Episode 6: The Demon and the Phoenix

Once again, Twilight Sparkle found herself surrounded in darkness, asking herself questions…

“How could she send me to hell? I’m already in hell...I am hell…”

“Everyone is already in hell before they are “sent there”, Twilight.” someone told Twilight in her mind. “What God expects of us is to come to him with a contrite heart, to be completely sincere in a promise to change ourselves. Those who instead come to him while they are still yet to put aside their arrogance and selfish ambition are not yet worthy to come out of hell.”

“Wait, not yet?” Twilight replied, her heart jumping at that glimmer of hope. “Does that mean that I can still…”

“Yes…” the one speaking to Twilight replied. “Unfortunately, you have a very long way to go…”

“I don’t care!” Twilight exclaimed. “No matter how much work I have to do to get out of here, I’m willing to do it!”

“Though your passion is admirable,” remarked the one talking to Twilight in her mind, “this comes down to more than just conquering your slothfulness and complacency now.”

“Is it my arrogance then?” Twilight replied. “Fine, I’ll knock my swelled head down till it’s flat. If it’s cowardice, I’ll throw myself up against a horde of ravenous beasts. If it’s selfish ambition, there goes my dream of becoming a lawyer! I’m dead fucking serious, I will literally do anything if it means finally getting out of here!”

“I can very much tell that you are completely serious…” the one in Twilight’s mind replied. “...I personally would defend you wanting to become a lawyer...but all these vices that you’re willing to shun are only extensions of your inner darkness...the greatest evil that lies within you is by far your hatred…”

“...You’re right.” Twilight admitted. “I’m always looking at all this hate I have bottled up inside of me and just trying to find a way to get rid of it...to replace it with love…”

“Your intention is noble…” the one in Twilight’s mind remarked. “...but alas, that was exactly what led you to make another fatal mistake...trying to get rid of the hatred in secrecy instead of fighting it and overcoming it…that mistake is what created the devil gods...”

“The devil gods?” Twilight asked.

“Yes,” replied the one in Twilight’s mind, “Celes, Akame, and Noimman. Though Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord had a part in creating Celes and Akame, whom were both originally human women, Noimman was born purely from your hatred. With the help of the ruler of the universe, your robot self created a creature of ultimate evil...the greatest terror the world has seen yet…”

“Of all the things I know for sure are an exaggeration…” an unconvinced Twilight thought.

“But why would I do something like that?” Twilight asked. “More importantly, why would the ruler of the universe do something like that?”

“You did it because you were desperate,” explained the one in Twilight’s mind, “and it is part of your duty as the ruler of the dark to always be finding new ways to prune the new generation. I am not sure of what the ruler of the universe’s motives were, but I have a feeling that he had similar thoughts as you. Suffering is needed for us to grow, something that even Fluttershy, the ruler of light agrees upon...”

“That poor kid though…” Twilight said with a tone of remorse as she remembered K.C.. “What was it like for him to be the son of Noimman?”

“It’s a most horrifying tale…” the one in Twilight’s mind replied. “...but I will tell it to you later. Right now, I must tell you the story of Myra Micheals…”

“Why wait?” Twilight asked. “I want to know now. I want to know how my actions hurt others as soon as possible so I can correct my behavior as soon as possible…”

“In the state you are in right now Twilight, it would change nothing if you learned about how you hurt him.” the one in Twilight’s mind said. “In fact, it would likely make things worse. Knowing just how great the evil that festers inside of you truly is right now would probably cause you to lose hope in yourself altogether.”

“...It’s that bad?” Twilight replied, starting to worry more. “I lost some hope in myself just from you telling me that.”

“Do you see my point?” the one in Twilight’s mind told her. “I can’t give you everything in one sitting. You can’t train someone to lift their entire body upside-down and stand with just one arm without first training them to stand with two.”

“But where does Myra play into this?” Twilight asked. “I know about what she did at the party, but how does her story relate to mine?”

“You’ll find out soon enough…” the one in Twilight’s mind replied. “You’ll probably be surprised to know of the similarities you and Myra possess.”

“Your robot self should already know this from the Awakening project, but to get your mortal self up to speed, Myra Micheals was once a widely feared serial killer who possessed demonic power. She would cut off the penises of all her male victims and devour their testicles. According to rumors, she had gathered enough at one point to build herself a miniature house.”

