Rejected Mercy

I stood next to the portal. It was still open, which was, once I thought about it, unusual. Had it ever been open for longer than a week? If only I could pass through it.

I looked up. The moon was not entirely covered yet. A few more minutes left.

I had sent my subjects away. I didn’t know exactly what would happen, but I knew they couldn't help me.

I sighed. What was I even doing? Why? What did I hope to achieve?

I glanced at the school before me. I hadn't heard anything from the Rainbooms yet. Was one of them badly hurt? Had I landed someone in the hospital? Or were they all trying to find their crystals?

It didn’t matter, for the moon was now entirely red.

And I felt it.

The moon’s presence.

Intense. Burning. Terrifying.

I only blinked, and a tall woman was standing at the school’s entrance. Her wavy hair was like a starry sky, her colours the embodiment of the night. A purple dress reached her feet. A crown with the symbol of the moon adorned her head. She held a sceptre that was even taller than she was. And her eyes were locked on me, sharp like a knife.

Like a deity who had come down to Earth.

Despite her intense magical aura, I stood my ground and waited. She was too far away for me to pull her teeth, anyway.

“Pari,” she said, taking a step closer.

I had never heard her say my name like that before. She had always been patient. Caring. Loving.

Now, she was angry.

“Is this your gratitude?”

It was difficult to remain standing. My heart thumped in my chest. My breath quickened. My hands shook.

This was panic.

“Sixteen years ago, we gave you mercy. We gave you a new life. We gave you a new meaning. A chance at a new home.”

She was halfway towards me.

“And we were patient. Oh, we were so patient. We let you mourn your home world. We let you hold onto those fantasies you called ‘destiny’. We gave you all the time you needed to settle down.

“And this is how you thank us?”

She was in front of me. Tall. I had to raise my head to look her in her eyes.

I feared like I had never feared before.

I grabbed my sceptre with shaking hands. I raised it. I searched with my magic for a tooth to pull on.

She simply grabbed my sceptre and ripped it from my hands.

“Foolish.”

I fell to my knees. What was going on? Why was she so powerful that her mere presence was enough to knock me down? I had the Rainbooms’ magic on me, for crying out loud!

“Did you give us a choice?” she continued. “What option is left, after you spurn our mercy time and time again, but ruthlessness?”

I couldn’t even kneel before her anymore. My whole body shook in fear. Was this her ability to control my emotions? Did she gain it through giving me the role of the tooth fairy?

“Stand when I speak to you!”

I couldn’t. I couldn’t even look her in her eyes. My body wasn’t in my control anymore.

“Pathetic,” she spat the word. “Such grand ideas of becoming a ruler. An empress. Where are they now? What can you do to make them happen?”

I gasped, the realisation hitting me.

“Tell me, Pari, what power do you possess that is yours? Equestrian magic? Stolen from the Rainbooms. Tooth fairy magic? Granted by us.”

Tears filled my eyes. I was powerless the moment I entered this world. I had nothing. My dreams of becoming a ruler were just that: dreams!

How stupid was I to want more? How foolish was I to seek out what was determined to fail from the very beginning?

“And yet, you spat on our mercy. We thought—no, hoped that you would learn from your mistakes. We hoped that when you couldn’t return to Equestria, you would listen to reason.

“But this?”

“I-I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered.

She stamped a foot on the ground. “Sorry for what, Pari? What should you be sorry for other than yourself?”

I grabbed her leg. Her presence was torturous. Suffocating. This fear threatened to take my breath away.

“M-m-mercy,” I begged.

She kicked my hands away. “Mercy? What mercy? You had the choice to accept our mercy, but now there is none left for us to give!”

She shouted these words. They rang in my head in an endless loop.

No mercy left for her to give. No mercy left. No mercy.

All that she could offer was ruthlessness.

She lowered her sceptre. Its sickle-moon-shaped head was perfect to grab me by my throat and pull me up to my feet.

“Tell us, Pari. Why? Why did you do this? Why did you force us to come down?”

Just as quickly as my fear had come, it vanished. My hands weren’t shaking anymore. Like if her magical aura was gone.

Was it temporary? The moon was still completely red.

But my mind was clear. My emotions weren't dampening my thoughts anymore. At this point I saw who the moon truly was: Just a being controlling my emotions. That was why I had been in such terror.

If I was fast, her will could be mine! I could fulfil my destiny once and for all!

