Betwixt darkness
(Sequel and branch off of cupcakes)
It was another normal day in Ponyville. Nothing particularly exciting was happening, other than a new pony arriving in town. He didn’t talk too much, mostly just walked around, every now and then flying up, as if he were looking for something. It looked although he was just figuring out where everything was. It was only 2 days after Rainbow Dash had disappeared. Concerns of her disappearance faded fast. For some reason, she had almost been erased from memory. Everyone heard that Pinkie pie was holding a party for the new pony, but was short on supplies, so could only invite the new pony. The new pony went by a strange name and had a sea-blue coat with blue eyes. His mane and tail had the same color and his mane simply ran down one side of his back. He was staying in a small house near by the small lake, and didn’t come out much. People found it odd he never had lights on, but they’d been through stranger things and just ignored it.
“Oh my goodness, there you are Mr,” said Pinkie Pie with loudly, “come with me, I have a surprise for you” she said, trying to contain her excitement.
“Umm, ok? Why?” the pony asked.
“Why? For your welcoming party, silly.” Pinkie Pie said emphatically.
“Alright…” he said as he began to follow the bouncing pink pony.
When they got to the Sugar Cube corner, the new pony expected a big group of ponies to welcome him, and was puzzled but the lack of this. “Where is everyone?” he asked.
“I couldn’t make enough cupcakes for them to come.” Said Pinkie pie as she lowered her head, depressed, “But its ok! You’re going to help me make some!”
“Ohh kay?” the pony said concernedly.
“By the way, what’s your name Mr?” Pinkie Pie asked him.
“My friends call me Kindrell.” he answered back.
“That’s a weird name” Pinkie Pie said as she made a strange face.
“I got it after I met a friend. Were close, and I’ve gotten so used to being called it, it just stuck.” Kindrell said giving a reminiscent smile as he looked down slightly. “So, what am I doing?” he asked.
“I need you to start by trying this one…!” she said as she forced a cupcake into his mouth. Ugh, sweets, a part of Kindrell thought. He chewed and swallowed the cupcake, but Pinkie Pie’s expected reaction never came.
“Huh.” she said.
“What? It was pretty good.” The pony said, a part of him lying.
“I need you to go in the other room and find some flour for me.” She said, improvising.
“Ok, is it on some shelf?” he asked as he walked through a doorway, “Oh…! Here it is.” He said as he picked up a sack with his mouth. When he walked back through the doorway, his head was greeted with a heavy frying pan, causing him to tumble on the ground and moan.
Like all other of Pinkie Pie’s victims, Kindrell was in a darkroom with no light around him. But his skill at seeing in the dark had exposed the horrors of this room before Pinkie Pie even showed here self. “Some décor…” he said absent minded.
“Do you like it? A lot of friends help it get this way.” Said Pinkie Pie with a smile on her face as she wore her special gown made of her “friends”. “Well this is going to be no fun without some light” she said as she flicked a switch and the room flooded with light, causing Kindrell to squint his eyes briefly. All the normal decorations were up. Organ balloons, skulls with party hats, the only difference in her room of horrors being the shivering cyan pony huddled up in a far corner.
“Is that Rainbow Dash? That super flier or something rather?” Kindrell asked.
“The one and only.” Pinkie Pie said as if to brag. He watched for a moment, examining her condition. She has stitches everywhere. Must have gone through the process everypony else in here went through. Wait, what are those line running down here eyes? Are those crusted over tears? Ugh, how I hate tears. Something inside Kindrell said. “Well let’s get started, shall we?” said Pinkie Pie gesturing to her table of tools. “I always have to start with the cutie marks. It’s something that’s just sort of stuck” said Pinkie Pie as she picked up a knife and giggled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cutie mark like yours, what is it? A black cloth? Are you a fashion designer like Rarity?” the pink pony asked as if it were a game.
“No, it’s a veil. A black Veil.” He told her in a normal voice.
“I’ve never seen a cutie mark like that! Now I have to add it to my gown…!” she said enthusiastically. “So what’s it mean?” she asked as she stuck a knife into one of his sides and proceeded to cut. A part of Kindrell stirred, the other half of this pegasus waking up, not very pleasantly.
“It’s a mystery.” Kindrell said as if nothing were happening at all.
“All the more fun!” Pinkie Pie said as she finished and bounced her way to the other said to cut out the other cutie mark. The part of Kindrell that had now awoken was feeling the pain of a knife cutting out living flesh.
What’s going on?? Part of himself asked.
We found the pony we were looking for. The other half answered back. Now done with cutting out the cutie marks of flowing black veils, Pinkie Pie took a look at the sea-blue pony, wondering where to start. “So Pinkie Pie, right?” he asked, Pinkie Pie simply responded by smiling and nodding her head very fast, somehow making a squeaking noise as she did so. “How long have you been at this?” something inside Kindrell pressed on, in a calm tone.
“What? Cutting ponies up? Sometime now. I can’t seem to remember when I started.” She said as she put down the small knife and scratched her head. She then picked up the butchers knife and walk around to the back of the Pegasus. “Wow, look at how pretty your wings are…! I love how each of your feathers tips are black.” Pinkie pie said, closely examining her next target area.
No. She is not cutting off my wings. Kindrell said to the creature curently in command of his body
. If I try to stop her, it’ll throw her off. Don’t worry, I can fix anything she does to you, remember?.
No Dusk, those wings are too precious to me. I won't let her!.
Kindrell control yourself! Dusk said back telepathically as Kindrell quickly spread his wings, knocking Pinkie Pie backwards and almost over.
“Hey now, that wasn’t very nice!” Pinkie pie said, who walked somewhere behind Kindrell and pick something up.
“Sorry, a part of me is rather, attached, to my wings. Hah, don’t you love it when you make a joke you didn’t intend to?” Dusk said though Kindrell’s lips. Pinkie Pie quickly caught the joke and giggled,
“Good one!” she said, “I should write that one down! But let’s take care of your mean wings first.” She threw some rope around Kindrell’s wings and tightened them together before Kindrell could shake off the rope.
No, Dusk, stop her! Don’t let her take my wings! I gave up a lot for you! You owe me! Kindrell shouted at Dusk in his mind. Dusk!- Kindrell shouted, furiously in his mind at Dusk, as Pinkie Pie drove her butchers Knife sharply down on both joints. Realizing Dusk’s indfifference to his pleas, Kindrell tried to distract himself from the immediate and sharp pain filling his head. Dusk managed to keep Kindrell’s wings still as Pinkie Pie chopped them off.
