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Twilight Dies in Lothric

by David Silver

Chapters

1 - You Have Died

Twilight smiled as she dusted. It had been a rare delight to be allowed into the store room of mirror portals. To even be allowed to see them... "What an honor," she breathed to herself as she got to scrubbing all the harder. "What secrets you hide..."

Her eager polishing seemed sufficient to cause her rag to be absorbed in the glass, the surface shimmering and flexing. "That's odd, Celestia said they were all turned off..." She peered through the mirror curiously to see a sky painted with thick grey clouds. The land she could see was also grey. There was a lack of living vegetation in sight. A glance down showed the view was over some kind of ditch.

Stagnant water barely moved. Despite the still water, she saw no insects or bugs enjoying the respite. It seemed a dead place. "What world is this..." She could see her rag though. It hadn't fallen far, just on the surface of that water. She reached with her magic and snatched it up easily. "Let's get out of here."

A hand erupted from the darkness of the water and grabbed the rag. A humanoid figure climbed to its feet, its every step as if it were in incredible pain.

Twilight's eyes went wide. "A-are you alright?" It was clear he or she was very much not, but she felt obliged to ask.

The figure bent unnaturally to look up at her floating portal, its back arching backwards. It gazed at her, somehow both seeing through her and yet not perceiving her at all. It gave a rattling cry as it clutched the rag with one gnarled hand, the other grabbing a rusted sword from beneath the water.

Feeling dread building rapidly, Twilight tugged her rag. She would have just abandoned it, but she was told not to leave things on the other sides of the portal. The creature swayed with the pull of her magic, almost drawn off-balance before it froze, then wrenched its tugged hand back. Her magic was so firm on it that instead of pulling the rag to her, she was drawn through the portal, screaming as she fell towards the desiccated human-like creature.

It watched her splash down into the ditch even as it raised its sword, giving an groan without words as it lurched towards her.

Twilight scrambled to her hooves and backed away, water sloshing around her furry legs, soaking them with filthy water. "W-wait! I'm not here to hurt you, I swear!"

It did not care for her words. It swung its sword at her in a terrible arc, its notched and decayed blade still firm enough to bite into Twilight's shoulder and chest, blood set free to flow and join the discoloration of her fur. She screamed in pain and her wings unfurled. With frantic flaps, she fled away from it. With pain and panic, she didn't get very far, but even the edge of the ditch was far enough that the creature, whatever it was, couldn't reach her. It called out to her, seemingly begging her to come die at its sword.

"No!" She shouted as she trembled. She'd never been so directly slashed before. That thing had tried to outright murder her, and she was still bleeding. She couldn't stay there. She looked for the portal that she had come through, but saw no hint of it. Was it gone? She wasn't thinking clearly through the pain and staggered away from the ditch and its angry resident. She began to hobble away, wishing the bleeding would slow. "Why hadn't I paid more attention in those first aid classes...?"

That's when she saw another figure. This one was already standing, leaning against a wall and muttering something. It wasn't approaching her, and it stood beside some stairs. Stairs were a path. Maybe there was help there, safety... Twilight wanted to follow that path.

She approached slowly and cautiously, eyeing the figure that seemed to ignore her until she drew too close for whatever concept of comfort it has. It drew a club from under its tattered clothing and made an unwell noise, practically choking as it lurched towards her.

"I'm not your enemy," spat out Twilight as her wings spread on their own. It didn't listen. It just kept coming closer. She had learned her painful lesson. When the club came down, she jumped to the side and lashed out her hooves with all the power she had. The creature grunted as it staggered back, clearly hurt, but not put down. It raised the club to try again.

Twilight scowled at it. "Go away!" Her horn glowed brightly and she fired a bright ray of light at it. It jerked backwards, then fell, collapsing to the ground in a heap of dried flesh. A moment later, its body blew away, no more than ash on the wind. "What... is this place...?" Twilight shook her head and crept closer. Its club was still there, but Twilight saw no use in that. She had to find safety.

She staggered up the stairs to find the landscape of the hellacious world she had found herself in. She was on a cliff-side. Far ahead and past a valley was an imposing citadel of sorts, though she couldn't see much of its details. As she walked, a new scent tickled her nose and she turned to behold an old and cold campfire. "Does that mean somepony lives here?" Or was it just another sign that all had been abandoned? She didn't know, so she pressed on.

She saw more of those figures down one narrow passage and turned away from it. Down the other path she could see one such figure, but it was facing away from her, down a small drop. She had the advantage of surprise! Or... Twilight frowned as she looked back at her wings. Perhaps she should be using those instead of creeping around. She spread them wide and gave a flap, lifting from the earth and soaring right over the head of that figure.

It was quite the shame that the second figure that lurked by the gate beyond was wielding a crossbow, and knew how to use it. Pain exploded through Twilight and she crashed to the earth. She was bleeding. She had been bleeding before, but it just kept getting worse. Her purple fur was matted and dark with her life essence. She fired a desperate bolt of energy at the figure, and it fell over, but that didn't heal her.

She was dying.

She grabbed at the bolt lodged in her chest with her magic and tried to wrench it free. All she freed was more blood.

She collapsed to the ground.

She barely felt the first figure find her fallen form and plunge its daggers into her back.

Twilight Sparkle had died.

But that was not the fate she could accept. It was not the fate her soul could accept. The merciless entropy of the world demanded she lay her head down and join the countless fallen that called it home, but she refused. She screamed silently. She was dead, but she refused. She had things to do. She had destinies unfulfilled. She couldn't have died. She just couldn't.

Twilight found light filtering through her lashes as she slowly opened her eyes. She was not dead...

She sat up onto her haunches. Everything hurt a little, but that was almost a comfort. The pain meant that she was alive. She reached a hoof to where the bolt had pierced her. Her fur was still a mess of blood and filth, but she was whole, mostly. Looking at her hoof, she could see that it was taut and sunken, as if she were starving, perhaps? She didn't feel hungry.

She felt terrified. "Where am I?" she asked, though no answers were coming. She looked around and saw she was back in the ditch she had begun in. She would have to climb again. "I'll do it right this time..." She clenched her teeth, mustering her resolve before advancing to meet the first figure that had welcomed her to their world.

Twilight did not hesitate to blast the figure, causing it to collapse into the water before it had even drawn its blade. "They're not... ponies." Near as she could tell, they weren't anything with thoughts beyond hurting her. Even as she moved to trot past the fallen figure, it fell to ashes, but something stirred in her. A powerful but brief delight stirred in her chest. Twilight couldn't explain what had happened, but she found wicked delight, somehow absorbing some of the lost power of that defeated figure.

She spotted something glinting off a body she hadn't gone past before and carefully approached it, expecting an attack, but that one appeared to be truly dead.

She grabbed the glinting object in her magic and drew it close. It was a bottle of clay that glowed a curious blue color. It reacted with the magic it was held in and she could feel tingling in her horn. "Magic?" She had felt that tingle before. Whatever was inside the jar was very magical. "I may need this..." She tucked away the ashen flask and ascended the stairs only to find that the second figure she had put down before had returned. Just like her, it had stubbornly refused to die.

Twilight stomped a drawn hoof, which was enough to draw its attention. It drew its club, but barely made it to steps before Twilight blasted it apart. "Not this time..." Thinking of them as just... things, not living, just strange and horrible machines made the task much easier.

She didn't leave the club behind that time, clenching it in her teeth as she advanced. To her left was that campfire, but it was... different.

Twilight felt a pull towards it and approached the old ashes and gnarled sticks. She reached out a hoof as if to warm herself by the fire that wasn't there. For a moment she just stood there, waiting for it, but none came. She frowned a moment. "Why did I expect that to work?" She shook her head. "This place is driving me crazy..." She thrust her hoof at the fire. "Light or I--" It lit. With a great rush of flames, it began to crackle and emit blessed warmth.

She sank to her haunches beside the flame and let her eyes half close. The comfort it provided reached deep into her body and soothed the pains she had suffered since arriving in that terrible world. For a moment, she just wanted to stay there forever, but she resisted the urge, climbing to her hooves.

That's when she saw them. She was not alone, not by far. There were other figures, humans by their shape, in different clothing, wielding different weapons. They all sat in silence, all joined in the comfort of the flame.

For once she felt no fear from them. They were bound to her, somehow. They were all bound... "To the flame," she said aloud, frowning a little. "How..." She waved a hoof right through one of them, and her attempts to talk to them yielded nothing. They were there, so close, and yet incalculably far.

She had to press on, to find answers, and get home. "Good luck," she whispered gently to the other lost souls. If they could find their own ways to home, that gave her hope for her own journey.

She advanced on the dagger-wielding creature that was beneath her. She knew the crossbow firing one was not far past it, so she couldn't rush past it. Still... she had magic! She cracked a crooked smile and lowered her horn at the unwitting creature. It had enough time to spin around after the first blast to take the second to its chest and collapse against the tombstone it had been standing beside. With a faint whisper, its body joined the ash of the world. "One step at a time..." She shuddered with a rush of power, even if she knew not what to do with it.

She just had to be slow and careful... "I can do this..."

2 - Judge of Ash

Twilight crept forward, and the crossbowman did not leave her wanting. There was no sign of her body save for a patch of darkened earth where her blood has seeped into it, staining it from its pallid grey tone. She had no time to consider it as the thing raised its crossbow and fired at her.

Her horn lit up bright as a shimmering field erupted before her, as stout as any steel. The bolt was caught by it and sent sailing away with a rough noise of aged metal striking her magic. "Not this time..." She raised her club meaningfully. "Put that down." It was reloading, senseless to her words. She saw little choice, so she blasted it with a brilliant ray, and it staggered and fell as if its strings were cut.

She glanced to the right and could see the two she had left behind. They hadn't noticed her and seemed content to wallow in their own misery, so she let them be even as she shuddered with new power. "What is this?" she asked no one. The rush of energy felt good, but only the wrong sorts of good.

Passing through tall arches, Twilight beheld a new figure, but this one had almost nothing in common with the others, aside from being humanoid. It was dressed in thick metal armor. It was down on a knee, one hand balled almost in frustration. The other was folded over a knee as if so very tired. A sword pierced it from the front, pressing right through it and penetrating out the back. That sword spiraled in a cruel shape that promised sublime pain to any that had the misfortune to experience it.

Twilight cringed at the sight of it, but her eyes trailed away from the seemingly dead figure to the great polearm that lay just ahead of it, angled as if the knight... Was it a knight? Twilight decided it was a knight, far more armored than any royal Equestrian guard. A human knight, for this dreadful place, with a spear as massive as he... Were they a he? Twilight again decided it was so. He lacked any hint that implied he may be a woman. His spear looked impossibly massive to be wielded by him.

Maybe something else had wielded it? But then she would expect a much larger hole in his armor than just that sword, which looked like it had done the lethal blow.

The man stood in the center of the field. Across from him lay the citadel in the distance, but there were closed bars. Perhaps... She spread her wings. She didn't like the look of that human, his sword, or his spear. She decided to cheat. She brought down her wings in a powerful flap and jumped, but only made it a few feet before she came right back down, scrambling to keep her balance. Her flight... gone? She looked at each wing, confused and alarmed. The feathers on them lacked their luster. They were matte instead of glossy, and there were holes in their covering. They had decayed with her painful experience, and with it, her power of flight had been taken.

She would have to face the challenge as it was presented to her. That didn't mean she had to like it. She trotted past the still figure towards the gate and banged a hoof on it, but aside from the hollow clatter, it remained firm and unmoving. She closed her eyes and tried to teleport past it, but the world itself seemed to seize hold of her magic, and she could go no further than the gate. "What do you want?!" she shouted in frustration.

Twilight circled around and approached the figure that still knelt there, ever patient. As she drew near, the answer started to become clear. She could feel it, somehow. There was an urge with no explanation. That sword. It belonged to her. Or it could belong to her. She just had to... take it out. It was that easy. The man it was in was dead anyway. What use did he have for it?

She grasped the sword in her magic and gave a terrific pull, but then she saw something else. Black flowing slime seemed to ooze from the corners and edges of the man's armor. It was some kind of foul infection that made Twilight glad she was pulling with her magic instead of her hooves or, ugh, her mouth. She pulled with a firm tug, and it slid free with a spray of blood across the ground.

The man rose stiffly as Twilight stepped back. "You're alive?"

The man paused, seemingly surprised a moment. "Most do not speak."

Twilight glanced left and right. "I could... say the same for you."

"You are not unkindled ash. Surrender the sword."

Twilight thrust a hoof at the still closed gate. "Open the bars, um, please?"

"That is precisely what I may not do." He grabbed his spear and hefted it into a ready stance. "Only the worthy ash may pass. You are not even human. Though that is the least of your sins. Prepare to be judged."

Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but there was no time for that. He swung his massive polearm in a deadly arc, slicing through the air at her. Her eyes went wide and she vanished, appearing behind him. "Stop it! Why does everypony have to fight?!"

He combined turning with a lunge, coming at her with his deadly tool. Unlike the rotted implements wielded by the others, his seemed study and ready to dispense death. Twilight blinked away barely in time, feeling the wind rush over her snout. Talking would not work.

With a glowing horn, she began to batter him with dazzling bolts, but she could never take her eyes off of him. His strokes were slow but deadly, tearing up the ground when they missed her and forcing her to dive or blink to safety after each one, but she was winning. She could do this...

Then he fell.

She smiled. "Are you done? Are you..." Her lips peeled back in horror as the man grunted.

The black slime she had seen exploded outwards and took the form of a misshapen beast more than twice the size of the man, with eyes of its own that glared at her with nothing but hate. The man rose back to his feet, ready to resume the battle as if he wasn't just a small part of something large and terrible.

Twilight could feel her heart pounding. How was she supposed to fight that? Fear made her not fight at all. She dodged and blinked away frantically, until her horn began to throb. She had run herself dry from all the effort. She dove past him as the shadow-serpent that was part of him lunged for her and lashed out with her hooves. It connected, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough.

With building fright, she fled away from it, but the archway back where she had come was barred with some thick shadowy energy. Even in her panic, she decided it was the same that did not allow her to simply teleport past the whole thing in the first place. She spun around just in time to see him coming at her with his spear and she ran off to the side. Her tears were not impressing that... thing. She had to fight. Fight or die, again.

