Twin Souls

Chapter 4

Vokun

“Faal jul los Faasnu...”

Celestia became worried. It had been more than a couple hours since Souls departure into the realm of the dead, and he still wasn’t back. Twilight sat around, studying hard into several resurrection type books, hoping she could help in any way. Nevertheless, the alicorn never lost her cool. She sat atop her golden throne, her eyes closed, waiting in perfect patience. Well, almost perfect. Inside, she was battling her conscience for murdering a living creature. She knew it was his choice, but how could she shrug off something so important.

Celestia felt a pinch of fear enter her system as she remembered her old ‘friend’, and her promise to him. She knew what he wanted, and that was her soul. It would be the finest amongst the dishes, despite its dominate holiness. The thousands of years of mixed decisions and feelings would be a perfect mix between heroic and wicked. She gulped, knowing very well the secret to her success.

She felt a large blast of pain as the most tainted of her memories flooded back to her. Her meeting with the face of death was a memory not able to be forgotten. For every second she lives, it reminds her of her deal. A deal with the devil. The pain grew as it all played out before her once more...

The blade sunk deeper into her shining white coat. The final blow was dealt, and she had little time to see the world around her before her life flashes before her eyes. The forest was overrun, the castle under siege, her followers and strongest knights falling to the knees of their enemies. She looked back at her opponent, her eyes shrinking to peas. The looming figure was shrouded in dark mist, making it’s form unseen. A claw of some kind shot out of the mist, grabbing her around the neck, nearly snapping it. She could tell it was smiling devilishly behind its cover. It’s voice reached her ears, it’s demonic taint corrupting her drums. It’s voice poured thousands of years of war and hatred into a single phrase.

However, the words fell on deaf ears. Her vision faded as the monster yanked the blade from her. She lay on the ground, drowning in her own blood, wishing she could do something to stop it. She knew it was too late, as the sky grew dark and the rain fell with the blood of her fallen. Her vision was nearly gone as she gazed at the shrouded figure. Sucking in the cold air around itself, it shouted at the sky with intense power. The whole of Equis shook as the once beautiful celestial body that shined the world fell into a blood-red form. It shook violently, as it slowly grew larger. She soon realized what exactly was happening. The moon, the very mother of this world, was falling straight into it. Her sorrow, her anger, and her regret faded with her as she found herself in the realm of the dead.

With no time to recollect her thoughts, she hastily searched her area, hoping for an escape. She had not died, did she? She did not want to believe it of course.

“Four hundred years, and you still had one to go. What a waste of precious life, Key. Even so, you are still Joor.” A voice came from behind her, scaring what little remained of her sanity. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the ancients growl. “Do not speak. You are far from worthy to speak to me, Key. Normally, by now, I would have sent you to the heavens to embrace with your fellow Keys.” He stopped, cringing at the aspect of paradise. “Disgusting. But Father has other ideas. The shroud which threatens your world must be destroyed, and you are going to be the one to do it. But there’s a catch, little Key.” He chuckled. “Do you wish to save your pathetic kind, no matter the cost, oh loyal Joor?” He teased.

She nodded furiously, ignoring the deal she was about to make. “Then sign this contract, and you will receive power unlike you have ever seen before. You will return with the power of a god, and even the lifespan of one as well. But all of this...” He smiled. “Comes at a price.”

“I accept this deal, whatever the cost; I need not hear it, just give me the power to save my ponies!” She shouted, much to the amusement to the dragon. She had just accepted to the terms of a soul-bound contract. The dragon laughed loud and freely, realizing he had just made the greatest catch of his entire existence. A soul of a alicorn? Worth a billion souls!

“So be it little Key. Just know that when you return here, you will be mine, and mine forever.” He smiled devilishly, giving the pony no time to react before she was snuffed from the empty space, leaving the dragon happy as can be.

“PRINCESS!!!!!” Twilight screamed, waking the shining monarch from her consistent gaze into the void. She blinked several times, apologizing to her student. Twilight found this very odd, as she did not recall any times her immortal master taking such time to ponder something to herself. She knew something was troubling her, but knew even better as to not push farther into the problems of a god.

“He’s awake, Princess. Has been actually, for the past five minutes.” Lyra said, nuzzling Soul’s side, as he stared off, dreaming. Though he couldn’t admit it, he was in shock. So much information poured into oneself tends to cause such things, of course. Most prefer to take things in slowly, letting the information soak as they understand its purpose, but the ancient had little time to care for Souls well-being.

Soul swallowed a gap of air in his throat, slowly pulling himself to his feet. He gazed back at Lyra, feeling a twinge of pain as he noticed the tone of her eyes. They were bothered, slightly red from what he could assume was tears.

“Were you crying?” He asked, a hint of sorrow in his voice. Despite his previous goal of finding his feet, he knelt back down to the level of Lyra. He approached her cheek with a hand, but she quickly swiped it away.

“I’m fine. Just glad you’re okay.” She said, if not hastily in a sense. Soul felt the longing to draw happiness from this mare, no longer wanting to extract worry and confusion.

“I know it may not make sense to you,” He said, his hand slowly moving toward his face. “But I know, and promise that I...” He changed his words into a soft caring tone, drawing Lyra’s grand eyes.“Will be just fine.”

Giving Lyra a warm hug, that she admittedly wanted to last forever, he squeezed her tight. She nuzzled his chest, releasing thousands of friendly endorphins to embrace within their temples. Getting back on his feet, he switched his loving gaze back to his cold-deathly stare, directly at Celestia.

Celestia received his piercing stare with no recoil, but simply wondered how something so dangerous could be so loving. Snapping from her trance, she coughed loudly, just enough to gain the attention of her smaller subjects.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake.” She said warmly. “I have no doubt what you saw and learned was in fact that of Void, as I will not dare ask what you experienced. That is none of my business.” Twilight reared back in surprise. What could not be her business? She’s the princess of course! Surely she had to know...Right?