“Well now. How can you sit so still while I do this? It’s no fun.” Pinkie pie said pouting.
“Well, it isn’t what I would define as ‘fun’. You just cut off my favorite pair of wings. Do you know how hard it is to get another pair?” Dusk said with a scolding.
Shut. Up. Kindrell said, making it extensively obvious he was very mad at Dusk.
“So, how’s ‘Dashie’?” Dusk asked, curiously.
“Oh she’s fine” Pinkie Pie giggled.
“I heard the Wunder Bolts were heartbroken to hear she was gone.” Dusk said loud to let Rainbow Dash hear him. As soon as the words “Wunder Bolts” left Kindrell’s mouth, Rainbow Dash immediately stuck her head up, like a curious cat. “Yeah, Spitfire was really disappointed she said something about Dash being the next Wunder Bolt or something.” Dusk said in the same casual voice. As soon as Dash’s confused mind processed what Dusk had said, she slowly put her head to the floor, covered her ears with her hooves and sobbed.
“Dashie stop it, you know what sobbing does to your stitching.” Pinkie Pie said. Dash couldn’t hear Pinkie Pie over her own crying. “Now look what you’ve done.” Pinkie Pie said, rolling her eyes as she did so.
“So, how do you pick you next pony to cut up?” Dusk asked.
“What? Oh, everyone has a number. When I run out of pony for my cupcakes, I pick another number.” Pinkie Pie said with an innocent smile, “I couldn’t use Dashie because I needed her parts to fix her. You’re new, so no one is going to miss you.” Pinkie Pie said with a smile as she tapped the tip of Kindrell’s nose.
“Okay, so if everyone has a number, what’s yours?” Dusk asked.
“Me? Why would I have a number? How am I supposed to cut myself up silly?” Pinkie Pie said as if she were talking to a child. How dare you, I am older than your ancestors. Dusk thought.
“Okay, okay. If everyone has a number, what about the cake twins? I hear you take care of them regularly. What’s their numbers?” Dusk asked inquisitively. Pinkie Pie’s right eye twitched. Hm? Let’s use this against her. Dusk thought, priming his argument.
“Well, uh, there too young…!” Pinkie Pie managed to blurt out. She was beginning to twitch more fervently. Got her. Dusk thought to himself.
“But think, this is probably your only chance to try ponies so young…” Dusk said calmly, silently hating how he had to say such a thing.
“Well, uh…” Pinkie Pie stuttered. Her hair dropped and straightened almost most immediately as her confused face switched to a scowl.
“You’ve gone and killed the mood.” She said in a angered voice, not fitting her personality.
”Oh, I see what you did there.” Dusk said as he a put a smile on Kindrell’s face, That was kinda funny… Dusk thought to himself. Pinkie Pie just ignored him and walked to a corner of the room, shuffling things around, looking for something, until she found a can and smiled at it. She brought it over to her table of tools and used a large knife to punch a hole in the top and she laughed as the contents of the can hissed, reacting to the air.
“This should get you to shut up nice and quick.” She said, no longer her former self.
“What-” Dusk tried to ask but was interrupted.
“At, at, at. You’ve misbehaved. Now be a good colt and sit still like how you do so well. This is only going to hurt, well a lot.” She giggled evilly. She then slowly poured the liquid content on Kindrell’s pinned lower legs, and she was careful not to pour on the restraints. She laughed quietly as the acid from the can dissolved, melted, and liquefied Kindrell’s skin and muscle, workings it way to the bone that hid behind his flesh. Kindrell screamed in his own head, Dusk prevented it from being audible, but couldn’t stop the tears that began to pour from Kindrell’s eyes.
Whatever Pinkie Pie had become, was to engulfed in watching Kindrell’s legs melts and the blue of his coat be covered in a new shade of red to notice the tears. When she ran out she threw the can on the floor, frustrated.
“Now that that’s over-, are you crying?” She asked excited, then laughed loudly and danced in the puddle of what was once Kindrell’s legs. “Oh, I know. Let’s burn that pretty blue mane of yours!” she said excitedly as she ran to grab a match box. When she found it she gave a devious smile as she ran to his restrained body and dropped a lit match right in Kindrell’s mane. She laughed and giggled as his blue mane began to burn and turn black as the fire that consumed it spat out small pieces of its charred remains. The smell of burning hair was starting to aggrivate Dusk, he decided he wasn't going to be so complacent for much longer. While his mane was still on fire, she jumped up and leaned her fore legs on Kindrell’s chest and asked excitedly “Know what I wanna do now? I think it’s about time to take a look under the hood!” She said peering into Kindrell’s scowling face. Dusk refused to let Kindrell’s expression change, the only sign of change during this was the newfound scowl and the tears from earlier. She grabbed her scalpel, and proceeded to cut Kindrell’s skin so it would open cleanly. Once she peeled back the layer of skin that covered Kindrell’s innards, she began pulling them out at random, telling him something about poor hygiene and goofing around with what was once attached to this mangled pegasus
. You really could do some things to improve your hygiene. Dusk said to Kindrell in his mind who was too busy trying to ignore his entire body screaming in pain.
“This was more fun than I thought it would be! And look at that, it’s almost as I haven’t done a thing to you, well by the look on your face anyway, maybe I’ll remove your outer layer of skin completely now!” The monster inside the pink pony giggle.
“How about no.” Dusk said, dead tone, “I think I’m done letting you dice my friend up.” Dusk said, raising his voice, letting anger show in it.
“But the fun isn’t over till I can have your skin off!” The monster said with a sadistic tone.
“No. I’m done with the games.” Dusk said, shadowy gas erupting from Kindrell’s outer layers of flesh. The restraints that once held him dissipated. “What the..?” Pinkie pie’s expression left as fast as her hair dropped earlier. The severed and melted pieces that once made up Kindrell’s body floated up and reconnected with him, repairing the damage done unto him. When his wings re-attached, Kindrell outstretched them immediately, black feathers floating downward. “I. Am. A. Nightmare. I have come to end you and your little ‘games’.” Dusk said his tone now dark, sinister, and smooth, his form slowly warping Kindrell’s body. Pinkie Pie was now terrified, and began backing into a corner fast.
“No no no no no!” she began hollering.
