The day started simply for young Yasha. She would wake up, welcome the warm sunshine on her muzzle, and get on with her morning chores.
Though, today, things started off a bit differently.
“The weather team has scheduled a cloudy day today, Hun.” Yasha’s father shouted from the kitchen. “Don’t wanna scorch the crops again, this year."
Yasha’s ears lowered in disappointment. To her, those were the worst days. No sunlight for no reason. Not a single drop of rain, or a gust of wind. No flood, earthquake or storm of any kind.
Her father walked in, his hooves leaving gentle imprints on the old, white carpet. He saw her expression and smiled weakly. “It has to happen, dear. Even the plants can have too much sun.”
Yasha looked at her father. He, in his youth, was once a young, brilliant unicorn stallion. His mane, once a bright indigo, was now a dull greyish lavender that contrasted drastically against his bright yellow coat. His cutie mark, a scroll with a black ribbon, represented his love for the cultures of other ponies. Which is something that an equestrian historian needs.
Yasha sighed, the motion causing a lock of lavender hair to fall on her nose and in front of her eyes. “Seems so pointless.”
“Now, now. You know that the weather team wouldn’t schedule it if it wasn’t necessary.” A bright blue aura gripped the section of loose hair and lifted it out of her eyes. “Everything happens for a reason.”
Yasha continued to stare dazed out the window. Even with the sun shining full force just yesterday, she craved the light, and yearned for it to shoot through the glass pane of her window. Without it, the world looked grey and disappointing. Like someone sucked the life and energy out of everything.
“Even with your mood being down in the dumps, you still have chores to do.” Her father said as he walked back to the kitchen. She nodded.
She got into motion. As her father prepared breakfast of pancakes and strawberries (her favorite), she went around the house to check for anything abnormal or out of place. Her room was clean, the banners embroidered with the golden sun of the princess were dusted daily, as were her sword shined and polished, carpet brushed, and bed made.
“You would protect the kingdom from dirt, if you had the option!” Her father would tell her when she was little.
She then ran to her father’s room, which was in a similar condition to hers, due to her insistent cleaning. Same with the hallway, living room, back porch, and bathroom.
“Yip! Yip!”
Yasha spun around. A worn out broom raised threateningly above her head. Her silver magical-aura made the broom look like a piece of dragon jewelry, much less a weapon.
“Yip!” The sharp, high pitched noise came from below Yasha’s nose. She looked down, and with a small sigh of relief, realized it was simply Summer, her pet. She found the dog in the warmest month of the year, hence her namesake. She was small, with a white and cream-colored fur and bright gold eyes. When she first laid eyes on the dog as a puppy, she thought of the sun and the fluffy clouds. She thought of the fun festivals and the days when she walked in the park with her father.
“Oh…” She said to the dog. The cream colored puff-ball turned her head.
“Honey...! Could you get some water from the well? Thank you!” Her father screamed from the kitchen window.
She sighed and looked regretfully down the hill. There, in all of its crumbling, moss-covered glory, was the well. Squat, tiny and really far away.
“Yes, Father.” She grumbled.
She grabbed the small wooden bucket off of the small stone step that descended from the porch. The worn handle squeaked and tasted like what a decaying forest smells. The body of the bucket slammed against her chest as her front legs banged against it as she walked. Once she got to the bottom of the hill, she spat out the piece of wood in disgust.
She sucked in a breath. There wasn’t even the smallest hint of sunshine in the air. Her ears lowered in disappointment.
She sat down and leaned her back against the crumbling stone. She glanced at her tail and grimaced. Normally clean and curly with a soft, pale lavender shine, was now slightly tangled, messy, and had a healthy coating of dead leaves.
“If the princess saw me…” She trailed off. Ever since she was little, she was inspired to be one of the first female royal guards. It was her mother’s dream, but tragically, she died before she could see the dream come true. It was when Yasha’s father took her to a festival that celebrated the summer sun celebration, that she saw the princess, in all of her glory, and was inspired to finish her mother’s dream for her.
Ever since that day, she has practiced her swordsmanship, recited the oath of the royal guard every twilight before the sun went down, and swore that she would protect the princess with all of her heart.
Just like her mother.
She smiled at the thought. On her back, whenever she was awake to experience the sunlight, she had her mother’s sword strapped to her back. She levitated it then, at the thought of her mother and her dream. Her magic matching the color of the silver sword perfectly, the bright white cloth that covered the weapon falling to a soft heap at her hooves.
