The Life of Penumbra Heartbreak

by Unwhole Hole

Chapter 26: Final Resurrection

There were no windows in the central lab, but Riser did not mind. She had always been happy with the light crystals produced. She thought it was pretty.

She hummed as she worked, carefully washing the last of the seemingly endless glassware required for Necrophilo’s veritable legion of student-scientists. It was a time-consuming process; they had to be absolutely pure. Necromancy was a fine art, and even the slightest deviation caused by even a speck of soap could be catastrophic.

When the last beaker was finished, Riser placed it on the rack with the others and inspected them. “Perfect!” She said at last, turning off the water and wiping up the spilled water from the edge. “All neat and clean!”

She then turned around and approached the center of the laboratory. The construct made from Hope was standing there, her eyes slowly tracing Riser as she moved. That was rare for constructs; most of them just stared blankly. Hope was one of Necrophilo’s best works yet.

“Alright, Hope. The glassware is done. That means it’s time for your daily brushing.”

“Brushing?” the construct looked confused. She blinked slowly. “Brushing...so I can look pretty. Pretty for Necrophilo.”

“That’s right.” Riser picked up the brush and began to stroke the construct’s long, yellowing mane. “Pretty for Necrophilo. Also to check for mold. You’re almost due for another skin treatment.”

“Mold would be bad.” Hope turned her head. “And can I...can I be pretty for Sombra too?”

That statement had surprised Riser almost to the point of panic the first time she had heard it. But now she knew that it was something that Hope said every day. It was either a form of stereotypy- -not uncommon in the undead- -or something more. A fragment of a memory of the pony she had once been. Her brain was so well preserved, that was a very real possibility.

“Can I see him?” she asked. Riser paused. That was new. “Can I see him soon?”

Riser smiled and continued brushing. “I think so. You’re a real masterwork. But it isn’t up to me. It’s up to Necrophilo.”

“Oh.” Hope turned away and looked into the distance. “Okay...”

Hope was still silent by the time Riser had moved onto her tail. There certainly was some mold, but it was minor. Hope would probably need to be soaked in fungicide and formaldehyde overnight again. Riser made a mental note; she would put it in her eighty-page daily report later.

She had almost finished the tail when Necrophilo drifted into the room.

“Lord Necrophilo,” said Riser, standing and bowing. “My apologies for the delay. I am almost complete with my duties. I will be on my way in just a moment, and you two can be alone.”

“Cleaning technician Riser,” said Necrophilo, his cloudy green eyes focusing on her. “I actually came here to speak with you.”

“Yes, sir. I am listening. May I continue brushing?”

“Of course. I expect her to be spotless. She is the only white unicorn I have ever had access to...at least until Eternity finds where Luciferian is hiding.”

“Then you will have a pair. Won’t that be nice, Hope?”

“I...get lonely,” sighed Hope.

Necrophilo sighed. She had named it. “You understand, Riser, that for all intents and purposes, you are a failure. That your magical career will never progress.”

“I know,” she said, continuing her brushing. “But that’s okay. I messed up. I should have seen her spell and countered it. I did fail, but maybe it’s better.” She stopped brushing for a moment. “After seeing what Twilight Luciferian did...how powerful he was...” She looked up. “And you’re just as powerful. All of you are. I don’t think I could measure up. I mean, I’ve done my best to study, but...”

“I understand. Not all of us are built to stand as rulers amongst lesser beings. Sometimes a pony has to be a lesser being. It is simply their destiny. Though you may get a chance to enter the Dark Thirteen again.”

“Sir?”

“Never mind. It is just...foreign to me. I rejected you, and yet you still come here every day. To wash the glassware, care for the constructs. My Hope especially. Even when you’re qualified enough to make ones of your own.”

“But this is my job. I just want to help.”

“And I need you to know that I hold nothing against you. I do not hate you. I have always valued you and your skill. It was an honor to have taught you.”

Riser smiled. She looked up to thank him for his kind words, and for accepting her after she had thought she had failed him entirely. As she did, the Mask of Red Death was slid over her face.

She jerked back, but did not scream. She gasped and squeaked, and fell to the ground in pain as the red leather of Scarlet Mist’s clothing began to form over her body. Necrophilo watched, smiling and intrigued. Hope watched, but being dead herself had no thoughts on the matter.

It was over in less than a minute. Still shaking and weak, Scarlet Mist stood,.