Sometimes, I love it when a monster loses all sense of control. Dusk thought, and then gave a sinister smile. Now Kindrell’s body had taken the shape of Dusks form, a much taller and terrifying build. Kindrell's once blue mane was completely black, his cyan eyes were pure white, and his mane appeared to have completely turned into a ever-descending gas. She was now in a corner pushing herself as far up against the wall as she could with nothing but panic in her eyes.
“Let’s start MY little game, shall we?” Dusk said, striking the upmost fear in Pinkie Pie, making her throw her forelegs in front of her face. “Cute. Let’s start with the mess.”Dusk said as he looked back at the body parts that littered the room began to collect and piece themselves together, making themselves as whole as they could, empty areas visible where flesh was missing, no doubt used in her maniacal recipe. “Now. What’s it like to be ripped apart yourself?” Dusk asked, his voice echoing on its own. He gestured to the puzzle-piece ponies to grab her, they did just so and tore a hole in the wall, exposing the insides of the room to the Everfree forest.
Dusk then walked over to the corner where Rainbow Dash was still sobbing quietly. Her outline began to darken as she floated upwards. She struggled, reaching for the ground as it distanced itself from her. “Don’t worry, none of this was meant to happen.” Dusk said. The stitching that held her together slowly pulled itself out of her as the holes where it once was disappeared.
< {Rainbow Dash point of view} > (before Dusk walks up to her)
Pain… Pain…
Hard to think… Pain…
Wunder Bolts… Left me? Pain…
Make it stop… Pain…
What’s that… that noise?
Scary… More than normal… She thought as she slowly moved her forelegs from atop her head. She then stared directly at Dusk before she started to float upwards. The words the tall dark figure said were hopelessly lost on her as she began to panic.
No, wait..! Help!
What’s this..? She thought as a strange feeling swept over her. She was feeling… Nice. Something in her seemed to fix itself, slowly the pain went away and the haze in her mind began to clear.
What’s going on? Why am I floating?? She thought as things cleared up. “What’re you doing?” She managed to say, but her throat her shot full of pain from doing so.
“Hush, and don’t speak till I’m done healing you. Don’t worry, I’ll make these wretched memories go away. And don’t worry about Pinkie Pie. I’m going to help her too.” Dusk said softly. Almost immediately the memories of the procedure Pinkie Pie performed shot back into her mind. She threw her forelegs onto her head and curled into a tight ball, horrified by the images flashing in her mind. Then everything got hazy again….. Now she can’t seem to remember anything that happened in that room. She sat there, silent for a moment, and slowly floated down. Her mind was trying to process the sudden vacuum of memory, and simply filled it with old memories long forgotten. Her mind was too busy trying to fix the gap, and ignored Dusk’s presence.
< {Previous point of view} > (currently)
Now that that’s under control, Kindrell, Dusk said, speaking through the bond he and Kindrell shared.
Yes? What do I have to clean up now? Kindrell responded, annoyed.
I need you to disguise as her heroine and take her to town. You know, it’ll help her focus on something else while her mind figures out it all out and sorts it up… and stuff.
Wait…. No. No, no, no…! I am not disguising as a girl. No way, no how. Kindrell said quickly in reply.
C’mon. You’ve done stranger. Dusk gently pleaded.
No dusk, I haven’t. Kindrell bickered. So? Being turned into a dragon wasn’t weird?
No, being a dragon was epic. Being a girl, well that’s just strange for a guy like me. No. Kindrell said firmly.
And when will you have a chance to be a Wunder bolt again?
I’m a vessel to a nightmare. I think I’m a tad cooler than a Wunder bolt. Kindrell said, slightly more annoyed.
Well, really now? A Pegasus who thinks they’re better than the best flyers? Ever? Show me how much ‘better’ you are and do this for me, I saved you from dying back there in that procedure.
You got me into that procedure!! We wouldn’t even be in this town if wasn’t for you! I said we should have gone to Clouds Dale!
Fine. Whatever, I’ll teleport her into town unconscious. Dusk said disappointedly.
Why didn’t you just do that in the first place!?! I shouldn’t have to be a chick if you can just, ‘poof’, and problem solved! You know, sometimes, your no fun at all. Get into the spirit of things. We knew something like this was going to happen. This is an adventure of sorts, crazy things are bound to happen.
I didn’t know I’d get a frying pan to the face, thank you very much.Kindrell said as-a-matter-of-factly.
Pinkie Pie was pinned up against a mountain side, unconscious. The pieced together ponies had stuck her there and managed to attain several metal restrains. After she fainted, they phased through the grass and dirt, each in front a tree which then had an engravement on it where a dead pony lie, their name struck unto the wood intricately. Dusk had now flown to where Pinkie Pie was, and looked at the work that had been done.
“So they found the braces I put here, and buried themselves. Good.” Dusk said as he landed.
So now what? Kindrell asked Dusk.
“Well now I find the source of Pinkie Pie’s problem.” Dusk said almost as if he dreaded this part more than what they had already been through.Which he did.
What do you mean? Kindrell asked, clearly not knowing what was really happening.
“Well remember when her eyes started to twitch back there? Something in her obviously cracked a bit. This wasn’t natural. Plus I saw a flicker of darkness in her eyes.”
What? Since when could darkness inhabit living things? Kindrell asked Dusk, who simply proceeded to throw his frontal right hoof onto the bridge of his face. It then hit Kindrell he was an example of this. Well, uh…. Get on with it. Kindrell said embarrassed.
“She’s under the control of darkness. A lot I presume to eviscerate other ponies.” Dusk said with more noticeable dread.
It was now the afternoon and Dusk was looking closely at Pinkie Pie’s still unconscious body, examining almost every detail.What did you use to keep her out so long? Kindrell asked, getting impatient from waiting.
“My energy, now shut up, you haven’t stopped talking since we left that shack.” Dusk said calmly as he carefully traced his hoof an inch away from Pinkie Pie’s body.
“I think she ingested the darkness somehow. Via food or water, so we’re going to have to get her to expel it somehow.” Dusk said, tone devoid of emotion as he studied carefully.
Well which way? I mean, can she throw it up or something? We haven’t been a team long enough for me to know what to do. Kindrell said, beginning to take interest now that his mind had something to nibble on.
“I know, and that’s not your fault, but I would assume it not to be so simple. Go into town and get me some ginger root.” Dusk said. Why ginger? Kindrell asked. “It weakens some forms of darkness; I’m going to have you whip up some kind of concoction to help her.” Dusk said, separating himself from Kindrell, making him lose his tangibility, and making Kindrell revert to his normal proportions.
