The Many Lives of Stygian

by _Moonshot

To Die Again

It was useless. Useless.

Somewhere along the way, Stygian began to keep a tally.

Sometimes, he would find ponies he could save. He’d find them, cornered, trapped. He’d give his life and soul away and away and away to set them free.

He’d lost count of the times he couldn’t help. A sickly mother on her last legs. A starving beggar on the streets of Manehattan. A diminutive drake in the dragon lands, beaten and ridiculed by his larger peers.

Sometimes, he’d fail, and set the wrong ponies on fire. Sometimes, he’d turn them away in fears of setting them on fire. Sometimes, he could do nothing at all.

As he wandered Equestria, Stygian began to settle on one, definitive truth.

“Everypony’s suffering,” he told Philomena. “Twilight’s doing a good job, she really is. This world’s a much happier place than a sad one.” He sighed. “But everypony’s suffering. It isn’t always saving ponies from fires, or defeating Ursa Minors. It isn’t even about… about…”

He squeezed his eyes shut and cringed. The ponies possessed by their amulets were the ones he always remembered. They’d go kicking and screaming until the end, and Stygian would never be able to help them.

Philomena trilled, hopping on his back. She nuzzled his mane.

“Awh, I know,” said Stygian. “I appreciate you. I really do. You’ve always been the positive one.”

Philomena ruffled her feathers and chirped approvingly.

Stygian gave a half-smile. He shut his eyes for a while, then opened them again, hoping that the fiery threads would just go away.

But just like the last time he’d tried, and the time before that, and the thousands of times before that, they remained. They spread out across the entire land, an unforgiving grid of laser-sharp points and needles. They passed through him, feeding his gut with a sensation of pure, unrelenting emptiness.

He squeezed and opened his eyes again. Squeezed, and opened. Squeezed, and opened. He didn’t care that they throbbed from pain.

Then, as he opened his eyes one more time, he saw a thread that shone brighter than the rest. It led only a short way away. With trepidation in his chest, Stygian followed it.

He stumbled into another clearing and ducked into the bushes. At the clearing’s center, a young stallion much his size stood.

Above him loomed a dirty, black fog. Its tendrils snaked in the air, writhing about like a pit of snakes. Its ethereal mane filled the air with an oppressive weight. Its two eyes pierced into the stallion like a sword into flesh.

It reminded Stygian of the Pony of Shadows.

He felt a ping in his head as his gut practically snapped. Breathing faster and faster, he watched, frozen, as the creature promised the stallion pride, fame, anything beyond his wildest dreams. But only if they joined together.

Stygian turned toward Philomena. “We’re—we’re immortal, aren’t we?”

Philomena nodded cautiously.

Stygian stared at the sky. A hollow chuckle escaped his lips. He looked back at the bright line connecting to the young stallion, then at the uncountable other lines all around it. “And since you’re immortal, how would you go out?”

Philomena stared at him worriedly. She put a gentle wing on his side. ‘No,” she seemed to say. ‘No.’

“In a blaze of glory, perhaps.” Stygian stepped out of the brush and began walking toward the stallion and the creature, who both turned their heads in surprise. “I’ve lived a good life. I shouldn’t have made it this far. But I did, and I saved some ponies along the way, too.”

The creature lunged for Stygian.

Stygian looked toward the sky once more and raised a hoof. Then, with a holler, he swung it down and snapped the thread.

He screamed as searing pain shot throughout his body, and he began to glow. But behind gritted teeth, he watched in satisfaction as the creature shouted in disbelief, then vaporized into thin air.

He raised his hoof again. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I can help end the suffering after all.” Snap. Scream.

Philomena flew beside him, wildly flapping in his face, cawing at him to stop.

He looked at her with a pained expression, the tears again running down his face. “I’ll miss you, Philomena,” he said.

He pushed her away, and concentrated.

He dove deep within himself, drawing up all his energy, every last dredge of flame remaining.

Then, with a deep breath, he lifted his hoof again, and swung.

Snap, snap, snap, snap. His body began to glow brighter and brighter as he severed string after string. Soon, the light turned into fire. He ignored the pain, ignored Philomena’s cries. All that remained in his mind was to take as many strings with him as he could.

And finally, he collapsed to the ground, spent. He smelled the smoke around him as he burnt for the last time.

Philomena landed on his chest. Stygian watched with a weary smile as a single tear fell from her cheek.

As the world grew dark around him, he asked, “They’ll live a better future, right?”

Comments

[wishcometrue]

No sex scene, 0/10

[_Moonshot]

10263539
I LOVE YOU 5EVER WISH

[wishcometrue]

Real talk though, this story is good. I like the characterization of Stygian, as well as his constant struggles with spoilers ;), go read the fic!. This is truly an odd pairing, but you've made it work with an interesting idea and great skill. There were genuinely a few times while editing I almost cried.

Anyone who looks at the comments first, go read this story!

[Lame Joke]

got marvel vibes while reading this lol

cringe narrating: and there it is, the pony of shadows!
stygian: fck this sht im out

[SigmasonicX]

This was a pretty interesting story. I always thought Stygian using remnants of the Pony of Shadows like a stand was a fun visual, but that power turning him into a phoenix (with some help from Philomena) is an unexpected choice. Them traveling where the strings take them and solving problems, then Stygian sacrificing himself to fix as many as he could, is a nice mythical concept. I will say that Equestria is surprisingly stacked with life or death situations, even for this show, including what appears to be multiple ponies with Alicorn Amulets.

[_Moonshot]

10275794
The amount of life-or-death was certainly brought up -- I briefly debated using an AU tag as a result (and also wish I could've further emphasized the number of non life-or-death scenarios in contrast in the final chapters).

Thanks for the read and comment!