Undying

Three days since they left Canterlot, and Aegis’ mood had not improved. In fact, it had gotten worse. Rarity tried cheering the others up, but nothing worked. Twilight was too focused on the task, thus putting aside the excitable perverted side she likely inherited from Celestia, and Spike was just being distant.

“It’s been three days, if my reasoning is correct,” Twilight said. “How far are we to a town or some form of settlement?”

“Ask our navigator,” Spike said, not taking his eyes off the book he was reading.

“Are we going the right way, Rarity?” Twilight asked. “And please stop nuzzling my tail…”

“It’s fuzzy, but… We need to turn right here,” Rarity said, pointing towards the mountains.

Aegis practiced with his telekinesis, shooting stray pieces of straw from the wagon into the distance. Twilight took an interest in this.

“This curse gave you an ability to use magic, didn’t it?” She asked.

“Telekinesis. Is it true that you could compress air into projectiles?” Aegis asked. He clearly hadn’t given up on trying to learn that spell.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I can. But I prefer not to, because those tiny balls of pressure punch through flesh. And they don’t stop until hit something that won’t break on impact. To this day, I have used that spell only once and it is very dangerous, so I won’t teach you that spell. But I will teach you other spells you may find useful,” She said.

“I’m grateful for the help, Princess. I’m still not gonna kiss you, though,” Aegis said.

“What if I knew how to permanently restore your sanity when you become a Ghoul? Would you kiss me then?” She asked playfully.

“I might, but do you know how to do that?” Aegis asked.

“I have no idea,” Twilight said.

Aegis sighed. “I should have known… You just enjoy toying with me, don’t you?”

“Maybe a little. Don’t be so serious, Aegis. Spike was telling me how you often daydreamed about brave knights and how you had a sense of humour,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, I did. It’s one reason I wanted to learn how to fight. Gramps told me that I needed a better reason than that. So I decided that I wanted to protect my friends and my home. But I never knew what heroes gave up for the strength they needed,” Aegis said. He threw the last piece of straw away. “It’s not like I’m a hero, anyway.”

“Well, Spike wasn’t always a hero, either. None of us were heroes until Nightmare Moon returned,” Twilight said. “Heroes are just ponies willing to do the right thing, no matter what.”

“I guess. Say, what happened to Discord? He was sealed within the Canterlot ruins, wasn’t he?” Aegis asked

“Yes, he was. When I formed the Black Knights and started rebuilding the city with the intent on finding a way to restore sanity to Equestria, Discord exiled himself after finding Canterlot in ruins. I never thought I would feel pity for Discord, but I do,” Twilight said.

“Sombra killed Fluttershy, didn’t he?” Spike asked.

Twilight nodded. Tears started to flow down her face. “Yes, he did. When Discord saw Fluttershy… die the way she did, he went berserk. Anypony who didn’t die was either lucky to escape or left cursed, and they all blame Discord when he was just caught up in all of this himself.”

Aegis growled. “That monster…”

They arrived at a deserted town, where they intended to find a new wagon, or even a carriage. But the town wasn’t as deserted as they thought.

“Anypony else get the feeling that there’s eyes on us? Watching us from all sides?” Aegis asked.

“Eeyup,” Spike said, sounding like a more gravelly Big Macintosh. “Diamond Dogs.”

“Why Diamond Dogs?” Twilight groaned.

“We must be the first targets they’ve had in a while. They’ll be setting up an ambush behind that second building to the right,” Spike said, casually picking up a rock.

Aegis tried to clear his mind, like he had been trained to do. “Can’t keep the thoughts out…” He said in an undertone.

As they walked by the second building to the right, the Diamond Dogs leapt out at them, swinging blades and claws. Spike’s sword flashed out like lightning, slicing the off the sword arm of one of the Diamond Dogs. “Sorry, pal, but you brought that one on yourself,” He said.

The Diamond Dog growled, showing that they too were affected by the curse, and were now Ghouls themselves. Aegis levitated the sword from the ground and fired it at another Diamond Dog, pinning it to the wall.

Rarity hid behind Twilight, who stood firm and created a whirling barrier of rocks, knocking away the Diamond Dogs.

“Nice trick,” Aegis said. “Telekinesis?”

“Everypony thinks that Telekinesis is worthless outside of mundane tasks. Well, they can eat their words!” Twilight said, launching several rocks at the Diamond Dogs. Each one impacted heavily, spraying the scenery with blood.