Kindrell had finally made it out of the forest, which was a long trek from “base camp”, the nickname he gave to where Pinkie was being taken care of. He now began to enter the darkened Ponyville as it lay quietly slumbering at night. Great, now I have to wait till morning. He thought annoyed. So Kindrell decided to head to his little house near the small lake the ponies lounged in occasionally. He silently entered his bedroom on the second floor and was surprised to find the cyan and rainbow pony from before, snoozing quietly in his bed. FUNNY Dusk. Very funny…… He thought to himself sarcastically. Well, she’s been through a lot… Whatever, I’m tired enough to sleep on the spare mat. He thought as he walked downstairs to the closet. But when Kindrell opened the door, a note was where the rolled up spare mat normally was, it read “Took mat to ‘base camp’- Dusk”. Really Dusk? Sometimes, you really tick me off. Kindrell turned to couch, which was normally very stiff and scratchy, and noticed a sign that said “RESERVED FOR DUSK”. Not to night. But when Kindrell tried to move the large sign, it wouldn’t budge. That’s it, I’m gonna kill him. He thought to himself, flustered. Forget it, I’ll sleep in the lake. Kindrell fumed as he walked outside to the small lake. Kindrell felt most relaxed when in water, so he was fine with sleeping in the lake. Sometimes, he felt more at home in water than on the ground.
Kindrell woke from his sleep with a pony poking his head. He tried to say something but just made some bubbles in his attempt. He then started to comprehend the words that entered his mind. “Were you really sleeping in the lake?” something above him said. Wha? Oh, it’s her. Kindrell thought through the haze of waking up. He now realized how bright the sun was and in an attempt to cover his eyes he lost balance for a moment, causing Rainbow Dash to chuckle a bit. “Yes. You were in my bed, and I like the water so what do you need?” Kindrell groaned.
“Yeah, um, how did I get in your bed?” Rainbow Dash asked. Kindrell quickly improvised and told her:
“I found you lost in the forest so I took you to my house. Your welcome.” Not a total lie…. Kindrell thought.
“Oh… Thanks, I guess.” She said a tad embarrassed, “But seriously, who sleeps in a lake?” She asked as she flew off, stopping every now and then as if she couldn’t quite remember where she was going. Might have over done that a bit Dusk. Kindrell thought to himself as he walked out of the water without bothering to shake dry. He slowly meandered his way into town, people noticing how he was soaked, but he didn’t care. After what happened yesterday, it was going to take a lot more to unnerve him. He carefully looked for a stand that sold ginger roots, and when he managed to find one, he found a few ingredients that interested him. The still wet pony then walked out of town after packing a set of mixing tools, vials, and several other things he presumed he would need. The trek back to base camp seemed to be a bit more calm and faster than before.
“You sure took a long time.” Dusk said grumpily as he saw Kindrell appear.
“I got there at night. Not my fault.” Kindrell said with equal grumpy-ness.
“Just grind the ginger up and put it in some water. That might do it.” Dusk said turning back to Pinkie Pie. Her hair looks nice this way. Dusk thought as the breeze gently blew her straight hair about. A few minutes of almost absolute silence passed while Kindrell ground the ginger.
“If it’s just ground ginger and water, here.” Kindrell said sliding a small vial along the grass, and then went to gently smell one of the things he bought in town early. Dusk simply stared at him for a moment, his blank white eyes staring, and when Kindrell realized he remembered that Dusk wasn’t tangible unless he was inhabiting his body. “Oh right, so, do I give it to her? Or you?” Kindrell asked, still lying down with his things strewn about in front of him. Dusk simply stood there, now lost in thought. “Okay, I’ll do it.” Kindrell said in a calm tone as he got up and picked up the vial. He was about to pour the contents into Pinkie Pie’s mouth, but Dusk stopped him.
“I better remove the braces.” Dusk said as he sent small clouds of black gas to each of the cuffs, letting the pony tumble onto Kindrell, “Oh sorry.” Dusk apologized as he once again lost himself in thought. Kindrell then poured the ginger-water into Pinkie Pie’s mouth after setting her down.
Kindrell almost jumped back as Pinkie Pie immediately started to spasm. She was convulsing erratically and Kindrell tried to steady her to no avail. Then Pinkie Pie’s unconscious body stopped shaking and began to cough loudly and deeply. “That really does not sound good…” Kindrell said. Then specks of black liquid seemed to be coming from her mouth, followed by large globs of a black tar-like liquid. After she had coughed up enough of the strange liquid to make another life-sized Pinkie Pie, she stopped. “What is this..!?” Kindrell said, slowly backing away from the liquid.
“It’s concentrated darkness.” Dusk said as he began to slip into Kindrell’s body. Dusk quickly assumed his form, stared at the darkness for a moment. He then made the darkness float upwards and compact till it was the size of a marble. What now? Kindrell said to his nightmare friend. “Well, if we really want to track how the darkness got into her, we swallow it.” Dusk said as if it meant nothing. Wait wha- Kindrell thought to Dusk as if he were insane, but before Kindrell could finish that thought, the darkness-marble had floated down Dusk’s throat. The second it was in his system, both Kindrell and Dusk turned into a black gas that slowly faded off.
< An hour later >
Kindrell and Dusk slowly reappeared in Dusk’s form right where they were previously. Wow, that was a little unexpected. Dusk thought through the haze of reassembling. A little? Even I disappeared!!!! You said nothing like this could happen when we joined up! Dusk thought in a highly irritated tone. Well I haven’t ever had so much aggressive darkness in my system ever. I don’t know why you dissipated, but your back, so I assume it’s ok. Dusk said astutely. Dusk decided it would be a wise move to evacuate Kindrell’s body so he could make sure it was fine, which it was. “There’s nothing wrong with my wings, is there?” the pony asked nervously as he stretched out and closely examined his wings. He left out a sigh of relief, wings meeting his expectations.
“Never again.” Kindrell gasped.
“I shouldn’t have to do it again. The darkness is definitely in the water, but something or someone put a lot into Pinkie Pie, they probably didn’t get the desired result, but they must have been content with the outcome to leave it behind…” Dusk said as he trailed off into thought.
“Well… What would they have expected? And why would they be content with a maniacal butcher-pony?” Kindrell asked with a mix of concern and fear. Dusk sensed his fear and immediately shook the emotion from Kindrell using some of his energy as he shot him a serious look.
