> A Fatal Error Has Occurred
>  by Orderly Disassembly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch - 1 - A Warning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One day, I woke up in hell and found it chilly. 

Actually, my captors called this place Tartarus. But honestly, a corpse is still a corpse no matter what you call it. 

My cell was a little cubby stuck in the wall. A rocky box with just enough room to take a couple of steps in any direction 

A set of electric bars let me have a view of the walkway outside. 

Nothing was special about that day, at least not at the start. 

Same old guards, same old neighbors, same old lack of food. At that point, I’d gone more than a decade without eating. I wasn’t hungry mind you, but I did feel empty at times.

There wasn’t much one could do in my situation. Most of my magic was blocked, I had no tools to work with, and I was nowhere near strong enough to bend metal or crack rock. 

I was stuck rotting in that hellhole, more than likely forgotten by the beings who put me there. 

It was boring, annoying; aggravating even, but I never stopped smiling. 

I was surprised to find out that I could change expressions given that I was a skeleton, but I still liked to smile. 

I always smiled. I never frowned, and if I never frowned then I’d never be sad. And if I’m never sad, then I’ll never cry. I never cried, you know, not one drop. So I smiled, and so I smile.

Of course, even if there aren’t many things to do, I did still manage to find a couple of pastimes, like humming. Oh how many melodies I wove, grand pieces that would scale up and down octaves, dramatic crescendoes accompanied by a methodic tap-

“Would you just shut up? Just, please, please shut up, you’ve been humming that same damn tune for three days, three fucking days!”

My neighbor's gravelly voice sounded quite desperate so I obliged.

I quit humming but continued tapping, a single fingerbone clicking on the metal bars in an almost hypnotic rhythm, each ring of the metal echoing through the hall outside. 

I tapped and tapped and tapped… for several hours. 

By the time my finger ached too much to continue, my oh-so-friendly neighbor had gone from politely asking me to quit, to shouting, to pleading, back to screaming, and finally resigned silence, just as he had every time before.

I sat down and leaned against the bars, the electrified metal sending a pleasant tingling sensation down my spine. 

I had begun humming once more when I heard my neighbor sigh.

“Can’t you be quiet for a few hours, just a few hours?”

The resignation in his voice, the despair in his soul, I could almost taste his hate for me pervading the air. 

It was wonderful, so I chuckled. I laughed, I wheezed, and I cackled. 

I knew he was confused. I mean, who would understand? 

Who would know that he’d made a mistake? 

After all he’d said, after all he’d threatened, who would’ve thought that those tame words would be his downfall?

“I entertain myself with various sorts of noises for many different reasons.”

“The hell does that have to do with anything? I just want some peace and-”

“Quiet, yes yes I know. However, quiet is slow, quiet is boring, so silence comes at a price.”

“Sorry I think I left my bits at home lemme just go grab them, be back in a-oh wait, that’s right, I can’t because I’m stuck in some rinky-dink cage next to you! Seriously, how the hell am I supposed to pay you!”

I heard a loud clang, a buzz, and a scream of pain.

“Ah you misunderstand my friend, your request requires me to suffer boredom. As recompense, I require entertainment!”

The poor guy was probably gritting his teeth through quite a bit of discomfort if the higher pitch indicated anything. 

Then again, it may have been me imagining things. After all, this was just another talk, just another day, just another stroke of the brush upon my art piece.

“I ain’t a clown ya moron!”

My eternal smile widened.

“Oh I can do all the entertaining myself, I just need material. That is what you’ll provide me.”

“And how in Celestia’s name am I supposed to do that?”

I dragged a sharp fingered bone down a bar of my cage, the metallic shriek singing a discordant melody that soothed my nonexistent ears.

“Just rest an appendage next to the bars, no touching, and I’ll do the rest.”

He muttered to himself while I dragged a magic string from my right eye socket. The red line was made up entirely of ones and zeroes when looking at its code. 

The string of perfection strengthened the smile on my face. 

The code was so clean, so uniform, so perfect, unlike the rest of this jumbled mess of a prison. Ones and zeros meshed together into nonsensical variable names and recursive functions that brought an even wider smile to my face.

Then again, flaws themselves are part of perfection, so who was I to judge?

I noticed a problem in my precious thread, a single one out of place, the first sign of decay.

My smile may have weakened at the thought. Then again, it might not have. What I do remember for certain is that I reached through those bars and whipped that beautiful string towards my fellow captive. 

He cursed when he felt the construct strike him and probably felt quite a bit of dread when he felt the string pulse like a vein.

“The hell was that!”

I only laughed in response as I dragged my thread of code back. My smile deepened as I felt the wealth of information flow into my head. 

My neighbor was a tall brown stallion named Ring Lead that had a knack for smithing and leadership. 

“Once upon a time-”

“I thought you said you’d be quiet!”

My eye sockets narrowed.

“After I finish the story, I’ll give you six hours of quiet. If you insist that I be silent now, then I’ll only hold back for an hour.”

Some grumbling preceded a snappy answer.

“Fine, just be quick about it.”

“Once upon a time, there was a little colt.”

“Great, already sounds like a dumb story.”

As I’ve said before, when I first woke up, I thought I wouldn’t be able to change my expression. Being a skeleton and all. However, even with the unnatural flexibility of my bones, the way my face scrunched should’ve been impossible.

“Interrupt me again, and I’ll make sure you don’t sleep for the next week.”

I punctuated the threat by clawing at the stone wall that separated my neighbor and I. 

After I was sure he got the point, I continued my tale.

“He was a good little colt. He went to school, did his homework, helped out the neighbors, the whole shebang.”

I shifted to take weight off of my tailbone.

“Life was good, life was fun, and, oh my gosh he got a cutiemark! He’d found his calling, his purpose in life! And do you know what it was?”

Little scrapes on the stone floor told me I had a rapt audience.

“Why it was metallurgy of course!”

More scraping.

“He loved his work, he loved it oh so much. Some time passed and the little colt had become a big grown-up stallion. However, he never lost that spark, that will to create. He wanted to improve, to know more, to become the greatest smith that ever touched a hammer. So, he went to Canterlot.”

I heard fur brush against stone and the clicking of hooves shifting.

“In that city of spires and gold, our stallion perfected his craft. He knew every way one could cast and forge metal. He knew every brand of polish, every type of metal, and every good place to find it.”

I sighed.

“He surpassed the great masters of the forge, the grand sages of metallurgy, but no matter how good he got, the castle’s gates were forever closed. Our stallion reached for the peak but time and time again he could never quite reach the top. Do you know why?”

If I was able to see Ring Lead at the time, then I probably would’ve noticed that his ears were turned towards me. 

“One word: nobles.”

I heard Ring Lead grunt in understanding.

“They worked the gates to the palace. They decided who got in and who did not. The doors to the top would swing wide open for any of highborn blood, and let in few others, those being the ones that gained their favor. However, our stallion had not done so. He was far too busy with his work to be concerned with making contacts in high society.”

Ring Lead sighed.

“So it was that our stallion never reached that particular peak of metalwork. However, that needn’t be the end for his ambition.”

Ring Lead may have smiled, he may have frowned, maybe he even gaped at the endless similarities between this tale and his own. I’ll never know, but I do remember that he stopped moving entirely and the scraping went silent.

“Instead of going back to the grouped forges to hammer out products like a factory worker, our stallion went freelance. Any request that came, he would fill, at an appropriate price of course.”

I paused to crack an out-of-place vertebra. 

“At first, only commoners would come to get some commission or another. A weirdly shaped door hinge here, or a particularly intricate piece for a favored trinket there. Then the higher-ups started coming. They wanted elaborate latches, fancy locks, and so much more.”

I waited for a time allowing tension fill the air, and waited for Ring Lead break the silence.

“Like?”

I tilted my head in mock thought before using my arms to give grandiose flourishes. Not that anyone was watching.

“Suits of armor covered in grand designs; swords that resembled works of art meant for a museum rather than a battlefield. But it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. So, the stallion dug deeper. He met gang members, talked with dealers, and eventually, he even brushed shoulders with crime lords. However, he noticed a very glaring weakness.”

I leaned into the bars harder, pressing the side of my skull against the metal.

“He saw flimsy blades, bent shields, and warped bows. He saw so many weapons but so few professionally made. He saw opportunity.”

Ring Lead chuckled before I continued.

“So he dove right in. Daggers, dirks, swords, shields, crossbows, bolts, and even armor. He had a thriving business in barely a week, a veritable empire in a month, and by year’s end, his illegal weapon’s trade spanned most of the known world.”

I could feel Ring Lead’s satisfaction invade the air like a city’s smog.

“Then he met a mare.”

And just as fast as it had come, the happiness died.

“She was cute, she was kind, she was everything that the stallion ever wanted. They met, they talked, and they laughed. Everything was going so well!”

I could hear the wet grinding of teeth.

“So well that they went out again, and again, and again.”

Ring Lead started muttering to himself in a voice he thought I couldn’t hear. He was wrong.

“Such a stupid mistake, it was going so well, and then I made that stupid, idiotic, rookie mistake.”

His breath hissed.

“Should’ve gutted her the moment we met, should’ve known something was off.”

I shook my head before continuing.

“The saying goes that ‘love blinds’ and oh how true a saying it was. He failed to see the signs; the fidgeting, the nervous eyes, the sweat. He thought they were good things, signs of her not wanting to screw things up.”

My raucous laughter echoed through my cell and faded into the background of moans and screams that pervaded the endless halls of this hell.

“He was right, so horrificly right, but not in the way he thought.”

Sniffling came from Ring Lead’s cell.

“On the fifth date, a regiment of guards met him instead of the mare he thought he knew.”

Sobs are such little things you know? Quiet, short, jerky, desperate things, each catch of the breath symbolizes a little tear in the soul, each whine a crack in the heart. A better backdrop to a story I have never found.

“The trial was quick, a full guilty verdict with no chance for parole. What was the sentence again?”

I let the question hang, and just as I thought nothing would come, Ring Lead growled a teary answer.

“Forty fucking years.”

I tapped my skull with a finger bone.

“Oh yes, silly me, thank you for the reminder. Anyway, our little stallion was thrown in prison for forty years. All for one mistake, all for one stupid, idiotic, rookie mistake.”

Another growl cut through Ring Lead’s sobs before I continued.

“Silly me, I forgot to tell you our little protagonist’s name!”

Ring Lead’s crying paused for a moment before he called out a question in a warbly voice.

“H-who, who was he?”

I took a deep breath to savor the despair, the salty bitterness, the bittersweet longing.

“His name was Ring Lead.”

The named stallion froze for a moment before launching himself into an avalanche of insults blended with questions. 

Tidal waves of his rage and regret washed over me, I could even see numbers in the air to represent them. 

I stayed quiet throughout his barrage of questions that inquired about anything ranging from who I was to how I knew.

However, my voice did not return. Not for the questions, not for the crying; not even when his sobs finally faded into a troubled sleep. After all, I did make a promise, didn’t I?

Oh, you don’t know why a seasoned criminal would weep because of a simple story? He cried because he was weak. 

I am not weak, so I do not cry. I do not cry, because I do not frown. I do not frown because I am not sad. In fact, I am happy. I’m always happy. Always! So I smiled. So I smile.
> Ch - 2 - bars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

That day was an interesting one, but dear, dear Ring Lead was not why; not the entire reason at least. 

My silence was to end in five minutes but then something unprecedented happened; something horrifying, something exhilarating, something new. 

The air heated up, the walls quivered, and shivers ran down the spines of all who were kept there. 

Tartarus itself spoke, as if to demand something of us. 

`We have a visitor,' it said.

‘Please step forth’ it asked. 

‘Behave’ it screamed. 

All of its words and every intent within were conveyed through the lightning that cracked the air, the anticipation that bled into our souls, and the dread that followed.

Laughter, grunts, begging, and screams all joined the cacophony that chorused at Tartarus’s message. 

It was music to me: a silent, smiling observer of what I considered the greatest art to ever be wrought.

Hate, anger, greed, despair, and above all, regret, saturated the stale winds of this hell. 

I did not join for I was but an observer, a fellow artist looking in rather than a mere piece of the puzzle. 

So I smiled, so I smile.

I heard hooves clopping on the slate that served as the dismal street for my wretched home. 

My grin widened as I watched the code of the air straighten itself out into perfect lines that were almost as clean as my string. Almost. 

Then a magnificent, horrifying, distasteful, and beautiful sight greeted me. 

An alicorn of pristine white with an ethereal multicolored mane strode into view with a few guards flanking her. Arcane energy arched through the air around her in blinding flashes of functionless code. 

She stopped as the guards passed by to retrieve my neighbor.

The clean feathers, the manicured hooves, the flowing mane, and the straight horn all disgusted me. 

However, she had one saving grace, one feature that overshadowed the rest of her over perfection. 

Her scowl was darker than the deepest pits of my prison, the hate palpable, and I had to resist drinking in the rage that barely lay hidden beneath.

Celestia was a powder keg itching to explode. However, that only fueled my joy, the sight of such a graceful, pure, ‘perfect’ monarch with such an ugly expression.

As a fellow artist, I felt the need to compliment her work.

“You should frown more, princess, it suits you well.”

Her glare hardened as she fully focused on me.

“I have a demand, beast.”

I sighed as I tilted my head back.

“I keep telling you princess, I’m a monster, not a beast. There’s a difference you know.”

Her silence prompted me to continue.

“Well, what do you want? I may have all day but I doubt that you do.”

She grimaced as she spoke.

“I want you to use your talents to extract information from a criminal.”

My gaze snapped back to her and my dead eyes stared for a moment before she continued.

“He refuses to cooperate, and you seem to be well-acquainted with the necessary methods of… convincing him.”

Opportunity.

I reached out to grab the bars and clenched boney fists around the grainy cylinders of metal. 

“And why, pray tell, would I do that?”

Celestia held her head high while staring down her muzzle at me.

“Is doing something good for once in your life not enough? Is the challenge, the thrill, or the satisfaction not enough? Or are you too scared to try?”

I had to snuff out a cloud of anger after that comment. 

Do something good? I do good every time you put a prisoner next to me, I scare them, I remind them, and I make them less likely to make the same mistake ever again. 

Sure, I do it more for my own entertainment but still. Though, I suppose the attempt at appealing to my ego was amusing. 

I waved a hand as I shook my head. 

“No no no, not at all princess. I love playing with the toys you so graciously continue to send me.”

I tilt my head, letting one fist relax and drag bony fingers down the bar.

“And failure doesn’t scare me, especially since it’s nigh guaranteed as I am now. I just don’t see why I should try to help you.”

Celestia blinked.

“You don’t believe you would succeed?”

“Oh, most definitely not. All I'm able to do currently is tell people things they don’t want to hear, to remind them of their mistakes. In all honesty, I probably couldn’t break the stronger of your guardsman if I wanted to at the moment.”

Celestia sighed as she turned away.

“Then you’re wasting my time.”

I wanted to make a remark about how she was wasting her time all on her own, but I bit it back.

“Now now, I didn’t say that, I just need some… wiggle room.”

She faced me again with suspicion written all over her face.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, just the smallest smidgen of my magic needs to be released, that's all, just an itsy bitsy little bit.”

Her face contorted into a grimace.

“Absolutely not!”

Her near-instant reply left a ringing in my skull but I pressed on.

“I don’t need much, just my strings, the unicorn equivalent would be allowing me the weakest of levitation spells.”

Her scowl deepened.

“You yourself have claimed that you are not adept at the task at hoof. Why should I make such unwise concessions when I gain nothing?”

I tilted my head.

“I said ‘as I am now.’ With that tiny bit of magic and a little bit of space, I could probably break almost anyone.”

She stepped closer to the bars, looking over me as her magic crackled around her.

“Do you think I honestly believe that? When one gives such contradictory statements, they are almost certainly lying.”

Almost? Not very confident are we, Celestia? Too afraid to deal in absolutes?

“My statements do not contradict, I said that I couldn’t do it as I am now. However, with a little space and my strings…”

I let the statement hang and she brought her head down in thought.

I wasn’t asking for much, just a little room, just a little power, just a little leverage. 

However, sometimes the smallest of tools can deal the greatest of damage. After all, is a bullet not more dangerous than an arrow when fired?

“All you need is your strings correct?”

Hook. 

“Correct, give me my strings, give me a solitary cell to roam freely, give me some time, and you’ll find out everything you want to know.”

She took a deep breath in and let it out. In, out, in, out, letting the calm rhythm soothe her.

“And you’re sure that you can do it?”

I leaned away from the bars.

“What am I dealing with?”

No hesitation held back her answer.

“A horrible villain with almost no peer and no morals to speak of.”

“A year and a half.”

Celestia blinked.

“What?”

“Give me a year and a half, then you’ll find a broken person crying in his cell.”

She bit her lip as she paced in front of my prison for a moment before she snapped her head in my direction.

“You’re sure, you’re absolutely sure?”

Line. 

“Yes.”

She stared into my eye sockets of red and blue; one to see the lies, one to see the truth. 

However, I don’t know what exactly she saw. Eagerness perhaps, arrogance, possibly even pure evil? 

I suppose it does not matter what she saw because whatever it was didn’t prevent her nod. 

“Then let’s shake on it, my strings, and a big cell for your information.”

I reached a hand through the bars but Celestia only looked at it. I coaxed her forth with a few words.

“It is customary to seal deals with a hoofshake is it not?”

She hesitated for a moment before she let my hand grasp her hoof…

And failed to notice the string that lined the inside of my hand. 

The smallest of tools, those are all I ever need.

And sinker.
> Ch - 3 - spirited wires
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was giddy with the magic that flowed through me. 

Like an old arm or leg being returned to me, having my strings just felt right. 

My smile deepened at the vertigo I felt. 

I got another piece of myself back. A small piece, but a piece nonetheless!

With a hurricane of creativity and joy, my excitement birthed a web of wire that tangled together in an endless self-perpetuating pattern. 

The result was a wiry mess of red lines that took the vague shape of a scarf. My thread work was atrocious but I didn’t let that take my smile! However, my experimentation was interrupted by a peculiar sound. 

I recognized the clopping of hooves but it was accented by the rings of hollow metal and the faint tinkle of glass. 

I paused in my artistry and the traveler grew closer before I heard them talking to someone. 

The speaker kept her tone near-silent but I’d grown quite accustomed to the quiet in the past few days so her speech still stuck out like a foghorn against roaring winds. 