She dodged with a frantic dive and the flask she had recovered tumbled with her, bumping against a hoof as she went. Could it help? It surely seemed better than nothing. She grabbed it in her magic and dove out of the way of the creature's unending assault to pop it in her lips and suck some of the glowing blue stuff from it. Uck. It tasted like... fire. It was like she was drinking a bonfire, but it was cold as death on her lips.

The ache in her horn abated despite the foul taste. Her magic was returning and with it, some sense of bravery. She licked her lips as she tucked the remainder of the vial away. "Time to fi--" Talking had consequences, and she bore hers with a yelp as she was thrown back, fresh blood spilling from the gouge in her shoulder.

Gritting her teeth with a low growl, Twilight lowered her horn at the human/shadow... thing, and let loose all the magic she had regained in one terrific blast. It picked up the knight and sent him flying in the other direction in a fitting tit for his tat. With a confident grin she slid to her hooves and chugged down the remainder of the vial, trying to ignore the strange taste of it. He was back on his feet and was rushing her, ready to impale her, but she was faster.

With a great surge of power, he was laid flat, and he didn't get back up.

The tickle she had felt, that wicked thrill at each victory, it seemed like nothing compared to what came then. Power poured thick from the fallen form of the knight as the shadowy substance flaked away. She could do little but jerk and groan as it filled her with... "What is this..." she barely squeaked out, falling to a knee. She slowly gathered herself back up, heaving.

The knight was defeated. The way forward was clear, and his sword belonged to her. She grabbed it and nodded. "It didn't have to be that way..."

Compared to the knight, the creatures she faced almost seemed trivial, almost. The shambling humans that barely seemed alive were of no special threat to her, but they were not alone. As she clambered over forgotten tombstones along the path she hoped would lead to safety, and answers, she heard the panting of a dog.

She spun in place to spy a dog, or what once was a dog. It barely had any flesh hanging from its bones as it charged at her, its decayed teeth somehow slavering with the joy of the hunt.

She had no magic left to use, but she had the club. It was all she had. She had the sword, certainly, but it was... It wasn't... She couldn't explain it, but it wasn't a weapon, not that way. She had more sense than the incensed dog and brought her club down, rattling its skull, but that did not stop it. It lunged past the club and kissed her, if one counts a bite to the snout as a kiss.

Squealing in fresh pain, she lashed out a hoof that sent it to the ground, sliding a few inches away. It was room enough. Twilight pounced on the downed canine, driving her hooves against it in terrible blows that broke bones and shattered their pieces. It had stopped making noises.

Huffing and panting, she dropped her club and fell to her haunches. She hurt so badly. She could only imagine how much of a terror she looked to anyone who came across her. Her fur was a matted mess of dirt, ash, and blood. Her snout was filthy and bleeding. She was in poor shape. She needed help. "Please let this be the right way..." She rose to her hooves and ascended towards the darkness in the side of the citadel she had finally reached. It was a way inside, but would there be more danger in there, or some respite?

3 - Where it Starts. Where it Ends.

Twilight stepped into the narrow hallway that led into the darkness within. Each step was timid and uncertain. She looked to the club held in her snout and blinked. "I must be getting confused." Her horn began to glow as the club lifted up to float beside her. She was stronger with her magic than her neck anyway.

As she approached the end of the tunnel, her steps slowed. The place she was entering was vast, at least three to four stories tall. On the second floor to either side stood massive thrones. Of the four, one was occupied by a frail and old man wearing a heavy-looking gold crown and with no legs to speak of. He simply dangled what he had, and his dress-like clothing, off the edge.

He saw Twilight easily as she entered and smiled queerly at her, but did not otherwise react.

More pressing than he was the woman, pale of skin, pale blond of hair, with pale grey robes that flowed to her obscured feet. Her hands were clasped gently. She wore something over her eyes that Twilight could not see how anyone could see through. She still reacted. Perhaps she had heard Twilight. "You bare the sword. The wheel turns once more." She approached Twilight with slow and measured steps. She reached out a hand towards Twilight, but found nothing but air, apparently expecting something more human in height. "Unkindled One? This is not the time to jest."

Twilight sank to her haunches. "My name is--"

"There you are," stated the woman, voice sounding relieved. "Why did you shy from me? I am your servant, Unkindled One. I will be at your side at every portion of your journey, serving faithfully."

She perked her ears up at the tall woman. "Thank you... I think, but... I am not any 'Unkindled One'. My name is--"

The woman reached for the voice and found Twilight's snout. Slender fingers felt along it slowly. "I cannot see," she noted as she examined her curious new mistress. "And you... are far from what I expected." Her fingers traced up along furry ears before moving down over the back of Twilight's skull. "You are... not Ashen... How can this be? Without an Ashen One, the wheel may not turn..."

"So quick to dismiss," called down the man on the throne. "The wheel doesn't have to turn precisely as you expect it to."

Twilight's eyes darted to the short man with the heavy crown. "Excuse me, can--"

He shrugged at her and gestured for her to come closer. It seemed he had no real desire to continue the conversation at a shout.

The woman shook her head. "We cannot change what is... You come bearing the sword. Follow me." She bowed slowly and turned, walking at a sedate pace towards the collection of bones in the center of the room.

Twilight followed her, eyes taking in things as she went. She could hear metal striking metal in the distance. It sounded purposeful. Were there others living in this place? Her heart soared at the idea that she had finally found friendly faces amid the ruin, death, and pain. "What do--"

The lady seemed to have no time for speech, at least from Twilight. She reached for her and drew the sword from Twilight's pocket without even being told about it. She held it aloft silently until Twilight took it in her magic. She then gestured at the bones. "Link the flame."

"What flame?" Twilight stepped up to the designated spot and peered at it without comprehension until she realized the similarity. The last bonfire she was at. She was confused and lost then. There had been a sword in it that she had ignored entirely. This one could be just like it, if it had a flame, and a sword. She had the sword.

The solution seemed clear. She twirled the sword until it faced the ground and plunged it into the earth. Blessed heat and light erupted in a brilliant flare. Her wounds and fatigue were suddenly banished. Well, most of them. The ache she felt after she had died remained. There seemed to be no forgetting that event.

"Ashen O--"

Twilight cut her off for a change, "Twilight Sparkle. I am Twilight Sparkle."

The maiden paused a moment. "I am the Fire Keeper. I will tend to it while you are away, and you must be away. There are many things for you to do, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight brought down a hoof with a dull thud against the dirt floor. "No! First some answers, please, I beg you..."

"I will tell you what I know." She bowed to Twilight gently. "This is the Firelink Shrine, where all those who would link the fires must go. You have come. You may not be ashen, but perhaps you will perform the task. Those who swear fealty to you may also remain here, safe and protected while you work. There are others who already belong here. They will serve you as well."

Twilight perked her ears towards the metallic crashes. "Like that metal sound?"

"Like him," she agreed. "They will want what you most need to become stronger."

"Stronger?" Twilight was not trying to become stronger. "I just need to find a way home."

"You remember home? That places you ahead of many. Souls, sovereignless souls are yours to use as you wish. To bargain, or consume. Already you have felt it. I feel them within you."

Twilight shuddered from her ears down to her tail at the concept. "H-how?"

"Did you not fight your way here? The judge would not let you pass otherwise."

Twilight could scarcely forget the powerful rush she had felt. "That was his soul?!"

"Its power is your power, to do as you wish. Souls, plucked from their vessel, have no grander purpose. Simply kneel before me and think of how stronger you will be, must be, to find victory."

Twilight backpedaled away a sudden frightened collection of steps. "What if I don't want that!?"

The Keeper seemed undisturbed. "Then you may use them as currency. Souls hold value where coins have long since lost sway. Choose quickly."

"Or?" Twilight's ears went up. "Do they go away?"

"Only when taken... They will be taken. You will suffer and die, likely many times. You will know defeat, and those souls will be taken from you. Use them now, while they are yours."

Twilight felt that she was speaking the truth, naked and terrible. "I... want to look around first."

"As you wish, linker of the flames. I will be here as you require me."

Twilight watched the Fire Keeper a moment. She was just standing there patiently, as if she would stand there for a thousand years until called on.

"Look at you," came a new voice.

Twilight turned quickly to see an armored gentleman with a sword strapped to his back sitting on the steps that made up much of the area. "Come closer. I'm not in the mood to shout, or move."

Twilight frowned a little, but did come closer. "I didn't ask you to, um, hello. I am T--"

"I heard you before. I was listening. So, you're an unusual Unkindled huh, maybe you'll do better than me. We Unkindled are worthless. Can't even die right. Gives me conniptions. And they'd have us seek the Lords of Cinder, and return them to their moulding thrones. But we're talking true legends with the mettle to link the fire. We're not fit to lick their boots. Don't you think?"

Twilight frowned a little. "I think I don't know who the 'Lords of Cinder' are." She pointed up at the thrones. "I presume those are theirs? They must be... large?"

"Some, aye." He glanced upwards towards them. "I gave up that mission, so it falls on you, strange creature. You're not even human, it's obvious. I wonder what she's thinking, the Keeper." He gave a sudden unnerving fit of laughter. "I bet she's just as scared as the rest of us and just isn't showing it. The name's Hawkwood, demon, angel, or whatever you might be."

Twilight perked an ear at Hawkwood. "If you live here, then you... work for me?"

That laughter came again. "I have the same mission as you, or did. Don't mind my tired bones. I won't get in your way."

"So much for that," she muttered under her breath. "Well, so what am I supposed to do? I want to go home."

"Don't we all." He pointed to the crackling bonfire behind Twilight. "You've started the process. You can set your body adrift between linked fires. Concentrate and see where you can go, and your way forward should be clear."

Twilight smiled brilliantly. There was a clear answer, and a good one at that. "Thank you!"

"Oh, that expression. They'll beat that smile off your face soon enough. I'll be here when that happens. You're free to sit beside me and tell me how it felt, when that fire inside you gutters out."

Twilight cringed as she backed away. "Well, um, thank you again. I'm going to... go look around." Hawkwood didn't challenge her when she trotted away, glad to be away from the bitter soul behind her. She still had more questions than answers, but there was one thread of hope. She marched with purpose to the flame.

"Are you ready?" asked the Keeper quietly.

"No, thank you. I just want to try something." She reached out a hoof for the fire and felt its warmth soothe her troubles for a time. She was safe, but she wasn't home. She focused on Equestria, on her castle, her bed, Canterlot... She felt it. She could go to a castle, but it was not home. It was not any closer. She could go and be in danger again.

With a dismayed yelp, she wrenched her hoof away. She was right where she began. The Keeper was seated across the way from Hawkwood, who hadn't moved. How long had she been staring into the flames? She couldn't tell. She rose to her hooves and shook her head, trying to clear it. "This world is crazy..."

"You don't know the half of it," jeered Hawkwood.

Twilight ignored him for the moment and decided to go explore the metal sounds, but she didn't make it that far. She walked down the hallway that seemed to carry the sound loudest and began to trot towards what looked to be a flame ahead when a voice harshly whispered to her, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ashen One. I am but a humble handmaiden of the shrine. Weapons, armor, trinkets, and spells... I've lots of little things to ease the burden of a weary traveler. ...And yes, I'm Undead, too, but not so charitable as to give my goods away. Ashen One, fetch souls, and bring them to me. As is thy wont, no?"

Twilight recoiled a step at the words, surprised to see old lady hunched over in red robes. "Undead... Wait, too?"

She laughed. Her laugh was less cynical than Hawkwood's, but unnerving all the same. "Of course you are. You died. I can smell the blood fresh on you." Her nose flared. "I can smell the souls, fresh in you. Are you here to trade? A few of those souls for things to keep you safe..."

4 - Twilight's First Heat

The crone reached out a hand towards Twilight. "Come closer, strange one, and don't give me that offended look. Even for this dying world you qualify for the word. Come..." Twilight stepped closer and she began to examine the pony with wrinkled fingers. "I thought it might have been an illusion... What manner of undead would pursue such a quest without even a little fire to chase away the cold?"

Twilight withdrew from those questing fingers. "The fire, it seems... They heal you."

"In a matter of speaking," she agreed. "You are Undead. The bonfire is your home now."

"No!" Twilight spread her injured and broken wings. "My home is in Equestria, not... wherever this is."

"We are not far from Lothric, and yet a world away. Space decays with the rest of us." She peered at Twilight with knowing eyes. "You need fire if you've even a whisper of a chance, but I won't give it for free, no. That way lays madness. I will offer it for a fair price." She drew out a vial, much like the one Twilight had found, but it glowed a bright yellow instead of a blue. "Simply drink the fire within to make the suffering of battle diminish. You have enough souls, I feel. Surrender some and this is yours."

Twilight was quick to produce her own, and started. When last she left it, it had gone from glowing to dull as she drank it. At some point, it had refilled.

Her reaction filled the crone with almost mocking laughter. "You are surely doomed, you know so little..."

"Can you tell me?" She took a hesitant step forward. "What's going on?"

She waved the yellow vial in the air. "Buy this and I will give some knowledge as well. Or do not, and be on your way."

Twilight shook her head. "I don't even know how to give you what you want." Giving souls? How would one even start to do such a thing?

The crone did not seem bothered. "Come close, and say you want it."

Twilight felt a gravity there. Words held power, even in the dying land she found herself in. She did come closer and sat before the lady. "May I have that?" She pointed at the yellow vial.

The rush came, but it was a devouring one. Some of that energy left her with a palpable sense of diminishment. That power was hers no longer and swirled around the fingers of the crone, who smiled happily. "It is a deal. Here." She held out the vial toward Twilight. "And information beside, hmm... The flask holds true the essence of the flame." She swung a hand to gesture at the bonfire down the hallway. "When you rest your weary bones there, the heat fills you, and these flasks. Estus, the essence of that sacred flame, is what you drink greedily. So long as the fire remains, more will flow into the flask. See to it that does not change, would-be kindler."

Twilight held the two flasks close to one another. Besides the color of the glow, they seemed practically identical. When she pressed her hoof to each, the yellow one was warm, and the blue one chilled. "Body and mind."

"You have some wit in that furry head," mocked the crone. "Now, what else do you want? I have all manner of goods to ease the travels. Weapons? Armor perhaps? Hmm, can you make use of sorceries?"

That caught Twilight's attention. "Sorceries? Magic?" Her wings, which had folded, spread wide. "You have spells?!"

