The Faceless Ones
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: They Have Awoken (Part Two of Four)
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Just a heads up guys, for some people, a scene up ahead might be slightly disturbing, I put up a warning, so you can ignore it, I put up the point where you can start ignoring it, and and another point after where you can start reading again. You might be a bit confused if you ignore it, it kinda has a bit of a plot point in it, but it is not entirely necessary. If you read it anyway, just... don't say I didn't warn you.
~~~Location: Gladmane's(???), Las Pegasus(???)~~~
~~~Time: 22:40~~~
~~~POV: Pyramid Head~~~
Las Pegasus, similar to the Las Vegas I once knew, however from what I'm seeing there aren't any gambling machines, like the slot machine, video poker, spin the wheel (well, there are... just none that give cash prizes or cost hundreds of dollars to play), or anything similar. I then sense it, the appearance of a sinner in my realm, my realm is a replica of this world's reality with beings that I can use to slay any sinners that appear here, and anyone that appears here... has done something that cannot be forgiven, unless... they were forced to... like-
I shake those thoughts out of my head and force my energy to make me appear within a few meters of the sinner, while remaining out of sight.
"Hello?" said a female voice, seeming to have been middle-aged, so... possibly a young mare, "hello?!" she called out desperately.
I come around a corner directly within their line of sight, blade in hand, stop, and look directly at her. She was indeed a pony, an earth pony nonetheless, will make my job easier if I have to take her down.
"Another sinner has arrived," I stated with a deep, yet smooth voice, that reverberated through the silent area, "were you forced to do it or did you do it of your own accord?"
She stood still as a statue the entire time, when I had finished speaking she slowly backed up.
"I-I don't know w-what you're-" she stuttered.
"YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT I SPEAK OF," I shouted, causing her to squeak, then I took a deep breath, an calmed down, "I apologize, I have a... very short temper, please tell me," I make an apparition of a unicorn stallion appear, causing her eyes to widen, and her pupils to turn into pinprick sized, "if the sin you did towards the this pony was forced on you or if you did it of your own volition."
She just stared at the apparition of the stallion for a few moments, so I waited. Tears started appearing in her eyes, then she brought herself to sit on her haunches and started crying into her front hooves for awhile.
"I-I had n-no choice," she said and repeated over and over to herself as she sobbed.
After a few minutes, she stood back up, though shakily, on all for hooves, mascara ruined by her tears running down her muzzle, and her eyes puffy from the crying.
"Anything you say here," I started, getting her to look at me with here puffy eyes, "will only be heard here, no spells or enchantments could change that."
She looked to me for a moment and smiled a sad smile, one that I have only seen once before.
"I did it," she started, "because I was forced to, he had a few too many drinks that night." She chuckled a bit before continuing, "He was already thinking that I might've been cheating on him, and when somepony asked me if they could buy me a drink, before I could even respond, my husband, that pony that you conjured up, had dragged me home muttering obscenities and nonsense on the way home." She shivered a bit, not from any cold temperature, and broke eye contact with me, "When we got home he locked me into my bedroom for a bit, all I could hear through my door was the sounds of furniture being thrown around and glass breaking... and for a moment, all was silent, until he opened the door, holding a knife with his magic."
If I wasn't wearing this metal helmet, my eyes would've noticeably widened as I heard this part.
"T-then," she started stuttering again, tears starting to form again, "the rest is a little blurry from there... b-but *sniff* but I think I threw a lamp at him, *sniff* a-and bucked... something at him..."
I walked over to her side as she talked, and, with my right hand, started petting her to try and calm her down. On contact she first froze, but as I continued to stroke her mane, she calmed down, though kept an eye on me noticing that my blade was stuck into the ground beside me, leaving my left hand empty.
"Please, continue," I said gesturing with my left hand towards her.
"W-well," she continued, "I-I ran from our house and went to the nearest guard station, and got help." She started to get shaky at this point, not even petting could help it, "W-when w-we arrived back at m-my home, we found him crushed behind an over-turned wardrobe, at first I was shocked that managed to kill him, let alone stop him," suddenly here voice started to sound hollow, "and then it hit me like a carriage at full speed, I just killed, not just a pony, but somepony I loved."
She then broke out into a waterfall of tears and... hugged me. Not entirely sure of what to do, I, carefully, hugged back and tried to comfort her.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting, we let each other go, she rubbed her eyes, removing the tears. "Sorry about that I just..." she paused unsure of what to say.
"Had to get off your chest?" I offered.
"Yes," she nodded in agreement, "yes, that. However... I still don't think I will be able to forgive myself, and I'm in dark part of my mind."
A thought entered my mind and it was... intriguing considering this is the first time this has happened in... ever.
I gripped the handle of my sword with my left hand and barely pulled, dislodging my blade from its place in the ground, and looked over to her one more time.
"I..." I started, uncertainty entering my mind, "I normally don't offer this to anything that has ever lived and entered here, but..." I pause, building up my resolve, "normally I give those who have committed a sin and were forced to do it, a way back to their normal realm or to be killed quickly, however I will offer you and ONLY you a third option."
She looked at me uncertainly, "...And it would be...?"
I take in a deep breath, and speak calmly, "For you to live with me in this realm? You will be given the ability to go between this realm and your realm, and you will be allowed to pick only one other pony to come with you into this realm and back for the rest of your life."
She seemed to think about this long and hard about this, as if she was actually considering-
"I'll..." she said nervously, "I'll say yes to the third option."
