Compassion Rescinded
Hearth hurried down the corridor, dark wooden walls, polished stone flooring, and large windows ignored by the changeling as she spotted a familiar guard.
“Hey, um, Shining?” She called out and the stallion in question turned around and looked up in surprise.
He blinked. “Huh, your friend wasn’t kidding when said you guys had your own medicine.”
It took Hearth a second to understand. “Right yeah, this is the new default, so to speak,” she glanced around. “Say, do you know where Princess Cadance is? Something urgent’s come up and we need her help.”
“Urgent?” Shining asked, “Something The Royal Guard needs to know?”
“No!” she said quickly. Whatever was going on between The Sun and Grimm, it was far beyond the scope of mortals. “It’s a Higher Being thing… and um…”
She trailed off, did Cadance keep her identity a secret? She didn’t seem like the type, but in the rush to find her Hearth hadn’t really thought that far ahead.
Shining nodded in understanding. “Higher Being business, I got it. She’s having lunch in one of the smaller meeting rooms, this way.”
“Oh thank fires,” Hearth said, relieved and followed the guard.
She was led into a small, lavish room. Cadance, Twilight, and Spike were seated at the table, plates of food half eaten.
Cadance and Twilight were in the middle of a conversation.
“So, Princess Celestia is mad at your uncle because she blames him for what happened to her family?”
“Unfortunately, just don’t tell her I told you, okay?”
“Okay, but he’s not a bad guy, right?”
“No, he’s not.”
Shining cleared his throat. The two ponies looked up and Cadance looked at Hearth worriedly.
“How bad is it?” The princess asked.
“Bad, she’s trying to…” Hearth glanced over at Twilight. Saying The Sun was trying to kill another Higher Being wasn’t the best thing to say in front of a child. “Princess Celestia wants to get rid of The Nightmare Realm.”
Cadance stood, wings snapping open. “She what?” In an instant the God of Empathy was striding across the room. “Shining, stay with Twilight and Spike.”
“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked.
Cadance looked back at the filly, expression soft, “Celestia is making a very big mistake, she could hurt everyone in the world if I don’t stop her.”
“But aren’t nightmares bad?” the filly replied curiously, trying to understand,
“Nightmares are… scary,” Cadance explained. “But they’re not bad and Uncle Grimm makes sure no one is left scared by them for long.”
Hearth added her own insight. “I’m a special kind of changeling that eats nightmares, my people live in The Nightmare Realm. If there were no more nightmares, I’d have no home and no food.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “But Princess Celestia can’t do that! She wouldn’t, right?”
Cadance sighed. “She’s angry Twily, very angry. I don’t think she’ll be able to stop herself. I need to go and sort this out, stay here with your brother.”
“…Alright.” The filly said meekly.
Cadance looked over at the mothling. “You know where they are? I’ll teleport us there.”
Hearth nodded and was about to tell her when she felt an unfamiliar presence brush up against her mind. An experimental poke led her to the waiting telepathic link to Cadance.
“Former moth, kept a few tricks,” the mare explained.
They appeared in a flash of blue light to find The Sun passed out on the pavement with Grimm and Hollow off to the side.
“What happened here?” Cadance demanded and Grimm looked over at her with a sad smile.
“I do apologise, Little Heart, but she tried to kill me,” he said. “When Hollow stood between us to end the fighting, The Sun caused them to have a flashback, and I intervened before either one of them could end the other.”
Hollow looked startled at that and stared down at their nail. Grimm patted their side. “Everyone is fine, I kept things from escalating further.”
Cadance was stern as she moved to stand before the still unresponsive alicorn. “Wake her up, I want everyone’s account of the situation before I pass judgement.”
Grimm obliged with a snap of his fingers. Celestia began to stir and came to. She blinked up at the other mare, blinking for a moment until her mind caught up with her.
“Cadance! Grimm cannot be allowed to roam free!” she began but Cadance raised a hoof to silence her.
A tense silence filled the air. The grooves of Cadance’s horn lit up with a white light.
“Does everyone present consent to allowing me to see their memories of what transpired here?” she asked, her tone was strong, authoritative, and Hearth wondered if another fight was going to break out based on the way The Sun was glaring at Grimm.
“But of course,” Grimm said amicably. Hollow nodded beside him.
Hearth shrank back from the tension in the area, sticking close to Grimm’s side. He rested a hand on her back in comfort as he offered her a smile.
“Worry not, all will be well.” He said quietly.
“If it will mean an end to this once and for all, then I accept,” Celestia said wearily as she pulled herself to her hooves. “Do what you must, Cadance.”
