The Lost Element

by XD-385

Equestria has long been known as the land of ponies. However, the name of Equestria is misleading. For far too long, a certain element has been missing from the world. And now, that element has been brought back. But for better or for worse?

142. A Hollow Hive

I dreamed last night. And it was a dream I could never forget. After such a wonderful day that ended with a new hive of little friends having taken up residence in my home, I went to sleep with a lovely little love bug beside me and my wife. I was happy... So then why did my eventual dreaming mind take me somewhere so unhappy and gloomy?

When I became aware, I was in a location that was too vague for me to recall. Dark and dim, I was bordered by towering cliffs that bordered a steep ravine. But where had I seen such a place before? I searched my memories, but nothing came to mind. And when I took a step forward, my soft footstep instead rattled with the sound of metal.

I looked down at myself. I was in full armor. My enchanted winged armored covered my body. My helmet was upon my head and the Lunar Shield was affixed to my left arm with the hilt of the Celestial Sword sitting atop the scabbard molded into the backside. But why was I thinking so deeply on this matter? Or rather...why was I thinking at all?

It dawned on me. I was far too aware of myself. Too lucid... As if I was not sleeping and dreaming at all. I was not alone in that world. And so I called out, "Hello? Luna? Nightmare Moon?"

The voice that did reach me spoke within my mind rather than into my ears. The voice of the Princess of Dreams. "Yes, I am here, my love. Luna is not present tonight, but I hurried to the realm within your mind when I noticed...something unusual. Tell me. Does this location remind you of anything? Does it bring back memories?"

I looked around myself. It was dark out, but not entirely black as night. The wind blew weakly through the rocky wasteland around me. The air was cool upon my face. And it was quiet. Only the wind reached my ears. "I've seen desolate and lifeless locations before in fiction, but...I'm drawing a blank here. Nothing comes to mind."

Nightmare Moon shared my confusion in her words, but still spoke kindly to me. "Hm... Perplexing. Then I cannot say for certain why you are here or what spawned this environment. I would have expected something...brighter after the day we shared yesterday with such pleasant times fresh in your memory. Regardless, I will be watching. And I will not intervene in this little adventure of yours unless I absolutely must. This is your dream to explore. Carry on, my love. A new journey awaits."

"Right. I'll try not to ask for help unless I need it... Love you too." I replied now that I had an audience observing this little adventure of mine. And so I carried on down that rocky ravine. Fine dirt caked the earth below me. I felt...so very alone. Even with the knowledge that the Princess of Dreams herself was watching, I felt so isolated. I was sure I was not in danger, and yet that crushing isolation still bore down on me.

The cliffs reached higher and higher as I continued onward. And yet...I stopped when I noticed a strange aspect of my environment. It did look like I was going downhill now that the natural craggy walls around me reach ed higher, but...why was I not on an incline? If I was going downhill, I would have noticed. All I felt under my armored feet was a largely flat stretch of hard earth. "Something isn't right here..."

I continued onward with my eyes facing forward. And...the walls around me only grew taller. And farther apart. Onward I journeyed as I noticed smoothly rounded hills starting to rise in the distance. And then I noticed the wind feel like it was growing stronger as well. To the point where it almost began to howl. The fine metal feathers on my wings, unmoved by the breeze, started to bend forward as the wind blew at my back. Even motes of fine dust or sand began to be carried through the air like pale snow.

The growing strength of the wind started to bewilder me and convinced me to stop and survey my surroundings. And the cliffs nearby... They now towered so high that I could no longer see the tops. They disappeared into the darkness above to the point where I felt like I was in a massive cave instead of a canyon. The wind had blown so much dust and fine soil that they had compacted and taken on the form of gentle rolling hills. But to blow so much that I could literally climb it... "Did the world around me grow? Or have I...shrunk?"

The only way I would find answers was to carry on. And as I marched forward, the wind pushed me along with my folded wings serving as sails. I decided to try and exploit the wind for all it was worth. I spread my wings and made a great hop as I found myself swiftly carried along like a stray kite. Whenever I would drift to the ground again, I would hop once more and be carried along. "Ha! At least there's some fun to be had here!"

This went on for a few minutes before the wind became noticeably weaker. I drifted down to the ground again now that the wind was not being so obnoxious even though I could still hear it howling behind me. And ahead of me stood more craggy cliffs. Just nowhere near as mountainous as those far to my left and right. And yet, the air was still lacking in life. Like I had truly entered a cold and dead wasteland. And almost as if to make the world around me feel even more lifeless, I noticed certain rock formations littering the ground with many being partially submerged in the mounds of fine earth the wind had swept towards the cliffs. They were as darkly colored as the cliffs themselves and looked like they were composed of stone, but...the shapes were...distinctly reminiscent of the shells of mollusks.

There was no other observation I could make. Large and dark, most of those rocky objects looked the part. The round and almost wheeled shapes, the spiral grooves on the sides reaching inward, even the ridges along those 'wheels'... If those were not great boulders that had been painstakingly carved to resemble the forms of mollusk shells, then these were the fossilized remains of great creatures from long ago. Some were even larger than I was. But amongst those stone mollusk shells were something else. Not resembling mollusks, but instead... Something closer to the average insect.

These stone structures were close to my height. And did resemble something like a beetle with a horned head segment. Stout and wide in shape. Their delicate legs had long since broken away. Or they would have had they ever been alive to begin with. These toppled remains partially buried in the windswept earth appeared to be remarkably intact and looked much closer to simple statues that had almost toppled over in time. Perhaps they once served as path markers to guide travelers. And if they were no longer standing tall and had nearly been pushed over... When was the last time one even came down this path?

I gently rested a hand on the top of one of those statues' heads between the horns. A stone figure, or a fossilized corpse? So difficult to say. Even its weight told me nothing. If it was an insect, it was probably too heavy. But if stone... Perhaps too light? But at least then I knew that I was journeying somewhere that had some form of life in it. Or had at one time. Perhaps this would be a somber yet intriguing excursion into old ruins. I was reminded of the fictional Chozo Ruins on the planet of Tallon IV. Or maybe the wastelands of Agon on the planet of Aether? Both were rife with arthropod lifeforms. Who can say what memories had spawned this new world for me to explore?

Just when I turned to continue down the path towards the craggy cliffs ahead of me with me having been convinced I would go this entire dream without encountering a single sign of intelligent life, I stopped. Something was up on a ledge halfway up the tallest cliffside ahead of me. It appeared to be...some sort of effigy. Perhaps a scarecrow. But I could see that it had not been there anywhere near as long as the delicately carved stone structures or fossilized remains I had just seen.

The object up on that ledge... The top resembled the heads of those insect statues, but was as pale as bone. Two holes had been carved into the white mask to give the impression that it had eyes with the mask curving upward at the sides and just slightly inward with two pronounced points at the tips. The horns took up most of the mask's height. The frame below it was concealed by a gently billowing red cloth that concealed everything under it. Entirely motionless, the bone white head and the red cloak stood out predominantly against the dark rocky cliff wall around it. It was not a natural formation. Someone had installed it there. And very recently too.

This effigy of red and white against a dark background... I felt the colors were meant to convey something. That bare white head... Pale as death as if it was a type of skull picked clean by carrion feeders. And that red cloak... As if completely stained by fresh blood... I was convinced. It had been placed there as a warning. The land ahead of me... It was dangerous. Possibly even inhabited by a tribe of savages that would lay waste to any intruders.

I clenched my left hand into a fist while keeping it concealed behind the Lunar Shield. It would not do to turn back now. Not with that howling gale trying to keep me from heading back the way I came. I needed to have faith in my abilities. I have faced much worse. Both in the realm of dreams and the realm of reality. I took a deep breath as I steeled my nerves to push aside the newly awakened tension in my heart. "Just need to keep my wits about me. Be mindful of my surroundings..."

I continued on with the wind whistling along the cliffs. My eyes were locked onto the effigy and its billowing red cloak for a moment longer. The way the empty black eye holes at the bottom of the mask were staring... I almost felt like it was watching me. Until I realized that such an effect might be intentional. To distract me from actual threats that may be nearby. And there seemed to be a path ahead that led me through the cliffs. A tunnel or cave carved out of the stone at its base. And if any sound came from within, I would hear it instantly.

But just when I thought I was alone again, a voice rang out. The voice of a young woman filled the air. "Yet another who seeks sacred Hallownest?"

I froze. I had let my guard down too soon. I immediately glanced about all around me. But there was no signs of life around the base of the cliffs or up on the lower ledges. The concealed voice then called out to me with my ears noticing that it seemed be coming from above. "Cast your eyes upward! I stand before you!"

And so I did. I looked up from where I was facing...and I saw it. The effigy. And... Its mask. Instead of gazing out ahead, it appeared to have altered its angle to actual follow my movements. My blood then chilled as I made a startling realization. That thing was not a manmade object to serve as a warning to travelers. I was gazing upon a masked sentry standing guard.

"You see me now, don't you?" The voice spoke again as it came from the masked woman ahead of me. The ledge she was upon would be an excellent vantage point for firing upon me with arrows, but...she did not appear to be in possession of a tool for launching projectiles. She would never be able to conceal a longbow under that cloak and I did not see such a weapon propped up against the cliff wall behind her. I stood at attention now that this sentry was at least being civil enough to not attack on sight. And when she spoke next, her words carried an icy bite with them. "Turn back, stranger. This place is a corpse. It will grant only death."

And then... Perhaps it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, but... I swear I saw flickers of light glancing off of something in the air. Like...thin wires of light being visible for just an instant. The sentry then added, "As will I...to those who seek to desecrate it."

"Understood." I replied in brief before continuing on my way. The fact that the sentry only issued me a warning told me that she was not actively looking for confrontation. More like warning the meek and helpless from venturing into a dangerous land. But I knew what I was capable of. Whatever was out there was something I was sure I could handle. But before I could even walk ten paces, a rock hit the ground before me. One that had been hurled by the sentry above. I glanced back up at her and asked, "Was there something else?!"

The sentry replied with what sounded like a tone of bewildered annoyance. "Do my words fall deaf upon your ears?! I just said the land before you is a corpse! But a sacred corpse nonetheless! And I will not permit outsiders to loot its remains! Turn back! Now. I will not ask again."

Now it was my turn to be annoyed. And I replied in kind. "Yeah, I heard you the first time! And I'm not looking for trouble! I don't even know where I am or how I got here! But if there's trouble ahead, I'm confident I can handle myself. I'll be all right. And I have no intention of being a petty thief."

The sentry then spoke coldly to me with her voice still oozing with that icy venom. "You lie. You come to this land fully clad in armor. A great shield is upon your arm. You may not carry yourself like a warrior, but you are clearly wearing the image of one."

The masked woman above adjusted her stance. And only then did I see something peek out from behind her. The unmistakable point of a metal blade. But she was so high up... No safe way to get down. Surely she was not going to...jump? "And Hallownest has suffered enough from the likes of you!"

I gazed upon the sentry with wide eyes as she leapt fearlessly from the ledge and plummeted towards me headfirst. The sheer bravado of this daring sentry risking herself to great injury both confused and annoyed me. Her refusal to believe my sincerity only frustrated me as I grumbled audibly, "Gimme a break, I only just got here and we're already doing this?"

I was not in the mood to deal with a fool who had more daring than sense and readied a spell with my left gauntlet. The sentry meant well, but she was fighting someone who was not her enemy. She let out a shout before hurling what seemed to be a spear at me. That was when I made my move. My eyes focused on the entrance to the rocky tunnel ahead, I cast my teleportation spell and instantly found myself standing before it I heard sentry call out in shock at my apparent disappearance. I turned around just in time to see the spear strike the spot where I had been standing a mere second ago and becoming firmly embedded in the hard earth. That was when I saw how the sentry planned on breaking out of her fall.

That flash of thin light again... For just an instant, I saw that glimmer of light form between the sentry and her weapon before her descent changed trajectory with her suddenly heading right for it. But all but canceling her downward momentum, she drastically lowered the force of impact with the ground by drawing herself towards her weapon. But the weapon itself was strange... I assumed it was a spear due to having been thrown and that very long spearhead did take up half of its entire length. That thin anchoring wire the sentry had attached to it appeared to have been bound to a type of ring pommel at the tip. The whole thing was easily her height. Even when taking the length of the long horns on her mask into account. I assumed it really was a type of spear with a shortened shaft. Such a design would make it more effective when fighting in closed quarters like caves and I had to assume those cliffs were full of them. The sentry swiftly pulled her weapon from the ground and glanced back and forth while facing the wasteland ahead of her. She had no idea I had simply teleported behind her instead of somewhere nearby to ready for a fight. "Where have you gone?!"

A snicker rumbled in my throat. I had her completely fooled. I wonder when she last encountered a traveler who simply was not in the mood to deal with her aggressive behavior? While the sentry carefully scanned her surroundings to watch for my brightly colored armor, I took note of the sentry's form. I could finally see the bottom bits of her legs peeking past her billowing cloak. They were very thin and appeared to be wrapped in a very tightly fitting bodysuit. The same applied to her exposed hands, were looked delicate and flexible. And I also noticed that her mask was not really a mask at all. There was no exposed head on the backside. It instead appeared to be a type of helmet with her entire head wedged inside it. But no human head could ever fit inside that thing. I had to assume the sentry before me was not human no matter how humanlike her appearance and movements were.

My getaway secured, I began to softly step away from my confused opponent while feeling pretty proud of myself. The whistling of the wind insured even the light clinking of my sabatons would not reach her ears. I kept looking over my shoulder at the cloaked sentry with no intention of taking my eyes off her until I could no longer see her. If I could see her, then she could see me. Unfortunately, the sentry finally had enough sense to check the area behind her. By that point, she should have assumed that I really did flee since she had a very long moment without being attacked. And yet she still looked back. The instant her gaze met mine, she suddenly turned to face me with spear in hand and another flash of light along a nearly invisible metal wire in the air. "You! Halt!"

"Nope!" I yelped before taking off running down the tunnel. I felt home free by then so long as I kept running. No matter how quick that sentry was on her feet, she could never hope to catch someone with the speed of the swiftest earth pony stallions. The light was dim, but I did not wish to draw my sword. I instead generated a glow from my right hand as I channeled the magic in it. I could only hope that her allies were not lying in wait for me somewhere down the path.

That sentry was not giving up the chase so easily. Even among the clanking of my sabatons as I rushed ahead, I could hear the tapping of her on footsteps echoing down the cave behind me. But they were becoming increasingly distant. I would be in the clear soon. A glow soon came up ahead as a strength of the tunnel before we was filled with a bright blue light. And then I saw the source of that ambient lighting. Large butterflies were perched around the cave. Easily as large as the largest birdwing butterfly if not larger, the butterflies appeared to be entirely composed of that glowing blue bioluminescence. I was almost tempted to slow down and examine them since they did not respond to my presence with fear, but I could not let that pesky sentry reach me.

I dismissed the magical glow in my right hand now that I did not need it with those glowing butterflies generously lighting up the stone tunnel around me. But I was not the only one to capitalize on their presence. I noticed something suddenly go flying right past me at speed surpassing my swift running. It was...the sentry's spear? It impacted the cave wall up ahead near the ceiling and became firmly stuck there. And once it became lodged there, the sentry herself suddenly shot by me on another wire tied to its ring pommel as she reeled herself in. My eyes widened while I tried to stay bold and not slow down. I increased my run to a sprint in the hopes of rushing past my pursuer before she could get weapon free. It was all for naught since she soon turned to me with spear in hand and lunged from her vantage point with her spear going for my face. "You're mine!"

"My god, you little pest! Piss off!" I yelled in genuine annoyance as I held my shield up and shoved her off me. I was especially surprised with just how light she felt. As if she was nothing but skin and bones despite her prowess. The sentry was even nimble enough to land on her feet before promptly chasing after me again. She was giving it her all in trying to catch up to me, her concealed head closer to the ground as I even heard her growl in trying to force herself to outrun me. But she was gradually falling behind. All I had to do was stay ahead of her long enough to exit the cave and simply fly away. "What do you even want from me?! I just got here... Oh, excuse me!"

I very nearly ran into someone else who was wandering the caves alone. Someone of the sentry's height who was surprisingly passive to me nearly running right into them. I did not get a good look at them, but they did not escape my pursuer's attention. Once she reached them back in the shadows behind me, I saw her briefly stop. There was a sound of a blade striking...something. Followed by a flash of glowing orange fluid that splattered all along the cave floor. And then her frantic footsteps resumed. Had she really just cut down that poor fool just to get to me?! My pursuer's intentions made clear with the demise of some poor random passerby, she then called out to me in frustration. "Stand and fight, coward!"

"Saying I'm a coward implies that I'm afraid of you. I just really don't wanna deal with this right now! Can we reschedule this duel?!" I yelled out in my own brand of irritation with the cave's walls carrying my voice back to her. Although I will admit the sheer brutality she had just proven herself capable of had made me somewhat wary of that mysterious sentry. Why was she so desperate to get to me?! "Did someone put you up to this?! Who's your boss?!"

"There are none that I bow to!" The sentry tried again to close the distance between us by hurling her spear and reeling herself in once a spot came up ahead of us for her to exploit. And she did not use the same tactics this time. Rather than simply lunge for me again, she jumped from her vantage point and grabbed onto my left wing! Her weight upon it hardly affected my balance, but I had to act quickly before she could use my blind spot to strike at my neck. I almost lashed out in a panic by trying to flap my left wing against whatever I could to shake her off.

I must have done something right since I soon heard the sound of an impact along with the sentry letting out a very hard grunt. A glance to my left revealed the sentry slumped against the cave wall after apparently having been slammed into it. She was not so quick to stand up now that I had knocked the wind out of her. I quickly rushed back down the path ahead while also calling out, "Sorry!"

It sounded like the sentry was quick to recover. I could hear her scampering after me only seconds later. Even after showing her mercy, she was still hell-bent on taking me down. I was starting to get some startling flashbacks of my first encounter with Ember. Except Ember had been almost reluctant to fight me. If Ember was fire, then that masked pursuer was ice.

The sentry finally found an opportunity she was looking for. I entered a wider cave chamber that was still lit by a copious number of glowing butterflies who were completely oblivious to the chaos happening around them. All it took was an instant of the sentry entering the chamber to spring a trap. Flashes of light betraying the presence of more of those extremely thin wires flashed through the air ahead of me as I was forced to stop. Some kind of tripwire trap had been set up with many large clusters of sharp jagged rock shards held together on those wires. The tapping of light footwork behind me had also stopped. The sentry stood before me with spear in hand, the eye holes on her mask bearing the look of a very focused scowl from that particular angle. She spoke coldly to me, "You will not escape me here."

Now that we were in the same room together with both entrances now blocked off by those thorny traps held in the air, I was astonished of just how...petite she was. Small, but vicious and swift as any weasel. She really was no taller than Ember herself. But if my experiences with Ember on the battlefield has taught me anything, it is that size matters little in the face of sheer skill and experience. This sentry was extremely confident in her abilities if she was this persistent in chasing me down and having now locked us both in for a duel I could not easily run from.

She stood her ground, but looked like she could charge at any second. I took a moment to survey my surroundings and what she had displayed thus far. The sentry was carrying a short spear that could double as a grappling hook device thanks to the spools of metal wire she likely carried under that cloak. And if she was that willing to plunge it into solid rock, then the edge of that spearhead must have been very resistant to erosion and dulling. She was a threat even at long range with just how far she could hurl that spear like a javelin and call it back to herself with a flick of her wires. And she could create thorny tripwire traps out of hardened debris. Cunning, quick, most certainly acrobatic, but...not a whole lot of options. From just these observations, I came to the conclusion that this sentry tried to do more with less. An admirable tactic, but it would only get her so far. She did not know just how outclassed she actually was. I am sure even Ember would crush her in single combat. I returned my pursuer's scowl with one of my own as I spoke a warning. "You don't want to do this. Go away."

The sentry was not fazed in the slightest. If anything, she only grew more defiant while bending the knees to ready herself for a lunge with spear pointed at me. "I will not be swayed, wanderer. Raise your blade and face me!"

I was much firmer with my next choice of words. I sincerely did not want to face that fearless fool. "Girl, I can crush you if I really want to. Don't make me have to stop fighting fair."

"Bold words, wanderer. Prove that they are not empty!" The sentry shouted before she did indeed lunge at me. She hurled herself through the air with spear pointed at my chest. Such an impressive horizontal leap should not have been possible, but I had seen more ridiculous feats of physical prowess. I did not even bother using my shield. I simply generated a golden yellow barrier before me that stopped the sentry cold before I used a levitation spell to fling her to the far side of the chamber and nearly into her own tripwire traps. She barely came to a sliding stop with her hand grasping at the ground to stop herself. She swiftly stood with blade behind herself before shouting in irritation, "Enough of these simple tricks! Fight me!"

I stomped my foot with one step forward as I too was losing my patience with my pursuer. "Is it my words that are falling deaf on you now?! I won't fight you! Leave me alone!"

"You will not escape me. Fight me...or perish!" The sentry shouted before leaping towards the wall nearby and flinging herself directly at me across the room with spear pointed at me. "The riches of this dead kingdom are not yours to claim!"

I once again generated another barrier to stop her assault in its tracks. But I did not repel her this time. The two of us just glared at each other through that wall of sparkling golden light with her spear stuck in it. But then I saw them. More flickers of light shimmering off of wires around her. And then... What was that attack? The sentry suddenly unleashed a flurry of wires that lashed out all around her and into my barrier. Those wires... So thin, yet sharp as razors. They would have unleashed ungodly levels of pain on me if they struck my bare flesh. The sheer volume of wires slashing against my barrier did put an increase of strain on my mind as I tried to keep that barrier up.

The sentry was not able to sustain this trick for long. The wires seemed to vanish or retracted back under her cloak before she dropped to the floor and hopped away with spear in hand. She was testing my defenses. Trying to find a way through. But what I was most concerned of was not her spear. It was those wires I was most uneasy about. Useful for mobility, setting up obstacles, and even for a deadly weapon from all directions... I had to get rid of it. If I were to get that spool of wires away from her, that sentry would have no hope of catching up to me. With a flick of my fingers, I cast the levitation spell on her cloak and flung it upwards to basically wrap it over her horned head. The sentry barked in surprise as I heard her yell, "Gah, what?! What did you do?!"