She gazed at her refection in the swords blade. Her eyes matched her mother’s. Grey. Though her father insists that they’re the color of the clouds. Her coat matched as well. Her entire body was a snowy white. Her mane came from her father, in his younger years, though paler.
On her flank, was her cutie mark, which she proudly displays. A small lavender colored feather, meant to represent her fluidity and her ability to be light on her feet when she controls her sword.
“Yip!”
Yasha screamed and dropped her sword with a thud on the ground. Summer sat a few paces away, wagging her stubby white tail, completely oblivious to her master’s reaction.
“Summer! Honestly…” Yasha felt her cheeks warm.
She quickly bundled up her sword and retied it around her back. “One of these days you’re going to be the end of me.”
After a quiet moment of gathering herself, Yasha prepared the bucket for the well.
“Huh… why didn’t I do that before?” She asked as she levitated the bucket to place it on the hook. She looked at her chest in distain. It was covered in black and brown smudges from the brim of the container. She could still taste the rotting wood from the handle. “Save me a bath, and some embarrassment.”
She busied herself with the well’s crank. The bucket lowered into the well with a large splash.
“Its days like this when I wish my special talent was strength, instead of battle magic.” She said through gritted teeth. The handle used to pull up the water barely seemed to move. Eventually she got fed up and pushed the crank with her front hooves along with her magic, only for the same result.
“What is…up… with…this thing!” After what seemed like hours of effort, the bucket was almost to the surface. “Almost… there!”
"Sooo… clooooossssee…"
“Ah! What was that?” Startled, Yasha dropped the bucket and uttered a curse word under her breath. “Great.” She grumbled. She waited for the aggravating sound of the bucket hitting the water.
Except that sound never came.
“What the…?”
“Yip! Yip! Yip!” Summer was gone. Her tiny pale body shooting back towards the house like a white comet.
Yasha looked back towards the well, a small pang of fear stabbed her chest. She peered inside.
She felt a cold feeling on the side of her muzzle, then another on her left cheek. She watched in horror as a black… thing reached the edges the well.
"You didn’t honestly think… that I would… let you go,… when I was so close…" A voice that sounded like it was suffocating echoed out of the well.
Yasha tried to pull away, but the thing had a grip on her that seemed impossible to break. It continued to grab onto her, using strange black tentacle- like appendages. She tried to scream, but was paralyzed with fear as the creature reached the surface.
The creature had a familiar shape and size of a pony, but that was the only thing recognizable. Its body seemed to be made out of some sort of black matter. It contorted and twisted and shaped itself into a mare. Its eyes were nothing but empty holes and its teeth were sharp black needles that were partly fused with its lips. The body looked malnourished, its ribs and hips showed though in jagged points and ridges. The entire body seemed to be entangled in the cracks of the well.
“You will never escape meeee…!” The creature screamed.
At last Yasha gained the ability to scream. She released a blood curdling sound that rattled the air around her. It pierced her throat like a ball of thorns and ripped her lips like a dagger. Tragically it didn’t go as planned. Instead of the help that she begged for, for a simple passerby to see her, or for her father to hear her, things only seem to get worse.
The creature took the opportunity to crawl into her mouth. It twisted around her teeth and slid down her throat. She felt the thing crawl into her lungs and twist around her bones.
Her body writhed and contorted. She didn’t feel any pain, she only felt the bizarre feeling of the black mass slipping into her veins. The last thing she saw was a single tail of black disappear into her mouth. She felt it crawl behind her eyes and wrap around her heart.
"At last…" The voice echoed inside her head.
The world went black.
…
Breathing is hard. That was the first thing that popped into her head. Suck in air, filter, and breath whatever is left out. Takes a while to get used to.
Her body was abnormal, and felt stiff and limited. One good thing about being a creature made out of black magic, was that you really didn’t have to worry about bones… and muscle and blood.
Not that she was complaining.
“Finally…” She winced at the sound of her own voice. It was too high, sounding like it belonged to a filly. “I need to get out of here.”
She looked up towards the sky. The sun, thankfully was covered by the clouds, though was still irritatingly bright enough to the point where she flinched. She then rested her eyes on the house. It was small, stone, and oddly cottage-like. It rested on a small green field, with a cute herb and vegetable garden that was occasionally spotted with the daisy or pansy.
