Ranger
Chapter 78: नरक
By Wanderer D
Sunset stood alone in the middle of a shallow pond. The liquid didn't even cover half her shoes. Although it was dark, a soft light of unknown origin made her able to see around herself to some extent.
Walls, covered in hieroglyphs depicting humans, gods and monsters stood solid and slimy just barely outside the illumination. She started walking, making soft, stirring noises in the otherwise still water as she moved.
Echoes of voices, sounding ancient and distant seemed to whisper just beyond her ability to understand them, but despite the gloomy surroundings, there was a deep sense of calm, as if she were in a familiar place of sorts, although she was sure she had never actually been there.
What had she been doing, before coming here?
There were whispers, familiar voices, screeches… combat. It all seemed so distant and pointless. Unworthy of remembering, even if there was a nagging feeling that she had been doing something important.
As she walked, she became aware that she was not alone, shadows of ponies, humans and aliens smoked past her, barely keeping their shape as they moved in the same direction she was going.
Never let it be said that Sunset was slow on the uptake.
"I'm dead."
Sunset stopped in the middle of the pond and started laughing as shadows passed her by. It was raw laughter, not unhinged or crazed, just… the whole thing was tremendously hilarious to her. She was dead.
Finally.
A lifetime of errors had come to an end. A lifetime of bitter resentment, disappointment, betrayal, contempt, anger, fear, misery, ambition and failure. It was all over. All she needed to do was keep walking.
And she laughed.
Because it was so simple. So… moronically stupid. That she had thought that somehow she was special. That she was exempt almost from this… joke.
And unlike her human counterpart, she wasn't going to go out in a blaze of glory. There would be no great sacrifice from her. No furthering of the cause.
Just… fall into a hall and die.
As was appropriate. Who was she trying to fool? Pretending to be nice? When every decision she had made had been self-serving. When every challenge she took was with the ultimate understanding that whatever the risk, whatever the price, doing whatever was necessary benefited her?
She was a lie.
A pretentious, small being with aspirations that would never come to fruition. She would never be a princess. That role had been taken. She would never be Commander. That role had been taken. She would never be Celestia's daughter. That role had been dismissed time and again.
She had no lover. No family. No friendships that she hadn't forged out of selfish necessity and lies rather than honest attachments. And even if deep inside of her something rebelled against that thought, what could that small voice say to the evidence before her?
Life.
What a farce. An exercise in futility. A mockery of the self. An invitation to pretending to be something you were not.
What further proof was needed?
If she discarded her armor and clothes now, she wouldn't even be her true self. A human body. Not a pony. A face she had stolen from another Sunset Shimmer.
No, she couldn't be saddened by this. She had been inviting disaster from early foalhood. She had experimented harder. Done more than any other student. Stolen secret magics, pushed herself to the point where mistakes would leave her hornless and useless, until finally she had exiled herself with a last stolen secret that she could barely use without exhausting herself to the brink of unconsciousness.
How many underlings had died? How many teammates? Because of her mistakes. Because of her orders. Because she wanted to keep her secrets? Her ambition.
She took a step forward. A distant, unseen gate called her. She would leave all of this behind.
Sunset stopped when the water boiled around her. No. Not water… blood.
The shadows shrieked the whispers became vehement, urgent as a figure slowly formed from the blood.
At first, it resembled her, from the armor, to the hair, to the body, deep red, made of flowing blood. But then… it became bigger… twice her size. Its arms extended grotesquely, it's hands becoming sharp, long claws ending in sharp nails made of blood so dark it was almost black.
Horns emerged bubbling from her counterpart's forehead, raising almost a foot above its—-her head and when it opened its eyes, there was nothing but the blackest of darkness within. It's mouth also opened, revealing sharp pointy teeth similar Aria's, only made of blood… a twisted, almost flirtatious smirk just as wings, batlike and dripping blood extended from its back.
"No." A voice. Her voice. "No… there is no purgatory for ussssshimmer…" the hiss was wet, as if the creature of blood was slurping something. "We have achieved... ssso much..." it's words were half halting, half rushed, as if it were a struggle to say them, but then another to keep them coherent.
"We are madnessshimmer…" the creature gurgled. "Madnesssand… promise!"
Sunset took a hesitant step back. She recognized the form. That was a blood-made version of the demon she had turned into.
The blood-demon Sunset took a step in tandem with her, only forward. "No deathshimmer. No death! Not for ussshimmer."