“Where am I? What is going on? The princess- -” Her eyes fell on Hope, and Hope smiled.

“Hello Scarlet Mist,” she said, recognizing her former friend. “It is good to see you.”

“Sweet Epona the Betrayer, this is what you’ve been wasting your resources on, Necrophilo? If Sombra knew- -”

“I did not give you a new body so you could criticize my work. The king wishes to see you. And he wishes to see you NOW.”

The wind was weak but cold. Penumbra supposed it was always cold. The sky above was endless but gray, and endless storms raged on the other side of the kingdom-wide shield dome. It was snowing, and a substantial amount fell through. Penumbra pulled the collar of her coat closer to her head. She did not need it; not only was she an immortal being, but Emeth’s armor was apparently heated by some unseen mechanism. Regardless, the etiquette was to wear a coat, so that was what Penumbra did.

She made her way upward through the outer halls of the Citadel. In the distance, she could see the Empire stretching outward, silent and shrouded by the slight snowfall. There were no railings this high, so Penumbra stayed far away from the edge. Although she possessed wings, she had never been taught to fly, and did not want to learn it suddenly from having slipped on a puddle of slush.

“Eternity?”

“I’m busy. So busy...why is one hornless unicorn so hard to find? If I have to start looking under rocks...”

“Just tell me.”

Eternity sighed. “Up ahead. Take two lefts and a right.”

Penumbra did as she was told and found herself on a balcony, a wide platform meant to support cannons or ice-archers. Snow was beginning to collect on it, but Penumbra knew that it was the right place. Sitting on the wall, her back against a support column, was a pony. A pony dressed in red.

Silently, Penumbra approached. Not because she wanted to be hidden, but out of respect for the one who had taught her to walk so quietly. She paused beside Scarlet Mist and looked out. The view was breathtaking, or would have been had it not been obscured. Far below, she could see the castle’s courtyard. Thirteen was down there, flying a kite. There was a certain quiet absurdity in that image that made Penumbra want to laugh and to cry at the same time.

“I could have pushed you off,” said Penumbra. “You never would have seen me coming.”

“I knew you were there,” said Scarlet Mist, quietly. “You reek of perfume. Agarwood.” She sighed, but spoke only halfheartedly. “I always told you. All the senses. And don’t let them spray it on you, it stinks.”

Penumbra leaned on the edge of the balcony wall and watched Thirteen and her kite. “I see they gave you a new body.”

“Her name was Riser. One of Necrophilo’s top students. A perfect body, really.”

“Then why don’t you sound happy?”

Scarlet Mist turned her masked face to Penumbra. “Why are you even here, princess? I tried to steal your body. You should hate me. Or at least be afraid.”

“I was the one who made the report to the king,” admitted Penumbra. “I had to. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize you idiot. I knew the consequences for my actions.”

“Did he hurt you?”

Scarlet Mist fell silent, and looked out at the city for a long time. “You saw what I am,” she said. “What it’s like in this mask. I don’t feel external pain, and what I have inside...well, it never stops. I thought there was nothing Sombra could do to me that would hurt me. I was a fool.”

Penumbra was forced to look away, because she knew that it was all her fault. What had been done to Scarlet Mist must have been something truly terrible, though, for a being like her to be so horribly injured. “Can I...can I ask what he did?”

“He told me something. A tiny piece of information. Barely a sentence. And that was all it took.”

“What did he say?”

Scarlet Mist looked down at Penumbra. Slowly, she pointed to her mask. “Do you know what this is? Where it came from, why I have it?”

“I saw some things...in your mind. Shadows. Memories, maybe? But not the whole thing.”

“Then let me tell you a story.” Scarlet Mist looked out at the Empire, a land forever foreign to her. “There was once a great sorceress. A pureblood, on par with Twilight Luciferian, or Sombra, when he was younger. A beautiful and immortal gray mage.”

“Gray mage?”

“Neither a dark wizard, nor a white one. Between the two. Able to act selflessly, or selfishly, should the situation call for it. A being who drew her true power from balance. Until she decided that she no longer wanted balance. She wanted to free herself of her darker emotions. Her hate, anger, fear, greed, sadness, envy, all of them. So she used a powerful spell to tear the evil part of her away, leaving only the good behind. A pony of perfect generosity, kindness, and purity.”

Scarlet Mist pointed to her face. “She sealed her evil half in a mask. And threw it away, as if half of herself was trash.”