“They might have expected some kind of darkness outbreak, but what they got was something that manifested fast and powerfully.” Dusk said.
Pinkie Pie moaned as she began to wake. She could hardly think at all… She heard some kind of fuzzy noises from somewhere in front of her, but it was too fuzzy and far-away sounding to even try and make out. When something did make sense it was odd, but odd was normal to Pinkie Pie. She eventually heard something about missing leaves. But then a voice sounded familiar, and that recognition shot Pinkie Pie into an emotional shock. That voice…
“Look, how could I have taken the zemsieng leaves if I was even physical?” Dusk protested.
“I’ll think of something. You’re still going to have to make up for the mat by the way. Rumors spiraled that I’m a weirdo already.” Kindrell said agitatedly.
“They wouldn’t start if you didn’t sleep in a lake. Pegasi tend to sleep in trees too.” Dusk exclaimed. Dusk sent a bolt of dark energy at the silent and terrified pony that was lying on the ground.
“What was that about?” Kindrell asked worriedly.
“Just fixing her memory. I don’t want her to remember what the darkness made her do. She’s just as much a victim.” Dusk said with sadness in his voice, “C’mon, let’s get her to Ponyville.” He said as he used his power to lift her and set her on Kindrell’s back.
After the long walk to town, Kindrell was as tired as he could be. Carrying a pony on your back for hours tends to be a little exhausting. When someone noticed Kindrell carrying Pinkie Pie late in the afternoon, he felt as if he had been saved. When the pony was off his back, he slumped to the floor and let out a big sigh. He managed to make his way to the lake where he just waded in the water a bit, relaxing. He got numerous congratulations but was too tired to care for any of them.
“So you’re the one who found Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie?” a voice said as it walked to the water. Kindrell had his back turned to the water, but when he looked around, he saw it was Twilight Sparkle. Something in him clicked slightly, he didn’t know what or why, but his heart picked up beat.
“Yeah, they were in the forest.” Kindrell said as he walked up the shore. Why can’t I focus all the sudden? My thoughts have never been so scattered…
“Well, thank you. So your name is …?” she asked him. C’mon, answer her, why is it so hard to talk all of the sudden? Kindrell yelled at himself in his head.
“Kindrell. I got it some time ago, a friend gave it to me like a nick-name, and it just sorta stuck.” Kindrell managed to say in a calm tone, which was odd considering the storm roaring in his head. “Well, I’m very tired, so I think I’ll go sleep, see you tomorrow.” Kindrell said, with a sliver of nervousness. Twilight just smiled and waved as she left. When Kindrell got to his house he was greeted by Dusk, who had brought a large snake inside.
“Why am I not surprised?” Kindrell said in a dull voice.
“His name is Pete.” Dusk said smoothly.
“No. No snakes, I’m too busy trying to keep you from waking the neighbors at night.” Kindrell mocked in his still dull voice. Dusk gaped and put one of his hoof up to his chest and said, “Well I never.”
Dusk put the snake outside and said something too it before coming in with his head held low and a sad look on his face. “You never let me do anything fun.” Dusk said in a child-like tone.
“Well maybe if you behave and don’t make me disappear I might consider getting you a pet. Besides, your supposed to be secretive here, right? Get a pet ‘when the people accept your guard’. Who knows, maybe I’ll get that one pet you wanted so bad… What was it?” Kindrell asked the nightmare, but he appeared to be sleeping on the couch. One thing Kindrell had learned is a nightmare never really sleeps, even if his eyes never shut, but he decided he would sleep some too.
< In Kindrell’s dream >
Kindrell’s dreams were always under control by Dusk, so whenever Kindrell slept, he could create what he wanted without risk of a bad or strange dream. Kindrell’s favorite area was a large cliff looking over a beach that touched the ocean. Near the cliff were some houses that Kindrell added to give the place a lived feel to it. This place relaxed Kindrell greatly, so it was the preferred place for their "conferences".
“Yes I realize I have to lie low, you can stop now.” Dusk told Kindrell. Dusk was much more serious in their conferences, which made them easier to deal with him, but his serious tone would easily make anyone nervous.
Kindrell decided he wanted a breezy feel to the air. He wished he could smell the sea, but he couldn’t remember what is smelled like. He left out a deep sigh and murmured something about the ocean as he laid down.
“Pinkie Pie is no doubt going to be sick for a while, more ginger water should help, but don’t let her have any sweets, might undo the memory process.” Dusk said.
“You may have done Rainbow Dash’s memory spell a little much.” Kindrell said as he yet again let out a sigh.
“Get a hold of yourself. I don’t care if you have feelings for Twilight, you don’t even know her. Focus, this world depends on it.” Dusk said with a tinge of frustration.
“What?”
“Please, you’re an open book. Nightmare, remember? I know your feelings before you do.”
“Oh, yeah. Something about her got to, me…”
“Then stop letting it get to you. After Pinkie Pie is taken care of maybe we can establish Ponyville as the frontlines against darkness in this world. We don’t have the Elements of Harmony to put in the Princess’s lap and fix everything. The light won’t help us until we have three of the major areas in this world.” Dusk said firmly. He had told Kindrell too many times, in fact Kindrell once did and impression, but that just made Dusk mad. Needless to say, Kindrell hasn’t done an impression of Dusk since then.
Author's Note
Bit new to this whole writing thing. If I get good feed back, I'll definately keep working on the story.
“Nox is willing to give me 10 vesseled nightmares and 10 shades.” Dusk said as he was discussing their war plans on defeating the darkness in the area. “Also, the food and water in the town is infected. Convince the people to stockpile the food and water it so the shades can cleanse it.” Dusk continued.
“What’s a shade again? Sorry, still can’t focus.” Kindrell said.
“Shades are the basic forms of nightmares. You know, what a creature becomes after they become a nightmare. They have little comprehension of emotion and independence. It’s ok for your lack of focus now. This is your dream after all.” Dusk said in an understanding tone.
“Ok. Get the people to gather all the food and water, help Pinkie Pie recover from darkness after-effects, anything else?” Kindrell said looking directly at Dusk. Dusk looked over to the mock ocean and thought for a while.
“Not at the moment. Once I get my reinforcements, were taking Clouds Dale. The darkness is spreading through the water. We need to capture the clouds.” Dusk finished as he looked up at the clear skies, he was annoyed for a second, but then he made a few clouds appear to help express his point. “Your dreams need clouds.” Dusk barked at Kindrell who started to laugh.