In the background, was the most magnificent view of Canterlot. The large white buildings and houses placed delicately on the towering mountain. The castle’s towers practically eclipsed the sun and gave the entire image a glowing halo.
To her left was a forest. She couldn’t recall the name of the place, but it was dark, and that was what mattered. The only problem was, it was far away. Really far away. Though it could be seen clearly across the other side of the valley, it would still take her a couple of hours to reach the safe-haven of the shadows. She still didn’t have complete control of her new body, so walking seemed to be her only option…
Except for one thing.
“For once, that mare came in handy.” She eyed her horn with appreciation. Magic was a million times harder to get the hang of than breathing, but she was sure, with enough practice, she could get the hang of it. It felt strange. Icy and hot at the same time, and all in the center of her head. There was a dizzy sensation, a strange moment of weightlessness, and a sharp burst of electricity through her bloodstream. Her head started to throb, and her heart started to pound. With a small squeal of joy, she realized that the color of her magic was showing though. It was black, with a beautiful purple undertone.
Magic started to evenly coat her body. Over a course of a few seconds, it started to condense and shrink towards her back. She felt the bones in her spine pop, though the feeling of relief was short lived. A sharp burst of pain erupted out of her spine. It was brutal and agonizing. It felt as though roots, adorned with thousands of sharp, poisonous thorns, were tearing though the muscles and tissues of her back. Ripping it apart into shreds.
Her felt seeds of regret start to sprout as her ribs snapped and the jagged ends of bones started to pierce through her flesh. Tears streamed down her face and along the edge of her muzzle as the sharp points of bone started to stick out of her back, trails of blood trekked through her coat and pooled at her stomach, only to drip down into the grass at her hooves. Said hooves dug themselves into the ground, small mounds of dirt collected beside them and clumps of dead plant matter and mud shoved themselves uncomfortably in the crevasses underneath them.
She ground her teeth, her back molars created cracking sounds. Her breaths came in gasps and heaves. The joints of the now magically created bones appeared, stretching her torn skin. By the end of the entire ordeal, the skeletal system of a wing emerged entirely from her bleeding back. Dark, black webbing grew out of the open wounds to coat the bones in a formation that was similar to a bat wing.
She coughed and wheezed. Her front legs started to buckle and she felt her cheek hit the ground.
“Never…Doing…That…Again…” She heaved. She stood back up and focused on the forest with a swimming head. Her vision twisted and spun with fatigue and caused her stomach to lurch. “The one spell that I know, and I only want to preform it once…perfect.”
She sighed with relief as the second stage of the spell began. She felt her hooves gradually start to lift off of the ground and the muscles in her back start to warm with endurance. She bobbed in the air, trying to get used to the new sensation.
“Great.” She growled as she realized that she could only get a few heads off of the ground. Her tail barely brushed against the grass, but she was already straining with effort and sweat was already starting to collect in her mane making it sticky.
She then realized with even more annoyance, that she couldn’t land either. She only had a limited amount of time with the wings, but that time could only be spent hovering in the air and in pain.
Oh, and she couldn’t use magic.
None.
She tried, oh boy did she try. She figured that she could teleport at least part of the way, in order to get a head start with the wings. But the effort proved to be useless. It felt like a dragon’s claw was splitting her brain in two when she tried. She even attempted a levitation spell, just to get her tail off of the ground, but even that caused unbearable pain.
She shook her head and swore never to use the damn spell again. She then started flying towards the forest. Granted, she did move a lot faster that if she was simply on her hooves. She reached the edges of the forest not a moment too soon, just as the clouds started to dissipate and rays of afternoon sunshine started to break though. It narrowly missed her by seconds.
She kept flying through the forest. Her back ached to the point of hot tears making her way down her face again. She was slow, as far as flyers go, and she had horrible reflexes. She got into the habit of jumping off of tree trunks with her hooves as she ran into them.
Eventually she felt the magic start to fade, along with her energy. She landed not-so-gracefully on a small patch of grass next to a small stream.
“Finally, it’s over…” she breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the cool ground. After a few moments of heavy breathing, she heard the low trickle of water. She moved her aching neck to see the stream. She mustered up most of her strength to stand, then to wobble her way to the water. She was so thirsty.
When she reached the edge of the stream, she was shocked by her reflection.
