Once More, with Feeling

by Amaranthine Thought

Chapter 22: Redemption Before the Dawn

Twilight, awaken.

Twilight woke, Death’s voice clear, waking her in a near instant. A moment later, and she got out of her bed, recalling that he’d mentioned work for her in the morning.

As she noted that the sun was not up yet, the night sky with the barest hints of daylight, Death told her, Progress to Fluttershy’s home; a soul waits for you to collect it.

Twilight nodded, heading out, before lightly hesitating as Death added, Beware, Twilight; this soul shall not be easy nor simple to guide.

“…Like the stallion at the farm?” she asked, resuming her pace.

No. Though powerful, he is not dangerous as this one is, even to your immortal state. If you allow it to act without restraint, it is possible that it will cause permanent damage to your own soul; this cannot be permitted to occur.

Twilight nodded, the alicorn gaining a mild note of concern for Death’s warning. “How should I handle it then?” she asked, walking on the path towards Fluttershy’s home then. “Just right into the jar?”

It cannot enter the jar in its current form.

“What?”

You will need to transfigure the soul before it is possible to guide it to rest. Death told her. Now, beware; you approach.

Twilight didn’t need Death’s warning to slow down and feel worried. Fluttershy’s home was just ahead, and a large, dark mass was faintly visible in the first rays of dawn.

The area was silent, the smell of rot and death lightly hung in the air, but so too was a cold, a deep, numbing chill that Twilight knew came from the thing she was seeing. A pervasive wrongness struck her, Twilight instantly on edge, and almost frightened, if not for knowing Death was guiding her.

The soul hides in the flesh yet, Twilight. Death told her as she came to a stop, staring at it, her horn already alight, Twilight ready to react at the first hint of trouble. When you pull it free, it will break your hold at the same time; if you do not capture it again before it reaches you, your only chance would be to wield Lux’s light as powerfully as you can, in the hope that you might sear it before it can truly touch you.

Twilight nodded, swallowing. Carefully, she reached out, and lightly sensed for the soul; a moment after, and she felt it.

She took a moment to take a deep breath and ready herself, and then she gently grabbed it, and attempted to slowly tug it free.

The moment she pulled, the soul came free; erupting from the body and shattering her tenuous grasp as is it was made of thin glass. Twilight startled, both from its doing that, and the horrific thing it appeared to be; a transparent, twisting, nightmarish mass of sharp teeth and clear evil, and it rushed at her.

It didn’t make it far before Twilight grabbed it again, and it stopped dead suddenly as Twilight grabbed with all the strength she could bring to bear. Even then, it thrashed in place, snapping and growling, struggling to overcome her, but unable to.

“Wh, what is it, master?” Twilight asked, unbelieving that she was actually holding a soul, and not some nightmare.

You behold a soul forged into an abomination, Twilight.

“F, forged?”

No soul ever takes such a form on its own.

“Who, who would ever do that?” Twilight asked, the nightmarish soul slowly calming, not fighting so hard against her anymore.

I do not know the being who made this soul into what it now is.

“…You, you said it can’t go into the jar like this.” Twilight said, shaking herself and calming down herself. “How do I get it to rest, again?”

You need to transfigure the soul, Twilight.

“…And that works how, exactly?”

Simply put, by transfiguring the soul, you are reforging it yourself; in this case, your goal is to return it to a stable form. You can do this by overcoming its will with your own.

I will warn you before you undertake an action dangerous to either yourself or the soul, but otherwise, I encourage you to experiment, Twilight. Do whatever you might think is correct, but do not allow your grip to slacken, even in the slightest; as you saw, such souls as these can break even strong grips if they are allowed to act.

“Right.” Twilight said, nodding, and watching, the soul silent, though still made up of shifting jaws and teeth. She took a breath, and began to think, starting by telling herself that, as Death did not tell her the answer, she had the ability to do this on her own.

“…Can you understand me?” she asked, wondering if it could. The soul’s struggles grew stronger a moment, surprising her, and she continued, “You can, then?”, but a moment after, she felt it was more responding to her voice rather than her words, as silence saw it slowly calm again.