Cadance nodded, ribbons of soul magic spun out from the tip of her horn and attached themselves to the foreheads of those present.
For Hearth, it was uncanny, less a hivemind, forum, or telepathic link as changelings knew it, wherein everyone could participate at their leisure, and more like a two-way path, streamlined and designed for a specific function. In a blink, the mothling’s memories were already being viewed and processed by Cadance, Hearth felt lightheaded at the unfamiliar sensation and leaned into Grimm for support.
Sorry. Cadance sent in reply. I’m in a hurry, normally this doesn’t hit as hard.
“M’ okay.” Hearth muttered and grit her teeth as the world swam around her. As intense as it was, it only lasted a few seconds, and with Grimm as a grounding presence for her, the mothling recovered.
Still feeling out of sorts, Hearth watched the proceedings carefully, ready to run. On Grimm’s other side, Hollow shifted, and adjusted their grip on their nail’s handle.
Cadance was in the middle of taking in all that information, with eyes closed and brow furrowed, she looked to be intently focusing.
And slowly, the intense look of concentration became, seething, scathing, fury. The God of Empathy and Bonds opened her eyes, and locked eyes with Celestia.
“I can’t believe you,” Cadance spat, and The Sun was gobsmacked. Stunned into silence as the other mare rounded on her. “You thought attempted murder and genocide was a good idea? You’re lucky Grimm had enough sense not to tear you to pieces!”
“You have proven that you are willing to ignore consequence, warnings and knowledge from your equals,” Cadance said. Chains of shining white metal erupted from the ground to bind the white alicorn and a seal of binding flared to life around her horn. “You will either be tried under Equestrian Law, or I will call a Higher Summit.”
With that, she faced Grimm, much calmer. “As the one who was wronged, the choice is up to you.”
“Summit,” Grimm answered readily. “Her people will be too lenient.”
“Wait, what about Equestria? Who will raise the sun? Guide my little ponies?” Celestia pleaded. “What about Twilight?”
Cadance was cold in her reply. “You had plans drafted up in case Luna took you out of commission, we’ll put those into effect immediately. For now, your sole duty is just to raise and lower the sun. If I hear anything about you trying to contact Twilight…No, I will be the one responsible for her education. I don’t feel safe letting you anywhere near her right now…”
She let the sentence hang and The Sun looked displeased as she strained against the chains. “So, you would choose his side over mine?”
“I choose the lives of every living thing that lives in The Dreaming!” Cadance exclaimed. “It doesn’t matter if they live in The Nightmare Realm,they are as alive as you or anyone else in The Waking World!”
In a flash of blue flames, Cadance’s form shifted. Where once stood a pony, now stood a golden furred moth with pink limbs, fluffy pink antennae, and large pink and yellow wings.
“This is what I was first born as, this is a part of who I am!” Cadance stated, blue eyes pleading with Celestia to understand. “If you want to kill Grimm, you’ll have to go through me.”
The seconds dragged on, heartbreak and betrayal plain as day on Celestia’s face. Hearth felt herself being pushed back as Grimm and Hollow geared themselves up to fight. She righted herself, words stuck in her throat as once again, she wanted to do something.
But she couldn’t.
“Please Celestia,” Cadance begged, sounding tired, “Hasn’t there been enough fighting?”
Celestia blinked, seeing something behind the group and for a split second, the mare looked terrified. But the moment passed, and she bowed her head, the chains around her form going slack.
“I surrender,” she said at last. “Do with me what you will but please, leave Equestria out of this.”
Hearth just couldn’t understand this mare’s logic. She stepped forward, still staying close to Grimm in case The Sun tried anything.
“You’re their ruler, their Princess,” the mothling said in a mix of confusion and frustration. “Everything you do or say reflects back on Equestria and you have the bright idea to try and kill us?”
“I was only after--”
“If Grimm didn’t… If he...”
She trailed off. It hit her then, how close she would have been to serious injury or worse. She was fresh out of a metamorphosis, and it wouldn’t have been safe to do another so soon. Grimm had once again saved her life.
First Chrysalis and now this?
Her thoughts were a jumbled mess as something tapped her back leg. She remembered that Celestia had noticed something behind her and turned to look.
It was Ghost.
The little bug tilted their head to one side, a quiet chirp of concern soon followed.
“I…”
She tried to say I’m fine, but the words caught in her throat. She didn’t know what to say, nor what she wanted to do.
She knew Grimm was talking things over with Cadance, Celestia morose and staring at the floor in defeat.
Ghost tapped her leg again gently. She struggled to calm herself.