Of course, she didn’t have a reflection before she took over her body. She was simply a black mass held in a dark whole, but she at least expected to look like the body she claimed. Instead of a white coat and lavender mane, her body was a dark shade of royal purple, and her mane was an oily black. Her eyes, no longer the dull shade of grey, now reminded her of pieces of onyx. Her mane now cascaded down towards the water in waves instead of corkscrews. Her muzzle and ears also had a harsh point to them, and her legs were thinner, but not in a good way.
She smiled at her reflection, like anypony would do to their mirror. She saw her smile and shrank back. Her eyes started to burn and her vision started to blur. A knot started to form in her throat.
She swallowed down the wave of emotion.
She glanced at her cutie mark. Now, in the old one’s place, was a sharp, black feather. No longer was it soft and delicate. Now it gave a feeling of ominousness, of fear.
“Yasha…” The name sounded so odd in her head, and sounded even stranger when she said it out loud. The name didn’t feel as though it fit her new appearance. Or her…being.
Tenshi… the new word echoed around in her skull. She approved.
“Tenshi. I like it.” Tenshi quickly spun away so that she wouldn’t see her reflection talk.
It was then when her legs started to shake and her knees started to buckle. She gasped in pain as she crumbled onto the hard ground. She felt her energy being sucked out of her, and screamed in her head for it to stop as her eyes started to be pulled closed by invisible stitches and needles. She opened her mouth to tell whatever was doing this to stop, that she didn’t want to go, or that she at the very least would like to be promised that she would wake back up.
None of her wishes were granted as her eyes were sealed shut, and her pleas were silenced like a butterfly bursting into flames on her tongue.
…
"Wake up!"
Tenshi groaned as an annoying voice screamed in her ear.
“Wake up! Where in Equestria are we?!” The voice continued to scream. Tenshi continued to ignore its aggravating shouts.
There was a growl filled to the brim with frustration. Then Tenshi felt a white hot pain blossom on her rump.
“Yowch!” She jumped up in surprise and pain. “That seems a little unnecessary, don’t you think?”
The white and lavender pony made a face that caused Tenshi to shrink back and rethink her wording. “Unnecessary? Unnecessary?! First, you crawl and take over my body like some sort of free-range parasite, then you shove me into this freaky place, only to show up and sleep on top of me. And you think me shooting you in the flank with a laser is unnecessary?”
Tenshi’s ears folded against her head at Yasha’s high-pitched voice that only seemed to get higher the angrier she got. She growled in annoyance.
“Where the flying feather are we?” Yasha spat at Tenshi. She was nose to nose with her now, her eyes were full of anger and fury, but her chubby cheeks and soft white coat and mane made look the opposite of threatening. Though, due to Tenshi’s pounding headache and jelly-like bones, she didn’t want to test her luck.
Tenshi flexed her neck and lifted her head to get her bearings. Only, there weren’t any bearings to get. The sight of the place they were in caused her to get the worst possible feeling deep within her stomach. Her blood turned cold and her bones turned into stone.
“No…” She said in disbelief. “Not again! I just got out!” She screamed into the empty air.
“What?” Yasha shrank back, making a face that implied that Tenshi was crazy and irritating. “Where are we?” She asked for the third time.
“We’re in a void…” Tenshi whispered.
“A what?”
“A void! A magical pocket dimension. It takes a lot of power to create, but once you have it, you can store anything-or anypony- inside and they will never get lost, or in our case, escape.” Tenshi’s face was one of pure horror.
Yasha’s face was one of pure disbelief. “A ‘pocket dimension’? What in equestrian would a parasite like you know anything about pocket dimensions, or magic in general? You’re probably just saying this type of stuff to scare me, so you can take over my body again with my guard down. But you won’t.” She angled her horn towards Tenshi. “Now that I know you’re a threat, I will do anything in my power to stop from harming anypony else.”
Tenshi wrinkled her muzzle in disgust. “You do what you want, you can’t hurt me.” Her voice sounded exhausted and drained, like something sucked the life right out of her.
Yasha took the opportunity to charge at the dark purple mare. But once her horn was about to pierce through her ribcage, there was a pop, and Yasha ended up reappearing exactly where she started.
“What the…” She said as she frantically looked around. “How did you do that?” She accused, her horn facing Tenshi again.
Tenshi sighed in exasperation, her eyes now showing bags and her ears drooping downward. “It’s just how it is in the void. There are no physical objects here, just representations of what the physical object was. They can be pulled out by the void creator, or by a stronger entity as a physical object. But once it’s inside, there’s nothing, only energy. That’s all the void needs.
