Chapter XX: The Joys of Pain and Fear

"Hey, tell me about Helena." I asked.

"Well, she is hard to defeat. She enjoys pain and blood, they're like chocolate and sweets to her."

Sanguine… I heard of that word before. It's someone who sees blood and pain as a humorous joke, like a sadist. I had a friend like that once, but he didn't last long. Those people makes me wonder, how many people out there actually love pain?

I guess, about a hundred of them. People are weird these days, weird enough to make you confused. I don't understand them.

"Well, this is going to be tough." I whispered. Helena likes pain, how am I going to beat her? Maybe the same way what my ring did to Dahilia and Lusty. No, maybe things would be different this time. The two were pretty easy to beat, because the ring did all the work for me, Opening their eyes to the real truth of LOVE and HOPE. I hope she's easy to defeat.

"But her weakness is affection; you have to make her feel like you love her. That way, you can beat her easy peasy!" Dahilia spoke.

"Thanks for the tip, Dahilia. I'll use that."

Lusty gave me directions, "Right here, take a left and then right. Straight forward, and then you can see Shadow Boutique."

"Nice, now let's go fight her."

Two down, four to go. I ran the direction of Shadow Boutique and stopped and saw my friends.

"Ray! My man, thank God you're okay!" I shouted.

"Dude! Man, you have no idea what we have been through." Ray replied.

Michael patted me in the back, "Nice to see you are fine, Ryan."

"Likewise, man."

Suddenly, a pony trotted towards me, "So, you're Ryan? Nice to meet you, I'm Silver by the way."

"Ryan Wilson."

"He's the first human who have ever stepped foot here in Equestria! He's also a super human like me!" Ray added.

"Holy crap, that is awesome. I thought I was the first one."

"Actually, I'm not super human. I'm actually a normal dude. All people have special abilities and they just have to discover them."

"Deep… So deep…" I spoke.

"So what were you doing Ryan?" Razor asked.

"I'm trying to fight the Night 6 in order to save the Mane 6."

"Wait, WHAT?!" They said altogether.

"Dark found out that you escaped and got ahold of the Mane 6 as hostage. I have to save them before Dark kills them."

"Dude, what should we do?" Michael said nervously,

"You have to go someplace safe. This is my fight, I can't afford anyone to be hurt by Dark anymore. I know a place. Let's go…"

We walked around Night Forge to go to our destination. A couple of minutes later, we arrived at Green's house. I knocked on the door and opened to see Black Star on the front of the door.

"Ryan! Oh, it's great to see you again! How are you?" She hugged me with great joy.

"I'm fine, Star. Look, these guys have to stay here. I need to fight the Night 6 and I can't afford to lose them. Can they stay?"

"Sure, they can! Is Dark giving you a hard time?"

"BIG TIME… She had my other friends and my marefriend as hostage, and I have to defeat the Night 6 to free them before Dark does something bad to them. I defeated the other two; Lustyshy and Dahilia Pie, right now they're in my head. Now, there are 4 ponies to go."

"Looks like you're doing great, Ryan! But beware; as you progress, the enemies that you will fight will be more harder than the last…"

"I'll do my best, ma'am. Guys, stay here. Black Star and Greenfall will take care of you while I'm gone. If something goes terribly wrong, I'll contact you through my ring."

"Understood. Take care, dude!" Michael spoke. I walked away from the cottage and looked back to see them waving back at me. I waved back and continued on my way.

"You have nice friends, Ryan." Dahilia spoke.

"Yeah, I have. I make pretty good friends."

"You must live a pretty good life." Lustyshy added.

"Not really. Life sometimes has really sharp curves. If you go too fast, you can hurt yourself and problems will go your way."

"Why do you always say these meaningful words anyway?" Lustyshy asked.

"I experienced things. Things that I never thought would happen. When those things happened, I learn from it. Never do the same mistakes again and each mistake has an explanation, 'Why did it happen?', 'What was the reason that it happened?'. Once you find the answer, then the answer will define everything. You can use them in your future because it will help you become a better person. We learn from experiences. There, we can make conclusions that we haven't yet really took part of yet."

"Wise words from the great Ryan. I'm starting to like you!" Lustyshy proclaimed.

Yeah, I was that guy. Even though I learn slowly time to time, I can explain things even though I never did experience them. I learn from what I watch, read, listen, see or do.

"Hey, we're here. Looks kind of… Nicer than the previous cottages."

"Hey!" They spoke in annoyance. I snickered at them.

"Learn to take a joke, guys. Okay, let's go in."