Spike fired several fireballs at the Diamond Dogs, roasting one in emerald flames. “Toasty…” he quipped, somersaulting over another and bisecting it vertically, blood spraying over Spike’s face. “Gah! Disgusting…”

Aegis, meanwhile, was beginning to enjoy himself too much. He swung his katana in wide arcs, cutting down many of the Diamond Dogs in his way. “This is too easy… Give me a challenge, dammit!” He yelled, spinning one hundred and eighty degrees to impale a Diamond Dog on the end of his blade.

Spike looked around for more of the persistent bastards, but there were none left but those on the blood-stained battlefield. He wiped blood out of his eyes and off his sword. “Let’s go before they decide to pull themselves together. That is, if they can…” He said, not noticing Aegis turn his blade against them.

“LOOK OUT!” Rarity screamed. The group just barely dodged Aegis’ attack.

“What’s gotten into you, hotshot? Are you out of your mind?” Spike asked angrily.

Aegis turned to face him with a feral smile on his face, and his eyes had gone almost blank, “Give me…a real fight…” He said in a hoarse whisper.

Spike raised his blade. “It’s like that, is it?” He asked.

Aegis growled and lunged at Spike, aiming for his chest. Spike leapt out of the way, countering by taking off the Pegasus’ wing. Aegis’ screamed in pain and briefly seemed to regain control of himself, but he turned around and continued his assault, this time swinging wildly in attempt to hack off any one of Spike’s limbs. Spike kicked Aegis away, knocking him into one of the houses.

“I don’t get it. He shouldn’t be feral yet…” Spike said, trying to work out Aegis’ sudden dive into insanity.

“Do you think it has something to do with how he’s been feeling lately?” Twilight asked.

“Stop talking…FIGHT ME!” Aegis yelled, bursting through the wall of the house and charging at Spike.

“Never wanted to do this…” Spike said, vaulting over Aegis and driving his sword through Aegis’ spine. “You didn’t leave me any choice.”

The last thing Aegis saw before everything went pitch black was Twilight’s horrified face…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” Aegis screamed, pain flooding his body. “What the hay… GAH!” He said through gritted teeth.

“You feeling better?” Spike asked.

“I AM IN UTTER AGONY! SO NO, I AM NOT FEELING BETTER!” He yelled. “WHAT IN CELESTIA’S NAME HAPPENED ANYWAY?”

“This isn’t the first time this happened, is it?” Twilight asked.

“The first time was when he got the curse. This makes the second time he’s died,” Spike said, ignoring the currently writhing Aegis.

“So what exactly happens if he dies often enough?” Twilight asked.

“Please…somepony answer…” Aegis said in a pleading tone. He looked frightened and sickly, but this time, Spike didn’t have a remedy.

“You don’t remember?” Spike asked.

“No, I don’t. But maybe it’s better that I don’t know anyway,” He said.

Twilight put a wing around him. “Don’t worry. We’ll stop Sombra, then there will be a place waiting for you in Canterlot,” She said, trying to cheer Aegis up.

“Thanks. It may not be home, though. I don’t think I can ever go home at all,” Aegis said.

Spike closed his book. “Home is where the heart is. It’s where you go to rest. Without a home, you’re nowhere…” He said in a poetic fashion.

“What is that book you’ve been reading all this time, Gramps?” Aegis asked.

“You won’t like it. It’s a sad story without a happy ending,” Spike said.

“What is it about?”

Spike sighed and prepared to tell part of the story. “It’s about a brave knight who fought alone against a cruel tyrant. He won many battles and faced incredible odds, but he triumphed over his foes. But the tyrant had been hatching a plan of his own, and though the knight was never defeated, he lost many friends and many lovers in his quest. When it came time for the knight and the tyrant to meet in battle, the brave knight was gone. The body remained, but he was a bitter and twisted shadow of the noble warrior he once was.”

“What happened to him?” Aegis asked.

“He lost, and the tyrant had him executed, but not before showing the knight his destroyed village,” Spike said, tears starting to run down his face.

Aegis stood up, keeping his footing on the moving carriage. “I’m done. I don’t care about this quest anymore. I just want to go home,” he said.

“You can’t quit. That’s against Royal orders that I gave you to accompany me to the Crystal Empire and finish Sombra permanently,” Twilight said.