My eyes widened as I saw her body exposed. She really was just all skin and bones after all. An extremely thin and slender body of vaguely humanoid form contained under a black skintight bodysuit was revealed. She almost looked frail. But...there was no pouch. No pockets or tools held against her body. I did not even see anything attached to her arms or wrists that could be holding those wires! All she had was that spear. But then... "Where are you keeping those wires?!"

My pursuer yanked the part of her cloak in front of her face down with her spare hand to reveal her mask as she spoke out to me. "I carry no wires on me. Only threads."

I had no idea of what to even say to that. This mysterious sentry of a mysterious land was only serving as a testament to just how little I knew about this world I was in. But I was not going to get anywhere while stuck in that cave. With those thorny rock traps held in place... I then rolled my eyes before I turned to the exit behind me and quickly used the teleportation spell to place myself on the other side. I then looked back at the sentry as the eye holes on her mask...appeared to have become much wider and rounder with a look of utter confusion and frustration setting into it. "I did say I won't fight you."

"You little... GET BACK HERE!" The sentry finally roared at me with her voice echoing all around the cave. I rushed ahead down the darkened passage with the sentry falling behind now that she had to resort to the indignity of having to disarm her own traps. Feeling pretty proud of myself, I rushed on with only the glow of the golden yellow aura around my right gauntlet lighting the way.

A way out finally came into view ahead and I emerged out onto those rocky cliffs again. The road ahead was winding and even illuminated gently by the round light bulbs of antique lampposts. Even the walls around me had been decorated by carving out patterns that resembled fossils of the ancient ammonites. But the sentry was not far behind. She soon emerged and continued her pursuit of me across the cliffs. I once again passed some creatures that were probably of her own species, but I was more interested in staying ahead of my pursuer over getting a good look at the strangely silent locals as I rushed by.

I looked back after every one of those creatures I passed. And sure enough, I saw flashes of orange fluid fly into the air from behind the rocky environment that stood at every bend in the row. The sentry seemed to be going out of her way to cut down every last one of them, even if it meant slowing down for a second. And at last, I reached the end of the road. I came to a great cliff that oversaw a vast darkened valley far below. Various little lights followed a path that appeared to reach a very distant cluster of bigger lights. A town? An outpost? If there was light, perhaps I would find someone there. Hopefully someone who was not after my head.

Speaking of which... She was behind me. The sentry stood there while I had the cliff to my back. With nowhere to run, I smirked at her and spread my armor's wings. The eye holes on her mask again opened wide before she gasped. "No!"

She desperately hurled her spear at me when I flapped my wings to throw myself backwards. It would have struck me had I not moved and landed right at the very edge of the cliff. I hovered out over that dark ravine while the sentry snatched up her spear before looking helplessly up at me. She soon pointed her spear at me defiantly before she shouted one last time, "I will find you! Run while you can! Hallownest will never be yours!"

That lunatic then did just about the last thing I expected her too. She dove right off the cliff and down into the abyss. My pursuer's suicidal boldness just made me shake my head in disbelief. At least now I would not have to worry about her anymore. "Weirdo... I wonder if she'll survive the fall."

With nowhere else to go, I flew on ahead through the blackened skies. My eyes scanned the shadowy landscape below. It was just too dark from such a height, so I began to descend with a glide. A deep rocky valley appeared below me lined with stone hills. Only for me to soon realize that the many mounds below were actually dwellings. I had stumbled upon a village somewhere in that dark valley.

I circled the village from above as I descended. Every dwelling had an almost domed shape and once again fit the arthropod aesthetic I had seen when I first reached the cliffs. They all looked like they had been carved to resembled hollowed out beetle carapaces. It looked like a great bridge had once spanned from one side of the place to the other while held above the village, connecting a tunnel from the cliffs to a mountain in the distance, but it had long since collapsed. Much of the village looked like it had been spared from the resulting falling rubble. Elegant iron lampposts dotted the village with pale glows illuminating it, but...it looked and felt abandoned. Lifeless... "She said it is a dead kingdom... Maybe she really meant that."

When I came back around to the side of the valley nearest the cliffs, I saw that the entrance to the tunnels leading back that way had been sealed by an impressive stone door that bore a certain kind of engraving on it. Sticking with the insect motifs I had seen so far, it looked like a beetle body with six tiny wings along the sides. A few long spines stood at the top, but I am not sure if that was supposed to resemble a crown or be the beetle's mandibles. I came in for a swooping landing at the base of the wall leading up to the door and gazed out upon the abandoned village ahead. My feet carried me forward as I muttered to myself, "Almost looks like architecture out of Morrowind... Strangely fitting, come to think of it."

I had completely forgotten that Nightmare Moon was observing me at the time after having to run for my life from that overzealous sentry. I felt genuinely alone. And almost sad. The world around me felt genuinely dead and had been that way for a very long time. I sighed in some form of silent sorrow. As curious as I was to explore, I could not deny how somber the entire situation felt.

As I walked towards the village, I noticed one part of the town was more brightly lit than the rest. And right in the center as I headed down that middle path. It appeared to serve as the town square and had an iron bench to rest on with lampposts set about to keep the location well lit. Simple as that bench looked, its presence was inviting. A good place to just sit down and collect my thoughts. But as I drew near... Was someone there?

I thought it was just part of the architecture at first, but no. A hunched figure stood near the square. The lighting from the lamps above made the figure appear to be a featureless shadow until I began to draw near. I kept my left arm ready to throw up my shield. The only person who actually spoke to me in that world had tried adamantly to take my life. Was this person just as vicious?

"Hm?" A rather deep voice reached my ears as the figure before me detected my approach. And when they turned to see me... They too wore a white mask that encased their entire head. Two long horns curved inward at the top with virtually no point atop them while his body was shrouded by a dark cloak. Most strangely was that this mask even had a mouth with its lower jaw being separated by a thin line. Almost like the jaw of an old puppet. And like with my pursuer, the eye holes on his mask noticeably widened as he gazed up at me. Something that a mere mask should not be able to do. No taller than my pursuer, the cloaked stranger spoke with a deep and almost elderly voice. "Ah, forgive me for my staring. I have seen many a wanderer come and go, but none quite like you."

It was my turn for my eyes to widen. As the old man spoke, his mask's lower jaw... It moved as he spoke. As if it was actually a part of his body and not simply hiding his face. I knew by then that the people of this land were not human, but what were they really? Regardless, it was relieving to find life still amongst the ruins of this cold and empty world. Especially one who was nothing if not happy to have some company. I collected my thoughts and said, "Yeah, I'm not from around here. Not even sure where I am or how I got here."

"An outsider from beyond the cliffs? Impressive that you were even able to brave the wasteland beyond our borders. Although I'm sorry to say you will only find me here. I have been the only one left in this humble town of Dirtmouth for some time." The kindly elder explained while I winced at the name of that village. Dirt...mouth? It honestly sounded like someone named that place such an undignified name as a prank. The elder then turned his gaze to the far side of town, a gentle glow coming from just past the perimeter of the village. "You have the look of an adventurer about you. Come to seek the riches of what remains of Hallownest? Many have come before you. Everyone who used to reside here eventually gathered the courage to journey down the well. It's the only way back down after all entrances to the kingdom were sealed."

"You're the only one left here? I'm sorry..." I said softly as I wondered how the kindly old man had even managed with all of his neighbors disappearing over the years. He sounded genuinely happy to see me, even if a bit melancholy in general. I stepped past him and took a seat on the iron bench in the middle of the square. It was a bit too low to the ground for most human use, but that was something I had long adapted to after living in Equestria for a few years. I then looked at the elder and said, "I'm just glad I found a friendly face. I wasn't given the warmest welcome when I first got here and I haven't even done anything yet."

"I can imagine. I have not seen the cliffs up there in so long. With the kingdom fallen to ruin ages ago, the paths must be overrun with feral beasts. All untamed and wild now. Although I fear the caverns below are not much better." The masked elder said as he approached me with a gentle gait. I felt pity for the old man. To live alone in that dreary dark village for so long and surely doomed to die there alone... I sighed to myself as he stood before me. I could not bring myself to inquire more about his life. He then looked past me and said, "Everyone who was here... After the kingdom fell and things became much quieter... One by one, they all headed down the well to seek riches amongst the ruins. The occasional wanderer would pass through as well, surely to do the same. And...not one of them ever returned."

A land of dangers that had nothing to do with the sentry who tried to take me out... I suppose I would not have come to while clad in my suit of armor were the world a safe one to explore. But at least by then, it seemed my pursuer was not in service to anyone. Probably a lone agent living by her own strange agenda. It sounded like there were no leagues of assassins left that could be ordering her to slay anyone who would enter this land. I looked up at the lamppost nearest me and saw the source of light inside appeared to be some small glowing insects that never once stopped fluttering inside the glass orb around them. "I guess one of them managed to strike it rich if she was out there to come after my head. Have you seen her before? White horned mask? Red cloak? Carries a spear?"

The elder's eyes widened as my words quickly jogged his memory. He knew of who I spoke. "Ah, her? Yes, she's difficult to forget. Never even got her name. She has passed by now and then, but is never one for words. Filled with purpose, that lass. I wonder if she ever rests."

"Sounds like she's not the reasonable sort either. She tried to murder me as soon as she laid eyes on me up there. Wouldn't listen to a word I said and I had to just run away so I wouldn't be forced to slay her." I replied with some annoyance. The elder's words were rather kind about that sentry despite apparently having never had the chance to speak to her whenever she would pass by.

"Oh my, she did? Surely there must have been a misunderstanding. She never once struck me as vile or cruel. Although...perhaps a bit cold. I wonder what sorrows she carries in her heart..." The elder muttered in quiet disbelief. I mean I suppose he was right. I did not notice any genuine malice in her during that pursuit. She and I knew nothing about each other. But she was also quick to disregard my words regardless of how truthful I was being. What happened to that sentry to convince her to be so untrusting of anyone if she was not in service to some guild and bound by some fanatical creed?

Regardless, I was just glad I managed to get away from that sentry without having to harm her. I gazed at the elder and recalled some of the first words that sentry said to me. "I certainly hope it was just a misunderstanding. She had some very kind words to say about this land. More like she was trying to protect something without realizing that I wasn't her enemy. Speaking of which... What did she call this land? Hollow Nest?"

"Ah, you mean Hallownest. A kingdom among kingdoms, from what I recall. A shining era of commerce and culture where many would come and go. But now...just a hive of tunnels left to ruin after it all...went quiet. I am not even certain of how or why. I seldom ventured far into the kingdom during my youth. And ever since all entrances were sealed, it's been a challenge just to get down there without heading down the well at the edge of town." The elder said in fond recollection. He seemed like the kind of old man who was very fond of sharing stories. If given the chance, he could probably keep me entertained for hours with tales of times gone by.

I looked to my left and noticed that glow above the ground past the edge of town. It was indeed an old well with an iron arch above it that had a few brightly glowing orbs set into the underside. Hardly a convenient means of getting down into the tunnels, but if I had to... But when considering how many had gone down there only to never return... I turned to the elder and asked, "But...why do you suppose no one ever came back?"

The elder's tone became more cautionary as he spoke. "For the same reason I would advise caution if you too venture down there. You can't really smell it up here, but in the tunnels... There is a sickly air down there. One that drives beasts mad and robs travelers of their thoughts. If you head down there and your mind is not quite the way it should be, consider returning to the surface at once. I suppose some dreams are not worth following if they lead one to such a fate..."

A sickly air... A plague? But if the kingdom fell long ago and its people with it, then surely the plague died with it. Disease can only go so long without a living host to spread it. Even so, this filled me with a certain dread. And some of those passersby I ran past up on the cliffs... The ones that hardly responded to me rushing past only to be ruthlessly cut down by my pursuer... My brow furrowed in contemplation. Something was not right about them... "I wonder what the name of that strain is... Was there a plague? How was a cure never found?"

"I wish I could say, traveler. I really do. But all I know is the kingdom of Hallownest is no more. Only its ruins remain for those brave enough to explore them. And lucky enough to not fall victim to that tainted air and the mad beasts within..." The elder said almost wistfully. He cast his gaze upon me while looking genuinely concerned. He then said gently, "Just do take the greatest of care should you venture down there. I sense a righteous presence from you. Not a mere adventurer... Something more?"

"Don't worry about me, sir. I've seen and slain my fair share of evils. I won't let some lingering miasma bewitch me... Wait, what's that?" I thought I saw something fall from that great door atop the cliff. Big pieces of rubble appeared to drop from it. And then more. As if...something was trying to break free from the other side. "Hey... Has that door ever been broken before? It doesn't look like it's supposed to be opened in the usual manner..."

"Hm? Oh, that door? It's been there since before the bridge spanning over the town collapsed. I was not told much when it was first installed... Oh my, is it...about to collapse?" The elder mused as we both watched it with great interest. Bit by bit, it crumbled a bit more. I could distinctly make out great cracks forming in it.

And just a moment later, it finally crumbled. Violently and loudly. We could feel the tremors of the door's stone remains hit the ground far below with thunderous crashes. The elder and I both stared with mouths agape as we wondered just who or what would go out of their way to break down such a towering stone barrier. And then I realized what was coming. "Aw crap, not her again..."

Mere seconds later, she emerged. That same cloaked sentry jumped down from the ledge and immediately sank to her knees and hands. She looked absolutely exhausted. She must have ran herself ragged in desperately trying to catch up to me. And just how many times did she have to pound on that wall of carved stone to break it down? The elder and I glanced at each other before I pointed at the very distant sentry. "Did she seriously just break down that wall with only a spear?"

"If she did, that's quite an impressive display." The elder muttered while he gazed upon the distant sentry with no sign of alarm. As if he had no reason to fear her. But I was not so relaxed. I knew why she was there. She had somehow saved herself from that fall and likely rushed through the tunnels below to reach me on foot. Even if it meant exhausting herself in the process. After a moment of catching her breath, the sentry rose to her feet and rushed forward with a very unsteady jog before dropping to her knees again. I could hear her by then, her shrill voice gasping and wheezing loudly.

"Stay back. I'm the one she wants." I said firmly as I rose to my feet. The elder stood aside while I began to walk towards the sentry as I became genuinely annoyed of her absolute insistence in trying to harm me. I spoke out to her, "Please tell me we're not still doing this. I said I won't fight you."

The sentry became still while down on her knees and hand. Her other hand was still clutching her spear with the blade hardly showing any signs of wear and tear despite having likely just been used to chisel a way through that wall. She was too still. And too quiet... I immediately assumed she was resorting to an act of cunning. Trying to lure me in for a sudden attack. And so I obliged. Readying my left arm, I stepped closer while feigning ignorance to a potential trap.

The ploy worked. For me, at least. As soon as I came within a certain range, the sentry let out a shrill battle cry as she lunged at me from below. But all she got was the Lunar Shield being shoved into her face before I swung my left arm out to the side as hard as I could with her very lightweight body being sent flying and tumbling roughly along the hard ground. She came to a stop while facedown and somehow managed to avoid dropping her weapon. But her fatigue was obvious with how poorly she handled getting tossed. She remained there on the ground quite gracelessly, almost like she was embarrassed over being so thoroughly repelled.

Even the elder did not say anything as he observed the confrontation play out before him. But a glance in his direction showed that he looked alarmed with hands held up before him. He was not used to armed conflict happening in his town. I then looked at the distant sentry while I could see she was looking back at me. My annoyance with her reaching a fever pitch, I took a step forward now that I had her staying down for the moment. "Listen, you little masochist! I said I'm not here to start trouble and I meant it! I won't fight you, I won't let you kill me, and we have no reason to be fighting in the first place! And secondly..."

I held out my arms wide and even spread my armor's wings. Trying to expose myself as much as possible. "Even if I wanted to loot the tunnels below, I can't! Does it look like I've got anything on my person to haul away any junk in?! I don't know where I am or how I even got here! I'm a clueless nobody with no plans about this place! But if you really wanna brawl, then fine! Bring it! But I promise you that it will NOT end well for you! This is a fight you won't win!"

With my terms stated, I brought my right hand to the hilt of the Celestial Sword and took hold of it without drawing the blade. If that sentry was really so far gone from any logic or reasoning, then I was more than ready to obliterate her just to get rid of that pest once and for all. But the choice was hers. And so I stood there and waited with blade ready to be drawn from my shield. I then spoke firmly, yet fairly. "Don't make me do this. If we fight, you will be the one to die. Don't throw your life away over a stupid misunderstanding."

The sentry never once looked away as she took in my words. And finally... After a very tense moment of fearing that I would have to slay this complete stranger, the sentry finally responded. She planted her hand and fist against the ground for leverage before pushing herself up to her knees. She gazed down to the ground for a moment longer before letting out what sounded like something between a sigh and a groan. She then looked at me and said, "It would seem I have gravely misjudged you. And you have my sincerest apologies."

Only then did I release my grip on the Celestial Sword's hilt. She did not sound like she was trying to get me to let down my guard. And the fact that she took no issue with the elder behind me serving as a witness convinced me that she was not an impulsive murderer. She soon rose back onto her feet and began to approach me while still sounding like she was out of breath. "You have shown admirable restraint in the face of hostility. If what you say is true, then I will show some faith in your claims. Treat the remains of Hallownest with respect and I will stay my hand."

Now that my pursuer had become more civil, it felt like a good idea to get some answers. "You the local sentry here?"

"I am this kingdom's lone remaining protector. I cannot leave Hallownest now... It has always been my home. Even in death, I still serve and protect it from those who would seek to defile what remains of it." The sentry before me said with true conviction in her words. Words that carried unexpected weight. The elder behind me had always lived quietly on the surface, but this lone sentry sounded much more intimately familiar with the kingdom's history.

A quiet sigh escaped my lips as I began to understand why she was so desperate to prevent me from reaching that place. She was cold, yet resolute. Even if her reasons were fanatical and impulsive, I could not fault her dedication to preserving what remained of her home. "I commend you... I won't cause trouble while I'm here, I promise."

My former pursuer gazed up at me with the eye holes on her mask noticeably narrowing. A piercing gaze as if she tried to scan me for any deceit. But her gaze soon calmed with the holes becoming rounder. "And I do believe you. Again, my apologies for...not listening when I should have. Too many have come seeking to claim Hallownest's riches for themselves, whatever they may be. I had little reason to believe you were any different."

I finally asked the most obvious question of all. "You have a name?"

The cloaked sentry responded briefly. "Hornet."

That name struck me. Hornet... An aggressive stinging insect that lives in a hive system? I then took note of the spear that was still being clutched in her left hand. Now that I had a good look at it, it did look like it was designed with stabbing in mind even though it looked very balanced in general. I felt the need to show a bit of wit. "Hornet, eh? I can see why they would call you that. You are packing quite the stinger there."

The eye holes on her mask narrowed a bit, but not in aggression. It looked more like a gaze of dry amusement. Even her tone was equally dry as she spoke. "I can assure you that you are far from the only one to come to that conclusion."

There was no way such a name could be her actual name. It was clearly a codename centered around her weapon of choice and ferocity in battle. Perhaps she really was part of a secret guild that no longer existed. That would certainly explain the white mask or helmet covering her head. It really did look like it was composed of polished white bone. But then why was the elder behind me also wearing a similar mask? I could swear that I even noticed similar yet less elaborate masks present on the heads on those I passed up on the cliffs. Curiosity got the better of me as I reached out and took hold of the horn on the left side of her mask. "Really though, what's with all the masks around here? You don't have to... Uh... Huh?!"

When I raised my fist to pull Hornet's horned white helmet off, I instead found myself hoisting her right off the ground with little difficulty. I knew that she was almost skin and bones under her cloak, but this was too light even for a woman of her size. And that white mask remained firmly over her head even as she flailed her legs and right arm in bewilderment. "Wha... What is this?! Unhand me! That's my head you are holding!"

"I... Uh... Sorry!" I yelped before hastily dropping her back onto her...very stubby feet. I noticed then that Hornet did not even have proper feet at the ends of her slender legs. She was balancing delicately atop two gently rounded tips. Almost like a ballet dancer standing on just the tips of her toes. That analogy felt strangely fitting when considering her acrobatics. But while she gazed up at me in annoyance, I then asked, "But then...if that's actually your head...and not a mask or a helmet... What...even are you?"

"I am a bug. A citizen of Hallownest. As is the elder over there." Hornet replied while I tried to process if that term had a secret meaning to it. A bug... Really? As in...a literal insect? But that could not be right. I had seen Hornet's body under her cloak and I only counted four limbs.

I was not so convinced Hornet was being honest with me. Certainly not with how informal 'bug' is for a term. It almost sounded like she was being overly humble with how she described herself. "Bug...? Seriously? Last I checked, 'bug' is a blanket term for most small arthropods. Insects. And you really don't look it..."

"She's right, you know." I heard the elder finally speak as he approached the two of us at last. He approached while sounding rather amused. "Hallownest has always been a kingdom of bugs. And if you are seeking names, many simply refer to me as the Elderbug of Dirtmouth."

Again with the term of 'bug'... But then the cogs in my head started to turn as I stared at nothing in particular. The suspicions I had when I noticed that the cliffs around me and the vast lifeless plains appeared to be growing more vast the further I trekked... Had I really been shrunken down into literally the size of an insect? And was now in the ruins of a great kingdom of insects? As I pondered what could possibly spawn such an absurd scenario in my dreams, I had a sudden realization. "Don't tell me this is what I get for spending too much time watching our new beehive..."

Hornet cocked her head to one side. I did not intend for anyone to hear my mutterings, but she noticed regardless. "Hive? What do you know of the hive? It is true that I was trained by the hive, but... Have you journeyed to Hallownest before, traveler? And... Your name. We have spoken ours. Now... What is yours?"

Both confused and annoyed by this...very strange situation, I thought up the only name that could make any kind of sense at the time. I then turned to Hornet and spoke with dry wit oozing from my voice. "Gulliver."