She frowned at it, thinking still. It either wouldn’t talk to her or it just couldn’t, and her voice just appeared to make it angry. Her grip shifted around it, Twilight watching as she manipulated it, wondering if, perhaps, she might manage something that way, only to pause as Death warned her:

Attempting to force the soul to take specific shape is likely to harm it.

She huffed, finding herself somewhat out of options, before her gaze noted the body again. She recalled that it had ‘hidden’ inside it before, and had a sudden thought. She pushed the soul away, back over the body, and then focused, before shoving it back down.

She then recalled the sensation of tugging a soul free of a body, and attempted to work backwards, in order to force this one to reinhabit its own flesh again. An idea she felt fairly confident in, as Death gave her no warning.

After a moment, she felt it slipping from her grip, and noted that it was less escaping than it was ceasing to be, and she let go, readying herself to catch it again, just in case.

Then the thing gave the slightest shift, and made a terrible, weak, rasping sound; Twilight might have smiled if it wasn't so terrible a thing. It slowly shifted, weak, and more sounds, rasps and gurgles coming forth, quiet, and Twilight grabbed it in a normal magical grip, just in case.

Then she heard it barely whisper, “Reaper…”, even as she nearly recoiled, feeling what she was holding. The magical grip didn’t tell her much, but what little it did let her know what she held was only somewhat pony-shaped, and gave shadows of the nightmare it likely was, the body hidden in dark cloth and shadows of the nearby house.

“Who are you?” she asked it, shaking herself, and ridding the morbid curiosity that wanted to know more about its form.

“Defy…” it repeated, its voice a little stronger, Twilight feeling it trying to move, and noting the weakness it still had; she’d likely be safe letting it go, but she didn’t, instead making sure she was ready to grab the soul if she had to.

“Who are you?” she repeated.

“…Vain…

“Who are you?”

“You question… in vain… reaper…” its rasped it voice sounding pained, Twilight hesitating. “I… defy… you…”

“…I just want to talk to you.”

“I… defy… you… reaper…”

“You won’t even tell me your name?” she asked, before sighing as it repeated itself again. Changing tact, she told it, “If you cooperate, I won’t have to be firm with you.”

“Nothing… you can say… nothing… you can do… has meaning… reaper… I defy… you…”

“…You can’t escape me, you know.” Twilight said, frowning. “That… body is broken, and even without it, you can’t get away from me.”

“I… am eternal…”

“Not if I burn you.”

“Even that,”

“You and whoever you think is going to stick you in some other corpse.” Twilight interrupted. “The one you’re in now isn’t natural, at all; some, some monster made you.” She spat. “If you cooperate, you’ll got to rest simple and easily, or I’ll just… throttle your soul until you decide to work with me.”

A very slow, choking laugh met her bluff, Twilight having to take several moments to realize that is what it was doing. As she glared, it rasped, “Threaten… harm… do what… you will, reaper… for this… servant… defies you… always…”

For a brief moment, Twilight felt mad; a hot anger, and a cold anger. Then she forced herself to calm, and considered things.

The powers in her influenced her, she knew. The question as if she could really trust them.

Death’s anger towards things had been surprising and potent, and his cold robbed her of empathy as much as calmed and helped her. The heat in her gave her strength and will alike, but it turned her into somepony else at the same time; how much of that was her, she didn’t know.

The cold in her wanted to crush this soul’s defiance of the rest. The heat wanted to destroy it for the monster it clearly was. She herself felt irritated at its stubbornness, was horrified by what little she knew about what it was, and wanted it gone.

The urge was strong, but she again rejected it; reminding herself why she had chosen to undertake this duty in the first place:

To save ponies from the bonepile. To rescue them, lost and cold and forgotten, and guide them to their proper rest. Recently, even wanting to sooth whatever trouble they might have before leading them to rest.

Death had said this soul had been forged. So, no matter how terrible it was now…

It had once been a pony. No matter how terrible, no matter how dangerous, no matter how monstrous, it was still a pony.

“…Do you remember?” she asked it, her anger leaving her, Twilight nurturing a sorrowful empathy in her, focusing on what she knew it had once been. It didn’t respond, its breathing ragged and terrible, and she told it, “You were once a pony; do you remember?”