“I don’t care about your orders, Princess. I’ve played along long enough. First, we’re looking for Canterlot to see if there’s a cure there, all the while Discord was the enemy, then we find out that it’s actually Sombra who is responsible. Well, you three can go ahead and finish this quest if you want, but I want nothing more to do with it!” Aegis said, his voice becoming progressively louder. He took off, flying at top speed.

Spike turned to Twilight. “You’re the only one of us who can catch him. I’ve got a feeling he won’t like what he finds when he gets there, so please, follow him and bring him back if you can,” Spike said.

Twilight nodded. “Alright. But this doesn’t mean you can order me around, though,” She said.

“Still the teacher…” he said dryly.

As Twilight flew after Aegis, Rarity seemed concerned. “Are we gonna follow them, Gramps?” She asked.

“No. We’re gonna continue on. Twilight can find us when she needs to. And don’t call me ‘Gramps’. I tried to get Aegis to stop that, but he doesn’t…” Spike said.

Aegis heard nothing but the roaring of the wind as he flew in the general direction of Fortress Luna. He could almost feel the sound barrier start getting narrower, until he was flung back by it, crashing into the ground. Not one to give up, he brushed himself off and took off once more, only stopping to rest. All the while, Twilight was catching up.

After several days of non-stop flying he found his home, Fortress Luna, in ruins. He broke down at the sight of dead ponies and ruined buildings. Amid the rubble, he heard a weak voice.

“Aegis? Is that you?” The hoarse voice said. Aegis began digging through the rubble to find the source. It was Smooth Jazz. She was badly injured, and from the looks of it, she had been like that for a few days. It was a miracle that she was still alive.

“What happened here?” Aegis asked.

“Some kind of…dark shadow… It was terrifying…glistening white teeth, and red eyes…” Jazz said. Aegis checked her flank. Neither side had that black ring or a blackened Cutie Mark.

“And the others? Did they make it?” Aegis asked frantically.

“They’re all gone, Aegis… They got away…” She said. She wouldn’t last much longer.

“That’s a relief. When did this happen?” He asked.

“Two days ago…I’m glad…I got to see you…one…last time…” She said as the life faded from her eyes.

“Jazz? Don’t die on me. Please, wake up, Jazz. JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZ!”

Twilight caught up with Aegis at the Fortress. She stared in horror at the death and destruction. “Oh my… I’m sorry, Aegis,” She said.

“Spare me your pity,” He said, his tone scathing and harsh and his back turned to Twilight. “This used to be my home, and now it’s rubble. Some of my friends were here, and now they’re buried. Jazz was a good mare. WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE?!”

“Dying is inevitable. Only an Alicorn is truly exempt from these rules,” Twilight said.

“And where do I fit in? While I have this curse, I can’t die either,” Aegis said.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out,” Twilight said.

Aegis turned to face her, hatred and rage burning in his eyes. “Why am I so special? Why am I so much of a threat that Sombra would target innocent ponies because of me? WHY?!”

Twilight backed away. “I don’t know, Aegis. I really don’t know.”

“I suppose I’m just an unfortunate victim, is that it?”

“Stop it,” Twilight said.

“Sombra just did this because he’s an evil bastard, right?” Aegis continued.

“Please stop,” Twilight said

“Or maybe-”

“STOP IT!” Twilight shouted, slapping Aegis across the face. “I have no idea why he did this, but we move on. It’s all we can do.”

Aegis broke down. “Where did I go wrong, Twilight?” He asked, crying tears of pain and sadness.

“None of this is your fault, Aegis. It’s just bad luck that you got caught up in things which shouldn’t be your problem,” Twilight said.

“Now what do I do? My whole reason for going on this insane quest to begin with is gone,” Aegis said.

“Come with me. Help me bring back the sun,” Twilight said. Her voice sounded strangely inviting. Aegis didn’t know why, but he found himself entranced by her voice alone. Before either of them knew what was happening, he leaned forward…and kissed Twilight on the lips. The minutes seemed to pass slowly, as if time had stopped. Then he realized what had happened.

“I’m sorry,” Aegis blurted out. “I shouldn’t have done that. I just… well..”

“It’s alright. I guess, sometimes we need a little comfort, even if it’s not what we expect. I actually rather enjoyed it. So, what do you plan to do now?” Twilight asked

“That offer of learning magic… Is it still open?” Aegis asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, it is. When do you want to start?”

“As soon as we leave. I need to get away from here…” Aegis said.