I entered the boutique and what I have to say about the interiors are pretty nice. Nice-looking for a nightmare unicorn. Jesus…

Suddenly, Helena showed up down from the stairs, "Oh, why hello Mr. Wilson! It's a pleasure to meet you." Then she shook my hand.

"Likewise, Helena. Beautiful house you have here."

"Why, thank you dear! I do fashion designs for people who like to be fabulous."

"Well, that's one nice thing about you that I first ever heard of."

"Would you like to see some of my designs?" She asked.

"Sure thing! Why not?"

"Follow me, deary!"

She trotted away from me and stopped suddenly… She looked at me like she wanted to murder me, AND RAPE ME. It sent a chill up my spine, that's the most creepiest thing I have ever seen in my life, until now.

"Aaalrighty then… This is not going to be good." I whispered quietly to myself.

I followed her; she then stopped at a nearby closet and opened it with her magic. What I saw was the worst thing I have ever imagined after the fucking organ cake at Dark's party.

Organs used as fucking decoration for several fabric designs. Not only organs but other body parts and even flesh!

I looked away quickly, "Aw alright! I'd seen enough, please close the fucking closet for the love of God!" I shouted.

"Why? Isn't it fabulous? It's so revolutionary and beautiful!"

"Revolutionary, my butt! Man, this is just sick!"

She closed the closet and didn't say anything for a long moment. The atmosphere was tense and heavy, I was beginning to sweat. Something's going to happen, and it's a BAD ONE. I can feel it…

She began to laugh hysterically and creepily. I followed to not let things be awkward.

"Do you want to play with me?" She asked like she was a 5 year old. My heart began to beat fast, I was bathing in my own sweat. I began to have goosebumps.

I tried talking to Lusty and Dahilia, "Sorry, can't help you. You just have to figure this out. We can't interfere with your fights."

And then there was nothing, but a tense atmosphere and a crazy mare out to get me.

*KTAANG!*

And in a quick flash, Helena grabbed a knife and almost sliced me in half. Luckily, I made a shield and blocked the incoming attack.

"I WANT YOUR BLOOD, RYAN… GIVE IT TO ME!" She was starting her crazy talk, straight from a bad dream… MINE…

"Get off me, you crazy mare!"

I pushed her back but she continued to attack me. Swing by swing, I blocked her every move; but each move was more powerful and faster than the last.

"Damn it! Take this!" Seeing the opportune moment, I quickly punched her on the face. She was knocked back by the force and laid down on the floor for a while.

"Is it over?" I asked.

But instead, she laughed. She laughed and laughed like a crazy maniac after me.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU GOT?!" She yelled at me. I charged at her and punched her harder, she began to spit blood. But it seemed to have no effect on her whatsoever.

She stood up and taunted at me, "Come on… Hit me harder! You hit like a mare!"

I did a beatdown on her, hit after hit after hit after hit. And she stood up like nothing happened. There were bruises and wounds on her, but still she stood strong.

"Damn it, there's no point taking her down with force. She'll just keep taking all of my beatings until eventually, I'll kill her! Unless…"

I did some critical thinking on this. Suddenly, I remembered Dahilia's tips from a while ago.

Affection is her weakness and using that will grant me more advantages in defeating her. I charged at her, and grabbed her body and slamming her down to the floor. Gaining the upper hand, I massaged her body. I don't know how that's connected to Compassion, but it's all I got.

"AGH! Let me go! I will kill you!" She yelled. She struggled at my grip, but I held her tightly so she doesn't get away. I continued to caress her body, cuddling her in the floor. It's those things that I came up that would come up effectively.

"I can help you, Helena. You can live in a more happy life with no pain and suffering! You just have to… AGGGH!"

Suddenly, my ring glowed violet light. The aura grew bigger and stronger, it engulfed both of us in it.

We were lifted up in the air and I was turned into the Indigo Tribe Lantern. Then I began reciting their oath.

"In hurtful day, in distressful night

Compassion's light is our might,

For those who linger in pain and fright,

We give you now, COMPASSION'S MIGHT!"

The aura grew stronger and Helena's eyes began to glow indigo. It seemed to be working…

I then began speak the eye-opening speech, something like that.

"Pain is just a mere weakness of everyone. It slows you, brainwashes you and does something to you in every single way, finally ending up to your death; either by your hands, or by the hands of others. Compassion is a strong desire, an emotion of deep concern for others or by you. We help others because they need us, they need our help for them to still live on. They are fellow friends, loved ones and etc. and they need us. We help a GREAT FRIEND IN NEED, either a stranger or someone you know. Do you wish to help your fellow companion, or watch them die a horrible death?"

"*grunts* NO! I… DON'T WANT TO… AGH!"