I was shocked, but didn't show it to her, "Are you sure?" I asked, "You could still live the life of a normal pony, if you so choose to."
"I am sure," she stated, sounding absolutely certain, "I don't think I will be able to be around others of my kind, at least... not like before."
I nodded in understanding, "Understood," I gathered some energy in the palm of my right hand, "Just a heads up," I said, getting her attention, "giving you this ability requires me to give you a small portion of my power, and from what I have been told... it can be quite... agonizing, I'll try to reduce the pain, but I can promise too much."
She nodded, and when she did I aimed the palm of my hand towards her and released the energy, and everything seemed to move in slow motion as the energy connected with her. Her mane was lavender with blue and red stripes down the middle, and her coat was a light, cyan blue; that all changed after the energy connected with her, changing her mane into a midnight blue, with with a forest green and eminence stripes and her coat a blood red. Even her cutie mark had changed from a white lily among green lily-pads in a pond, into what looked like an asiatic lily in a pond of an oil-like liquid all alone. Suddenly on her head a horn started growing, becoming just a little bit long than the average unicorn's, I did a quick scan with my energy confirming she now has the ability to use unicorn magic, yet still has the magic and abilities of an earth pony. Suddenly her body and the area around her seemed to, for lack of a better term, 'glitch' a little bit, then stop, all the while she had her eyes shut, was gritting her teeth, and barely grunting in pain, dealing with all of this like a champ in my opinion. When all was said and done, she let out a sigh of relief and opened her to give me one last surprise, her eyes had also changed. They were a sky blue and now had changed into dark, passionate purple, and if you looked close enough, you can see the most of the symbols that make up the Halo of the Sun, except the except for the original and modified versions of Lucifer's Signature, Eye of Providence, and more.
"Woah," she said, in a different voice, almost sounding powerful, and she covered her mouth as she gasped.
"Calm yourself," I tried reassure her, "your new abilities gave you a new life, look, and... apparently a new voice too."
She removed her hoof from her muzzle and spoke again, more slowly this time, with curiosity "Wait, a new look?"
"Indeed," I confirmed as I summoned a pony-sized full-length mirror, "see for yourself if you don't believe me."
She looked like she was about to say something, until her eyes looked in the mirror and she saw herself, she gasped with a look of shock on her face.
"W-what in the..." she trailed off, as she examined herself in the mirror.
Soon her look of shock turned into one of admiration.
"Well," she started, "not normally the colors i would've picked, but they go together pleasantly, I must admit."
I chuckle a bit at her antics, "Now that that is settled, I believe there is one last loose end to tie up."
"And that would be?" she asked.
~~~Location: Las Pegasus Strip, Las Pegasus~~~
~~~Time: 7:09~~~
~~~POV: Third Person Omniscient: Good Sense~~~
WARNING
Suicide In Gladmane's
Current Wonderbolt member, Thunderlane, discovered earth pony, Floral Sense, hanging in her hotel room, after realizing he was lost within the building, and rushed to find authorities immediately after. "It was terrifying," Thunderlane stated, "to find somepony to have hung themselves... I just wish I could've been there to prevent it."
On one of the walls, there was writing that seemed to be of blood, but on-site investigators have unable to identify the liquid that was used the write the message; the written message is as follows: 'She had regretted killing him and asked for my help believing she was a sinner, for only sinners kill others. I helped, but tried to convince her otherwise, yet she was too broken in her mind to convince. I am Pyramid Head, One of the Faceless Ones.' Who is this Pyramid Head? Who are the 'Faceless Ones'? Is Pyramid Head referring to Ms. Sense's deceased husband?
It is believed that when she was offer some liquor by another earth pony, Earth Mover, she was reminded of the night she lost her husband, a unicorn by the name of Platinum Quill, and couldn't take the pain. An autopsy has confirmed that she was dead for ten minutes prior to her discovery which is about thirty minutes after she was seen in the bar by Earth Mover.
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SAFE ZONE BELOW
Good Sense tosses the paper off to the side with his magic, and thought 'Why, sis why? Why didn't you just ask for someone to talk to?
"It just doesn't make sense," he muttered, something about this situation just didn't seem right to him. Yet, with the evidence provided, and with all the people who talked to her, it all just seems to fall into place, except for one thing...
'Is this why you asked for me to come and visit you?' he thought to himself, and started to feel somber, 'did you want to talk about it and get it off your chest? Was I the cause of your death? Was it because-'
"Hey buddy," said a pegasus stallion, in front him, shaking him from his thoughts, "you ok? You looked like somepony kicked the bucket."
Good glared at him, "Oh, you don't even know the half of it," he said, venom dripping from every word.
"Woah!" the stallion cried out in alarm, waving his hooves in front of him, "Sorry didn't mean to offend you, anyways, what do you mean?"
He hold the newspaper towards the pegasus, who only reads the headline and nodded their head.
"Yeah," the pegasus said with a frown, "everyone in town has heard about it..." then his eyes widen, "Wait, did you know that pony?"
"Yeah," Good responded somberly, "she was my sister."
"Oh," the pegasus said, then facehoofed, "that's why you suddenly became angry, I need to be careful about what I say to ponies, heh sorry about that, no hard feelings?" the pegasus asked, holding his hoof out.
Good sighed, smiled a sad smile, and responded, "No hard feelings."
All the while, unknown to them Good and the pegasus were being watched in the distance by a familiar pony and biped.
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