She couldn’t. She felt like she was made of paper, ready to crumple at the slightest thing, even as she fought back tears, she felt helplessly weak.
She loathed herself in that moment.
Ghost took a few steps back, head pointed skyward, and let out a strange, wailing shriek accompanied by a burst of black energy.
Were those faces? Hearth thought.
The noise got everyone’s attention and Ghost pointed at Hearth, chirping insistently in Krik.
“…We should save this for the summit,” Grimm said after a moment and Ghost quieted down, pleased with themselves. “You have a kingdom to stabilize, and I have other duties to perform.”
“Yeah…” Cadance sighed and in a second flask of blue fire, she returned to her pony form. She winced. “Been a while since I had to do that.”
Grimm looked over at her, but the mare waved him off. “I’ll be fine, just a bit rusty. Being dead for a thousand years will do that to you.”
The two gods chuckled at the bit of dark humour. Grimm bowed gracefully, “Take care, Cadance.”
“Same to you Uncle, stay safe.”
Ghost let out another impatient chirp. Grimm shook his fondly at their antics and looked over at Hearth.
“Are you alright?”
What else could she say other than the obvious?
“No.” she squeaked, on the verge of losing the battle against the whirlwind of emotions she was going through. “I don’t…”
No matter what she did, her throat felt tight, she knew she could explain if just kept trying, but words failed her.
Grimm was sympathetic as he walked over to her. “You need not justify nor explain yourself to me, friend. You need somewhere to gather your thoughts, yes?”
She nodded. The conversation helped, it gave her something to focus on, a distraction.
“Would you like some company?” he asked gently and this time he was met with a shrug of her wings. He nodded understandingly. “Very well, perhaps a neutral party? One not involved with all this mess. Perhaps the anonymity of a stranger may help?”
I know someone. Ghost added softly. I know lots of people and you could meet them!
“Another time, child,” Grimm suggested. “I doubt our new friend is up to that just yet.”
Hollow ambled over and knelt before her, worry rippling off them like a leaf disturbing the still surface of a pond.
Hearth could feel a sense of comradery between her and the eldest sibling, they were similar in a few ways, different in others, and in the short time she had known them, there was a strong desire to learn about them, know them.
To be their friend.
“I trust Hollow.” she said meekly, catching theirs and their family’s attention.
Hollow nodded, standing up and addressing their father.
It will stay with her.
Grimm nodded. “Take her to the manor, I have other matters to attend to, but I will return in a few days’ time.”
Hearth blinked as she looked out over the fields of dark blue grass and the village of round, shell-like houses. Hollow had teleported them to a small hill just outside of town. The cobblestone road was lit by street lamps filled with firefly-like lumaflies. She looked above her to see the black expanse of an underground cavern.
Dirtmouth looked calm, peaceful even as Hollow stood beside her.
Would you like to take the long way? Hollow asked and Hearth took a moment to look down at the place.
“What time is it?” She asked.
Hollow glanced around as well. The middle of the night, Hallownest is on the other side of the world from Equestria.
She was emotionally, and mentally worn out. As much as Hearth wanted to explore the town, at that moment she just wanted to curl up and relax for the rest of her waking hours.
“I’ll save the tour for another day.” She said.
Stay still, It will warp us home.
And in a blink, they were standing in a large lounge room. The furniture was a mishmash of styles and types, as was the art and sculptures that adorned nearly every inch of available space on the walls. The dark coloured walls and wine-red carpet only added to the ancient charm of the place.
Bedrooms are through there.
Hearth followed Hollow's gesture to see a large doorway, covered with a thick curtain instead of a door, which led off to another portion of the house.
She looked back up at the taller bug. “Do I just pick a room?” she asked and Hollow nodded.
Pick any room that does not have a nameplate on the door.
She nodded, thoughts dulled as she moved through the house. The place had personality, it felt lived in, and was such a welcome contrast to the emotional coldness of Canterlot that the ‘ling felt at ease just ambling down the hallway and inspecting the names on the already claimed rooms.
Hornet
Quirrel
Sunset Shimmer
Javelin
Petal
Ghost
Hollow
Grimm
“You have a lot of people staying here, huh?” she asked as she stopped outside of an unclaimed room between Hollow’s and Grimm’s.
Hollow shrugged. Only those that have earned father’s trust earn a room… As a family, we prefer our privacy.
“Sunset Shimmer… That’s a pony name, right?” She asked. She shouldn’t pry but it stood out amongst the rest. She shrugged, she didn’t have the energy to worry about something like that. “I guess if Grimm trusts them…”
Sunset is a member of the troupe, the youngest currently. Hollow explained and Hearth opened the door of the empty room she had been eyeing.
