Episode 17: Light in Hell

Just as the Jaegers became the light of hell, the Nightbringers will become the darkness of hell, and show their world a power even greater than Yin and Yang with the help of their queen and king…

Terra was in her bedroom, holding a crystal ball that held a floating blob of light inside of it.

"I won't betray your memory, Leo…" Terra said to herself solemnly.

She was looking at the crystal ball she held in her hooves as she sat down on her bed.

"How did I overcome the fact that my husband had become a ghost…" Terra told herself, wearing a morbid expression on her face. "It's quite simple, really. When the body dies, the soul lives on. That I've believed since I was very young. But in recent times, that belief hasn't brought me the same comfort that it used to. Maybe because I once thought that when the soul left the body, it was supposed to be free. But now…"

Terra envisioned a dark mist consuming the light inside of the crystal ball.

"...Now that I realize that even the souls of the good can be entombed in darkness despite doing nothing to deserve it…" Terra continued as her tone of voice grew more bitter and angry. "...that solace just doesn't have the same magic that it used to have…"

Terra then grimaced and shut her eyes as she remembered their laughs...the evil laughs of Noimman and King Sombra as the one she loved most was consumed by the darkness...and an even crueler fate was given to the one she swore to protect…

When she opened her eyes, her entire body was glowing with an aura of light.

"I have to make it up to them…" she said to herself sincerely. "I will rectify the wrongs of the past and chart a course of light for the future!"

With that, she made her way to Nero's bedroom, taking the crystal ball with her.

"Get ready, honey…" she told herself in thought. "Mommy's done babying you. I sheltered you too much, and it's time you learned some real world skills…"

After Nero and Spira's "debate" had spiraled into chaos, both of them had retired to their rooms. Spira was on her bed brooding, looking down at her front hooves as she thought of how she was going to cope with this.

"What did I do wrong?" she asked herself in a crestfallen tone of voice. "I thought God would be there with me as I spoke my mind against something that I knew was obviously wrong. Was I wrong in wanting to help my brother see the truth?"

Spira's sadness soon began to turn to anger as she started trying to look at things from another perspective…

"Or…" she said to herself as she started to surmise something more cynical, just as her brother had done. "Have I just not been thinking outside the box? What is the truth, after all? And if God is the truth, why is his existence not clear to me or my brother? It makes me wonder…"

As Spira said that, her body began to emit an aura of light and the apparition of Fluttershy began to manifest beside her. Looking at it, she asked herself for the first time in her life…

"What is this spirit, really?"

In the adjacent bedroom, it was shown that Nero, by contrast, was not so interested in exactly what Noimman, the apparition that was beside him, really was. Just the very fact that he finally had something to believe in that made perfect sense to him, he was completely mesmerized by. Looking at his forelegs, he had a creepy, smug smile on his face as he transformed them into dark energy.

"I'm not afraid of it anymore…" he boasted triumphantly. "I have power now, actual power! Ha ha ha ha ha! And to think there was a time where I thought going to church every Sunday and singing Kumbaya with a bunch of close-minded bores was doing anything for me! It's all just for the delusion of "inner peace". How sad, ha ha ha…"

"I see…" Terra said upon entering Nero's bedroom, overhearing what he had just said and witnessing what he was doing. "So part of the reason this has happened so soon is because you're under a delusion of grandeur..."

"Huh?" Nero responded, turning to face his mother, as Noimman did the same. "What are you going on about?"

"Don't play me for a fool, Nero." Terra retorted indignantly with a serious look on her face. "I heard everything that happened downstairs. You owe your sister a huge apology."

"For what?" Nero asked. "Telling her the truth? Speaking my mind? It's not like I said anything offensive."

"Your words aren't what bugged me…" Terra replied, standing her ground. "It was your intent. You knew that Spira had no chance of "winning" that argument with you, yet you kept rubbing in that you were right to satisfy your own sadistic pleasure!"