I punched her in the gut. She stumbled back. I ripped my sceptre from her hand and raised it. Here was a tooth! Grip firmly, then pull. As quickly as pos—

She hit me over the head with her sceptre. I fell down, my own sceptre tumbling away.

“You haven't changed,” she said, raising me up by the throat again with her sceptre. “And you never will.”

Then she pushed me backwards. I barely kept my feet under me to stay standing, but she kept pushing.

Suddenly, a burning sensation spread across my back. Feeling around me, I realised that she was pressing me against the portal.

“No, don’t!” I screamed. “Not the portal!”

Hot. Hotter. Even hotter. The lock on the portal was doing its job. Like fire it burned through my clothes. Burned through my skin. Unbearable agony.

I cried. I asked her to stop. To let me go.

I begged her for mercy.

After what felt like an eternity, something changed. I felt the protection of the Equestrian magic slip away. The fire grew to envelope me, and there was nothing I could do.

Sunset rode way above the speed limit. But she knew to avoid the speed traps, and this early, no one else was awake.

In her mind were several thoughts and worries. The biggest, of course, being that Pari had stolen their geodes and transformed, but a message from Princess Twilight gave her a new one:

Check the portal! Something is happening there again.

So there she rode.

How had she not made the connection immediately? The moment Pari introduced herself, she knew something was up. Her obsession with teeth, the way she stared at people's mouths, and how she knew of Equestria that night she attacked her—it was the tooth breezie in person!

And Sunset had even heard her name before. She had read a short page in the Canterlot archives that was dedicated to her. If only she had a better memory. If only she'd listened to her suspicions and notified Princess Twilight.

Then they wouldn’t be in this mess.

Luckily, she got away with only a bump on her head. Rainbow and Twilight however weren’t so lucky and had to be treated for concussions.

Close to her school, she stopped and continued her way by foot. If Pari was next to the portal, she should be as quiet as possible.

But then she saw the school grounds and scratched her head.

There was no-one.

Maybe Pari had crossed the portal? It shouldn’t be possible, as Princess Twilight had told her, but Pari did have their geodes. Worry coming over her, she quickly opened her journal.

Twilight, are you still there? Did she cross the portal?

She waited, nibbling on the pen she was holding. With how far Pari went to get their geodes, she didn’t want to imagine what she would do on the other side.

Letters appeared on the page, and Sunset sighed in relief. Hadn't crossed over. She may not have been at the school anymore, but at least still in this world.

However, a new paragraph appeared.

But the portal is closed now. It suddenly overcharged and my device keeping it open blew up. I’m working on fixing it. Do you see something on your side?

So Pari had tried to cross the portal, but the magical lock prevented it.

Not there yet. Taking a look now.

She put her journal back in her bag and approached the pedestal. Of course, Pari could still be around here somewhere, but Sunset made sure to pay great attention to her surroun—

Sobbing. Somebody was crying behind the pedestal.

Pari? It must have been her. She took a wary glance around the corner.

Pari was normal. Well, “normal” as in not looking like how Applejack had described her anymore. Her back was facing Sunset, so she could see the burned clothes and skin.

Was this the magical lock’s doing, preventing her from crossing back to Equestria? Why only her back?

Either way, it looked painful. Her skin was completely red with black spots, and pieces of clothing had melted into it. Without treatment, it could be deadly for sure!

A dim glow from the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was their geodes, simply laying on the ground!

Without further thought, she picked them up and stored them in her bag.

“Pari?”

The sobbing stopped. Slowly the breezie turned her head and stared at Sunset with widened eyes.

“What happened?” Sunset asked. It was a question she didn’t expect an answer to, but Pari raised her hand and pointed to the sky.

“The moon.”

Sunset tilted her head. The moon? There had been a lunar eclipse last night, but what connection did it have with Pari?

“She punished me.”

Pari slowly sat up. Heavy grunting from the pain escaped her mouth. Sunset didn’t want to imagine how much her wounds must have hurt.

Then a loud scream escaped the breezie. “They took my teeth!” she shouted and pointed where the geodes had been. “My precious teeth!”

Her hand went to the ground, searching in the grass for something. Finding it, she showed a few teeth to Sunset. “See?”

She went back to sobbing and tried pushing the teeth into her gums. Only now did Sunset see the blood.

“They won’t stick!” Another attempt, another cry. “Why won’t they stick?!”

Sunset grimaced. It was painful to watch.