The aura was unbelievably more powerful. She finally spoke, "Compassion…"

"As you wish… Helena, The Element of Sanguine… You now have the ability to feel great compassion."

The aura flew through her. Filling her with the emotion of compassion; When it was finished, the light faded and we were lifted down. I blacked out for a minute due to the energy of the ring. I woke up by a voice calling out to me.

"Ryan? Ryan, wake up." Helena shook me up. I opened my eyes to see Helena's worried face. The ring seemed to have changed her ways to a compassionate pony.

"Whoa… That was rad…" I said while rubbing my head. I stood up, still dizzy from the ring's effort to exert energy.

"Are you okay? Can I get you anything?" Helena asked.

"I'm okay. I'm fine… Whew! Alright, 3 down, 3 to go."

Something weird happened a while ago. The ring didn't even react early than it used to be, but then, I figured it out. In order to activate the lantern, you have to do something that is connected to that emotion (e.g. Compassion). The early two was just a free taste of easy. The last 6 would be different and more harder.

"Can I come with you?"

"Sure thing!" Her horn shined, and then she became smoke and disappeared.

"Hi, Helena!" Dahilia greeted.

"Hello, Dahilia. Hello, Lustyshy!" She greeted back.

"Alright. Next is, uhhh… Penumbra Sparkle? The Night Forge Library… Okay, now where is that?"

Helena pointed, "It's just right around the corner of here. If you see a really big tree, that's it."

"Nice. Thanks. Now let's go fight the other three!" I walked out of the boutique and went for the Night Forge Library.

"What are we doing here? We should be helping Ryan fight the Night 6!" Silver said impatiently.

"At ease, Silver. Ryan told us that we have to stay here until he defeats all of them." Michael spoke.

"He's right Silver, Ryan pleaded us to stay here. Dark assigned Ryan for a reason, and we DON'T wanna join in, maybe she'll find out where we are and capture us again." Razor followed.

Silver sighed. They waited for Ryan to defeat all of the Night 6 so that they can join him and somehow fight Dark. It was a city of boredom, they don't know what to do in this condition.

"What now?" Ray asked.

"Now, we wait. We don't want to get the rest of the Mane 6 killed because of us." Silver replied.

"Alright…"

"This is it, right?"

"Yup! This is the Night Forge Library." Dahilia replied.

"Alright, let's go in."

*Knock* *Knock*

I knocked on the door. The knob turned and it revealed Penumbra Sparkle at the doorstep.

"Welcome, Ryan! Come in, please!" She politely asked me to enter. I walked right in and saw that the library has like books of everything. A huge collection of knowledge. I was impressed by this.

"What a large library…"

"Thanks! I love reading books, that's why I am smart."

"Very impressive, Ms. Sparkle." I said very politely. Penumbra Sparkle, the Element of Illusions or Fear. Alright… Guess, whatever scary things she might pop in my face, I better be prepared for it.

"So, Penumbra, you run a local library?"

"Yes, I do. This also serves as my home."

"That makes sense."

"So, are we ready to fight, Ryan?"

"I need a little rest first, Penumbra. The previous 3 fights I've been into drained a big chunk of my fighting energy."

"Alright, Ryan. Feel free to read some of my books."

I went to some shelves and grabbed books of my liking. I sat to a nearby chair and read some of it. Normally, I hated books; but to spend my time, I had to read some of it for old time's sake.

"You're into Science?" Penumbra asked.

"Yeah. I loved Science, it's so interesting if you read all of how all things works or something like that."

"That's what makes Science so fascinating."

I read the book for 30 minutes. I closed it and placed it back in the shelf, "Hey, Penumbra. Let's—… What the hell?"

I noticed that the library is moving, in a swaying motion. I was like on drugs or LSD. I tried to walk but my feet was asleep.

"Damn it! What is this?" I cursed.

Illusions! That's it! She's using illusions to scare her foe to death. That's why she was called The Element of Illusions!

Oh, Ryaaaan….

A creepy voice called my name. I had a guess who that is. "Penumbra! Show yourself!"

*giggle* You are weak, Ryan… You will never defeat me. I will bring out your worst fears and kill you with it…

A red mist appeared before me. It blinded me of my vision and suffocated me. After the mist cleared, I opened my eyes to see I was back at Ponyville but the town was destroyed. All of it was burned to the ground and destroyed.

"What the hell?" I thought. I explored around to see that all of the citizens gathered around on a familiar statue. I hid behind a bush and listened to one of them.

"Because of you… You destroyed our home! Our families and friends! All because you wanted to be some kind of hero! You are a failure, RYAN WILSON!"

I widened my eyes in shock; Me? Failed all of Equestria and Ponyville? Impossible! I stealthily walked closer to see who was talking.

