail shining bright, her eyes glowing. She gently pawed the ground, a tiny look of irritation passing over her. The heat grew hotter, and the next cold spike was barely felt. She couldn’t really feel her emotions anymore. They didn’t really matter to her anymore.

“I am the stars.” she said, her voice gaining a note of power, of authority. “They are naught but corrupted souls, hiding within rotten bodies and hungering for the life they lost. Their bodies are covered in the blood of the innocent. Their souls made into dark, misshapen things hiding in the rotten flesh of their refusal of rest.”

“It is my duty to see such beings cleansed.”

It is not. Death hissed, his voice icy. Their souls are trapped in their own denials, bent to the corruption of undeath. You are power of the stars alone, and that does not give you the authority to judge good and evil.

Twilight, in the heat, resisted his tone when before, she would have crumpled under it. She huffed, dismissively. “Then I shall hunt alone, and find them myself. Nothing will escape judgement.”

She turned, and then paused, her soul jar standing there.

Then begin here.

“…What?” she asked, the heat a little bit less. That was her jar. Her… jar…

Begin with those you collected. After all, Mrs. Delicate has killed many with her screams. The stallion, tormented in his own undeath, has slain as well. They are tainted, much the same as the ghouls.

So pull them from their rest, and judge them.

Twilight frowned as Death spoke, nodded as he finished, and said, “I shall.”

Her horn lit, and it was only as she touched the jar that she realized what she was doing, what she was planning.

In an instant, she snapped away from the heat, fleeing into the cold that was waiting for her. Her eyes dimmed again, and her mane and tail lost their glow, though not their glitter, and she shuddered in the frigid cold within her.

A new, colder spike of cold doused the last of the heat clinging to her, and even as she felt cold enough to freeze and never move again, she felt relieved.

The heat had let her hold steady, but… It had… pushed her to think and act like she never would have. At first, it had been hard to see, but the last…

She would have made the souls in her jar pay, and pay dearly. Not the kind Rest, but the unyielding judge. The executioner. A duty not just taken, but… wanted somehow. The heat had wanted it. And she, holding the heat, had been letting it act for her.

She shuddered again, and felt a great thankfulness toward Death. If he hadn’t made her stop, and realize…

How hot would she have gotten? How soon would it have been when she would have… judged something? If he hadn’t forced her to stare at something she knew was kind, something she had shown kindness toward, got her to see what she was trying to do…

What would she have done?

Do you require more of my cold?

“N, no.” she chattered, before rethinking it. She liked being certain, and considering, she wanted to be very certain the heat was all gone. “I, I mean y, yes.”

A far gentler cold washed through her as she tensed for another artic spike. It soothed the cold already within her, and she sighed. It wasn't really comforting, but it wasn't bad, and it guaranteed that the heat was gone.

She felt her emotions give a faint twinge, the storm of emotion still present, but she was numb to them. But regaining the feelings as she warmed up again.

…You must handle your grief in your own way, Twilight Sparkle. I can only offer the cold, and that would be to deny you life. But, should you wish it, I might help still. If you need me to, I can numb it once more, and in steps, you may face this.

“…Thank you.” she said, truly grateful for the offer. “But… I might have my own support.” she said. She felt Death nod, felt his approval, and she smiled. Best to move before her emotions caught up with her.

With a single twinkle of light, the small glade was left empty and dark, once again.

Comments

[LostArchivist]

Poor Trixie.

Mort's a clever one, though.

... I wonder what Luna or Celestia are going to think of this new idea...
Heh.