It laughed, weaker than before, before speaking in dying gasps, “I am… but a tool… of my master, reaper… there is… nothing in me… for you to… find…”

“…You must have been alone for so long.” Twilight said, sighing, thinking. “Lost, cold, confused… How much of you was left when your master found you?” The thing didn’t respond, and after a moment, she continued, asking, sad, “What did they do to you…?”

“…They gave me strength… body… cause…”

“…Did they break you?”

“This servant… needs no will… of its own…”

Twilight looked down, teary. She could hear its will in the last; even twisted as it was, it had accepted this. Something had taken it, weak and lost and cold, and turned it into the abomination she had seen, gave it the atrocity of a body she felt, and it had been so weak and so desperate that it had wanted that. She could know it:

Alone for so long, cold for so long, forgetting more and more and more… desperate for anything to save it, for anything to matter, anything, anything, to stop the slow decay it could feel.

Anything, to not become a wisp, and ultimately be added to the bonepile.

She took a slightly shuddering breath, and shut her eyes, a desire growing in her.

She wanted to save this soul from its torment. A warm desire wished to forgive it of its sins and stains and see it redeemed. A cold desire wished to have it return to its first form.

She didn’t know how to attain any of these goals, but with all her heart and mind and soul, she wanted to. A gentle warmth and a soft cold came together, and Twilight began focusing, trying to understand the faint, vague suggestions that she might be able to do what she wished to.

Her magical grip slackened and then faded as her horn’s aura changed, purple fading as a bright white and gold began to slowly twine up it. Her focus given more and more to control the cold and heat in her, as they grew closer and closer together, the true path suggested by how they remained themselves, even as they came ever closer to one another.

The corpse shuddered, then free, and the soul struggled to pull free of the flesh once more, Twilight fully focusing on what she was trying to do. Once free, it rushed at her, a twisting, terrible monstrosity; just as it reached her, the twining gold and white reached the tip of her horn, and the two powers united.

A bright light suddenly manifest at the tip of her horn, and the soul suddenly froze. Unchanging and perfectly still, a mere inch away from her. Nothing held it there. Nothing forced it into stillness. The brilliant shine enveloped it, and no force nor power touched it.

Instead, Twilight’s wish was made manifest within it.

A soul so long cold it had forgotten warmth felt it once again. A soul so long forgotten that it never knew itself recalled its first form. A soul so stained that any good was long banished felt the soft touch of forgiveness and the grace of redemption. Ideas so alien that it could not comprehend them, even as it felt and knew them.

Salvation came to it, and it could do nothing.

Twilight opened her eyes, and looked at the soul in front of her, watching as it slowly lost its monstrous form in the light from her horn, compassion in her eyes.

“…Lost, alone, forgotten.” She whispered. “Forsaken, freezing, afraid. Forgetting and forgetting, terrified of the fading of your self, seeking anything to save you from the decay you could feel. Your master found you, desperate, fading away, and they spared you that fate. But in doing, they destroyed you. They ruined your soul, shackled your mind, placed you into a rotten abomination, stole whatever you still had of yourself, and they made you their terrible monster, stained in blood and horror.”

“But here and now, I do not see a monster.” She continued, the soul almost appearing a simple orb lacking any detail, then. “Now, I see a victim. I see a pony taken advantage of, a pony trapped in a never-ending nightmare so long that they forgot what it is to not have a nightmare.”

“But it’s over, now.” She continued, reaching out to gently touch it. It lightly shifted at her touch, and she drew it to herself, sitting down to hold it, and begin to gently mold it like a ball of clay. “At long last, your free; finally, your nightmare has come to an end.”

She blinked a few tears as she continued working, making the blob into a pony-shape, and then told it, “…I’m so sorry it took this long. I’m sorry I couldn’t have been there to spare you from the cold and the dark. But I’m here now; now, your long nightmare is over. In my hooves you are warm and safe… Can you know that?” she finished, wondering, her work done, leaving it a featureless pony-form.

To her surprise, it looked up at her; an act she thought might be beyond it, given how vague it was. She smiled at it, and it moved to rest against her, Twilight sensing it giving a tiny sigh and relief, before relaxing against her, though nothing indicated such in normal perception.

She gently stroked it, noting that its form was far less moldable then, taking a few moments to enjoy her work and give it the relief and comfort it had so long been denied. Then she summoned her jar next to her, and gently pushed the soul up, telling it, “It’s time to go to rest. Nevermore will you suffer; now, in you go, little one.” She finished, gently pushing it to the jar, and watching as it swirled inside without resistance.