“Voids are endless, and can store nearly an endless amount of energy inside of them, but they’re not perfect. You can’t have duplicate items. Each item needs to be individually created or different than the original itself. If not, then things get complicated.
“That’s the case between you and me.” She finished.
Yasha’s ears were folded down and her eyes were wide in shock. “Different? We are different, we’re practically opposites!”
Tenshi shook her head. “You moron, haven’t you figured it out by now? We’re the same!”
“How?!”
“Didn’t she tell you anything?” Tenshi screamed in frustration. “She should have explained this all to you, for her own sake!”
“Who?” Yasha asked, clearly confused. “Lyra? She’s told me some crazy stories, but nothing even remotely similar to what you’re telling me.”
“What?” Tenshi asked, confused by the unfamiliar name. “No! Her!”
“Who?!”
“Our mother!” Tenshi screamed into the void, finally reaching her breaking point. The voice boomed and echoed against nothing. “Our mother, the one who did this to us!”
The silence that followed was agonizing and caused both of the mares' ears to ache.
“Mother?” Yasha started to giggle. “You’ve got to be kidding me! The least you can do is make it somewhat believable.”
“What…?” Realization slowly started to grow in Tenshi’s mind. “You… you don’t know anything, do you? You don’t know who I am… or who she was…”
“Of course I know who mother was! She was a brilliant, dazzling mare, who dreamed of being one of the first female members of the royal guard! She was smart, bright, and her smile was like a ray of sunshine that warmed every pony’s heart. She would have nothing to do with the creation of something like you!” Her high pitched voice got higher with every word, and nearly caused Tenshi’s ears to bleed.
Tenshi started laughing. A deep, guttural, ‘I’m-giving-up-and-going-mad’ laugh. “You idiot! You really do know nothing! Our mother didn’t dream of being the royal guard, if anything she had a deep hatred for them, and the princesses! She was the opposite of brilliant, dazzling, and bright. She was twisted and mad!”
“You’re lying!” Hot tears streamed down Yasha’s face. She ran off.
“Where are you going?” Tenshi screamed after her, startled by her sudden departure and childish behavior. “There’s no place to go, trust me! That smart and warm mare locked me up in a place like this all of my existence. There’s no place to run, so you might as well not even try!”
Tenshi started to run after her. Her pace matching Yasha’s easily. “There’s no point in denying it!” She quickly cut the white mare off, causing her to trip. “Deep in your own heart, you know it’s true.”
“No…” Yasha said.
“Why in the world are you saying that, when you know I’m being honest.” Tenshi’s voice dropped to a deadly and menacing whisper. “You can sense it. You can sense everything I’m saying, even before I say it. Because we are the same pony. You know I speak the truth.”
Yasha picked herself up and started running again, but this time Tenshi didn’t follow. She didn’t need to. Yasha could hear every word in her own head.
"On occasion, I would grow tired of trying to escape. I would go to sleep and I would dream. Dreams were always amazing, but horrible at the same time. I would get your memories. I would re-live them. Your visits to the candy store, your once-in-a-lifetime trip to Manehatten, and the time you walked down the sidewalk with our father during the Summer Sun festival. They would always be so happy.
"I should have had those memories. I should be with you! I shouldn’t even exist!
"It’s all because of the god-awful mare! She was the one that separated us and made us two ponies! She did this! Because she wanted to save her own skin! She locked me up in a hole in the ground and had you, a pathetic excuse for a pony, a whiny coward, represent the both of us! Pathetic.
"All the while, I was…forced to suffer… alone…"
Everything went black.
"Huh!" The word hung in the air. Yasha looked around, startled by the sudden change in location. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, only for the action to cause pain to course through her rib cage. She looked down, and noticed two painful, angry looking red gashes on her back, a couple of inches away from her spine on either side.
A deep, cold feeling of dread filled her body. It slithered its way down her back to the base of her tail. Harsh, intense fans of frost seemed to coat her soul, small fingers of ice clinging to her heart.
"It was real... It all happened... for real." She whispered to the empty air. She looked around then, to get her bearings. The world was dark, but only around her. It was like she stood in a single spotlight of shadow. Beside her, a simple stream trickled and bubbled. A few paces away, she could see the sun filtering through the trees, leaving spotted, dappled patterns on the golden leaves below them. She perked her ears, and heard the gentle sound of cicadas.