"Hmm?" Spira went, overhearing Terra express her grievances to Nero from her room. "Why is Mom mad at Nero? If she knew about the conversation we were having downstairs and had a problem with the way he was acting, why didn't she just put a stop to it right there and send him to his room?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Nero laughed. "This is too rich. So you admit that I was right, yet you tell me I was wrong just because you're assuming the worst of me! Feelings before facts, I love it! Let's just say for sake of argument that I was too harsh on her. Who cares? The world's harsh on everyone that way. Getting them to believe in a lie built up by a long-term con of convenient half-truths before they get slammed with the brutal full truth. I had to go through it, so why shouldn't she go through it too?"

In response, Terra remained silent and her angry expression faded. Something very unexpected was taking hold of her...

"Booya, I'm on a roll!" Nero thought to himself, feeling confident as he saw his mother's expression become blank. However, his confidence soon became concern when he saw his mother start to smile and laugh to herself.

"Ho ho ho ho ho…" Terra snickered. "Don't get so cocky just because you taught him how to debate...Noimman."

"So you can see me…" Noimman retorted as she showed herself floating beside Nero, still smiling unlike him. "Big whoop."

"Oh, it's more than just a "big whoop"..." Terra taunted as she tossed the crystal ball and caught it. "I came to try to talk things out with Nero, but it seems I'm going to have a use for this thing after all…"

"Why don't you go hide somewhere, Nero?" Noimman told her son. "It's high time I taught this fool who dared to humiliate me who's boss…"

Terra then began to chant an indecipherable incantation…

"What in the world is going on now?!" Spira thought to herself from her bedroom. "Is there someone else in there? What is mom doing? ...Huh…"

Spira then noticed that the apparition of Fluttershy next to her was smiling as her eyes began to glow bright white.

"It's finally time…" the spirit of Fluttershy said.

"You can talk?" Spira replied. "And it's finally time for what?"

"For the final two heroes to discover the power of Yin and Yang." the spirit of Fluttershy answered. "Once you two have mastered it and have destroyed the threat that has taken hold of this world, everyone may begin their final ascension towards The Eternal Three through Starcatch…"

One of Fluttershy's memories then flashed through Spira's head, the swirling vortex of darkness and light above a colossal tower...it reminded her of what she had seen in her brother's eyes…

"I get it now…" Spira said to herself in thought. "That's why God has allowed this to happen...the only thing that would drive me to awakening my powers of light was my brother discovering the power of darkness!"

"And that's only part of the reason." Fluttershy replied, her eyes returning to normal. "God is far craftier than any mortal could ever comprehend."

Spira snickered to herself in response.

"Let me guess...you actually are God, aren't you?" she surmised.

"No," answered Fluttershy, "I am only a piece of God. I am a clone of the former God, who longer exists as herself, but as part of the Eternal Three."

"The Trinity?" Spira asked in confusion. "Wait...so...that's how God can exist as a separate entity despite being part of the Trinity? He...cloned himself?"

"It's...not important to ask questions like that." Fluttershy responded with a chuckle. "Even if I gave you an answer, it wouldn't have any effect on the story of your life."

"That is the story of my life." a bemused Spira retorted. "Asking questions that no one in the church wants to answer."

"I know it's frustrating," consoled an empathetic Fluttershy, "but understand that if every question had a clear answer, the story of your life would provide you with no true challenge, no real adventure. It's not that God is just uncaring or incompetent, it's that he wants you to grow on your own. Discover the truth for yourself, so that you will have the satisfaction of being the one who brought your world one step closer to being ready for the spiriting…"

Spira felt a resurgence of hope as she saw what looked like a star gleam in the spirit of Fluttershy's eyes…and then she remembered the look in Nero's eyes again…

"Nero…" she told herself. "I have to help him get back on the right track!"

It was then, however, that Spira realized that things had gotten disturbingly quiet in the other room…

"...The optimist in me says that they worked things out civilly…" Spira said to herself suspiciously. "...But that same optimist also told me that all I needed to do to help my brother was pray and wait for things to work out…"

Spira then walked out of her bedroom, the spirit of Fluttershy still floating beside her, and walked towards her brother's bedroom.