"I see. Well met, Gulliver." Hornet replied as she took my words at face value. I could not even be bothered to correct myself, I was just that amused. She then began to circle me, eyeing my armor and my face. "What even...are you? You are not bug. Nor beast."

I had to ponder the circumstances of such a place like Hallownest and these almost human insects before me. When considering the seemingly dead wilds I passed through to reach those cliffs... Was that a world where humanity died out with only remarkably advanced races of insects inheriting the world? I then said something I had not said in some time. "I'm a human... Pretty sure you won't find any around here."

Hornet then rested her right fist against the underside of the low curve at the front of her head... Probably somewhere near her mouth underneath. "A human, you say... And your form... It almost appears...knightly. Do you serve a kingdom of your kind? Surely you are not here to invade..."

It would be a bad idea to try and avoid that question after how Hornet had acted on the mere assumption that I was an outsider with trouble on the mind. "I already told you that I don't even know how I got here, but yes. I was recently knighted, but I don't exactly live in a world of humans... I am a knight in league with the kingdom of Equestria."

"A knight, yet not here on official business... A knight errant then?" Hornet asked while still trying to make sense of me. She appeared to be just as confused by my appearance as I was of her entire species.

It was then that I got a look at her spear. The whole thing appeared to be composed of a single piece of metal instead of a spearhead mounted atop a shaft. Such a design choice would make it much heavier, but when considering that insects can lift more than their own body weight more often than not... I titled my head to get a better look at the weapon in her left hand and asked, "That spear looks very heavy... Why is it all one piece of metal?"

Hornet glanced up at me with a very noticeable cockeyed stare. If that helmet around her head was actually her head, then those eye holes were actually her eyes. No wonder they could be so expressive. She then looked at her weapon said, "Spear? This is a needle."

"No, I'm pretty sure that's a spear... Mind if I see it?" I asked now that Hornet was using some very unusual terminology. While hesitant, she did eventually pass it to my right hand. And I quickly found myself baffled by its design. "Uh... Actually, you might be onto something here. I don't know what to make of this... Not quite a sword. Not quite a spear."

The whole thing really was Hornet's height and it was remarkably heavy for a weapon being used in one hand. But I was most likely physically weaker than the people of Hallownest. If their bodies really are built like an insect, then my overall muscle mass was probably no stronger than the tiniest mouse. Hornet could probably best me in arm wrestling. And her slender black body under that cloak... That was not a black bodysuit. That was a black exoskeleton. But now I am rambling...

The weapon in my hand's blade took up half it's length. And the hilt really was somewhere between that of a sword and a spear's shaft. Something like this demanded a very unorthodox technique. Maybe it really was just a giant sewing needle modified into a weapon. Who can really say. I then handed it back to her and said, "Uh... Here you go. I can't make heads or tails of this thing."

"Hardly surprising. Only those with the abilities of a Weaver can wield this needle to its full potential." Hornet replied while taking her weapon back in hand. Weaver... Is that why she had the ability to cast those threads to set traps and grab onto her weapon's ring pommel? Hornet then gazed up at me with that cool presence about herself. Even when being civil, she felt...distant. Much moreso than Ember ever did. "Well then... I do believe you have convinced me that you truly mean Hallownest no harm. I grant you safe passenger, Sir Gulliver. But be warned that while Hallownest may be a dead kingdom, it is not uninhabited and the dead may no longer be still. I must be off now. My duties call."

Hornet then took off towards the far edge of town while the Elderbug and I watched. She carried herself at a brisk pace and nimbly hopped down the well and out of sight. The kindly elder then looked up at me and said, "A fine lass, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, but very cool too... She makes me uncomfortable." I grumbled to myself after having spent some time in Hornet's presence. So similar, yet so different to Ember. I could not stop comparing the two in my head. For all I knew, perhaps Hornet's personality was a product of my memories of Ember. But Ember had always been fiery. Even loud at times. She had a quick wit sometimes when we first met. And she was not one to hide behind a lordly facade. For being someone who really did not know how to talk about her feelings, she was very in touch with her emotions and seldom tried to hide her mood. But Hornet... So much cooler. Cold, even. And vicious. And I was left doubting just how much of Hornet's words were sincere after she ceased hostilities towards me. There was no way she was that trusting, no matter how honest she was being. She would surely take another swing at me again I sighed to myself and muttered very softly, "I miss Ember..."

The Elderbug looked up at me and asked, "Now you see the way below. Are you heading down as well?"

"I suppose I shall... I feel like I was brought here for a reason." I said before taking a few steps forward. Although I still looked back at my humble host and spoke with a smile. "I enjoyed our time, sir. Take care of yourself."

"Same to you, Sir Gulliver. I will be here should you return. I adored your company. Safe travels." The Elderbug replied as he waved goodbye. At least I had received a generally good first impression of the people of Hallownest. Surely the Elderbug and Hornet were not the only ones left.

I descended some steps that led away from the town and noticed an old cemetery beyond the well. It only added to the melancholic atmosphere of this dark and empty world. Those gravestones with barely legible text engraved... I was very tempted to turn around and go right back to the town square of Dirtmouth just to savor the warm company of the kind elder. Although I did not go uninterrupted for long. A voice spoke in my head right when I least expected it. "You are longing for Ember, my dear?"

"Oh... You heard that?" I muttered in response to the sound of Nightmare Moon's voice She really was seeing and hearing everything around me.

"I may be silent, but I am not blind or deaf. I heard that little mutter back there. And you most definitely will find danger in this wide world of Hallownest. I sense...a foul presence somewhere in the tunnels below." The Princess of Dreams replied while I approached the well before me. No wonder I was armed and armored. But just what kind of threats would I find in a kingdom inspired by my observations of a beehive? Nightmare Moon then asked, "If you're longing for her so dearly, shall I send for Ember? She is slumbering at this time and I am certain she would savor an evening with you."

A very tempting offer, but I knew it would be best if we did not disturb the sleep of the Dragon Lord. She probably had a long day out there reigning over those boulderheads and she would be awakening before I would. I would not want to spend a night with her only to suffer the disappointment of her waking up early. Surely not when we might be stuck in a dangerous situation and forcing me to adapt quickly to her sudden absence. "That's a lovely offer, but no. We shouldn't disturb her. I'll probably find a more meaningful experience going it alone. But keep an eye on me, all right?"

"Very well then, my little dreamer. I shall watch from here and intervene only if necessary. But keep your wits about you. Even I cannot say for certain what dangers await you." Nightmare Moon retorted graciously while I continued on. And I was starting to feel a certain excitement in my heart in spite of the gloomy atmosphere around me. This was something special. Something new. An adventure into uncharted territory.

I stood before the well and its elegantly crafted iron arch above it. The glass orbs of light gently illuminated the area around and below it with a gentle glow. The only way to descend safely was to either simply jump down the shaft or shimmy down a sturdy chain that was hanging from the arch. And neither sounded appealing to me. No matter how much lighter I was at such a tiny size, I doubted that falling from such a height would be a fall I could weather easily. And I had no idea how to descend that chain, let alone in full armor. That, and the well's width would have made for a very tight squeeze for someone of my size and my armor's wings. "What to do here... Hornet made it look easy when she just jumped in."

I suddenly had the idea to try the teleportation spell. I had already escaped from some troubles with it already. But i could not see the bottom. The distance was too great and the lighting too dim. I would need line of sight with my destination to transport myself to it. And so I had another idea. I drew the Celestial Sword from its scabbard with its constantly glowing white blade shining before me. I then turned its tip towards the ground and watched it fall down the well. I heard the distant clink of its blade piercing stone and could clearly see my sword standing up far below over a very visible stone floor. That was enough of a visual marker for me to use. With a quick use of my teleportation spell, I suddenly found myself beside my sword and took it back into my hand. "I gotta try that more often."

I immediately turned around and gazed upon my surroundings. And I was very surprised by my surroundings. That well was clearly not meant to serve as a primary entrance to my current location. It instead appeared to be a means to transport goods from merchants to the surface. The entire area around me was vast and wide, a tunnel meant for commerce that had just enough ambient lighting to render the glow of my sword unnecessary for navigation. How many people came and went every day on foot back when the kingdom was in its prime? The emptiness was suffocating as I took in the sheer vastness of the dark stone tunnel around me.

Although perhaps I should say it was not entirely abandoned. There were signs of small wildlife. Little skittering insects that looked to be the size of raccoons scampered about on very tiny legs while paying me absolutely no mind. One was even curled up to sleep on an empty wagon that looked like it was meant to be pulled by hand. I scowled at the little creatures as I uttered, "Even the wildlife are insects... I really am in a kingdom of bugs. Who was the king? Or the queen?"

There were some crude signposts set up near the well. And even a directory of sorts that looked like the kind one might find in a mall. And my eyes widened as I beheld the old map. I was in a place referred to as the 'Crossroads' and it was an apt description. The tunnels were vast are crossed over each other as they went deeper into the earth. But the layout of the tunnels... It made me scoff at the circumstances surrounding the situation. "How did this world end up being spawned by me watching a beehive for too long when it looks like something I'd dream up from observing an ant farm?"

I looked around again and tried to see if I could spot Hornet. Her hardened white head and red cloak would stand out well against the darkened architecture around me. But she was already gone. I would probably not see her again. But where to go?

My eyes wandered along the directory before me, white paint spread over a seemingly wooden panel that had partially wore away over the years. One of the locations nearby displayed a very large and empty chamber, but the text had since worn away. My assumption was that it had been used as a place to set up a market for traveling merchants peddling their wares. It sounded like a colorful location to check out, so I went in that direction first.

The Crossroads had not aged well with the passage of time. Even without exposure to the elements, I found some parts of the road had collapsed into chambers they had been built over. There were a few points where I had to jump across to make any progress. But before I got far, I found something lying at the side of the path. It was very round and slightly oval in shape. I at first thought it was just a part of the rubble or discarded objects left behind by those who abandoned the place. Until I drew near...and realized that I was gazing upon a corpse.

That body... It was extremely similar to those that I found on the cliffs. And now I could see that they did indeed strongly resemble insects. An almost domed white head set atop their rotund body of varying hues of whites and grays, but with only four limbs. And the way those four spindly limbs were curled up against the body... It was definitely a dead ringer for the distinct rigor mortis displayed by dead insects when their limbs curl up against their body upon death. Strange as they seemed, the people of the kingdom of Hallownest really were actual insects. The two eyes set into its white face were frozen open in death, nothing but empty blackness in them. I sighed as I pulled my hand back from the corpse as I could not bring myself to disturb it. "No signs of physical injury... The body is intact. It looks like they just...dropped dead. I guess there really was a plague that spread through this world."

Something that drew my attention before I could walk away was the contrast of the corpse's condition and that of the tunnel around me. Time had not been kind to the tunnel with some sections of the floor having collapsed into pits over the years, but the corpse had shown no signs of any really decomposition. This only further cemented my suspicions that the people of Hallownest were literal insects. The exoskeletons of insects are very resistant to the march of time after death. I have seen the remains of insects in some places over the course of my life that remained largely unchanged year after year. And that corpse was no different. I had to wonder how many more I would find down there in the tunnels... A tomb that doubled as a time capsule.

I turned away from the corpse while offering soft words of pity. But when I did... A whisper came from my left. Words that barely reached me. I suddenly turned to the corpse. Were they still alive after all? "Hello...? Was that you?"

Nothing. No words came from the perfectly still bug before me. But just for an instant... I thought I saw some glowing ethereal shapes in the air before they faded. Floating right above the corpse before me. They looked like...dreamcatchers? That distinctly wheeled shape... I am sure of it. I barely caught sight of them for not even a second before they disappeared. But...what were they? Some strange spectral phenomenon in that kingdom of the dead? "This world is full of death... Must be haunted. Guess I shouldn't be surprised if I start hearing whispers."

Not wanting to risk being jumped by the corpse, I took a few steps back from it before turning and moving on. Although it was then that I came across one of the local wildlife that was not so passive. I looked up when I heard a strange squawk and flinched when I saw a large flying insect coming for me. The head sported some impressive mandibles that were similar to those on an antlion. Clearly carnivorous in nature, it had set its sights on me as prey. I readied my sword and said, "You wanna piece of me, huh?"

The approaching flying antlion was not the swiftest flyer, but I had to be careful to not miss. It was roughly the size of a crow when compared to me at the time, so those jaws likely had a very strong bite. With one quick chop, I cut it out of the air. The exceedingly sharp blade of the Celestial Sword practically obliterated the bug instead of merely splitting it in two. And when it burst, a spray of that familiar orange blood flew through the air and littered the floor. And it glowed... I cocked my head to one side as I beheld the strangely luminescent fluid. "Is the blood of the bugs of this world supposed to glow like this?"

I continued on with my heart filled with a somber pity for the world around me. The glow of the Celestial sword guided me as I entered one more vast chamber past a wide arched doorway before I could reach my intended destination. And I froze when I stepped inside. More bugs, but...these were alive. They were standing, but...not quite walking. They were just...shambling about with no regard for their surroundings. Some were taller than others with small spines at the tops of their white heads, some were stout with exceptionally long horns on their heads, and some were as plain as the corpse I had just past. To go from feeling entirely alone to suddenly seeing people before me... It was jarring. "Oh, survivors! Hey, didn't expect to find anyone down here. Don't mind me. I'm just... Uh..."

They paid me no mind whatsoever. Just shambling around slowly while occasionally stopping and gently swaying weakly in place. And their eyes... Those round black pits in their white bony faces were filled with little orange glows. A little dot of glowing orange that matched the blood of the beast I had just slain. They appeared to serve as the pupils of their eyes and gave me a general idea of where they were looking. If anything, they looked more aware and lively than Hornet herself. But for them to be so unresponsive to me and so weak on their feet... "This must be the plague... Is it contagious? Will my armor protect me?"

I did not notice anything strange in the air. No strange odors. The air was musty as one might expect from an old stone chamber, but that was it. The air did not have a dangerous odor. Knowing I could not help the poor souls around me, I continued on down the middle of the chamber with the gentle shuffling of their footsteps joining the clinking of my sabatons. The poor fools probably did not have long to go before they ended up like the fallen corpse I had just passed.

But it was then something happened. The ambient lighting of the Crossroads was dimmer towards the center of that chamber. And the Celestial Sword responded in kind by glowing brighter the darker its surroundings became. And when it did... I stopped. Because I suddenly noticed a certain sound was no longer reaching my ears. I turned to look around at the infected bugs nearby. At least a dozen of them of varying sizes and shapes. They had all stopped in place and turned to face me. And they were all gazing upon the Celestial Sword's brightly glowing white blade. "You guys are aware?"

They just stared at my sword. As if the light was something just could not ignore. My sword's pure white contrasting the warm orange glow of their pupils. But after a moment longer, I noticed their gazes and postures shifted. They were no longer watching my sword. They were looking at me. Silently. And that empty lifeless stare... I very suddenly no longer felt safe. I asked cautiously, "What's wrong? What do you want?"

The infected began to walk again. Towards me. They were all coming towards me from all sides. That slow shamble... I could easily run, but... I was compelled to stand my ground. I readied my shield to be mindful of those who were nearest to me. "Guys... I will defend myself."

One of the taller bugs made the group's intentions clear. Once it drew close enough, it leaped high and tried to take a swipe at me with its fist. It clanked against my shield before I flung the emaciated fool away with a swing of my arm. Two of the simpler bugs suddenly increased the pace of their gait and came rushing at me with hands trying to grab me. I cleaved through the two of them with a single slash of the Celestial Sword with their glowing blood flying across the ground. Perfectly bisected, their two halves fell to the floor with the tiny orange glows in their eyes fading away entirely. Although I was then suddenly struck hard from behind by a solid blow. One of the smaller bugs had flung itself into me for a shockingly hard shoulder barge. I very nearly got knocked off my feet and had to struggle to fend off another leaping bug that I cleaved right out of the air. While easy prey to my sword, they still had the advantage in numbers and variety. "I actually felt that one..."

I quickly came to the conclusion that these bugs were all weaklings. I should not play nice and let them swarm me one at a time, but I was hesitant in using any of my more potent magic. There was no telling how structurally sound that chamber was. Wanting to wrap this up quick, I rushed in and cleaved my previous assailant in two before rushing over to a couple more and putting them out of their misery. I was then rushed by the three remaining bugs that had very pronounced horns on their heads. They ducked as they charged at surprising speed as if trying to ram me with them. Being low to the ground made them harder for me to safely strike and I was sure a hard blow from those horns to my legs would surely break something. They required the most care in dealing with as I could not safely attack them from the front.

I hopped about to evade the low charged of these speedy bugs. I tried to develop a rhythm. I dodged one, then the next, but then turned sideways with my next hop and cleaved the third charging bug in two with one chop. Its two halves fell to the floor as its limbs curled up like those of any other dead insect even as its tainted glowing blood spilled free. And a moment later, only one remained. One of the taller bugs stood ahead of me and shambled forward to try and land a blow on my head. But as I readied myself to cleave it out of the air... It was suddenly impaled from behind. A long blade pierced its torso with the light in its eyes fading.

That blade... I looked ahead and saw a form standing in the doorway from where I had entered. A silhouette with two long upswept horns and a billowing cloak. Hornet had found me. And she had hurled her needle far and right through the last of my assailants. With a pull of an unseen wire attached to her needle's pommel, she called it back to her left hand as the slain bug fell to the floor in a growing pool of its own glowing blood. The tension faded, but was replaced by a new tension now that Hornet was gazing upon me in the depths of her own homeland. Not sure if she had done that to save me or to simply remove an obstacle so she could fight me herself, I spoke up first. "For the record, they struck first."

"I'm aware." She replied before approaching me with the leftover glowing blood of her victim dripping cleanly from her blade along the way. Hornet turned her head to gaze upon the bisected remains of those who assaulted me, puddles of their glowing blood scattered across the chamber. "It seems they posed little threat to you. Well done."

I too observed the results of that skirmish. They were just...bugs. No different from her. I said softly, "These were your people..."

"They were...but no longer. Now you have seen the results of the plague that brought about the fall of Hallownest. Feel no pity for them, for the infection claims both the living and the dead." Hornet said coolly yet comfortingly before she turned her gaze up to me. She then added, "They were silent, yes? That is because their lungs had long since ceased to draw breath."

"They...were undead?" I asked in haunting realization. The shambling steps. The inability to speak. The complete lack of any capacity to detect danger. Those were not symptoms of extreme sickness. They were reanimated corpses. No wonder Hornet cut down those we passed when she was chasing me across the cliffs. They were infected and dangerous zombies. And yet... "But...they didn't even acknowledge me at first. I was just passing through and then...once I reached the middle of the room, they all stopped and stared at my sword. And then they noticed me..."

"Sword? Oh... That?" Hornet replied with a tone of wonder as she stepped around me to see past my shield. She beheld the glowing white blade of the Celestial Sword for the first time with her eyes widening. "What a magnificent nail... It feels...warm. Comforting."

"Nail? No, I'm pretty sure this is a sword. It's even called the Celestial Sword." I replied with renewed confusion over the terminology she was using. First a needle, and now talk of nails... Did the people of Hallownest literally weaponize discarded tools from the world above? What did her idea of a nail even look like? Although my eyes did widen when I saw her right hand reaching for the blade. "Careful. It's extremely sharp."

Hornet grasped her hand around the Celestial Sword's blade gently. As if she was mesmerized by its glow. And she just stood there for a moment with her black hand wrapped around the center of the blade's length. She muttered softly, "This warmth... It is not like the light that plagues their dreams. It...nurtures. What is this light?"

"It is the light of the sun. A celestial body that orbits this world beyond the sky. And...I don't think you can even see it from down here." I replied with a certain sadness in my heart. Deep in the earth, never knowing the rays of the glorious sun... What a dark world Hallownest must have been. But...a light that plagues dreams? What? Where did that line even come from?

"Light of the sun... I believe...I would wish to see it someday. And you say that the infected risen dead cast their gaze upon this blade before they noticed you?" Hornet asked as she turned her gaze up at me. I only nodded in response. Hornet's tone became much more contemplative as she gazed at that glowing blade again. "Perhaps the light envies the glow you carry on you. Fears that you may outshine them..."

These words puzzled me. And I had many questions. "Someone out there sees me as competition? The light that...plagues dreams? What even is this plague? Is it contagious? Do I have to be cautious around any of that...tainted blood? Bugs don't normally bleed that glowing orange, do they?"

"Firstly, no. That luminescent orange... It is a sign of the infection. As for us..." Hornet replied before she released her grasp on the Celestial Sword's blade. She then brought a finger to the edge and slid it very carefully along it. I heard her grunt lightly before raising her hand. A single thin trail of white fluid flowed from a tiny cut in her exoskeleton.

"White... Bugs bleed white?" I asked as I noticed Hornet suddenly will a thin wrapping of white threads around her finger like gauze. Perhaps she was right in being able to weave threads. She could even have them serve as bandages.

Hornet turned her gaze to the bisected corpses around us. "That glow... The pestilence of that orange... It is the stain of the infection. And if the blood is not enough of a sign, their eyes will be. You saw it, yes? The light in their eyes?"

"Yeah. Tiny little glowing dots in their eyes. A symptom of infection?" I asked with Hornet only nodding solemnly. But then I recalled her earlier words. A light that plagues their dreams. "Hornet... Where does this plague come from? Is it contagious? Can I contract it too?"

Hornet's voice drastically darkened in tone. "No, at least not in the way you might expect. This plague... It is not spread by bacteria. This is a plague...that invades through one's dreams. The source...is beyond this realm."

A silent horror filled my heart. A plague...that cannot be cured due to it being supernatural in nature? And it infects through dreams? Then...how does one even protect themselves from it?! I muttered quietly, "Then...there's no cure... How do you protect yourself? If you can think... If you dream, then...you're vulnerable?"

My host bowed her head in somber resignation. "Yes... The plague can only be contained, but those infected... They are lost. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before I too succumb to the light. But I will continue to serve Hallownest until that day comes."

