Later on that afternoon, the six ponies split up after arriving back to Ponyville. Luckily for them, the gargoyle didn't leave Veilwood grove that day. However, the creature still posed a considerable threat to Equestria as long as it remained awake, and since their ally from Mernolia decided to simply sit this one out, the ponies had to figure out another way of dealing with this problem. Agreeing to discuss this topic more on the next day, the ponies went home to rest and gather their strength.

Twilight even wrote a letter to princess Celestia in hopes that she could offer some guidance. The rest of the ponies simply returned to doing whatever they had planned to do on that afternoon before the sudden summon by the cutie map... Well, at least everyone apart from Fluttershy did.

Barely had she closed the door behind herself and let out a tired sigh when she heard someone knocking. The unexpected knock was so sudden it startled her... Needless to say, she wasn't expecting any company.

Slowly walking up to the door and opening it, she gazed upwards to greet the tall guest. "Exhorresco?" she addressed him. "W-what are you doing here?" she asked in a tone that was so confused it almost sounded nervous.

"You and I need to have a little talk, timid one" he answered in a somewhat impolite tone and walked right in, despite not being invited. "Coward to coward," he added as he turned around and made eye contact with the shy pegasus.

"Huh?" Fluttershy uttered, still maintaining her state of confusion. "I'm not sure what you--"

Before she could finish, Exhorresco took a step closer to her and squatted down to match her eye level. "I need to know how do you cope with it!" He raised his voice. "From what I've seen, you and your friends are no strangers to dangerous journeys that involve repeatedly risking your lives for the sake of saving your lands, but when you follow them into danger, you still quiver on every step! Almost as though you're afraid of you're own shadow!" he shouted, making the poor girl feel rather uncomfortable in his presence.

"And yet, your friends still treat you with honor and respect and call you with them on such journeys..." he added and stared her down, making her turn her head away from him to avoid further discomfort. "So how is it that you always manage to stand your ground and not flee in terror at the first sign of danger?" he asked the rather difficult question and expected to hear an answer right away, but his conversation partner only hid behind her mane. "Well!?" he shouted so loud it made Fluttershy wince.

"Please, stop shouting..." she asked very nicely, but that only angered the warrior even more.

Losing his temper for a short moment, Exhorresco raised his fist and held it ready to strike. Just as he did so, the pegasus cowered in fear, and Exhorresco's attention was drawn by a loud roar coming from behind him. Standing up, he saw a wild grizzly bear preparing his claws for combat. "Stand down, pest!" Exhorresco bellowed back at the creature and drew his sword, pointing it right at the bear's throat. All of a sudden, the creature didn't seem so eager to fight anymore. "Take just one step closer, and I swear by what little honor I still have left, I'll--"

"You leave him alone!" a much softer voice shouted at the warrior.

"What the--" Turning his sights in the direction of the voice, Exhorresco was surprised by the same timid little pegasus that was just cowering from his very voice, now staring him in the eye with an unforgiving glare.

"Just what do you think you're doing!?" Fluttershy shouted right in his face. "You just march in here, abuse my hospitality, shout at me, and you even have the nerve to threaten me and my animals!" As her tone became more fierce with each sentence, so did her glare. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Your... animals?" Exhorresco repeated, slowly and quietly. Losing his will to fight, he simply watched as Fluttershy just flew up to the fearsome creature and started treating him as her own child.

"There, there." She comforted her unusually-large pet. "It's all right."

Any unarmed man with so much as half a brain would have played dead at the sight of this creature, and yet, to this shy, weak, cowardly little pony he seems like nothing more than a kitten... Exhorresco was at a loss of words from the sight. He lowered his sword and continued staring in awe as the odd couple kept nuzzling one another.

"Now I see what your friends see in you," Exhorresco said while sheathing his blade. "I should have guessed it the moment I saw your home that looked like it was merged with the very earth itself... Even though you may not show it, you are no less an awe-inspiring creature than the alicorn herself."

"Oh... no," she modestly rejected the notion. Giving one last pat on the head to the grizzly, she descended in front of the warrior without making eye contact. "Twilight is good at everything! I'm nowhere near as amazing as her..."

"But you are!" the warrior insisted and squatted down. "And I'm not just saying this because of your affinity with mother nature and her animals... The way you just stood up for your pet... You were suddenly a completely different pony! I've never seen anything like it! How is it that you were suddenly no longer afraid?"

"Oh!" Her expression suddenly lit up as she heard the question. She quickly realized that not even she herself knew how to answer it. "It... It's just natural for me, I suppose... I just don't like seeing any of my friends or animals getting hurt."