“Why do you want to see him? He’s just another Tartuaran creature. We have better things we could be doing, more important things, like rearranging the night sky. I tell you, they will notice this time, they will have to with our new ideas.”

She paused for a moment before continuing with a sigh.

“Fine, I suppose it is your turn to decide, but still, we could be doing far more pleasant things.”

When she finished the sentence, she had fully arrived in front of my cell. She was glaring past the bars, trying to see me through the dense jungle of glowing wire. 

I decided to not keep her in suspense and walked out of my haven right up to the bars, though, apprehension echoed from my tentative steps.

“Greetings Guardian Moon, why do you walk the halls of Hell so soon?”

Her confusion fueled my grin but I sensed something off. 

The air tasted wrong, like rotted meat, or the chemical bitterness of poison.

I stared at her in silence as I waited for her response. Her eyes darted between my web and I for several moments. My red eye’s scrutiny found nothing unusual besides the fact that my visitor was none other than Princess Luna, the Guardian Moon.  

The blue one though…

Her being radiated a cool calm on the surface, but I saw nervous vibrations underneath. Little black streaks flashed through her code like bolts of lightning splitting open the night sky. It seemed fitting to me, for her to be the twin with a dark past. Guardian Sun and Guardian Moon rule their respective realms, both with an air of perfection.

However, the Guardian Moon had revealed an error in her programming. Moonlight may illuminate the darkness of night, but it seems that this one’s rays hold no light.

Luna took a deep breath before she spoke.

“My-”

She pursed her lips.

“My friend wishes to speak with you.”

I tilted my head as I leaned a shoulder against the bars.

“Oh, and who might that be?”

She scuffed the ground with a hoof as her eyes flicked ever so slightly to the side.

“She is… less than tangible.”

A ghost? and judging by her talk before, she can talk with this one. Best to not twist words between conversations.

“Go on.”

Luna took a deep breath.

“Just stay still and she will go to you, it will be easier if you two can speak directly.”

I nodded my agreement but recoiled when I saw a black mist float from her ears. 

I felt a jolt of terror strain at my smile as I retreated to my maze of strings.

“Do not run, she does not intend you harm!”

It flowed right by my cables with only minuscule wisps getting caught on each thread. I kept trying to run but I was trapped like a rat, and eventually my back hit a corner.

Luna called out again, her voice making my cell vibrate.

“Do not make this take longer than it needs to, prisoner. We have better things to do with our time!”

The mist had fanned out to cover all avenues for escape so all I could do was glare into the swirling smoke. The inky substance gathered into a tight ball before shooting directly into one of my eye sockets. 

I believe that she was fortunate to have chosen my red eye, she wasn’t ready for the truths held only in the blue.

The invader hesitated for only a moment, but that moment was all I needed. I picked out a black heart in the midst of the smog. With a vigor borne of desperation, I snatched the soul from the air and yanked the entity away from me.

It took me a moment to catch my breath before I realized something. The invader wasn’t making any attempts at corruption or assault, it was just trying to connect to me. I had to weigh my options but an anxious alicorn wasn’t making things easy.

“Be not afraid! You will come to no harm.”

Shut up, Luna.

I'm pretty sure that if her view wasn’t obstructed by the mess of wires in my cell, then I would’ve been subjected to a swift execution. 

I glared at my prisoner before reaching another wire out to the thing. 

“What is taking so long?”

I shook my head while my magic spread across the black soul. My voice has gained a sudden rasp but I paid it no mind.

“The connection failed, we’re trying a different method.”

“Which would be?”

A spike of panic drove itself into my mind.

Lies, lies, lies, I need a lie now!

My mind flitted through a dozen different possibilities before my smile strengthened once more.

“An artificial proxy, we’ll be fine.”

I got a harrumph in response, but that was fine by me.  Anything would’ve been better than the sounds of bending steel at the time.

When I finished wrapping the black heart in string, I pulled my own splintered soul from my ribcage and touched the wire connected to the intruder with it. 

I felt its terror, its anger, its anxiety, its arrogance, its… perfection

This wasn’t the hideous type of perfection where everything is normal, everything is fine, everything is clean. No, this being held the same perfection that I did, the same beauty that I sought with every work of art. 

‘Greetings, why have you come here?’

My question hovered in the air as the entity struggled to formulate a response.

‘Wha-, who, why, what did you do!’

The mental shout caused me to flinch.

‘Do mind the volume please, I can hear you just fine.’

‘Who are you, what have you done?’

‘I am a prisoner of Tartarus and I’ve got you locked in my strings. Right now, we’re speaking through direct communication.’

‘… So you’ve established a two-way telepathic link?’

The voice paused between its words and gave off an air of unease

‘Not exactly, but not entirely wrong either… It’s complicated. Enough of that, why are you here?’

‘You dare hold me captive while Luna is near? I should-hurk’

I cut off her monologue with a lash from one of my many strings.

‘Why are you here?’

‘Insolent fo-argh!’

I gave her a moment before repeating my question. She stayed silent for a moment before responding in a calm voice.

‘You have a reputation for breaking ponies. I have a pony I wish to break and you shall teach me how to do so.’

‘Oh ho ho, a fellow artist are we?

‘What? No, I wish to break the mind of a pony, not draw a picture!’

‘Then you misunderstand what I do. The minds of sentient creatures are but canvases upon which everything paints. 

I grasp the strings holding the spirit in a bony fist before bringing her before my blue eye. Her bare code swirled like a swarm of hornets, white numbers outlined by a wispy black peaking through the smog.

‘Every little word, every little interaction, every little failure alters the lines that make up the piece. I don’t smash vases, friend, I repaint them into beautiful masterworks, I rend hideous perfection and sow the beauty of flaws! ’

I shake the soul, letting my teeth clench as I glare into it.

’I am an artist!’

She held her silence for a few moments before responding.

‘Then teach me your ‘art.’ I have use for it.’

‘Why should I?’

My ever-present grin didn’t phase the spirit.

‘Because I shall be royalty! Why would you not serve your future monarch?”

Arrogance, ambition, and hate swirled around her like a hurricane of poor attributes, sending shivers down my spine with each rotation. 

I saw so much potential…

But what would I gain, even if she learned?

‘You say future royalty little spirit. What guarantee have I for your success? What guarantee have I for your favor? 

I leaned my head back, putting some distance between us. The numbers were starting to make my blue eye hurt, so I shut it off. 

The way I see it, you are but a caustic spirit that has grand ambition with little ability to act upon it.’

The strings around her began to blacken as I felt my connection to them fade. I flicked her with an uncorrupted one. 

‘I can corrupt anything, and Luna trusts me. Given enough time, I will take over and then I shall be royalty!’

It took me a few moments to cleanse my strings but I could feel the spirit’s attempts to reinsert its taint.

‘I will succeed with or without you, fool. Serve me and be rewarded or rot here in eternal imprisonment.’

I delayed my answer to think. 

I could try warning Guardian Moon, let her know of the plight that may befall her, but she wouldn't believe me over her 'friend.' No, best to help the parasite or neither.

So should I help the spirit?

On one hand, she could be wrong. She could fail, implicate me in the process, and even if she succeeds she could just leave me here to rot. 

On the other, she might succeed. She might win. 

She might free me.

‘If I aid you, you will free me?’

‘I shall reward you if you serve.’

‘All I seek is freedom, everything else is secondary.’

She paused for a moment as tension started to build in the air.

‘Very well, if you teach me your ‘art’ then I shall free you when I am able to.’

Freedom, an impossible goal, was now just within reach. All I had to do was teach this spirit and I’d be out of this rotten hellhole! It was a comforting thought. 

A warm dream. 

Hope.

Poisonous, acidic, caustic hope. I could almost feel my rationality melt and my foresight rot.

Very well, my pupil, let’s get you started right away!

Before she could respond, I ripped a tiny fraction off of her blackened heart and attached the fragment to a string on the inside of my tattered jacket sleeve.

‘Why did you do that!’

I grunted in pain as the mental scream started a piercing headache so I responded in kind.

‘I gave you a way to see and hear me while you’re away you dolt! I assumed that your host is ignorant of your true nature so I gave you a form of discrete communication!’

Her boiling rage eventually cooled and she left with a mental huff when I released her from my snare.

Luna glared at me as her ‘friend’ floated back into her and out of sight.

“Have you two come to an agreement?”

I nodded, taking a shallow bow as I did so.

“Indeed, Guardian Moon.”

“Refer to me as Princess, Princess Luna, or some other honorific of that nature.”

My smile deepened as she looked down her muzzle at me. 

Yes, assume the worst. Underestimate me all you like, I won't complain

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

With one final glare, Luna turned around and left me in silence once again.

Three minutes. 

What a short time, what a small opening, but those are all I’ll ever need. 

The smallest of tools and the shortest of times. 
> Ch - 4 - new cages
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What in Tartarus is this mess?”

The voice of a stallion cut through the ambient sounds of suffering that drifted through the halls of Tartarus. 

The sharp beginnings of each word told of shock, the tone suggested confusion, and the faint warbling buried in his voice tore away the lie of courage to reveal his fear.

“Come in, come in, to my web of lies.”

I stepped through the maze of red lines to grasp the bars

“So said the spider to the flies.”

The pony grimaced at my form: a human skeleton barely taller than him, covered by a frayed white jacket, a pair of tattered black shorts, and a glowing red scarf. 

Strings pervaded every joint in my body and formed webs of red lines between my ribs. 

He flinched when he met my gaze, but still managed to glare into my eyes: one of red and one of blue. 

One to see the lies, the other to see the truth.

The ‘brave’ stallion called out an order.

“Clean up your mess and we’ll get this transfer over with.”

His brows twitched and the muscles deep in his chest quivered, but his eyes were sturdy.

You hide your fear well, guardsman.

It took me but a moment to erase all of the strings in my cell. 

A simple kill command and something was reduced to nothing.

Too bad that it only worked on loose code like my strings or active spells.

The guard jumped at the sight of my wires disappearing but quickly recovered as a wagon cage rolled into view. 

The backend of the thing was as large as my entire cell door and the bars were woven into a netting tight enough to resemble a mesh of wire rather than a steel cage. 

However, the fact that the metal stood all on its own and the thickness of the bars dismissed such theories.

“Do not try anything, prisoner. We have-”

“Over a hundred guards right next to you, two hundred around the corner, and almost a thousand on standby along with the general magic numbing qualities of the prison. Yes, I know, no need to waste time parroting basic protocol to me.”

The guard cringed before scowling at me.

“How did you know?” 

My smile widened at his suddenly hoarse voice.

“The guard is not incorruptible, friend.”

Of course, I actually learned that little tidbit when one of the guards got too close to my cell’s edge one day. 

He was quite unobservant so my strings managed to drag a lot out of him before I had to break contact.

That didn’t stop my new friend’s eye from twitching and his tail from swishing. 

Anxiety, sweet sweet anxiety, oh how I missed you.

The pony tapped the side of the wagon as its rear lined up with my cage. 

The entire opening was sealed as the bars of my cage faded from existence. 

A few steps left me on the flattened door-turned-ramp. 

I stared into the confined space.

Less freedom now for more later. Less now and more later… right?

My smile only slightly dimmed as I got into the mobile metallic box. 

The floor bounced as we went, the bars swayed millimeters one way or the other, and the axle beneath rumbled. 

The sounds of dozens of hooves accompanied the droning roar of the wagon, but in my head I heard only static. 

The fuzzy dead noise crackled in my skull as the bars began to widen and descend.

I didn’t bother to look through the cracks of my new prison to see what lay in the halls. 

I was too busy staring into a jumble of my strings, trying to ignore the walls closing in. 

My breathing quickened as my cage slowed to make a turn.

The bars were getting closer. The air was getting thicker. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t-

My captor’s voice cut through my growing panic.

“The big bad skeleton is afraid of tight spaces? What’s next? Ya scared of the dark, too?”

I could hear the smug smile on his face and feel his satisfaction pollute the air. 

I hated it. 

With a flick of the wrist, a string shot from the confines of the wagon to lash the stallion’s nose. 

The glowing string brought back a drop of blood with it.

“Keep your strings to yourself prisoner, or I’ll have them removed, permanently!”

My smile grew back to its normal size.

“Then keep your comments to yourself, Bulwark.”

My cage jolted to a halt and the countless pairs of hoofsteps ceased.

“What did you just call me?”

Malice oozed from his words like blood from a mortal wound so I smiled and smiled. 

I drank in the hate, the apprehension, the fear. 

Then I twisted the strings that I had strung within me to shift my voice to something more familiar to him.

“Oh, nothing Bulky, nothing at all.”

The perfect rendition of his wife drew a squeak from the guard.

“W-what the buck i-is wrong with y-you.”

“Everything and nothing.”

The procession started forth once more and a whole seven minutes passed before the idiot gathered his courage for one final attempt.

“You will rot in your cage forever, freak.”

I neither frowned nor scowled. 

How could I hate something so delightfully ignorant? 

Instead, I simply laughed. 

I laughed at how small and weak this fool really was.

“Yes, little Bulwark, I will rot and you will not.”

The strings in my shoulders pulled taught as I punched the side of the wagon, denting the metal.

“Just remember that the only thing between you-”

Another slam to follow the first.

“-and me-”

Another punch rattled the cage as I heard the entire regiment begin to form up.

“-is a flimsy little cell wall.” 

I punctuated my statement with a kick that bent one of the bars outward before sitting back down. 

The guards outside were in a frenzy of clacking hooves, clinking armor, and angry scolding whispers.

I began humming to myself and the guards were more than happy to leave me to my music.

All over a little fun, it’s not like the dead care if you disrespect them.

The wagon wheels glided over the smooth floor of the walkway but the axle still rumbled under the weight of my cage. 

Several minutes passed as we traveled before the thick blanket of tension began to fade. 

Bulwark cleared his throat.

Does this one just not learn?

“Why are you like this? Cruel I mean. The rest of the monsters down here have some reason for it. For some it's ambition, for others it's a philosophy, and some do it because of instinct. Why do you hurt others?”

“I’m an artist.”

It took a few moments for a response to come.

“So, what does that have to do with hurting others?”

My smile widened as I chuckled.

“I am an artist that uses no brush, owns no paint, and has no canvas.”

I stood up before walking to the edge of the rolling wagon prison. 

I stuck my hand through an opening in the bars to grip the metal and leaned against the vibrating wall.

When the silence began to cause discomfort, I continued.

“Yet I must paint, yet I must draw, yet I must show everyone something new. After twenty years of putzing around my cell, I had an idea.”

I squeezed my bars as I brought an eyesocket to the opening.

“If I couldn’t show people new pieces of art, then why not make them the art?” 

I caught a glimpse of a guard that walked along the wagon, one of dozens I’m sure.

“As an artist, it is my duty to change the world around me, to make something new, something beautiful.”

I dragged a finger down the bar to let the metal sing its hatred for those who forged it.

“And given the amount of ugliness surrounding me, I have a lot of work to do.”

The air was once more ruled by the clopping of hooves and the rumble of an old wagon. 

Although this time, the static wasn’t broken. 

We arrived at my new cell in what felt like hours. How long it really took, I’ll never know.

The wagon rotated in place and I felt the platform beneath me shift as the wagon was presumably pressed against the entrance of my new prison. 

I heard something huge shift with a thunderous metallic groan. 

A moment later, the back of my cage fell down.

The room beyond was massive and I scanned the barren gray rock with wonder.  

The floor was made of a gray stone that was smooth as warm butter. 

Giant spikes that reached the ceiling made up the walls. 

For a moment I thought that I’d found a way out.

However, a short examination revealed, to my disappointment, that the spikes came together like chiseled stone blocks used in castle walls. 

The black cage in the middle completed the aesthetic. 

I turned around to thank the guards for the entertainment but only found a solid rock wall where the entrance once was.

With a shrug, I began sewing a tapestry-like web in the top half of my prison. 

Cables appeared from nothing to wrap around the tips of the spikes near the ceiling. 

Red lines crisscrossed through the air, weaving an ever-tightening pattern. 

After a few minutes of work, I grabbed a string that pulled me up into the maelstrom of wire.

My fingers were alive with power, my eyes were abuzz with energy, and my soul pulsed to the same rhythm as my strings.

My mind felt fuzzy as I felt my senses expand beyond myself and sink into the strings. 

I could see, touch, hear, and feel from so many different angles with my cables, like a spider with its webs but so much more.

I was ripped from my reverie by the dying screams of sturdy rock and my inquisitive gaze found a hole opening in the walls of my prison. 

The stone fell away to reveal a pair of alicorns.

I hooked my legs onto a tangle of strings before swinging my torso downwards. I saw the world upside down as I began.

“Greetings Celestia, Queen of Fire. Greetings Luna, Guardian Moon.”

Celestia radiated serenity like the morning sun, Luna polluted the air with a smog of her gloom, and both suffocated within my smiling void.

Celestia’s voice held a trace of iron behind it but her poker face held

“Neither of us appreciate your escape attempt, care to explain?”

I tilted my head and my grin deepened.

“An idiot spouted nonsense, I showed him the actuality of the situation, is the education of others not a moral endeavor?”

Celestia set her jaw and Luna scowled. Luna's patience failed first.

“Why must you insist on aggravating us, foul creature? Have we not shown you mercy, should you not be groveling for the kindness we have shown?”

Her scowl, her shouting, her condescension, it was a delicious combination of negative traits that made me shiver with joy and revulsion. 

My grin deepened further as I tilted my head. The edges of my mouth were starting to hurt and I couldn’t help but chuckle, then laugh, then cackle as I felt my own mind swirling with barely bound rage. 

My own flaws, my own shortcomings, my own hate tasted sweeter and more bitter at the same time. 

I loved and hated, accepted and rejected, understood it and was confused by it. 

My head began to ache as my hate and admiration mixed to the point where I couldn’t tell one from another.

It took several moments to realize that my gaze had turned towards the floor and a couple more before I returned it to the pair of fidgeting alicorns. 

Luna had maintained her scowl as Celestia’s face had descended into a frown. 

However, the lines on their muzzles and their slightly crouched stances spoke of their cautiousness.

“Enough nonsense.”

The return of my voice seemed to calm the princesses slightly as they straightened again.

So I continued.

“After all, we do have a few things to discuss.”

They both shifted in place as my laughter started up again and their grimaces only made me cackle harder.

They scowled so I smiled.