"Regardless of what's happened, I believe it's time to take action…" she thought.

She then entered Nero's bedroom, slowly opening the door to discover a disturbing sight that she did not expect at all...her mother sitting on the floor, staring at the crystal ball with a maniacal look on her face. Noticing Spira's entrance, she began to cackle.

"Ooooohhhhh…" she said creepily as she turned to face Spira. "What a perfect time for you to show up. Now the family is all together. You, me, Nero, and Leo…"

"...L-Leo?" a rightfully uncomfortable Spira replied. "You told us he died…"

"He did," replied Terra in an ominous tone of voice, "but he never left us. There was a time I thought he did, but I now see the error of my way of thinking. I don't blame myself too much, though. After all…"

Spira was taken aback as her mother held out the crystal ball, revealing that there was a dark mist inside of it...a dark mist with the face of her brother…

"IT WAS YOUR SELFISH BROTHER AND HIS BITCH OF A MOTHER WHO KEPT HIM FROM US." Terra told her in a maddening tone of voice.

"W-what are you talking about?!" Spira yelled. "What did you do to Nero?!"

"I gave him a well-deserved time-out." Terra replied, still speaking in a creepy tone of voice. "This is his punishment. This is what he deserves not just for what he said to you, but for what he did to my husband…"

"Huh?" Nero responded from a dark area. "Yeah, what is she talking about? A time-out? Is that what she calls it?"

"So you sealed him in crystal?!" Spira questioned, still indignant. "For how long?!"

"Until further notice." Terra answered. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes!" Spira exclaimed. "Just because Nero's been acting out doesn't mean you have to treat him like he's some evil demon who needs to be locked away!"

"...Spira?" Nero asked himself. "You're standing up for me? Even after what I did to you?!"

"Ho ho ho ho ho!" Terra laughed. "Come on, I raised you better than this, Spira! You can't be this gullible! Nero is an evil demon. He was born that way!"

"What?!" Nero exclaimed to himself in thought. "She knew the whole time?! That cunt!"

"Mom…" Spira said in astonishment. "You have to be joking. Please tell me this is part of some cruel, sick joke. If that was true, why did you never tell us for all these years? No one is born an evil demon, all of us have a chance of salvation. That's the entire reason we go to church. That's the entire reason you brought us there, to save us from falling victim to the world's evil. Because you love us. It's because you love us that you wanted us to know the truth."

Upon hearing those words, Terra became silent for some time, as she could see something in her daughter that she hadn't before, something that she herself desired. She eventually responded to her daughter by saying…

"Yes. That's right. How could I have ever forgotten that? How could I say such a horrible thing about my own son?"

"?!" Nero went in response. His sister was equally surprised at how easily she relented.

"You...you mean it?" Spira asked suspiciously, wondering if this was like the trick Nero had pulled on her earlier. "As in, you truly believe that Nero is not a demon?"

"Of course I don't really think that," replied Terra in a remorseful tone of voice, "I just caught up in my emotions as I thought back to the tragedy that happened with your father. Nero is a good soul, he has just been corrupted by the dark forces that have taken hold of him. And now that I can see in you what I see now, I realize that you're the only one who can save him…"

A wide, hopeful grin was made on Spira's face as she realized what Terra was talking about…

"You can see it, can't you?" Spira asked as the spirit of Fluttershy beside her gave Terra a friendly wave.

"No way…" Nero remarked to himself. "She has power just like mine...incredible...I'm actually impressed..."

"Indeed I can." Terra answered as she returned the smile and bowed her head in respect. "I am beyond impressed that you were able to convene a spirit of light that exemplifies God. Most ponies in the church never even come close to such a feat, especially at such a young age."

"Most ponies also never come close to summoning a spirit of darkness at their side or transforming part of their body into pure energy…" Nero commented to himself in frustration, now miffed. "No bias here…"

"Please don't flatter me." Spira replied, blushing. "I don't really feel like it was any work on my end. God is the one who deserves the credit for allowing an emissary of his to work through me."