She stood up. Her legs felt weak and stiff. Her head pounded and her ears rang. She licked her lips and tried walking, only for her knees to pop and one of her back legs to throb.
"Ugh... Kill me now." She grumbled bitterly as she realized she had no idea of where she was. Nothing in this area seemed familiar to her. Of course, she never ventured into the forest that rested menacingly a day's trot away from her house, but she figured that the parasite wouldn't have gotten that far. But tragically, within each direction, it appeared to be nothing but miles and miles of trees.
"Canterlot has the closest source of water..." She mumbled to herself as she glanced at the stream. "Celestia raises the sun towards the east... so Canterlot must be... That way." She started walking.
She had only made it a couple of hoofsteps when one of her hooves clanged against something metallic. She looked down, and with the last ounce of magic she had, raised her mother's sword. The object that she so carefully cared after, polished, washed, sharpened and admired, was now a sinful excuse for what it once was.
The hilt of the weapon was coated in dirt, the fine lines and carvings that decorated the object were thoroughly caked in grime. Mud and gritty soil continued to cover the lower part of the blade, and there were a couple leaves stuck to the once shiny piece of metal with murky water that collected in puddles from the stream. To top everything off, there were a few dents in the sword's edge, making the whole thing look battered and worthless.
Rage bubbled up inside Yasha. She swallowed it down, only for it to come back up again full force. she condensed her anger and, with the adrenaline adding to her magical ability, shot a powerful beam of energy at a nearby tree. The wood splintered, and there was a loud crack that echoed through the forest and Yasha's head. The branches and foliage landed with a symphony of sounds. The large snaps of weak branches, and the large bang that came when the trunk hit the hard ground. The leaves seemed to scream, their voices tiny and quiet as they flew through the air and forcefully shoved against the ground.
Once the tree was on the ground, Yasha felt better. The silence no longer seemed daunting or suspicious, but for a moment, it was calming. She started walking again towards where she hope was Canterlot.
Stop! Don't take another step!
Yasha froze. Once she gained her composure, she quickly swung her head from side to side, in order to see who was screaming. Nopony was there. Yasha's ears lowered in annoyance, as well as sorrowful defeat.
"Don't tell me. You're in my head now, too?" She moaned.
I told you not to move. Don't step out of the clearing. She ordered. Yasha looked in front of her hooves. Nothing seemed to stand out to her as a threat. If anything, the dark and depressing clearing where no sunlight reached the ground seemed more frightening than what she was about to face.
"Don't tell me what to do, Parasite." Yasha spat. She angled her eyes upward, as though trying to see the pest that was embedded in her thoughts. "No way am I going to be taking orders from you." She raised a hoof to keep walking.
No! Wait, don't-
As her body was fully outside the border of shadow, she started to feel the warmth of the sunlight hit her back. She sighed contently, and smiled at the familiar sensation. Only, the warmth started to grow. It reached levels that started to make Yasha's skin twitch and itch. Then it burned. It burned like dragon's fire.
She opened her mouth to utter a silent scream. She watched as blisters and welts started to form on her front legs and her mane start to dry and split. She felt her lips crack and tasted the metallic flavor of blood as it reached her tongue. She quickly scrambled back to where she was before, in the border by the stream.
Only once she was out of the sunlight did she get relief. She sighed and watched with a morbid fascination as her skin started repairing itself. The blisters being replaced by shiny skin, then to be covered by a thin layer of white fur. The ordeal scarred her, leaving faint pink spots. she licked her lips and felt that, though a little raw, were normal again. A quick glance at her mane showed that it was soft and silky again.
I told you so... The pest moaned.
"What did you do to me...?" Yasha whispered in disbelief as she looked at her front hooves. Thee fur that frayed out around them was unnaturally thin, making the entire appendage look inflamed and irritated.
You were the one who walked into the light. The voice sighed. Technically speaking, we're officially a whole pony again. But the darkness that creates half of you is condensed into a single part of your soul, instead of thoroughly dispersed throughout. This can cause... complications.
"Don't act so casual about this! A 'whole pony'? What was I before: A zombie pony with my torso ripped off? I was perfectly fine before!" Yasha screamed.
Fine! believe whatever you want to believe! But that doesn't change the fact that you can't go out into the sun, can we at least agree on that?! The voice screamed inside Yasha's mind. The sudden change in behavior caused Yasha to flinch and press her ears against the back of her head.
