Reborn in a Dating Sim: Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game! Book 2

Reborn in a Dating Sim:

Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Book 2

Chapter Interlude

Satin looked at the temple, and she felt her heart racing. The last thing she wanted was to have a meeting with High Priestess Luna. It wasn’t that she was opposed to meeting with her, far from it. What was bothering her was the subject of the meeting. High Priestess Luna had called her to discuss the issue with King Sombra. Like herself, High Priestess Luna had been kept in the loop of what was officially happening. And of course she was made aware that Queen Chrysalis didn’t have the power to keep King Sombra forever.

She swallowed, feeling the anxiety of the situation building, but then she breathed out, relaxed a little, and allowed herself a moment. There was no need to be worrying, and she knew that. Right now, there was just the understanding that what was going to happen had to happen. She walked into the temple, and she followed the keepers. All of them were handmaidens to the High Priestess, and of course to her while she was there.

She was led to a large room, and she took in the sight of it. The temple itself always screamed opulence. It had the feeling of making those that walked into feel as if they were simply less than the goddess that was worshiped there. Still, this large room was different. Where the rest of the temple was designed to show off the wealth of the temple this one room was designed to show the power of it. Seated in the center of the room was a large table, that table itself had four shackles that were in each corner.

Satin knew about the table thanks to an old cutscene from the game, but she never really knew what happened there. She hadn’t fully played the game, and she had relied on her bubby’s playthrough to get the story. So, ultimately she didn’t know what happened here. She didn’t know what could happen here, and she watched as High Priestess Luna stepped closer to the table, “Saint,” she said her voice firm, “I brought you here because you need to bare witness to something that is not enjoyable in the least.”

She blinked, “Ummm, bare witness to what, exactly?” she asked as she neared her, “I mean what’s going to happen here?”

High Priestess Luna nodded toward the door, and she watched as it opened. One of the individuals that had been wearing a mask was brought in, and she could see them thrashing about. They were acting as if they were attempting to break free, and it was all that the keepers could do in order to keep the individual from breaking loose completely. Still, they managed to get them to the table, and within a few moments they were secured to the table itself. Once that was done High Priestess Luna took a goblet.

A soft pink myst slowly rose from the goblet as she moved it, “Goddess Selene,” she said as she neared the thrashing individual, “I call upon your great power to break the enslavement upon this individual. Release them from their bound state. Heal their mind, their soul, their countenance, and ensure that they are fully restored. Know that it is not their will to be here, nor is it their desire to remain in this bondage. Release the hold upon them.”

The pink myst began to slowly move toward the individual, and she watched as it entered into the nostrils of what she realized was a young woman. The myst seemed to fill her, and a moment later a dark cloud of energy bolted from her. When it did High Priestess Luna looked toward Satin, “Now, capture the energy, trap it inside of a barrier, and hold it!”

She swallowed, focused on creating a barrier that was completely round, and a few moments later it formed in the air around the energy. She could feel the sickening feeling of it inside of the barrier. It swished around violently, trying desperately to escape, and she realized exactly what she was feeling. This was King Sombra. It was his essence, his very life essence, and it was fighting against her. She could feel it trying to worm its way into her mind, into her soul, and it was taking everything she had to just hold it there.

“Good,” High Priestess Luna said before she formed a barrier around Satin’s, “release it now,” she commanded, “I shall dispose of it.”

With that she let it go, and instantly she felt better. She felt more whole without that slimy feeling that was trying so hard to get into her. She felt better, and she wanted to keep that feeling. She didn’t want to have to deal with any of that energy again, and yet she watched as High Priestess Luna looked barely affected. A moment later she moved the new barrier toward what looked like a mirror. A second later that energy was shoved into it. After it was High Priestess Luna let out a small breath, and then she nodded. Once again there was someone else brought in, and she realized that it wasn’t just one that was being done. It was multiple individuals that were going to have to go through the same thing. Her heart sank as she realized exactly what was going to happen. She wasn’t just being shown so that she could bare witness. She was being trained. High Priestess Luna was training her to do this.

“Prepare him,” she said, as the individual was strapped to the table in the same manner. Once again High Priestess Luna began the same prayer she had started a bit before, and she watched as the same myst was used, “Quickly seal it,” she said as the dark energy was expelled, “Do it now.”

She followed the command, and soon the energy was hovering inside of the barrier she created. She began to move it, seeing that High Priestess Luna was having that individual released, and then taken out, “We will do this as long as we can,” she said, as Satin moved that energy to the mirror, and then through it, “We will continue until it is all placed inside of that hellish void. Still, we will need to rest, there is only the two of us, and there are so many that need the assistance.”