The furniture matched what she’d seen in the lounge room, a wardrobe, dresser, and armchair all of varying styles. The bed near the back wall was round, a common sight even in The Scarlet Hive, as most bug folk and changelings curled up to sleep.
Pale light from the lights outside streamed in from the large glass doors that led out to a small balcony. The room itself was smaller than the one back in Canterlot, but still larger than anywhere she had previously called home.
“This’ll do.” She said and strolled over to the bed, giving it a more thorough look over. “…I think I’m going to just relax for a few hours…Is there anything to read around here?”
Hollow perked up, quiet joy radiating off their form.
It will show you to the library. Do you have a favourite genre?
“Uh…” Hearth struggled to remember what she enjoyed reading. It had been a very long time since she had any sort of free time. “Fantasy and murder mysteries? Used to read a lot when I was still training to be a kindler.”
Grimm walked into The Badlands Hive as if he owned the place. Eyes leered at him from every nook and cranny of the maze of tunnels, but none dared to strike him.
They were starving, not stupid. He made his presence known in their hivemind as he headed down the winding maze of tunnels towards the throne room, bright as a star and just as powerful. The rogue queen was snarling, shouting in the minds of her subjects to destroy him.
Grimm silenced her screeching with but a thought. He had long stopped caring for the crazed nag, it was clear she wouldn’t see reason and unlike The Sun, Chrysalis was one he could handle at his leisure.
He held his head high as he entered the throne room.
“You!” The Queen snarled, horn alight with sickly green magic. “I will end you!”
He nimbly avoided the blast. This was no performance, no dance, just the viscous hatred of a queen gone mad with power. Grimm had no need for flair or elegance as he teleported and landed in front of Chrysalis, his fangs locked around her horn before she could so much as scream.
Shards of chitin went flying in all directions as his jaws snapped it to pieces. Her blood tasted sour, like something left to rot and he spat out the blueish green substance along with pieces of her now broken horn.
“Save your prattling,” He said coldly as the changeling queen opened her mouth to hurl obscenities at him. “You have failed in your duty as a Queen, as a mother, and so I sentence you to an end by my own fangs and claws.”
He stared down at her, the anger from his encounter with Celestia still roared in his veins. A tug, a pull from duties long left unfinished vied for his attention. Grimm snarled, frustrated, angry, lost.
Chrysalis took to the air, the air thick with her fear. Grimm lunged with a skyward uppercut that clipped her chin and sent her crashing down to the cold stone ground.
He was on her in an instant. A chant whispered in his ears, power coursed through his form, unstable, wild, and beckoning him to finish his duties.
Fangs and claws and searing fire felled the mad queen, Grimm almost consumed by the urge to follow The Call, to continue what had been interrupted oh so long ago.
Shadows dream of endless fire,
Flames devour and embers swoop,
One will light the Nightmare Lantern,
Call and serve in Grimm's dread Troupe.
A spark of red lights darkest dream,
Scarlet nightmares bright and wild,
Visions dance and flames do speak,
Burn the father, feed the child.
Dance and die and live forever,
Silent voices shout and sing,
Stand before the Troupe's dark heart,
Burn away the Nightmare King.
“Through dream I travel, at lantern's call
To consume the flames of a kingdom's fall…” He recited and looked down at the remains of the queen, her blood dripping from his teeth and claws.
He took a deep, shaky breath, and willed the voices to fade, the call to cease.
“I cannot answer,” he said. “I cannot…”
A familiar tune danced in the wind. Bombastic, loud, and glorious. And with it, came the revenant chorus of those devoted to that age old dance.
Light the way with a fleeting spark!
Through our dance we will honour him!
Feed the child of the beating heart!
Sing the praise of the master Grimm!
“Enough!” he snapped. “There is no Ritual!”
It took a tremendous amount of effort, but Grimm willed for it all to stop, for silence. The noise, as tempting as it all had been, faded into nothingness once more.
He burned the corpse at his feet and cleaned the blood off his hands and face with a spare rag he found lying around, tossing it into the makeshift pyre.
Queen Chrysalis was no more.
Grimm heaved out a sigh and watched as her body burned.
“Ten more years…” he mused. “And then my closing act.”
He knew he needed to talk to Hollow about this, Ghost too. Then there was also the matter of his new mothling and how she would adapt to his duties.
Was she even aware of The Ritual?
His maw dipped into a frown. There was little time before the summit, a few months at best, and he could not in good conscience ask for it to be delayed, not after everything The Sun had done.
No, she needed to be brought to justice.