She looked towards the dappled pattern on the leaves that were less than a few yards away. What was once something that filled her with endless amounts of joy, now gave her a deep feeling of dread.
Moon light is fine. The voice said, sounding exhausted. We should be able to get moving by nightfall. Not that we have anywhere to go.
"What are you talking about? I'm going back to the house. My father will figure this out."
The voice remained silent.
Contempt with the lack of response, Yasha curled up on her side to go to sleep. It would still be a couple of hours before the sunlight would be completely gone. But, halfway through the action, she felt herself halting. What if sleep triggers it? She asked herself. Obviously she didn't want that thing to repossess her body again.
I'm to weak to do that sort of thing now. The voice replied, reading her thoughts. I spent all of my energy preforming the spell that got us here.
Yasha sighed, realizing that she had no other choice. It would be a long walk home, and she felt like she hadn't slept in moons. She slowly laid herself on the ground, careful to avoid to much dirt and water, and felt herself drift off into blackness.
...
Tenshi sighed. She didn't move, look around, or even speak. She was back where she started: the void. Or, at least, a void. Each one of them is exactly the same, so what was the point in looking around? Nothing but whiteness, in every direction. Up, down, left, right. White. Not even a shadow to keep her company.
Until Yasha went to sleep that is.
The white and lavender pony manifested slowly as she drifted off to sleep. Appearing like a ghost by her side, Tenshi was slightly startled by the sight. She had never been accompanied by another pony... or anything, for that matter, in the void. The sight of another thing, was somewhat... nice.
Yasha came to and started looking around. Tenshi felt her nonthreatening glare and looked away from her to stare into the emptiness. There was only two of them, they might as well not try to kill each other.
For her sake.
"What the tartarus are we supposed to do?" Yasha asked bitterly.
"Um..." Tenshi folded her ears back in awkwardness. "I... don't know."
"You don't know?" Yasha asked flatly. Tenshi shook her head. "You've spent your entire life in her- so you've claimed- and you don't have any way of passing the time?"
Tenshi blushed. "W-well... I... Um..." She didn't really know how to proceed. When going through Yasha's memories, it was clear that the sword wielding unicorn was rather social. She had a few friends around Canterlot, and was well acquainted with the neighbors that lived a mile or so down the road from her house... Tenshi, not so much. No matter how much you watch, or how many memories you relive, nothing can prepare you for socialization.
And right now was the perfect example.
Yasha huffed and started trotting in the opposite direction. Tenshi watched her go, completely baffled by the behavior. It's not like she could go anywhere.
Yasha was angry. It seemed as though the emotion was thoroughly embedded in her head now. It she wanted it to ooze out of her, hot and boiling, yearning to cool and stable itself.
But that didn't happen.
Yasha wandered alone, in the 'void', as the parasite called it. She looked forward, her head never swiveling and her ears never turning. Whiteness was the only thing she saw. She didn't hear her hoofsteps, or see her shadow. she only saw white. She once found a strange sense of calm from the color, but now that it seemed to consume her, it was as though the color became threatening.
That sun-damned parasite! She's what got me into this. Whatever happened to her, she deserved it.
You can sense it. You can sense everything I’m saying, even before I say it. Because we are the same pony. You know I speak the truth.
What did the creature mean when she said that? Did she honestly expect Yasha to admit to saying such things, or thinking them. Of course they couldn't possible make sense. She was a whole pony! There's no way it could be otherwise...
Right?
Yasha was willing to admit- though, not out loud- that her brain did buzz when the parasite talked. She did get this urge to finish a sentence that hadn't been said, and she might have hard time denying anything. This last statement puzzled her. How in the world could she agree to such accusations? The thing was, she just felt as though she had to. It felt as though the parasite had personally planted the thought inside her head, and Yasha, being greedy, tried to grab it. For a split second, Yasha believed.
Maybe she still believed.
Yasha felt her hooves grow sore. She looked down to see that she was running. Her ribs ached and sweat beaded down her mane. Why was she running? Was she afraid? Why was she afraid?
Because I don't know anything... She answered herself.
Uncertaintly seemed to swallow her. It caused chills of fear to coat her fur and make it stand on end. What didn't she know? She knew about her mother. Her father had pictures of her, looking up at the sun banner in pure adoration. Letters she had written her before she was born, telling her how much she loved her. Her sword, that was the biggest amount of proof she had. The sun was engraved on the hilt! Of course! That solved everything.