Oh, how I smiled, how I smiled.
> Ch - 5 - Schemes Begin After Dreams End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sleep is one of the rarest treasures in Tartarus, peaceful sleep even more so. I had the unfortunate luxury of falling into the false protection of that cold comforting void. My dream self stood on a solid black surface that stretched out to the horizon in every direction. 

I looked down, only to find that my body was gone, no ribcage, no legs, not even a pair of hands greeted my gaze. I scanned my surroundings but nothing marred the perfect black horizon. With nowhere else to stare, I looked up. I regretted the first time that I did so, but now, it’s just another reason to enjoy what I have instead of worrying about what lies ahead. I looked up and up and up. Far in the sky, I saw a single pinprick of light pierce the void. Then another, then another, and soon enough, the entire sky was speckled with minuscule white dots.

Those dots grew and grew to a size three times that of what they were before. Each dot became a ball, and each ball became a disk of immense size. A moment later I noticed that each of the disks held an infinitesimally small black dot within. A black sky speckled with white disks that themselves held holes of void.

I stared up into infinity and watched the abyss blink. The entire sky shifted as every last eye that had opened turned to stare at me. One thought dominated my mind, a thought borne of fear, a thought caused by the primal instinct to hide.

It saw me!

A million voices whispered, spoke, and screamed in a thousand different languages that all seemed to dip in and out of this plane of reality. Each word mixed with a thousand others before melting into the background static that began to build in my head.

A pressure made itself known by pushing the insides of my skull out. I could feel the knowledge that was given to me fill up my head and I heard my skull crack under the crushing weight of understanding.

I know it and it knows me.

With a small cry, I shot upright in my hammock of red wires. A couple of moments of calm silence were all it took for me to settle down. The dream wasn’t just a dream, it was a glimpse into eternity. I’ve spent years digging through the code of this world, of this reality, and some of my findings made the creature I saw appear minuscule in comparison. 

However, it didn’t matter. None of them mattered, because for all their power, they didn’t change  a single thing. Whether the reason for their inactivity was a matter of inability or of lethargy was beyond me. 

But that didn’t matter either. 

I couldn’t change anything about them, so why should I worry? 

I was stuck in Tartarus and nothing was going to change that anytime soon.

But nothing lasts forever.

Why worry about eventualities?

Why worry about impossibilities?

The only thing that should worry me is the possibility that I would fail!

But I won’t.

I let confidence dance through the shards of my soul as I lay back on my hammock.

I won’t fail… but what happens when I succeed?

My idle musings were cut short by the familiar sound of cracking rock. I tore my gaze from the prison’s ceiling and peeked over the edge of the dense web of my strings. The red lines now formed a mat that hung over the cage like a second roof with more reaching down all the way to the floor.

A question for another time I suppose.

I prodded the shard of the parasite’s soul for a moment and got quite a venomous response.

‘Not now you oaf!’

With a mental shrug, I returned my attention to my visitors.

The two princesses dragged a manacled, snarling, centaur between them. They strolled down the little pathway devoid of strings like it was a little jaunt through a park. They didn’t glance at the forest of wires around them, they didn’t ask me the purpose of my constructs, and they didn’t even glance in my direction. 

Perfect.

The centaur gritted his teeth before shouting in a hoarse voice.

“What is this place? Where have you two fools taken me?”

To the deepest pit of Hell, my friend.

They continued as if the silence remained unbroken.

“Answer me!”

Luna spared him a glare before responding.

“You are in Tartarus, and for your crimes, we have deemed you worthy of solitary confinement.”

Tirek growled.

“You fools think that locking me up is going to help? Ha, I’ll be out in a week and have your country on its knees in another! I-”

Tirek’s threats were cut short by the grating squeal of metal on metal. 

My eternal grin widened as I heard a violent burst of scrapes and growls that told me of Tirek’s latest futile effort at escape. The sounds went quiet as the cage slammed shut with the prisoner safely secured within. I heard him snarl once more before he spoke.

“You will regret this, Princesses!”

My chuckle echoed through the prison and my voice ground against the rocky walls as the royals turned to go.

“I’m sure they will, I’m sure they will indeed.”

Another short burst of laughter followed my statement but Tirek failed to see the humor.

“What is the meaning of this? I thought you said this was solitary, you idiots!”

Celestia stopped to look over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

“It is, what of it?”

Tirek’s shout would’ve left my ears ringing if I had them.

“Then why is there some idiot laughing in here?”

Celestia frowned.

“I do not know what you are talking about Tirek, I heard no laughter.”

“What do you mean you didn’t hear it? It was clear as day you deaf goats!”

Celestia’s frown deepened.

“If you are just going to insult us, then staying here serves no further purpose. We shall be back in a month or two to allow you to reconsider.”

Tirek shouted at them until the tips of their tails passed through the portal. A moment of silence strangled the air, but Tirek’s patience had worn thin.

“Alright, who are you, and why are you here?”

I could feel his scowl fix upon my hiding place as his words betrayed his hate.

“Me?”

It hurt to smile that wide, but I couldn’t help myself.

“I’m nobody, everybody, and everyone between.”

Tirek snorted.

“Enough with the stupid riddles, who are you, and why are you here?”

I laughed before responding, though my mirth bled into the words.

“No riddles, I only speak facts. I am madness, I am truth, I am your fatal error.”

I heard a growl before a thud echoed through the cave.

“Fine, I suppose I don’t need a moron like you to get out of this dump anyway.”

I heard more shifting so I cast my senses into my strings. My perspective shifted as my personal vision failed and a new image opened up in my head. I saw Tirek, well not exactly. My strings saw him, all of them, but I could only focus on one image at a time. I flipped through numerous perspectives like a security guard through his camera feeds for a time. Eventually, I got a good look at Tirek's face.

The red-skinned and black-furred centaur had one of the ugliest baboon's faces imaginable, tiny horns stuck out of his head, and void-like eyes with glowing bits of gold for pupils darted around to examine his new home.

Welcome to Tartarus, my demonic friend.

My smile maintained its near-painful status as I saw him close his eyes.

Sleepy already, are we?

I began to hum my favorite little tune. No two notes harmonized and every piece of the melody managed to clash with every other\. The song made everyone I’ve ever met think that music had gained sentience and was on a quest for vengeance. 

Tirek’s chest continued its rhythmic rise and fall.

Am I boring you now?

Then the chorus of madness worsened as the notes began to echo off of the prison’s walls causing a musical war to begin. Each line collided with another, each progression grinding against the grain of its fellows, and every single bit of the song seemed to fall into further disarray. 

At first, he shifted. Then his eyes snapped open, he growled, and finally…

“Silence! I demand that you stop with that horrid racket!”

So I did and Tirek returned to sleep grumbling about how ‘he at least knows his place’ or some other nonsense like that. I kept my peace for an entire minute, waiting for the final traces of the previous masterpiece to die, before beginning again with a new song.

Tirek stirred once more and repeated his demands for silence.

So I was quiet.

Then I was not.

Then Tirek shouted.

Then I was quiet.

And so the cycle continued.

One minor inconvenience left on repeat, one tiny grating detail to wear away at the mind, one of the smallest of my tools, and those were all that I ever needed.

The smallest of tools, always comes back to them, doesn’t it?

Tirek’s screams of rage must’ve been heard throughout all of Tartarus.

And I smiled. Oh, how I smiled.
> Ch - 6 - hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Numbers.

Numbers define us.

Numbers define our world.

When broken down to their most basic of pieces, everything becomes a number.

So why care about what happens to others?

After all, they’re just numbers.





My string’s let me see Tirek as he screeched at me for the three hundredth time today, exactly. The bags under his bloodshot eyes and the grimace covering his face were the first signs of my success. Little victories, the smallest openings, the tiniest tools; those are the things that bring down the greatest of castles and mightiest of titans. 

“I demand your permanent silence, whelp! Another sound out of you and I’ll tear your head from your shoulders!”

I chuckled before responding.

“I am madness, how do you propose to do that?”

An enraged roar accompanied my mad cackles but our respective vocalizations were cut off by a series of sharp cracks.

It’s been a month already?

The rainbow mane of Celestia poked through as the lone monarch stepped into the prison and the portal closed afterward.

I poked the shard of the Nightmare that I had hidden in my sleeve.

‘Your first lesson is about to begin, Little Moon.’

The sharp voice of the parasite spat at me.

‘Why have you not answered my calls before, subject?’

My grin deepened as my eyes flared.

‘I am no one’s subject, parasite. So I suggest that you do not call me such if you want your lessons.’

‘My question still stands.’

I would’ve rolled my eyes if I had any.

‘It was not time, rushing accomplishes nothing.’

‘You still should have answered me!’

‘Enough, do you wish to learn or not?’

I heard her grumble through the connection but she eventually responded.

‘Fine! Just teach me already.’

I chuckled to myself as I shifted on my web of wire.

‘Our first lesson begins now.’

I could feel her anticipation building, it was pooling in my head and pushing against the insides of my skull. The pressure was mounting, the world was fading, and energy saturated me. Like lightning in my bones, power ran through me and coalesced in my eyes. The shadows thinned as previously invisible light faded into view, but for all the new sensations, my mind grew dark.

‘Always start small.’

The clopping of hooves warned me that Celestia was on the move.

‘Because it gives them hope.’

I snapped my vision back into one of my strings and gazed into Tirek’s glowing yellow eyes. One could see white veins at the edges and his visage had new lines to it when he snarled; the price of overuse.

‘Because it makes them feel strong.’

Celestia opened her mouth. I didn’t hear her words but I felt her contempt rise and fall like the ocean’s tides, while pity still fought to assert itself within her.

‘Because you want them to stand, you want them to try, you want to see them curse at the heavens with a grimace or grin.

Tirek’s roar echoed through my head despite me not hearing his message. Words, ideas, people, all of them melted away beneath the ocean of numbers that struggled to quantify the emotions before me.

‘Because if they never tried before, who’s to say that they wouldn’t succeed if they did?’

Celestia scowled at Tirek before making another statement that I didn’t bother listening to.

‘So you watch them stand.’

Celestia finished her message and then turned to walk away.

‘So you watch them struggle.’

The portal opened once more and the alicorn stepped through.

‘So you watch them take any victory that they can, no matter how small.’

Tirek’s grin covered his face as he laughed, but it shattered like glass once I joined.

‘Just so that you can help them fall all the harder.’

His scowl was turned on me now and I smiled right back despite the fact he couldn’t see me.

‘That’s how you break someone, Little Moon.’

I switched perspectives so I could continue looking him in the eyes, those glowing, bloodshot, hardened eyes.

‘You let them think that there was hope.’

And watched his light fade as sleep finally overtook Tirek for the first time in weeks.

‘So that the truth hits harder.’

I began to hum and like clockwork Tirek progressed through a cycle of stirring, ignoring me, and finally, screaming threats.

“I’LL RIP YOUR-”

I cut him off with the crack of one of my strings whipping him across the face. His blood was a deep crimson, almost violet, and his face went from an enraged scowl to abject shock.

“If you’re quite done, I do have a question or three.”

And there’s the snarl, how predictable.

“Well, you can shove it up your rear then, moron! I don’t have the patience to deal with your buffoonery!”

I tilted my head as I chuckled.

“Deal?”

I laughed some more.

“Deal? I can do a deal.”

I cut off Tirek’s objection by continuing.

“How about you answer me three questions, and I give you three hours of peace.”

His deadened eyes flashed with life once more.

“Make it six and you’ve got a deal!”

I guffawed at his enthusiasm and had to grip my strings tight to keep from falling out of my hiding place above Tirek’s cage.

“Fine, fine, six hours of peace.”

His wide grin was so endearing. It became even more so when it fell at my words.

“Why are you here?”

Tirek snorted before responding.

“Simple, I saw that the ponies had power, I saw they were still weak despite their power, so I took it.”

I tilted my head as I leaned back in my hiding place.

“No no no, that’s the story of half the beings down here. No, why did you do it?”

Tirek raised an eyebrow.

“Does it matter?”

I shook my head.

“Not really.”

My grin deepened as I added.

“But I am curious.”

He rolled his eyes before responding.

“My homeland needed a jump start because the central ley lines got scrambled.”

“Ah, so you needed power to save your people? How noble.”

He shook his head as he grinned.

“Oh no, not save, rule. Do you have any idea the kind of power magic gives to those who wield it in a magicless society?”

My silence was all the answer he needed to continue.

“And I had so much of it! All the magic anyone could ever want was wtihin my grasp!”

My eternal smile widened before I spoke out in a tone nearing song.

“If you had the power of all…”

I paused for a moment, letting the silence strangle the air.

“Then how did you fall?”

I watched as his grin fell into another snarl. I watched as his yellow eyes dimmed and warped into a reddish gold. I watched as he reached out to squeeze the bars of his cage with white-knuckled fists and I smiled as he spoke.

“My worthless brother betrayed me!”

He wore his hate like a cloak with his distaste hovering around his head as the cowl. The tattered sleeves of pride covered his arms while ignorance hid his body. Tirek bore the mantle of negativity with practiced ease and my grin widened at the sight of it growing further down his form.

“He told them, he told them everything! When I get out I’m going to–!”

His speech about vengeance descended into animalistic growls and fiery roars.

‘What is the purpose of this?’

I let my senses recede back to my own form as I tried to rub away the throbbing ache in my skull.

‘Anger is a very useful tool, Little Moon.’

The pulses of dull pain faded by the moment as I worked away.

‘So I’m trying to burn it out, let him rage against nothing until his internal fire sputters out.’

I popped a few bones in my spine while listening to the primal shrieks of my victim.

‘Or I might be able to turn his anger inward.’

Another few pops came from my shoulder and another series of cries from Tirek echoed through the prison.

‘But that will take time, I promised him six hours of peace, so I will give it to him.’

I felt a small shock go through my neck as the parasite replied with astonishment evident in her tone.

‘Why would you not press your advantage? Is he not off balance?’

I nodded.

‘Oh, he is, but not now. After all, I did promise.’

Silence ruled our connection as I laid down, preparing for sleep.

‘This… lesson has been informative.’

My expression brightened for a moment, but only for a moment.

‘Thank you, Little Moon. It may not be much but it still feels nice to be appreciated.’

It may have been the patronizing tone, it could’ve been the sarcasm oozing through the mental link, but whatever it was, something set her off.

‘My most thoughtless compliments are twice as meaningful as your existence in its entirety!’

My smile waned while my eyes dimmed, so I chuckled. I laughed. I cackled.

‘Little Moon, there are truly terrifying things out there. You are not one of them.’

Silence ruled once more as the last echoes of my mirth faded and the air seemed to fill with an electric charge. Fire, ice, and lightning all flared through the mental link, searing a small piece of my consciousness with the parasite’s rage.

‘YOU DARE CLAIM THAT I AM WEAK, MORTAL?!’

I flinched at the spike of pain but my smile never faltered.

‘No, Little Moon. I didn’t say that, but you do not scare me. You should not scare me. That is the truth.’

The nausea of confusion tinged the whirlwind of anger but was quickly swallowed by the raging storm of emotion around it. A couple of moments passed before the firestorm chilled to the temperature of a blizzard.

‘Explain.’

How do you explain eternity? My answer: you don’t. Instead, you show it.

‘I need to rest but you can join me in my dream. It will be far easier to explain there.’

‘You dare order me to–’?

I cut her off with a poke to the shard of her soul.

‘I’m not ordering, I’m inviting. But if you want an explanation, you will need to be there.’

‘To what end.’

I sighed as I shut off my vision and my smile returned in full.

‘You will see, Little Moon, you will see.’
> Ch - 7 - Dream of Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The void was saturated with the roar of falling water. The distant horizon glowed with yellow light, but I could not see it. I knew the sky above stared down at me through enormous disk-like eyes, but I could not look up.

My limbs refused to respond to my command, not that my mind was issuing any. 

I gazed at the whirlpool below.

‘What is the meaning of…this… dream.’

The parasite’s voice started out with its normal fiery confidence, but the maw below seemed to swallow that arrogance.

The parasite wisely remained silent as the underwater tornado swirled

Then my voice echoed through the nothingness without my input. It was filled with glee and torn by static.

“The Lord of Above and Beneath.”

The eyes above blinked and the water began to drain faster.

“The Black Sea of Infinite Teeth.”

Triangles poked through the crashing waves, jutting upwards, daring the sky to meet the water.

“See the tides and weep.”

The catastrophe grew in size as the living hole opened wider. When staring into depths, one could also imagine logic and reason drowning.

“For the tithes of knowing.”

The images of water faded away to reveal that the maw did not consume the ocean, but rather, reality itself. Shifting patches of emptiness fell down its throat as seafoam turned to nebulae and waves became clusters of stars.

“Cut deep.”

The parasite screamed as the gaping jaw of Entropy consumed existence itself, and the unimaginable being giggled as galaxies fell into nothing.

“You know them.”

The parasite’s breathing had quickened to a frantic pace, each gasp rasping against the back of her throat. Every eye in the night sky turned to her and the swirling abyss laughed with a trillion different voices. The cacophony borne of mirth and hate almost drowned out my final words. Almost.

“And they know you.”

Another scream tore itself from her throat as the parasite fled the vision through a static purple portal. I do not know for certain, but I can guess that the echoes of Entropy’s derision followed her to wherever she hid.

I felt no pity.

Why would I?
> Ch - 8 - done deal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My vision flickered as my internal clock chimed.

I sat up, hearing several joints pop as I did, and let out a yawn as I stretched. I could feel old aches fading and a new energy thrumming in my soul. Perhaps I should sleep more often…

The tithes of knowing.

…Then again, perhaps not.

I shrugged before reaching out to my strings, observing Tirek from several different angles. His chest rose and fell in a slow calm rhythm. His eyes were shut, without any strain at their edges. And his muscles seemed relaxed, but I could see the faint traces of tension beneath.

He wasn’t ready to awaken, his body hadn’t finished its maintenance. He needed to rest, otherwise, something just might break.

I felt my smile widen, my teeth shining in the dark. I brought a hand to my face, vision still elsewhere, and my breaths began to quake. My ribs shuddered as the strings in my chest thrummed with magic.

This feeling, this cold damp feeling of mirth finally bubbled over and fell from my smile in long peels of laughter.

He wasn’t ready? Well, neither was I when I came down here.

Welcome to Hell.

Tirek shot to his hooves, bloodshot eyes frantically scanning the cell.

“Where, who, why—“

His startled gibberish cut off with a growl when his senses returned. And the joy I felt dug its icy nails deeper into my soul when he screamed.

“SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP…”

Over and over and over again. When he first came to this place, his voice was gruff but solid. It carried an air of determination, of inevitability. Even in his wildest shouts, he clung to a single emotion above any other: ambition.

Now? Now desperation replaced the determined hate in his eyes. Manic tears sundered him from his pride. He was close, so very close. His cloak of derision, his cowl of hate, all of it was wearing thin.

It wasn’t even that hard. Just a few inconveniences left on repeat, just the reminder of his own actions over and over again, and a little bit of isolation; that was all it took. All it took to bring the mighty ‘Lord Tirek’ to his knees.

I let go another short chuckle, my smile widening as the centaur spun in his cage. Like a thousand other times, he scoured the shadows and edges of our minuscule personal cavern. A thousand tries, a thousand failures, what was one more try to cost in the face of that?

I took in a deep breath, holding the stale air within my hollow chest, and reminisced on the short time we had together. And what a short but oh-so-meaningful stretch of time it was.

After the first day, the one where he told me his own story, his flame had begun to die.

I smiled as I plucked the strings around me, sending pleasant notes ricocheting off the slate walls. Though they failed to soothe Tirek any.

He was fiery and blustered like an inferno at the start. So I began with his anger. I led him in circles, continually grinding away at his determination with a chisel made of memories. Every time I reminded him of Scorpan, every time I mentioned the Royals, every time I repeated one of his many many mistakes, he sank an inch deeper.

It was like I was a puppeteer, and he, my marionette. Since the moment he was dragged into this cell. He danced to the songs that I would sing and feared my shifting, glowing strings. Like an obedient pet, he howled when I commanded, even if it was silence that he demanded,

After a month, his flaming anger was below the waterline. Its heat drowned in apathy borne of soul-deep exhaustion, and the tinder that started it, again and again, was worn to ash by overuse.

So now my toy had cracked—stuff leaking out of him in the shape of tears and weakness. But I wasn’t finished yet. So far, there was merely a crack upon his mask, a torn seam upon the puppet, nothing of great note.

I caressed the glowing strings again, trying to get them to sing with beauty and passion. Instead, they screamed.

So, next came his hate. 

His brother still weighed heavily upon his mind, but if Scorpan was as worthless as Tirek said, then why should he bother even thinking about his useless brother?

He never could find the words to counter that particular jab. It could’ve been the apathy suffocating him once more. Maybe he simply accepted my words. Maybe a lot of things, but what is certain are the numbers before me. They spoke, they whispered, they screamed as they passed under my gaze, and laughter echoed in my skull as I found naught but a string of zeros where his hate should be.

Of course, there were still traces, the tiniest of blemishes upon the blank slate. His hate was still there, somewhere, it was just weak, impotent, buried where I couldn’t get at it anymore. For now, at least.

I stopped playing my music, tiring of its incessant ringing in my ears.

Tirek was never very complex. He was a being driven by anger, guided by hate, and ruled by ambition.

When his anger flickered out, when his hate was suffocated, when his ambitions were driven from beyond sight even in his few dreams, what was left?

Tirek screeched once more, his destroyed voice seeming to tear at the air in his desperate desire. A very simple desire for it all to go quiet.

I wanted to know if there was something beneath that simple exterior. I desired to see the inner complexities that drove him onward when nothing else could. What was his prime directive, his source code, his very core?

I looked him in the eyes through my strings. I had to jump from point to point to keep up with his swiveling snarling visage, but I managed. 

I stared into those black pits, lined by white and speckled with gold.

And all I found was a blank, torn canvas staring back. 

As it turns out, there was nothing at his core. Beneath the veneer of emotions, beneath the lies he told himself, beneath everything below his skin, there wasn’t anything. There was no deeper mind than the one made from matter. There was no unseen connection to everything around us, just out of sight. There was no soul. All I found was a sphere of cold, dead numbers.

Did I forget to stop laughing again? Dear me, that is becoming quite a problem.

I cut off my laughter as I stood on my hammock made of string. I rolled my neck, feeling joints pop and the final aches of lethargy die down.

It was time for a question, a very simple question.

“Are you ready, Tirek? Today is the day. The day you can make me ‘shut up.’ The day you’ve dreamed of.”

Tirek twitched. Did he dare allow himself a drop of caustic hope? Should he disregard my promise? Several questions seemed to flash across his face, but only one reached the open air.

“What do you mean? Is this another one of those ‘deals’?!”

I sucked in a hissing breath, relishing the fear I felt waft off of him. It was almost intoxicating, like a sort of drug that kept pulling at the edges of my mind, driving me to tear off just another small piece of his will.

“No, not just another deal. It would be the first one we ever made… and perhaps our last.”

Confusion flooded his face, but it seemed that no hope followed. Good. I’d taught him well what “hope” really meant here, what it meant to me.

“What do you mean? Am I finally getting transferred?”

I was wrong? The fool still clung to that poisonous emotion? How amusing. Was he masking it at first? Oh, he’ll regret not listening the first time, he’ll regret it in time.

“Yes, from what I understand, but only if you do one small thing for a pair of very important ponies.”

Tirek dared not smile, he learned after the first time he made that mistake. Instead, he kept his face hard as stone and his tone flat as paper when he asked.

“When?”

I shrugged, even if he couldn’t see.

“Oh, any moment now, really. Could be a minute, could be an hour, who knows.”

He snorted at that but sat down without further complaint. For once, I decided to let the peace remain. Let him get comfortable before he’s reminded of who put him here.

I felt my smile wane as the silence went from calm to smothering, and it weakened further when I heard a ghostly ringing in my head. It was like talons were being drawn down a chalkboard a dozen paces away.

I was freed from the discomfort of silence by a series of loud cracks.

An ethereal rainbow mane poked out, and Celestia’s pristine form followed. Luna passed through the portal as well, though she seemed a tad bit ragged. Small bags under the eyes, one leg slightly less favored than the rest, giving her posture a tilt. 

Did Celestia even notice? I doubt it, she seems to miss the small things quite often.

I smiled at the thought as I nodded at the Royals. They didn’t acknowledge me back. 

Good, they remember.

I made a circular gesture with my hand before letting my red eye socket go dark. It was my signal that Tirek had caved. Celestia came to a stop before Tirek’s cage and cleared her throat before saying.

“Are you ready to tell us?”

Her voice was calm as a still pond. Not a ripple out of place. But just like any other body of stagnant water, flies hovered around it. I could almost taste the apprehension that rolled off of her in waves of numbers.

A lie made manifest, a manicured visage wreathed in deceit, it was glorious.

I turned my gaze on Tirek through my strings for the first time since the Royals' entrance.

He still frowned, and I still saw recognition and anger flicker in his eyes for a moment. However, the fire in him died as quickly as it ignited.

“Fine, just… just take me away from here, from whoever, whatever has been tormenting me, please.”

I expected at least a shout, perhaps even a threat, had I truly stripped the paint from his canvas so thoroughly?

I shook my head at the thought. It’s likely that he was simply tired, that the moment he left and was given to rest, his fire would begin to regain its strength. That is the nature of my art, it is temporary, as the canvas I work upon is ever-changing.

Celestia nodded at Tirek, allowing a faint smile to cross her otherwise neutral expression. I admired the twisted beauty of a lie, but why did she have to hide behind that mask? The ugly truth would be a far more moving artwork.

The cage door swung open with a metallic grinding, and Tirek received a pair of shackles around his wrists.

Meanwhile, Luna leveled an even glare at me as if I’d crossed her somehow. Had I said something wrong? Did Little Moon fail? Did she out me?

Normally, I would cherish such animosity. However, the air tasted of ozone, and I could see the numbers shifting beneath the shell of physicality. Something was wrong. I felt fear, true fear, I hadn’t tasted its bitterness in a long while… I can’t say that I missed it.

I swallowed my apprehension, hiding it behind a tilt of my head. The clop of hooves echoed through the rocky chamber as Celestia and Tirek walked, and I found myself scouring the rock around me for anything new, anything different. Something was wrong, I could feel it in my strings.

The portal closed with a soft pop, and the stone of the wall pulled itself back into place.

Luna broke the silence.

“The deal that my sister brokered with you is finished. Your business concluded.”

What was her angle? I nodded, saying.

“I suppose it is. Might I ask when I’ll be transferred back to my old abode?”

Luna smiled, and I swear it felt like looking in a mirror.

“Oh, my sister and I have decided that you are better suited to your current situation, barring one change, of course.”

Even if I had eyelids, I wouldn't have even had the chance to blink before my strings disappeared. They didn’t burn away, and they didn’t fall limp to the cold floor, they vanished. And I felt a familiar weight upon my soul. A set of invisible shackles that bound me once more.

I fell on the metal top of Tirek’s cage, a bolt of pain shooting up my spine when I hit.

I shot upright, and my breathing quickened as I glared around at my new home, searching for any trace of my months of work. Any trace. Any…

…But there was nothing to be found.

I turned back to the pest that just chained my magic again. I found my voice shaky. 

“What, why, w-we made a deal.”

Luna’s smile widened at that. I felt the urge to wring her neck.

“Yes, and the deal was concluded. You have done your duty to Equestria, now enjoy your reward.”

I brought my hands in front of my face. They trembled, not with a dreary sadness, not with sickeningly sweet joy, but with bubbling broiling heat.

“That wasn’t the deal.”

Despite the fires of rage, my voice hissed with an icy chill, but Luna’s tired form seemed to only grow joyous at my response. The cur spoke with a saccharine smile.

“Well, we altered the agreement, pray that we do not alter it further.”

With her message delivered, she turned and left, the hollow echoes of clopping hooves marked her passage. 

How? Why? We had a deal, a deal! One and one is two. You pay me, I pay you. If you make a deal, you follow through. Failure is one thing, but this. This.

They’re just numbers.

My hands clenched into fists.

You simply had to look harder.

I felt lines of moisture on my face.

A subroutine you’d missed, probably associated with lies. You screwed up.

I growled at the voice, reminding me of my mistakes, my voice.

Next time you will know, you will plan around it. Learn.

Had Luna so much as glanced over her shoulder, she would’ve witnessed something rare, something a precious few ever saw and that fewer survived to speak of.

For the first time in over fifty years of confinement. 

For the first time since I found the truth buried a mile beneath reality. 

For the first time since I found my purpose.

My smile fell.
> Ch - 9 - Nightmare's Calling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The squeal of bone on rock grated upon the air in my prison. I needed that sound. Needed it to drive back the screeching in my head. Now I had to hide from the quiet, but why? It was always fine before, it stayed just out of audibility, an ethereal reminder that I was alive. But now the ghostly scratching sent spears of pain through my skull.

Silence was my ally, why did it turn on me?

I clawed at the walls of my cage to forestall the piercing howl. But it always came back the moment I tried to stop, the moment I tried to rest. It hid in the shadows, gleefully waiting for my will to falter.

Back in my old cell, I could hear the odd shout, scream, or weeping. Back then, I had help, but now I was far away from all of that, ironically closer to the exit than I’d ever been before and at the same time further from freedom than ever.

I had no more tools at hand, I had no more people to use as fulcrums. No more prisoners to surround me, no more royals to visit me, and the parasite had gone silent as well.

I was alone. I was impotent. I was buried. And yet I smiled, because none of these things would last. Eventually, either the royals would need me again or someone would get curious and come poking around down here. It might be a year, it might be a millennium, whichever is the case, I’ll be ready and waiting.

Nothing lasts forever.

So I smiled and so I clawed, passing the time and making living bearable by grinding inexorably towards freedom. Even if nothing else changes, even if no one comes, I will rise, like a mountain from a set of flat plains.





I don’t know how long I remained like that. It could’ve been minutes, it could’ve been days, but what I do know is how it ended. 

The rock at the far end of my cage cracked, splitting apart rock and opening a hole to the beyond. I recoiled from the rut I’d dig in the wall. As minuscule as it was, I couldn’t risk the royals noticing and finding away to take what little I had left.

My head darted from side to side, but I decided to just run to the center of the room, take a seat, face a random direction, and turn to look at the interloper.

An ethereal blue mane eluded to Luna’s return, but my suspicions were quickly dashed upon the ground as the form of a black alicorn came into view. Her fanged mouth turned upward in a cruel smile before she let out a low chuckle.

“The mighty ‘artist’ reduced to a mewling kitten pawing at its cage? Why am I not surprised?”

I matched her smile with my own. I couldn’t afford weakness at the moment. I never could, but these coming moments would be crucial.

“Are you here to fulfill your end of the deal, Nightmare of Moon?”

She paused at the name, her grin fell for a moment before returning with vigor. A glint of malice twinkled in her eye as she spoke.

“Oh, no more pet names like ‘Little Moon’ or ‘Parasite’?”

I shook my head at that.

“No no, before, you were a shadow hiding beneath a giant, so I called you by what you were. A Little Moon, a parasite, but now you’ve come into your own. You are no longer a mere moon, you’re the Nightmare that haunts it.”

I tilted my head before adding.

“That is, if you followed my teachings.”

Of course, that was all a farce meant to stroke her ego. I just had one deal break on me. I didn’t want to suffer through the fallout of this one falling through as well. I’d call it my ‘last hope’ but it is neither my last plan nor a true ‘hope.’ A chance, that’s all it is.

The Nightmare chuckled as she walked closer. The slits that were her eyes sharpened to a razor's edge as she drew close.

“I suppose you need to be educated of your place, Subject.”

My face was thrust into the floor, and I felt a hoof step on the back of my head.

“Which would be beneath my hoof, worm.”

I grunted at the insult. I could feel the searing rage return. I wanted to pull her apart both physically and mentally. Her wings plucked like a black chicken, her eyes boiled and shoved down her throat, her head sundered from her shoulders and left to rot upon a pike, I wanted all of that. 

I wheezed out a response to fill the expectant silence.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

For a brief moment, the grinding squeal in my head stopped as my own internal screams replaced it. I promised, no, I etched a reminder upon the shards of my shattered soul to rip out whatever this overbearing fool might consider a mind and plunge it into the deepest folds of reality.

The Nightmare spoke after lifting her hoof and scoffing at me.

“It seems you learn quickly. Now rise, Subject, you will serve me at the castle.”

I will make her see how truly small she is, how truly insignificant whatever her meager dreams are. Then I will grind her essence to dust on the anvil of Eternity.

I smiled as I stood up, brushing off what little dust had accumulated. But remained silent. I had nothing to say to this imbecile, just promises made in the dark.





I walked behind Nightmare of Moon with my hands behind my back. I kept my eyes straight ahead, not daring to show sentimentality. I had to keep a careful balance between subservience and self-assuredness.

The hall was hewn straight from the rock of whatever Tartarus was made under. The slate gray rock melded with the atmosphere, the foggy air seeming to blend seamlessly with the walls and ceiling. Had I a choice, a torch would’ve attempted to pierce the miasma but Nightmare of Moon seems fond of dimness. 

I let my thoughts drift back to scheming. If I show too much will she’ll try to break me. If I seem too weak she would toss me in the trash. 

I felt the ashes of rage smolder deep in my soul and relished the sensation for a moment before suffocating it as well. 

I couldn’t afford anger, not at the moment.

However, all I need is one good opening…

I shook the thought from my head before locking my eyes straight ahead once more. The gloomy air seemed to thin before my eyes and I felt lighter. Sensation returned to my face and old aches made themselves known. It was like a blanket was being slowly pulled off my soul, my body reacting as it should.

Smiling became easier and I felt tempted to whistle a tune, if only to anger the Nightmare… tempted indeed. However, I squashed the desire and bound my emotions again.

I couldn’t antagonize her, not yet.

The Nightmare glanced over her shoulder, likely checking I hadn’t veered off. Her eyes remained on me for a moment before she turned forward again. Had I lungs, I may have let out a breath at that. 

We passed by a large group of passed out guards. My blue eye spotted code swirling above their heads that suggested the presence of magic. What spell exactly was beyond me as I only got a cursory glance.

Every check was an opportunity for disaster. She could strike me for being too joyful. She could bind my magic tighter if she thought I looked too free. She could just change her mind and leave me down here.

Again.

With no options left besides digging through miles of stone.

While whispering, talking, screaming for something to change, for someone to come, anyone.

But nobody came.

Except someone had, the Nightmare did. As much as I hate her, she at least kept her promise. Partially at least.

We came to a pair of thick stone doors. Their blocky forms were already parted for us to pass through. The Nightmare of Moon trotted through, and I followed close behind. I noticed a dozen more sleeping guards at the entrance as we left, but I decided not to comment.

I’m not free yet, but I’m close.

Radiant light singed my eyes, making me grunt as I covered them with a tattered sleeve. The red eye was blinded by what felt like a torch in my skull while the blue one simply ached from the density of the code it perceived. 

After a moment of being stunned I heard the Nightmare snort.

“You are impressed by that? I can, at the very least, understand why ponies would be fond of the sunset, so many colors blend together to herald my wonderful moon. But at noon? It is simply garish.”

Ah, the sun, that’s what the great ball of pain is. I thought it’d be more serene and peaceful like Celestia. The sun felt energetic, violent even, as if it was on the brink of exploding!

I let my smile widen a hair, not enough for the Nightmare to notice. A memory had struck me, of the time Celestia visited me that short time ago. She’d been much the same as her precious sun is now: volatile, dangerous.

While I was reminiscing, the Nightmare had started trotting towards the tree line of an incredibly dark forest. I hurried to follow while watching the trees. 

My red eye saw a gloomy forest with numerous plants and damp ground. Plant life covered the ground while the trees spread out umbrellas of leaves held up by gnarled branches. Thankfully a small stone path cut straight through.

Meanwhile, my blue eye could spot random sparks of code flying around at random. Sometimes it’d hit a tree and the bark would contort to make a face, another it’d swirl into the air to contribute to the gloomy atmosphere.

My smile was cast in shadow as we passed beneath the canopy.

I’ll have my freedom, and I’ll have it soon. 

I can feel it on my bones.

Chap fin—
> Ch - 10 - Journey
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nightmare of Moon and I walked down an old trail. Cart lines and the tracks of hundreds of hooves were imprinted on the packed dirt. It was likely the road that the guard regiments used to rotate new sentries into Tartarus. 

It seemed a tad risky to so brazenly walk such a populated road given my nature and the Nightmare’s appearance. Then again, the canopy blocks the light, so it might as well be past nightfall…

I shook the worries from my head. It’s not too big of a deal. The Nightmare is unlikely to overlook any spies when we’re in her element.