“That was you. She threw you away.”

Scarlet Mist nodded solemnly. “I guess I can’t blame her. She took happiness, joy, love, hope, empathy, contentment, compassion. What use did she have for me?” She sighed. “In time, I became self-aware. A mind of my own, and half of a soul. I called out to ponies, and they found me, seeking power. I gave it to them. At the cost of their bodies.”

“Like mine.”

“Not like yours. Something was wrong with yours. I don’t understand what, exactly, because I CAN’T. It was something SHE took. One of the pieces I don’t have. If it were her, I could have understood, but you? Your body forced something into me that cannot exist there. And you rejected me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. It’s the first time that’s ever happened, and I suppose it’s going to be the last.”

“The last?” Penumbra looked up, concerned. “What do you mean?”

“Because of what Sombra told me,” said Scarlet Mist, icily. “The very reason for my existence was to find my body. To find her, and become whole. Complete. To stop the pain she left me with, because I can’t do it on my own. She treated our body poorly. Gave away its youth, its vigor, for some pointless thing. But I always knew it was there. Waiting for me. I just needed to find it.” She looked down at her hooves- -at Riser’s hooves, for she had none of her own.

“Lady Mist...Scarlet…”

“He knew. The whole time he knew. My body, Penumbra. It’s been destroyed.”

Penumbra gasped and covered her mouth. “No, it can’t- -”

“It WAS. I confirmed it. My other half was with Starswirl the Bearded when he self-annihilated and took six other ponies down with him. My body was one of those six. Penumbra, I have nothing to go back to. I will never be whole again. I...I...” She pulled her knees against her body.

“It’s going to be- -”

“Don’t say it! Don’t lie to my face. I only came here to find a way to reunite with her. To be one pony again. If I never will? Then there’s no point.”

“But that’s not true! You don’t even need her!”

Scarlet Mist looked up. “Why are you trying to help me?”

“Because you helped ME when I needed it!” Penumbra stepped back. “You said she took everything from you, right? Every good emotion?”

“I just said that. Were you seriously not listening?”

“You said she took hope- -but you still have that one! This whole time, that’s what’s been keeping you going! The hope that you’ll get back to her, that you two can be friends again! And that isn’t HER hope, that’s YOUR hope. YOU made it! And if you can do that, you can make the others too!”

Scarlet Mist was silent for a moment. “I had hope. Huh. I suppose I never thought of it like that.” She leaned forward. “But now that I know my body is gone, I no longer have it. Whatever I was, it is gone now. There is no part of me left except the bad ones.”

“I- -that isn’t true- -”

“Stop trying to help.” Scarlet Mist turned away. “I have already made up my mind. I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

“What?”

“I am going to stop taking new hosts. I don’t have to, you know. I can put a defensive curse on this mask. Reject anypony who dares to touch it. I don’t know if I can be destroyed...but I can sleep. For the rest of eternity, in a state of bodiless dormancy.” She paused. “I just pray I don’t dream.”

“You can’t! I- -I won’t allow it!”

“And you can’t stop me. No one can. And the decision is final.” Scarlet Stood. For a moment, Penumbra feared that she would leap over the edge and to the courtyard below- -except that Thirteen was there, now staring up at them both.

“However,” continued Scarlet Mist. “This body still has so much power left in it. It would be a shame to waste it. Three, four months maybe. I have to do some things before I go to sleep. The first is to apologize.”

“For what?”

“Don’t be thick. For trying to take your body.” Scarlet Mist pushed past Penumbra, bumping her out of the way. “And that is the full extent of any apology you will be getting.”

Penumbra watched her go, and then followed at a distance. She had bought some time- -three months, after all, was half the time she herself had been alive. So perhaps there was still time to save her friend.

As she passed through the door, she did not notice Thirteen standing on the balcony wall, her kite tucked beneath one of her hooves. Watching- -and waiting. Thirteen knew that time was endless, and that there was always more- -but she also knew that Scarlet Mist’s time was short. It was for all of them.

Comments

[alamais]

It WAS. I confirmed it. My other half was with Starswirl the Bearded when he self-annihilated and took six other ponies down with him.

Aha, so it was Mistmane. Aaand she exists again, in the 'present'...good times, good times.

[AppleTank]

Even in the past as a servant of Sombra, Gllimy still finds time for kites.