“Why does this remind me of when we first met?” Kindrell said with the front of his front hooves gently dangling over the cliff.
“I don’t know. Insanity? They say it spreads from friends. Let me know when you figure out which one is crazy, I can straighten them out.” Dusk said as he formed more clouds and made random shapes.
“I don’t know either…” Kindrell said as he trailed off.
A year earlier, in the original Equestria
It was a calm day in Canterlot. The breeze came through gently, setting loose fabric in the market areas swaying. Kindrell was here with his adoptive mother, trying to find a place of his own in the bustling city. Kindrell was waiting in his mother’s living room waiting for a friend who wanted to come over. Kindrell was always glad for Lightning Rod to come over. In the time Kindrell had come to live in Canterlot, he had few friends, so he often spent time with each of them, but Lightning Rod the most. Kindrell was glad to finally hear the knock on his door after waiting for awhile. Kindrell opened the door with a big smile, “Lightning.”
“Dude, wait till you see what I got planned for today.”
“What? Finally found a mare I might be interested in?” Kindrell said as he rolled his eyes.
“You know it’d be so much easier if you weren’t so picky. But no, I got something better planned.” Lightning Rod said, but it seemed to lack his normal enthusiasm.
“What?” Kindrell said while he wondered what his Pegasi friend was plotting.
“C’mon, you’ll see.” Lightning Rod brought Kindrell out into the busy streets and near the edge of town. This was where the smaller, quieter activity was, but nothing scandalous. It didn’t seem right to Kindrell to see his friend near this part of town unless they were flying over it, but never the less, he followed his friend. Something… Seems off about him. He usually makes jokes and small talk with people as he goes places… Huh… Kindrell thought. “Almost here.” Lightning Rod said.
“Hey S-, oh sorry sir.” A young voice called off in the distance after bumping into somepony. Kindrell looked behind him to see another friend of his, Flower Petal. The little unicorn walked up to Kindrell with her saddle baskets full of all sorts of flowers. “Aren’t they just lovely? Some nice business man said if I can grow more like these, he would try and get some in the palace!” the white filly said, squealed in excitement.
“Wow, they are pretty. You must have put a lot of work into them. I bet when the next ones bloom, they’ll be prettier. Then they’d have to be in the palace.”
“You think so? Oh, you’re the best!” She said as she gave Kindrell a big hug, her curly green mane almost landing in his eyes.
Weird, by now Lightning would have given her a noogie and joined in with the encouragement. Flower Petal then just realized Lightning’s presence put a hoof to her mane to protect it. Lightning Rod just turned his orange head back to his intended path of travel. “What’s up with him?” Flower Petal asked lowering her hoof.
“Well, gotta go.” Kindrell said to her as he trotted off after his friend.
< Dusk POV >
Ugh. Why did I have to get moved to the planes of imagination…? Why couldn’t they just keep me on the front lines at the human worlds…? And why is this place full of small horses? You’d think a place conjured from imagination would be a little more diverse… It’s taking too long for my energy to adjust. I feel weak, like the shades. It’s so annoying…. Dusk thought to himself. He hadn’t achieved his solid looking state, and was slightly lucid while he was adjusting to the difference of energy flow in this world. He had been floating about Canterlot castle, trying to kill time. He was careful not be seen, considering this world didn’t properly know of nightmares. He decided to float up to the clouds and look down at the bustling city while he hid in one of the fluffy white shapes.
Nox, this world better be important. Dusk said as he watched the ponies go about their business. Rippling waves smashed against Dusk, immediately sending him into battle mode. He scoured the city and noticed an orange pony seemed to be filling to the brim with darkness. Dusk slowly moved his cloud over head. Thank goodness no one bothers looking up.
< General POV >
Lightning Rod had brought Kindrell to a small open space area. It was rather close to the walls of the city, and was unusually quiet. Kindrell found it odd that there were no ponies moving around this area at all. The sun was high in the sky, and the clouds were gently rolling along. Lightning Rod stopped here; Kindrell just thought he was taking a break. Is something troubling him? He’s always been so care free… I wonder what it could be.
His friend turned to him to say something, but something caught his eye, and Kindrell couldn’t focus on what he was saying. “Is… Your tongue black?” Kindrell asked hesitantly. His friend had a terrified look in his eyes and mouthed “help” when his teeth erupted with bone-like claws that slashed at the opposing side of his muzzle. The claws tore the skin that clung to Lightning Rod’s face apart sending pieces of skins and blood to go everywhere. Suddenly, a pair of large boney spikes thrusted from the dead pony’s eyes and split into narrower spikes and rapped themselves around his entire muzzle, leaving his once exposed skull covered. His spine immediately burst outward, now several feet longer. His red-speckled rump lay feet away connected by an elongated spine. His rear section picked itself up and laid itself on its side as its legs exploded and more boney structure began to form around the corpse’s remains.
Kindrell was absolutely terrified. No bad dream could equate to what was happening in front of him. He pushed himself up against and imaginary wall and was stuck there, paralyzed with something beyond horror. The abomination that continued to tear apart his best friend continued to evolve, adding rippling red fleshy tubes down its newly formed appendages.
Suddenly a dark dome appeared around the creature and the stunned pony, and a ghastly form phased through its membrane. Dusk didn’t notice the small pony at first, and just had his sights on the Phage infectee. “Phage? In Nox’s world? He’s gonna be pissed.” Dusk said as he tried to flare up his energy.
Dusk threw several concentrations of his nightmare energy at the monster that was preparing to hit something with its long bone-stilt legs. Dusk now noticed the blue statue can something clicked instinctively. His combat mode mentality switched to a more defensive purpose as he shot his entity between the Phage and the pony. Dusk opened his mouth and a black orb appeared in front of it, within a split second of its appearance a stream of black lightning left the orb and charged into the Phage, causing it to rear back and topple over. This is gonna suck, but here we go. Dusk thought as he charged into its ribcage area. The bone monstrosity laid knocked over, motionless, for a minute before blood exploded from it and Dusk walked out with a strange tear shaped black creature struggling between his teeth. The blank minded Kindrell suddenly lost all feeling in his legs as he fainted. Dusk lifted the dome, which made its contents invisible to the outside world, and flew it the peak of the mountain that Canterlot sat perched upon.