I had no words. What kind of nightmare had I stumbled upon? Even if I was not in danger, the concept of being able to be infected by an incurable plague that basically enslaves the mind is an unthinkable fate. There is no escape... No hope... And it was then that Hornet began to turn away from me. "Now you know. And it would seem that the light may have it out for your head now. You've seen what to expect from the plague, so go with caution. Safe travels, Sir Gulliver."

That name snapped me back to my senses as I wondered why she called me that. And as she walked back from whence she came with a brisk pace, I suddenly remembered with my uneasiness being replaced with annoyance. "Maybe I should stop messing around about my name if I see her again..."

Now alone again, I turned and continued on the path I had originally been following. And I did then enter the vast chamber that faded directory pointed me too. Except it was far from empty. That directory must have been outdated because a massive domed dull structure took up the vast majority of the chamber. My eyes widened at the sight of it. Its presence... It could not have been insignificant.

I approached and found that there was a gentle pale glow shining from the only entrance and a pair of large arched windows that reached the ground. The glow was cast on old weeds that grew tall from the untended floor before it. How such foliage can grow underground with no exposure to sunlight is beyond me. There were even great spines reaching up from the domed roof of this vast structure, but it just appeared to serve no function aside from aesthetics. While I felt much safer with no signs of reanimated insects around or even wandering wildlife, I did not sheathe my sword. My curiosity drove me to investigate and I entered through the doorway.

What was this structure? It was clearly not natural. Someone must have constructed it. And entering it only confused me further. Because there was another large domed structure within it. Actually, domed might be the wrong word. It almost looked...like an egg turned onto its side. A temple? What was its purpose? And as I stepped forward to investigate, I noticed someone standing near where an entrance to that structure must have stood. I froze and scanned the figure ahead. Yet another bug, but not one showing signs of infection. This one stood with proper posture and even had what seemed to be a sword at their side. The placement of their arms... One had its hand rubbing under where one's chin would be. Gazing up at the structure before them... They were apparently just as puzzled by its presence as I was. They even appeared to be wearing a white flat hat with an oval shape. My eyes narrowed as I drew near with bated breath. Literally every living soul I had encountered with the exception of Dirtmouth's kindly elder had shown nothing but hostility to me at first. Would this one be any different?

The clinking of my sabatons alerted the stranger ahead of me even before the glow of my sword's blade could. When they looked my way, they gasped lightly before reaching for the hilt of their sword. They stood ready with wide eyes, their closer proximity revealing that their head under that hat had a dark cowl covering everything but their white face. The bug before me... That brief gasp sounded like the voice of a man. His knees were bent, hand grasping the hilt of his sword without drawing it. He appeared to be gauging me and was ready to lash out from the draw. I held out my arms and said, "Whoa, hey there! I'm not gonna attack! I just ran into trouble along the way and thought it'd be a bad idea to sheathe my sword."

The stranger before me immediately relaxed as he let out a laugh. He relaxed his stance and spoke with a very jovial tone, "Ha, me too! You just can't go anywhere in this place without beating off the wildlife, it seems. You a fellow traveler? My, that's some vibrant armor you're wearing. Impressive plume on that helmet too... And what a brilliant blade! You're no mere traveler, are you? You're not a bug... What even are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"You can say that. I'm not even certain of how I got here. I didn't even know where I was until I was told that this is the kingdom of Hallownest. Never even heard of it until today." I replied as I approached while keeping my sword hoisted onto my armored shoulder. I tried to play along with this new setting and properly introduced myself. "I'm just a wandering knight. Sir James of Equestria. As for what I am, they call me a human."

"Sir James, is it? Then it's a pleasure. I'm Quirrel and I have something of an obsession with uncharted places. A place like Hallownest... Ancient ruins like this hold fascinating mysteries. And one of them...is this." Quirrel replied while even tipping his hat to me. I was very pleased to find such a friendly face in such a dark and dangerous ruin. He then turned to the structure before us. "This great stone egg... Just sitting inside this chamber within a chamber so close to the surface... Do you feel a subtle warmth coming from it? It certainly gives off a strange air..."

"Strange...air... I was told by the elder of the village just above us that the ruins down here are filled with a sickly air that causes trouble for those who linger in it for too long... I'm not noticing anything in the air aside from just the mustiness of old stone rooms, but...what about you? Does the air smell...off?" I asked while realizing that my own olfactory senses might not be on par with those of an insect. Their senses far outclass larger creatures by a great margin more often than not. Able to smell and even hear things that humans cannot... Even when the size of an insect, I was still only human. Were it not for my enchanted armor and equipment, I would surely be at a grave disadvantage in that strange and dangerous world. And if that massive stone egg before us was giving off such air... Could it be a source of the infection that was plaguing Hallownest?

Quirrel sounded like he sniffed the air a bit even if he had no visible nose or even a mouth. I wonder how such bugs even eat... Although he then said, "Hm... Difficult to say. I understand that a certain infection plagues much of the wildlife. And...even some poor souls I have passed. Although I suppose I have escaped contracting it myself. I wonder what I'm supposed to watch for..."

He then turned to face that giant dark egg again while I stepped forward. It clearly was not actually an egg that had been laid. It would never hatch, not with such grooves carved into it near us that suggested that a door might have been there at one time. The intrepid explorer then rubbed the underside of his face with his hand and said, "But can this egg be opened? I so do love me a good mystery... And this kingdom is surely riddled with them."

His words stirred a certain curiosity in me. He did not sound like he was particularly familiar with Hallownest, yet he looked like he belonged there. I asked cautiously, "Are you not from around here?"

"You and I appear to have something in common, my friend. No, I only just recently arrived myself. I've heard tales of this great kingdom and I simply couldn't wait any longer to journey here and explore this dead kingdom for myself." Quirrel explained while glancing over at me. As blank as his face was, I am sure he was smiling. He then gazed up at the black egg towering over us and said, "And what timing! I heard that the kingdom went empty some time ago, but the local creatures have been stirred up. The earth trembles at times. Something has caused this vast ruin to spring to life. I wonder what the cause of it is?"

I looked down at the Celestial Sword's glowing blade. Those reanimated husks only attacked me after they saw its glowing white blade. Even that aggressive flying creature was filled with glowing infected blood. The plague was everywhere... But from the sound of it, the kingdom's ruins had been relatively quiet. Did the rising spread of that plague coincide with my arrival? Did the supernatural nature of the plague sense something about me? A light with a glow that rivals its own?

Quirrel then began to mutter to himself as he gazed upon the closest thing to a door on that stone egg. Another egg shape larger than even me wedged into place that appeared like it could be removed. "What even is this feeling? So familiar...yet repelled? And those shapes upon the door... Gazing at them just mesmerizes me..."

I only then noticed something upon that barrier egg wedged into the giant egg. There were three shapes carved out in a triangular pattern. They were identical in shape, but had differing numbers of holes carved in them and different in side and shape. I immediately assumed that they were meant to resemble the faces of three other people of Hallownest. Three heroes?

One of the faces had a single eyehole set near the bottom of the mask in the shape of an oval. Another had four small eyeholes set at the bottom of the mask with the upper set being smaller than the others, but those two smaller holes could just as well have been eyebrows. My mind would not be convinced that they were not little eyebrows on the mask. But the third... It sported three sets stacked vertically along the mask. And they were angled in such a way that made the mask look like it was scowling menacingly. There was a certain sense of danger surrounding that one.

Now that I was standing near Quirrel and was towering over him, I turned to look down at him as a question entered my head. But my train of thought was instantly derailed as soon as I saw his hat from above. It was not a hat at all. It was a mask... And that mask was perfectly identical to the carving depicting the mask with four holes on it. "Quirrel... Your hat... It's..."

They were identical. What connection did this stranger have to the structure before us? He sounded like he had never seen that giant egg before, and yet... That mask on his head. It could not have been a coincidence. Quirrel noticed my shaky hand pointing at the carving on the door that matched the pattern on his hat. He then removed his hat to gaze upon it. And then his eyes went wide as he became very still the instant his gaze met the matching carving on the door. "Why...? They're the same..."

Had he simply forgotten? Did someone give him that mask somewhere else and he just happened to wander into Hallownest not knowing its purpose? The mystery of that sealed structure thickening by the second, I asked softly. "Do you recognize that mask? Or...that face?"

"I... I don't... I don't remember anything about the face. But..." Quirrel muttered before he gazed down upon the mask in his hands. He soon added, "But...a name... Seeing this mask and its impression upon this door... A name... I do remember a name... Seeing this now makes me think of...Monomon... But who is this Monomon that comes to mind?"

I had no doubt in my mind that the mask he had been using as a hat was enchanted in some way. It served some kind of function. Perhaps a connection to the structure before us? Quirrel held out the mask to the door while I wondered if it was part of a set and was meant to be placed over its matching stone replica, but the mask itself was a bit too big to fit over its stone copy. Quirrel sighed as he then placed the mask back on his head. "Nothing happens... Just when I thought this strange little thing might be a key of some sort. If this is indeed a door... How does one open it?"

"I can think of one way." I said firmly as I became convinced that this strange structure was hiding something. Something that needed to be uncovered. That barrier was surely very tough. No easy way to break through. But few things could resist the blade of the Celestial Sword. I then held up my sword before me and said, "This is no ordinary blade. I've met few things it can't cleave through. A wall of stone is no match."

Quirrel's eyes noticeably widened as I smirked at him. I am sure he was smiling giddily in excitement by then. "Is that right?! When then, let's have at it! After you, Sir James! Let's see what's in store behind this door."

I too was somewhat excited over what we may find beyond that stone barrier. But just as I raised my sword to prepare a mighty chop, another voice ran out through the vast chamber around us. One I had heard many times by then. "Wait!"

My companion and I turned to face the distant doorway. And standing there was none other than Hornet once again. I raised an eyebrow at the sight of her. This was the second time she had abruptly shown up after we had first parted ways. As she began to approach, I spoke up with some mild irritation. "Have you been following me since I first got down here? I told you that I would behave myself and not disturb these ruins."

"Am I to take the words of a stranger at face value? Of course not. I have been observing to be certain of your intentions. And you know not what you are meddling in, outsider." Hornet spoke coldly and even somewhat menacingly as she approached. I readied my stance as I was certain she had now found a reason to attack me, but she spoke up firmly again. "Calm yourself. I mean you no harm. I only wish to speak to you before you do anything...that carries dire consequences for us all."

"Ah, hello again! We met up on the cliffs, right? Although I didn't quite catch your name last time..." Quirrel spoke up in a surprisingly friendly greeting to the approaching sentry. But...wait. Again? They knew each other? I glanced down at my companion in confusion and he was quick to notice my inquisitive stare. "Hm? Oh yes, we've met. Although not on diplomatic terms. She was quick to assault me when I arrived at the cliffs despite my claims of only wishing to explore and witness. Did she give you a similar welcome?"

Hornet's eyes on that hard white face narrowed in annoyance while I cast her a smirk. I then looked down at Quirrel and said, "The little tryhard chased me all the way to Dirtmouth and wouldn't take no for an answer. She really wanted to fight, but I wouldn't have any of it. She's got more bravado than sense."

"Hmph! I did apologize for my rashness!" Hornet grunted as I saw her avert her gaze out of some form of embarrassment. Although she then looked at Quirrel and then up at me. "Do not be deceived by this traveler's unsuspecting form, Sir Gulliver. He carries himself with the skill of a seasoned warrior. He parried every blow I attempted to land on him."

Quirrel was quick to notice the name I was addressed with. He glanced back and forth between us before saying, "Sir Gulliver? Ma'am, I'm afraid you must be thinking of someone else. This fine fellow is James. Isn't that right?"

I started to scowl very dryly as Hornet began to bicker with Quirrel. "No, I can assure you I was given the name of Gulliver when we were...properly introduced to each other. Sir Gulliver."

"That can't be right! He introduced himself to me as Sir James of Equestria!" Quirrel exclaimed with growing confusion. He then looked up at me and asked more in amusement than anything else. "Well, which is it? Is it James of Gulliver? Or are you a man of many names?"

I finally threw my head back and groaned before speaking louder than I usually do. "I called myself that because I was foolish enough to believe you would get the joke! No, I'm not Gulliver! I'm James! Got it, Bumble Bee?"

Hornet hardly flinched at my raised voice echoing throughout the vast empty structure around us. "Strange fellow... Very well. James it is then."

Quirrel then tipped his hat to our mutual former assailant and said, "Now that's out of the way... I do believe introductions are in order. I am Quirrel. A pleasure to meet you properly, Miss Bumble Bee."

Sure enough, Hornet did not take kindly at my attempt at some minor revenge on her. She abruptly turned to Quirrel with her eyes becoming very wide and round on her face as she shouted, "That is NOT my name! I am Hornet! Not a bee! A hornet!"

That bombastic reaction from someone I had previously seen as very cold cracked me up more than I would like to admit. I hunkered over as I let out a wheezing laugh with hands on my armored knees. Hornet then barked at me in protest. "Why must you do this to me, Sir James?!"

I snickered to myself while trying to compose my voice enough to word a response. "How does playing with your name compare to attempted murder?"

She stared at me with wide eyes for a good five seconds before Hornet suddenly bowed her head in a look of irritated shame. "Touché... I suppose I have earned some derision on account of my haste earlier..."

"Now now, there's no need to quarrel. We're not enemies here." Quirrel said kindly before patting Hornet on her shrouded shoulder. He then turned to the great black egg beside us and said, "But it's just as good that you came along when you did. Sir James and I were about to explore the innards of this great egg once he finished carving a way inside. Shall we be on our way?"

"I very strongly advise against that. Lest you unleash the plague unfettered upon Hallownest once again." Hornet spoke very firmly with her eyes narrowing. Her left hand firmly clutched at her needle behind her. Although her gaze then fell upon the glowing blade of the Celestial Sword as her gaze became more...inquisitive. "Wait... You mean to tell me your nail can cleave through even that? Is such a thing even possible?"

Again with that term... I rolled my eyes in my own growing annoyance and said, "For the last time, this is a sword. I know my swords, so I know a sword when I see one."

Quirrel leaned closer to me as he rested her chin on his fist. He appeared to be examining the sword in my hand more closely. "Hmm... No, I'd say that is most definitely a nail. Although a nail with a very extravagant design. Much moreso than my own."

My lips frowned drastically as I almost growled in bemusement. "Dude, I hammered some nails into my fence a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure I know what a nail is and...whatever that is at your side most definitely ain't that. This is a sword. That's a sword. She's got...something like a sword. We're all carrying swords here."

Hornet tilted her head to one side while I noticed her giving a me a very noticeable cockeyed stare. "You use nails instead of rivets to repair fences? That is...the most impractical use of a nail I have ever heard of. How do you even drive something of that size in?"

"Hornet... I do believe that there's a bit of culture clash going on here." Quirrel diplomatically added before he reached for the hilt at his side before drawing his weapon. He then held out the whole thing on both upturned hands to let me see it. "Here. This is what we call a nail. A weapon that is commonly used for defense. Is it the same kind of nail you're thinking of?"

I could barely even believe what I was looking at. Because it most definitely looked closer to being a sword instead of having ever been an actual manmade nail at any point. It was roughly the same length as the average longsword, but... The only thing it had in common with an actual nail was that it was made for a single piece of metal. And that is a terrible idea for forging a sword. All that solid metal would make it much too heavy and unwieldy. But when considering how insects are generally very strong for their size, perhaps it was not as heavy to them as it would be to me. It did have a defined blade that ended in a sharp tip and an edge going down both sides. The base of the blade branched off in two directions to serve as a very crude crossguard and ending in a similar point at the end of the very uncomfortable looking hilt. No sign of a proper pommel at all. Something like that would be potentially hazardous to grasp with a bare hand. But when considering that the hands of those bugs were coated with a layer of tough chitinous exoskeleton, perhaps they would not suffer much wear and tear. I sighed in bemusement as I said, "This world just keeps getting weirder with every discovery... OK, fine. That's definitely not what I can call a sword. You use nails and I use a sword. I got it."

Quirrel then returned his nail to his side. I am not certain what was serving as a holster since I did not see anything resembling a scabbard, but he must have had something there to keep it at his side. The same could not be said for Hornet's needle. Much like a spear, she had to carry it in hand at all times. Although I then said, "Anyway, back to the topic at hand... Yes, I am confident that the Celestial Sword can cleave through this stone barrier. There's not much it can't cut through. Is that a problem?"

Hornet's eyes narrowed again as we revisited the reason for her intervention. "Let me ask you both this. What do you know of the Temple of the Black Egg?"

My earlier assumptions ended up being on point. The Black Egg was clearly the object before us and the chamber constructed around it was a sort of temple. But I saw no signs of interior design to suggest that it was a place of worship. No altars or benches. The entire chamber around the egg was completely barren as if its only purpose was to shelter the Black Egg. I merely shrugged my shoulders while Quirrel crossed his arms as he gazed at the floor. "The name rings a bell...but no. I know nothing of this place. And I assume Sir James here is just as ignorant."

We all gazed up at the sealed entrance to the Black Egg and the three masks carved into it. The mask upon Quirrel's head matching one of those carvings suggested that it had some sort of connection to the door. Perhaps there were two others that would unlock the door once they were assembled there as well. Of course, such a prerequisite would not matter if the Celestial Sword could literally carve a way in. Although...there was one thing I remembered Hornet saying before the conversation was diverted towards a discussion of the contrast between nails and swords. Something...ominous. "Hornet... What did you say about why opening this door would be a bad idea?"

She sighed harshly while bowing her head. Quirrel and I turned to her. She definitely held much knowledge of her kingdom. And so she lifted her head to gaze upon us in an...almost solemn fashion. "I do not know everything there is to know about what transpired. I was but a child when the Black Egg was forged and then sealed. But I know enough. And I know...that the Black Egg must remain sealed. For it holds the heart of the infection within."

"A quarantine... You said that the source of the plague infects through dreams, but...it was actually captured and sealed inside?" I asked while Hornet only nodded. Quirrel looked visibly alarmed at this revelation since I noticed him glance behind himself at the sealed entrance. But I then had a sudden realization. "But then...why?! Why is the plague still spreading?! The wildlife are infected. I just cut down a gang of corpses reanimated by it! If the source of the plague is locked away, then... How? Why is it still here?"

"Can you spare me enough time to listen to a tale?" Hornet asked rather sincerely as she gazed upon us with unblinking eyes. The two of us had no objections. Quirrel and I got comfortable by leaning against the Black Egg itself as our host began to tell her tale. "When the plague began to spread and the source was discovered, our king became desperate to find a solution. None were safe from it. But with the source being beyond the physical plane, he was forced to work in the dark. Taking drastic and desperate measures to find a solution to contain something that could not be challenged or destroyed. If it could not be approached, then it would be sealed. And so...a vessel was needed. One that was truly hollow. One with no mind to think. No thoughts or ideas or desires for the plague to latch onto. If the vessel was truly hollow, then the infection would never control it. It would be bound in void forever. And the Black Egg was forged to hold the vessel. Where it remains bound to this day."

We all fell silent as we contemplated this tale. And Quirrel was the next to speak. "But then... If the plague can't control the vessel that contains it...and cannot escape it...then... Why does the infection still exist outside its prison?"

Hornet's gaze lowered as her mood became noticeably more somber. Her voice lowered as she said softly, "Because...the vessel was not pure. Make no mistake, it was at first. It was indeed empty with no mind to think and only its purpose driving it onward. But...in time, it learned things it should never have learned. It learned how to think... To want... To love. And it was far too late to try again. Too much had already been sacrificed. Too much time had passed. And the king...could not bring himself to repeat the cycle again. The vessel would contain the infection's source as planned. Even if that plan had already failed."

The story was dark, but more sad than scary. Hallownest was gone. The plague had at least been quarantined, but the kingdom's salvation had not come to pass. And so I asked, "It was all for nothing? The vessel failed...because it developed a mind to infect? Then...what was done to salvage the situation? I mean...they didn't just use what they had and hoped for the best, did they?"

"They happened." Hornet replied before she lifted her head to gaze at the Black Egg. Or more specifically... The door itself and the three carvings upon it. "The Dreamers. Three volunteered to serve as Dreamers to seal the Black Egg. To sleep forever as their dreaming minds, beyond the reach of the infection, keep this door before us forever intact. They continue to dream even now. And I... I was a product of that compromise."

That last line... I raised an eyebrow as I heard this. But I felt it was not the time to inquire about it. Hornet...came to exist because of this backup plan involving three dreamers? Three living conduits that added an extra layer to the quarantine that was planned? Quirrel and I remained silent to allow our host to continue. "The vows were sworn...and a bargain made that resulted in my birth. And in time, the day came. The vessel stood in the Black Egg and took the entirety of the infection's heart into itself. Bound by seal and chain, it remains there even now. And the Dreamers slept forever, insuring none would reach the vessel and that the infection would never seep out. Hallownest was saved...for a time."

"It didn't work... Did it? The door here... It couldn't keep it trapped in there at all, could it?" I asked quietly as the reality of that dead kingdom began to register with me. I knew nothing of the context of what happened, but... From the sound of it... So much sacrificed, all for nothing...

"Hallownest was granted a very brief reprieve. Those who remained lived on and honored the vessel and Dreamers who gave all they could for Hallownest. But then...the light began to appear in their eyes again. The vessel remained bound. The Dreamers still dreamed undisturbed. And yet... The infection still lives." Hornet muttered with her head bowing further. And then... A clatter behind her. She dropped her needle. To see such despair set in as she acknowledged the futility of all that was given to try and save her kingdom from a plague that could not be cured... I felt my heart ache for the poor soul before me. Cold, but with a heart stained by tragedy. But no tears were shed. She remained standing and spoke softly. "And now you know... To combat and contain the plague... No cost was too great. But in the end...whatever the price that needed to be paid... It was a price we could not afford."

Quirrel and I remained silent for a moment longer. And I bowed my head in contemplation. The tale of Hallownest... A tale that ended long before I could ever dream it up in the first place. There would be no happy ending for that dead kingdom. It was already too late. My eyes then gazed up at the Black Egg as I pondered what I now knew. "Hornet... The vessel couldn't contain the plague. The Dreamers were not enough to contain it either. So then... What's the point of the Black Egg anymore? Why does it matter if we open it or not?"