"Aaaaawwwww…" Terra went. "And you're completely humble about it too. You truly are a model devout. I really don't feel an apology is enough for how I acted now. So how about this? Since Nero still owes you an apology, how about I let you be the one to decide when he goes free?"

"Tee hee hee…" Spira chuckled naughtily. "I won't deny it, I do like that offer. I'll make sure to let Nero go as soon as he's learned his lesson. Now that I have real power that I can show him, I'm sure it won't be long before he sees the error of his ways…"

At first, Nero growled in frustration at this mockery. He thought about saying something, but after thinking it over, he started snickering to himself as he got a better idea…

Terra then handed over the containment crystal to Spira, who happily took it in hoof.

"I did it…" she said to herself jubilantly, making her way out of the bedroom as she held the crystal up. "I have real power now...and I can use it to help the world!"

However, as Spira went out into the hall, she felt something very off about the Fluttershy spirit beside her. Her happiness turned to worry as she saw the spirit's eyes turn green and ooze a purple haze as they met contact with the crystal.

"Sombra…" the spirit of Fluttershy said. "That's not your brother...that's King Sombra!"

Spira realized she had been tricked after hearing Fluttershy's warning, and immediately dropped the crystal, which fell to the floor but didn't break due to having magical protection. However, she too fell to the floor after she felt a needle enter the back of her neck. Collapsing to the ground beside the crystal, she watched in horror as the spirit of Fluttershy was taken from her side and absorbed into the crystal ball.

"6500." Terra bluntly stated a number as she walked over to her daughter, kneeling down and pulling out the needle. She showed to her daughter that it was attached to a syringe that had injected her with a poison that had paralyzed her. "Do you have any idea what that number represents?"

Spira didn't answer, only giving her mother an angry look. She had been deceived again…

"It's about the amount of days in seventeen years and nine months." Terra explained. "Just let that sink in. The amount of time I've been around you kids, including the amount of time you were in my womb, is only a fraction of the amount of chances I've had to kill you. And why does that fact not horrify you? Because you believe that I love you and would never do such a thing. But that amount of time also shows just how long you've been believing a lie…"

"Why…" Spira grumbled furiously, only having the chance to say so much from the poison in her throat. "Why, why, WHY?!"

"If it makes you feel any better, I intend none of this for evil." Terra told Spira as she took the crystal, tossing it and catching it as she stood up. "I hid the truth from you kids because I never wanted you to get involved with the demon shit that killed my husband. But those fools in the church failed to keep even my son pure, and now it is time for them to pay… With the combined power of light and darkness, I will be able to conquer the world!"

Terra laughed evilly and walked away as Spira continued to struggle, but soon passed out, unable to fight the poison any longer.

"No…" Spira said to herself in the darkness. "That is not my mother. My mother is not a cartoon villain...she's possessed...she has to be possessed...how did she even know about Yin and Yang?! But what's the point if I'm powerless? What's the point if God won't lift a finger to help me or stop this?!"

Heh heh heh...don't ask God to do the devil's work…

"Huh?" Spira said in response to those words as she awoke to find that it was nighttime. She was still lying on the floor, having not fully recovered from the paralysis yet, when all of a sudden, the unconscious body of Terra was dropped in front of her. "W-what…"

"Splendid." Nero complimented his sister, looking down at her, holding the crystal ball Terra had taken with levitation magic. "I saw everything that happened under the cover of the shadows. The spirit of my real mother taught me how to hide in them, and I see that you too have learned how to communicate with your soul parent. I'm not being sarcastic, I sincerely mean it when I say that you deserve praise for showing me that there is power in God. That helped me realize that Satan intended for her to be my target, not you. I guess I really do owe you an apology now..."

"What happened to Mom?" Spira asked as she looked at her mother and saw that her eyes were without pupils. "What did you do to her?"