Kindrell slowly woke, his entire body felt like a statue as his vision began to paint a circular room that was well lit. Some tall black Pegasus stood over him. Are his eyes entirely white? Kindrell thought as his blurry eyes tried to make sense of things. Kindrell eyes filled with horror as memories of what happened moments ago. “Where’s… Lightning Rod?” Kindrell managed to croak even through the protest of his dry throat.
“Dead. He died as soon as the Phage infected him.” Dusk turned his head to pitch black tear shaped creature writhing in a cage. “Here, drink this, it’s just water.” Dusk said as he slid a small glass towards the pony that drank it all almost choking on the life sustaining liquid.
“What do you mean he died? What is the ‘Phage’? Who are you? What are you? Wh-?”
“The Phage is a parasite of pure darkness that enters a living creature’s body and kills it by doing so. But the Phage takes time building energy before it destroys the living creature entirely, and while it’s building power the infected creature is conscious throughout the process. The darkness doesn’t discriminate either, its infected things and twisted their being to worse than what you have witnessed.”
“But you said the creature dies? That doesn’t make sense!”
“No, it doesn’t. That’s why we nightmares hunt Phage and other forms of darkness that threaten living creatures.” Dusk said smoothly.
“Nightmares? Nightmares are bad dreams! Why would you help me!?” Kindrell shouted.
“We got that name from the bad dreams we use to track darkness. Ever wondered why you wake up in the middle of them? Nightmares are creatures that once belonged to the darkness, but we left it and now work for the light, or everything right in the world. My eyes are pure white because the core of my energy is made of light energy. My name is Dusk. For now, I will call you Kindrell. You’ve witnessed some of the horror of the darkness, as soon you will have the chance to work against it.”
“…What do you mean? Work against… Like a super hero or something?”
“No, as a vessel. A vessel is a living creature that allows a nightmare to inhabit their body to give them power. You will have the option to make sure nothing like what happened to your best friend ever happens to anybody.”
“Me? But…”
“But you haven’t tried to run. Something in me tells me you’re not going to either, even if you’re not some strong-pony.”
Kindrell sat their speechless. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to stand up against something like what he saw…
“So what happens if I become a vessel or whatever? Do I have control over who ‘inhabits’ me?”
“Of course, your body, your rules. Besides, you can only be paired with one nightmare.”
“Who would I be paired with?”
“Me. I am the one who saved you, Nox thinks its fitting.”
“Who’s Nox?”
“A powerful nightmare, he’s my boss of sorts.”
“Of sorts?” Kindrell said now not sure of what to say.
“I’m stronger, older, and smarter than him, but I’m a frontlines kind of guy. I never cared for the big time leadership positions.”
“So, you have your own kind of personalities?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t we?”
“I don’t know….”
“Come, you’re going to be given you option to decide soon.” Dusk said as a spiral stair case going down appeared to Kindrell’s left.
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“I work for the light, I can’t lie unless under very specific circumstances, and this isn’t one of them.” Dusk said as he began to walk down the spiral stair case.
The walk down the stair case was a long one. Kindrell got bored waiting for it to end and just when he was about to complain, it stopped. Kindrell entered a large dark room. The ceiling was impossible to see and walls stretched so far out the place looked endless from the inside. Even though the expansive room was dark, Kindrell could see clearly. This boggled Kindrell as he looked around and saw dozens of normal ponies and what he assumed were nightmares as if they were outside.
“Hey, it’s a new guy.” One of two ponies said as the pair walked over to Dusk and Kindrell. “You must be the famous Dusk, who’s this?” A brown unicorn said as she sat down in front of the two.
“His name is Kindrell” Dusk said.
“Actually, my real name is-”
“Everyone who comes into contact with the nightmares is given a second name to be referred to by.” Dusk interrupted.
“Yeah, my second name is Erivic, his is Tolvr.” The brown mare said gesturing to Tolvr, a green earth stallion, who nodded.
“Were after Nox, have you seen him?” Dusk said casually.
“Yeah, he’s at his platform. He went ballistic when you brought in that Phage parasite.” Tolvr said.
“I could imagine, even I didn’t know it was there until I saw it. Kindrell, were going to fly to the center of the cavern,” turning to the blue Pegasus.
“Uh, ok…” Kindrell said as he outstretched his wings. Kindrell and Dusk flew up, and then forward for a small period of time before reaching a large floating platform in the darkness. On the platform was a desk that was a few feet from the center, behind the desk was a large black Minotaur, beside the desk was another tall Pegasi who was swaying their tail like a cat. Now that Kindrell thought about it, the cat-nightmare looked a lot like Dusk. When Dusk and Kindrell landed the Minotaur immediately began talking in a very deep voice.
“This is the one who saw the Phage? He’s lucky you got there before that thing had a chance to use his flesh to make more.”
“He is, isn’t he Nox?” Dusk said casually.
“Yes, yes. Now what will be your decision?”
“What? Already? I just got here…!” Kindrell said worriedly.
“What? Dusk, how much of the cavern did you show him?” Dusk simply lowered his head a little.
“Oh, I see. He’s just a little excited. Dusk you should have shown him more, it would be like a look in to what he’s facing.”
“I know…” Dusk said sadly.
Kindrell found it odd that Nox was almost scolding Dusk as if he were a child. Isn’t he older and stuff? Kindrell thought as he now paid a little more attention to the tail-swaying statue. “Who’s he?”
“Him? He’s Auss.” Dusk said coolly.
“Hello.” He said, causing Nox to near jump as he twisted his head to look at him.
“You’re supposed to be at Ponyville doing surveillance!” Nox yelled.
“Oh, right.” He said before he disappeared.
“What the-!? Where did he go!?” Kindrell almost shouted.
“He faded into shadows for a moment. Nightmares remember?” Dusk explained.
“Oh right….”
“Now, about your decision.” Nox said bringing the subject back up.
“Oh, uh… I honestly don’t know.”
“That’s ok. You’ve been a little rushed into this, perhaps you would like some time to think about it. Does a week sound good?”
“What- a week? I’m supposed to wait a week here?”
“What? No, of course not. You can leave and think about it, Dusk will accompany you, think of it like a preview.” Nox’s voice said in its deep growl.
“Come home? But I barely know him! Besides, what if my mom sees him? Oh gosh, tell me this is a dream.” Kindrell couldn’t help but start sinking to the floor.
“Am I really that bad?” Dusk chimed in.
