Chapter Thirteen

Separate Ways And Means

Chrysalis’s body was burning in a funeral pyre made from the torture racks. Oily black smoke curled up and away from the spot where she fell. The wood sizzled from being soaked in pony blood.

Changelings had gathered around their fallen Queen, staring silently into the flames. Bicho was the first to leave the circle and fly over to us.

“I was one of her first hatchlings,” he said to himself more than us.

Normally this would be the time I’d say something comforting to the grieving after the funeral. But I just sat and stared at my gore-slicked hooves, feeling numb. The changeling that my mother once inhabited lay next to me. I just couldn’t bring myself to burn it, so Bicho agreed to bury the body instead. For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to help with the burial.

I tried to pull myself away from the few endlessly replaying memories of Mom by watching Vinyl and Rarity build Pinkie Pie a new wheelchair.

Vinyl was skilled enough to cut messages into a tree with her bolo saw, so cutting perfectly shaped wheels from unused panels was easy. Octavia found a hammer and a bucket of nails, so she helped put everything together. Rarity topped off the final touches by smoothing out the rough spots and assembling the back straps. Only unspoiled materials were used, of course.

When Pinkie was eased into her new wheels with Rarity’s magic and strapped in, her grin kept getting bigger by the second. She zipped around us a few times before she screeched to a stop, giggling like a tickled filly.

“This is super-duper-cool!” she rejoiced, bouncing in place. “Thank you girls so much!”

Vinyl sat down next to me and pointed at her handiwork. “Pretty awesome ride, huh?”

“Yeah,” I answered, my tongue feeling like a lead weight.

Octavia sat on my other side and wrapped a hoof over my shoulders. “Your mother was an exceptional mare, Equus. She had a heart as big as the great outdoors.”

“And now she’s gone,” I said.

Vinyl placed a hoof around my back. “Do you remember what Octavia said at my dad’s funeral? ‘As long as he is remembered, he will never truly be far from those that loved him.’ I think the same applies for your mother.”

I shook my head slowly. “I wonder if I’ll always deserve what she did for me.”

Octavia cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

“I . . . I enjoyed killing Quietus! It was actually fun to hear his screams!” I stared at Octavia, tears building up, my grief firing off in a hot burst. “It was easy to kill him! It should never be easy!”

Staring at the green blood in my fur, I groaned, “I’m a monster.”

“Bullshit,” replied Vinyl sternly.

“What?”

“I said that’s bullshit, Equus. Yeah, you killed that fucker. And you enjoyed it. But you know what? You did the world a big favor by doing so. If you just let Quietus get away with what he wanted to do, all of us would be dead on those racks.”

Vinyl put a hoof on my chin and turned my head to face her. “One thing you gotta keep in mind, Equus, is why you killed him. Did you kill him for fun? Or because he needed to be put down like the mad animal he obviously was?”

“I killed Quietus because he was evil.”

Octavia asked, “And what is evil?”

“Evil is seeing other people as objects. He only saw my death and the death of all these other ponies as absolution.”

Vinyl prompted, “What do you see Quietus’s death as?”

I thought for a moments, trying to find just the right words. I thought about my dad. Mom said he only had love for her. The fact that he was able to love anypony struck me as odd, since my own existence was tolerated, but never cherished by him.

Everything Mom told me about him swirled around in my mind. He wanted more than one child, she said. He didn’t know how to deal with loss, she said.

But what if Mom hadn’t died giving birth to me? What if she lived to give me brothers and sisters? What if his world didn’t bottom out all those years ago? Would he have loved me as much as he loved my mother?

Yes. Yes, he would have.

That’s when I had an important revelation, one I should have had ages ago. I was thinking about my father from the wrong angle. I was asking myself the wrong question. Instead of asking ‘Is this something Dad would do?’ I should have been asking ‘Is this something Dad would do if mom were still alive?’

If I had never met my mother, I would have never asked myself that, would never have gained a fresh perspective.

I could never be the homicidal, emotionally damaged dad I knew, because I was already like the loving, fiercely protective husband my mom knew.

“Quietus’s death was necessary.”

“And why is that?” asked Octavia.

“Because he could only destroy people, but never help them.”

Vinyl smiled and said, “But you help people. You helped me and Tavi here cope at my dad’s funeral. And now you helped save Equestria. Monsters don’t do that.”

“I still feel crummy, though.”

“Yeah, everything that’s happened isn’t like dealing with a blown tire. But listen, when we get back to Ponyville, you can hang with us for a while. A few days of chill ambient tunes will be just the break we need.”

Mom told me to never forget what my friends could do for me. I was too frazzled to understand what she meant then. In the back of my mind, I’ve always known. They help me from getting crazy, from believing the wrong things about myself. They help me gain perspective.

Twilight walked over. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

Looking around, I asked, “Where’s Pinkie?”

She waved a hoof behind us. “She’s talking to Bicho.”

We all got up and walked over to where they were talking in a private huddle. Bicho and Pinkie nodded and turned to face us.

Twilight said, “Well, let’s go, Pinkie. We have to get these ponies back to Appleoosa.”

Pinkie’s ears drooped as she shook her head. “I’m not going with you.”

“Say what?” cried Applejack.

Spike flashed a desperate smile. “You’re joking. Right?”

Pinkie sighed. “I’ve never been more serious, folks. Bicho has agreed to make me an honorary member of the hive.”

Fluttershy asked, “But why? If you go with Bicho, we’ll never see you again.”

“I know that,” Pinkie replied, her voice cracking with stress. “But I told you guys before that I hate being alone, not being able to help others smile. At least here, the changelings can feed off of my love while they find a new home somewhere else.”