Ferns and vines seemed to creep out from the forest line. Tree branches bent down, leaving little room above our heads. It felt like we were in the maw of some plant-like colossus and in the process of strolling down its gullet.

“Worm, why were you imprisoned within Tartarus? From what I’ve seen you’re little more than unnerving.”

Nightmare of Moon’s voice cut through the forest ambiance like a slate dagger. My teeth ground 
while I maintained my smile as I responded.

“Murder.”

She cocked an eyebrow as she glanced back at me.

“Truly? How… underwhelming. I was under the impression that you’d have a more interesting tale.”

“There was much more involved than me killing another. In fact, I didn’t belong down there. At least, not at first.”

Why was I telling her this? Am I trying to get her to pity me? Yes, that’s a good angle. Make myself appear broken, pretend to be lesser. 

“Would you like to hear?”

Nightmare of Moon snorted before shaking her head.

“No, it will likely be nothing but lies.”

Damn, very well. What else is there to try? 

I searched the tree line with my peripheral vision and used my blue eye to examine her code as we walked, hells, I even took the time to examine the shard of her soul I still held. No weaknesses, no opportunities.

I grit my teeth as we walked. I had a piece of her soul in my chest, and it still meant nothing. I could squeeze and shred and burn it, but at the end of the day, it was just pain. The Nightmare only needed to ignore it for a moment to kill me.

But still, why let me keep it? Did they forget I had it? Maybe they saw it as a way to order me from afar…

A sharp realization sent a shard of cold understanding careening through my head. 

I can’t run from her.

She doesn’t sleep on account of being a spirit possessing a Demigoddess. She doesn’t need to worry about any leverage I’d have with only a shard of her soul in my grasp for the same reason. However, she can always see it, always track her own soul, and by proxy, track me. 

We crossed a bridge that went over a creek. The gurgling water below barely registered to me as we passed.

If I try to abandon it, she’d notice and find me anyway. Is this a message? A declaration that I should give up? Or a deliberate plan to catch me mid-betrayal? 

I looked up to the Nightmare of Moon again. She didn’t seem to notice my conflict, given her relaxed gait.

Whatever the case, if I want to escape, she needs to fall. A tall order, for she may be stupid but is far from weak. 

We walked for hours. Occasionally, we’d hear a distant animal call cut through the drone of crickets. I spotted a few birds flitting through the trees but didn’t make a comment. 

I needed an opening, a lever of sorts. 

We turned a bend in the road and found the setting sun in our eyes. Nightmare of Moon snorted while shading her eyes with a wing.

“That lazy fool better lower her mothball soon, I tire of this blazing light.”

I nodded absently as I paused beside her. I didn’t speak, nothing I could say would better my position. I need her attention off of me, but to gain a bit of freedom, I need her to give me leeway…

Not flattery, that would be too obvious. Maybe a callback to her own words? Yes, using her own phrases would be best, and I need to favor her position without seeming like a bootlicker. At the same time, I can’t quite act as an equal…

“I suppose I could agree, the code encircling the sun is a tad ‘garish’ in your own words.”

Her lips turned up in the slightest hint of a smile as she restarted her casual walk. 

“Yes, it is, and I will relish when the moon’s cold rays shall remain forevermore. The sun has reigned for too long, the moon shall be next!”

Her speech devolved into mad cackles. I smiled but kept silent. I’d achieved my goal.
I understood the feeling, the thrill of victory being mere inches from grasp. However, I also know how quickly victory could be torn from you. That is why I smile, not to lie, not in camaraderie, but in anticipation of the coming storm.  

I will relish the expressions flashing across her face, the code rolling in her soul, the fear twinging the muscles in her chest as she is cast down. I could see it all in my mind’s eye. 

Nightmare of Moon ripped a large branch off of a low-hanging tree limb before tossing it into the brush. Her wings extended to stretch out stiff muscles and I could see tiny cracks form in the ground wherever she stomped. 

She held incredible power and incredible leverage, but she had a fatal error in her programming, a flaw in her thought process. She forgot the feeling of failure, forgot that it yet stalked her from out of view, forgot that it was always waiting for one wrong move. The smallest of things could fell the greatest of beings.

We came up to a small wall of debris. Chunks of rock, two halves of a tree trunk, and a veritable hill of other detritus were all piled up onto the road.

Nightmare of Moon paused, seeming to consider something before turning her bored gaze on me.

“Subject, clear away the brush ahead—such tasks are beneath me.”

An opening.

I nodded before striding up to the scattered debris. Pulling away the loose trash wasn’t hard, but I did my best to appear to struggle. I leaned back when I heaved, pivoted my whole body to throw light loads, and conducted other sorts of conceit to seem weak. 

Nightmare of Moon smiled as I worked, seeming to enjoy her power over me. However, as the minutes dragged on her amusement faded.

Her expression bled into a scowl as she shouted.

“Hurry up, subject, I do not enjoy having my time wasted!”

If time was a concern, I’d have suggested that we simply walk over or around the obstruction. Either she’s simply too stupid to think for herself, or she thought she’d enjoy watching me struggle more. Perhaps she’s faking this incompetence to get me to underestimate her?

I sighed as I dropped a small log and felt several vertebrae pop as I stretched.

“I’m not very powerful, Nightmare of Moon. I’m all about leverage. As I am, it will probably take a long while to clear the path, but if I could, I don’t know, form a pulley with magic. Then this would go by much quicker.”

She gave me a flat look.

“Do you believe that I’ll make the same mistake as that complacent fool, Celestia?”

Yes, I’m sure you will, even if not right this second.

She continued, “No, do your duty as you are now.”

I heaved an exaggerated sigh before getting back to work. The sun dipped closer to the earth, covering the sky in a golden sheen. I could see the Nightmare staring at the horizon with bated breath. 

I took the next few minutes to roll a large rock aside before checking again.

She was smiling widely as the sun finally set and the moon was allowed to rise, the sky now a royal purple. I felt my gaze drawn to what she stared at: the moon. It radiated cool light as it climbed the starry sky. 

I had to admit it was calming to watch, enjoyable even. It seemed so serene as if it had nothing to worry about. Where the sun roiled and broiled the moon simply… existed.

I felt a little tension uncoil from my internal strings as I worked. I felt real—like an actual living being doing a job for once. My smile felt genuine for the first time in… I don’t know how long honestly, and I could look on the clear road with pride.

Then the Nightmare spoke. 

“Finally, let us get moving, I tire of this place.”

We quickly left the spot behind, me not daring to look back. There wasn’t anything to distinguish it, it had the same trees, the same brush, the same curve as the rest of our path. Yet I found the tension returning, I was reminded that I wasn’t alive, not really. And that I’d never truly live again.

The forest turned to a blur of dark brown and a myriad of greens.

I could feel a tear forming inside my head, but I squeezed it down with all the might I could muster.

I couldn’t afford a tear.

I couldn’t afford sadness.

I couldn’t afford weakness.

So I smiled, and so I smile.
> Ch - 11 - Ghosts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We walked. Sometimes, a fallen tree would obstruct us, a beast would scuttle across the path, and we even had to turn aside a small landslide. Yet we never truly stopped. Some things could slow us, others could not, but Nightmare of Moon was too strong to be bested by the forest.

All the while, I felt something wriggling in the back of my skull. At first, I suspected the Nightmare, but quickly discounted her once I took a closer look. 

No, it wasn’t something from without, it was part of me. Something in me simply couldn’t settle into this new routine. It felt familiar to follow her as if I’d been led by a strong personality before.

I hated the feeling, it made things from the depths crawl towards the surface. Images of a life I’d long left behind would flash through my eyes.

Images of a guard post in a thick snowy wood. Pictures of a skeleton, tall and cheerful but with scratched-out eyes. Sometimes, I could even hear his scratchy voice call out from between passing gusts. However, when I snap my gaze on where the sound came from, nothing would be there.

I wanted to ask ‘Who was he?’ But I fear dredging up things I should leave well enough alone.

“Speed up, subject, I do not have time for your weakness.”

The Nightmare’s voice cut through my thoughts like a knife through paper. I looked up to find that I’d stopped entirely and that the Nightmare was glaring at me.

“Apologies.”

My voice felt alien to me as if it wasn’t me speaking. Yet I formed those words, I’d commanded them from my mouth, but it wasn’t me who said them.

The Nightmare nodded before continuing. I followed shortly after.

‘I am me.’

Is that a lie? If I look into a mirror, will I recognize the one staring back?

Who am I?

I stared blankly ahead as we walked. The trees were beginning to thin, and the tracks were getting more numerous. I think we’d passed a crossroads earlier as well. 

We were getting closer to wherever the Nightmare was leading us.

But who is ‘we’? Who is ‘us’?

It is the Nightmare of Moon, and I. That is we, that is us.

But who is ‘I’ who is ‘me’?

My name is…

What is it? What is it? I should know this, we can’t not know!

My name is…

I may have died, they may have tried to take my mind, but I lived, I didn’t let them have it!

My name is…

Did I?

My name is…

My name is…

Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error…

I kept asking the question, but my answer never came. The word ‘error’ echoed through my head, followed occasionally by ‘404 not found.’

What does 404 mean? Why was it not found? Should I be able to find it?

These questions plagued me for hours on end as a grating static began to build in my head, pushing against the insides of my skull, demanding to be let out. Functions and subroutines looped over onto themselves in an infinite circle of feedback that fed into itself.

It was like I was forbidden to think—that such simple ideas like ‘my name’ were beyond me.

I struggled to smile, but I barely managed to keep my mask up. The nightmare’s voice spared me from the suffocating static.

“I am curious, from where do you hail, subject? You are the first of your kind that I’ve seen.”
I stumbled but managed to catch myself. I looked up to find that she hadn’t even glanced in my direction. 

Had she noticed? Did she see my weakness? No, she couldn’t have, I hope.

I cleared my nonexistent throat before answering, “I thought you weren’t interested in my tale, Nightmare of Moon.”

She smiled slightly without turning to face me, “I find this traveling to be boring, so even fanciful lies would be better than nothing.”

That, and I suspect she likes the title I use for her.

I nod, “Very well then, where would you like me to begin?”

“At the beginning, I’d presume.”

I ignored her snort of amusement at the jab as I continued.

“Very well. Around, I want to say fifty years ago? I existed in a void between places. An area that was not defined by anything yet was connected to everything.”

Nightmare cut in, “and why did you exist there and then? Where did you come from?”

I grit my teeth as I bit back the urge to lash out at her interruption. This was my story, couldn’t she just shut up for a few minutes more?

“I do not know, if you’d let me get all the way through, you will find out why.”

She cast me a flat look but let me continue silently. I took a deep breath, pausing a moment longer to avoid tripping over an upturned roadstone.

“I lived in that void for a long, long while. But one day, another being came. He was a different version of me, wielding strings like I did before Tartarus bound me. He was pitch black in color and wore a similarly shaded coat with blue tinges at the edges.”

The Nightmare had an ear turned towards me but didn’t interrupt, so I continued.

“We talked for a short time, then he attacked me. The fight was blisteringly fast, with magic thundering through the air and conjured bones raining like arrows.”

The Nightmare rolled her eyes but made no comment.

“However, I was no match for him. So he had me strung up in a jungle of wire, and he killed me.”

She turned a glare on me with a raised eyebrow, “Really, and does that mean I speak with a ghost telling tales then?”

I chuckled at the remark, “Close, but not quite. You can see that my magic yet functions despite Tartarus’ influence, if only barely, correct?”

She nodded, so I went on.

“Well, there’s a reason for that. You see, I was murdered in a place where one cannot die by a being who reduced entire worlds to nothing. As a result, my soul was shattered, yet it did not quite break.”

Her expression kept that same skepticism, but it bled into horrified shock when I pulled back my tattered jacket. A series of red strings connected my bones, creating an intricate spider web of glowing wire that pulled and constricted to move my limbs. In that web lay the dusty fragments of a white upside-down heart. It seemed to pulse yet did not move, and each shard kept to a different rhythm.

“You see, Nightmare of Moon, I am not really alive, yet I’m not actually dead. I am a lump of consciousness puppetting my own decrepit corpse.”

I could see her shoulders shudder as a seed of fear wormed its way into her soul. My blue eye spotted the code in her shift and contort, seeming to darken then brighten before settling on a gray paler than the pitch darkness it was before.

“I see…”

She slowly turned her head forward once more, putting conscious effort into not looking at my exposed chest. I felt my grin widen as I covered up before asking, “Should I continue, Nightmare of Moon?”

“No, my curiosity is satisfied, subject.”

Her too-quick answer warmed the shards of my soul, and I got ready to weather another long silence.

I may not have gotten back any actual power, but I did get something. Fear is a power in itself, not one I thought I’d get when dealing with the Nightmare, at least not so soon.

So I smiled, and so I smile.





The thinning trees gave way to a series of rolling hills. I walked a few paces to the side and behind the Nightmare. However, she tried to keep me in her periphery at all times. I could tell by the way her head was angled up and slightly to the side.

Once prey, always prey.

I maintained my neutral smile as we crested a slope. I spotted a small town in the distance. I estimated an hour’s walk to arrive. Smoke trailed upward from a pair of buildings, far too much smoke. It was starting to billow from a few windows and out the door.

I stayed silent, but the Nightmare seemed to notice on her own.

“Is that… a fire?”

“Perhaps. That or someone doesn’t know how to cook.”

Catastrophes happen. Why, one time _____ dropped a pot of spaghetti on the floor, and somehow, a stray sock caught fire. I tried spraying water on it and—

My smile dropped as the memory suddenly cut short. I was happy. I… 

“Run to the town as fast as you can, subject. Aid the populace however you can.”

The Nightmare’s voice yanked me from my stupor as she disappeared in a flash of light. It took a moment for her orders to register, but I set off at a run once my mind started functioning again.
About fifteen minutes passed before I got to the town. A few of the burning buildings still had smoke trailing upwards, but it seemed far more reasonable now. Perhaps a few corners were still smoldering, but the fires were gone.

I took a moment to think. What should I be doing? How could I help? Where—FUCK.

A realization struck me like a brick to the temple. I could’ve left. I just needed to drop the Nightmare’s soul and sprint for the forest. I could’ve been free. I could’ve been. Could've been…

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Only idiots let opportunities go to waste!

I grit my teeth as I began strolling through the town. I could probably find something to do, maybe earn a few scraps of appreciation from the Nightmare. Something, anything to offset the opening I just let pass me by.

Why did I just act? Why couldn’t I stop for a damned moment to think?

I raged at myself while keeping a calm, smiling exterior. The town seemed barren of ponies though. I walked the Main Street, peeked down alleys, and even peered into a few buildings through open windows.

I found furniture, roads, and the occasional vendor cart. Today must be a market day given the abundance of the latter. Come to think of it, they are lining the whole main road, there are even a few burned-out husks in the alleys near the fires.

Perhaps a caravan was passing through? Another few minutes of searching passed before I heard a small crowd at the edge of town. Nightmare of Moon was speaking to the ponies of the town from atop a stage made of large crates. I couldn’t quite hear what she was saying but the crowd went wild when she made a sweeping gesture with a wing.

I thought about getting closer but decided against it. Best to let her finish and stand by her. Should be less of an issue being introduced with a royal to vouch for me.

I watched her speak, slowly beginning to pick out words here and there. However, I could never hear enough to quite understand what she was saying. I let my gaze drift around the crowd. 

The majority were bare ponies, nothing much about them. It did make for a small sea of color though. However, a section of the crowd has several members wearing strange hats and robes. I picked out the faint outlines of daggers in a few tighter folds of cloth.

Perhaps they were travelers, maybe even the caravaneers I suspected earlier. I continued scanning the crowd, not expecting anything in particular, but gathering information was always useful.

I felt a prickle on the side of my neck, and when I turned towards the feeling I spotted a pony staring at me with a slack jaw. I very slowly moved a finger to my face in a shushing motion before crouching down.

It might sound demeaning, and it is, but these ponies are like prey animals. If you bother one, they’ll kick and scream bloody murder. However, if you just remain calm and slowly put distance between you two, things should work out peacefully.

Unfortunately, the world upended leaving me on my back when I tripped over something small and warm.

The wide eyes of a child stared down at me.

Then the screaming started.
> Ch - 12 - Minefield
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The screaming ended as quickly as it’d started. A single shout and a flex of arcane might from the Nightmare was enough to silence them. It felt like all eyes were on me, but I knew that a few were drawn back to the monarch.

The Nightmare leveled an annoyed stare at me. I smiled back as I pulled myself to my feet. I went slowly, careful not to move towards the child I’d tripped over. After I was on my feet, I took a few steps away from the little one and bowed.

“Greetings, ponies. There is no need to fear me. I serve her majesty on the podium.”

I tilted my head up to look at them.

“And I do apologize for my… grim appearance, I assure you I always looked like this.”

The tension in the air didn’t budge, and the Nightmare seemed to be bracing for something. Urgency bled into my conscience as I scanned my surroundings for an edge, something to lower their guard, something to divert their attention from my appearance.

I saw a large crowd before me, full of angry ponies. A few were even stepping forward with grim scowls. Notably the majority of that group seemed to be caravaneers.

There were a pair of alleys to my sides, but I didn’t want to run. No, that’d just be an admission of not belonging, and the Nightmare doesn’t care enough to vouch for me. If she did, she would have already.

And… the child!

The foal was tearing up because of a little gash on their knee. It was the perfect opportunity!

I straightened before stepping towards the child, and the crowd collectively stiffened. I even saw the ethereal glow of magic hovering above the Nightmare’s face.

‘Tread lightly or else’ is a message that needs no words.

I give the crowd a long look, making a point of acknowledging their threat, before kneeling down beside the child.

“Are you alright, little one?”

The child didn’t meet my eyes but answered anyway.

“N-no, my knee is h-hurt, sir.”

I tilted my head.

“Yes, I suppose it is, mind me asking how it happened.

“Well, I was s-standing around, and you fell over me. I-I fell down to…”

The stuttering kid barely made sense, but I could pick out his words. A few of the ponies were getting close, and I spotted a couple wicked wicked-looking knives amongst them. However, I did my best to ignore them. Panicking now means death.

I reached up to one of the tattered sleeves of my coat before pulling a strip of cloth off. With careful precision, I tied the makeshift bandage around his leg before patting him on the back.