Pari wasn’t herself anymore. From a cunning villain who single-handedly stole all of their geodes, to someone who had clearly lost her mind. The burns, the blood, the teeth—villain or not, she needed help right away!

“Stop it, Pari!” Sunset begged. “You’re making it worse!”

“But my teeth!”

The sobbing and failed attempts to reattach her teeth continued.

Should she stop her by force? Preferably not, Pari could still be dangerous. But she needed an ambulance immediately.

Much like a hand was reached out to her, Sunset wanted to give even someone like Pari an opportunity to better themselves. She had doubts the breezie would take it, but at least she'd have a clear conscience.

Pari was in intensive care and under observation, so she was given a few minutes at most to visit.

Pale. This was the first thing Sunset noticed about her. Despite her white hair and her light-greyish tinted skin, she had gotten even whiter. Her glazed eyes stared at the ceiling even when Sunset greeted her.

“How are you feeling?” Sunset asked.

Only the beeping of the heart monitor gave a noise. Did Pari even hear her?

“You know, Pari,” Sunset continued, “I was given mercy at my lowest point.”

Immediately the breezie’s eyes turned to her.

“And now, I am grateful that it was given to me. I accepted it and worked on myself. Before, I was angry, selfish, and I only wanted revenge, but now I have friends who support me.”

At each word, Pari slowly turned her head towards Sunset, her eyes slowly widening.

“I want to give you this mercy too. Despite what you've done, I want to help you to improve yourself. This human world is beautiful too, and it has some amazing people willing to give you a second chance.”

Pari blinked as her eyes filled with tears. Was this the first time someone offered to help her? She seemed to know the Dazzlings, so it could be that selfishness was all she knew.

Maybe this was it. An opportunity for Pari to better herself.

The breezie bent forward and tried to sit up. The moans she gave after every movement revealed how difficult and painful it must have been, so Sunset took her by her shoulders and sat her up.

But Pari grabbed her by her neck and began to choke her. Sunset tried to push Pari’s arms away, but somehow she had the strength to resist.

“Sixteen years,” Pari said, growling. “The moon has given me mercy for sixteen years. And I never took it.”

As Sunset struggled for air, so did Pari, as she took a deep breath between each sentence.

“Do you see my missing teeth? Do you see my wounds? Do you know how painful they are?”

Finally, Pari released her grip, gasping for air as much as Sunset was.

“I made the moon do this to me!”

At last, she fell back down on her bed.

“I don’t need your mercy!” Pari screamed. “I'd rather die!”

“But…”

“Go away!”

Sunset looked at Pari. Even through her paleness, a hatred was written in her face, with eyes that would kill if they could. Sunset had every right to be angry right now, but somehow she could only feel pity. Despite all the pain Pari felt, despite the helpless situation she was in, she had decided to cling on to hatred.

“Pari…”

The breezie grabbed the lamp next to her bed and threw it at her.

At last, Sunset gave up and left her alone. She had done everything she could.

Pari rejected my offer.

You visited her?

Yeah, she’s still at the hospital. Tried to strangle me, but I'm fine.

I guess some creatures don’t want any help.

Here’s the thing that’s bothering me: She mentioned it was the moon that punished her. What does she mean by that?

The moon?

Yeah. She brought it up twice.

Did she mean Luna perhaps?

Doubtful. Princess Luna was banished to the moon when Pari lived in Equestria, and Vice-Principal Luna… well, she’s a vice principal.

Tbh, I think she just lost her mind when her big plan backfired.

Seems about right.

When will you be able to fix the portal?

A few more days.

Be sure to pay a visit then!

“Another drink!” I ordered, my head still on the counter.

“I think that’s enough for you.”

Couldn't a woman drown herself in her sorrow, for once?

“I don’t care what—” I looked up. “Snow?”

“Hello.”

I groaned, straightened my back and fixed my hair. “I’m in a bad mood, just leave me alone.”

I raised my glass, signalling him to fill it up. If he styled himself as a bartender, he might as well do his job.

He sighed. “You alright?”

Did I want him to talk with me? My plans were to get drunk and forget, not to open up my pain again. However, I knew him too well. He was worried for me, and his helpful nature didn’t allow him to rest until I felt better.

In a sense, him being here was also a good sign. It meant I could make some progress—or he was there to prevent a dumb action. Me being alone at a bar was stupid already.

“Wanna go outside?” he asked after I didn’t reply. “Getting some fresh air would be good for you.”