But why would a pony have a sword...? The question seemed to topple everything down. It took away the basic foundation of the tower she had built. It crashed and crumbled, leaving clouds of dust and rubble by her hooves. Why would a pony have a sword? That doesn't make sense. Her mother was a unicorn... with a special talent for...
"You don't know anything."
Yasha spun around find the dark mare standing behind her. At the sight of Yasha's face, the other pony flinched. Pony? Why the hell did I call her a pony? She's a parasite!... a parasite. Nothing...
The dark mare shook her head. Her eyes held a sadness that Yasha hadn't seen before. Had it always been there, or was the strange pony just pitying her?
"I'm you." The purple pony whispered, almost to quiet for Yasha to hear. "But I shouldn't be."
Suddenly, all of the lines and clear pictures in Yasha's mind blurred. The letters, written with elegant caligraphy and a precise horn, were now smeared and smudged. She couldn't think of her mothers face. Was it round? Was it sharp? Was it soft? Yasha could no longer remember.
Did she ever know?
"Nightfall." The dark pony said suddenly. "It's time to get walking. Do you think you can handle it?"
Yasha couldn't answer. She kept looking at the pony, suddenly realizing how similar they both looked. Though the mare did have thinner, sharper features. There was no denying it. They had the same face.
The mare nodded. "So be it."
...
Tenshi woke up with a start. She still wasn't used to the whole 'real world' concept, so seeing it after the void was a bit disturbing. So was having a physical form. That was really weird.
She looked around and felt a small sigh of dissapointment when she saw that it was, indeed, nightfall. The sun wasn't out, so nothing could hurt her. She didn't have any excuse. She had to get moving.
"But...." She said with a sly smile. "I didn't say which direction." She started walking in the opposite direction as Canterlot and started heading deeper into the forest. Her walk turned into a trot, then to a full on sprint.
Feeling the joys of running, finally getting the hold of her form, she started laughing. The sound felt awkward and foriegn in her ears and the feeling as unnatural and slightly uncomfortable. It was a short, deep laugh, that ended with an abrupt and rather obnoxious snort. The sound only made her laugh harder.
She dodged trees and ducked under branches. She leaped over fallen logs and slashed through puddles. It was amazing. It almost made her forget about the feelings of doubt and uncertainty that seemed to radiat off of Yasha and into her corner of her mind.
It was with that thought, that she started slowing down. The uncertainty was brutal and heartwrenching. She knew just as much about her mother as her other half, but it was about the other side of her. She knew her mother practiced dark magic. She knew it corrupted her. But that was it. She didn't know how she came into existance or why. She didn't know how her mother died, if she died at all. She didn't know her mother's intentions.
The only thing she did know, was the fact that she seperated her daughter into two entities to save her own tail.
Suddenly feeling somber, she slowed down. She shook her head, letting a few stray pieces of her black mane fall onto her face. She looked around to get her bearings. No clearing in sight. It was long gone. Forgotten.
She also realized that the trees looked... strange. They were of a different hue... and of a different type all together. No longer were the branches calmly twisting and entangling themselves together in an endless dance of knots. Not the branches were jagged, threatening... and almost... angry. They seemed to snarl at her from invisible faces.
The grass was also different. It was once silver due to the moonlight that filtered through the trees. Now, it was a bizzare sickly green. There were no more flowers or bushes. Just an endless maze of angry branches, vile grass, and shadows.
"What the tartarus?" Tenshi whispered.
"Um... where are we?" A high pitched voice echoed inside Tenshi's head. She realized with a startled grunt that it was Yasha.
"Yasha? How long could you... when did you.... how?" Tenshi asked her.
"I-I don't know!" She stuttered. "I just... can."
"That can't be. It's not possible." Tenshi said, completely taken aback.
"Well, clearly it's not."
But it was. Tenshi knew that it was. Tenshi knew that it was herself that made them whole. She was the missing link. When she took over Yasha's body, those sides switched. She was the only one out of the two of them to be able to communicate using telepathy because she was the only one who could successfully travel through thoughts... because she was simply that. A thought. A mind. Not a body.
In fact, the only time Tenshi found herself comminucating with Yasha on any level before the escape was...
"Oh no..." Tenshi whispered.
"What? What is it?" Her other half asked. Tenshi shook her head, unable to believe it.
"We're in a dream."