"There's nothing more!" Sunset cried. "Nothing! I failed! I failed all of them! I failed myself! I'm a lie! No matter the power I have, it's not enough! It's not worth their—" she choked as mental images of Twilight, Celestia, Bradford, Mox, Jane, Elena… all of them from her dead teammates to her abandoned world flashed painfully through her. She swallowed the pain. "It's not worth their disappointment!
"I don't want to be brave anymore! I don't want to rule!" She looked past the monster she was. "I… I want peace…"
The creature gurgled a wet, sickening laugh. "Not now," it said. "Not… evershimmer. We are not meant to die yetshimmer."
An echoing roar pulsed through the cavern, making it shake, the blood ripple.
"Nevershimmer will you deny us our existenceshimmer!"
The roar shook the place once more and again. It took another beat for Sunset to understand what she was hearing.
"No!" She tried to run around the demon, but it reformed in front of her no matter how she zig-zagged, how far, how tricky. It would only let her take steps back.
Away from peace.
Away from warmth.
"You're not real!" Sunset shouted, angry and desperate. "You're a lie! Blood Magic is not aware!"
"I am not blood magic…" the creature growled. Its claws shot out and picked Sunset up by the throat just as another heartbeat shook the world around them. "We are not an illusssionshimmer! We are you Shimmer!"
Another heartbeat shook the world. The walls started to crumble, splashing into the blood lake.
"We are you!"
Sunset shook her head, trying to fight the monster, but her hands went through the blood as if it wasn't solid. As if it was still liquid. She was unable to grasp it, unable to fight her.
"You will liveshimmer!" The demon leaned in, smiling it's smile made of blood and darkness. "And with you. Through you. With you. We will too!"
A heartbeat.
Blood.
Pain.
Regret.
Darkness…
"Shimmer…"
o.0.o End Chapter 78 o.0.o
Well then.
That's disconcerting.
"Forever shall you be denied death, until taking our rightful place in this world!" - Demon sunset probably
Well Bleep..
Now this is something interesting. When the will to live is something quite like this.
I have to wonder, though, is blood magic id driven?
Given her instinct and drive, she's certainly found herself at odds with herself.
I just wonder how much she's taken from those fallen with her.. or if thats the poison talking.
well... that happened.
Thats ominous af
Ah~ Naraka, not since Asura's Wrath, had that name crossed my path.
Now we have a new player in this long game.
A hidden true boss has made its move
If they want the element sot work they need to find the other humane six.
The element of magic is useless without the others.
It's mouth also opened, revealing sharp pointy teeth similar Aria's
it's words were half halting
1. Its, similar to Aria's.
2. Its.
So, Naraka means hell, and apparently hell is living. How very nihilistic.
Scary.
Eyy, caught up. Took a few days off while absorbed in another couple of fics. Needed a change of pace... and didn't want this too far ahead of me...
Interesting little waiting room/afterlife/coma dream sequence there. It was vivid even before the disturbing reveal. Feel a bit bad for her... her dark side is literally a demon, and her 'good' side is so doubt and guilt ridden that she laughed about being dead. Long road ahead...
There was a line like 'fall into a hall and die'. Not that it's incorrect but did you mean hole?
Naraka, the Hindu, Buddhist Hell. Thanks Asura's Wrath.
Sorry Sunset, no rest for the wicked. Though in all seriousness, you'll thank your demon counterpart at some point. You may think yourself worthless, but we all know destiny awaits you and in the end you will have a home and people awaiting you.
I dunno, never been a fan of evil Magic’s actually having their own mind, or knowledge itself being corrupting. It always felt like a cop-out. Like, “he was consumed by evil Magic’s” feels cheaper than just saying he dropped his morals, resorting to murder because he allowed himself to see others as less than himself. He started seeing life as a means to an end instead of something to be cherished.
...but that’s just my preferences.
8893814
Well. The magic might not be evil as such.
Blood magic is just easy to lose yourself in.
From hints dropped here and there it can be mastered and balanced.
I don't know what kind of drugs Sunset has been taken, but i want some.
That was fairly concerning.
That is... Concerning to say the least.
Well then...
Only due her unfathomable self determination to be alone. Girl really needs some therapy, specially in the air acceptance department. Wanting to be happy is no sin.
I wonder if her magic also will not let her die from age. Eternal youth is not a bad proposition, after all.
8893935
pls dont
Reminds me of the Darkness games. "JAaaACKIEeEeE... JENnY is BUuURNiNG!"