“I’m sorry that I caused you harm, little one. Do you mind pointing out your mother for me?”

The little colt sniffled before pointing out an orange mare with panic written all over her face. I wanted to relish the fear, the apprehension, but I was all too aware of the knives waiting for me to slip up.

“How about this: I’ll walk you over to your mother, I’ll be passing her by on my way to my liege, Guardian Moon.”

The colt looked up at me.

“W-who’s that?”

I pointed at the Nightmare.

“Why, that’s the Princess on the podium. See?”

He followed my gesture with his gaze before tilting his head.

“B-but isn’t that Princess Luna?”

I nod along with the mistake as I continue.

“Yes, she is, but I call her Guardian Moon because Luna is an old word for moon, and she guards the people.”

I present him a wide smile, careful not to go too far with it. He cringed regardless but smiled back a little.

“That’s, uh, k-kinda cool, s-sir.”

I chuckle as I push myself to my feet. Sadly, I wasn’t able to keep all of the derision out.

“It is indeed, little one, but how about we go over to your mother before she has a heart attack, hmm?”

The colt giggled before standing as well.

“Ok!”

I strolled forward to the front of the crowd with the colt trailing behind me. At first, they made a solid wall of scowling faces, but the panicked scrambling of a desperate mother was more than enough to bowl over a few of the citizen sentinels.

“My baby!”

She rushed right past me, clipping my hip and sending me stumbling. The crowd seemed to inhale all at once at that, holding their breath for the moment I'd snap. I didn’t give them that moment, instead using the opening the mother made to wade through the crowd. 

I bumped into a few and almost tripped over one of the smaller adults, but they begrudgingly let me pass. Though I heard a few menacing murmurs as I did. Once I reached the other end, I found a clearing before the podium. I put my back to the Nightmare as I moved off to the side.

Her glare followed me the whole while, judging, weighing my worth against an unknown cost.

I could almost see words on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t speak. Not aloud or through our connection.

I wonder why?

I decided not to poke at her through the link. Offending her right this second would’ve been a bad move. Best to keep quiet.

I settled in place before the crowd but off to the side, hoping to be lumped in with the Nightmare. And to my relief, it seemed to work. Slowly, the iron glares of the citizenry grew more muted, eventually withering to suspicious caution.

The Nightmare broke the sudden silence.

“As you can see, my servant is no monster. At least, not anymore. He has done several regrettable things and has agreed to serve the crown directly as penance.”

The Nightmare’s lie was masterfully weaved into her aura, making it barely distinguishable from the rest of her corrupting soul.

I could see something else there as well, hiding just beneath the surface. It twitched and blackened but remained as if she was trying to kill it but couldn’t.

I loved it.

A pony called out from the crowd.

“How can you be sure he won’t turn on us?”

A few murmurs of agreement followed the statement, but they were silenced by the Nightmare’s commanding voice.

“You doubt my ability to control a mere skeleton? Do you take me for a weakling?”

Her glare was now leveled on a member of the crowd, and with her attention elsewhere, I could sneak a closer glance at her code.

As she rambled, I picked a few things out from the numbers that made up her being.

I saw the undulating power of determination dominate the surface, likely it was the fire of passion that stoked her ambition. I saw a smog of hazy hate strangling the image of a sun.

And lastly, I spotted a quivering. It took me a while to pick it out, but the Nightmare was making a long-winded speech about the night or something.

The quivering was shallow, barely even visible. It made her whole soul shake, both her part and the part Luna yet occupied. An emotion they shared that ran straight to their core. 

It wasn’t determination, they seemed proud to present that emotion. It wasn’t rage or hate, I found that piece of them already. The uneven rhythm and the unpleasant imagery evoked by the endless lines of one’s and zero’s ruled out happiness.

Pride? 

No.

Hunger?

No.
 
Hesitation? 

Closer but not quite.

Fear.

I had to suppress a chuckle at the thought. Why is the truth so funny? Why is reality as strange as fiction? Of all the things she felt, she held onto fear the most! And here I thought I merely put her off guard earlier.

The more I looked, the surer I became. The more sure I was, the harder it was to not laugh.

The Nightmare’s voice cut through my distracted mind.

“Is there something funny, servant?”

I found that she was once more glaring at me and that the crowd was staring at me as well.

A moment of panic sent my mind scrambling for an answer, my mouth dutifully presented it immediately.

“Uh, yes actually.”

“And what would that be, subject?”

Venom dripped from the Nightmare’s voice by the gallon.

Shit, why am I acting before I think? Didn’t I learn my lesson in Tartarus? I burned away the self-pity for the moment, I needed to patch up this situation.

“Oh, nothing much, just a joke from my childhood. It just popped into my head and reminded me of some good times.”

The Nightmare cocked an eyebrow.

“Care to share it?”

A jolt of memory lanced through my mind, and I nodded as I answered. 

“Definitely. Ahem, what is a skeleton’s favorite instrument?”

The ponies at the front cast each other looks as I heard mutters reach out from the open air. I decided to move on before things got uncomfortable.

“A trombone!”

I tilted my head and gave my voice a happy twist, but it all felt so stale. I could tell the ponies saw through it a bit, but I heard giggling over the quiet grumbles of adults. I suspected it was the colt…

I smiled at the sound, and the newer mask seemed to convince the crowd a bit better. Then again, I was genuinely happy, happy that I thought quickly enough. It was a risk, but interacting with that foal was paying dividends.

The Nightmare had a supremely unimpressed expression stretched across her face. I felt her disappointment wash over me but didn’t allow myself to react. I was put on the spot and just went with the first option I had, so this outcome was acceptable, if not completely ideal.

I stood stock still as the Nightmare went back to her speech, though her momentum had taken a significant hit because of the tangent. I couldn’t care less about what the people of the town thought of her; it had no real bearing on me, but I’d need to curry favor with her later somehow.

How I’d do that was unclear, but I was sure opportunities would present themselves. They always do.

The real question to ask at the moment though, is what do I want to do? I know that I want the Nightmare to fall, and Celestia must pay for her part in breaking the deal…

“And now, I must bear you all farewell. My servant and I have important matters to attend to.”

The crowd began a polite stomping, their version of applause, I assume, but a pair of ponies stepped out from the crowd. One wore a singed baker’s hat, the other had an apron on. The one with a hat spoke in a confident female voice.

“Your Majesty, I understand that you are busy, but I’d still like to offer respite regardless. My own home is not enough for you, but the innkeeper has a suite that may suffice. Forgive me if this is a transgression, but I entreat you to stay for a night or two so that I may properly thank you as a baker should.”

With her piece said, she bowed and stepped back, the silent stallion with an apron following suit.

The Nightmare worked their jaw. I saw thoughts race through her code, but I couldn’t pick out anything in particular. However, I could make a few guesses. The only good reason to stay would be to recover her magic reserves, as I’m pretty sure ponies have a finite mana pool that replenishes while they sleep. 

Otherwise, staying here would be a waste of time. Unless my guess at her goal is wrong.

Then again, she’s not entirely a pony anymore, and admitting any sort of weakness, even natural ones, seems anathema to her mindset. 

I cast a look at the Nightmare as she opened her mouth to answer.

“Very well, subject, my time may be valuable, but my duty is to my people.”

Nearly every function in my head froze and recalibrated at that remark. A gentle smile shone on the Nightmare’s face. The swirling smog of hate had withered to a mere whisp. And strangest of all, the numbers revealed her words to be genuine.

As my mind rebooted, the crowd cheered, and the Nightmare hopped down from the podium. The evening sun shone on her black coat, but the twilight sky reflected off of it, giving her a purple highlight as her horn glowed with powerful magic. The sun finally dipped below the horizon, and the moon slowly climbed into view.

The Nightmare sighed before turning her gaze to the crowd once more.

“I know that my sister’s sun warms your backs and nurtures your crops, but while I remain here, gaze onto the night in wonder!”

Behind her, a dozen comets streaked across the night sky, seeming to shower an unseen place with meteors. However, my blue eye saw the numbers, saw the truth. And that truth sent a shiver down my spine with the memories of a ghost of a dream.

…And they know you…

I pushed the unease down, presenting a joyful smile as I began to applaud the display. It took a moment, but others began to join, and seeing their fellows doing so, the rest followed suit.

Best to distract myself, and hopefully, she notices my support here. A little favor here and a small act of aid there can add up quickly when someone is judging your worth.

Thunderous appreciation rang through the cool night air.

The sounds of joy lasted through midnight and into the coming morning. Yet I couldn’t quite shake the feeling of being watched. They may know me, but They do not care, and I pray to whatever god that had forsaken me that They never would.

Numbers swirled, my mind stuttered and rebooted several times, and my smile grew brittle. However, I did not break character. I couldn’t afford to.

The tithes of knowing…

So I smiled, and so I smile

Cuts deep…

-chap fin
> Ch - 13 - By Nightmare's Sight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

POV: Nightmare.

We’d spent the night walking the town, letting one of the locals talk about their welcoming little home. However, I eventually had to end our tour.

“Your town has a… quaint air to it. I find it pleasant. However, my servant and I need rest so that we may go on in the coming morn.”

The small mare tried to keep her smile up as she nodded, but she was far worse than the monster at faking such. I made no comment

“Of course, your Highness, the inn is just down the way on the left. Would you like me to accompany you, or would you prefer to go alone?”

I would much prefer having no company on the short trek, but I couldn’t trust the thing behind me to not disappear if I left it alone for too long. Rushing to the village without pulling it along was an oversight, one I’m surprised it hadn’t capitalized on…

I gave the monster a sidelong glare. It was planning something; it always was. I can see gears turning behind those glowing eye sockets.

“My servant and I will find our own way, you did point it out before.”

The colorful mare nodded again before scurrying away. I suppressed the urge to scoff; not all ponies hold as little need for fear as I do. If I intend to rule alone, which I shall, I need to be aware of my subject's weaknesses. 

No matter how bitter such an awareness brings.

“Come along, creature, we’re wasting moonlight.”

The thing nodded with that ever-present smile of its. Thankfully, it could keep pace with me just fine, so it only took a few minutes for our walk to see us inside the inn.

Tables and chairs were chock full of ponies, talking, laughing, and cheering all around. The festivities were silenced when I entered, but to my surprise, an earthblood stallion raised a tankard.

“A toast to the night and the one who saved it!”

They answered with unified cheers that made the floor shake and I allowed myself a small smile. I flared my wings as I spoke, a technique Celestia would often use to make others more agreeable.

“Yes, thank you all, my subjects. However, you must all quiet down when morning is full and bright. Even I must rest on occasion.”

The crowd went back to their celebrations once I lowered my wings. I kept my smile on as I surveyed them all. Pegasi, unicorns, and earthbloods, all together and smiling. It brought no small amount of satisfaction to see the fruits of my—Luna’s labor… but I am her now; does that make this my doing as well?

The warmth of pride died when I spotted the creature hiding in the shadow of the open door, it was smiling. I didn’t feel a shiver going down my back. And I most certainly knew when it got there! I think.

With a raised head and regal gait, I strolled through the room and around partying tables. I had to decline several offers of drink and merriment, and thankfully, the creature managed to avoid causing unrest as it passed. 

The click of its bony feet was silent when compared to the boisterous inn, and its hunched form led the eye to pass straight over it as if it weren’t even there.

We reached the stairs just fine and ascended them, though the weak material creaked beneath my weight. We found a room marked by a crescent moon on the door at the far end of the hall. A note hung off the symbol proclaiming it as my quarters for as long as I remained.

I smiled once more as I pulled the door open with a burst of magic. I cast a glance over my shoulder.

“Stand guard at the door, creature. I know that you need no rest.”

The thing nodded before answering in its slimy, low voice.

“Of course, Nightmare of Moon.”

I could admit to the shiver of satisfaction at hearing that title. Every time he spoke it, it was an admission, an admission of defeat, of subservience. I’m sure it’s a lie, a false front to whatever schemes he holds onto but…

The thing turned around and leaned against the wall, his head starting to sweep from side to side, scanning for intruders that would obviously never come.

I went to pull the door closed, but a question came to mind.

“What is your name? I don’t remember you ever speaking it, creature.”

The thing locked up at that, just like it had before, and I drank in its confusion with glee.

“I… don’t recall.”

I could tell the uncertainty in its voice was genuine. The slimy feeling was absent, and I didn’t want to hear that answer. He never said something I didn’t want to hear, always trying to bend only just enough to curry favor without appearing weak.

I find it pathetic but…

“Then figure one out by the time I awaken again, or I’ll let one of the town children name you.”

I saw him stiffen before I slammed the door shut.

I let my shoes fall off of my hooves and for my chest piece to thud onto the rug before I fell into the bed. It was far from the softest I’d laid on, but it would suffice.

The land of dreams beckoned me. I had several things to attend to, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Yet no matter how hard I looked, nothing was there.

And they know you

Nothing was there.





POV:  ——

I don’t recall.

I grasped for the memory, reached for the knowledge, only to find nothing within my grasp. 

It was such a simple question, ‘What is your name?’ Why couldn’t I answer? Where did my name go? I searched through my own head, scanned my thoughts, I even delved into the shattered depths of my soul. I screamed into the emptiness, demanding to know.

But nobody came.

I stiffened at the sound of clopping hooves and snapped my attention to the stairway. A few ponies stepped into the hall, noticed me, and froze in place. I kept my eyes on them, waiting for their screams. 

My smile widened as I drank in the fear that polluted the atmosphere. I savored the taste but dared not drag more from them. One raised a hoof.

“A-are you gonna h-hurt us?”

I shook my head, letting the silence return. The jittery ponies slowly made their way down the hall away from me. I could see prayers flashing through their eyes, begging for protection, and thanking whatever they believed in that I was docile.

A shame, I felt tempted to follow them, if only to make them quiver a moment more. I could see so many errors, so many openings waiting to be exploited. My smile dimmed when their door closed.

A name. I needed a name. Yet what name would befit me? Who should I be? I let the question simmer and boil as dawn’s orange light angled through the curtains. I heard the incessant din of a crowd emanate from the ground floor. Some were still partying, others simply talking, and with my blue eye, I could pick out even the silent whispers carried by the wind.

Ponies talked about many things. Some spoke of the fire yesterday, others regaled past stories of ridiculous escapades, and a few would mutter about poor service or the pains of early mornings. However, the Nightmare dominated the air. Every other conversation was exclusively about her.

“How courageous,” “Princess of the common folk,” and “damn hot body,” though the last one resulted in an unfavorable situation for that stallion. Maybe he should’ve kept that comment to a place his wife couldn’t hear.

I chuckled as I singled out the strand of numbers pertaining to that conversation. They argued about standards and loyalty and so many other pointless things. So many errors in judgment, would it kill them to reflect?

Wait, my name. 

I pick out the errors that rot away the insides of others and use them to chisel away at their souls… I see their errors, and every error is an opening, and every opening can be fatal.

Fatal Error. 

Shivers ran down my spine at the name. I could even feel the emptiness between the shards of my soul lessen as if I were an incomplete puzzle that regained a crucial piece. 

I am the architect of my own destiny, the one who carves their life from the failings of others, the ugly truth that will end their hideous perfection.

I am madness.

I am their Fatal Error.
> Ch - 14 - Rearmament, Return, Regicide
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day passed relatively quietly aside from the few ponies heading up to their rooms after the party. I heard a bed creak behind the door, and a series of thumps plodded towards me. I rolled my shoulders, feeling joints pop as I got ready for the night. 

I felt a smile spread across my face as I rolled a pair of words around my mind. Fatal Error: my name, for now, that is. The symbolism rings true in my soul, but in the end, it’s just a name.

A tool.

The Nightmare slammed the door open, making the walls vibrate with the impact. I met her glare with my smile as I bowed.

“Rest well, Nightmare?”

Her eyes narrowed further before she strode forward. She brushed past without a word, but a twitch of her wing signaled me to follow. I straightened and did as commanded.

The tavern on the ground floor was populated by a few groups of ponies: a pair of artisans in the corner, a few partygoers from the night before at the bar, and a lone pony at a table off to the side. I marked down their positions as we strolled through the maze of empty tables and chairs. I gave the haggard barkeep a passing glance but decided to leave them be.

The Nightmare didn’t bother examining her surroundings as we went, and we soon found ourselves outside. The road bustled with traffic, and despite the fact many gave a quick bow or nod of the head, the milling crowd didn’t slow. 

I let the Nightmare stew in her thoughts for a moment, I had no reason to try influencing her here. Then again, if I’m always giving advice, she might suspect less.

I glanced at her again, noting a watchful gleam in her eye as we met gazes. I broke contact before it became a contest.

No, she’s onto me. Conditioning wouldn’t help here.

The Nightmare strode forward, I hesitated a moment before following. She cut through the crowd like a shark through water, with ponies giving us both a wide berth. I hunched down a little bit, pulling my internal strings into a particular pattern. As time went on, fewer ponies even noticed I was there, and while the crowd did close in slightly, they still kept a respectful distance from the Nightmare.

The Nightmare turned a side eye on me but didn’t bother with a comment. A few minutes saw us on the outskirts of the town, and a few more had us cresting a hill that blocked our view of it. She came to a stop.

“Have you come up with a name, creature?”

I tilt my head. Why didn’t she ask this before?

“Yes, I have.”

She frowns.

“Then speak it.”

“Fatal Error.”

Her unblinking stare remained on me for a moment before she turned and continued ahead. I followed without a word. Silence hovered between us as we went as I readied myself for a long walk through the night.

“Why?”

The Nightmare’s question cut through the quiet.

“Because it’s what I am.”

And what I represent.

She gave me a final look before shaking her head and trotting onward.





Several hours passed as we walked. The forest grew denser, and the normal dimness of night became a smog of pitch blackness. Even the moon’s pale light didn’t pierce the forest canopy. The Nightmare’s eyes gleamed in the dark, able to pierce the shroud of shadow. Meanwhile, my sight was reduced to numbers.

Numbers, everything could be boiled down to a set of numbers. Ones and zeroes twisted into towers of glowing light, dictating what was where and why. It was like seeing a whole new world, a world bereft of lies and imperfections.

A smile crept across my face as I watched the world shift and contort. Things were always changing, always drifting towards… something. I’m not quite sure what, but the feeling of movement, of purpose, grounded reality in my eyes.

Eventually, we came upon a clearing. The Nightmare came to a stop, and I followed suit, staring at the obstacle before us. Several large trees had fallen down, seeming to have brought a small avalanche of stone with them.