What else could I do other than to accept? He wouldn’t serve me, anyway.

“What a beautiful night,” Snow commented. “Shame it’s a weekday.”

“I’ve taken a day off.”

“After how much you overworked yourself, you definitely deserved it.”

It was nothing but hope for a distraction. Not stress-free when you have to deal with teenagers and their problems, but my sister was kind enough to take this part over and let me deal with mindless paperworks.

“For the record,” I said, “try to not mention details someone hasn't shared before. It’s unsettling.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” he laughed. “Not the first time I've been told.”

We wandered silently. The park grounds were covered with colourful leaves, but several trees had their foliage still. Even though it wasn't midnight yet, there was no one around to disturb us.

To be honest, I hadn’t anticipated that his presence would be this calming. It wasn’t just him, but the way he was simply with me, not begging me to talk about my feelings—and maybe the alcohol was doing its job.

However, staying mute the whole time wouldn’t help as much as going straight in.

“So,” I said. “Who do you think should be her replacement?”

A question that surely surprised him, as he raised his hands in defence. “That’s not my job, and you know it.”

“But I failed at it.” I raised my view to the moon. “I gave someone powers who shouldn’t have them, who used it to bring others pain due to her own self-loathing.”

“Don’t say it like that,” he retorted. “No one would’ve been a better tooth fairy than Pari. She had the most potential, but it was ultimately her who sealed her fate.” He kicked a stone away. “Becoming the empress of her whole world. Pshaw. Even Sombra wasn’t as much of a megalomaniac as her.”

I lowered my head and sighed. “If only she had allowed herself to heal.”

“The past is the past,” Snow said. “There is nothing we can do about it.”

It was true. Regretting my old decisions wouldn’t change them. But how could I not regret them when so many had suffered because of it?

“I waited too long,” I responded. “I allowed her to go too far. I should’ve stopped her when she was stealing the Rainbooms’ geodes already.”

I knew she wouldn’t be able to cross the portal. Not from knowing how powerful the magical spell repelling her was, but just sensing that the geodes’ magic wouldn't have been enough. Her decision to keep them afterwards put the final nail in the coffin.

If only I could’ve appeared earlier that night, then less innocent humans would have suffered by her hands.

“I only wanted to take away her powers,” I continued. “To make her a normal human again.”

I wiped some tears from my eyes. A week had passed, and I still cried when her punishment came up. When would it stop?

“But after what she did, I had no other choice. Anything else would be unjust. I had to make an example of her.”

Pari had passed away from her wounds a few days after. If only I hadn't had to stop her. If only she could have realised that she could move on.

“I think she wanted it,” Snow said and scratched his head. “To be punished, I mean.”

A seemingly irrational statement, but it was true. Why else provoke me by torturing humans in my sight? Ironically, Snow didn’t understand it, which I could sense through his confusion.

“She wanted to end it all and hurt me through it,” I explained. “In her eyes, it was me who kept her stuck in our world.”

“But you saved her life!” Snow countered.

“Exactly,” I said.

A grunt with quiet cursing revealed to me that he got it now.

We kept walking. A minute passed, then another, and then several more. The soft crunch of leaves under our feet was the only noise in the park for a while.

Somehow, it was peaceful. Why did being alone with my thoughts feel so different if I just went somewhere else and walked next to someone?

Maybe this was the time to open up.

“I can still hear her screams.”

I wanted to say more, but I couldn’t. Every moment was playing before my eyes in unbearable detail.

How I held her against the portal. How the portal went up in flames. How these flames finally consumed her and took away the Equestrian magic she had stolen—but not without also taking what was most valuable to her.

“I just want to forget it,” I said as tears rolled down my cheeks again. “I want these nightmares to stop. I want to sleep without seeing her again. Without her screaming for mercy.”

I couldn’t hold myself anymore and sobbed uncontrollably.

Why, Pari, why? Why were you so stubborn? Why were you so blind to what could’ve been your happiness? Why did you have to spit on our kindness and dig your own grave?

I cared for you. I cared for you like a mother cared for her child. I wanted what was best for you. I gave you a second chance over and over again, but you rejected it every single time.

I shouldn’t have felt grief for her. I should’ve been satisfied that she finally got what she deserved.

But I couldn’t, and this pain of her loss didn’t want to go away.

“Take your time,” Snow said to me. “Allow yourself to heal.”

Despite my sobbing, I chuckled softly. Such familiar words.

“Thank you.”