"A cantrip or two," demurred the crone. "See." She produced scrolls from within her robes, displaying them for Twilight to see. She couldn't see enough to try and read the spells entirely, but their headers were clear.

"Farron Dart? Soul Arrow?"

"A quick small attack, and a slower, heavier, one. Neither is the stuff of archmages, but you are hardly the stuff of legends, lost horse. Do you want them?"

A chance to learn new magic? At first Twilight thought the answer obvious, but she held herself back. "I want to see who's making that banging sound first, please. Thank you."

"Undead, be sure to bring more souls," she beckoned, but did not stop Twilight from moving on.

She trotted across a small bridge as a stout and thick man smashed an anvil with a heavy hammer, doing metalwork steadfastly. Twilight just watched him for a moment, eyes following the sparks when they weren't taking in the features of the short but powerful looking figure.

He looked up at her at least, pausing his hammering a moment. "Well, a newcomer I see. I am Andre, I serve in this shrine as a humble smith forging new weapons. You're in search of the Lords of Cinder, I trust? A toilsome journey, I wager. You'll require good arms. Let me smith y' weapons. I am a smith, such is my purpose." The words flowed naturally from him before he noticed something was off. "I'll be learning a whole new trick or two making armor that'll fit the like for you. Are ya cursed in some whole, new, unwholesome fashion?"

Twilight shook her head in reply. "I'm not cursed. This is how I was born, minus the wings. Pleased to meet you, Andre. I'm Twilight, Twilight Sparkle."

"Afraid that's where you're wrong, lass." He brought down his hammer on what he was working on. "You're cursed, that much is true, whether or not being an animal is part of it. Not the first talking animal, least so far as the tales go. Sharp-tongued cats are the things of legend, but you aren't one of those, either. That aside, cursed, yes. You're cursed."

Twilight tapped a hoof on the ground lightly. "Is it more complicated than being stuck here?"

"Oh, I suppose that could be taken as a curse of its own, but no, more than that." He pointed his hammer at Twilight. "You, lass, are dead. Dead, but too stubborn, or caught up in the decay, to stay dead. You want to avoid misery? Find a hole and throw yourself into it." Twilight's face became one of shock and anger. "Don't look like that, lass. I'm not trying to talk ill of ya." He slammed the metal he was working on. "Few listen to that advice. You'll find more dead than not in this world."

"You're not the first to mention that, but how can you all be so sure? I'm right here." She patted her own chest. "I'm breathing, thinking, hurting..."

"All of those things, and cursed." He set down his hammer a moment and drew out a mirror from one of his pouches. "It's on your back, the sign, clear as day, or night." Twilight lifted the mirror from Andre's grip and brought it over herself to see a strange circle of flames right between her wings.

Worried for what else might have changed, she twisted on herself and saw the circle had spread. Her cutie mark was ringed with a circle of fire, and its sight made her tremble. The cutie mark of a pony was their purpose and destiny. To have it changed was a foul thing. The only other time she had experienced it was under Starlight's control, and that was terrible as well, though this seemed far more insidious than that simple reduction. Her purpose had been changed, not just suppressed

"I trust from the look in your eyes that the marks on your flanks were not natural, as natural as any of you is." He brought down his hammer on the metal. His work could be paused, but not stopped. "Sorry to be the bearer of ill tidings."He straightened his stance, pausing his work. "Look, I'm on your side, much as anyone can be. You are after the Lords of Cinder, right?"

Twilight gave a numb nod. "I... think I am." She rose to her hooves. "I don't see what else I can do. Can you help me?"

"An honest question, and I'll give an honest answer." He resumed his banging. "I saw the Shrine Handmaiden handin' you an estus flask, important thing that is. Do you know what it does?" Twilight nodded. "Good. While you're out there, keep your eyes open for shards of the same clay. I can use them to reinforce the flasks y'got and make them stronger, hold more estus at a time." He smiled as he worked. "They're one of your only reliable friends, so treat 'em right."

Twilight gave an uncertain nod. "Right... Do you know what that means?" She pointed to her cutie mark, where the flames seemed to dance and flicker in clear defiance of a cutie mark's usual static nature.

"I'm no scholar, lass. Just a smith." He produced a great shower of sparks with his next hit. "Speakin' o' that, you want a weapon improved on, that I can do. Just bring titanite. If you see a gem layin' around, I can use those too, but it works different. I'll spare the details 'till you bring one here. Now, about some armor." He glanced up at her. "Your pelt's a pretty shade, but that'll change fast when your enemies go paintin' it red with your own blood. Even some leather's better than nothing. Robes, if you're that type, but anything. This ain't a matter of modesty."

Twilight lifted her club into view, hovering it in Andre's field of view. "I found this."

"Fit for a doorstop or to keep papers still in a breeze, not much more." He slammed his hammer down. "I'd suggest ya take whatever you can find. I have some weapons here, if you want a look. I take souls, just like the maiden there. Most people you find willing to trade are the same. We all want 'em."

"Why?" Twilight leaned forward as she pulled her club back. "Isn't it... kind of..." She rolled a hoof in the air. "I mean, really..."

"You're a precious one," he noted between strikes. "You're blushing like a virgin." Her color worsened. "Oh, are ya one? I'm not going to pry into a horse's business. Either way, it's the world's business. Souls are power. Don't feel bad for 'em. They died at your hands, their souls are yours, simple as that. Use 'em without guilt."

Twilight shook her head violently. "Right... So..."

"So you aren't giving them back. Use them, lose them, nothing else is really possible." He hammered at the metal busily. "I suggest using. You need much to have a chance. The road you're on is long and will try to break you countless times. Me? I have it easy. I'm just a smith."

Twilight smiled at that. "You're more than a smith." He glanced up at her. "You're my friend, I hope. Thank you."

"Oh, aye. A pleasure to have met you, Miss Sparkle. First horse I met that wanted more than to kick me in the teeth for looking at her funny." He laughed at his joke. Though it seemed to have more warmth than the others, the bitterness of the world laced between the sounds, giving it an edge. "Good luck. If you want to buy something, you just let me know."

5 - Be a Sovereign

Twilight felt she had a decent grasp on the basic nature of those who 'served' her. She had an old lady eager to sell her things, for souls. She had a friendly blacksmith, who also accepted souls. She had a disillusioned man that didn't seem worth much at all, and then there was the fire keeper.

The last one had her interest at the moment. She trotted back to the blind woman. Despite being nominally blind, the woman's face kept trained on Twilight. "How are you doing that?" challenged Twilight, confused. "You couldn't see me before."

"I cannot see," she agreed. "But that doesn't mean I am entirely unaware. I know where you are, to an extent, but I could not see what you were, or how tall you were. It is a curious sight, but it serves well enough. Have you decided to use those souls?"

"I already used some," admitted Twilight, feeling guilty for it.

"As is your right. You have more. You could use them to fortify yourself. Once used, they will belong to you. They will be a part of you."

Twilight cringed at the mention of them being part of her, and yet... "Aren't they... now?"

"In a matter of speaking... If you wear clothing, is it part of you? Can it not be taken free of you? Can you not put on others? Until the soul is turned to a new task, it is little more than that, feeble and easily stripped."

Twilight gave a slow nod. "And I can't give them back?"

"What is done cannot be undone."

"Can we... try then?"

"Kneel and think of how they will serve you," she bid as she took the short step to be close to Twilight. Twilight fell to a knee and closed her eyes, then felt warmth coming from above, washing through her scalp. It reminded her of the fire's comforting presence.

"Let these souls, withdrawn from their vessels, Manifestations of disparity."

As the words were spoken, Twilight could feel herself in a strange new way. She could feel how she lacked, and how she was strong. She had intelligence, for instance, clever, relatively, but lacked faith in what she could not see and measure. She lacked in physical strength, but was reasonably durable and fit. She was so many things, and none of them were good enough.

"Elucidated by fire, Burrow deep within me, Retreating to a darkness beyond the reach of flame."

She had the power to fix that, just a little. But how should she? She was no warrior, not of that sort. More brute strength would do her little good. She felt scared and alone. But she wasn't alone, right? She had to have... faith. Yes. She had to hold sacred the idea that ponies were waiting for her and let their conviction be her strength.

"Let them assume a new master, Inhabiting ash, casting themselves upon new forms."

A surge of power rushed through Twilight and she let out a little cry of surprised ecstasy. The souls had become part of her. She felt... stronger.

The fire keeper withdrew her hand. "It is done. That was not unbearable."

That hadn't been a question, but Twilight answered it anyway. "It wasn't." She felt somehow less burdened. She bounced from hoof to hoof. "I feel better. What can I... do?"

"You could lean prayers, if you wish to use your faith. Your quest awaits you."

Twilight glanced left and up, to where the old man sat, perched on his oversized throne. "One more person to talk to." She left the fire keeper and trotted up to the throne and its occupant. "Excuse me?"

"Ah, the curious one that is not unkindled." He looked over his shoulder at where Twilight peeked over the edge of his great throne. "Come and speak, if you like. You've already found one of the lords, for I was once a Lord of Cinder, and remain one to this day. See my charred form if you wish proof of it, no need to be coy."

Twilight's eyes fell to his legs, or his lack of. He had nothing beyond little stumps that held up the fabric of his robe. "Why do you just sit here, if you're a lord?"

"Barely a lord," he deflected. "One so small and weak as I? It's almost insulting compared to the others. You will have to find them, and bring them back to their thrones. Only then can the fire be relinked."

"How?" Twilight stepped out onto the arm of the throne. "Tell me how this works, please."

"Knowest thou of our purpose? Five thrones will take five Lords, as kindling for the linking of the Fire. The fast fading Flame must be linked to preserve this world. A re-enactment of the first linking of the fire. So it is, I became a Lord of Cinder. I may be but small, but I will die a colossus." His voice was like he was dreaming, or remembering a fond dream. He smiled at Twilight. "But is this possible, with such a curious undead? I look forward to finding out."

Twilight let out a sigh. "I'm going to assume you've never seen a pony before."

"A pony? Yes, but you are not one of those. Ponies are not purple, nor have wings, nor have a horn. No, you make a poor pony, but you are a fine chance. Perhaps you'll solve this properly, or at least link the flame and allow things to progress further."

Twilight gave an uncertain smile. "I plan to try."

He gestured to the fire below. "You've linked the first of many before you. Travel now and pray not lose hope." He saw Twilight peering at his stubs again. "Fret not, fret not. My feet are here firmly planted. For I am a Lord, and this is my throne."

"Y-yes, thank you." She dipped her head at him, then scurried away. She was quick to the lady who sold things. "Excuse me?"

"Have you forgotten my name so quickly? That's alright, I never told it to you." She sat up in her chair. "What do you require?"

"The fire keeper," She pointed at where the keeper stood stoically. "She said you might have a miracle for sale."

That made her laugh. "Oh, the sound of it. Would that I could sell real miracles... But I have stories, yes, stories of miracles. For those with faith in their heart, they can be their own miracles, small as they are. I have one just for you." She drew a parchment from the depths of her clothing, old and yellowed. "Study it well, and make it part of you at the fire. Do you have a chime or talisman?"

Twilight tilted her head faintly with confusion. "I'll just read it." She didn't need tools to use magic. She had a horn, and that was all a unicorn needed.

"On your head be that. You have enough souls, even after wasting them. Do you want this?"

"Yes." Twilight reached for the parchment. With a sudden jolt, the souls were drawn from her. She was allowed to take it. With a new bit of knowledge, she plopped right down and got to reading it. It was a story. It told of an injured man who was ignored when he wasn't spit on or even kicked aside.

The man was ready to give up when another approached, clad in rags. At first he feared the vagrant was there to pick on him as well, but the vagrant had warmth in his heart. He prayed for the health of the unfortunate. He prayed, and he moved on peacefully.

The man was so taken aback that he forgot his pain enough to stand. It was a little reminder of the comforts of little gestures.

Twilight was perplexed. "This isn't a spell at all."

The shrine maiden shook her head, but said nothing.

Twilight took the silence as a mocking. Surely there had to be a spell there, she just had to see it. "Tell me what it should do!"

"A healing miracle. The smallest of them, but you are the smallest undead we have, so that fits well enough, don't you think?"

Twilight peered at the words again, trying to analyze it, to make sense of them like the scholar she was. That was when it clicked. These were not instructions for a scholar. She had to be like Pinkie. She had to feel the words and their magic and accept them, not analyze and decipher them. They needed her faith, just as she had asked for moments ago.

"When I was a little filly and the sun was going down..." she sang as she walked towards the fire. It was Pinkie's song, one of her first that had bound them as friends. They still were friends, a universe apart. She held onto that warmth, that companionship. With a flare of light, magic burst free of her in a small wash of white.

The maiden seemed duly surprised. "Huh, goes to show what I get assuming little devil horses work the same as human folk."

Twilight spared her a glare, but she had a mission, a purpose. If she was to escape the world, she'd have to play her part and keep her eyes open. "I'll find my way."

She folded the paper carefully and tucked it away, then considered what she had. She still only had a club for a weapon, but she was still a slight unicorn, not a big strong pony like Applejack. Twilight let out a little sigh. "I miss them..." But there was no finding them until she got home. She advanced on the fire, staring into its flickering light. "Time to go."

She focused and felt her sense of space wash away. She was moving. How far? She knew not, but she did know when she arrived, standing in some kind of small building. She was in a room on clean stone floors instead of ones filled with ash. She could see double doors on one side, but her attention was drawn to an altar. There was a coiled sword there, but she felt none of the importance in that one. It wasn't even sharp. It was all worn and broken. There were candles set along the wall and cobwebs attached to every available space.

There were no answers there, that she could see. She moved for the doors and rested a hoof on one, giving it a push. It gave just faintly, but it was heavy. She turned her magic on it, gripping both and giving a mighty mental heave. They swung open, revealing a lit exterior that looked like she was on top of a castle? She wasn't entirely sure, but it was outside, and light. Looking out across the way, she could see a massive castle in the distance, separated by a great void. If her wings were working, she could just fly over there, but then, something she needed could be where she was. It wouldn't pay to assume the answers were in any given place. She would have to be thorough...

6 - Atop the High Wall

She trot from the relative safety of the small room out into the wider world. Stairs led down about a story to a sight that filled her with a strange joy to see. It was a bonfire, but it wasn't lit. The coiled sword pierced the earth, as it had in the other bonfires that could provide her succor.