Hornet sighed as she collected herself enough to take her needle back into her hand. She gazed up at the Black Egg and said, "It is true that our attempts to seal the plague failed. Even now, it still seeps into everything and everyone it can find. But...at the very least, the Black Egg does limit the spread. The plague's spread has been reduced to a mere trickle instead of a gushing torrent. There are some in Hallownest that continue to live on. A select few even have a means to resist the infection. And yet..."

I noticed Hornet tighten her grasp on the handle of her weapon. Quirrel also jerked his head up a bit in response to the growing frustration Hornet was displaying. "I have felt...a change in the wind... The air... I can smell it. The infection... It writhes. Its spread hastens. I fear...the Black Egg's walls are weakening. That it will eventually fade entirely. And may very well spread beyond Hallownest's borders. I want to believe otherwise... That only Hallownest's ruins will be claimed, but..."

The sentry cloaked in red then turned her gaze up to me. And her eyes widened with a glimmer of hope. "You... You are not bug nor beast. Your race... A race you call human... You do not belong in this world. You are an outsider among outsiders. And yet... Your presence here. There is no mistake. Something called you here. There is meaning in your arrival in this land. And even the infection itself has taken notice of your presence. It sees the light in your blade and loathes you. It rejects you... No... No, that is not it."

I gazed down upon Hornet as she stepped towards me with Quirrel serving as a witness. She then said quietly, "The infection. It fears you. Sir James... Why are you here? Tell me. What truly brought you to Hallownest?"

My head turned to gaze up at the Black Egg one more time before I looked down at her. And I spoke what I believed. "I think...I was called here to destroy a great evil. It wouldn't be the first time."

"Really? You are a hero of your kingdom? A slayer of villains?" Quirrel asked in intrigue while I merely nodded. I was not knighted without good reason. Quirrel then turned to Hornet and said, "Then what do you say?"

Hornet bowed her head and spoke after a moment of thought. "If that is what you believe... It cannot be helped. Hallownest and the few who remain within it... We are all living on borrowed time. Eventually, the Black Egg's confines will crumble. And whether or not the vessel remains bound will mean naught in the end. The infection will spread far in due time. Far beyond Hallownest. But... If we act now..."

I stood at attention as Hornet turned her gaze up to me. Her eyes displayed that almost angry scowl I usually saw on her before that point. "The Dreamers are the ones who are keeping the Black Egg sealed. And they cannot be awakened. To remove this barrier, you must track them down and...slay them. But... If that blade of yours is really so powerful that it can cleave even through this..."

Quirrel got the hint and stepped away from the door. I turned to face the Black Egg and gazed upon the three faces carved into its door. Hornet then said, "If you can destroy this door now... Then do it. The plague's source will never disappear until one destroys it."

It was decided. I now knew where the villain of that tale resided. And I was certain I just might be the only one who could face them. Quirrel stepped aside as I faced the Black Egg's sealed door with the Celestial Sword held vertically before me. But that door... I was sure it stood with more than just physical integrity. It way surely shrouded in a magical safeguard as well. If I was going to pierce it, I would need more than just my sword's unyielding edge. "Stand back. I need some more room."

My right gauntlet was coated by the golden yellow aura of Celestia's magic And seconds later, the entire glowing blade of the Celestial Sword was engulfed by a surging shroud of white fire. Quirrel gasped in awe as my mighty solar magic coated my blade. "That's...got some real heat to it..."

"The light of the sun... Will it be enough?" Hornet asked as I readied my arm. I raised my arm high and then brought down my blade as it cleaved effortlessly through the door with no resistance. The instant my blade struck, the entire stone door was covered by an intricately patterned white sigil that instantly burst into a flurry of rapidly dimming glowing shards. A glowing line of hot molten material filled the center of the door. And then...it ignited. White flames began to consume the entire door and expanded outward to leave not even ashes behind. The enchanted wall was burned away to nothing while leaving the rest of the Black Egg intact. And Hornet gazed upon the entrance with utter awe. "It's open... Even with the Dreamers still slumbering, it's open... Such power... It is not native to Hallownest... Who gave you such a tool?"

"Immortal beings who preside over a magical world. Nearly godly beings that forged my weapons and armor and control the movements of celestial bodies. Very powerful beings. And yet... Not the most powerful that world has to offer." I said softly as the aura of solar magic faded from my sword's blade. As for all that I saw... Only a vast back void lay spread out before us past that doorway. I then looked down at my sword and added, "I hope I never make them regret their choice..."

"If they trusted you with such power...then so shall I." Hornet said with renewed conviction in her voice. I looked down at her while Quirrel watched in respectful silence. He looked tempted to enter the Black Egg to investigate, but...he was wary of what might be in there now that he knew exactly what was inside. Hornet, her voice firm yet not as cool as before, spoke up to me. "Sir James. Seeing this door open now... Pierced even with the Dreamers still sustaining it... What is this feeling? Is it...hope? Have you instilled my frigid heart with hope that...Hallownest's fate can be altered?"

I asked softly as I was left uncertain of what to believe. "Maybe. Now tell me. You know more about this situation than I. What should I do?"

Hornet turned to the open doorway before us. And her voice hardened again. "You must act quickly. With this door gone, the infection will begin to spread at a hastened rate. I know not what you can do, but...I have faith that you have a means of doing the impossible. You already did the unthinkable by destroying this door without first disposing of the Dreamers... I wonder... With the door gone... Have they awakened from sleep eternal? Do they...wake even now?"

Quirrel then stepped forward with his own voice filled with pondering. "Such a change with just one unexpected stranger's arrival. Imagine how long it would have taken to scour Hallownest for these...Dreamers. How far would the plague have spread while we were busy trying to breach this door the only other way? With the way forward being opened so much sooner..."

I too had to ponder how much more would have been lost if I had taken the long way in this endeavor. Searching high and low for three individuals who were likely hidden away specifically to prevent that door from ever being opened... It would have been an arduous search. What would have been lost with the time spent tracking them down? With my destination open before me, I felt confident. It was time to capitalize on this opportunity before me. "Whatever the case, I'm going in. I hope I can make a difference here."

Quirrel began to take a step toward the doorway with hand on the hilt of his nail, but Hornet touched him on the shoulder. She shook her head in warning when their eyes met. With Quirrel's hand lowering from his weapon, Hornet turned to me one last time. "We cannot follow you, Sir James. We would not be a match for the threat that lies within. Even I...would fall. But if you succeed... I will be forever in your debt. Please... Bring whatever salvation you can to my home... Do what cannot be done."

All I could do was nod as a solemn conviction settled in my nerves. There was so little left to save... But we had to save what we could. Who knew how many survivors were still out there? How many were holding on for the end of that plague? I readied myself and began to march forward while Hornet offered one last word of warning. "Go with caution, Sir James. The Hollow Knight awaits."

A hollow vessel... A Hollow Knight? The vessel chosen to serve as the host and prison for the source of the plague had even been knighted? Now I was even more curious of what I may find. But as I ventured into the Black Egg... It was perplexing. The Black Egg was far larger on the inside than the outside. Probably even larger than the temple that surrounded it. And just past the entrance... I passed through something. A certain billowing...orange haze. The same orange that stained the blood of the infected...

Only then did I notice that smell. A cloyingly...sickly sweet scent. Inviting, yet revolting. Like a promise of goodness barely hiding devious intent. That haze faded shortly after. But far ahead... I could see a light. An identical orange glow. The light of the infection. At least I would not be getting lost in that black expanse of nothing.

Before much longer, I was given more direction as I progressed. Sigils lit up with a pale light whenever I stepped on them. One by one, they formed a path under me. Towering abstract patterns woven with that same pale glow lit up as I passed them. And before some of them... I saw the silhouette of blackened chains reaching to the unseen ceiling above. The Black Egg really was a prison. Gently glowing circular sigils drifted through the air as I strolled along. A calm before the storm... And I spoke out to the only one who was still listening. "Nightmare Moon. Did you hear all that? What's waiting up ahead?"

The Princess of Dreams spoke to me through my mind, her voice in my head. I allowed her to speak completely uninterrupted. "Yes... Such a tragic tale. Not all stories have happy endings, even in dreams. I cannot fathom what you witnessed or thought to conjure up such a somber world, but... I do sense it ahead. A great malevolence is ahead of you. And this plague they spoke of... It is indeed supernatural in nature. Possibly even magical. Your armor will shield you from it, but... Take great care, my love. I cannot promise what may happen next."

"Got it... I'm sure I can handle it. Only jump in if you really need to, all right?" I replied before focusing on the light ahead. But when I began to draw near... I came to a stop in a twisted fusion of shock and disgust. The orange glow was not coming from just one source. Tendrils or vines were growing out from the exit of that vast dark chamber and were lined with...fruit? No... More like...giant pulsating pustules. Some were almost as big as myself. It looked more like something out of a sci-fi horror story. Utterly alien and disgusting to behold. I could even hear the gently glowing orbs as they occasionally twitched with life. "That's...just disgusting... A plague that infects through dreams, but still produces physical symptoms and infected growths in the body? That's both evil...and disturbing."

Curiosity got the better of me and I gave one of the larger pustules a poke with my sword. It was as fragile as a balloon and burst violently with splashes of that infected glowing puss splattering along the floor. I only barely voided getting any on myself as I recoiled in disgust. "It couldn't just be an evil plague. It had to be utterly disgusting too... Guh, let's get this over with..."

More of that orange haze was spilling out of the exit to that room as I entered a short corridor. A few more of those large pustules wiggled along the walls before I entered another great chamber. But I then heard something behind me. A strange white seal had formed over the doorway I had just passed through. An extra security measure for the quarantine? Even if I did not know how to remove it, I could easily teleport past it. But that was out of the question. The plague had begun to spread more rapidly. I could not turn back now... Running away was not an option.

I turned around to gaze upon my surroundings. And...it certainly felt like I had entered an area overrun with disease that would have infected me instantly were it not for my enchanted armor. The air was thick with that tainted orange haze. The room was vast and domed with more of those alien orange vines growing along the ground with their pulsating pustules twitching periodically. But the one thing that drew my attention the most...was the only other person in the room with me.

There... At the very center of that great chamber, held aloft by chains... Was that the vessel? But...it was just another bug. In fact, the shape of its head... It very strongly reminded me of Hornet herself. The only differences being that this bug was much large than her and so too were the upswept horns on its head. But there were also symmetrical edges on the inside of those curves that strongly brought to mind the mandibles of a stag beetle. Even then, a very noticeable crack ran down from the very bottom of the curve between the horns and to its left eye socket. An old scar? Or...something else? But...the eyes themselves...

I had seen the eyes of those infected by the plague. Those reanimated husks had little glowing orange dots in the middle of their eyes. But this one... This bug's eyes were completely filled by that putrid orange. And when I took a step forward... Even while bound, it still turned its head to gaze down at me. I froze as I could feel a murderous intent behind that glowing gaze. And the infected husk before me followed my every move without ever allowing me to wander out of its field of view. Never blinking. Always watching.

"I don't get it... She mentioned a vessel, but... You're just a bug. You're no different from the rest of them." I said as I stood before the imprisoned vessel. It would have been out of reach for someone around Hornet's size, but the very middle of its form was almost level with my eyes. Two long chains wrapped around its thoroughly cloaked body. With how I could not see its surely very long legs hanging out from under the cloak, the vessel must have been locked in a fetal position. And covering its upper body was what appeared to be a darkened cuirass and set of pauldrons. That dark metal... Most likely heavily stained by the passage of time and the tainted air around it. Actual armor... Hornet spoke the truth. "You're a knight... Hollow Knight, right?"

I expected the sealed knight to say something. Anything, even if those words would be fueled by the maddening infection that had claimed their mind. But no words came. The Hollow Knight did not even try to wiggle free or swing about from the chains. Or maybe...that was because it could not. When I sighed in resignation and raised my sword to strike it down while it was bound and helpless, my blade glanced off an intricate pale barrier that only revealed itself when something struck it. A seal to keep the Hollow Knight contained and safe from direct harm...but still completely unable to prevent a plague with no actual physical form from seeping out. I even noticed what appeared to be a very long nail stuck in the ground near the Hollow Knight. Their sword, having been dropped once they were bound by chains. It too had been tainted by the passage of time, its length chipped and cracked while probably still serviceable to some degree.

There was no way I could even destroy the Hollow Knight while it remained bound. Such a vexing dilemma. Unable to escape or be harmed itself, but with the plague still free to escape and spread. What an utterly futile result in the end... With nothing I could do, I cast my gaze around the chamber. And I saw four great chains reaching up towards the ceiling and appeared to be connected to the chains that were wrapped around the Hollow Knight. And while the chains themselves were constantly coated by a long sleeve of pale runes, the anchors they were attached to on the floor looked vulnerable. My eyes widened as I came to an unsettling realization. The only way to remove the barrier around the Hollow Knight in order to destroy them...would be to release them from their confines. And I was trapped in there with no one coming to save me. Even Nightmare Moon would likely not be entirely immune to the tainted air in that chamber...

My gaze returned to the Hollow Knight while they continued to watch me without a word. The Hollow Knight... Surely a very capable warrior back in their prime. And that nail... Easily the size of a greatsword. I would be in for a challenge if that thing ended up settings its sights on me. But with no other option, I steeled my nerves and set to work on destroying its binds. I went to the base of one chain and effortlessly cleaved through it with a single slash of my sword. The runic sleeve of pale light peeled away in bright embers before the chain promptly snapped. I suddenly turned to the Hollow Knight as I expected them to break free right then and there, but...nothing. They remained perfectly still. The seal was just that strong.

I shattered the next chain and then the next chain after that in the same manner with my nerves growing more anxious with every success. And every time I did, the Hollow Knight's binds looked no looser. But as I approached the fourth and final chain, I paused. My gaze then turned to the Hollow Knight again. They were still watching me. And I pondered... The Hollow Knight. This was no mere beast. They had once been a citizen of Hallownest. A person instead of a tool for the plague.

There was still time. I could spare a few more minutes. I approached the Hollow Knight as we shared a long silent gaze. Those eyes... Filled with that malevolent orange glow. As if they could overflow at any second. My eyes then looked at the fallen nail beside it. I was tempted to destroy it. Without a weapon, the Hollow Knight would be less of a threat to me if it did attack me upon being freed. And I had every reason to believe they would throw everything they had at me.

And yet... I could not. The temptation was there, but I could not bring myself to deprive the Hollow Knight of their weapon. This knight... This Hollow Knight... I looked up at the shackled being above me and said, "I was told you were supposed to be hollow. With no mind or heart to control. But...you're not hollow at all. Are you?"

No words came. Not even the slightest reaction was shown. They just dangled there motionlessly. Were they just that stoic by nature? Almost hollow? I then said, "You're a knight too, right? You served your kingdom... Made sacrifices for them... I... I can't tell if you're even feeling anything right now. How long have you been here? Years? Decades? How does time flow for bugs like you?"

Still no response. The Hollow Knight only watched me wordlessly. I then had to wonder... "Are you...mute? Do you even have a voice to speak with?"

The Hollow Knight still did not speak. I could not even peek under their face to check for a mouth on the underside of that huge curved mask. But with that billowing haze of orange around us, I almost did not notice more of those...circular dreamcatcher sigils materialize in the air as they formed, faded, and formed again. "These again? What are they even for?"

"...Kill it..."

A voice reached my ears. A whisper. And it was a whisper that I actually understood. Except... No. It did not reach my ears. I heard it in my head. A voice in my mind. I glanced up at the Hollow Knight before me and asked, "Wait... Was that you?"

"...Bright...Too bright..."

The voice... It could not have been coming from the Hollow Knight. The voice did not match them at all. It sounded...feminine in pitch and tone. But...powerful. Proud. And angry. And as if in response, the Hollow Knight began to move. They stirred in their binds just a little bit as if trying to test their confines and wiggle out.

"...KILL IT..."

That voice again. But much angrier. Demanding me... No. It was not talking to me. It was demanding...the Hollow Knight to act. Demanding the vessel to act. I took a step back as the Hollow Knight began to struggle harder like a voiceless puppet responding to its master's calls. And then... The whispers became a roar.

"KILL THE LIGHTBRINGER!"

The plague... The source of the plague trapped within the Hollow Knight... It was screaming at me. It hated me. It hated the light of my trusted sword. Glowing with such bright pestilence, yet revolted by the light I carried in my hand. This infection... It was not a mindless disease that infected and spread just to sustain itself. This plague...had a will. A desire. A truly evil living force that unleashed an apocalypse upon Hallownest. I gazed into the eyes of the struggling Hollow Knight as they finally became still, their bindings still too strong to break free of. And I spoke firmly with my grasp on my sword's hilt tightening, "Who are you?"

It was only then that the dreamcatcher sigils floating between the Hollow Knight and I disappeared. And the voice became silent. What was causing those ethereal sigils to manifest? Was it allowing me to hear voices that were silent at all other times? If that was the case... Then the Hollow Knight was truly voiceless. I heard the calls of the plague itself, but not them. Voiceless...but not thoughtless.

Renewed resolved field me as I stabbed the Celestial Sword into the floor to free up my right hand. And I raised it high to rest it upon the Hollow Knight's face. That barrier manifested again and remained between me and the Hollow Knight, but did not push me away. I felt...such a profound sense of pity for the vessel before me. How long had they been alone in that chamber? Unable to move, speak, or even think with nothing but the voices of Hallownest's foulest enemy in their head. Were they in pain? Were they numb? Were they even aware of my presence? I sighed as a heaviness settled in my heart. "Just a little longer... It'll be over soon."

My eyes widened. While the Hollow Knight did not speak... There was a physical response. A single trickle of tainted orange fluid flowed from the left eye. Infected...tears? Or was the infection within their body literally beginning to overflow? Whether or not that was a glimpse of the emotions that truly dwelled in the Hollow Knight's heart... Regardless, I took the Celestial Sword in hand once more before casting my gaze upon the Hollow Knight's fallen sword. I could have destroyed it and left my imminent opponent severely handicapped, but...I could not. I turned to the Hollow Knight one last time and said softly, "Let's keep it clean... A knightly duel, right?"

Never before had my knightly title weighed so heavily upon me as I approached that final intact chain. The two of us... Two knights sworn to two different kingdoms. One thriving, the other long dead. One knight, alive and well. The other, corrupted and defiled. Our kingdoms had been beset by great threats that sought to permanently change our worlds for the worst. But where my efforts to preserve and protect Equestria ended in success... The Hollow Knight failed. And their kingdom was all but gone. But one thing I knew for certain... We had walked through different paths of pain, but still we were the same. I stood before the final chain and raised my sword to my left, ready to cleave through the base and release the sealed beast.

Once more, I looked back at the Hollow Knight while they gazed upon me. My eyes lowered to notice their fallen sword once again before looking back up at them. They were still watching. Waiting... Awaiting the inevitable. A nameless tension was filling the air. Cold sweat began to flow down my face the longer I delayed. My nerves were tightening as if a silent crescendo was filling the air signaling the approaching climax of this conflict. I took a long breath, steeled my nerves...and swung my sword.

The Celestial Sword cleaved through the base of the chain as its runic sleeve of pale light dissolved away into fading embers. The chain shattered like the others as I quickly turned to face the Hollow Knight. And in a matter of seconds, the chains holding them from above began to jingle and unravel. The entire Hollow Knight fell to the floor as the tarnished dark armor covering its upper body also came loose and fell apart in all directions with a clatter. The Hollow Knight slumped to the floor on their knees with the left hand weakly resting on the ground. Hunched over and bowed, its stained and tattered cloak was now slung more heavily over their right side. But...where was the right arm? Had the infection rotted it off?

The Hollow Knight remained still. And I was filled with a deep concern. Their eyes were still filled with that putrid orange glow, but they remained still and kneeled upon the floor with head bowed. Had the infection eaten away at their own body for so long that it had been ruined to the point of being too weak to move? Convinced that the Hollow Knight truly was nothing more than a decayed husk waiting to be put out of its misery, I began to approach. "I'm sorry... There's only one way this can end. If you perish now, the plague dies with you. That's how diseases work... Right? I'll make this quick."

They did not respond. Too weak to even move. The great Hollow Knight, now just a shriveled husk that could not even bring itself to stand. But when I was only a few paces away from being close enough to strike... Their head jerked up. Those eyes filled with a malevolent orange stared at me with a piercing gaze. And then they began to rise.

The fallen knight began to rise to their feet, their left hand suddenly reaching out and grasping the hilt of their tarnished sword. Once back on their feet while still hunched over, they yanked it up out of the floor while I stood back. Defiled and decayed, but still able to stand and hold a weapon. My eyes widened as I beheld this fabled knight of Hallownest struggling to defy their body's deterioration as the infection tugged on unseen puppet strings.

The Hollow Knight, once voiceless, threw their head back and unleashed an otherworldly howl that echoed throughout their prison. A howl that I was certain was not their own. And they finally stood with nail in hand while I kept my shield ready. Even hunched over with their darkly colored chitinous body revealed under their cloak, I could see that the Hollow Knight was a giant among bugs. Even towering over me with those impressive horns reaching high. But that posture... Especially when they began to shuffle towards me at a tepid pace... They were no different than the reanimated husks that had assaulted me earlier. Just a slave to the plague. The only difference between them and the knight before me was...that the Hollow Knight was very much alive. They were still in there somewhere. Forced to watch as their body was moved by the will of another.

My will to fight began to wane as I beheld this once majestic knight shuffling towards me with blade in hand. Even voiceless, I could almost sense that the Hollow Knight was wracked by unfathomable suffering. I spoke towards them, "I... I don't want to do this... You're still in there, right? Right?! You can be saved, right?! How do I cure you?!"