Done, she gave a small sigh of satisfaction, knowing Death’s approval of her actions, and she stood back up. A thought dismissed her jar once more, and then her contentment was broken as she recalled the body left behind.

In the morning light, it was still a dark mass, for which she felt somewhat thankful for, and considering the vague knowledge of what it was, she asked, “What should I do with the body?”

“Burn it, I’d say.”

Twilight badly startled at the voice, gasping, and spotted Night standing in the shadow of the house. The vampony seemed calm, but as Twilight calmed in turn, she noticed the bloody bandages around her barrel, and a moment after, her missing wing, leaving her wide-eyed in shock.

“W, what happened to you?” Twilight managed, shaking her head and blinking, confirming that she wasn't just seeing things.

“That thing was a whole lot faster than I thought it could be.” Night told her simply, pointing at the dark form. “I ripped it open, but it somehow got my wing.”

Twilight only stared, several questions competing to be asked, leaving her somewhat paralyzed.

After a moment of this, Night told her, “Don’t panic; my wing’ll grow right back once I’m more on my hooves.”

“But, but how, why was it here?” Twilight asked, managing to sort questions into a rough order to ask. “Why did it attack you, or you it, or whatever?”

“It followed me I guess.” Night said, shrugging. “That couldn’t have been too hard, since it got me with a dagger before and I probably left a trail for it to follow.”

“W, what!”

“…Maybe I should start from the beginning?” Night suggested, and a tense and distressed Twilight nodded. “I’ll start as soon as you start the fire then; I was going to, but you were doing your reaper thing and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“…You saw that?” Twilight asked.

“Fire first.” Night reminded, and a moment later, as the thing burned in a large flame, Night responded, “Yeah. Mind if I ask if that was normal? Do you always… do whatever you did to that thing when you’re ‘working’?”

“…No. This case was special.” Twilight told her, swiftly adding, “Night, don’t tell anypony about this.”

“…You’re not thinking straight right now, are you?” Night asked, eyeing her. “I already knew you were the reaper, princess; and we’re keeping each other’s secrets already. I have no reason to tell anypony about your true work and good reasons why I should keep your secrets secret. Besides, amongst us formal monsters, its rude to give away someone else’s game.”

Twilight blinked at that, and then shook her head, refocusing. “Tell me what happened to you yesterday.”

“Right. For the most of it, nothing; Rainbow came banging down the door so I had to go hide, and I had to endure Angle trying to gnaw my leg off until I trapped him in the room; which he somehow got out of.” She noted, thinking.

“Night, the important things, please.”

“I’m getting there.” Night told her, huffing. “Anyway, I was waiting for Fluttershy to come back when two spawn tried to,”

“Spawn?” Twilight interrupted, confused.

“A sanguinerian insult, princess.” Night clarified. “It means your parent never intended you to be anything more than a monster. Anyway,”

“Wait, what do you mean by,”

“Princess, I can tell you about what happened last night or I can talk to you about sanguinerians.” Night interrupted, irritated. “Pick one, please.”

“…What happened last night?”

Night nodded, and continued, “So, two spawn tried to ambush me. I killed one of them and got the other to tell me what they were up to. Thinking about it, they knew about our ‘bond’…” Night noted, pondering. “Odd.” She added, thinking for a moment before shrugging and continuing, “I found out that they were working for another spawn I knew, and told me that they were actually working with the ghouls over at Brother’s Crypt.”

“Brother’s Crypt?”

“Oh, it’s a really, really old Pony crypt, Princess.” Night told her. “It’s kind of a landmark for things that creep around in the dark in the Everfree.”

“The Everfree?”

“It’s not like the place is swarming with ponies, Princess.” Night told her. “Lots and lots of things, me included, use it to get around without having to worry about being seen by anypony.”

“No, no that’s… continue, Night.”

Night nodded. “Once I knew that, I wanted to know what Blood, that’s the spawn I know, was up to, so I headed off to find out.”