It felt like the most important thing in sight and she hurried for it in a quick scurry down those winding steps. What surrounded the fire was not comforting. Spikes, skulls, and strangest of all, entire bodies impaled on poles. Each body was emaciated. Many were reaching wantingly for nothing in particular. Some up towards the sky, others for each others. The area had the look of ramparts. She was on a wall, battleworn with rubble and ruin, but a stout wall it remained.

She held out a hoof to that unlit flame, bidden by forces beyond her to want to feel its warmth.

It was enough. The ashes beneath the sword burst into brilliant light, shedding blessed warmth across the area. She felt safer for its presence. "Alright, now where to...?" She looked left and right and saw two major options. Both were flights of stairs sloped downward. They seemed equally viable in the end, so she picked at random. Left.

The stairs were not long, opening out into a courtyard. There were more impaled people, but they were not as interesting as the 'living' ones. Just as thin and pallid, they worshiped in near-silent devotion to the ones that were impaled, as if being lanced had somehow given them divine properties.

Twilight approached carefully, expecting one of the genuflecting beings to turn hostile. "Excuse me?"

They didn't respond, but another creature did, coming from around the corner with an axe clutched in both hands. It had no love in its dead eyes.

Twilight squeaked in surprise, even if she felt silly as she did it. She knew such things would come, though it still surprised her. Her horn glowed brilliantly as she fired bright purple beams into its torso, rocking it before it fell to the ground in a clatter, its axe falling off to the side.

It was dead, the not-moving kind. She could feel its power slipping into her in that seductive way. It wasn't a large pouring, as the guardian of the gate had been, but it was impossible to ignore. She eyed that axe. It looked far stouter than the club she had been using. Sure, it was rusted and pitted. It was still a step up from the small slab of wood she had. She hefted it in her magic grip.

As she gave it a few test swings, another dead person made its presence known. It was dressed in dark rags and held a lantern in one hand. Most important, it screamed. It screamed a haunted wailing that sent all the bowing and groveling undead into little balls of fear.

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to..." Her words died off as she saw the screaming was drawing the attentions of another combatant. Her words were falling on deaf ears, likely due to that wailing. She smirked to herself at her little joke.

It was a chance to try that axe out. She could blast it, but she only had so much magic. Holding something in her magic expended it far more slowly than arcane bolts. She gave the aged metal a firm squeeze along its hilt, hoping things went well.

The creature did not give her much time to fret as it came rushing at her, a dagger pointing its way forward. It was an enthusiastic but clumsy lunge that Twilight easily jumped to the left to avoid. The undead seemed eager to end her, but had little real ability to do so. They were mindless and awkward. She brought down the axe in a cruel arc. Somehow, she hadn't expected the metal cleaving into flesh to create such a spray of moldering blood.

She cringed and shuddered. Such outright violence was not her usual operation. Was this how things really had to be? The lantern holding undead was approaching, malignance etched in its features. It seemed, yes, that was how things had to be. With a wild swing, she stilled the once-man. The form tried to rise up again and Twilight's lips peeled back in fright as she sank her new blade into the thing's back. It did not move again.

Twilight could feel the faint whispers of power in her. With every thing slain, more 'soul power' brimmed in her... dead body. She shivered from her hooves to her ears at the thought of it. "This is a terrible world," she complained to nopony in particular. "I just want to go home." But asking nicely wasn't going to get her there. She had to find her own way back. She tucked the sword away at her side and let out a slow breath.

"You can do this..." She had done it. She had wielded a great terrible axe. It was surprisingly... easy. She was an axe murderer of the most literal sort. "They aren't... really alive..." They wanted to kill her, but they didn't seem to have any other drive.

She turned to one of the curled up balls of frightened undeath. "Hello?" She reached out and nudged the almost skeletal figure. "I'm not here to hurt you. Can you talk?" No answer was forthcoming but faintly whispered whimpering.

Twilight decided no answers were forthcoming and began looking around. She squealed in surprise when she came face to face with a dragon! It was huge, compared to Spike. It was also dead. Dead dead, not the half-dead of most things she'd run into. "What happened..."

Before she could ponder it long, a sword pierced her side in a flash of pain. She jerked away to find one of the unliving men had snuck up on her with a bloodstained sword. Was that her blood? It seemed likely. She struck it down with a bolt of pure magic and it fell backwards to the ground. Her eyes went quickly to her new injury. It hurt, but it wasn't bleeding. She didn't bleed at all.

Oh right... "You're dead..." She had blood, but it would not flow easily, even when she was stabbed. She pondered taking a sip of the liquid fire she had in that flask to make the pain go away, but she could only hold so much. While painful, it was not a terminal pain by far. She had to be strong!

Her attention slid back to the dragon. Its head rested in the courtyard. Its neck went upwards to a higher place, where its body could be partially seen, unmoving and expired. It was bone white/stone gray in coloring and it was huge and terrifying. In life, Twilight had no doubt it would be a force to be reckoned with. Was it a thinking creature? Did sapience once burn in those eyes? She couldn't know, but she wondered.

Seeing it made her curious. She looked for a way to get up to where its body was and found some stairs going upwards. There were many more worshipping undead, giving quiet worship to the dead dragon. On some small level, it made more sense than the ones that called out to the impaled dead people. The dragon was worth some consideration, even dead. Still, worship of a corpse was unlikely to result in much.

Twilight shook her head as she stepped carefully. She could see a man holding a lantern. He walked with a bit of a shamble. Twilight weighed her options. She could strike first before it shrieked, or she could try to talk to it. Talking had not yielded much in the way of results...

But she was still Twilight. She would not let this cruel world deny her that. She would try talking, even if it was doomed to failure. "Excuse me," she called out to it. "Where are we?"

The undead turned toward her and looked like it was ready to scream, but... it paused. It stared at her as if it had lost its place in life.

"Um, I didn't mean to alarm. Where is this?"

"Where," it gasped out in almost a death rattle. "Where..." It fell to its knees as if presented with a question that shattered its view of the universe. "Why..."

Twilight took half a step back. These undead were so fragile, however hostile they were.

The screaming began. On its knees with lantern held up, it called out to the hostile world as if demanding an answer to the question.

The answer came in the form of two armored and armed zombies that glanced at the screamer before facing Twilight.

"Oh, uh, I didn't mean to..."

They cared little for her excuses and came rushing at her. One had a sword and a shield, the other just a sword. A shield, she would have to consider using one of those, considering how she liked not being stabbed. She tensed in wait until they were close, then dove out of the way past them. They swung at where she once was, their rotting bodies slow to react. They hadn't even the chance to turn around before she brought the axe around in wild and powerful swings in her magic, knocking both to the ground, unmoving and still.

"Here," spoke the lantern holder, rising back up. "We are... here." It seemed satisfied with the answer. "You..." It drew a dagger and came towards Twilight, the question that had plagued it forgotten.

It was sapient. It was a broken sapience, to be sure, but it could speak, and understand. Twilight didn't want to fight it. She didn't want to before, but that feeling was redoubled then. She turn and fled away, back down the stairs. It didn't follow her long. It seemed happy to have chased her away from its starting point, having defending its home from foul invaders, such as Twilight.

She tried to calm herself, letting out a breath as she shivered.

There was something sparkling. Some faint whisp. She approached a body with that shimmer. "Are you alive?" It wasn't. It was very dead. She frowned and looked around. She was sure something was hidden there. She reached with her magic and began searching pockets and patting it down when it popped free. A small wispy thing that was smaller than her hoof. She held it up and peered at it. What was it?

She knew. She stared and she knew. It was a soul of some poor traveler that had met an unkind end. While it remained in that solidified wisp, it would be just as it is, but she could break it, 'kill' it, and then that soul power would be hers to use as she wished. It had little other use.

She tucked it away, unwilling to bring harm to it just yet. "Maybe if I really need it..." She hated the idea of it. When she died, for real, a long time away, maybe peacefully in her bed, she would hope nopony would come bothering her soul, especially in such a violent way. It was wrong.

"This world is wrong," she muttered to herself as she drew her axe free and approached the stairs heading down and into a building with it floating beside her.

She tried to steel herself. She would run into more undeath. She would have to fight. If they didn't attack her, she wouldn't attack them, but she couldn't afford to not fight.

7 - Spike?

Twilight stalked into the next room, axe hovering near her, ready. It was dim, with only a few small lights allowing her to see. There were crates and barrels stacked about, but they all seemed... empty. No smell came from them but that of old wood. She reared up and tried to pry off the top of one with her horn just for it to disintegrate, falling to pieces under its decay. There was nothing inside. Like the people themselves, hollow.

A grunt had her spinning around to face an upright shambling person, already lunging at her, sword dangerously close, its aged tip still sharp enough to not want anywhere near her. It was too late to dive, so she brought up the only thing she had, the axe. She knocked the weapon off its mark, turning a direct hit into a glancing one that left a painful line across her cheek. She returned the favor with a powerful slam, driving her axe deep into the side of the creature. It howled and died, slumping down bonelessly to the ground.

She hadn't a chance to even try talking to it. Somehow that... was easier. It had attacked first, as the stinging mark on her cheek validated.

Her thoughts wandered back. She had been given something to help, besides the estus flask. She tried to capture that thought of Pinkie, always eager to bring a smile to anyone's face, and to the man whose day was improved with the kindness of a stranger. She held firm to those thoughts and felt warmth rush through her. The stinging abated, the injury chased away. She had performed a miracle.

She reached up a hoof and tapped her cheek where the cut had been and felt a little tenderness there. It would have to be good enough. Maybe actually using one of those charms would make it better?

She heard something climbing and turned to see a zombie briskly come up a ladder she had scarcely noticed before. The moment it got to the top, it drew a sword free and turned to her.

"Hello?" She ventured, raising her axe. "We don't have to do this."

The creature had lost all sense. Fighting was all it knew. As it approached, Twilight struck it down with a quick magic bolt, returning it to a proper death. Its sword clattered to the ground, ripe for the taking. It looked fairly clean and well-cared for. Twilight wasn't sure if it was better or worse than her big axe, but she took it anyway. Perhaps the smith could help her decide? She tucked it away.

Things seemed peaceful, or as peaceful as the world ever was outside the shrine. Twilight noticed a glimmer from a slumped form. After prodding it gently to make sure it didn't want to attack her, she found its pockets were bulging with what looked like bombs the sort that Pinkie might toss, though hers would likely explode with confetti. She doubted these would do the same. She shook her head slowly and tucked the two bombs away, hoping she would have no need for the things, but feeling that was a foolish hope.

Looking around, she spied a body sprawled out of a window, dead in a most undignified position. She could see it glimmer. It had something, but she couldn't reach it without functioning wings. She spread her tattered wings, spread wide before she tried to give a flap, to gain some altitude, but they refused to catch any air, as if that magic had been snatched from her in return for her defiance of death itself.

That was when she realized she was being silly. She let out a laugh. It was a little shrill and she clapped a hoof over her snout. She was being touched by the place. Not that she hadn't laughed like that before, when she had a breakdown. "Calm down, Twi," she berated herself, sitting on her haunches and trying to regather herself. "You'll make it through this, just keep it together..."

With a slow breath, she regathered herself. She was a unicorn, darn it. That came with certain... advantages. She stopped trying to reach the body and instead brought the body down to herself. With a sharp tug, it fell over into the room. "Ta da!" She had... defiled some dead person's body. Twilight shuddered as she realized what she had done. Still, it was already done... She found a pouch filled with golden sparkling dust.

She peered at it curiously before its meaning began to come to her, as a shadow on a wall. "Golden Pine Resin," She spoke to the room, with only the dead as witness. It produced electricity and could be rubbed over a weapon to let it do the same, electrocuting things as she cut them. It sounded... ghastly, but perhaps useful?

She decided to take whatever edge she could get and poured out the pouch over her axe, making it crackle and spark dangerously. She wondered how any non-unicorn would be able to wield such a weapon if they had to held it with their hands, hooves, or mouth.

With her charged weapon, she moved toward the only way forward she could see, the ladder heading downwards. She spread her wings and glanced left and right. They weren't good enough to fly, but perhaps they could cushion the fall? She dared try. Wind whistled past her for the instant before she crashed into the ground. She wasn't sure her wings had helped at all, but at least she knew not to do that with much larger falls in the future. Lesson learned. Yay?

She shook herself out and looked around the dark place. She could see what looked like jail bars, but the door wasn't in the way, she she walked forward, spotting the tell tale glimmer of something hiding on the body of a long dead person against the floor and wall. She glanced around for danger and began her search to find her searching pop free another of those souls. This one was vaguely different. It spoke of a sad determination. Its body had simply been left there, abandoned and forgotten. None would come to bury it.

Twilight shook her head at the soul she held. She could destroy it, claim its energy just as she did with each undead she laid to rest.

She suddenly started, realizing something. She hadn't even noticed the little bits of strange sensation the last few victories. She was already getting used to it. She wasn't sure how happy she was about that. It was distracting, but it meant she was getting all the more used to the world. She tucked the soul away, unwilling to finish the corpse's defilement in shattering its soul.

She moved past the abandoned body. She couldn't do much for it. Things became more lit as she turned the corner and found herself stepping outside. A... zombie with a polearm held limply rose it up into readiness, a large shield in its other hand. Another undead took notice and brought a crossbow into view, ready to perforate Twilight.

Twilight squeaked and backed up through the archway in time to hear a bolt clatter against the stone. She peeked out and saw the crossbow wielder was reloading. The pole and shield one was not advancing quickly. It was the vanguard, almost protecting the other. That was fine. It was... almost like a puzzle. She stuck her head out and blew them a raspberry until the undead let loose a fresh bolt.

She jerked her head back, letting the bolt sail past where her head had been. While it was reloading, she charged forward. She brought her axe in a cruel arc, but it crashed against the shield. Electricity arced and jumped, lancing through the undead painfully. It grunted and staggered under the unexpected assault. She could see the crossbow wielder was reloading quickly, she had to act fast. She brought the weapon down and around, cleaving into the poor thing's legs from behind. It collapsed under the unfair swordsponyship.

The crossbow was aimed directly at her. Twilight dove to the side just as the bolt came free of it. She had no time to think, so she just acted. Even as the bolt crashed into the wall, she pounced on the living dead and began beating it to the ground, blood flying with every swing of her axe. It was only when things had gone still that she stepped back off of it, panting.