"I took her soul…" Nero answered. "I imprisoned it somewhere she won't escape from until she learns her lesson. If you want to use her terminology, I gave her a time-out. Is that a problem?"

"...No." Spira replied, suppressing her suspicions as she realized that she had no proof that Terra was possessed. Even if Nero was lying, he had the upper hand, so she begrudgingly took him on faith. However, this situation did remind her of something Terra said that had been bugging the hell out of her…

"Leo…" Spira said impulsively as she looked up at Nero. "Our father...Mom was saying something about her husband...did you have anything to do with him disappearing?"

"Nothing that I know of…" Nero replied in a suspiciously playful tone of voice. "My soul parent, Noimman, didn't tell me much about him...but she did tell me about King Sombra and why I look so much like him...the truth is, I am the one destined to rule over this world as the king of darkness...just as you are the one destined to rule over this world as the queen of light, right by my side…"

Spira gasped as she felt a reaction coming from the crystal ball that had absorbed the spirits of Fluttershy and King Sombra, which Nero looked upon with a confident grin.

"I believe it's time we took our rightful places as king and queen…" Nero said brazenly as he levitated the crystal ball down to his sister, then turned around and began to walk away. "Take that ball and follow me whenever you're ready…"

"You're...not going to take it for yourself?" a confused Spira questioned. "Or destroy it so that it can't be used against you? Why?"

"I simply don't need it," retorted Nero, "nor do I fear someone using it against me with the power I have now. So I may as well save it for whatever may come up in the future. In the meantime, just hold onto it for yourself and I'll say you owe me and the devil one for lending you the power you need to rule."

Nero continued to walk away looking smug before he heard his sister fight to stand up and say…

"Take it back…"

"Hm?" Nero responded in puzzlement, turning around. "What, is it something I said?"

"No…" Spira replied, ignoring Nero's joke and holding out the crystal ball. "You know what I mean, the ball. Take it back. I don't want to owe you for giving me power. I don't owe the devil anything!"

"Sorry, but I'll have to decline." Nero answered, walking back to Spira, still smiling. "You're welcome to pay back your debt any time you wish, but denial of what Satan has done for you will only hold you back. After all, Satan is God and God is him. And until you grasp that concept, how can you ever combine light and darkness…"

Spira's eyes widened and she trembled at the sight of Nero transforming his right foreleg into a ball of dark energy and his left foreleg into a ball of light energy. Bringing his forelegs together, the balls mixed to form a spiraling sphere of energy that expanded and exploded, blowing Spira back and having her sliding across the floor.

"...as I can." Nero finished.

"You…" Spira mustered the strength to say, despite being hurt. "You've already…"

"That's right." Nero replied, his forelegs returning to normal. "I've already mastered the fusion of Yin and Yang. And I'm waiting for you to do the same. I'll take the crystal back...but only after you show me that you can make a blast like that. MWA HA HA HA HA HA! AH HA HA HA HA HA!"

After Nero walked away laughing maniacally, Spira retreated to her room. Not only had she been humiliated thrice now, she had lost both her mother and her brother to the darkness in the same day. Rightfully, she was furious. The only thing giving her comfort at the moment was what she saw in the crystal ball. Watching the spirit of Fluttershy shine in the spirit of Sombra's dark mist that enveloped her gave her hope…

"He lives in no light…" she said to herself sadly. "He lives in hell now...and I feel sorry for him…"

Spira then started to cry, gaining the attention of both Fluttershy and Sombra.

"I am going to follow him…" Spira continued to say to herself. "I'll follow him to the deepest part of hell if I have to. If God won't save him, then I will. I will…"

Spira grabbed the crystal ball, and on impulse, began releasing spiritual energy from her aura and pouring it into the ball. Inside the ball, Fluttershy and Sombra's spirits began to mix together, forming a sphere like the one Nero had made. The sphere soon burst, creating a flood of energy that poured out of the still intact crystal and into Spira, who finished by saying…

"...be his light in hell…"