“I hope you don’t think I can do that one by hand.”

The Nightmare nodded silently, and I felt the chains on my soul loosen an inch. Excitement flared within me when I saw it within me: magic, completion, an opening.

The Nightmare’s voice sliced through my thoughts.

“Yes, now clear the path, I will not have these roads blocked if I can help it.”

I bit back a retort about her always lazing about as I did the work. It was a flaw in her judgment, so why would I correct it? I let glowing red wire bleed from my eyes as I strolled about the clearing, looping the string around trees and boulders lodged in the ground.

The Nightmare cocked an eyebrow, but I kept moving. After a few minutes of threading, I’d turned the clearing into a jungle of glowing red lines. I smiled as I finally brought the ends of my strings to the blockage. I wrapped the ends around a tree trunk, walked back a few yards, and then pulled. With a screeching groan, the wood splintered as it slowly crawled away from the pile and off to the side.

I flexed the magic around my strings, feeling as more and more of them strung my body together tighter, filling me with a strength I hadn’t felt for ages. 

I had to hold back laughter as boulder after boulder followed that tree as I repeated my little ritual a dozenfold. An hour went by like this, with me heaving aside debris through the power of leverage and self-augmentation as the Nightmare watched in silence.

It only took me a few minutes to clear away the large hunks of debris, and the smaller stuff got sorted out by a mere whip of the strings. After my work was done, I issued a kill command, making my strings all disappear at once.

I smiled as magic pulsed between the shards of my soul, but I knew there was more. I knew the shackles remained. I couldn’t run, not yet.

With a sigh, I returned to the Nightmare’s side and let her take the lead once more. She occasionally shot me glances, searching for weaknesses. She found none.

I wondered occasionally why she didn’t reshackle me after that, but why ask about why she was willing to let me have tools? Why risk losing what little I had just gained?

So I smiled, and so I smile.





When the moon dipped near the horizon, we crested a hill and spotted a walled city ahead. The marble fortifications were surrounded by a sprawl of farmlands that themselves were ringed by the forest that we still traversed.

For a moment, I questioned just how big the woods of this place were, but shook the useless idea from my head. 

The Nightmare came to a stop. She glared at the city, hate burning in her eyes, and the code around her swirled and blackened. My smile widened as I admired her flaws. They ran so deep and spread so far that it seemed that even I could learn a thing or two.

She spoke.

“We shall rest for the day and approach under the cover of dusk.”

I tilted my head.

“Not at night?”

She shook her head with a grimace.

“No, I shall face my sister when she’s weakest, just after lowering the sun.”

Surprise burned in my mind. She was actually letting her pride stand aside? Who was this Nightmare, where was their thoughtlessness?

“My sister is weaker than I, but even weak opponents can be dangerous when backed into a corner. Luna has had… experience with such.”

Her voice was razor sharp, like a winter gale. I could see the disgust in her code as she followed the wisdom of her host. Was the Nightmare even a separate being anymore?

The Nightmare shot me a glare as she trotted into the woods, beckoning me along with a wing. Once more, I considered fleeing, but the chance at getting the rest of Tartarus’ chains removed was too good to pass up.

So I shall wait and watch.

With a smile, I followed, carefully pulling the strings in my chest into the concealment pattern like before. After a minute or two of searching, she found a tree with a divot by its roots. Her horn glowed, and a shield began creeping up around her.

“Keep watch, Creature. Strike the shield if anything of concern comes close.”

Her gaze was sharp, trying to pierce my smile. I saw the question in her eyes, the uncertainty regarding what I was. Yet I’d already told her. I’m a shattered soul puppeting my own decrepit corpse.

I smiled back, watching her unease grow, but she dismissed the emotions before they culminated in anything. With a metallic whisper, her shield closed.

Over the next few minutes, I watched her curl up and drift into a fragile rest. I could’ve run, I could’ve tried killing her now that I had my magic, hell, I could’ve even gone to Celestia and brought the sun down on this overgrown parasite.

But I’d already discounted running, I doubted I could pierce her shield without my full set of capabilities, and I hated Guardian Sun far more than the Nightmare. The Nightmare at least partially made good on her deal.

My smile tightened as my hands balled into fists. Yes, I want the Nightmare dead for her mishandling of our deal, but I wanted Guardian Sun to suffer.

The hours passed at the pace of a turtle swimming through molasses, but eventually, the sun began to dip, and the Nightmare stirred.

She rose in a start, with beads of sweat dripping down her brow. I grinned at her as she got to her hooves, a flash of magic shutting down the barrier. 

We spent the next few hours creeping up to the fortifications under the cover of an invisibility spell. We avoided the road, opting instead to cut through the tall grass. I pointed out that invisibility meant that the road was actually more concealing for us as we weren’t displacing grass at every step, but the Nightmare didn’t want to risk any ponies bumping into us.

I yawned as we reached the stone wall. I wondered what she’d do to get us inside. Probably something inane like hooking grappling hooks to the top and—or teleporting. I forgot they could do that.

I stumbled about for a moment, trying to force my spinning vision to calm. An invisible force wrenched me back to the Nightmare’s side, where her baleful glare met my gaze.

Thankfully, she elected to move on without a word. I stared after her for a moment before following. I settled into my usual crouching gait as I kept pace with the Nightmare. 

Soon the dark alleyway gave way to a wide open paved street. Ponies scurried to and fro, trotting, talking, or doing any number of things. Pegasi flew overhead, unicorns strolled with upturned noses, and earth ponies blitzed from place to place.

It was like we’d barged into a whirlwind of life. The Nightmare and I stuck close to the walls of buildings, deftly dodging the few that would pass by us. We had a few close calls but we were fortunate enough to maintain our cloak.

I saw carts lining one street, shops and cafes down another. A bustling road had ponies draped in rich silken clothes while several others were filled with those that wore nothing at all. The further in we went, the taller the buildings became, and the cleaner everything seemed.

Guards patrolled here, clad in golden plate and open-faced helms. While bladed hooks rested on the sides of their armored hooves. The Nightmare glared at these toy soldiers, and I spotted a couple who shivered beneath the phantom glare.

I grinned as I flipped my vision over to the numbers and witnessed a glorious shadowy maelstrom. Jealousy, hate, anger, and envy poisoned the air of this place.

Miniature storm fronts seemed to hover around almost every resident, and I had to hold in my laughter. If these were the people allowed to roam the streets, why was I locked below? I was simply different back then, not blackened, not corrupted like these fools!

Why me? What if I were summoned here instead? Would I have found a home? What if… no, none of that. Hope never gets you anywhere; plans do, plans that wear down those who oppose you with every tool that they let you have.

The gray shadow of a ghostly white keep covered us. I looked up and up and up, seeing a figure with both wings and horn lifted to the skies as if praising the sun.

I watched Guardian Sun do her duty and drag her namesake below the horizon. I glanced at the Nightmare, seeing her stare at Guardian Sun with a hatred as deep as mine.

We both turned our attention back to the matter at hand. Another hour or so went by as we approached the castle’s walls. Hoping from shadow to shadow as the final dregs of light faded from the sky.

We came to the white wall, and the Nightmare heaved a sigh. Yet the muscles in her chest and back tensed instead of relaxing. I smiled as I tilted my head.

“What’s the matter, Nightmare of Moon? Your goal will be finished all too soon.”

She tried to hide it, but I saw her twitch at my smooth voice. She snorted at my eerie rhyme.

“I am preparing for battle, Creature. My sister is weaker than me, but our battle shall still be fierce. It is best to arrive at the field ready for war and deal death in a slaughter than prepare for slaughter and taste the blade of war.”

I chuckled, seeing the lies unfold beneath the skin of her mind. From impotent to weak, and from weak to ‘weaker.’ It seems the Nightmare is losing her nerve. She sneered at my mirth, but instead of enacting her rage on me, her horn glowed.

In an instant, we were on a balcony overlooking a marble throne room. My vision swam once more, but I managed to catch myself on a wall. Once I could see again, I found the Nightmare squinting at me with a small smile. 

The room below our balcony had a series of chiseled pillars that ran down the room. Between the two lines of stone cylinders lay a purple carpet, and statues of guards lined it. The large sculptures had bowed heads that seemed to lead a glaring gaze on any who strolled down the carpet.

All of that led up to a set of twin thrones. One was made of snow-like marble, while the other seemed to be carved from pure obsidian. My bony hands curled around the railings as I took it all in, observing the ‘field’ that the Nightmare would take to.

All of the art, all of the grandiose architecture, all of the useless posturing paled in comparison to the sextet of crystals that hung in a chandelier just above the thrones. Each stone swirled with a code so dense I couldn’t make out the individual numbers. I felt awe deep into my fading soul as I stared into the depths of those artifacts.

“The Elements of Harmony are perhaps the greatest treasure that our kingdom has ever possessed.”

The Nightmare’s voice was barely a whisper but seemed to echo off the stone walls anyways.

“They felled the mightiest of evils and cleansed the land on more than one occasion.”

She extended her wings and drifted like a feather to the room below. Her whispering voice still carried to my skull, though.

“Yet they require two to work. They are the epitome of what made Luna weak, of what makes Celestia weak.”

Her soft smile turned jagged as her mane began to boil and whip in an invisible wind.

“They relied on each other, so whenever and wherever one was weak, they both were. The fools always thought that power came to those who work together for the betterment of all.”

Her smile broke into chuckles, then laughter, boiling over into max cackling.

“But it doesn't! No, power comes to those who use it!”

I felt a grin spread across my face. It seems she wasn’t as foolish as I thought. She saw the truth as well. Though not the whole of it. One must use every tool they have, both weak and strong. If one does not, then those tools rust away. So close, yet so far.

I suppressed a chuckle, letting the tension in the air hang in the silence. The Nightmare strolled up and took a seat on her obsidian throne. Her smiling visage felt like a mirror of my own.

I could appreciate a set piece like this. A sibling overtaken, remade in the image of a parasite, and now that doppelgänger sat where the sibling once did. The horror it will incite, the dread it will drudge up, oh, I will enjoy this.

The doors at the far end creaked as a single snow-white figure stepped forth.

But after her masterpiece is finished, I will wipe the slate clean.

I eyed the so-called ‘Elements of Harmony,’ feeling their might just out of reach, but not for long.

A growl echoed through the throne room, and the whir of charging magic filled the air.

So I smiled, and so I smile.
> Ch - 15 - Twice Slain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A wave of immense heat set me back on my heels as the room shivered from the coiling air. The Nightmare’s grin widened as an icy chill clashed with the shimmering air. 

“It is good to see you, sister.”

The heat and chill both grew as unseen forces probed each other's defenses. I saw numbers flash as arcane wills lashed and hardened, froze, and boiled. My smile edged towards a grimace as a headache began to form.

“Who are you, and why are you here?”

I couldn’t see Celestia, but I could feel the boiling ocean of rage within her. However, the Nightmare matched it with a glacier of hate. I marveled at the titans of emotion, giddy at the chance to witness them clash.

“It is simple, really. It’s to fulfill a deal I made, one that I struck with Luna.”

The Nightmare stood from her throne, strutting down the dais like a smug cat. Her echoing voice and the clicking of her crystal shoes were all that held back the silence. As she moved, I began tying a string to the stone handrail.

“What are you talking about?”

Venom dropped from Celestia’s voice, matched by the Nightmare’s smooth confidence.

“Oh, Luna and I talked for a long, long while. The night was shunned, cast aside in favor of your ‘radiant dawn’.”

She chuckled as she came to a stop a few yards from Celestia. The Nightmare tilted her head as the swirling cold pushed back the heat for a moment.

“Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t. Either way, you’re sun was slowly burning away any favor for the moon. Very few stood by us before the deal. It was just her and I against the world it seemed.”

She made a show of gazing off into a nonexistent distance. Her smile dampened as she squinted. I tugged on my string, testing the handrails' sturdiness.

“Which was almost right. I appreciate the loyalty of the Northern Counts, but what is a colony to a kingdom? No, the sun’s rays have reached too far, singeing the one it claimed to love most.”

The Nightmare presented a fanged grin at Celestia, and I could see a gathering of magic form in the air around her. I took a deep breath before climbing over the rail, and did my best to silently brace my skeletal feet against the wall. Celestia’s voice broke the silence.

“Have you come here to mock my sister and I and deliver empty threats, or is there a third objective before I have the guards drag your broken body to Tartarus?”

I heard a snarl at the edge of Celestia’s voice, and I had to suppress a chuckle. The Nightmare didn’t.

“Oh, that was funny, unlike the joke that you call a ‘council.’ No matter, I’m here to do as I must: for the good of Luna, for the good of the night, and for the good of Equestria.”

Her silky smug tone sharpened to a razor’s edge as the shards of code solidified into inky black spikes. My jaw tightened as I began backing down the wall, using my string as a rappelling rope.

Celestia rebuffed the spikes of void with a shimmering shield of light and countered with a stream of liquid fire. The Nightmare blinked into the air, letting her wings carry her over the raging fire and closer to Celestia.

I ripped my gaze from the battling immortals as I crouched down and crept toward the twin thrones. Immense flashes of light and heat were answered by thunderous waves of shadow and cold. I shivered as I watched the numbers around me twist and morph beneath the weight of their power.

I clutched the strings in my chest, pulling them into the arcane web that I’d devised, hoping it would conceal me from their wrath.

A lance of lava splashed across the ground before me, and it took me a moment to pull my gaze to the immortals. Thankfully, the two only had glares for each other. With a relieved sigh, I stepped around the molten rock and continued my trek toward the Elements.

Seconds felt like minutes as moments dragged on longer than they had any right to. Every instant made my breath hitch as I continually reconsidered my chances for success. However, memories of deals spoken and agreements broken drove away the doubts. Besides, as long as a stray projectile didn’t strike me, I should be fine. 

The power of the sisters was immense, making the fabric of reality ripple and tense. However, the Elements seemed to punch a hole straight through, even making the structure of all magic bend downward from the strain, all by merely existing.

I felt a cold hunger in my soul as I trudged onward, ducking lava and leaping over screaming liquid nightmares. Their battle raged for a full minute before I reached the throne. I took a moment to stare up at my prize.

I could feel the caustic acid of hope clutch my soul, only to be neutralized by a searing pain in my leg. I gasped in shock, but had the presence of mind to leap forward and out of whatever hit me.

I grimaced as the agony began to die down. I looked down, finding all of my left leg below the knee gone, the rest being cracked and blackened. As horror began to set in I dragged my gaze towards the battling goddesses.

The pillars were mostly lumps of boiling rock, trailing black smoke that billowed towards the ceiling. The statues met a similar fate, and the walls all had large chunks ripped from them. The two sisters stood across from each other, panting as they circled.

The Nightmare let out a tired chuckle as she drew herself up.

“You’re weak, Celestia. Face it, if we didn’t have to worry about razing the capital around us, I would’ve won a dozen times over.”

I snorted at the bold-faced lie. The numbers hanging around them left them relatively equal by my measure, though a pounding headache and the lingering pain of my dusted leg may have skewed my guess.

Celestia huffed a few times before standing at her full height as well.

“I do not care for your lies. Whoever you are, whatever you want, you will not get it. My sister and I have worked tirelessly to grant this land peace!”

She punctuated her point with a stomp that sent cracks webbing across the floor. I began edging my way behind the thrones and dragged strings from my chest.

“Hah, yes, you did. Then you took that peace from Luna. Did you know how those nobles shunned her? Did you hear those remarks made amongst every part of the court? Could you not see the blatant lies being spread like a disease?”

I shivered beneath the weight of hate radiating from the Nightmare… no, not hate, resentment, and it tasted different than the Nightmare’s mind. Yes, it seems Luna yet lives, even if only barely. I grinned as I readied my strings, I only needed to wait for the fight to renew to start my gambit.

“I do not need to listen to this nonsense. You have no—“

“I have every right, Celestia. Every right to critique your thoughtlessness, your ignorance, and your weakness.”

She chuckled, then laughed, then cackled as well. I sighed, letting the tension in the air pull at my soul like it did back in Tartarus.

“I was there whenever you weren’t. I saw what they did, heard what they said, and you know what? I actually helped. A comforting word here, a bit of advice there, and things actually improved. It didn’t take much, Celestia, it never did and never would have cost you much to care.”

With that said, I heard the ringing clash of shields grinding against each other. I grinned as I looped my strings and cast them out to the chandelier decorated by the Elements. They descended like strands of spider silk, each fusing to a different stone when they landed.

I grinned as I reached out to them with my magic. Tapping their edges with it, trying to glean how to use them from their code. Another tense minute passed as I stared into the endless pit of numbers, fire and ice flew, turning the entire room into a warzone.

I yanked the stones from their casings, hoping that nothing noticed. Thankfully, I wasn’t smote on the spot. With a deep sigh, I brushed the stones with a hand. I froze as I felt understanding force its way into my mind, sending lances of pain through my head.

I grunted as I glared at the Elements. 

Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, Loyalty, and Magic all greeted me with a metaphorical stare. They had no eyes, yet they could see. They had no ears yet they could hear. They had no mouths yet they could shout.

‘Liar,’ ‘cruel,’ ‘selfish,’ ‘joyless,’ ‘traitor,’ ‘unworthy,’

Each piece has an accusation to level with their rasping whispers, and my headache intensified beneath the glare of the Element of Magic. What did it matter? Why did these things care?

‘Unworthy’

I felt an icy breeze drift through my mind, chilling my thoughts as they threatened to burst aflame.

‘Why am I unworthy?’

Honesty spoke first.

‘Liar. Ya do nothin’ but lie day in and day out!’

I take a second to consider before answering.

‘When? When have I lied? Look through my head if you must, but I have never told a true lie. Sure, I’ve twisted my words, I’ve neglected to speak the full truth, but I’ve never told a lie.’

Honesty mulled it over, and I felt a force beginning to probe the back of my head. I shivered at the sensation before turning to the others.

Generosity spoke next.

‘Selfish. You never let a gift be freely given. You never allow something to cost nothing.’

I glared at the idiotic rock as I responded.

‘And? Are my deals not generous? Do I not give more than I take? Have I not given enough for mistakes not my own?’

Generosity pulsed at that, reluctance bleeding through its shell.

Laughter cut in.

‘Heya, I’m Laughter! I’d say nice to meet ya, but it isn’t really.’

I paused at that. Was this thing serious?