For the next three hours it was the same situation, and Satin began feeling the strain on her magic. Even with the articles of power that was being used she could feel how draining it was to constantly shove the dark energy from inside of those individuals into the mirror. The mirror that she finally looked through. It was odd, but there was a sort of celestial light that shined each time that dark energy was was shoved through, and then for a moment that light turned a soft crimson. It almost looked like blood had been split on a light bulb and then it turned on. Each moment felt grueling, and she had lost count of the number of individuals they’d helped.

It wasn’t until High Priestess Luna finally raised her hand and shook her head, “That is all for now,” she said, her voice sounding tired, “I fear that the Saint and I must rest for a while longer. At that time we shall begin again,” she told the keepers, and together she and Satin watched as they left, “Now, tell me, how taxed are your powers?”

Satin wasn’t sure how to answer that. From what she knew, thanks to the cutscenes, the Saint never really looked tired. She wasn’t sure if she was even supposed to get tired. Still, she knew that the truth was that she was incredibly tired. There was absolutely no way around that. She couldn’t escape the fact that she felt dead on her feet. She didn’t really think that anyone, including High Priestess Luna, could blame her for feeling so exhausted. Still, she decided to use a little more tact than normal when answering, “I cannot lie and say that I am not tired,” she admitted after a moment, “But the simple truth is that I feel as if that dark power has done more to cause it than anything else. It felt like it was trying to worm its way inside with each move to the mirror. Which, what is that?”

The High Priestess smiled and gestured to the mirror, “It is a portal,” she admitted as she looked at it, “The ancient legends say that it is a void, a place without form, but I do not know that. I have never truly looked through, and I have not actually wanted to. However, there have been others that have, and all of them have said that it is actually a place. A strange place that seems to be filled with sapient beings that walk on four legs. What is even more strange is that she claimed that there is the beginnings of a city. Something that should not exist, not without the means to create it. Still, I doubt that it is true.”

She studied High Priestess Luna for a moment, “What if it is?” she asked, her voice feeling a little concern, “I mean, what if that place is in there? If it is then we’ve been dumping this dark energy into a place with innocent beings, isn’t that wrong?”

High Priestess Luna looked at her, and after a moment she nodded, “It is,” she admitted, “I will not argue that it is not wrong. For after all those beings did not ask for any of this, and we have still given it to them. There is honestly no telling what could come of it, but I fear that will come is the desire to see all destroyed. That is King Sombra’s truest wish. He wishes for the destruction of all, to see the world reborn in his bleak image. I fear that if another world resides within that portal that we have doomed it, and we will continue to do so.”

She shook her head, “And it will happen because there is no other choice,” she stated as she looked at her, “You must understand, and I ask that you do understand, that if we are given the choice between protecting our world, and condemning another one, that the choice is simple. We must people this world, and we must protect these people. They are our priority. I weep for the potential life that may be lost through that portal, and I will pray for their souls, for their very being, but I will not sacrifice the people of this world to protect that one.”

Satin understood, and she didn’t like that she did. What High Priestess Luna was saying wasn’t wrong. She was declaring that it was more important to protect the people here. To ensure that they continued to live, and to ensure that everyone managed to stay alive. She looked at her, and then she looked at the mirror. A part of her needed to know. She finally shook her head, “The weight of our actions shouldn’t be left uncarried,” she said after a moment, “I know that sounds selfish, and I apologize for it sounding so, but honestly, we cannot leave these actions uncarried. If there is a world through there…”

High Priests Luna nodded, “I understand what you are saying, and our burden is not uncarried. We carry it. Right now there is the slight hope that it is merely a void, but the doubt remains. That doubt, as powerful as it is, overshadows that hope. It is a constant reminder that we have done something terrible, and it will always be a reminder of that. There is no escaping it, and we understand that. So, we must give ourselves the understanding that in order to protect everything we know, we love, and we desire that we are willing to end something that may exist.”

Satin nodded, and she understood what she said, “I get it,” she admitted after a moment, “Whatever we feel that would be accomplished by looking inside of the mirror isn’t really going to heal anything. We’re just going to be stuck, in this moment, in this uncertainty, forever, and that’s our punishment. To know that we’ve done something, but not really knowing what.”

High Priestess Luna nodded, “And that is just so. That is our weight to carry. Go and rest for now, take refuge from your lovers, enjoy the moment of being cared for, and then return. There will be much that we still have to do, and there will be far more that we must help. That is our task, our duty, and our more realized punishment.”

Suddenly everything that her bubby had been telling her made so much sense. He had been warning her, and she understood why. At first she had thought that it was because she had stolen the role of the protagonist from Applebloom, but no the reason was because she didn’t have the magical reserves that Applebloom apparently did. She didn’t have the ability to tap into a deeper well of magic. Sure, she’d found out that a person’s magical reserve wasn’t set. It had become second nature to understand how to build that reserve, and it didn’t matter.

