Finding Friendship

by Kamen-Zero

— Chapter Forty-Nine —

--- What Nightmares Endure ---

"We can help you kill him."

As the war against King Sombra raged on, not a single day went by where Twilight didn't linger on those tempting words. Spoken to her by a shard of the black magic that the Searăn tyrant had allegedly enslaved, the offer remained just as tempting as the years of fighting began to meld together into a violent blur. The entity within the shard, a fragment of some so-called "choir," claimed Sombra had tricked it into servitude, and that it wanted no part in the chaos that he was unleashing upon this world. Yet in spite of her desperation for this war to end, she couldn't bring herself to trust the mysterious voice. It was too convenient, in her battle-addled mind, and she wrote the shard's tempting offer off as some trick on her father's behalf. The fragment was thusly confined within a led box to be contained, and that was the end of it.

But even still, those words lingered in the back of Twilight's mind, faintly calling out to her as she continued her crusade against her murderous father. They weren't intrusive or particularly loud, only lasting for a few short moments at a time, but they were there. Whenever she was given enough time to stop and breathe, or on the occasions where she captured more of these dark weapons, her mind always managed to bring her back to that first night. And each time, Twilight always found herself asking the same question.

"What if?"

A meek cry of pain at her hooves snapped Twilight from her trance, eliciting a gasp of surprise from her as she looked down. A Searăn soldier lay sprawled out on the ground, writhing in agony and crawling towards Twilight. But it was now abundantly clear that the broken sarosian was not dead. She watched silently as her foe twitched and gasped for air.

"Oh my... oh no..." It took Twilight a few moments of dumbfounded gawking to realize what she had done. Just moments ago she had smashed this stallion through a stone pillar in an effort to end his life and preserve her own. She had done this soldier a cruel disservice, his only crime being on the other side of the conflict. He was beyond saving. Silver light emanated from her horn as she called upon her magic to end this other pony's suffering. "You have... my sincerest apologies..."

Those were the last words the sarosian ever heard. He let out one last defiant gurgle as the alicorn's magic snapped his neck like a twig, ending his misery. It wasn’t the first time Twilight had ended another pony's life, it hadn't even been the first one she had taken today, but this one had hit her particularly hard. Twilight had made it a habit to make her kills quick and clean. Seară's soldiers were her enemies, but she bore no ill will towards them. They were simply serving the will of their nation, even if that will was controlled by a horrid tyrant. They didn't deserve to die, but such was the horror of war. She had done everything in her power to avoid dwelling on the lives she had taken. But the way that stallion had looked at her just now had gotten to her. She couldn't tell if his final moments had been spent pleading for help or if he had still been following his orders. Frankly, she wasn't sure which idea frightened her more.

"It did not... have to be this way..." An all too familiar voice clawed at the back of her mind, drawing her attention away from the fresh corpse. Floating beside Twilight in a veil of silver light was one of the many dark shards bestowed upon Sombra's chosen elite. Recovering this weapon before it could be used had been Twilight's reason for attacking this now-dead soldier in the first place. She had almost forgotten she had claimed it, even though it had served as a potent distraction just a few seconds earlier. "We can help you... end this war... And save so many..."

Twilight scoffed at the repeated offer. She was in no mood to entertain the thought right now. Her horn flashed and drew a metallic box from one of her bags, swiftly flipping the lid open. The black shards that had been captured throughout the day glistened in the sunlight, and the latest capture was added.

One final plea was made as the lid was snapped shut, the voice being shut off entirely as Twilight relocked the box. It was unclear if it was the material of the case that was shutting the voices out, or if they were simply taking the hint and respecting her unspoken request for silence. A weary sigh filled the air around her as the adrenalin from battle wore down. Whatever sounds of battle remained were off in the distance, far enough away that Twilight wasn't in any immediate danger. The reprieve was appreciated,, and she wouldn’t waste the opportunity. Tucking the metal container back into her bag, she turned away from the latest victim of Sombra's war and went on her way. Getting these captured weapons into proper containment was of the utmost importance, and the transit back to the camp would give her ample time to collect her composure and take in her surroundings.

Moonveil was one of the largest cities in Seară, and its position and resources made it more than a viable staging point for many of the nocturnal nation's attacks on both Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Unsurprisingly, Sombra had turned the port town into a militarized fortress over the course of this war. Capturing this city would not be an easy task, but after many years it looked as if it was finally being done. As she walked, Twilight could see Equestrian and Crystal Empire soldiers capturing and detaining whatever Searăn troops hadn't been slain. The siege was going as well as it could. Casualties were unavoidable, with the bodies of the deceased littered everywhere the eye could see, from both sides of the conflict. All of which had been left to lay where they had fallen. Proper burials would have to come later when the city was fully secure. It was the least that these soldiers deserved for sacrificing their lives for the sake of their countries.