"Hmph," Exhorresco uttered and winced, turning his sights away from his conversation partner. "It used to be the same way for me... I would charge into battle without any second thoughts. It always felt so natural... I never once stopped to think for a moment... but all that changed when I saw the Malign..." he said quietly and lowered his head in shame.

Exhorresco's expression was painful to look at. It was simply overflowing with regret. Fluttershy had already raised her hoof to try and comfort him, but before she could even touch him, he turned his head towards her again.

"Don't you ever think about running?" he curiously inquired. "Don't you want to feel safer, knowing that you're remembered? That every grandparent would one day tell their children of the heroic deeds of Fluttershy, the kind... Aren't you afraid that you could be forgotten, even after all of the perilous ordeals you've been through? That all of the effort you've put into saving this world would have been in vain?"

"Why would it be in vain?" she asked, her expression -- baffled. "Your deeds don't disappear along with you, even if no one remembers them."

"Your words are wise," Exhorresco told her and then frowned. "Sadly, I simply cannot see the same way... More than anything in my life, I just want to know that my story would still be told, even after I'm long gone." Hanging his head, closing his eyes and giving into despair, Exhorresco let the silence claim the room for a good while.

His story managed to tug at Fluttershy's heartstrings. She felt no less sad inside than the warrior himself. "So... all you really want is for your story to be told?"

"Yes," he gave a firm reply.

"But... what if that story becomes the story of a coward?" Just as she curiously asked, Exhorresco instantly livened up and restored eye contact with her. "The story of not-a-hero, but a shameful nobody who left all his friends to fend for themselves when they needed him most... Aren't you more afraid of that than not having your story told at all?"

Hearing her words, Exhorresco repeated them inside his head a few more times. He asked himself that question again and again until he realized the obvious answer. "I am," he responded after a moment of silence and smiled as he stood up. "Thank you." He bowed before the kind mare and began walking towards the exit.

"Where are you going?"

"I've got a score to settle," he replied in a confident tone.

"Exhorresco?" Fluttershy called out his name right before he closed the door behind himself. He looked over his shoulder to hear the last words that the pony had to say to him. "For all it's worth, Exhorresco, I'll make sure your story is told in Equestria," she said in a sincere tone and a cordial smile on her lips.

"Thank you," he replied with the same kind of smile and waved goodbye before closing the door.

***

The night was dark, and the demonic shrieks of the furious gargoyle still echoed through Veilwood grove endlessly, but the one making his way towards the center of the small forest didn't even flinch, no matter how loud or fierce the screams got.

"Hello, beastie," he addressed the gargoyle as soon as he got closer.

Turning its sights towards the visitor holding a large, two-handed sword balanced on his shoulder, the gargoyle only roared and tossed itself towards him with its claws ready to tear his flesh apart.

"Aaargh!" letting out a scream no less furious than that of the gargoyle, Exhorresco swung his blade with all his might...

... And just as he did, the Malign let out one last shriek of pain before falling apart and turning back into the rot that it consisted of.

After the leader of the spawns of malice fell, it wasn't long before the darkness hovering over Mernolia dissipated, along with the remains of the malice spawns, leaving only broad daylight shining over a clean battlefield.

"It is done..." Exhorresco sighed and said to his brothers while sheathing his blade. "We should return to home."

Having no objections, his brothers followed the man whose expression was still full of remorse because of his past deeds. Even though he did the right thing in the end by returning to help his brothers defeat the monster, that short moment during which he had left them wasn't easy to forgive or forget.

"I'm glad you decided to come back, Exhorresco," Acheron said after a while of silent walking.

Exhorresco did not reply.

"Say... Exhorresco. What ever made you run away?" Dalberh asked, still curious about his brother's short moment of betrayal.

"Fear."

"An expected answer... but what made you come back?"

Giving the thought a short moment of consideration, Exhorresco gave the exact same answer as before.

"Fear."

Author's Note

Exhorresco fought valiantly and did a lot of cool moves and managed to defeat the gargoyle!

A WILD SAGE HAS APPEARED!

Sage: Congratulations, Exhorresco! You have fought well and have regained your honor! Bla, bla, bla, I shall now send you back to your homeworld so you can right your wrong by helping your brothers kill the Malign!

Exhorresco: Dear princess sage: Today I learned that you often have to hear the words of those that you consider to be below you in order to rise above--

Sage: Just shut the f**k up and go save Mernolia already...

Exhorresco: Oh, right! Thank you, sage! I shall never forget the wisdom you've taught me!

Sage: F**king overpowered OCs.

Actual author's note: Hey Guys! Hope No one's mad at me for choosing to leave that part out... didn't feel like it was all that necessary... My apologies to anyone who thought otherwise.