“You left a vampony at,”

“I left him, paralyzed, with Angle.” Night interrupted. “Two dust piles inside, so the rabbit did what I knew he would.” Twilight slowly nodded, and Night continued, “I got to Brother’s Crypt pretty late; prime hunting time, and spotted Blood. He wasn't doing anything, so I decided to wait and see when I spotted the other thing with him. The thing you’re burning right now was right there, and I’d actually missed it at first; that worried me, but it told Blood it was getting impatient and Blood assured it that things were just fine, and wondering where his two spawns had gotten to.”

“Unfortunately, before anything else was said, a ghoul came with prey for the nest. Or so I first thought, because the pony it was dragging was what the thing wanted. Blood said his work was done, and the thing passed him something I really wanted for some reason, and Blood, for reasons known only to his twisted head, tried to betray it by telling the ghouls it was feeding time.”

“Tell me about that pony.” Twilight said suddenly, abruptly focused and serious.

Night blinked at her change in demeanor, and told her, “Blue unicorn, silverish hair. Does it matter?”

“…What happened next?” Twilight asked.

Night eyed her a few moments before continuing her tale, “I tried for Blood, to get the thing he’d gotten, but I wound up grabbing the unicorn instead; she was bloody and paralyzed, I was hungry, things like that happen sometimes. The moment I realized I was holding her, however, that thing got right in front of me. And where most things would be hard pressed to hit me, it near got my heart with a dagger.”

“I survived, of course.” Night continued as Twilight stared. “Clung to a tree and got into the air before anything else could happen to me. I really wanted to drop that unicorn, but apparently, your compulsion about not hurting ponies includes not dropping them, even when you’re dying and could do without having to lug some paralyzed prey through the air with you. Got back to Fluttershy’s home before I fell out of the air, and I thought it was over for me before I even hit the ground.”

“Except, next I know, I’m suddenly awake and aware and vitalized, and that thing was going for Fluttershy. So I fought it, and won, thought it got my wing in the end. Fluttershy was ready to fall over at that point from blood loss, so I got her and the unicorn inside and I went to sleep to try and recover, because whatever got me on my hooves so quick wasn't nearly as sustaining as a full belly would have been.”

“Is, is that unicorn still here?” Twilight asked, and Night eyed her for her almost nervous excitement.

“No.” Night said, to her disappointment. “She snuck off sometime last night. I’d just come out to track her down before the sun was fully up when I noticed you doing your thing, and decided to stay and watch, because I was curious and I doubted I’d get to see you being the reaper another time.”

“Night, I need you to find that unicorn for me.” Twilight told her.

“…I know why I want to, princess, but why do you want to?”

“That unicorn is very likely to be somepony I spent last night trying to save from ghouls.”

“…Ghouls are normally really good at capturing ponies without letting others know.” Night wondered. “How did you know she was caught by ghouls?”

“We found her missing moments after she was taken.”

“…Well, it seems everything gets a bad start now and then.” Night remarked, faintly chuckling. “Since I found her, it must have gotten away; I’d bet my remining wing it used a tunnel.”

“Night, please focus. Can you find her?”

“Sure.” Night said. “And I can do that now if you conjure me up some shade; the sun’s up and tall grass isn’t enough to protect me.”

Twilight nodded, and a shield appeared around Night.

“…This works, sure, but… maybe I should be able to, you know, see?” the pink bubble remarked.

“Sorry, I just…” Twilight said, focusing to reduce the far too potent sunshield to more normal levels. “…I spent last night thinking she was going to die horribly, and it’s really shocking and great that you somehow managed to save her, and I’m just, really jumpy right now.”

“…It’ll be fine, Princess.” Night said as she came back into view, the vampony safe within a transparent, dark pink shield. “I’ve hunted ponies good at hiding before, and they weren’t fresh off a large wound; besides, ghoul paralysis makes it really hard to run for a few days, so she couldn’t have gotten far. This hunt is going to be easy.”

“We’re not hunting her, Night.”

“I know.” Night sighed, shaking her head. “But I do so enjoy stalking after a wounded victim; especially after I’ve been hurt and in need of some vitality. Just let me enjoy my happy little fantasy, please?”

“…Fine.” Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “Let’s go.”

Comments

[Nightsclaw]

Great to see a new chapter for this.

[Xergot]

My reaction when I saw an update for this story can best be summarized as:

[Gastredner]

Look who came back from the dead to reap some views.