"Help, please, help!" The Searăn screams dragged Twilight back to reality, shocked by the fact that the mare shrieking at her was undoubtedly calling for help. Running towards Twilight in a desperate sprint was a sarosian, a civilian by the looks of it, eyes red and puffy with tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She looked terrified, dashing out of a nearby home in a panic. And for whatever reason, she had decided to seek sanctuary with Twilight. "He's going to kill me! Please! Stop—"

Before Twilight could even register what was happening, a bright blue burst of arcane energy flew out from inside the building and struck the frightened pony in the back of the head. There wasn't even time for her to react before she fell to the ground at Twilight's hooves in a heap. The blast had killed her instantly, and Twilight stifled a scream as she watched the smoke rise from where the magic had struck her. She couldn't take her eyes off of the mare's face, still frozen in that look of terror. It was a horrible thing to see, she wasn't even a soldier. This was just some poor soul who called this city their home.

"Apologies for the poor performance, aunty!" Another voice shook Twilight out of her trance, this time belonging to a stallion that Twilight was all too familiar with.

Mi Coraggio Tenore. Crowned prince of the Crystal Empire, the firstborn son of Empress Melodia, and Twilight's insufferable nephew. Her eyes were practically assaulted by his wine-red coat and extravagantly maintained goldenrod mane, a testament to both his status and his vanity. Despite being no older than twenty-five, he bore a sash decorated with any number of badges and medals that had no real significance in Twilight's opinion. Just pointless trinkets dedicated to this pony's "achievements" during the short time he spent fighting in this war. As he strode from the same house the sarosian had fled from, he made it a point to adjust his wings alongside another brief spark of magic, egotistically drawing attention to his alicorn features.

"I assume you are unharmed?" He spoke with the regal authority that was to be expected of a noble, carrying himself with a codependently arrogant posture despite the crime he had clearly just committed.

"...Unharmed?" Twilight glared at Tenore before looking back down to the deceased sarosian. There was no denying that he had been the culprit behind this unjust execution. Disgust and anger welled up within Twilight as she turned her gaze back to her nephew. "This was a civilian! What harm could she have possibly done?!"

"Hmm... So it was." As if doubting her words, Tenore pointed his gaze down at the sarosian he had slain with a look of disinterest. "Well, casualties are an unfortunate consequence of war. No changing it now." And just like that, he began to walk away as if nothing had happened, completely uncaring of the life he had just ended.

"Tenore!" Twilight screamed with a stomp of her hoof, prompting Tenore to stop and glance back over his shoulder. She charged forward with intent, moving to stand in front of him and block his path. "Do not think you can just walk away after what you just did!"

"What's this? Showing sympathy for the enemy now?" He chuckled arrogantly, "A bit hypocritical of you, if I may. How many bats have you killed over the years, again?"

"Soldiers. I've killed soldiers," Twilight emphasised bitterly.

"Fair enough. But perhaps that is why this war has gone on this long, hmm?" Tenore spoke in the same pompous fashion that he always did, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere of the situation. "These horrible creatures that have allowed King Sombra to remain in power. They need to be dealt with. They are just as guilty of prolonging this war as he is. As such, they deserve to be punished accordingly."

Twilight was left speechless, mouth agape in stunned silence at what she was hearing. She didn't really know her nephew that well, having maybe spent a few hours with him total over the course of his entire life, but she had heard plenty of second-hoof stories about him and his opinions of those on the other side of the conflict. In the past, she had written this off as some twisted form of national pride, a way to bolster morale in the Crystal Empire’s troops.

But hearing these words come straight from his mouth, it was clear that those stories had all failed to show the true nature of Tenore’s prejudice. Discrimination towards sarosians was nothing new, but the fact that these emotions had been so strongly fostered by her own nephew was harrowing. She knew that Melodia wasn’t the most favorable towards sarosians even before the war — Twilight included — but the fact that her son had turned out this way was never the less shocking.

The intensive anger and confusion she felt were only matched by the overwhelming disgust towards his disregard for life. If there had been anything in her stomach, it likely would have been ejected onto the ground by now.

"Oh don't look at me like that, you know I'm right. Mother always says that a ruler is only as powerful as their people allow. And these people allowed that bastard to murder my grandmother and wage this war for decades." He placed a hoof upon his breast and raised his head high in a triumphant manner, truly believing his cause to be the righteous one.

"Most of these people didn't have a choice, they were born into this war," Twilight snarled, "As were you."

"Even so, they have had every opportunity to rebel against their king and fight for a just cause. And yet they haven't." His eyes narrowed, the first hint of aggression he had shown this whole time. "They have chosen their fate."

"And if you continue on this path, you will seal your own. The grandmother you claim to fight for, my mother, would not approve of this. And neither would any of her daughters." Twilight took several steps forward to emphasize her next point. "That includes your mother."

Tenore stood there bitterly processing Twilight's threat before turning and walking away. Twilight wanted to stop him, she felt like it was her responsibility to stop him, but she couldn't. She was paralyzed with such a potent mixture of disgust and rage, only able to watch as her murderous nephew simply walked off. She watched intensely as the younger alicorn took to the skies with a beat of his wings. Her eyes followed his movements until he vanished from view. She stared after him, silently seething with rage. If he wasn't her sister's son, there was no doubt in her mind that Twilight would have slain him then and there for what he had done and said.