‘Well anyway, I’m called Laughter, but I’m more like “Joy” or something. Well, whatever ya wanna call it, you don’t have it. Seriously, you’re so gloomy all the time!’

I sighed at the peppy voice.

‘I smile enough. Maybe I do not feel joy as you would label it. Maybe I don’t laugh at things you’d find funny. However, I do find satisfaction, and every time I want to give up, I just go a little bit more to see if I can smile again.’

Laughter pulsed, thinking for a moment before bobbing in place.

‘Ok, I guess that’s ok. Not everyone can be happy all the time.’

I let my gaze linger on the pink stone, and my smile felt just a little bit lighter. However, Kindness didn’t let me sit idle.

‘You are cruel.’

Its voice ground against my sensibilities.

‘Yes, I am, but I give rest. I grant mercy.’

‘Just so you can extend the pain.’

‘And the purpose to that pain? Do you not see it?’

I heard Kindness grunt.

‘No, I’ve seen your like before, you cause a lotta pain and not much else, so forgive me for being a bit skeptical of whatever insane reason you got cooked up in that broken head of yours.’

I shrugged, feigning understanding as I seethed to myself.

‘Well, I did it to reshape them. I did my absolute best to make them fear Tartarus. I wanted no one to ever have to experience it twice.’

‘Why?’

I paused at that. Another dozen seconds passed as the battle raged a mere hundred yards from me. Lava crashed over the top of the obsidian throne. Thankfully, it sprayed away from me, only a few drops landed near me, burning a couple holes in my sleeves. I hissed and jolted away from the molten rock before turning my gaze on Kindness.

‘At first, it was because I thought the place was horrifying and didn’t want others to see it twice or acclimate to it too much. Then it became a game for a while. I was cruel, but always granted some mercy. However, near the end, I just wanted them to understand how cruel life can be. I could smile at the pain because I had the experience I needed, so I tried to help others get that experience too.’

I paused, staring into the glowing yellow rock as I finished.

‘No one should have to cry. No one should have to break, so I made them crack. You can heal a scrape, but when the foundations break, there’s no going back.’

Kindness went silent at that. Honesty still buzzed with its soft orange light while rummaging through my head. A faint blue glow caught my eye, and I turned to face Loyalty. However, the accusation never came. After a moment, I asked.

‘Well?’

‘I—I don’t know. You’re awful, awful for so many reasons, but I can’t call you a traitor of much.’

‘What do you mean by ‘of much’?’

‘Well, you betrayed your morals.’

I tilted my head at the meek voice.

‘Which ones? When?’

‘The ones you had before. Before you came here.’

I snorted.

‘Not exactly easy to be loyal to things you never knew of.’

‘I-I know, that’s why I can’t say anything about you. You always stayed loyal to your deals. You never broke them first.’

I nodded as Loyalty hummed and dimmed. Honesty pulsed a final time before dimming as well, Generosity and Kindness followed. I grinned at the five dim artifacts before turning to the final one. Magic’s aura pressed on my shoulders as it glared at me through its jewel.

I heard reality creak as the code around me bent and contorted. A quick glance at the royals revealed the Nightmare standing over Celestia with her black wings spread, though one was broken. Magic broke our silence.

‘You are not worthy.’

I turned my grin on Magic, feeling victory in my grasp.

‘Why? The others accept me, why not you?’

‘They do not accept you, they pity you.’

An internal fire raged, but I kept it locked deep within.

‘Right, and you think otherwise because?’

‘Because you are unworthy of it.’

I grit my teeth as I swung around to drag myself out from my cover. I held Magic up to show it the scene of the Nightmare’s victory. I heard her voice, the deep feminine tone grating against my sensibility as she gloated. Yet none of her words registered in my mind.

‘You see that? Your chosen? One was subsumed by a mere parasite, and the other is falling to the shadow of the first. Be honest, am I really worse than the Nightmare of Moon?’

The voice of Magic rumbled in thought as the Nightmare leaned down to whisper something in Celestia’s ear. She began sobbing, tears staining the melted floor while the Nightmare stood tall with a fanged grin.

‘Well?’

‘No’

My grin widened as I crawled back behind the thrones, ignoring the throbbing ache in my barely existent leg. I sighed as I leaned my back against the white marble, eyeing the lava dripping from the obsidian throne. I pulled the Elements together, letting them hang from my strings in a bundle.

‘I have a proposition.’

The Elements hummed at that, but Magic spoke first.

‘You are not wor—‘

‘I’m aware, but I do not ask for ownership, I do not ask to be the next chosen, and I will not even ask for any secrets. I just want one shot.’

Magic rumbled, making my soul vibrate.

‘And why would we allow even that?’

‘Because you either let me have this one shot, or you will be buried by the Nightmare. She knows all that Luna knew. She could do untold damage to everything in this kingdom that you’ve worked so hard to cleanse.’

I felt a storm of power ripple beneath the fabric of reality as something larger than creation stirred. I shivered at the tingling feeling and gasped when something grasped my soul.

‘Very well. One. Shot.’

I chuckled as I let my strings fully fuse to the Elements, and I relished their discomfort while they connected to me. Finally, I placed Magic in my chest and let the others hover about me in the air.

My smile began to hurt as I heaved myself onto my singular foot and hobbled over to the other side of the throne. I saw the Nightmare standing over Celestia with an ax from one of the statues. Her black coat was marred with cuts and gashes, one of her wings was bent at an awkward angle, but her grin was manic. However, her body seemed frozen in place, shaking, as if something were holding it back.

I chuckled, I laughed, I howled with mirth, my voice grinding against the far-off stone walls. The world slowed to a crawl as the Nightmare began turning toward me. Magic lit her horn as a hundred spikes of ice formed around her, ready to barrage any impudent interloper.

I felt my throat constrict and my vision go faint as I reached out a hand. Reality churned and boiled as the fabric of space-time split. In the abyss beneath, I saw the eyes of Eternity staring at me with cold disinterest and heard the excited gurgles of Entropy. However, something far greater than either pushed both aside as a claw made from madness and rainbow light plunged into our realm. I screamed as fire chewed through what was left of me.

The rainbow fingers reached past me, and into the Nightmare’s chest. She screamed and thrashed in slow motion as her blackened soul was torn from Luna’s with cold indifference. I stared as Harmony dragged the sludge of the Nightmare’s soul, kicking and crying into the abyss.

Time resumed, and I fell onto my back. When I hit the floor, the hole in reality slammed close with a clang, and I felt the pressure fade away. I gasped for breath, clutching at Magic, only to find nothing there. I looked down.

I stared.

I shut my vision off and felt with my hands.

My breathing quickened as I searched and searched.

But my fingers only found dust past my chest. Tears began dripping down the sides of my face as I felt my energy waning. I tried to turn on my vision again, but the edges were going dark. Slowly, my panic gave way to peace as I laid back.

This was it. I overstepped. Made a deal that I shouldn’t have. I couldn’t even bring myself to smile. 

I heard the clop of hooves ring through the otherwise silent throne room, but I didn’t bother turning my gaze from the ceiling. Celestia’s voice cracked as she spoke.

“H-how, how did you wield them?”

I shrugged as I said.

“I made a deal, but I forgot to set the price.”

She paused for a moment, and the tension in my chest strings went slack. Another set of hooves clopped up beside Celestia, and I heard Luna’s voice pipe up.

“The world will not miss you.”

“And I won’t miss it.”

She stamped a hoof.

“You’re a monster through and through.”

I shrugged.

“Well, I wasn’t always, but I didn’t really get a choice in the matter.”

Luna went quiet. I heard the scuffing of hooves before Celestia’s white muzzle entered my vision. Her mane was slick with sweat and blood, patches of her coat were burnt off, and a large cut traced her eyebrow.

“Your—here?—“

Her words were garbled as if I was hearing her speak underwater. I sighed as my vision began flickering.

“Don’t waste your breath, Princess. Actions speak louder than words, and yours never gave me a real chance.”

“—“

I saw her mouth move before her lips pursed. Between the flickers, I caught glimpses of her horn glowing and a grim solemness crossing her face. 

I wished I could’ve gone on longer, that I could’ve clutched to life for just another day, but I was tired, so very tired. I let my vision finally go dark, and…

Let go.
> Ch - 16 - Thrice Slain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The six ponies before me stood silently. A couple had slack jaws. A couple were glaring at me. Hell, Laughter’s mane even went flat at some point. I chuckled at their expressions as I leaned back.

“Well, what do you think?”

Loyalty growled, but Honesty held her back. They had different names of course, but their titles were easier to remember. Magic shook her head and forced her expression. She tried to say something, but her mouth just clapped silently.

I turned to where the little dragon was, but I found he wasn’t there anymore. I shook my head before facing the sisters.

“What of you two? You find any discrepancies?”

Guardian Sun managed a calm thin-lipped frown, but I could feel the rage boiling beneath her skin. Meanwhile, Guardian Moon stared into the distance with glazed eyes. I tried tracing her gaze, but it didn’t lead anywhere special: just another patch of darkness within this realm of endless void.

A ringing perforated my hearing, and I tried scratching it away. It only got louder. With a sigh, I asked.

“Does anyone have anything else to say? Anything at all? If not, leave me in peace. Silence is painful anymore, I prefer my sleep.”

I let my vision flicker off, waiting for an answer to break apart the ringing.

“Why?”

Magic’s voice rang through the void. I turned a flickering gaze on her. She continued.

“Why did you want freedom so badly? Why did you have to hurt so many? Why didn’t you try to make friends? A friend or two can help you out in—“

Her large eyes widened when I laughed. The rasping, gravelly mirth slowly bled into ragged coughs. I turned my grim smile on her. She looked flat to me, and the right side of my face itched. She flinched at my visage before I spoke.

“Didn’t you hear me at the beginning? Didn’t you hear how long I was stuck down there?”

Her ears folded back but she shook her head instead of folding. I chuckled at the small display of bravery before answering.

“Fifty years, Magic. Fifty long years where I had no memories except the cult that dragged me here. Fifty years of naught but cruelty and isolation.”

I leaned my left side forward, letting my good eye mere inches from Magic’s face.

“What did you think I saw? Saints? Angels even? No, I saw the dregs of your society. I saw what you fragile ponies called monsters.”

My ethereal form was yanked back by a golden aura. Guardian Sun glared into my eye.

“That is enough, my student did a lot of work to give you this chance, so do not waste it as you have with the others.”

I searched her eyes. I saw lines, so many lines in the whites, wrinkles tugging at the edges, and a depth in her pupils that few could match. Her shoulders drew taut but I could see the twitches of fatigue.

“Guardian Sun, my chances are none. My life is gone. My soul is gone. I am an echo of an echo of a soul that refused to die.”

She recoiled at my words, her magic releasing me as her brows descended into a scowl. Coughs wracked my ethereal form once more, but I managed to stand on the black glass of the floor.

“I tried to bow and scrape. I’ve tried working for your damned forgiveness. I’ve tried breaking your prison.”

I felt my hands trembling but I pushed on. 

“Cooperation, defiance, determination, and spite; I've tried everything and paid the price.”

I couldn’t smile, yet I couldn’t stop. Pain clawed at my face as tears dropped from my cheekbones.

“I’ve tried. I’ve tried.”

I fell to my knees. The vision in my one eye was reduced to a blur.

“But I’m just a monster. Why else would I have been placed into your version of Hell. I was born a monster, I tried to deny it, tried for thirty years before giving in.”

I forced my sight off, unwilling to look at anything. Why couldn’t these fools just go home? Why torture me with this binding? I felt a gentle warmth embrace my side. 

I didn’t look. Another came to my other side, but Loyalty’s voice broke the recent quiet.

“Hold on, guys, why’re ya getting all buddy–buddy with him? You heard what he said! You heard what he liked doing; he’s the bad guy!”

Kindness responded from my right.

“H-he’s hurt, Dash. Hurt worse than anypony else that I’ve met. I-I can’t just leave him like this.”

Laughter spoke in a tone far calmer than I expected.

“His smile was fake. He tried to make it real but didn’t quite know how. And I’m not gonna let that slide.”

I could practically taste the joy rolling off of her as my mind’s eye imagined a confident smile on the mare’s face. Though I found the bitterness of anxiety it masked more to my taste. Honesty spoke next.

“We apples know liars an’ how they work, kinda hard to do business if we didn’t. An’ he sure lies a lot, got the smooth talk for it, but he wasn’t doin’ none of that in his story.”

Loyalty huffed while Generosity walked towards me. I could tell from the tinkle her hooves made when she walked, it grated on my hearing.

“Well, I believe we should give him a chance. He’s done quite a few bad things, and he ought to pay for them properly.”

She paused as she turned towards Loyalty.

“But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t extend the hoof in peace first.”

She put a hoof on my chin and tried to make me look her in the eyes. I tilted my right side forward, and I felt a spike of joy at her flinch.

“Generosity, ever the paragon of your element. Your ‘hoof’ is appreciated, but next time you should offer peace to someone who’s alive to accept it.”

Generosity stuttered for a bit before Kindness spoke.

“I-it’s not too late. We have the Elements, we could undo—“

“No.”

They all started at that, but Magic broke the silence first.

“Why not? I mean, the Elements cleansed the Nightmare when you used them, and you said we actually had control over them. It stands to reason that we could reverse whatever the Elements did and—“

“Magic, when you boil water, you get steam, and you can chill steam to get water. The Elements did not boil my soul, they burned it, reduced it to nothing.”

“But you can’t destroy matter, the Law of Conservation of Energy states—“

“And Harmony doesn’t follow those laws! It gives what it will and takes what it wants!”

The Element Bearers flinched at my outburst, and I’m sure Guardian Sun tensed for a fight. I didn’t go any further though, content to sit in the warm hug from Kindness and Laughter. I wished they wouldn’t leave.

Laughter spoke, a strained calm in her tone.

“I’m sorry that Harmony hurt ya like a big meanie, but we can’t change what it did before.”

She let go, and I felt an ache at the chill replacing the warmth.

“But we can try to make it right now!”

I heard her hooves shift slightly, likely a sign that she turned to her friends.

“I reckon we could do that.”

“Y-yes, I think we can.”

“Of course, darling, Generosity isn’t known for taking after all!”

“I guess I don’t see why not.”

There was a short pause, but Loyalty eventually said, “Fine, whatever.”

Before muttering something about how ‘I probably had it coming.’

I shook my head. Didn’t they see? The price was already exacted. I can't take anything anymore, only give. I don’t have anything. I can’t have anything…

But maybe they can carry a version of me into reality once more. Maybe I can cast a string into existence and hoist myself up if enough know of me… maybe.

“Ask questions, and spread my story. I suffered already, I died already. The most that can be done is preventing future occurrences like mine.”

I left my vision off. There was no point in looking them in the eyes. They all hummed for a moment to think, but Magic asked first.

“Are you or were you immortal? Fifty years is a long time to sit in one place without eating.”

I tilted my head from side to side in thought.

“Yes and no. Killing me would’ve been difficult, and age would not have been up to the task. Yet, it was possible, evidenced by Harmony’s actions, and on top of that… Well, I wasn’t really alive in the first place. Before you ask, I already told you what I am, you’re a smart one, I’m sure you can remember.”

Magic went quiet in thought while Kindness asked, “A-are you in pain?”

I shrugged.

“Physical? No. Emotional? Probably.”

She hummed in worry, but Laughter blurted out her question.

“How did you know the parts you weren’t there for?”

I tilted my head at that.

“You mean the short time I spent from the Nightmare’s perspective? I had a shard of her soul at the time, information had a tendency to bleed over. It’s why I was able to read her code so easily.”

We went on like that for almost an hour. Generosity asked after my past, slowly coaxing out the few memories I had of my original home. It was a snow place with a quaint little town. I also remember a figure, but…

“Get down here—job to clean—seriously, it’s just—“

Their voice is still not there. Their name is still gone. Maybe if I search long enough… but what would that even solve?

Eventually, Luna spoke up, cutting off one of Laughter’s many questions.

“Do you hate us?”

I tilted my head as I turned to the two sisters. Silence crept in around us like a fog. The ringing came back, driving spikes of pain through the sides of my skull. My thoughts swirled as a loop formed.

Did I hate them?

Not really.

Did I like them?

No.

Do I want them to pay?

Yes.

But I want them to pay severely.

Is that hate?

I deliberated for a time, mulling over the question before sighing.

“I do not hate you…”

I let my sight flicker on for a moment to glare into their eyes.

“But I don’t know if that’s because I myself don’t want to hate you or because I can’t hate anymore. I’m not alive, I’m not a person, I’m an object, and how can an object hate?”

The sisters recoiled at that, but Laughter frowned at me.

“No, silly, you aren’t a thing! You’re a person. What gave ya the idea you weren’t?”

“I’m dead. Monsters don’t live on after they die, they simply cease. The fact that I’m here is probably made possible by Harmony itself.”

I chuckled as I leaned back. I frowned when Luna spoke up again.

“Why didn’t you banish the Nightmare? Why did you cleanse me of her? Surely you could’ve made my sister and I ‘pay’ with such an outcome?”

I grimaced as I answered.

“I was never a bearer of Harmony, I simply acted as a pedestal. It gave me one shot, not one use.”

I sighed.

“At least I got one of you.”

The rest shifted as Kindness stepped away. I heard her say something, then Loyalty, followed by the rest chattering. However, it sounded like they were all underwater, their voices garbled beyond my ability to understand.

I reached out with a weak, trembling hand, hoping someone would be there, that someone, anyone, would help. The two sisters stared, and the elements gawked, Harmony watched with a bored eye, but nobody moved. My fading essence screamed for help.

But nobody came.

The few ponies that talked with me shrunk in my gaze before I shut my vision off. My breathing quickened as panic set in. I clawed at the void around me as I fell through the emptiness. I felt Eternity watching, heard the gurgles of Entropy, and I even reached towards them.

But they were too far.

I scrambled, reached, clawed, and thrashed, but no matter how hard I tried to find a handhold, leverage, anything. I just kept slipping further down. All at once, my fear evaporated and my desperation froze.  

This was it. The final stretch. Will I be free after I cease?

I wonder if this is what the Nightmare felt? I smiled at the memory of her screams. On a whim, I flitted through my memories. I didn’t have many for how long I’d lived. Sure, there was a lot of time, but I didn’t really do much, in all honesty. Nothing happened, so there was nothing to remember.

How deep is this void? Will I be able to crawl out?

Maybe I could—

The end.