“That’s revolting…” a disgusted Twilight replied.

However, Twilight also thought to herself…

“Glad I have a legitimate reason to hate her now though…”

“Don’t say that.” Twilight’s other persona told her. “We shouldn’t be hating anyone for what they did in the past.”

“I know.” the one telling Myra’s story said. “Only hearing that part of the story, anyone would initially assume that Myra was an evil monster.”

“Doh…” Twilight thought. “Still, anyone who would ever do something that terrible at any point…”

“Even comrades of hers meeting her for the first time would assume such a thing to be true in the past. But truth be told, even back then, Myra did not have a desire for evil.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Twilight exclaimed in her mind. “How the fuck is that possible?!”

“This is the problem you have, Twilight.” Twilight’s other persona said to her. “You can’t let your negative emotions give you a bias when hearing things like this. Why do you think you weren’t ready to face Fluttershy? It doesn’t matter if you listen to someone like you have an open mind if your heart isn’t open.”

The one telling Myra’s story began to chuckle.

“I can hear what you’re thinking…” she said playfully. “You should be catching on by now as to what I’m trying to do…”

“Huh?” Twilight responded.

“Trials and tribulations are everywhere, Twilight…” the storyteller told her in a foreboding tone of voice. “God is always looking to test you, even after you’ve passed the test of Satan, and the test of mine...”

“Odd…” Twilight thought, not caring that the storyteller could hear. “Fluttershy called me Satan...could I be...and if I’ve already passed this one’s test...could she be…?”

“Continuing on…” the storyteller continued. “Myra did not have an inherent lust to do evil. When she was only a sweet young girl of five years old, she was used for an experiment that involved infusing a human with a demon’s soul. Like you may already figure, things went awry. Myra ended up murdering her family, her classmates, and many more innocent civilians in what seemed like a neverending cycle of calamity...can you imagine what that must have been like for her? Being torn from her innocence, all of her happiness, and all of her loved ones in such a way?”

“...” Twilight remained silent, both in her speech and in her thoughts out of respect.

“I know you two didn’t get along,” said the storyteller, “and I’m not even asking you to do nothing but sympathize with her, for she still committed the sin of submitting to the evil. But honestly ask yourself, would you have been different if you were in a position like that?”

“...I probably would have been worse.” Twilight humbly answered. “But tell me more, what in the fucking world was the logic behind this experiment? Who would conduct such a thing on a little girl and why?”

“It will make much more sense when you learn more about Myra’s world,” replied the storyteller, “but I’ll explain one thing for the time being that it was an attempt to bring demons and humans together while also infusing human beings with an unstoppable power. It is not just in Myra’s world, you will come to find, but also in the worlds of Adrian Bruce and Nero that people have discovered a way to achieve this power through the fusion of Yin and Yang.”

“...What about in my world?” Twilight asked, something dawning on her as she began to draw parallels with her being the ruler of darkness and Fluttershy being the ruler of light.

“That’ll be for you to find out when the time comes…” the storyteller replied in an ominous tone of voice. “Anyways, I feel I have provided you with enough backstory. I think it’s time for you to actually step into the shoes of the victor from the dark domain.”

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, having grown comfortable with consistently having to ask this question.

“What I mean is that I can not just tell you Myra’s story in order for you to truly grasp what you must learn.” the storyteller explained. “I must also have you live it…”

“How can I do that?” Twilight replied.

“You’ve already lived two parts of Myra’s story.” the storyteller said. “One was when you were sent here by Fluttershy, and the other was when you went to the world of darkness for the first time. Drawing patterns on this one yet, Satan?”

“...Oh.” Twilight said, realizing the connection. “If I’m the ruler of the darkness…”

“Then you now have the power to see inside the hearts of those who have fallen into hell.” the storyteller finished for her. “It’s an ability you’ll quickly find to be a very easy thing to do. All you have to do is close your eyes, relax, and attempt to feel the vibrations of her soul like you would your own…”

Twilight, as usual, was not fully convinced. Nevertheless, she complied…

“Remember that this is not unfamiliar territory you are stepping into.” the storyteller told her. “You have already lived as her in this world. And now…”

“...you shall become her in another…”

A flood of light filled Twilight Sparkle’s mind and a voice echoed inside. It was the voice of Fluttershy saying…

“You know who you really are…”

I will not allow this…

“Myra…” a young man said. “Please listen to me. You must not go to fight him.”