"Celestia? And the rest of the Mane 6?" I whispered.

"I thought Ryan was a good person… But I guess we were wrong…" Rarity included. They walked away but Fluttershy remained.

I walked towards her. Silently tip-toeing to her to avoid startling her.

"Fluttershy?" I whispered. She turned around with her eyes filled with anger and disgust, staring at me. I was scared to even talk to her at this point.

"You… What are you doing here?!" She angrily yelled.

"What happened here?"

"What happened? You're asking me what happened when you're the one who done this?!"

"Fluttershy, calm—"

"I DON'T WANT TO CALM DOWN! YOU KILLED MY FAMILY, FRIENDS AND MY PETS! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT FAILED!"

I took hold of her shoulders and tried to reason with her, "No! I didn't fail. I'm still alive, ain't I? I can fix this!"

"How can you fix this if it already happened?!"

I paused for a moment, "…I don't know…"

"You don't know? Well, you better take a look around you. You did this to us."

But then it hit me, the way Fluttershy talked to me was different the way I expected. It was more firm and persuasive. She should've ignored me and cried, screaming 'It's your entire fault' over and over again.

"You're not Fluttershy…"

"What do you mean?!"

It's all an illusion. If there's one thing I know about myself, is that nothing can stand in my way. They'll see me on the top of the mountains victorious.

I grabbed her neck and slammed her to the ground, revealing Penumbra Sparkle disguising as Fluttershy and breaking free of the hallucination.

"How did you…" she spoke,

"I wasn't scared of a little failure…"

The ring shined yellow light, "You made me afraid… Now, I'm going to give you a taste of what it's like to be AFRAID…"

The aura surrounded her and unlocked her greatest fear. Fear of being forgotten…

"NO! No, please! Don't leave me! I'm your friend!"

"We were never your friend, Penumbra. You're just an egghead trying to get attention from strangers. LOSER! HAHAHAHAAH!"

"No! I am not a loser! I'm sorry, please come back!"

"Penumbra…" I called.

"Ryan? RYAN! PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Listen to me, Penumbra. Fear is a weakness. A weakness that slows us down, eventually we fail. Why do we have fear? To overcome them and be stronger. To overcome fear, you stand strong in front of it and let fear be afraid of you. Let FEAR, fear you… "

Penumbra stood up, facing her friends. "I am not an egghead. If it wasn't of our friendship, we wouldn't be alive right now. FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!"

"Congratulations, Penumbra Sparkle… You have overcome your greatest fear."

The yellow aura exploded, returning us to the real world. I opened my eyes to see Penumbra Sparkle lying down on the floor. I stood up and went to her, waking her up.

"*grunts* Ryan?"

"Wakey wakey, Sleeping Beauty." I mocked. I helped her up on her feet.

"Fear is a weakness, huh?"

"Yes it is. If you try to think about it, it's only trying to slow us and try to scare us."

"You're right… Thanks, Ryan!"

"No problem!"

I looked at my ring to see that Violet, Blue, Indigo and Yellow has been unlocked. What's left of the ring is Red, Green, Orange, Black and White. I'm almost there

"So, alright. 4 down, 2 to go. Next is… Ripperjack. Holy shit, I could tell by the name, she could be really tough to beat."

"She is. She's the Element of Death; she'll slice you with her scythe attached to her tail." Helena warned

"Death… Wow, that's pretty creepy."

"Tell me about it…"

"Want to join the others, Penumbra?"

"Would I?" Penumbra flashed her horn and disappeared.

"Hello, everybody!" Penumbra greeted.

"Hello, Penumbra! So, you're scared of us leaving you?"

"Oh, shut up…"

"Alright everybody! We're down to the final 2! Next destination: Rotten Apple Acres? Okay then…"

"Ripperjack will be the second to the hardest. Better watch out for Razor Dash." Penumbra warned me.

"Let's do this!"

I ran out of the treehouse and ran to where Ripperjack's location is…

"Princess, what do we do? This pesky human is tearing down on your subjects!" Wind asked.

Dark did nothing but to stare outside of her window. Pondering about Ryan and how to kill him once and for all.

"Princess?" Thorn spoke. Dark stared at them for a moment, it filled the two with chills up their spines.

Dark's horn shined, and came out a magic beam unto the two body guards, filling them with unimaginable dark energy. Transforming them into super ponies, a much more powerful kind of ponies.

"You will fight him after he defeats the final one of the Night 6. Stop him at all costs, understand?!"

The two guards are now stronger than ever, "Yes, Princess Dark Fusion…"

They flew out of the castle and went to fight Ryan.

"… Soon, Ryan… Soon, you will fight me, but not now…"