She had a deep well of magic to pull from, but nothing compared to Applebloom’s. She was so far out of her depth when it came to being the Saint, and she couldn’t say anything about it. She couldn’t say a word, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that she could do now. She was in a situation that she had put herself into. There was no getting out of this, and there was no backing away from it. She had for all rights and purposes done everything that she could to screw herself.

She swallowed the nerves. This was what she had signed up for, and she hated it. She hated it with a passion. Walking out of the room, and back into the temple, she was surrounded by the keepers. They began to walk with her, guiding her toward the exit when she heard the first sounds of a soft cry. She looked and she saw Starlight Glimmer. The self proclaimed daughter of King Sombra was softly crying to herself. She was facing away from everyone, and she couldn’t just leave it alone.

She walked toward the girl, and she gently touched her shoulder. She waited for a moment, and Starlight turned toward her. The anger she had expressed before was gone. Instead she looked lost, and she practically looked abandoned. Her heart seemed to have completely left her, and all that was left was this shell of the woman she had been, “Have you come to gloat?” she asked, her voice sounding harsh, “It is no more than I deserve. I had believed that my father cared for me, that he wanted me to sacrifice myself because he would bring me back. I believed in his mission, his view of the world, and it all is meaningless.”

Satin took a moment to study her and then she waved away the keepers. They fanned out, but none of them simply left. There was good reason for it. The Saint or not they understood that Starlight Glimmer was dangerous. She had been promising death to all that surrounded her. The threats became promises to be kept. She no longer threatened them with death, but instead she promised them places in her father’s kingdom thanks to their kindness toward her.

All of them understood that she could attack, and potentially harm, the saint if simply left alone. So, no one dared to take off too far from where the Saint. For Satin it seemed to be a little protective, but she wasn’t going to tell them how to do their jobs. Instead she took a seat next to Starlight, “I’m not going to gloat over what happened,’ she said, her voice firm, “Instead, I’m going to ask you if you want to find purpose again. It’s not too late, and I believe in second chances.”

She looked away from her, “This was what he meant when he said that you’re all too soft,” she replied, her voice still lost, “you’re willing to give me a second chance, and I wanted to kill you, all of you, and I wanted to ensure that your hero was stuck in the limbo of the afterlife. I wanted to ensure that he never, ever, got the chance to escape. Now, I don’t know what I want. I know what my father taught me, but I don’t know what I want myself.”

She shook her head, “I should want to find my own way, but instead I want to go to my father, and I want to demand that he explain to me why he said the things the did. I want to know why he felt that I was nothing more than a pawn. I was his daughter. I gave him everything, I did all that a good daughter should do, and yet he said I was a useful pawn, and nothing else. What do I do with that?”

Satin sighed and shook her head, “I’m not really one to talk about father’s,” she said as she sat there, “My father is a gamber, and has terrible money management skills. My mother is just as bad. She wants to ensure that our home is filled with the things that she believes will elevate our home to the level of court nobles. Neither she or my father are adventurers. They both simply live off of the titles that was passed down to them,” she stated, her voice sounding strained, “They’re not like Copper. He brought himself up, and made himself into more than what he currently is.”

She grinned, “And to think, I’m supposed to be his sister thanks to a few things that had happened long ago,” she said before she looked at Starlight, “Which, it doesn’t matter. Even if Gold Bit is my father, and there’s no guarantee that he is, he isn’t the one that raised me. And the one that did wasn’t a good father either. So, I understand about being hurt by someone you expected more from.”

She grinned at her, “But it’s not the end of the world entirely. You have a choice, and that choice is that you can make something else of yourself, or you can accept that what your father said is true, and that is all you will ever be. Personally, I’d try to prove him wrong, and I’d work toward becoming something else entirely.”

Starlight sighed, “Now I wish that I hadn’t attempted to seduce Prince Apollo,’ she stated, “I had no idea that you are as kind as you are.”

Satin looked at her, “Wait, you want him?” she asked, her voice sounding confused, “I mean, look, if you want one of those five, I’m fine with it. If one of them decides that they want to be with you, cool go for it. Go be with them. I’ll be happy to let them go.”

Starlight looked at her, “Aren’t you upset that I would try?”

Satin stared at her, “have you ever had to validate five different men, all by sleeping with them, usually in a single evening, and all because you put yourself in that position?”

Starlight shook her head, “Yeah, I’m not going to be upset if any of them leave me. I’ll most likely celebrate, so if one wants you, and you want him, consider this my blessing.”

She got up, “Or not, if you were smart, you’d try to find someone that can actually do things, who is a good person, and who has a decent head on their shoulders. Those fiver are idiots and completely worthless.”

She grinned, “But enough about that, what do you want to do now?”

Starlight looked at her, “I want to prove my father wrong. I want to prove that I have a purpose, and then I want to shove it down his throat.”

Satin grinned, “Good, then let’s work toward that.”