There were two ways she could go, up some stairs, or along the wall. She could see some undead massing ahead, a motley group she didn't want to deal with. Stairs it was!

She ascended, head barely cresting the top to see plenty of other undead when the ground shook. She heard a terrific roar as a dragon came to land right on the building ahead of her. It was like the dead dragon, only very much alive, and very much angry. Twilight could only gawk at it as it drew a mighty breath. "Um, hello?"

It exhaled a terrific burst of flames that engulfed the undead that were on the landing she was about to walk out onto. As the flames reached the stairs where she was, the force of the heat knocked her back and down, sending her tumbling painfully down the stairs to a heap at the bottom. "Or not..." She picked herself up, bruised and hurting in new places, but mostly in one piece. This seemed like a good time for a sip. She drew out her estus flask and drew some of the liquid fire into her dry mouth. Her body shimmered as the aches and pains faded away, leaving her restored.

Unfortunately, the dragon was still there, barring the way. "Guess I'm not going that way..." She shook her head a little and returned her gaze to the group ahead of her on the wall. They looked far less threatening than a fully grown dragon. It was the only option she saw.

She raised her axe high, then let it dip. Did she have to engage them in melee? There were too many of them to consider it a safe idea, as safe as any mortal combat could be. It was tiring, but safe. She set the axe down a moment and lowered her head as she gathered her power. Bright purple energy streaked from her horn, striking each down, though one stubbornly remained standing and needed a second to put down properly. "Ta da." Being a unicorn had advantages, though she felt tired. She would not be repeating that trick until she could rest, preferably at a bonfire.

She plucked up her axe and it felt heavier. She barely had enough magic to heft it properly. "I hope there's another nearby." The defeated undead did not reply to her wishes.

She walked forward cautiously, the dragon roaring and growling above her. It leaned over the side of the building it was on and fixed its eyes on her. It drew a breath.

Twilight screamed in panic and ran as fast as she could, flames scorching the back of her tail, but she made it past. "I see dragons in this world are about as popular as most in mine." She rolled her eyes as she held her tail gently a moment. Stairs led upwards and seemed to be the only way. At the top there was a knight, or so she assumed. Suited entirely in steel armor with a tall and gleaming shield and sword held. It walked with smooth confidence. There was no lurching or staggering in its steps.

It wasn't one of the same undead she had met so far. "Oh! Hello! Please tell me you can talk."

"Foul intruder," it replied. "What manner of demon are you? No matter." He raised his shield and sword. "I will defend this wall."

"W-wait! I'm not attacking, I promise!" She lowered her axe quickly. "Can't we talk?"

"I will not be corrupted by the sweet lies of a demon." He brought his sword forward, not with the mindless aggression of the others, but with a practiced skill. Twilight, in her attempt to try peace, was unprepared for such a swift attack and caught it in her flesh, pain exploding as the knight pierced her right through the chest. "Die."

He brought up an armored boot and kicked her off the blade, freeing it and sending her stumbling over backwards. She grabbed the axe in her magic just in time for the knight to come crashing in against her. A swipe that seemed faster than lightning sent blood flying in an arc. She managed an uncoordinated flail with her axe before the knight brought down his sword through her spine, killing her.

8 - Git Gud

Twilight's senses returned and she spun around in alarm. She still had her axe, and a quick inventory showed she hadn't lost anything for her traumatic passing.

But that wasn't true. She felt an emptiness inside. Her power, the souls, they had been lost, every single one. She slumped even as a wince played over her face, replaying her painful last few moments in her mind. She would find no succor with that undead. She would have to fight it, or get around it. "Considering how fast it is..."

She shook her head. "Fight it is." Fighting was the only real option that cruel world seemed to offer her. She decided to try and get some help. With a raised hoof towards the bonfire she had been returned to, she thought of the shrine, and lost herself in its warmth until she came to, standing in the shrine. "At least here is safe."

The firekeeper was seated on the bleachers, watching her.

Twilight decided to start there. "Excuse me."

"Yes?"

"I'm trying... but this is really hard. Do you have any advice?"

She may have frowned, or not, it was hard to tell with her mask. "Hollow one, you are where you should not be. An improper tool, but we can'st ask for other. An ashen one was to perform this task."

Twilight sat on her haunches. "And an 'ashen one' is? I'm not hollow. I'm Twilight ..." She had a last name, didn't she? She frowned trying to draw it out, but it refused to come.

"The curse," spoke the fire keeper in her soft tones. "With every death you are brought closer to the very death you battle."

Twilight shook her head. "What do you--" She paled as it clicked. "All those people?! They... They lost everything... They... went hollow, like I am." She began to dance from hoof to hoof, heart hammering. "How do I stop it?!"

A mocking voice spoke from the opposing bleachers, "you don't." Hawkwood sneered at Twilight. "You'll go mad, no doubt there. You're looking worse for wear."

Twilight wheeled on him and trot towards him, fury rising with every step. "As if you're better! You've been nothing but--"

He held up his hands. "Yes yes, I've failed in my task as well. Why don't we just have a pity party together, less painful than what you're doing."

Twilight clopped down a hoof, crunching stone with her angry motion. "What was your task?!"

"Oh? Haven't figured it out?" He leaned forward. "Not that it matters much anymore." A laugh came from him, unhinged in the way that laughter seemed to be in that broken world. "I'm what the fire keeper there wishes you were. I am an 'ashen one'."

Twilight took a slow breath, barrel swelling before she let it out. It did not come out as a sigh, but more of a rattle, like someone's last breath. She shuddered at the sound of it. "Alright... What is that? Tell me, please."

He crossed his hands over his legs as if every motion took some effort. "Do I look like a scholar to you?"

"You look like an ashen one," retorted Twilight. "Which, I hope, means you know what one is."

"Right... So I went on a big quest, back when I was still alive." He frowned at Twilight. "Failed. I mean, in the end. I got to the last, first fire, tried to link it, didn't have it in me." He spread his fingers in a show of an explosion. "Fwoosh, nothing but ash. I was killed, that I was."

Twilight pointed at herself. "I was killed, twice. Why aren't I an ashen one?"

"You weren't roasted by the first fire, stupid horse." Despite, or perhaps because of Twilight's scowl, he howled with laughter. "You're just a garden variety undead, like all the rest. Look, there ain't no getting 'round that. You want help?"

"Yes! That's what I asked for!" shouted Twilight before she caught herself, her voice lowering. "Sorry, yes... I'm doing my best."

"Ain't we all..." He pointed down the hall. "Talk to the old crone back there, ask her about the soapstone. You can use it to reach across to other worlds."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Other worlds?" Like Equestria? "Thank you!" She took off in a frantic gallop, getting to the shrine maiden in scarcely a moment. "Hello!"

The maiden frowned down at Twilight. "You don't have any souls."

Twilight blinked at that, some air let loose of her sails. "Oh, no, I wanted to ask about a 'soapstone'?"

The crone produced the long white stone from her robes. "This? You can use it to inscribe your name, to let others call you. If you assist them, you will be rewarded with fire, and souls."

Twilight tilted her head. "That sounds interesting, but I was hoping to say more than my name."

She tucked the white one away and shook her head. "Just a matter of how you use it. Not that it matters, you've not a single soul to your sorry name."

Twilight's ears sagged along with much of the rest of her. "Right... Could you...?"

"I am not in the habit of giving things without payment," she spoke in clear decision. "Fetch some souls."

She considered the situation a moment and realized she did have a soul, two in fact. She drew out the crystallized souls and the shrine maiden seemed to perk up. "Do these count as souls?"

"Oh, yes, they do indeed." She reached out an aged hand. "Kept them in case of poor fortune? Wiser than I had'st bethought. Give them up and the soapstone is yours, provided thee intend to get more souls with it."

That was not the primary use Twilight had in mind. "If I let others call me, won't that just mean I'll die more, and lose my souls?"

She laughed. Each laughter in that world was a reflection of the breaks of the person doing the laughing. Hers was an old chortle, speaking of equally aged secrets she would likely never tell and pains she would not share. "When thou'rst in another world, your souls are your own, and thee can take a portion of theirs as well. Thine profit be increased at no risk to thee."

Twilight set the glowing souls in her hand, and eagerly accepted the soapstone in her magic. "Thank you."

She crushed the souls without hesitation, letting their energy pour free and into herself. Twilight gaped a moment before she turned away. She should have seen that coming. She chastised herself for being surprised. What use were souls still crystallized, except for, apparently, resisting being lost on death.

Holding the stone aloft, she felt her senses shift subtly. She could subtly see signs on the floors. Some proclaimed the smith to be a friend, while others extolled the physical beauty of the firekeeper, as well as some lewd acts that Twilight quickly ignored. What other world did the stone link to wherein the residents faced the same things she did? They were very close worlds, she decided.

She lowered the rock to the floor and tried to write her name. It was not the name she remembered. A large sigil was the result, but it felt like 'her', all of her, condensed into one symbol.

"That... was interesting..." If the shrine was as peaceful as it had been for her in the other worlds, she doubted she would be called to assist there. That mattered little, she was just testing. She banished her sigil with a wave of a hoof and some will, then got to writing an actual message.

Dear Princess Celestia, I hope this message reaches you. I'm stuck! Please send help.

Your

She paused. What was she? Right!

student,
Twilight

She stepped back from the glowing letters and waited, but nothing happened. She let out a quiet delirious laugh. "Can't expect instant results... I should... try to proceed."

Reflecting on the fire, she was sent back to the high wall. To her dismay, all the undead were back as if she had never defeated them. They were hollow, just as her. They would return again and again, each time diminished faintly, though most had already long past the point of losing themselves. She hefted her axe in her mental grip. "I'm sorry I can't help you," she said as an apology to them all before she took a firm step forward.

She remembered which undead had attacked her and went for each first. They did not react differently, not remembering her last approach. They were too far gone for such things. Barely golems. Golems made of dead flesh. She carved a bloody path with her axe, sending each back to the earth to rest, for a little while.

She slid down the ladder and emerged to see the shield wielding undead and the crossbow holding one. Above them, the dragon remained. It had not lost where it was. Was it not part of the curse? Perhaps not. Twilight wondered at the implications a moment before she had to duck back to avoid a crossbow bolt.

With a sudden charge, she felled the shielded undead, then removed the legs from the crossbow one before it could take another shot. She was getting used to things. This did not comfort her. She did not want to fight that armored and skilled undead again, not so quickly.

"But if I..." she muttered to herself, stepping forward just far enough to goad the dragon into looking over the side. Even as it began to breath fire down at her, Twilight was scrambling up the stairs. She hurried across the courtyard, the dragon turning its head back into position to blast her. There were a lot of things to be gotten, but she dared not stop to get any of them. Instead she ran straight forward, diving under the stone of the very building the dragon was perched on, where its flames did not find her, instead roasting the already dead forms of the undead in the courtyard.

"Made it..." She let out a little breath of relief and turned to the gate she was in front of. She pushed it open, stepping inside away from the roars of the angry dragon she had evaded. She followed a ramp heading downwards and beheld her prize, a chest! There was writing in front of it, the scrawlings of another with a soapstone?

Liar ahead

Twilight tilted her head at the message. "Liar? It's a chest." She pointed at it, then peered at the chest, wondering how a chest could lie.

That's when she saw it move. Its upper lid rose and fell ever so slowly. It was breathing? "Liar," she whispered to herself. It wasn't a chest at all!

Did she move past it. Attack it? "If I just go past it, it might follow me..." She raised her axe. "On the other hoof... Chest? Can you hear me?" It did not respond. "Hello?" Nothing. She had tried. She rose the axe high and brought it own. It bit into the roof of the chest, but it rose up instead of shattering. It had the body of a skinny but impossibly tall human beneath it. With a little laugh, it kicked the startled Twilight across the room.

She didn't have time to ponder it. She scrambled to her hooves just in time to dive out of the way of of a swipe of its hands. Each movement came with its hauntingly deep giggle. Twilight brought her axe down on its leg, but it did not piece far, and the chest monster seemed hardly impressed. It made a lunge for her and she dived between its legs to avoid being grabbed. She brought down her axe across its back in the moment of exposure, but it reacted with a lighting spin of a foot, launching itself across the room.

Twilight stepped towards it cautiously. She ducked under the next violent kick and brought in her axe. It let out a howl of agony before falling backwards stiffly like a puppet with its strings severed and vanished in a great shower of soul energy that she could feel passing into herself. An axe was left behind. It looked like her axe, but it thrummed with dark energy.

"A dark weapon for a dark world," sighed out Twilight as she lifted it up in her magic, testing it. It swung just as the other, but she could feel the dark energy in it, hungry to bite into flesh. "I am going to need the longest bath after I get out of this place..."

9 - The Flame Spreads

Wielding her axe that floated beside her, she approached a door. It was made of iron bars, allowing her to see through it. On the other side, her fear made manifest. It was the knight, but he had not seen her, and was marching stoically past. She held her breath a moment as the knight descended the same stairs she had ascended to meet him the last time. He was past.

Slowly, she pushed the door open, only for movement to catch her attention from the right. A hollow was rising to his feet at the base of the small steps she was about to descend, and he was armed with a sword. She did not ask if he was friendly. Leaping down at him, she brought her new dark weapon to bear, cleaving into the dead flesh and quickly sending it staggering back to the ground it had barely had a chance to rise from.

It had been quick and quiet, which was ideal. Twilight looked up and around nervously, but the knight had not returned. She hurried forward towards the next tower, its doorway little more than an open arch with nothing in her way. As she hurried as quietly as she could, she heard it. The knight. He was returning. Metal footfalls rang on the stairs heading back up towards the platform she was on.

In a panic, she broke into a run, bursting into the dimmer interior of the tower, practically black before her eyes adjusted. Pain exploded through her side as a spry hollow barreled into her from the side, interrupting her attempt to flee. She could feel its dagger slip free of her flesh as it jumped back, looking ready to deliver greater agonies on her.

She could hear the knight, still approaching. She didn't have time to dance with the new menace. Her horn glowed an instant before she let loose a deadly bolt, but it never arrived at its target. The rogue dived aside and came dancing forward towards her. Fortunately, she had more where that had come from, but it nimbly wove around the strike. At least it was forced to leap backwards. The third strike caught it dead in the chest just as it landed. It shuddered before collapsing to a limp pile.