The man, who had white hair with black streaks in it, was a surprisingly youthful high priest who wore a white robe and held beside him a white staff. The handle of the staff was an emblem of a man praying while holding a ball of light in his cupped hands, and engraved on the rod was the writing, “L…”. He and Myra, who had black hair, was dressed in a black garb, and had her sword sheathed at her side, were sitting together in a large tent.

“Forgive me…” Myra told him remorsefully. “But I must disobey your orders. I will not allow this village to pay for the crimes I have committed.”

“I know you mean to tell it to me kindly while expressing what you honestly feel,” replied the priest, “which is commendable, but I also know that you are not telling me everything. I know that you believe that if Nick Rohn were to send his soldiers to this village and arrest you, we would not have the strength to resist them.”

“Please don’t take it the wrong way.” Myra said. “I know that you’re strong. Stronger than any demon. But these are not demons whom we face. These are the warriors whom are considered by the world to be its saviours. If this village ends up on Phoenext’s blacklist because of me, I don’t know what I’ll do. I don’t see anything else I can do here besides turn myself in right away.”

“Overestimating the limit of our options…” the priest said. “Such a common mistake. You have learned much since the time when you believed that killing was the only way, and yet, there are still roots from that time you have not begun to abandon...”

“Don’t forget that you’re the one who taught me that skyscrapers aren’t built in one day by one person.” Myra remarked. “Not only that, but the plans for any kind of creation are complex and interchangeable. A conservative mindset can not lead such a massive project, much less chart a new course for the world. We must always be willing to adapt to accommodate unexpected changes made by the unforeseen, even if that means taking risks.”

“Yes, that is very true.” the priest replied. “The world does demand such an attitude. But while we are part of the world Myra, we mustn’t forget that we are not part of its evil. Thus, we must not use such ideologies as justification for committing sin.”

“What I am doing now is not a sin…” Myra retorted, beginning to grow frustrated. “Yes, I admit it. Selfishly, I do want to defeat Nick with my own strength and satisfy my pride. So? It doesn’t change the fact that I’ll be doing something good by protecting you and your loved ones.”

“Very true,” replied the priest, “but remember the reason why I took you in. It was because I did not look at what you had done, but you…I was able to overlook your actions of the past because I saw that the real you was not a murderer...would you mean to tell me that when you came to me that day willing to change, that you did it with the desire to satiate your pride?”

Myra paused, slightly opening her mouth in surprise as she felt an odd vibration run through her body.

“Loki…” she called the priest by his name. “I feel…”

“You’re allowed to feel however you feel.” Loki replied. “I’ve said everything I’ve said knowing that I can not change your mind. I am only your guide. I must not be remiss in my duty as your mentor, but you must decide for yourself what is right. Even if that means first finding out what is wrong the hard way…”

Myra snapped back to how she was before and shut her eyes and mouth.

“Fine.” she said bluntly as she stood up. “If that is how it must be, I shall accept it. After all, I came here desiring to pay penance for my sins of the past. You’ve made the way easy for me up until now. Though I have to thank you for that, I must say that I have been craving a challenge recently…”

Myra then made her way out of the tent.

“Goodbye.” she said as she left. “I will be coming back…”

Loki did not say anything more to Myra, allowing her to have the last word. He did, however, say something to himself in his thoughts as Myra made her way out of the village.

“Every bird must one day leave its nest…” he began saying to himself as Myra was now walking outside the village.

“Confronting its fears before it spreads its wings and flies…” he said as Myra had now stopped walking, gathering a dark aura around her body before she sprouted a pair of black demon wings from her back and began flying.

“It then begins searching for a new place to call home, having set its goals high…” he continued as Myra laid eyes on a massive skyscraper that was adorned with the letters “PHOENEXT”.

“But the bird knows of the many dangers of the world that may clip its wings and return it to ashes…” he said as Myra landed on top of the building to see a black-haired man dressed in a blue business suit with a red tie and a white shirt. In his right hand, he was holding a red gun with white stripes on it that had the words “He Lives Forever” engraved on it.

“Even so, the bird has faith that the fire inside it shall live on…” he finished as Myra brandished her sword, prepared to do battle…