With a snort, she finally broke her glare and made her way back to her nephew's unfortunate victim. Her expression softened as she gazed upon the fallen mare. Her desperate cries for help echoed in Twilight’s mind like a ghostly whisper. In morbid curiosity, she turned to the home the mare had fled from and wondered just how many others Tenore had killed.

"Hatred begets hatred. He has been tainted by Sombra's chaos." Twilight heard the voices of the shadow crystals echo in her mind. "Left unchecked he will spread just as much carnage. He must be stopped. This war must be stopped."

Twilight didn't care that the box evidently didn't block out their words, and at this moment, she was barely able to distinguish them from her own thoughts. For the first time since she came into contact with that bizarre entity, Twilight found herself fully agreeing with it. Replacing her dreary outlook with one of determination, she looked back towards what was left of the civilian. With a gentle flicker of magic, the mare's terrified eyes were closed for the last time. It was the least Twilight could do for her.

With that final act of kindness done, Twilight turned her back to the scene of the crime and went on her way. Just as the voice of the shards said, it was time for this war to come to an end. By any means necessary. She knew the dangers of trusting a product of Sombra's magic, but she no longer cared about any of them. It had spent years offering her a way to strip the tyrant of his power and end his life without fault. The time for indecision on the matter was over. Her hesitation was causing innocent lives to be lost. She could bear that weight no longer. And as the first few notes of the Choir's song finally reached her ears, she made a solemn promise in the name of every life that had been lost in this needless conflict.

"No more."

Comments

[TheStratovarian]

In the end, the best intentions always pave their way there.

[Twilight_Shimmer]

"Hatred begets hatred. He has been tainted by Sombra's chaos." Twilight heard the voices of the shadow crystals echo in her mind. "Left unchecked he will spread just as much carnage. He must be stopped. This war must be stopped."

It got Luna by simply telling her a simple truth. or at least i think it's Luna

[Scyphi]

Mi Coraggio Tenore. Crowned prince of the Crystal Empire, the firstborn son of Empress Melodia, and Twilight's insufferable nephew.

Ah. A sort of Blueblood prototype then. Gotcha.

"These horrible creatures that have allowed King Sombra to remain in power. They need to be dealt with. They are just as guilty of prolonging this war as he is. As such, they deserve to be punished accordingly."

At this rate, he's going to be met with a sudden and unfortunate end before the year is out, and it just might not be at the hooves of the enemy. And as has been proven earlier in the story, him being an alicorn certainly wouldn't spare him from that.

"Even so, they have had every opportunity to rebel against their king and fight for a just cause. And yet they haven't."

Oh, so he's blind too! Because, ah...that's not how it works in the real world, m'dear Tenore. If it weren't for the potentially horrific consequences, I'd say this almost feels like talking to a child.

Of course, in Luna's mind, she might as well be, seeing he seems to be the younger alicorn by comparison to her.

"Hatred begets hatred."

Mm, yes, and the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

[TasermonsPartner]

Hooray! You're back...or, rather, you're flashback (sorry, couldn't help myself).

Another emotional and dramatic chapter! Heh, the voice warns Luna/Twilight that violence begets violence and hatred begets hatred, and thus, Luna now uses hatred and violence against her enemy that uses hatred and violence against her, and, in turn, her hatred and violence will beget even more.

It's not just a warning, it's a prophecy.

[Kamen-Zero]

11044538
It's Selene, yes.

[Twilight_Shimmer]

11044694
lol I thought so. It should be interesting to see what Twilight thinks of Luna's past (yes I know you call her Selene lol but my brain no matter what i do auto filters it back to Luna )

[Kamen-Zero]

11044963
Frustrating, but understandable, lol.

[Kamen-Zero]

11044590
... Well, now I know who Tenore's father was, lol.

[Kamen-Zero]

11045857
I actually took some inspiration from Lovecraftian/Eldritch horror when writing this, good eye!

[hive vs machine]

11046039

[Xanderfox]

The Best Lies are made of truths

[Baineblade]

Whelp, finally caught up. Juuust one thing to note here:

"If he wasn't his sister's daughter, there was no doubt in her mind that Twilight would have slain him then and there for what he had done and said."

This sentence makes little sense. Who's sister's daughter are you referring to exactly?

[Kamen-Zero]

11061027
Tenore is Melodia's daughter, who was the middle child between Celestia and Selene.

Also, it wasn't until you pointed it out, but I misgendered Tenore in that sentence by calling him a daughter. Whoops.

[resonance]

11089648
Bro I love this story and it’s characters.

Even your starlight.

She feels like she absolutely does not belong and it’s great because she’s literally a time traveler/slider and she’s out of her element and exhausted.

But it’s just frustrating to read when there’s been so much build up and no payoff.

[Kamen-Zero]

11090639
I'm working on the payoff part, and I appologise.

I do appreciate the compliments though.

[Themisto]

Awesome story so far.
I heard the audio book for a long time. But the most recent part finally broke me. I just read the last chepters because I really wanted to know how it continued without waiting any days/weeks loonger. :D