Twilight could hear those accursed steps. The Knight was just getting to the doorway. She took off through another archway that led back outside. There were stairs heading upwards. There was no time to think. She just ran. Cresting the top of the tower, she could see grisly spikes that held dead bodies. At least those seemed unable to attack her. She saw something else, something that called out to her. It was a coiled sword, much like the one she drove into the fire in the shrine. Like the one that rested in the fire at the top of the wall. Where there was a coiled sword, there was fire.

There was hope.

Twilight approached it, forgetting the knight for a blessed moment. Besides, she didn't hear his steps. He didn't seem to be following her. She held out a hoof towards it, imagining the comfort of the fire, and it came to her. With a great rush of heat, the sword and the bones it rested in combusted, becoming a small bonfire against the darkness of the world.

She sank to her haunches beside it, comforted by the warmth. She lost track of time a moment, her pains fading away entirely in that undetermined amount of time.

When she stirred, she stood back up. She was whole. Mostly. She spread out a tattered wing, lamenting the loss of her flight magic and the ease it would have afforded her. "It isn't fair..." But what in that broken world was?

She decided to look around. She wasn't being actively chased, so it seemed a fine time. Besides the grisly pikes and their morbid cargo, there was one body laying on the ground that held something clutched in a hand. She pulled it free and tilted her head at the lump of stone or metal. Its name came to her with some consideration. "Titanite? What is that for?" She shook her head. She had a feeling her smithing friend would know. At least he seemed like a nice person, straight forward and without duplicity.

He reminded her of Applejack at her best. Hard working, a good friend, ready to perform their duty without complaint.

Shame he wasn't a pony at all. Not that humans were bad per se, but they weren't ponies.

She descended the stairs just in time to see the knight walking out the front archway. Twilight tensed, but the knight proceeded out without a glance back. Past him, she could see the hollow that had slammed into her previously. It had returned...

Then it struck her. When she recovered herself, lost in the flames, so too did all the others, sharing in her recovery. She was the world's salvation, and its bringer of end. How did she become the centerpiece of the world? It wasn't even her world... The path she was set on seemed full of destiny. That much, at least, she could understand. She had been destiny's tool before. Why should another world be lenient on her? She was still destiny's plaything.

Other people might find such a revelation unsettling or disheartening, but Twilight gave a little smile. If Destiny itself wanted her there, then she was in the right place. If she pushed ever onwards, and never gave up, she could not lose. Destiny did not allow for it. She just... had to never give up. The dull ache of death casually interrupted her moment of hope. Death had come for her, twice. Each time it had snatched away some vital piece of her. She might win, but at what cost? What would be left of her?

Would she arrive at the finishing line, little more than a hollow, staggering forward on her hooves having long ago forgotten why she was doing what she was doing? Would she even remember her own name? Was that actually winning?

Twilight clenched her jaw. She just had to stop... dying. That was all... She let out a broken laugh, hysterical edges echoing around it. Just don't die. It was so simple...

All her thoughts had given enough time for the knight to return. He marched in that proper way, unchanging. How long had he been there, marching, ever marching? Was he also hollow? It was hard to tell with the helmet in the way, but she decided it was very likely. He was more functional than many, but still hollow, still dead.

She set her hooves squarely on the ground and lowered her horn. She let her power gather with a brightening light. She would not run from it again.

The knight was oblivious, so focused on his patrol. He only took notice when the great beam of arcane might slammed into him. He collapsed, strings cut. Twilight was left heaving for breath. That had taken a lot out of her. She pulled out the blue-glowing flask she had. With a pull, her mouth filled with chilled ashes, but the ache in her horn faded and her mind cleared. She was renewed. The flask, alas, looked emptied. She would not be able to rely on such devastating attacks.

The knight had held a shield, a very nice looking one she wanted. She was tired of being stabbed.

Speaking of that, there was the rogue, sitting, waiting for the right time to pounce her. Twilight brought her axe in as a makeshift shield, held up at the ready as she stalked forward.

The rogue jumped towards her in a smooth and sudden motion. His dagger danced against the metal of the axe as she wrestled to keep it from plunging into her delicate body. With a mighty shove, she heaved the rogue back and swung the axe in a wide arc, but he jumped free, then back in, but she hadn't stopped swinging. The axe caught him on the arm and he staggered back from the blow. With a determined cry she brought it across his front. Darkness flowed across his form and he fell forward, dead, for a moment.

Twilight let out her breath before she sat down, panting in recovery. She could reach the shield, so she grabbed it. She couldn't put all her focus on the axe if she held a shield, but it meant she wouldn't be stabbed as easily, and that seemed well-worth the price. A fine shield it was at that. Despite the age of everything else, it gleamed even in the dim light. It was solid and nicely painted. Twilight ran a hoof over its triangular surface. It was a clear symbol of a prosperous kingdom. "What did you look like before all this happened?" she asked no one.

She decided she had to press onwards. Axe and shield at the ready, she descended the curved ramp that led further into darkness. She heard the faint sound of agile feet approaching. It was a rogue, and it flung a dagger at her with great speed. She brought her shield up between her and the rogue and it bounced off the thick metal with a loud ring of steel on steel.

The agile hollow jumped towards her, waving his dagger somewhat haphazardly in a series of rapid small strikes that could not penetrate the shield, but did draw on her stamina, keeping her grip sure on the metal as it was battered mercilessly. She brought down the axe and it bit satisfyingly into her attacker's shoulder, forcing him to back up a step.

Catching her breath, Twilight circled to the left, but had barely a moment before the fast dead came at her, dagger positioned to plunge into her. She dived, rolling away from the strike and coming up with a swinging axe. She planted it in his back squarely and the two fell to the ground in a pile. She wrenched her axe free and noticed a pouch laying beside the form. It held a collection of those throwing daggers. "Might be useful," she murmured to herself, pocketing them.

She could see another archway heading outside to a place she had not been before, but she could also see a ladder heading downwards. Both seemed equally intriguing options, and she wasn't sure which to take.

10 - Friends in Low Places

Twilight turned away from the light of the outside. "I should finish checking what's in this building before pressing on. I might miss something." The thought pleased her neurotic mind, to have avoided being sloppy, and she smiled as she trotted towards the ladder that led downward.

She swung herself around and dropped her hind legs onto the first aged step and started to descend, only for something to catch her eye. Across the room was a huge hulking hollow wielding a polearm of some sort. It was massive with a blade and a stabbing tip. It appeared old, but Twilight had long learned that apparent age did not mean a weapon would not hurt if treated dismissively.

Not feeling safe on the ladder, she slid down, hooves grabbing the outside of the ladder to keep her descent somewhat controlled until she could get them onto the floor with a hollow thump of landing. The creature-- could such a person so far gone still be called a person? The creature clutched its weapon tight as it approached her. It may have lost its senses, but it knew how to wield its weapon quite well enough.

Twilight considered how to approach it with her axe and shield, like a puzzle, really. She liked puzzles... right? She got distracted a moment trying to pin down how much she liked puzzles when the hollow lunged with the halberd first. The suddenly incoming metal broke Twilight from her thoughts as she brought her shield up just in time to be pushed back under the weight of the blow, but keep her flesh intact.

Thoughts of puzzles faded. She backed away and around the hollow, but it had no urge to take it easy on her. It jumped and swung its weapon, every motion as if it were its last. Twilight swung her shield back, connecting with the weapon and bashing it aside. The hollow's stance was thrown entirely off, leaving it exposed for a precious moment. Her axe proved an instant was all that was needed, slamming into its midsection in a spray of blood and seeping black malfeasance from the weapon itself. It, surprisingly, did not die from the savage blow.

Barely seeming to notice the injury, it brought its halberd around in a wide circle towards Twilight, forcing her to dive out of the way, heaving for breath. It was tougher than most she had faced, excepting the knight perhaps. Twilight grunted with annoyance. "I'm not a knight!" she shouted at the unfeeling thing. "This stupid world is making me fight and I did it right. Why aren't you dead?!" The hollow cared little for her complaints. It did care about her arcane bolts, several slamming into its decayed chest and sending it staggering to the ground. "See, like that. That wasn't so hard, was it?" She let out all her breath, trying to recenter herself a moment before she nodded.

Looking around she could see a closed door of metal bars and an open archway. It was then that a thought occurred to her, more of an urge really. She scaled the ladder and trotted up the stairs to peek out where the knight had been patrolling. She could see a mass of whirling spiritual energy. Her energy! She dashed out to it and felt it flood into her form, imbuing it with the force of the souls she had laid claim to before her last, unfortunate, end. Though she had started to not notice the trickle that came with each individual victory, the rush from so many at once could not be ignored and she shuddered under the moment of glory in it.

"Maybe I should spend them," she spoke to herself. Spent souls could not be lost, she had learned that much. "Let's finish this tower..." She trotted back inside and returned to her choice. The doors had been good to her so far, and she tried it, only to find it locked tight. "Archway it is," she spoke to herself. Few other things would speak to her, at least she could keep herself company?

She descended the declining hallway and noticed several barrels in the upcoming room. They had a scent of oil that tickled at her nose. "Curious..."

Her voice stirred something. A lanky hollow rose and pulled free a bomb from its tattered clothes. It lit the fuse with a deft motion and threw it, or so it intended. Twilight grabbed the bomb right in its hand, holding it in place. "Stop that!" she shouted, not that it would care for her words. The bomb exploded in her arcane grip, knocking the hollow aside.

A rational being would try something else, anything else, but the hollow could scarcely be considered alive. It pulled free another bomb, but before it could light it, Twilight swatted it aside and leaped at it, axe first. She brought the weapon down from its shoulders across its front, blood oozing along the wound as it went to the ground beneath her. It let out a little sigh, and nothing else. Twilight's eyes darted to a slumped form, but it wasn't rising. It did have something though. She nudged it until she found a bag hidden in its clothing that held a full set of throwing knives. "This world..." Of course it would be weapons.

She pocketed them even as she sighed and pressed on. There was glowing writing on the ground. "Be wary of left?" She looked up into the next room and saw from it opened to the left and right. She raised her shield and stepped forward, eyes darting to the left, but not resting there. The message could be a lie. It hadn't happened yet, but the decayed world hardly seemed above such things.

As she came into the room, a hollow much like the one she had just bested was leaning up against a wall. It was standing. It hadn't noticed her yet. She considered her options. Approaching any closer would likely set it off, and trying to slip past it might also. She had to be decisive, or so her thoughts went. She raised her axe high and charged into the room. It spun around to face her just in time for her to start hacking and tearing at the thing with her fell axe. It did not have a chance.

But what if that one would have been a friendly one?

"No!" Twilight took a half-step back. "Let's not... get distracted with what-ifs..." She turned away from her grisly work before she noticed a glint. The hollow had something. She pulled free a curious new weapon. It looked like a sword with wide guards. It had no edges on either side. Twilight wasn't sure about its function, and she had learned to appreciate her axe. She tucked it away, just in case, and left the corpse behind.

She pressed on, emerging from the tower as the stairs she walked on passed outside for a moment, wind gently teasing at her dirty fur. It all reminded her of how unclean it all was and she scurried ahead into a room in which half of it was barred off. In that barred area, a figure sat, seated with crossed legs and a hood over its face with a long pointed tip at the top that hung down the back. A hollow? It seemed likely. Still, it was safely behind bars, Twilight saw no reason not to try. "Hello?"

The figure flinched before looking over its shoulder. "Oh, great, a demon's come to tear little me to pieces. I suppose, in a way, it's better than rottin' here."

Twilight's face broke into a wide smile. It, no, he had responded to her! "No no no! I'm not here to hurt you, promise."

"Oh, well that's real good." He turned to face her, shuffling in his still seated away. "Don't suppose you have a key for that door? I would be ever so grateful if you did. Maybe I could even make it up to you, but I suppose that's unlikely, still, no harm in asking."

Twilight knew she did not, but she did not belong to that world. She was not beholden to its rules. She approached the jail door and tapped it with a hoof before leaning in and peering inside the keyhole. She set down her axe and shield to turn all her attention on the insides of the lock, sending her magic inside and feeling around. "Give me a moment... Why are you in here, anyway? Did you do... something wrong?"

"Well, I... might have... taken a few things, just a few... I was only caught once, once! And here I am, set to rot forever." He let out a sad sigh. "I'm not a bad person, promise, no, swear! Never hurt anyone, not a soul! I just... liberate things. It's a service a' sorts. O-oh! I'm Greirat, o-of the Undead Settlement, fine place, I suppose... Have you been there?"

"Can't say I have," spoke Twilight slowly as she stuck out her tongue a little, feeling the way the tumblers in the lock worked and jiggling them around. A thief was hardly the ideal new friend to make, and yet... he seemed far better than most of the things she'd run into, he seemed better in comparison.

"You'll go there, I have a feeling... Say, what are you doing?"

"Trying to... pick this lock." She tilted her head to the left, her magic turning with it as the lock gave a loud click. "Almost..."

"Are you a thief as well? I-it's nice to meet a peer. They took my picks away, you know, when they threw me away..." He rocked forwards and back, watching Twilight through his hood. "I-is it a hard one?"

Twilight could feel the internal mechanisms and tried to give it another turn, but it rattled in place. "Almost..." she repeated. "I haven't picked many locks, I admit, but I think I have... this.." She crimped her magic just so, changing the alignment of those tumblers before she gave a firm twist. The door swung open, defeated. "There! You're free."

"Very good... very good. Now... I don't mean to sound ungrateful, no, I don't... but could you do me a favor, a little one? Below the High Wall is a musty little town. Not the home of any lord, just a very old settlement of Undead. An old woman, Loretta, lives there. Please give her this ring. I- I am not asking for charity. In fa- in fact if you do this for me... I'll be sure to repay you in kind. I-I may be a petty thief, but I've more wits than most royalty. What do you say, then?"

Twilight accepted the blue ring offered to her in her magic. "If I see her, I'll be sure to give it to her. Still, are you going to stay here?"

"I humbly place my faith in you." He bowed down, prostrating himself before his fuzzy savior. " I am Greirat of the Undead Settlement, and I promise to assist you. Give this ring to old Loretta at the base of the High Wall. ...Do your part, and I'll do mine."