“I can sense your determination building up inside you.” She switched her gaze to her subject, Lyra. “Though while you stay in my country, you are still not one of my citizens. Your origins are completely unknown to even myself, to be honest.” She reversed it back to Soul. “So it falls down to the knowledge of one last pony. That being my sister, of course, Luna.” She sighed, trotting off her throne towards Soul.

“Much to our fortune, she is not with us at the moment.” She groaned, sarcastically finishing her statement.

“Do you know where she could be, great ruler?” Soul asked. Despite his direct orders from Dinoksolumsah, he was curious as to what this relative of hers could have that would aid him. Celestia stopped a few yards from him, examining his body closely. Almost instinctively, she casted a spell, despite her current observation of the creature.

“Yes. Though she is quite far from here.” She said, as the various lights finished collecting around the space between them. When it was formed, Soul could see an almost three-dimensional map of the country before him. “Is this Equestria?” He asked, pointing at the giant space of flat land, surrounded by trees.

“Correct. The safest place in all of Equis.” She smiled, grateful her ponies were always safe from the horrible monstrosities that roamed from beyond the forests. Soul, palm to chin, examined the map thoroughly. From outside the large plain of land was a massive forest, one side leading to an ocean, the other to an extensive mountain range. Though he couldn’t see it before, directly south of both sides was a passage leading downwards into a gray-ish unreadable landscape.

“What is all this?” Soul pointed out the gray features, making Celestia shake her head. “I was getting to that. This is the most dangerous place in Equis. The Dead Lands. The capital of Nevra, home of the dragons.” Celestia said, closing her eyes in grief. “Countless wars were fought there, even the one deciding the fate of Equestria, around two hundred years ago. The same war we used those enchantments for.”

Celestia approached Soul, the map disappearing into nothingness. When she was a mere foot away, she whispered into his ear. “We share the same pact, creature. I know what you are thinking, and you will most likely find him there.” Celestia trotted past him, yawning slightly. “In fact, my sister went to the very same place to find the same thing. Finding her will be hard, no doubt. But I believe she was looking for a place called, Shadows Depths.” She glanced back over her shoulder, ignoring her two pony subjects.

“Still. It is dangerous to go alone. Even with power such as yours, you will not stand a chance against dragons.” Celestia stopped herself, pondering to on how she could help. “I must catch up to my duties. I will provide an escort back to Ponyville where you will stay for the next three nights. This should give me enough time to properly think out this situation.”

Celestia nodded, exiting down the hall of gold and silver. The doors slammed behind her, leaving confused ponies, and a foreigner. Shortly after her departure, a squad of royal guards came to assist the few in returning back home. The two mares came willingly, though Soul was hesitant for the moment. His unrest finally gave in to the vibrant glow of the sun’s guardians.

They left in a carriage pulled by two pegasi. The two mares sat in front talking about various things Soul couldn’t understand. It’s not like he wanted to anyway. Soul sat in the back, the very back, his mind in other places. His mind wandered from how two relatively small creatures could pull something as heavy as the carriage, but magic floated its way back into the missing section for logic. He started to think everything in this world revolved around magic. As if logic lost it’s way into the world.

He shook his head, remembering that he had no previous knowledge of the world anyway. So why was he thinking that all this magic was illogical? If there was anything he could confirm from these thoughts, it would have to be a single fact. He was not from Equestria.

His eyes wandered from the vast forest below him to the rocky mountains surrounding the peaceful country. Perhaps his home was elsewhere? He had initially lost hope when Celestia told him she had never seen a kind like his before, but that discerning faith was destroyed when she also said she had never set hoof outside the country. It gave him a slight hope, something he desperately needed.

On the outside, he looked like an iron wall to the ponies. His gaze deathly, void of emotion. Unmoving, straight to his desire; but inside...A battle to be won, one that he has no experience fighting. His one goal, his one desire. To find another like him.

He didn’t want to admit it, but in all honesty, Soul felt really uncomfortable around all these ponies. Sure, they were friendly; ones like Lyra, who took him in despite his differences. She was perhaps the greatest friend he had.

“What’s wrong Soul?” A familiar voice called from the front seat. Soul looked at Lyra with confused eyes.

“To be honest...Just about everything.” He replied, sighing. Lyra frowned, taking a seat next to him. Twilight gave him a look of worry, surprisingly feeling sympathy for the dark shadow in the car. He rubbed his forehead, his gaze on the floor, unwilling to face his friends.

“One moment I’m trying to get help from the gods of this world...” He said, his body filling up with artificial anger. Slamming his fist into the seat beside him, he groaned loudly. “The next, they don’t even know, and I’m getting damn super powers from giant supernatural dragons!”

“Soul, it’s okay, you just need to calm down.” Lyra softly cooed, trying to calm the raging ancient. Soul shook his head violently.

“Calm down?! How can I make sense of things anymore? I don’t even know what’s normal, what’s real, and what’s...WHAT!”

“I know it must be rough for you, but please calm down. I...” Lyra started, finding herself incapable of finishing her sentence. “I can’t do anything to make your memories come back, but I can help you find them.” She finished, nuzzling Souls side. Soul felt his rage subside, giving in to the warm mare’s motherly embrace. Realizing his outburst, he sighed, stroking Lyra’s mane gently.

“Forgive me. I’m not getting any closer acting like that. Sorry you girls had to see that. From now on...” He sighed, a laugh coming from deep within surfacing lightly. "I start anew!"

Souls gaze switched back to the wide open landscape, his mind wandering back to his origins.

End of Chapter

Translations

Key - Horse