The Hollow Knight was finally within range and raised their impressive nail high. I barely got my shield up in time as the Hollow Knight struck thrive with impressive speed. Even as a shell of themselves in their prime, the Hollow Knight still displayed impressive strength and speed. That nail was the size of a greatsword, yet they were still swinging it as swiftly as a dagger! I recoiled under each suddenly clash of that blade against my shield before flapping my armor's wings to put some distance between us. They even had the presence of mind to jump back in response to their failed assault. I called out to them and pleaded with the suffering creature before me, "We shouldn't have to do this! There has to be another way! Tell me! What should I do?!"

My opponent replied with no words. Instead, they vanished in a shrouded flash. And I only barely caught sight of them on my left. The Hollow Knight readied themselves and lunged forward with their insect legs hurling themselves a great distance over a horizontal distance with the same impressive agility Hornet herself had displayed. I managed to raise my shield and shove the Hollow Knight off to my side and hopped back as I was left wondering if salvation was even possible for the Hollow Knight. I wanted to believe! I wanted to believe that their years of suffering would not be all for nothing! "Please! All that's happened! It can't be all for nothing! We've both served our kingdoms! We've both suffered for them! I want to help you! Don't force me to have to destroy you!"

When the Hollow Knight turned to face me again... It hesitated. And I saw them again. But from both eyes. The Hollow Knight's illuminated eyes began to both leak trails of fluid. I was sure of it. They were not simply overflowing infected liquid. Those were tears. The towering knight hunched over further, trembling as if trying to defy the will that controlled them. My eyes widened in hope...only for the Hollow Knight to suddenly turn their head up to glare at me and trying to thrust out their left arm at me. Except there was no arm... And what came forth...

The Hollow Knight's left arm truly was gone. And the gaping wound left behind at the shoulder had never healed. With the cloak flicked back, that wound beneath it forcefully expelled large globs of the Hollow Knight's own infected orange blood at me in a growing arc. Literally weaponizing the host's own bodily fluids... And that glow... That light... That shade of orange in that corrosive fluid did look warm, but...not like that of the rays of the sun. Or even the glow of a warm flame. It instead brought to mind the nauseating putrid warmth of infected wounds and violent fevers.

I stood my ground and raised my shield as that barrage of putrid liquid rained down at me. Some missed, but most splattered against the Lunar Shield without harm. Even liquid tainted by a supernatural plague would not get by that perfect shield. But when it did stop and I lowered my shield to consider my options, I only barely happened to notice the Hollow Knight above me in the middle of an impressive leapt. They adjusted their grip and came down in an attempt to impale me from above on their nail.

A quick flap of my wings was enough to fling myself backwards with the Hollow Knight's nail piercing the ground hard without so much as snapping its blade. And I quickly found that such an attack was not necessarily meant to strike me. The instant the blade pierced the floor, I only had less than a second to notice dozens of flaming circles flare up across the chamber's floor. I was brown completely off my feet as one formed right under me before every circle of flames erupted into towering pillars of flames stained by orange pestilence. I landed with a clatter on my back before quickly pushing myself back onto my with my wings. My armor only blocked that blast so much and I had to react quickly when I saw the Hollow Knight once again teleport to my blind spot. I raised my shield and shoved it into the incoming slash to push the Hollow Knight off balance and finally managed to land a slash across their body. "Sorry!"

The Celestial Sword cleaved as cleanly as it did through everything else I had struck that day. Cut right through the Hollow Knight's entire torso. And yet... Even with their body split in two above the waist with a line of luminescent orange leaking trails of putrid blood, the Hollow Knight's body remained intact. Held together by...something. And they capitalized on my confused horror by striking me hard with the full force of their great nail into my right pardon. The dent left on my armor was deep and even knocked me to the floor. A tiny human could never compare to the might of an insect of equal size. My shoulder bruised to the point where I was afraid my shoulder had been outright broken by that blow, I glanced up at the Hollow Knight as they again adjusted their grip on their nail to impale me from above. But...

They hesitated again. Quivering as tainted tears still flowed from their eyes. I watched with caution as the Hollow Knight even took a step back. Desperately fighting the infection within to not strike me while I was down. I watched with bated breath as hope bloomed in my heart. "You really are still in there..."

The Hollow Knight lurched forward suddenly with nail raised when I was on my knees. I recoiled in fright while trying to raise my shield, but the Hollow Knight again resisted and stepped back. Finally... With another ethereal howl that I am not so certain was from the infection itself... The Hollow Knight finally struck. But not at me. I watched in horror as the infested vessel turned their blade on themselves with that long piercing blade impaling the poor creature through their bleeding belly.

A geyser of that infected blood sprayed out from behind them. And it did not stop there. Using every ounce of will they had, the Hollow Knight withdrew their nail from their body and plunged it in again. And again. Over and over, deep and fiercely, they impaled themselves upon their own sword in a desperate frenzy as an endless flow of infected glowing blood sprayed. This...was not a means to open up new opportunities to attack me. The Hollow Knight...was desperately trying to put themselves out of their misery. To kill themselves so they would not kill me.

After the first several impalements, I began to feel something with every time that blade plunged into its wielder's body. A dull throbbing ache... Some sort of...phantom pain right in my core. Something...familiar. The Celestial Sword fell from my right hand before I held my hand just under my breastplate. Where I had...

Horror wracked my mind as a memory returned to the forefront of my mind. A dark memory in recent times of crisis that was not buried. Deep in the depths of my dreams during the final days of the War of Preservation. When the royal family and I tried and failed to enter the mind of an ancient emperor who never slept. An ancient fool sustained by my own existence. And with no way to reach him with desperation taking hold, I took my sword and...lashed out at the only other thing that was fueling his endeavors.

I remembered. The Celestial Sword in both hands as I repeatedly plunged it through my body in sheer desperation in spite of the agony. Doing anything I could to make the nightmare stop. To try and use his own exploitation of my existence against him. Even if no wound was left on my body when I awoke, the memories of that pain were still there. And tears burst from my eyes as I watched the Hollow Knight mirroring my own agonized desperation. Two knights of different worlds. Two knights unwittingly becoming pawns to great enemies to the worlds they loved... I whimpered with my gauntlet over my mouth. "We really are the same..."

The Hollow Knight's impaling stabs began to slow after maybe the twentieth impalement. Only a few more later, the suffering knight finally could take the pain no more and once against slumped to their knees with nail falling from their hand. I gazed upon the trembling vessel in horrified sorrow as a pool of that noxious stained blood spread out from under them. And yet, they still lived. Having suffered from wounds from their hand and my own that should have proven fatal several times over, yet still not being allowed to die. The plague's source was both controlling and sustaining the Hollow Knight well past their physical limits. And seeing them gazing up at me with infected tears flowing free, I...

There was no possible way I could bring myself to strike the Hollow Knight again. They had already harmed themselves more than I had. I could not slay someone who had suffered like I had. There had to be a way! Refusing to take up my sword again, I shook my tears from my face and took a step forward. "I'm not gonna let you go like this! There has to be a way to drive it out of you!"

In spite of everything the Hollow Knight had suffered through, in spite of all the pain they were in, their master still forced them to strike. Their hand snatched up their nail and swung hard at me from my left. I did not even get my shield arm up and was only saved from harm by the Lunar Shield just happening to be in the way. I was sent tumbling and clattering quite a distance away before I managed to get back up on my feet. And when the Hollow Knight rose to their feet and began to shamble my way, they resisted again. With such admirable defiance in spite of state of their body, they once again readied their blade for another bout of impalement.

I could not bear to watch that again. The Hollow Knight had already suffered too much. I quickly reached out with both hands as I channeled the levitation spell thought each gauntlet. A golden yellow billowing aura coated the Hollow Knight's nail while a blue aura shrouded their hand. They appeared confused as they found their limb being restrained. I had to get that nail away from them. "No more! Don't do this to yourself! Just...let...go!"

The Hollow Knight's grasp was strong. It was a struggle as I pulled in two direction, my left hand trying to fling their weapon away while my other tried to pry their fingers off its hilt. Desperate seconds went by as I exerted my will. And it happened so suddenly. That great nail went flying off to the far end of the chamber the instant its wielder lost its grip on it. Separated from their weapon, I finally released my magical grasped on the unarmed Hollow Knight. And they still did all they could to not lash out at me. Their hand free, they suddenly reached under their cloak to take hold of something.

What was under that cloak? They were not reaching for their wounds. It was...higher than that. Over their chest. And as they leaned back while struggling to pull, I saw it. A cluster of dull orange pustules affixed to the Hollow Knight's chest with glowing tendrils snuck into their exoskeleton. Like a parasite... My eyes widened as a new layer of hope settled over my mind. .i could see what they were doing. "Let me help you!"

I reached out with both hands and took hold of that cluster of putrid pustules along with the Hollow Knight's hand. And together, we pulled. Further and harder, the tendrils becoming strained as they struggled to remain rooted to their prey. We were so close to removing it. And after a mercifully short time, the entire cluster of pustules was torn from the Hollow Knight and was flung across the room like refuse. It was utterly disgusting to behold and the Hollow Knight slumped to their knees again in relief. Their blood was still stained orange and their eyes filled with the light, but they were free now. I wheezed a sigh of relief. "It's done... It's... No... No!"

Our triumph was all too brief. The Hollow Knight suddenly winced and clutched at their chest. And then...in horrifying and crushing fashion, they sudden raised their body as the cloak draped over their chest was blown outward. A cluster of far larger pustules suddenly burst out of their body to replace the ones we had just torn out of their chest and even carried the Hollow Knight into the air while they dangled almost lifelessly from that cluster of putrid balloons. My hope was fading rapidly as I beheld this horrifying and disturbing sight looming over me. The harder we tried to extract the infection from its victim, the more violently it tried to maintain its grasp on them. "I can't save you... I can't... Why?!"

The Hollow Knight... No. The Hollow Knight was completely helpless. The infection itself lashed out at me in a grossly graceless fashion. The cluster of pustules suddenly dove at me in an attempt to crush me with the sheer weight of itself and its host's body. I flapped my wings hard to fling myself to the side as the putrid cluster of balloons literally bounced back into the air upon striking the floor. And this went on for a moment longer with it just narrowly missing me. Until finally it anticipated which direction I would throw myself in once I started to notice the pattern of its timing. It struck me when I least expected it and smashed me to the ground as if I just got crushed by a very soft boulder.

My armor held, but the impact still knocked the wind out of me. And when I gathered my senses, I found the Hollow Knight standing over me while still unarmed and with that new cluster of pustules having shrunk back down to a more manageable size under their cloak. And in mere seconds, they were upon me. The Hollow Knight pinned me under their knees and took hold of my throat with their tough chitinous hand. I could not breathe...

My own emotions became my enemy. I was too distraught... Could not focus enough to use magic and could not reach my sword. My armored hand futilely grasped at the Hollow Knight's arm as my lungs demanded air. And as those ethereal dreamcatcher shapes began to appear around us again, the tears being shed from the Hollow Knight's infected eyes began to spill more profusely. My own face stained with fresh tears, I could literally see the Hollow Knight silently weeping as they helplessly watched their own hand strangling the life out of me. Were they pleading? Begging for something or someone to stop them? But the voice I did hear... Even as I saw the Hollow Night's weeping eyes filled with that evil glow...

"...Fade... Disappear, lightbringer... There is only one light... One beacon... Your light will never eclipse me..."

It was over. The plague had bested me. Even if this was all just a dream, I felt...such a profound sense of failure. I had failed in trying to save that dying world. But as I felt things going dark and my ears began to fail... A voice reached me one last time. But not in my mind. It came from nearby. "Release him!"

The Hollow Knight suddenly threw their head up as something lashed out with a passing slash. A splash of their infect blood filled the air. But their loosening grasp suddenly tightened on my throat again as the infection demanded the helpless vessel to finish me off. But my savior then suddenly appeared to take hold of the Hollow Knight's cloak and pulled it off me with a great heave and hurl them a short distance away. I heard the Hollow Knight crash along the floor with a thud before a familiar white face stood over me with hand outreached to me. "That was close! Are you all right?!"

I gasped for breath as I could not believe who had come to my rescue. I reached up and took hold as I wheezed, "Quirrel...! How...?! You can't fight them..."

My new friend took hold of my hand and helped me to my feet while still maintaining an air of his jovial nature about himself. That barrier leading out was clearly only a one-way entrance. One could enter, but not escape. "I know. I see them now and I know I can't best them alone. But together! Together, we can triumph! What do you say, Sir James? Shall I assist?"

I could see Quirrel's nail in his other hand. He really did know how to fight. But I had barely gotten up onto my feet when I saw the Hollow Knight suddenly appear behind Quirrel with a sudden shadowy teleportation. Nail in hand, they prepared to lunge. "Quirrel! They...!"

The Hollow Knight leapt at Quirrel with blade raised high to cut him down with a single leaping slash. But instead of trying to parry the blade, Quirrel suddenly pulled his hat down as he stood his ground. And when that great nail struck Quirrel's masked scalp, it... That enchanted mask did not simply block that strike. It repelled the Hollow Knight entirely with a flash of pale light the generated a circular field around itself or an instant. The Hollow Knight very nearly fell to the ground after being shoved back by this sudden resistance. The mask not merely a hat. It was an impenetrable shield. And Quirrel was quick to act as the Hollow Knight struggled to maintain balance. He brought his nail to his side and called out as he suddenly almost vanished. "Over here, over here!"

At speed my eyes only barely detected, Quirrel became a blur as he rushed past the Hollow Knight with another splash of that infected blood. It was as if witnessing the speed of a mantis strike being used for sheer movement. That passing slash was enough to draw the Hollow Knight's attention as they turned and thrust their left shoulder at him to spray another volley of corrosive infected blood at him. No matter how much of their blood was spilled or expelled as a weapon, the Hollow Knight never came close to running dry.

Quirrel nimbly rushed across the chamber as that hail of infected blood fell around him. At the first opportunity, he readied his blade and rushed past the Hollow Knight in an instant to land another slash. Another spray of blood splashed along the floor as the Hollow Knight reeled from that strike. Quirrel then looked at me and asked, "Sir James! Retrieve your blade! I can't do this alone!"

I had to force myself to focus enough to use the levitation spell to call the Celestial Sword back to my hand. But the Hollow Knight did not come rushing in to strike. They instead threw their head back as those grotesque pustules under their cloak once again expanded in size and carried them high near the ceiling. And then... They unleash an attack I could only view as an act of desperation. Those pustules began to rapidly expel globs of infected blood in all directions. Dozens... Maybe hundreds...

The air became thick with that sickeningly sweet scent as literally the entire chamber was being drenched in that endless supply of putrid fluid. There was no way Quirrel and I could hope to dodge this one. All we could do was stand our ground. I raised the Lunar Shield high and felt those heavy splashes of fluid crash against it many times while Quirrel lowered his hat as its enchantments repelled every liquid projectile with flashes of a bright circular rune. It went on for so long too. Ten seconds... Twenty seconds...

When that barrage finally went on for thirty seconds, the pustules receded and the Hollow Knight suddenly dropped out of the air and fell into a slumping heap to the floor. No matter how far the infection pushed them beyond their body's limits, there is no way expelling so much blood was not taxing on their body. And that was without taking into consideration the ghastly wounds they had suffered by then. So many trails of glowing orange blood flowing down their black body and pooling into tiny puddles at their feet... The Hollow Knight should have been slain several times by that point. Were they beyond death entirely?

Even Quirrel began to hesitate as he beheld the sorry state of the Hollow Knight. For a good moment, they were wide open to attack. We could have struck, but... Quirrel relaxed his stance instead of going in for another quick slash. "This...doesn't even feel like a true battle now..."

"I know... I...don't want to hurt them..." I added as the Hollow Knight managed to shakily rise to their feet before slowly shambling forward towards us. We stood ready with our defenses raised, but... When the Hollow Knight made another swing of their great nail, they were just out of reach and immediately lost balance and slumped to their knees instead of stepping forward to lash out for a combo. My stance relaxed entirely. The Hollow Knight's body was at its limit. I whispered to our suffering enemy, "Please... No more... You can't defeat us, so... Just stop!"

The infection within did not heed my pleas. It forced its helpless thrall to stand once again even as it stood dying before us. The Hollow Knight readied their nail for another swing, but...they did not strike me. When they once again missed, they managed to release their grip on their weapon and send it flying all the way across the chamber and leaving its blade embedded in the stone wall with a loud clank. Now disarmed and too weak to even put up much resistance at all, I relaxed myself around them. Even Quirrel completely lowered his nail as we were both lured into a sense of security.

The Hollow Knight raised their gaze to look upon me. And their move was swift. They reached out with their one hand and suddenly took hold of the Celestial Sword right around the spines of its crossguard. I feared that they were about to try and wrestle my far sharper sword away from me, but...that was not the case. With a solid grip on my own weapon, the Hollow Knight pulled it forward and drove the Celestial Sword's glowing blade through its heavily bleeding torso. Right down to the hilt.

Horror and sorrow filled me as I beheld the ravaged vessel before me gazing right back at me from just inches away. Their infested eyes constantly weeping infected tears as they trembled where they stood. Even Quirrel had been rendered speechless as he beheld the pitiful scene before him. And soon, tears once again began to flow down my cheeks. The Hollow Knight could not be saved. I wanted to believe that they could, and yet...

The will to fight left me entirely. And the Hollow Knight saw this. They released their grasp on my sword and weakly rested their hand on my dented right pauldron. I released my grip on the Celestial Sword with its still thoroughly impaled through them. I willed the Lunar Shield to detach from my left arm with it hitting the floor with a clatter. We were not enemies. I knew this for certain. I reached out and held the Hollow Knight in my arms with my face buried in their tarnished cloak. For just a moment, there was calm. The infection could not wrest control of its host for now.

No words came. My throat clenched as my voice would not allow me to speak. But again, those ethereal dreamcatcher sigils began to float around us. But the voice I heard in my head... It was not the voice I heard calling for my death. It was...another. Masculine. Feminine. I cannot for the life of me determine what side of that spectrum it leaned towards. But a quiet...and very pained voice filled my head.

"...it burns... The light burns... It never dims..."

My embrace tightened around the dying hero in my arms. I wanted to speak to them, but I just could not fight my sorrow. I heard the voice plead again. "...Hero... Kind soul... End my suffering..."

I could not. I so desperately wanted to save that suffering soul. I could not believe that there was no way out. It was a plague. An infection that could be cured. There had to be a way...

"...KILL IT..."

That voice again. The one filled with a proud malice. The voice of a woman that was clearly not that of the Hollow Knight. The voice demanded obedience. It demanded its puppet to defy the damage it had suffered and do what could no longer be done. And the Hollow Knight finally defied that voice.

"...I...will...not..."

The voice once again demanded firmly of its victim. The voice was filled with madness and hate. And all I could do was tighten my embrace and even shroud the Hollow Knight with my enchanted wings as I tried to shield them from all directions and keep the voices out. Just doing what I could to protect them.

"...KILL THE USURPER..."

The exhausted voice whispered again as I held tightly to the dying knight in my arms.

"...Let there be an end..."

And finally, the call of the infection roared within our minds.

"KILL THE LIGHTBRINGER!"

I was suddenly pushed back by the Hollow Knight themselves. They suddenly shoved me back with a firm thrust of their palm against my cuirass as I was left reeling with paralyzing emotions. My wings were forced to release them as they suddenly grasped the hilt of the Celestial Sword and tore my sword from their body with that disgusting glowing blood coating the shining white blade. But instead of turning it on me, they once again raised it high in an reverse grip. And again... Their voice reached my mind.

"LET ME DIIIIIIIEEEEE!"

I reached out helplessly as Quirrel and I could only watch as the Hollow Knight once again plunged my own sword deep through their body. The desperation... The agony... I could not fathom what that poor soul was experiencing. They had sworn to seal the plague, and failed in that . With no cure or escape... All that was left was for them to die and take the plague with them. Quirrel even finally muttered, "The poor thing..."

Nearly all strength had been exhausted. But even then, that extra impaling wound was not enough. The Hollow Knight withdrew my sword from their body and raised it high for another stab. But...as they raised their arm high above their great horned head... Another blade shot past Quirrel and I. And it struck the Hollow Knight directly in the brow at the base of where that great crack in their skull began. It was not a sword or nail... It was a needle.

The Hollow Knight recoiled from that blow. Eyes wide in shock and voice silent as the dreamcatcher sigils faded. A thin flash of light rang along a thread tied to the needle's ring pommel before a familiar sentry wrapped in a red cloak zipped by me and anchored herself atop the Hollow Knight's head with her entire body wrapped around her weapon. And with one firm stab powered by her entire bodyweight, the needle completely pierced the Hollow Knight's tough outer shell. Countless threads wrapped around the Hollow Knight as they released their grip on my sword. And finally, the vessel was brought to their knees.

There was no escape from Hornet's net. The Hollow Knight wiggled weakly, but their body was at its limit. Hornet, voice wracked by tension, spoke out to us. "No... No more! The vessel cannot be allowed to be destroyed!"

Quirrel rested a hand upon his chest as he sighed in sharp relief. Although I was too confused or distraught to really understand the full context of the situation anymore. Quirrel then sighed, "Oh, thank goodness you decided to join us. It was getting too harrowing in here..."

As if on cue, the Hollow Knight once again let out an otherworldly howl as they remained hunkered over. And I saw it. A vast cloud of that orange haze began to explode out of them in all directions. Between my armor, Quirrel's mask, and whatever safeguard Hornet had been using, we were safe from the infection for now. But with how rapidly it was filling the room with that gaseous light...

Hornet looked down at the shackled Hollow Knight as the infection spilled heavily from their heavily bleeding body. And she called out to us. "Do you see it?! The vessel's demise will not stop the plague! With their destruction, the plague will spread once again! Unfettered and unchained, all will be claimed! The host's death will not claim the heart of the plague!"

I... Quirrel and I looked at each other with horror in our eyes. I had forgotten... The plague does not spread via bacteria. It infects...through thoughts. Through dreams. A plague from beyond the physical realm. It had no viral strain that could be seen under a microscope. And now that it was just bursting out of its host with no barriers left to inhibit the spread... I then asked, "Then...how?! How do we stop it?!"