Twilight raised a hoof in objection, but he vanished away. "That... was odd... Where did he go?" She looked around, but no sign of the thief was there to be seen. "Still, that's it for this tower so far as I can see." She turned around and retraced her steps, ascending up past the archway that led to rooftops that she ignored for the time being. "I'll be back for you." She rounded some stairs to find the blessed bonfire. "First, I have some souls to spend." She sat before the flames and gazed into them, becoming lost in the forever of the world as her aches and pains dulled for a time. Just as the cursed world ran in cycles, she was returned to the start, renewed, in part. She thought of the Firelink Shrine, and she was whisked away with the blessing of the flames.

11 - Rest and Recharge

Twilight did a circle as she faded into the shrine. Things seemed largely as she left them, save for the Fire Keeper being seated on a bench instead of standing. "Hello," called Twilight joyously, and she was waved back at. What simple little joy to be in a place where her voice and motions inspired friendliness instead of pain.

"You're looking awful chipper," spoke Hawkwood. "Did you accomplish something worth mentioning?"

Twilight wheeled about to face him. She had almost missed that dour man. "As a matter of fact, I did."

"Oh? Got some ash to spill on the thrones?" He laughed at his own joke, pained and miserable. "I shouldn't even joke... What did you do?"

Twilight felt her snout wrinkling faintly. Hawkwood was not the most pleasant person of those in the shrine. "I rescued someone, someone nice."

"Oh, so we have you to thank for that thief's presence?" He lifted his shoulders. "That figures."

Her ears went up. "He's here?" She turned and trotted away, looking for him. "Where?"

The shrine maiden sat up a little as Twilight approached. "Behold, thou'rt fat with souls."

Twilight's ears turned towards the maiden. "How can you tell that?"

"It comes with practice," demurred the maiden. "Mayhaps I can interest?"

Twilight tapped her chin. "Give me a moment. I'll be back, promise. I want to see if Greirat's here."

"Oh, him." There was little warmth in her voice. "He skulks in the shadow, as is his wont. Go, speak to him, but I've what thou need."

Twilight let out a little grunt. Why did people have to be so cool to one another in that broken world. "Thank you." She resumed her journey. The fire of the smith's work lit the back as he pounded on his latest project. Twilight raised a hoof to wave at Andre and got a little nod in return, but he was clearly occupied, or perhaps he didn't care to talk from a distance?

In either event, Twilight turned from the vantage offered by the walkway she was on and spotted her target. "Greirat!" She jumped down into the darkness that the thief was hiding in. "Here you are."

"Oh, hello, you're back. And in one piece. Well, now it's time I do my part. Whatever trinket you need, speak up. Just don't ask me where I got them." It was hard to make out his expression with the mask he wore, but he sounded pleasant enough about it. He pulled back his jacket to reveal more things than he could reasonably fit in there, which actually relaxed Twilight.

The humans had pockets just like ponies did. It was nice to have something in common. "I'll take a look at what you have, but first, hello. Are the others treating you alright? They didn't seem excited about you."

Greirat gave a nervous little chuckle. "They're afraid I'll apply my profession to their things, but I wouldn't do that, no no. I am your faithful servant, my savior. I-I wouldn't even dream, no, not at all, of hurting you or yours." His head turned left and right faintly. "Do me a favour, and don't forget our promise. Give the ring to old Loretta at the base of the High Wall. A nuisance, I know, but it'll help me tie up some loose ends."

"I haven't forgotten." Twilight smiled at the thief. She was sure he was a good person, besides the whole stealing thing. There were worse habits to have. "Where did you get these things?" She pointed at the collection he was hiding. "You didn't have them all in jail, I would think?"

"Oh, no, no no. I... might have... visited a few places on the way back across the High Wall. Their owners will not miss them, this I am sure of, yes. Shame that, the whole world gone the way it has. Maybe you can fix that? No pressure!" He gave that nervous laughter. "Here I am, asking a horse to save the world. Maybe I've gone and lost it..."

"Pony," corrected Twilight. "I think everyone's lost it, at least a little..." She sat on her haunches and leaned forward to browse what Greirat was offering. She saw a burning thing that the shrine maiden had held, but she had paid it little mind. She pointed at it. "What is that?"

Greirat plucked one of the set of three free. "Oh this? Ember. Very useful to ashen ones... which you aren't, sorry... I suppose you don't want that."

Twilight twirled a hoof. "Hawkwood mentioned that. You had to be... burned by the first fire?"

"Oh yes, that's how that works, I'm told. You try to light the first fire, don't quite make it, nothing but ash left. If you come back from that, well, then you get an unkindled. You're more the standard kinda undead. No offense!" He put up his hands as if to ward an incoming blow. "Just... not ashen."

Twilight plopped her haunches down. "Right, thank you. Someone willing to just... explain a few things."

"Don't... get too comfortable with that. I'm no expert, just heard a few things..."

"Well, you sell that." She pointed at the ember. "What does it do, for an 'ashen one'?"

"You crush it, right in your hand, and the fire gets out. Then the ash smolders, like... cinder, right, cinder. They get tougher, and can reach other worlds with that power. Very impressive, really. Never saw it myself, but that's what it's for..." He tucked the ember away. "But not for you. I guess you'll want--" He dug out a little shard of something so black that it seemed to almost draw the light, dim as that was, from around it. "--this."

Twilight could feel some kind of strange power within the thing. "What is it?" But even as she asked it, she could feel an answer of sort. It was... the vital spark of humans. "Humanity? I'm... not a human."

"You aren't," he agreed. "But you are still undead. You'd be far from the first animal with it, nicest though by far." His laughter came with a little hitch as if he had doubted himself in the middle of it. "Use it the same as the ember, it'll chase away the curse... for a little while."

Twilight sat up sharply. "I want that."

"I thought you might." He held it towards her. "For a fair price. I am grateful, don't doubt it, but fair is fair."

Twilight considered a moment. "How little is little? Are we talking a few minutes?"

"That depends on you." He withdrew the precious humanity. "It'll be good until you meet an unfortunate end. You lose your souls, you lose it too."

"I want it." Twilight stomped a hoof. "How much?"

"Five thousand."

Twilight's ears danced. How did one count the ephemeral wriggling of the souls in her. "Al.... right?" She had to trust that he'd take the right amount.

He reached for her and the rush of power was palpable, her fur standing up in a puffy way a moment as most of the souls she had managed to accrue was taken. She was left feeling empty and frowned. "I... was hoping I'd have some left."

He surrendered the humanity to her, holding it up until she took it in her horn's magic. "So very sorry. Not much I can do for that, sorry. You'll just have to go out and get more."

She eyed the humanity. "I hope this is worth it, but thank you." She dipped her head at him and scampered away.

"Goodbye, and stay safe. Oh, this place is a bore. What good is thievery if you've nowhere to go?" His words were lost behind her.

She went to a private corner and bounced the humanity about. "Now let's see what you do..." She clenched her magic powerfully around it until it fell to pieces. The energy inside rushed out across her and she shuddered powerfully. It was like gaining souls, but different. Things were changing, bending, reworking. She let out a sigh and it did not echo with the rattle of death. She felt... whole for lack of a better word. She looked back over herself and the difference made her gasp back the air she had just released.

The wounds and sunken flesh had recovered. Her wings were pristine and unsullied. She was alive. She spread those restored wings with a spreading smile. Would they actually work? Dared she try? She stretched each one in kind before giving a powerful flap. Her body lifted from the ground, but she felt something unusual. Flying was taxing her in some unusual way, as if she were casting powerful spells. Flight was magic, and the world demanded payment for it.

She landed and folded her wings back in place. "Alright, so... I have to be careful with that. I can only use it when I'm... alive, and not for long." She slowly nodded to herself. "Better than where I was a moment before." She trotted towards the main chamber of the shrine, a big smile on her face. How could she not? She wasn't dead! She was whole and all the aches and pains that had refused to go away had been banished entirely. If not for the world still being a broken mess, she would say she was happy.

But the world was still a broken mess.

"Oh, is that what you look like normally?" It was Hawkwood, who clearly had noticed her change. "Enjoy it while it lasts, which won't be too long." He gave his laugh, bereft of hope and full of misery. "Did you buy that? Waste of souls if you ask me."

"Which I didn't." She turned away from him and went for the fire directly. She didn't have souls left for gaining power, which was a shame, but she was whole. That would have to suffice?

She gazed into the depths of the flames and thought of the top of the tower. Her mission seemed far from finished, and she intended to press on as best she could.

She appeared beside the other fire, glancing around. "Right, that means they're all back..." If she rested, so too did the world. It was... fair in a fashion. "But I know where they are." She raised her shield and axe into ready position and trot down the stairs. "I'm ready fo--" She cut off, seeing the armored knight walking through the room. As confident as she felt, she let him do his slow walk outside before she dared to enter. "Let's not take needless chances..."

With the most dangerous combatant past, she rushed into the room with shield upraised. The hollow'd rogue sent a dagger flying at her that she easily knocked to the side and planted and axe where it had come from. "I know your tricks." She smiled as she descended the stairs. She handled each rogue as they came, taking it slow and easy. "Don't panic and this isn't so bad..." She could feel a small amount of souls building. She'd go back eventually with a great stash.

She froze. "Why am I looking... forward to that? I mean, being more powerful would be good, so I don't get hurt so often... but these... this..." She shook her head. "I can't let myself get lost in this. I have to do what I have to do, go home, and cry into a pillow maybe." She drew a thick breath before she noticed something curious. It was writing on the floor, but it was white, like what she had seen when she written her name.

She approached the sigil and poked it with a hoof. A hazy image of a human appeared, male, garbed in armor, two handed sword on their back. It was a warrior. A warrior she could call to for help, she felt certain. How was it possible? Had the humanity done it? It was the only thing that had changed... Did she dare to reach out to another world?

12 - Jolly Cooperation

Weighing the options, Twilight lifted her shoulders. "Why not?" If she could call for help from someone who knew how to fight, how bad would that be? "I'm not trying to prove I'm a better warrior." She waved her axe through the air. "Even if I'm getting used to it... which I'm not sure is a good thing." She closed her mouth, realizing she was rambling to herself.

She put a hoof down on the sigil. "Herwig." That was his name, she felt sure of it. The sigil quivered at the speaking of it, then faded away. Twilight was left alone again. She wondered if she had done it wrong and circled in place, looking for any sign of the sigil or the one who's identity it should have matched.

Bright light erupted from the ground. Rising from the very stone came the upright and battle-ready form of the warrior she had called. Herwig had arrived. Twilight scrambled back a few steps in surprise, falling over onto her haunches. An image was nothing compared to the actual presence of her new would-be assistant.

Herwig looked around, some confusion showing on his face. "Where are they?" His eyes fell down to Twilight. "By the fire, you are not an enemy I have seen before."

Twilight quickly pointed at herself. "Because I am not an enemy. I called you."

"You are... the host?" His brows came down in a frown. "You aren't even kindled. What strange new sorcery is this that an inhuman non-ashen could call me? Who even are you?"

Twilight rose to her hooves and approached Herwig in a lively little trot. She would not have to fight alone. The idea was exciting! "I am Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you." She dipped her head. "I am a pony, and while I may not be... what you expect, I think my mission should be familiar. I was told to go round up the, uh, 'Ember Lords'?"

"Ah, then you do walk the path." Herwig's tense posture seemed to relax slightly. "You do it in a strange way, as a strange being, but our paths are one. Let us walk it together. Are you familiar with what lies ahead?"

Twilight pointed past him to the rooftops she could see behind him. "I was about to go that way when I saw your sign."

"Fine work. I thought someone might request help when forging across the rooftops and braving the way to the first true challenge." He nodded as he spoke, drawing forth his massive two-handed blade and giving it a test swing. "With luck, we will cut our way to him and win your way forward on your journey."

Twilight's head canted to the left. "You already know the way?"

"I do. This path we share, I have walked it further than you have." His voice sounded full of certainty. "Walk carefully, I risk far less in this."

Twilight shook her head quickly. "I'm sorry, but could you explain some of that? I mean, if you've made it further, why come back just to help me, someone you didn't even know existed before just now?"

"Do you now know the benefit of lending aid?" He planted his blade in the stone and put his hands on either side of its hilt. "If I help you dispatch an enemy of true worth, an ember is mine to have, gathered from the essence of the fallen. Those we slay, I will be strengthened by, gaining some souls for my own use. I know the area, so my own risk is smaller."

Twilight looked Herwig over, eyeing his impressive blade. "I see, so you're here to get more souls?"

"And embers, preferably. I will not hesitate to say that there is a simple joy in easing the journey of those on my path as well."

That was a sentiment Twilight could understand, her wings spreading. "You're just being a good person, with benefits. Thank you then. Now, I imagine you're eager to get moving."

"I am." He pulled his sword free. "You looked a little lost, and we are near the start of this path, so I am used to answering a few questions. Now, let's proceed." He stalked forward through the archway to the outside, ascending some stone stairs.

Twilight trotted after him, but paused on stepping outside. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the glimmer of something waiting to be claimed on another corpse that had just been casually abandoned. She veered off towards it and found a crystallized soul in it that seemed to echo the sadness of being so deserted. As she pocketed it, she heard the sounds of combat and scrambled to see Harwig laying low several hollows with great sweeping strikes of his sword. With each, the souls flowed into her, not lessened for his presence.

Just as she began to scale the steps to join him, Herwig brought his blade down into the back of one of the hollows that had been praying to a dead dragon. Twilight's wings flipped open. "H-hey, they're not doing anything."

Herwig kicked the corpse off his blade. "And? They are little more than souls for us to have, just like the one you found just now." He pointed ahead to a greater congregation of worshipping hollows. "They are not as innocent as they seem, besides. One of those will become a beast that could kill you quickly. You may want to wait here."

Twilight tilted her head. Could it be that bad? "Alright?" She made a mental note to bring up the idea of not visiting violence on innocence, later.

Herwig jumped down the small space to the next roof and rolled up towards the worshipping ones. One of them turned towards Herwig and let out a pained sound as they began to erupt with shadow. In but a moment, a huge serpent of inky nothingness had grown from the one-human. While it transformed, Herwig had his sword at the ready, but was not swinging. "What's going on?" asked Twilight before he suddenly sprang into a roll, avoiding a swing of the serpent that seemed to just drag its once-human body around.