She trotted over to me. “You did what you could to make me look like someone I’m not. But I can’t fool ponies forever. Someone would eventually find out who I really am. And then I’d be on the run for the rest of my life.”

Bicho said, “Both my race and Pinkie know what it’s like to be taken advantage of by evil people. Once word gets out about what changelings did to Appleoosa, we’ll need to be far away from here.”

Pinkie gave Bicho a playful nudge. “Besides, somepony needs to teach these guys how to get a sense of humor. Might as well be me.”

Vinyl nodded. “Looks like you found your island, Pinkie.”

Pinkie beamed. “Yep! I’ll finally be surrounded by people that need me. I’ll never be lonesome again. It’s gonna be great!”

Twilight rubbed her chin. “Hmm. Well, if you’re sure. If things don’t pan out for you, just come to my library. I’ll help you however I can.”

“Sure!” Pinkie nodded, but even I could tell that Twilight’s offer would never be considered.

We all gathered around her and gave our farewells.

“Gonna miss yew somethin’ fierce, sugarcube,” Applejack said, giving Pinkie an eye-bulging hug.

Spike said, “I’d give you a hoof-bump, but my Element tends to break things.”

Pinkie shrugged. “Eh, it’s okay. Just use lots of polish on it. Gotta keep that collectible shiny.”

Pinkie and I hugged. “I’m glad to see you in much better spirits,” I said.

“Can’t keep a party pony down, I always say. Equus?”

“Yeah?”

“Rainbow Dash would be proud of you. You’re as brave as she was. Or is. It’s hard to think of her in the past tense since she talked to me and A.J. a half hour ago.”

“Hold onto that, Pinkie. It’ll keep you going.” I rubbed the back of my head and gave her a worried look. “You do know that it’ll be hard living underground, right?”

She shrugged. “Life is hard for everypony. And every changeling. Everything changes. Sometimes for the better. I’ll be okay, Morty. After living in an asylum and a miner’s shed, caves will be a cinch.”

A short while later, we gathered everyone together and set off back to Bicho’s camp. Once there, we discovered that the Under-Queen had hatched. At least Discord’s futzing with the changelings’s designs had efficiency in mind.

She was almost as big as Bicho, but had a long slender neck and blue hair like Chrysalis. Her large green cat eyes studied us. A small tremor in my spine rippled as I recalled Quietus’s cat eyes staring at me before he sliced my cutie marks off.

This Queen won’t be like that, I chided myself. Sweet Celestia, I hope not.

Pinkie bounced around her, which made the Queen’s guards hiss in alarm. “Ooh! She’s cute! What’s her name?”

Bicho scratched his head. “One of my duties is to name Chrysalis’s successor, but I’m stuck for a name.”

“Aww, who’s a keyoot widdle buggy-wuggy?” cooed Pinkie as she made silly faces at the giggling hatchling. “With your bwushable hair and nice shiny chitin?”

“That’s it!” Bicho declared. “Chitin! Queen Chitin!”

Pinkie stuck her tongue out. “Bleah! That’s a little masculine for this cute little Queen. How about . . . ummm . . . Chitina! Yeah!”

Bicho blinked in surprise. “Um, yes! Chitina! Queen Chitina!”

Pinkie pumped a hoof in victory. “Yesss! That’s much more marketable!”

“My pony friends, I have to stay here to watch over the Queen,” declared Bicho. “My guards will escort you and the townsfolk up to the cave entrance. Once you leave, don’t come back. The cave will be collapsed to keep anyone from following us.”

The surviving Appleloosan townsfolk were gathered up by my friends. After waving goodbye to Bicho and Pinkie, we were escorted by several changelings. A few minutes of walking later and I recognized the Mortis family crypt as several changelings hauled boulders over the hole Chysalis had made.

Vinyl nudged me. “Is that where Quietus took you?”

“Yeah. That’s where my cutie marks ended up.”

“Well, while we’re chilling to some tunes, I’ll dig up my black leather pants for you.”

Octavia gave a sharp cough. “Vinyl. Don’t.”

“It’s all right, Octavia,” I said. “Cutie marks don’t grow back. I’m going to be cutie markless for the rest of my life. Even if I gave myself a fur-dye job like I did with Pinkie, it’ll still look fake. Pants are going to be in my new wardrobe from now on.”

Vinyl shrugged. “Hey, you’ll fit right in with the goth and dark ambient crowd. All you need now is dark makeup around your eyes and, I dunno, a raven strapped to your shoulders and you’re all set to go.”

I smiled and giggled. This time, however, my giggles didn’t come from hurting someone. I was just like everypony else. Pain vampire ability notwithstanding.

I told Pinkie that I might have had more than one island of paradise. The island that I would always find happiness in was the knowledge that my mother loved me.

My cutie marks were cut off to reduce my identity, according to my family history book. But I know I’m still a Mortis.

I have Nightmare Moon’s ability to gain strength from the pain of others, but I am not a monster like her or her followers. I have my morals and my friends to keep that from ever happening.

No matter what my enemies try to do to me, I’ll keep fighting back.

Now that I know that my mother and Rainbow Dash are waiting for me in the land of the dead, death no longer holds any terrors for me.

Let the monsters of the world fight me. They’ll find that I’m hard to kill.

But it’s not hard for me to kill monsters. Not anymore.

After all, my name is Equus Mortis. In an old world language, it means “Pony Of Death”.

And in spite of everything that’s happened to me recently, I’ve never been happier to be alive.

THE END

Author's Note

And the theme song for this final chapter is....
"See" by Tycho
Man, this story took ages to write and edit. I hope you folks like the work that I wrote and Rethkir edited.
Until Equus rides again (in a pair of adorable black leather pants), I'll see you pony-folks later!