Hornet gazed at me with hopeful panic in her voice. "I will hold the Hollow Knight. As for you, Sir James... You cannot face the plague here in the physical world. You must cut beyond the veil of dreams. Venture into the dreams and thoughts where the infection resides! Quickly! Draw your Dream Nail and pierce through the veil!"

Another realm... A dream realm? A dream within a world contained within a dream? But it sounded like I needed something else. Something that, to my horror, I did not have. I looked at my hands. Then at the fallen Lunar Shield and the bloodstained Celestial Sword. But...they were not what I needed. And it began to dawn on Hornet as well with her eyes opening wider by the second. "You...do possess a Dream Nail, do you not? Or...an equivalent from your kingdom?"

Terror filled my heart as I realized that I did not have what I needed. And Quirrel looked at me with a growing look of horror on his otherwise blank face. "You...don't. Do you...?"

It was over. The path to the plague's heart was open before us. Even the very gash in the Hollow Knight's skull was not spilling fluid. It instead was erupting with a veritable geyser of those dreamcatcher sigils. As if beckoning us to enter. And yet...we could not. And as this reality dawned on us, Hornet... She began to shriek at me. Tears streaming from her eyes as they opened wide in fury, "You... YOU FOOL! YOU IMBECILE! I BELIEVED IN YOU! I BELIEVED THAT YOU WOULD BE THE ONE! THE ONE TO PUT AN END TO THE INFECTION! THE ONE TO MAKE ALL OF HALLOWNEST'S SUFFERING NOT BE ALL FOR NAUGHT!"

Hornet was screaming at me. And I cowered in the face of her fury and despair. She lived through the demise of Hallownest and all those in it. She witnessed an apocalypse claim her home that could not be cured. One that could only be barely contained from spreading beyond the kingdom. And now...that seal had been broken. And it was all my fault. And she made sure I knew this as she wailed in fury with tears still flowing free. "THE PLAGUE WILL SPREAD! IT WILL CONSUME ALL! WITH THIS FAILURE, HALLOWNEST IS LOST! ALL BECAUSE OF YOU, SIR KNIGHT! ALL BECAUSE YOU DARED TO...to..."

Her voice began to soften. And all eyes fell upon me. More of those dreamcatcher sigils began to appear around me. But...they mostly gathered to my left. Near my...left hand. We all gazed silently as I raised my left hand to inspect it. Why my left hand? That was the arm I carry the Lunar Shield on. The one that contains Luna's magic.

Luna's magic... The Princess of the Night... Dream magic.

Hope burst in my heart. And I began to focus the magic in my left hand. That billowing blue aura began to coat my arm below the elbow. I was not trying to cast a specific spell. I was merely readying its magical energies for use. And after a few seconds, a pale light began to form over my entire hand. And soon... A surging ethereal blade burst forth with my armored hand serving as a base. A blade that was mostly triangular and constantly wavering with incorporeal power. A sword... But not one that could harm anything with physical form. Quirrel asked softly, "Is that...it? A Dream Nail?"

I looked at Hornet and her eyes were wide in disbelief. But her tears had ceased to flow. "You... That's it. A Dream Nail. It must be. You've possessed this all along? You can do it?! You can pierce the veil?"

"I...don't know. I've never gotten a reaction out of this gauntlet's magic like this. There must be something in the air here... Something in this world that's reacting to my magic like this." I said calmly as I gazed down upon the Hollow Knight. They too were observing the blade on my left hand with keen interest. I then took a step forward and said, "I think this will do it... Wish me luck."

Hornet spoke with fierce determination in her voice. And renewed hope. "Yes... We cannot follow you. Go, Sir James. This fight is yours. Pierce the veil into the realm of dreams...and deliver Hallownest from this plague!"

But I did not just yet. I kneeled before the Hollow Knight and rested my right hand upon their head's left horn. We shared a gaze of silence, but their mind was not so silent. The strange dream properties of that world was responding to the Luna's magic manifesting. And they spoke to me one last time.

"...Do it..."

"Hang on just a little longer. We're almost done here..." I said to the poor soul before me. Remaining on my knees, I readied my left hand before me before making a quick slicing motion. The instant I struck the Hollow Knight, an explosion of those dreamcatcher sigils clouded my vision along with a soft ethereal light. My senses dulled for a moment as calm took me. Almost as if I was rapidly falling asleep. But not for long.

I came to as if I had just begun another lucid dream... To go from one dream to another... It is the only way I can describe it. The Lunar Shield and the Celestial Sword were both back in my hands and any damage my armor had sustained had been mended. My body and my equipment were in pristine condition. And as I gazed about at my surroundings, I was hardly surprised. "Huh... This certainly feels like a dream."

The world around me consisted of a sea of golden clouds under an equally heavenly sky. Like a literal dreamland. It certainly felt inviting and peaceful. And yet...why was it so quiet? Only the gentle chiming whispers of ethereal winds reached my ears. The only thing contrasting those heavenly golds were great curved black spires extending out of the clouds that lend themselves to the insect aesthetics of Hallownest, many ridges lining the insides of the curves to bring to mind insect mandibles. That, and a great many dark polished stone platforms filling the air to give whoever was there something to rest on. "This realm defies all natural logic... Something that can literally only exist in a dream. Are you seeing this, Nightmare Moon? Are you there?"

The only true witness to my trial spoke up to me, but her voice was slightly muffled. As if we were too far apart at the time. "Yes, and you have my sincerest condolences for the plight you are facing tonight. You have truly willed up a very harrowing experience for yourself. Are you absolutely certain you do not need my assistance tonight? A great presence is somewhere near you. Bright...yet not at all like Celestia's light. This light is harsh... Cruel. One that burns and corrupts. Please let me be by your side, my love. I know that you are not in any true danger here, yet... I do not wish to see you weep so. I will assist you if you only call."

Nightmare Moon's words comforted me and I was extremely tempted to take her up on her offer. But I was still compelled to take this entire experience as naturally as possible. And so I replied, "No... No, not yet. I'm not ruling out that I might need help, but... Keep watching for now, all right? If I absolutely need you, I'll ask. I'm feeling OK now though. There's a light at the end of the tunnel now."

"If you insist. But go with the greatest of caution, my dear. That defiled warrior was powerful, but hardly a glimmer to what had infested it. Whatever it is that awaits you here... Show it no quarter." The Princess of Dreams said before her voice fell silent. She was reluctant in leaving me to myself, but she still respected my will. We had spent an entire day together just yesterday. We could wait a little longer before seeing each other again. But for the moment...

I steeled my will and pushed the sorrow out of my mind. Now that I was in the realm where the plague originated from, I could put an end to it. With the death of the infection's creator, the Hollow Knight would be saved. At least I sincerely hoped they could be saved in spite of the injuries they had suffered through by then. But where was it? The only way to go was...up?

I was very deep down in that sea of golden clouds. And so I began to ascend at a cautious pace. I could have simply taken to the air and flown up above the clouds, but my nerves were demanding that I approach cautiously. To savor this final approach in soothing solitude. I flapped my armor's wings to propel myself through the air from platform to platform with lofty jumps. The air was disarmingly calm... Too calm...

"...You would dare...?"

I froze as that voice reached my mind... No, not that time. I was no longer hearing a disembodied voice speaking through my thoughts. My ears heard that one. I glanced around cautiously, scanning the horizon for anything or anyone that might not have been there before. But nothing moved. I felt no eyes upon me. And so I carried on ever higher through the clouds. One jump at a time.

"...YOU WOULD DARE?!"

That voice roared at me once again and I stopped. That sounded like a threat and I readied myself for an. But still nothing came. Furious as that voice sounded, I was not assaulted. More like it was trying to warn me away. Perhaps that light did fear me after all... And it continued to shriek in defiance at me. "You would dare bring with you the light of a sun that is not my own?! Into my realm?! My last remaining sanctuary?!"

That voice sounded like nothing short of divine... The voice of some goddess of that world. It had to be. It certainly carried the pride and arrogance of one. I gazed up at the se of clouds around me and the golden sky above as a newfound disgust filled my gut. The one who brought ruin to Hallownest... The one who brought constant suffering upon the gallant Hollow Knight... They were near. "Yes. I do dare. I carry the light of a wondrous and loving sun queen. A queen who shines brighter than you ever will."

"SILENCE, MORTAL!" That voice shrieked as I was even startled into stumbling backwards. I definitely challenged her ego. But she did fall silent for a moment while I resumed my gradual ascent up those stairs of many disconnected steps. At least for a moment. The voice began to speak again, but it almost sounded like she strangely appreciated being able to directly speak to someone. Even if I was her enemy. "No matter... You would not be the first to challenge my luminescence. And you will fail as he did in the end."

I was not swayed from my journey up those many heavenly platforms. But I at least granted that foul light my ear. "Pardon me for knowing nothing about this world. I'm pretty sure you can see that I'm not from around here."

And so that haughty goddess of putrid light began to speak again. "Then I shall enlighten you. A pale fool sought to reign in ages past. I watched over and guided my children with the love of my light. And they still bowed to him in the end! I was banished... Forgotten! Eons passed as Hallownest thrived under the watch of the pale usurper! And then... Then...they discovered it. Atop Hallownest's highest peak overlooking the kingdom."

I stopped in the middle of a larger platform perhaps halfway up. The inflections of the voice I was hearing... I felt like I needed to grant this my full attention for the moment. And the voice took notice of my pause. "A fragment... A reminder of my era. And when they beheld that stone tribute in my likeness... Beheld my radiant form... They began to remember. And through that, I was able to reach them once again. And this time, they all remembered when they saw my light within their dreams. They finally forsook the pale fool and remembered who truly reigns."

The light was forgotten...and then remembered once her actual silhouette was discovered in the form of an ancient artifact? Just seeing it was enough to allow the people of Hallownest to remember that light goddess? Was she really completely unable to reach anyone while no one remembered her? A very strange roadblock... But I could understand why Hallownest's previous ruler likely went to great lengths to erase any remnants of the light's legacy. I had seen what had happened after she had been remembered. A growing sense of contempt growing in my heart, I resumed my ascent.

I remembered those reanimated husks I found after entering the tunnels just under the surface. They were already dead, yet still held by the light's evil plague. Even in death, forced to carry the light. That was not a show of love. It was a show of control. The will of one who could not let go. And the light continued to speak to me. "And now, Hallownest is at last what it should have always been. My children once again bow to me. And under my eternal light, they will never be swayed again."

"This kingdom is DEAD!" I finally shouted upon landing and raising my sword to the sky above. All that talk about loving her children and guiding them... Even when nearly all of them are just shambling corpses without wills of their own? It was a sickening display of the light's ego and I could not listen idly any longer. "Everyone who bows to you is nothing but a corpse now! And those who still live... They don't bow to you freely! They don't worship you! You don't guide them! You enslave them! Just puppets for you to play with! How is that a show of love?!"

"They...are...MINE!" The voice did not take kindly to my objection. I even felt the world tremble with that scream. And the light continued to roar at me. "They always were! And you...are not one of them! You know not what you trifle in, outsider. But the light you carry will never outshine me. You will be extinguished here. Lest you turn back now. Flee. And never return."

My eyes narrowed into a scowl. I remember what I had heard. I remembered what I had seen from those infected by the plague of light. And how they remained bound to the light's will even in death. And most vividly... I remembered how Hallownest's greatest martyr suffered after they desperately tried to contain the entire plague within themselves only to fail. All that death... All that suffering... All for nothing. And the Hollow Knight's words in my mind... How they so dearly pleaded for death...

Fleeing was not an option. The end was near and I was not going to let my fellow knight suffer any longer. I lowered my sword while still glaring up at the heavenly sky above. "Shut up. My light will burn you away to nothing. Your oblivion for the genocide of an entire kingdom. You deserve nothing less, you wretch."

Before the voice could respond, I quickly brought my shield and sword together. And I whispered to the only other person listening in. "Nightmare Moon. If you can hear me, I think I'll be needing my best sword for this one."

The Princess of Dreams did not speak, but she did respond. The Celestial Sword was engulfed by a bright golden glow while the Lunar Shield was consumed by a beautiful blue. They floated out before me with the blue and gold merging into a swirling pillar of ever brightening light. And when I reach in and took hold, the light faded to reveal a familiar titan of a sword. A greatsword with a crescent moon emblazoned over the sun of my sword's crossguard. The blade was much longer with the edge still shining that beautiful white while the center of the blade down the middle was filled with the colors of the night sky dotted with faintly glowing stars. For as rarely as I take up that sword, it felt comfortable and familiar in my hands. I was ready for this.

"Your blade..." I heard that haughty voice speak again. But now with a cautious curiosity in it. The light marveled at my transformed weapon as I lowered it to my side while grasping it in just my right hand. "The light of the sun remains, but it now encases the shadows... Shadows filled with tiny beacons... No. You are not a lightbringer. You are neither day or night. Neither sun nor shadow. You...are the eclipse."

Poetic. I suppose I should not have expected anything less from an ancient goddess. But that haughtiness then returned as her ego shone through. "But you still carry the light of the sun in your hand. And there is no place for you in my world. I am the only light Hallownest needs! The only light they will ever have! I have waited much too long at the edges of their memories! I will not be forgotten again!"

I was more than halfway up by that point. With my mightiest sword in hand, I resumed my ascent. And the light still roared at me. "Approach me if you dare, mortal. Challenge me and fade into my eternal glare!"

"The only thing I've learned about you is that the haughtiest sure do love to hear themselves talk. In that case, I'm done listening." I was starting to become thoroughly annoyed by that point. And my retort apparently convinced the light to finally shut up. They did not speak once as I continued to ascend jump by jump. The air was quiet with only very weak ethereal breezes caressing me. I felt so alone...

At last, I reached the summit. A great stretch of a dark stone platform held me as that sea of clouds lay spread out before me. But no matter where I looked, I did not see anyone. The light did not speak once. All I noticed there atop the sea of clouds that had not been there before...was the sun.

There is was out in that sea. A bright glowing golden orb of light. But...that was not the sun. The sun glows so brightly that it almost appears to be white. And it is near impossible to gaze upon it directly. And yet that sun peaking out of the clouds was very easy on the eyes. And I quickly came to a realization. "That must be her..."

I took a few steps forward, but...I began to notice something. That situation... Ascending high into the heavens, standing atop the world between two realms with the fate of one hanging in the balance... And with the source of the conflict before me... My left hand rose to my armored head as I was wracked by harrowing memories of not long ago. Standing atop the Heaven's Pillar, beholding the swirling portal to a blighted world tainted by human sin... A world threatening to supplant the other. I muttered under my breath, "Hollow Knight... We really are the same..."

The parallels between my most recent trials and those of the Hollow Knight were jarring. I began to wonder how this world I was in even came to be. Was the act of watching our new beehive for too long the only source? Or...was this also being generated by my darkest memories of Equestria's most recent crisis? If it was, then the world of Hallownest and its fate was a far bleaker parallel to the outcome we achieved in the end. I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind and began to approach the golden sun ahead. But then...

A heavy thud came from behind me. It sounded like something had dropped out of the sky. Or maybe followed me up the many steps below to reach me with a great leap. Was the light before me not the source of the voice I heard? I knew that Quirrel and Hornet could not have followed me into that realm, so then... Who had just shown up?

Knowing I may be in danger, I brought the sword in my right to my left and grasped it between both hands. I took a deep breath and spun around to face the threat with sword held out before me. But I immediately lowered the blade when I saw who had arrived. There before me, still slumped to their knees in exhaustion...was the Hollow Knight.

My fear of an impending assault was replaced with confusion when I noticed that the putrid orange glow filling the Hollow Knight's eyes was gone. They appeared just as dark and empty as any bug I had met that day. That cracked scar still remained above their left eye and their right arm was still missing, but I saw that their cloak did not look as stained as before. It was just a dark gray. I suppose I should not have been surprised that they were present. I was inside their own mind at the time. But for them to be free of infection... Was my presence disrupting the plague's control over them?

Our eyes and met and we stared with no words being exchanged. I felt comforted in seeing that the Hollow Knight was free of infection with no signs of injury, but...why had they arrived? They had surely already faced the source of the infection in their own mind and failed to destroy it. And they looked just as scarred and ravaged as when I first saw them. I was at a loss for words as I gazed upon the longsuffering knight. But I soon noticed them hunch over further. As...something began to be rise around them.

What was this? I could hear a faint rushing hiss filling the air around the Hollow Knight. Trails of pale light began to rapidly rise past them. And that sound... Crackling, yet also...liquid? I took a step back as I saw the cloak draped over the Hollow Knight's right shoulder rise a bit. As if something was pushing it up. And to my shock, a fully reconstructed right arm suddenly extended out from under the cloak. The pale particles rising around the Hollow Knight faded before they then gazed upon their empty hand. And I could only ask, "You...can heal yourself?"

The Hollow Knight looked up at me for a second before appearing to nod. How long ago did they lose their right arm to begin with? The healed knight again looked upon their right hand as they tested their chitinous black digits. The hand soon curled into a fist, but the Hollow Knight remained kneeling. While finally whole again, they still looked exhausted. With my sword now resting in my left hand, I offered my right. Just to give them some leverage in climbing to their feet. The Hollow Knight gazed up at me for a second with their eyes remaining in the exact same shape at all times. They were silent and stoic, but not at all hollow. And after a moment, they then placed their right hand in mine as I slowly helped them up onto their very narrow feet.

I respected the Hollow Knight's silence by voicing my own. And they were not done yet. The Hollow Knight took their tarnished nail in both hands and stabbed it into the ground as they stood tall. Now that they were not constantly hunched over, I could see that they were indeed a giant among bugs. My eyes only came up to their chest. And as more of those pale particles began to rapidly rise around the Hollow Knight with their cloak billowing, I took a step back. They were not done restoring themselves with that wondrous power.

The crack atop the Hollow Knight's brow disappeared in seconds, but even that was not enough. They were now fully healed. What was left to do? And my eyes widened as I got an answer. A pale veil began to coat the Hollow Knight's upper body. The light soon began to fade and revealed that the Hollow Knight's fragile tarnished armor had returned to cover their shoulders and torso that vaguely resembled the petals of an upside-down flower. And the color of that metal plating was a beautiful pale alloy. Suddenly, a long flowing pale cape unfurled from the back of the Hollow Knight's cuirass and gently touched the floor. Even their nail was being restored to pristine condition with all cracks and chips in its length disappearing entirely. With the pale particles fading and their stance relaxing, there they stood. The Hollow Knight was free of infection and healed to pristine condition. The vessel was once again pure.

Such magnificence... I marveled at the glorious form of the Hollow Knight's armored and healed body. This must have been how they looked back in their prime. Where the form I first saw was shambling and clearly hindered by the infection more than empowered by it, the Hollow Knight's true form was elegant and powerful. My mind raced as I wondered how well I would be able to hold my own against them if forced to duel. It would be a struggle for certain. Such a beautiful and gallant appearance. Bug or no bug, the Hollow Knight truly had a knightly visage about themselves. As they gazed out at the golden sun ahead of us, I spoke softly to them. "You are...glorious."

The Hollow Knight turned their head to meet my gaze with their great horned head having to tilt down slightly to meet my own eyes. Those eyes were as dark as those of any other bug I had spoken to. And I understood that they had no voice to speak with. They may very well have not even had a mouth. But after a few seconds, I was surprised. The Hollow Knight did react. Their eyes narrowed just slightly. As if they were smiling.

"You're not hollow at all... Are you?" I asked quietly now that I knew the Hollow Knight truly did have a mind to think with. And they responded accordingly. That smiling gaze faded as a more saddened look filled those eyes. Hands still clutching the hilt of their nail, the Hollow Knight turned their gaze away from me and just...bowed their head. As if disappointed or ashamed of themselves. I did not question it further. We both knew that not being hollow was what doomed Hallownest in the end.

"It's OK... We can still..." I said as I reached out to them. Towards their exposed abdomen below their breastplate. Not a scar remained. There was no signs of any impalement wounds. Our physical conditions did not follow us into that realm. But I still remembered the very many times the Hollow Knight impaled themselves on their own blade. And how the sight of such self harm had reminded me of when I did the same during a particularly harrowing dream. Doing whatever I could to inconvenience my enemy...

My hand drew away from the Hollow Knight and rested upon my own breastplate. I could still feel that throbbing phantom pain as that memory came back to me. And the Hollow Knight noticed. They turned their gaze to me with their eyes showing some form of concern. I sighed and bowed my head before saying, "I know... I've suffered too... We both have suffered for our kingdoms."

The Hollow Knight reacted in a way I did not expect. They reached out with their right hand. And when I lowered mine, they gently touched their fingers to my breastplate. We stood there in silence. As if the Hollow Knight was trying to feel for a wound. But they then surprised me with another move. They raised their right hand and rested it atop my armored head. Gently rubbing my head as if trying to tussle the hair beneath it. Those eyes... They looked happy. Almost like the Hollow Knight wanted to chuckle. And I found myself starting to smile. "You're not hollow...but you are kind."

They continued to smile with only their eyes conveying the emotions hidden behind that hardened face. All those years of silent suffering with no one to comfort them, yet their true heart was still intact. To be free of the infection after so long... I could not fathom the relief the Hollow Knight was experiencing. They soon lowered their hand from my head and returned it to the hilt of their great nail. The Hollow Knight then offered their left. Held out to be held by me. Seeing that I could only hold the left with my own left, I swapped my sword to my right and took hold of the Hollow Knight's hand with my left. And I saw why. More of those ethereal dreamcatcher sigils formed and floated around us. And then... Their voice...

"No will to break, yet I was broken... No mind to think, yet I know... No voice to cry, yet I suffered..."

The voice was nothing short of androgynous. Neither masculine nor feminine. I cannot even begin to describe it. Was the Hollow Knight...neither? And as the Hollow Knight continued to smile at me, they spoke to me the only way they could. "And you...shed so many tears for me... Why, mysterious knight? Why do you weep for me?"

"Because we are the same." I said firmly while trying to keep my emotions in check. The urge was still there. And I had only just left the situation behind. I could not settle for a mere handshake. I released my grasp on the Hollow Knight's hand while I dropped my sword with a clank. I stepped past the Hollow Knight's nail and held them once again in an embrace. "We've both suffered... Both been used by our enemies... Became a threat to our people... Almost gave everything for them... I know... I know what it's like..."