“What? Oh, well, I don’t know, but how would my mother react?” something slammed into Kindrell’s’ thoughts, and it seemed brilliant, “If you can look that much like a pony, can you look more like me?” Kindrell turned his head to look at Dusk.
“No, that’s why I need a vessel. If it were that easy, I would have done it by now. I can be rather sneaky though, does that help at all?”
“How sneaky?” Dusk slowly turned transparent, and then disappeared entirely. “H-how long can you do that?” Kindrell asked looking all around as if Dusk were going to surprise attack him.
“As long as I need, the only problem is I’m technically all around and not in one specific area.” Dusk said, his voice ringing all around Kindrell’s head.
“Okay okay! Please stop that, it’s creepy.” Dusk then gathered his energy into the form he had previously. “You know what; I think I’ll leave now.”
“Okay, Dusk show him the door.” Nox said calmly as he turned around from his desk and shouted words in an unfamiliar language. Kindrell turned around, looking to where they had flew from, and for a second, he thought he heard a sniffle from somewhere. The two flew the duration back to the stairs, and Kindrell decided to fly up them and save time.
“Okay, how do I get out of here now?” Kindrell questioned as he looked at Dusk. Dusk’s face devoid of any emotion, and he sat silent and still as a part of the wall slowly opened up. The two flew out of the peak of the mountain and Dusk turned invisible to conceal himself. Kindrell flew directly to his house, mind dazed and filled to the brim with talk with the nightmares.
When Kindrell opened the door to his house, he was greeted with his mother; she had a light green colored coat and a straight-down olive mane with a spyglass for a cutie mark, “Oh honey, how did things go with Lightning?”
“Uh, he…” Kindrell just trailed off and looked down.
“What happened?”
“I... don’t know…”
“What happened, he’s not hurt, is he?” she asked as came up and stroked Kindrell’s back gently.
“I-I don’t know what happened. He’s……. he’s… dead.” Kindrell said as his breath became strained. His mind was too busy earlier making sense of things to remember the loss of his best friend, and now it finally hit him; his friend was dead, gone, never to be seen again. Kindrell met Lightning Rod only a few years after his mother, and Kindrell had always gotten along with the energetic colt, so now the loss of his friend just superseded all other concerns. His mother sat next to him, gently stroking him, and then when his sobbing increased a little, she pulled him close. “The look on his face when it happened… It’s going to haunt me…” Kindrell managed to sputter out resting his head against his mother. His mother just sat there, holding him, letting him vent.
It had been an hour since Kindrell broke down in the living room, and he was just lying in bed staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t know if he could ever come to terms with Lightning’s death.
“Is there anything I can do?” a voice said. It was Dusk, who was standing in the corner of the room facing Kindrell.
“I don’t know.”
“This is the sort of stuff we nightmares try to prevent.”
“And how can I help stop that? How am I supposed to fight those ‘things’?”
“A nightmare is stronger when their energy bonds with a living creature, if you became my vessel, I could lend you some of my power. If you learned to control it to an extent, you could fight dark creatures. Besides, what you saw was some of the most dangerous of their numbers.”
“Learn how to manipulate dark energy? What do I look like, a unicorn?”
“You’re more than you realize, if only you could see it. And besides, my energy works nothing like magic. You would be directing its flow, not commanding it, it’d be different.”
“Whatever…” Kindrell said as he lost interest.
“You need to get out of this house. Moping isn’t doing you any good.”
“Not if any more of those ‘things’ are out there.”
“There aren’t.” Dusk as he squinted his eyes slightly. Kindrell was still looking up at the ceiling and took no notice.
“You didn’t know there was one last time. Not sure if I’m willing to take the gamble.”
Dusk was now shooting daggers at the Pegasus. His gaze never locked with Kindrell’s, but his left wing twitched at his side.
“Dinner…!” Kindrell’s mother called out. Kindrell was glad to escape this conversation after he dug a hole for himself. Dusk had been formal, but he felt panic wash over himself earlier.
Dinner was simple, a salad with a few spice and nuts in it. Dusk stood near the doorway of the dining area, but wasn’t looking at the two as they ate. “Maybe we could go out and get desert?” Kindrell’s mother chimed in after he finished his food.
“Uh, no. I’m going out in a bit.” His mother gave a smile of relief after hearing this.
“Good. Hey, maybe we can go to the beach tomorrow.”
The idea of visiting the sea slammed into Kindrell’s thoughts. He had forgotten about on the things he adored, and now he had to go out and invite friends. A big smile made itself onto Kindrell’s face.
Kindrell told as many of his friends as ho could find, and was looking for more to invite. Dusk became a shadow that trailed him. As soon as Dusk saw the opportunity he whispered to Kindrell “You should buy a jar.”
“Why should I buy a jar?” he whispered back.
“You’re going to the ocean, and I can tell you love the ocean. Take a jar of sea water and sand as a memento.”
“Good idea…” Kindrell smile grew slightly at the thought of this. If he ever got depressed, he'd look at his jar of sea water…
Kindrell ended up buying 6 fairly sized jars. That sales lady was too good… Kindrell decided he would give a jar to his mother to remember him by when he finally left the house, give one to Flower Petal, and leave one for Lightning Rod’s funeral. He decided to etch “May the sea remember you.” Into it, and Lightning Rod’s parents decided to have a special area on the tomb stone for the jar. Kindrell was still debating on what to do with the other two jars until he heard another whisper, “Could I have one?” Dusk said, his white eyes appearing in Kindrell’s shadow that hung directly in front of him.
“Why would you want a jar of sea water? You’re a nightmare.”
Kindrell could make out the faint outline of his shadow’s head drooping.
“Well… Just don’t get it broken. Glass is hard and dangerous to clean.” With that comment the shadow’s head and ears perked up.
Tomorrow was going to be amazing. He invited his 5 friends to come with him, some of their parents were coming, no biggy, and everyone was going to play some games, swim, picnic, it was going to be the best time in a long time.
“I’ll make sure of it.” Dusk said, startling Kindrell.
“Okay, how?”
“I’ll make the perfect weather, I already know the perfect spot, and I’ll alter the wave height to your desired outcome.”
“Cool, but I’m a Pegasus, I got the weather part down.”
“No, I insist. This whole thing to cheer you up, no need to make you work considering what’ve you’ve been through. Besides, this will be cake compared to what I normally deal with.”
“…Thanks.”