As much as he disliked the idea, he also needed to talk to The Pale King. He may dislike the bug, but he had his uses and Grimm was trying to be on better terms with the wyrm, for the sake of his children.
First, he needed to calm down. He teleported out of the hive and in a plume of red smoke, he arrived at one of Hallownest’s many underground hot springs. Thankfully empty at this time of night, he slipped into the warm waters and allowed his mind to drift.
The warm water soothed the lingering pain from his fight with The Sun and the low lighting provided by the glowing white water eased the strain on his eyes from being out in the sun for hours on end.
It was no small feat that he and Hollow had managed to hide their photosensitivity from the world. But Grimm had more than enough magic to shield himself from the worst of it, and his eldest rarely ventured above ground to begin with.
Grimm’s was a natural part of him, eons upon eons of being a creature of the night, of fear and darkness. Natural light was his antithesis, which was why his sister favoured it so much.
Opposites in every way. He mused.
Hollow’s condition was a result of their time as The Sealed Vessel. Something neither of them wished to recall.
A splash caught his attention and he looked over to his left to see a familiar form had jumped into the spring.
“Ghost, I thought you were headed home?”
They shook their head and waded through the water to sit beside him.
“You were worried.” Grimm guessed and Ghost nodded. The smaller being had picked up Grimm’s mood and remained silent, content to simply sit and enjoy the silence in his company.
Grimm missed quiet moments like this. There was still much to do, things to prepare for. But for now, Grimm lived in the moment.
There was nothing to do but simply be.
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When I read Quirrel I thought of Harry Potter.
I was wrong.
10936753
Lol.
Sunset's here?!
10936808
This is how I would explain it at any rate.
10936822
Given how dumb this Celestia is, I could see Sunset ditching her for Grimm.
10936823
lol.
More like willfully ignorant.
I'm excited to see what will the next story bring.
Yeah
Okay in order:
Do you mean to tell Equestria is really so dependent on you that it can't function without you?
You'll probably still do that.
If they still need you to hold their hooves then this will be a good wake up call for them.
She has a family and Cadance you know.
Sunset... interesting
Interesting indeed
Well, this chapter did clear up a few important things for me. Namely, that I believe we have been judging Celestia incorrectly throughout this saga. She is neither stupid nor willfully ignorant; in my estimation of things, she is insane.
Not the kind of "insane" that is usually depicted in media, but a more accurate sort of insane: She doesn't see the error of her view or the inherent evil of her proposed action (to eliminate nightmares) because she can't see them. She lost Luna and believed it to be Grimm's fault (rather than the confluence of personal decisions and bad luck that it actually is) and has had 1,000-ish years to stew over it, not able to get any closure and, more critically, not being able to move on. She fixated on Luna, and I have to wonder how much of her decision-making over the centuries was eventually turned towards getting Luna back. This is why she's incapable of seeing anything wrong with eliminating nightmares, even if it would result in uncountable deaths; nightmares took Luna away from her, so if she gets rid of nightmares, Luna will come back. It's not about right or wrong, it's not about murder or genocide, and it's not even about scale or impact; it's all about Luna. For Celestia, everything is about Luna.
When everything is about one thing, that one thing becomes the only thing. And when that one thing is the only thing that matters, it becomes so very easy to destroy anything else, as long as it's in the service of that one thing. Luna is the only thing that matters to Celestia; Equestria only matters insofar as it's there for Luna to rule over next to her. Twilight only matters insofar as she can bring Luna back, and if she must be sacrificed to the Nightmare to do so, it will be done. Even Grimm only matters insofar as he took Luna away.
I liked this quite a bit. I'll be watching for the next story!
10937021
That's good. I'm glad you like it.
10937037
Have you seen Equestria in canon? The princess disappears and no one knows what to do lol. In all seriousness though Celestia has gone off the deep end and is grasping at straws. Cadance isn't having any of that though.
I'm glad you find this interesting.
10937199
That was worded better than i could ever explain it.
But yeah, that's what happens in this AU when a Higher being loses their Purpose, the thing, people or ceremony that grounds them and their power. They become fixated on something to try and reclaim their lost Purpose.
The Radiance was consumed by rage and a desire for vengeance after The Moth Tribe left her for Hallownest, Luna was determined to take Grimm's power for herself because she felt abandoned by her people, and Celestia just wanted Luna back by any means necessary.
And I've already hinted at what Grimm's Purpose was.
10937363
Sometimes, I have this seemingly uncanny ability to peer through the fog and mist and see things as they are, rather than as they first appear to be.
too damn bad i havent figured out how to use it for anything other than analyzing fan fiction
10937390
That was still impressive though.