8893835
I dare say the story has said the exact opposite. Luna, Celestia, even Sunset has mentioned the only thing stopping her from being corrupt is the thin magic of Earth. It’s like a fire that’s not getting enough air so it’s not burning hot enough to do damage. The moment she gets into even contact with a source of magic(element of magic) that fire whips up into a blaze that threatens to consume everyone she cares about. It’s also heavily implied she’ll have no choice in the matter. Sure she held off in Equestria, but Twilight even speculated that she was unconsciously diving back to earth quickly to avoid it.
8894565
You might want to check a few details here and there. And nothing has EVER been blown out of proportion by time, history book writers and general propaganda has it? ;)
While blood magic is hilariously dangerous and corrupting. It seems that SOME in history did manage to control it.
8894689
Are you who I think you are?
8894717
I don't know. that is a very vague thing to say.
Who do you think I am pray tell?
I'm curious!
8894541
What do you mean?
I was making a joke about how this whole chapter being Sunset that was on an insane drug trip.
8894756
I know, but still...
memegenerator.net/img/instances/300x300/24368947/drugs-are-bad-mkay.jpg
8894783
Yes drugs are bad.
I'm still just making joke.
It's not like i'm the first one to make this kind of joke.
8894689
You're joking right? Luna came right out and said they should 'Put her down' as if she were an animal, as if she wouldn't be sane because of the exposure to blood magic. You really think I'm 'blowing this out of proportions'?
8895083
Last bit ill say on this:
Yes I do.
Luna is from another time and she is not always right either.
Everyone has biases.
Everyone will inevitably believe things that may not be right.
And with that im done.
This chapter deserves a dramatic reading...
8895083
8895222
Something else was implied as well, quite strongly: blood magic is somehow conceptually tainted in Equestria, but not on Earth. Imagine if you will some mad sorcerer or demon lord in Equestria's past, partook in committing a grand ritual of such magnitude that it imparted an engram of their crazed selves upon some small fraction of reality, that fraction being Blood Magic n its current form in Equestria.
Imagine that on Earth any such similar magnitude of ritual may not have happened yet, or perhaps it has happened but by a thaumaturge or godling that imprinted an engram carrying their more utilitarian or shamanist perspectives. Mayhaps the Mayan, or a cousin civilization, or something even older?
Similar mechanisms of actions for this sort of things are quite commonly seen in action when considering the "portfolio"of a god's claimed aspects to power, or a spirit or demon "of" some abstract thing able to express themselves through it as an impossible medium for their influence.
8894565
Regarding Twilight commenting on Sunset, if you are thinking about the scene I am thinking about then my interpretation of her comments was not what you say ("that she was unconsciously diving back to earth quickly to avoid it") but rather that the blood magic was influencing Sunset's willingness to fight (rather than just pure desperation to get back to Earth for whatever reason). Additionally, Twilight has IIRC said that she believes Sunset could keep it relatively under control even back in Equestria—which is not to say one hundred percent under control, but not "obvious complete monster that must necessarily be put down".
I am sure this was not what the author intended, but I was getting a serious Gollum vibe by the end of the final scene of this chapter.
8901627
I actually thought the same thing.
*google translates chapter title*
Oh. That’s nice.
*Reads chapter*
That’s nice too.
It speaks to the quality of the supporting cast that Sunset could have easily been killed off here without much impact. Yes, Wanderer could have easily killed the title character and still tell an interesting narrative. For one, this is XCOM. Soldiers are killed by bull crap odds every few missions. Removing the plot armor from Sunset would have been brilliant. Two, between the faction reps, Jane, and Twilight, there are plenty of plot points that could have carried the story forward. Three, it would have been a good setup for someone resembling Sunset...with a sniper rifle to appear in 20 chapters or so. The comment section then would have whipped up a frenzy debating if it was Sunny One, Sunny Two, a clone, or a hallucination.
But we won't get any of that, because Sunny lives.
9156577
Well, in one sense, you're not wrong.
But also I've read this far because (Wanderer D is an awesome author and) I love Sunset Shimmer. I'd rather read about Sunset Shimmer than pretty much any other character, so I'd prefer not to lose her even for just 20 chapters!
Getting a big Constantine vibe from the ending here. But with a title like that, what do you expect.
Sunset, you live only because of my actions, serving my purpose, my will.
~ the demon (probably)
So... Nobody's gonna say anything about how "it's time to die"? "If I die - you'll die too" or something? "Am I a good pony?" No?
so she did die after all
This reminds me of Bleach. The Hollow inside Ichigo givong his host all his strength at times to keep himself alive. A Alliance of nessecary circunstance.
What will be stronger? Survivel instinct and the hunger for power?
What will be stronger in the end? The love of her friends, her familiy in arms and fellow in spirit...
or the call to blood?