He was a skilled warrior, it seemed, parrying and counter striking the terrific beast with no fear that Twilight could see. She was quite sure she didn't want to fight something so large and awful. The serpent's thrashings mowed down the other, more placid, hollows while they battled. Twilight had been told to stay back, but that didn't mean she couldn't lend a hoof. She lowered her horn at the thing and sent out a bolt of brilliant arcane energy. The thing howled in surprised pain, and it was enough to give Herwig a change to thrust his sword tellingly into its flesh. It began to discorporate quickly, soon leaving naught behind but the man it once was.

Twilight hopped down, her wings catching the wind and slowing her descent just enough to land lightly before she trotted up to Herwig. "Are you alright?"

"I only suffered a single blow, and that was due to my own carelessness." He sounded more upset at himself than the beast. "You are a spellcaster? Where is your tool?"

Twilight pointed up at her horn. "It's built in."

"Very useful, but I imagine difficult to enhance." A little smirk played over his features as if imagining things.

"Enhance?" Twilight arched a brow at him.

He pointed at the defeated enemy. "That was why I let him finish changing, look."

Twilight walked over and noticed there were things to claim. An ember, her first to hold, and a strange lump of stone. "What is this? I think I've found one before."

"A shard of titanite," he explained. "You would do well to learn its use. Give it to the smith along with whatever weapon you prefer, and he can strengthen it. Arcane, divine, and even pyromantic tools can be so strengthened, though the smith does not know the techniques for strengthening pyromantic flames."

Twilight turned the stone, or was it metal? She peered at it a moment longer before slipping it away. "Well, I'm not letting the smith pound on my horn, sorry."

"That would be an amusing sight to see, but likely a painful one." Herwig held up a hand. "Now let's get you another." He creeped up to the top of the roof, then ran down the other slope, out of Twilight's sight.

She dashed after him to see him driving his blade into the exposed belly of some sparkling little lizard. She gaped at the strangely senseless violence. "W-what?" even as she uttered her disbelief, she felt something pass to her, not just soul energy, but a physical object. She dug it free and found she was examining a very strange gemstone. "What is this?"

"That is a raw gem." He pointed at it as he scaled the slope of the roof back towards her. "Give it to the smith with a weapon and it will become easier to use, but will not become better with your own strength or speed. Not a bad choice for those new on this path." He slapped Twilight on the shoulder. "Of course, I don't know your strength. I've been fighting for you mostly. Do you want more of a chance?"

"Oh, no no no. You keep doing what you're doing, just... can we not kill things that aren't trying to kill us?" She shook her hooves quickly at the start, then spread them as she made her plea for civility. "We don't need to be monsters."

"Are you upset about the crystal lizard? They are little more than pests, with valuable gems and titanite inside their strange bellies, waiting to be cut free." He waved in the direction of the slain little beast. "Given enough time and crystals, they become huge aggressive beasts that will not hesitate to visit great harm on you. I gather you did not find the one near the very start of your journey."

Twilight blinked at that. "A huge lizard of crystal? I'd remember that." She hoped. "We should keep going."

"Aye, no argument there. This way." He led the way with confidence.

Twilight spied another corpse that held a soul in it. It felt stronger than the others she had found, singing a silent song of abandonment. She tucked it away. At least she would not abandon it. She saw Herwig was descending a ladder. She hopped down and drifted gently to the platform he was headed towards, arriving almost as quickly as he had.

He started on seeing her there. "Did you jump?"

"Controlled falling." Twilight spread her wings wide. "One of the perks of these."

"An unusual advantage to have." His words cut off at the end as he suddenly stepped in the way of a flaming bolt that bit into his arm. "Flames damn it! I forgot about that one." He rushed ahead with a fierce battle cry and cut down the hollowed crossbowman where it stood. He vanished around the corner to the sounds of battle and bodies hitting the floor. Twilight could feel the trickle of soul energy that told her he was winning. He came back, panting lightly from his brief exchange and waved a mailed hand to the right of Twilight. "Have you been in here? There are many things worth taking if not, though I would prefer we push on to the true challenge."

Twilight winced at the sight of the bolt still hanging free of him. "Are you alright?"

"If it hurts too much, I'll take a swig of estus, just as you would." He reached for the bolt and wrenched it free, tossing it aside, which all looked even more painful. "I'm fine."

Twilight gave a hesitant nod before she peered at the archway. "If I don't collect what I should, that could come back to haunt me, right?"

"It could," he agreed. "Very well, we'll clear it out. At least I can get some souls along the way." He lowered his sword as he stepped inside, just to raise it in a guarded stance. There was a knight inside, waiting to do battle.

13 - Whispers

The knight saw Herwig and advanced on him. Twilight took a few cautious steps back. "Watch out! Those know how to fight."

"So do I." He moved forward to match it. "Fear is your first enemy." As the first strike came in, he rolled past it nimbly and came up with his blade, scoring a savage slash across the unfeeling flesh of the hollow knight. "Stay close, keep moving."

"You're doing... quite well..." Twilight took a cautious half-step forward before retreating the distance, watching Herwig battle.

The undead gave a sudden shove of his shield, forcing Herwig back and knocking him off balance a precious moment. He was about to bring down his sword into Herwig when arcane might slammed into his midsection. The moment of distraction was enough to allow Herwig to recover and plunge his blade into the flesh of his opponent. Energy rushed into the both as they slid to the ground, defeated. "Thank you for the assistance."

Twilight firmly nodded as she stepped in from outside. She could smell the faint wafts of what once might have been great. It had become little more than slowly descending rot. "This entire world is crumbling..."

"We are its potential salvation." Herwig returned to the front of the room and pointed to the right. "There are a few hollows, nothing complicated. I'll mow them down." He advanced without pause, apparently happy to handle it himself.

Twilight considered following him when a flash of light caught her attention. Along the wall burst a sudden symbol. It was Celestia's cutie mark, glowing with brilliant golden hues as it spread wide. A familiar voice echoed from it, "Twilight, are you there?"

She flared her wings as she turned to face the symbol directly. "Celestia?! Oh, Celestia, I'm so happy to see you!"

"I don't think either of us are 'seeing' each other right now, but it is good to hear your voice, Twilight. Are you safe?"

Herwig's battle echoed through the area with the sound of steel on steel and broken flesh.

"Are you fighting?"

"I found a friend. He's fighting at the moment."

"How terrible. Do you wish to assist him? I can wait a moment."

"N-no! I mean... can you talk to me any time? Can you get me home!?"

"Now that I've found you, I should be able to. Twilight, please tell me what's happened. This mirror was to never be activated under any circumstances."

Twilight shrank as if accused. "I was cleaning them, honest. I didn't do anything more than that."

"Calm down. I believe you." Celestia's voice was gentle and supportive. She was a queen, gently assessing the situation. "Are you in immediate danger?"

Herwig returned, his blade strapped to his back. "I do not recall this." He waved at the huge symbol of the sun. "I had no idea the sun knights had a presence here. I have met a few in my time, good people."

"Hello," greeted Celestia. "May I know who I'm speaking to?"

"I am Herwig, unkindled seeker of the lords' cinders." He clasped a hand over his chest in a salute. "I am assisting Twilight Sparkle, hollowed seeker of the lords' cinders. And you? Are you... the sun? I did not know the sun had a voice... or was female..."

"A pleasure to meet you, Herwig. I am Celestia."

"A fine name for the sun." Herwig glanced aside at Twilight before meeting the sun icon with his eyes. "I apologize that I am no sun worshipper."

"I have enough of those," assured Celestia. "Raise your head if you have bowed it. You are doing me a tremendous favor keeping Twilight safe."

Twilight's wings folded back into a resting position. "So, about getting back to Equestria?"

"That is easier said than done, my dear Twilight. There is a reason I never wished to see this portal opened. The world you find yourself in is very insular, and loathes to allow things free of itself. When last I--"

"You were here?!" shrieked Twilight in a hysterical squeak. "Wait, if you were here, that means you got out. How?"

"There are several ways I am aware of... The first and most obvious, guide this world to its next cycle. During the shift from one cycle to the next, the barriers weaken and you can make your escape."

Herwig put a hand on Twilight's head. "That we are working on."

Twilight shrank away from the hand, giving her ally a brief glare. "What are the other options, just to know?"

"If you have not felt the cycles of this world, I may directly recover you."

Twilight perked an ear. "Define 'felt'?"

"Have you died, Twilight?"

Twilight cringed, shrinking. "Maybe once or twice?"

"Dying has lingering effects, as should not come to any great surprise." There was a pause. "If it helps, I have felt that bite..."

Twilight sat up at that. "You... You? How?"

"I'm not a god, Twilight. A well placed length of steel will hurt me as well as any other pony."

"Pony?" Herwig glanced between the symbol and Twilight. "Wait. You are her sun?" He waved towards Twilight. "A pony sun?"

"That is the truth of it. Twilight, compose yourself. The second way requires some finesse and luck."

Twilight's ears lifted up curiously. "That sounds interesting, go on?"

"Lay down your sign of calling. Keep doing so and answering the calls until one appears here, in Equestria."

Twilight made a bit of a face. "And... our chances?"

"Small. I gave up before that worked. Relatedly, you could use the red orbs to invade worlds. With enough luck, you will be thrown into Equestria. Again, the odds are not in your favor."

Twilight sagged, her wings going limp. "Those hardly sound like solutions."

Herwig rolled his shoulders. "It sounds like your best answer is to walk this path we share. Link the first flame and return the world to vibrance."

"You should press on, Twilight. Know that I am aware of your state and will try to find an answer from this side. If nothing else, perhaps I could send you assistance."

The idea of familiar faces buoyed Twilight, but darkness returned swiftly. "I wouldn't want another pony subjected to this."

"Nor would I, but you are aware your friends would not turn away the chance to rescue you from this dismal world. What was that about linking fires? You mus--"

Herwig brought a firm boot up against the symbol. It shuddered before vanishing away to darkness. "You have your mission."

Twilight gaped a moment. "What did you do that for?!"

"Your pony sun knows little of the true nature of things. We should keep our minds clear for the task ahead of ourselves. Turning the great wheel is how you achieve what you are here to do, so let's do that." He turned away and began to stalk forward. "You are this world's only hope, remember that."

Twilight looked at the wall where Celestia's mark once burned so brightly a moment before she trailed after Herwig. She didn't know how to get Celestia back. "She'll call again." It was her only hope. If Celestia could reach once, she could reach again.

"Did you plunder the room?"

"Mm?" Twilight craned her head around, but saw nothing obvious. "Plunder what now?"

"The room I cleared when you received your message." He pointed back, sending Twilight scurrying to get what had been dropped, a titanite shard, a soul, and a strange rounded object. "An undead hunter's charm. Hurl it at the mimics--"

"Mimics?"

"The living chests."

Twilight cringed at the memory of the last. "How does it help with them?"

"It knocks them unconscious. You can claim what they hold, or simply begin your attack safely." He drew his blade. "The fighting resumes. Get everything quickly, meet me there." He pointed with his sword down a walkway that he was already advancing along.

Twilight rushed ahead, trotting along as the room came into view. There were living things below. Unliving, perhaps, but moving. She saw two dogs down there, just as decrepit and mouldering as the once-humans that served as their masters. She quickly claimed a great sword and a bundle of herbs before fire washed out just behind her. One of the soldiers below had hurled a bomb at her. She ducked low and scampered ahead and came across a chest. Was it a mimic?

She wasn't sure how to know. She reached out hesitantly and tapped on it. Nothing happened. Had she proved it one way or the other? It wasn't breathing so far as she could tell. Did she trust it? "Ah, right!" She dug out one of her hunter charms and threw it at the chest with a great arcane heave. It exploded like a cloud of chalk. Nothing else happened. "Huh, must be clear." She popped open the lid and pulled free a new shield. "Mmm." It didn't feel like the right time to consider it, so she tucked it away and hurried to rejoin Herwig.

Herwig spotted her coming and rolled right through a stack of barrels. They exploded in a spray of brittle splinters, proving little hindrance as he dropped down. The sounds of battle rose up. "Get what you can!"

Twilight stepped forward and peeked over the side. She could see a platform below and jumped down to the sounds of Herwig doing battle with the dogs and a new undead with a great pole that approached. "You alright down there?"

"Get the sword," barked out Herwig as he jumped out of the way of a dog's lunge and cut the beast down.

Twilight found the sword he was referring to, a straight length of metal. It didn't seem all that special at a glance, but if Harwig had suggested it... "I have it." She wielded it in her magic and jumped down to join him. As she plummeted, she saw the polearm-wielding undead was not far off. She spread her wings and lift up for just a precious instant, allowing herself to come down directly on the hollow, driving her new weapon down into its surprised face. It sunk in with a meaty thunk as she landed on it, driving it to the ground where it did not try to rise again.

"An excellent strike." Herwig surveyed the room. "Down that ramp--" He pointed the way. "--you will find a key to the rogue's cell."

Twilight peered down into the darkness of the small ramp that led nowhere, but she could see the unclaimed item awaiting her arrival. "If you're talking about who I think you are, I already let him free." She trotted down and took the key regardless. "No harm having it though."

"How... You do not operate entirely within the rules of this world, it becomes more evident by the moment. I suppose, being a horse, this should surprise me less. Did you use your magic or simply beat the cell door down?"

Twilight smiled confidently. "Any lock that has a key can only be as complicated as the key it is built for." She lifted the key to the cell into view. "As you can see, this is not a very complex key. With the proper manipulation, it can be duplicated. With a little subtle thaumakinetic work, I was able to defeat it and free the thief. A good person, I think. Have you... met him? How? He was still held when I reached him."

"Did not the words of your pony sun reach you? This is a world caught in a cycle. Nothing you see is truly new. We walk the same path." He gestured between himself and Twilight. "Why do you think I know where everything is, where everyone in it is, aside from the appearance of your pony sun?"

Twilight, rather than looking confused, or understanding, instead got a look of sublime relief.

Harwig cocked a brow. "Why do you look so suddenly pleased with yourself?"

"Because this cycle is already broken." She rose up tall. "I'm throwing it off track. I'm not following the script. The further I go, the more I will keep doing that, and the ending won't be what everyone's so sure it will be... Speaking of that, what is the ending, if you know?"

"The unkindled finds the first flame and is consumed, like the kindling they are named, to renew it, restoring it to life, for a time."

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