"And you speak the truth." The Hollow Knight whispered in my mind while they too held me. Their hand rested on the back of my helmet in a comforting embrace. The towering gallant knight said softly, "And I am most grateful that it was you who shattered my chains. Now...I can fulfill my duty. But this time... Not alone."

I gradually and reluctantly released the Hollow Knight from my embrace and stepped back. It was...awkward to realize I was no longer holding a gravely wounded soul struggling to defy a higher will controlling their own mangled body. With those sigils still floating around us, the Hollow Knight rested their hand upon my pauldron. And they asked gently, "Will you stand with me against the light...my friend? Help me save whatever is left to save?"

My eyes widened. For all that talk of Hallownest being a dead kingdom, I had seen very little of it. But there was still Hornet. And Quirrel. And even the kindly Elderbug up there in Dirtmouth. If they still lived... Were there more survivors out there? Was there still hope for the ruins of Hallownest? With this opportunity set before us, I found myself smiling at my newest friend. "This is not my kingdom...but I'll do what I can to help you save it."

"Such insolence..." A voice echoed through the air. The light called out to us. And we turned to face the sun peeking through the clouds. She had been watching the entire time. And was surprisingly patient to allow the Hollow Knight and I to share a moment of peace with each other. The light spoke arrogantly, yet wisely. "You would still struggle against the light...? Still seek to triumph...knowing I have already won?"

"I will never forgive the light..." I heard the Hollow Knight whisper with a quiet fury. I saw their eyes narrow with a bitter scowl. "I gave all I had and she still...took everything. For Hallownest... For them... For...Father... If I die here at last, I will see to it the light dies with me."

"You're not going to die here. You're gonna live." I retorted with my hand grasping that of the Hollow Knight. Their eyes widened considerably as they gazed down at me. I spoke firmly with my other hand curled into an armored fist. I all but glared at my friend as I said, "I won't let you die here. I can finally save you. I know it. We'll get through this together in one piece, all right?"

I was so certain of it by then. Once the source of the plague was gone, the Hollow Knight would be cured. And they would even be able to heal themselves much like I had just witnessed. Victory was within sight. And they had suffered too much already. I could not bear the thought of them losing what little they had left after suffering for so long. They deserved to live... To start over.

The Hollow Knight gazed down at me in stunned silence. Even with my left gauntlet's dream magic allowing them to speak to me via their thoughts, I heard nothing for a moment. Until finally, I saw the Hollow Knight's eyes close entirely. And they pulled me into another embrace with my face against their breastplate. I heard their voice whisper in my mind, "What did I do to deserve having you by my side during this final trial?"

"It'll be OK... We're almost done here, right?" I replied gently while holding them in the embrace of my wings. Just taking a moment to savor one last moment of peace before the final clash.

With great reluctance, we released each other. And we both took our blades in hand before the Hollow Knight whispered one last time as the dreamcatcher sigils around us faded. "Together."

I took a deep breath and then steeled my nerves. The two of us shared a quick glance as I saw the Hollow Knight's eyes sharpen with a focused glare. We were ready. We then turned to face the light, raised our swords in the air...and challenged the sun!

"So be it! No matter how you struggle, none shall eclipse the Radiance!" The light called out to us. Seconds later, the sun...spread its wings as it answered out call. "Knight of the Eclipse! Night of the Void! PERISH!"

Such a presence... It emanated so strongly. And with a flash, the sun vanished as a great radiant being appeared before us with a glorious angelic sigil behind her. This towering almost...mothlike being with many fluttering wings coming together on each side of the pale gold fluffy body let out an otherworldly hymn of a shriek. Gazing out from her almost hooded head were a pair of glowing eyes filled with a heavenly golden shine. Three spires stood atop her head that brought more than a passing resemblance to a crown. And their legs dangling below like stilts of silver... They had merged to form what almost looked like a massive blade. I was awestruck, yet disgusted. This goddess... This...Radiance. So beautiful, yet so wicked. Radiant, yet utterly mad and evil. This was a light that needed to be extinguished.

No words were left to say. Together, the Hollow Knight and I leaped at the hovering form of the Radiance to cleave her in two. Our bravery was countered by a sudden pillar of scorching golden light that hit me with unbelievable force. I felt my entire suit of armor rattle from the blast as my friend and I were thrown back across the arena we stood upon. Such power would ravage my armor if I got careless. The Hollow Knight and I staggered upon landing before I said to them, "She's powerful..."

The Hollow Knight suddenly grasped my pauldron to get my attention. But the glare had faded from their eyes. They almost seemed to be beaming with a very confident unseen smile. There was no despair in those eyes. And I found myself smiling back at them. "Yeah... We can take her!"

The Radiance was not about to let us savor a moment of camaraderie. A flurry of golden suns were conjured up and came our way. The Hollow Knight responded quickly by suddenly thrusting out their hand and unleashing a volley of pale daggers from their left hand that flew swiftly along pale lines. They intercepted some of the suns and exploded them in flashes of gold and white. The rest that got through was quickly cut out of the air by very swift strikes from the nail in the Hollow Knight's right hand as they stepped forward. They must have been ambidextrous to wield their blade so efficiently in either hand. And I was not about to let myself get upstaged by this pale champion.

The Hollow Knight stood their ground and drew the attention of the Radiance by launching volley after volley of flechettes at her while she countered with a barrage of golden suns that even curved through the air to home in on them. Some struck the moth goddess, but no signs of physical damage was being done with her form flashing from the impact of each shot that got through. This creature was a divine being... Were they beyond death entirely?

I clenched my fist as I refused to believe such a notion. I beheld the glorious Hollow Knight serving as a distraction between myself and the Radiance. Deliberately attacking from a distance as they were surely allowing me to get in a good hit. We were so close to saving my new friend and whatever was left of Hallownest. There had to be a way! We could triumph!

With a flash of blue magic from my left gauntlet, I made my first move. A volley of frigid blue ice shards formed in the air above and sot forward to shatter themselves against the very surprised Radiance. She shrieked in surprise and turned her gaze to me as I readied my great blade in my hands. Her assault disrupted, the Hollow Knight capitalized on this by lunging themselves through the air with immense speed and slashing the Radiance on their way. I only barely saw this move as I was too focused on using the teleportation spell to place myself above the Radiance with sword raised high. I came down hard just as they glanced up and cleaved the goddess down the middle between her glowing golden eyes.

And yet... She was still intact! Nothing I had ever sliced with that mighty greatsword had ever remained in one piece afterwards. Although that blow did indeed harm her. She recoiled with a howl as I landed almost on my knees with blade touching the floor. The Hollow Knight suddenly appeared beside me with a flash of black before their body finished materializing all in less than a second. We then both tried to strike from below with another volley of ice shards and pale flechettes, but the Radiance then floated elegantly in the air with her many fluttering wings holding her aloft. We were not prepared as rays of golden light burst from her face in many directions with us only barely able to retreat backwards. I growled in irritation, "I guess we just have to hit her until she breaks!"

The Hollow Knight remained voiceless, but their focused scowl mirrored my own. But we were forced to go on the defensive again when the Radiance did a quick spiral while wrapping herself in her wings before she vanished in a flash of light and dreamcatcher sigils. A wall of sword composed of a pure white metal came flying in from nowhere. Each were as large as our own weapons and we had to move quickly to avoid having those piercing blades run us through. One line of swords was followed by another as we both had to basically dance around them. But we also had to rely on each other to guard our blind spots.

I almost backed right into a wall of incoming flying blades and would have taking quite a hit had the Hollow Knight not grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. And they almost got run through as well from behind after sidestepping another wave of blades. I had to shield them by summoning a blue barrier behind them that resulted in the swords vanishing in golden flashes of light upon contact. I noticed the Hollow Knight appear to smile at me only for them to suddenly glance upward before frantically reaching out to me with a gaze of wide-eyed panic.

My friend had spotted something. And with no more walls of blades coming in at us, I too looked up at the last second and saw the Radiance coming down on us from above. The great blade serving as her legs was coated in a layer of scorching golden light and was about to impale us! The two of us had to jump in opposite direction to evade as that massive blade crashed into the very platform with great fissures running throughout the floor. I had to act quickly to not be scorched by the burning golden geysers that suddenly ruptured out from them.

Separated from the Hollow Knight, I was not prepared for what happened next. The Radiance burying herself up to her waist in the floor was not merely an attempt to attack us from below. The entire platform we stood on suddenly shattered as the entire thing crumbled and sent us plummeting back down from whence we came! My armor's great wings prevented me from being in danger, but I could only watch as the wingless Hollow Knight plummeted helpless towards the golden abyss below.

"Hang on, I gotcha!" I shouted as I went into a swift dive to try and catch y falling friend while their impressive cape added enough drag to slow their descent enough for me to outrace them. I swooped by my friend and snatched them out of the air with my hand grasping theirs before I went into a gliding descent to find a safe spot to land on. We had already passed all of the larger platforms I had climbed past the first time up and had to settle for the platform at the very bottom of the stairs.

The Radiance did not let up as we fell. Rays of golden light shot down from above to try and cut me out of the air. The aim was poor and those golden pillars did not stay for long whenever they did manifest. But just when I was coming in for a landing on the deepest platform in that sea of golden clouds, the Radiance finally landed a blow as I was struck right between my wings. I lost my grip on the Hollow Knight's hand and managed to drop them safely on their feet, but the hard blow to my back still caused me to come in for a crash landing. I flopped across the floor nosily as I was left reeling from that genuinely painful blow. I struggled to my knees before my friend rushed to my side and offered their hand to help me up. In this moment of brief calm, they patted me on my pauldron in encouragement while still gazing at me with a look of concern in their eyes. I grunted and said, "I'm OK... I'm OK, really."

A sudden flash far ahead of us caught my attention. And at the very far end of that vast arena floating in the sea of heavenly clouds was the Radiance once again. She did not attack as she floated there with those glowing golden eyes watching us. Almost as if she was daring us to approach. We would have to cover a great distance to reach her and she likely anticipated a quick and easy teleport. If we used teleportation to suddenly reach her, she could do the same to get away from us.

The two of us stood at each other's side with swords in hand. For as stubborn and tricky as our enemy's attacks were, we still stood strong. I then looked at my friend and asked, "Before we continue... How're you holding up?"

My comrade's response almost got a laugh out of me. The Hollow Knight looked at me with a rather whimsical gaze before raising their fist and giving me a thumbs-up gesture. I responded with a huge grin on my face and said, "Yeah, me too!"

With our path plotted, I raised my greatsword to my shoulder and charged ahead. I ran with the speed of a stallion, but the Hollow Knight even managed to match my pace thanks to their long legs allowing them to make very swift and great strides. They kept their nail back and almost dragging along the ground as we anticipated an assault. I could already see incoming golden suns tumbling through the air as the Radiance floated defiantly ahead of us. I glanced over at the Hollow Knight and called out, "You lead!"

The Hollow Knight went first. They hastened their pace to rush ahead and cleave a trail of suns out of the air. They paused just slightly to allow me to go next as I used the glowing blade of my sword to also cleave through those devastating orbs of scorching light one by one. We took turns, going ahead and carving a path before tagging out to let the other go. And as we drew closer, the Radiance only intensified her assault on us. Not only did we have to contend with incoming projectiles. We were also being beset by attacks from below.

We only barely noticed in time as golden sigils formed on the floor. And from them burst patches of white blades in an attempt to trip us up and have us fall into them. They kept popping up at unexpected times. Both as a means to slow us down and to try and cause us to fall into them. It was a confusing nightmare as we advanced, fending off explosive homing in on us and trying to not trip over or be struck from underneath by deathtraps. And that was not even mentioning trying to not strike each other with swords that were as tall as I was. It was a struggle trying to stay close, yet not too close. We would be picked off if we strayed too far from each other.

At one point, I noticed that the Hollow Knight was no longer at my side. I quickly looked back as several suns flew past me. The Hollow Knight was standing their ground and launching pale flechettes from their hand to destroy the incoming suns, but they appeared to be stuck. And I saw why. Another patch of blades had popped up behind them and had skewered their very long cape. And unlike all the others we had passed, this patch of blades did not disappear. It remained where it was and held the Hollow Knight captive. With too many attacks coming in, they could not focus on freeing themselves. Seeing what needed to be done, I rushed back over to them. "Cover me, I got this!"

The Hollow Knight did as I requested and performed a very unexpected maneuver. They plunged their nail directly into the ground. And a second later, massive pale blades rose all across the entire field! Trapped inside that forest of blades, the Radiance struggled to get to us. Scorching suns and even rays of light from her piercing gaze tried to tear through the forest as I could see and hear the blades shattering one by one. Our defenses would not hold for long.

I had to act quickly. With on great swing of my sword, I cleaved the Hollow Knight's cape from its very base. We both looked back at that great strip of pale fabric before I found some humor in that predicament. "For as amazing as you look in that cape, that thing's just gonna get in the way."

The Hollow Knight light slapped the top of my pauldron and I saw them hunched over while bobbing their head a bit. Judging by that joyous look in their eyes, I could tell that the Hollow Knight was outright laughing. They had no voice, but they were still laughing. But that joy was cut short as we heard the nearing shattering of those pale defenses failing under the barrage of the Radiance's light I narrowed my gaze and readied the magic in my left hand. "Drop them. I got a surprise for her."

My friend nodded with their gaze harshening. The instant they removed their nail from the floor, the forest of pale blades disappeared in pillars of light that faded instantly. A barrage of suns was incoming, but I reacted quickly. I thrust out my left hand and unleashed the strongest torrent of lightning magic I could muster. It cut right through the trail of suns and exploded into the Radiance's face with the force of a thunderclap. She recoiled backwards with a heavenly shout before once again unleashing rays of light from her face. Our path clear, we again charged with the Hollow Knight even looking quite pleased with my attack.

The rays of light constantly shining our way pivoted around constantly to try and trip us up. We had to weave and jump as we rushed through that radiant resistance. And once again, the Radiance did not make herself an easy target. Once we were getting a little too close, she suddenly vanished. And we immediately turned our gazes upward. The only way left to go was up. And from so far below, the Radiance's distant form once again looked like a distant sun.

We would have to ascend if we were going to take the fight back to the Radiance. And there was no way I was going to climb all those steps again. Certainly not with the Radiance bearing down on me with projectiles the entire way. I scowled in annoyance. This mad goddess was so desperate to not fail against us that she was resorting to outright cowardly tactics. Although I was certain it was more out of cunning than fear.

My armor's great wings spread as I prepared to take flight. But I then remembered my comrade and looked at them as they too gazed up at the light far above us. "Hey... We'll need to fly. I don't suppose you have a way to rise quickly through the air?"

That stare... I think the Hollow Knight was smirking at me. They suddenly hunched over a bit before I was greeted with a wondrous sight. Six ethereal insect wings suddenly manifested behind them with a very impressive wingspan. And I suddenly felt silly over struggling to save them from that great fall earlier. I cracked a crooked grimace and asked, "I guess this means I didn't need to save you earlier...?"

The Hollow Knight's eyes narrowed as I could almost see their cheekbones turning upward with a cheeky grin. I snickered to myself, before readying my wings. "Right then... Let's fly!"

Our great wings flapped hard to launch us skyward. And together, we soared. The Hollow Knight's ethereal wings flapped in a descending rhythm with the top set of wings flapping downward first, followed by the middle and then the bottom. As tempted as I was to observe them in flight, I had to direct my eyes upward. The Radiance knew we were coming.

One by one, pillars of light shot down at us to try and cut us out of the air. And then I saw little white bits approaching us. A literally hail of those pure white blades were beginning to fall towards us. The Hollow Knight and I had to pivot and spiral around this falling wall of obstacles. And just when I thought I would make it while getting ahead of the Hollow Knight for a moment, one of those great blades struck my right wing squarely in the frame and sent me into a tumble.

I yelped in confusion while sent into an uncontrollable roll. But my loss of upward momentum suddenly ceased as something snatched my left hand and began to carry me upward. I turned my head up and saw the Hollow Knight looking down at me while their glorious shimmering wings carried us both along at a speedy pace. More dreamcatcher sigils formed around our hands as I heard their voice in my head one more time. "Let's reach the summit together, friend!"

Confidence and hope returned to my heart as I smiled back at my friend. We had come this far. It was time to take this duel to the very peak of that realm of dreams. The Hollow Knight suddenly sped up with their wings flapping at a quicker rate while they carried me around the few falling projectiles that remained. And with a great heave, the Hollow Knight flung me upwards with my wings carrying me along. The rays of piercing light and fallen white blades finally stopped. And instead, I was met with a falling cloud of ethereal feathers... Angel feathers?

The Radiance knew I was close and I was preparing a surprise for her. I channeled my solar magic into the greatsword in my hand to coat its blade in that scorching white fire. A great stone platform came into view as the radiant glare of the Radiance became obstructed by it. And once I shot up past our destination, there she floated. High above the sea of clouds and even the great curled spires rising out of it, we now stood at the every summit of the heavens in the light's own domain. With the Radiance gazing up at me as I came out of my ascent, I swung my sword to unleash a crescent wave of burning celestial fire at her. "Gotcha now!"

The goddess before me merely floated there and took the blast without objection. And...she stood there unscathed with the white embers fading out. I landed with a clank before looking at my sword's long blade. Fire and even solar magic would not work against the light herself? I suppose that would make some kind of sense. Unless that layer of fluffy moth fur was shielding her from it...

I had to act quickly when I noticed more of those glowing runes appear under my feet. My wings quickly carried me to the side as another thicket of small blades burst from the ground before disappearing again. And as more of those burning suns were sent tumbling at me, the Hollow Knight reached us. They rose up and came down hard to plunge their sword into the floor as their ethereal wings faded. And like before, a forest of massive white blades burst out of the floor all over the platform. With the suns intercepted, the Radiance was even stabbed by one and recoiled back from the blow. But I did not see any blood spilled. All I saw her body release upon being struck was...more dreamcatcher sigils?

The forest of blades quickly retracted back to nowhere before the Hollow Knight held out their hand and launched another volley of pale flechettes at the Radiance. She quickly teleported to the other side of the platform while leaving a flash of those sigils in her wake before another volley of golden rays of light were released from her gaze. I then saw several walls of those white blades incoming from multiple directions. And they were converging on the Hollow Knight. They saw this and looked at me before thrusting their arm outward. Asking me to back away?

I followed my gut and did throw myself backwards with a flap of my wings. With the blades drawing in close, the Hollow Knight hunched over with more pale particles rapidly rising past them. And just when it looked like they were about to be struck, they threw their head back as a great spherical pale shockwave was unleashed in all directions. This blast sent the blades flying back and tumbling out of sight as they fell into the golden abyss below. But just as the Radiance readied another volley of heavenly light from her gaze, I saw smaller spherical beacons form around her.

The was an opportunity I could not miss. With the teleportation spell ready, I watched as the Hollow Knight's trick played out. A series of smaller spherical pale explosions burst all around the Radiance and even threw her about with each blow. And once the last trap burst, I made my move. I readied my sword, teleported myself right above the Radiance, and came down on her with another great cleaving chop before I landed on the floor before her.

That should have done it. And yet... She still remained intact! I then noticed. With every blow, her body would release no blood. Just bursts of those dreamcatcher sigils. Even the most lethal of blows got the same results with no signs of damage being left on her body. Was this light goddess beyond actual injury? Were our efforts futile?!

I refused to believe this. With the Hollow Knight desperately trying to draw the Radiance's attention away from me with more flechette storms, I resorted to more teleportation slashes. From one side to the other, I cleaved through the Radiance again and again with nothing but flashes of dreamcatchers filling the air. "This...isn't...working!"

Even with the Radiance having gone out of her way to not make herself an easy target, it felt like we were not getting anywhere! After several deadly slashes, the Radiance finally roared in frustration and teleported to a spot above us in the golden sky. She unleashed a thick volley of golden rays down at me that forced me to retreat back to the Hollow Knight's side. Now grouped together, the Radiance had us right where she wanted us. And from all directions, dozens upon dozens of blades as large as myself coming in fast from all directions.

With so many projectiles at once and with so much weight behind them, I dared not try to use a barrier spell to block them all. They would break my focus before the barrage would end. The Hollow Knight made a desperate attempt to block this incoming barrage by stabbing their nail into the floor and summoning a forest of pale spires all around us. But those too began to break. Dozens...maybe hundreds of those pure blades smashed against their defenses as I heard them shattering one by one. From the sides... Even from above! I looked over my shoulder at my friend while they gazed back at me with eyes wide with a look of uncertainty in them. I gulped hard before saying, "She never was one for fighting fair... You think we can win?"

The Hollow Knight knew our enemy better than I did. But they did not nod. Nor did they shake their head. They...had no answer for me. And at last, the few remaining pale spires shattered before we were beset by a never-ending volley of blades. We dodged and weaved around what we could and cleaved others out of the air, but it was an impossible situation. One by one, those blades plunged into our armored bodies and vanished in a flash of light a second after contact. My armor began to dent and crack as I felt the heavy blows of foul light strike me and the Hollow Knight was not much better off. Their pale armor began to buckle under this impossible barrage. Chipping, fracturing, and with even one of their glorious pauldrons breaking away entirely. And finally...

My eyes went wide in panic as the Hollow Knight suffered a wound to a very familiar location. A blade plunged directly into their brow between the eyes. This blow sent them reeling and brought them to their knees. Ravaged and exhausted, we both staggered as only then did the Radiance cease her assault. Gazing down on us as she floated elegantly in the golden sky. She had no words, but she still radiated an air of smug victory. As if she knew we could never hope to triumph against an actual deity.

It was such a frustrating situation... Whether in the form of a corrupting plague or in a seemingly physical form, the Radiance was a light that would not let itself be extinguished. I considered my options before looking at my companion. The Hollow knight, pure and untarnished, had been brought to their knees once again. A familiar scar had returned to their face, the strike to their brow leaving a very noticeable crack in the center of their forehead. They silently wheezed as we both tried to catch our breaths. I looked up at the Radiance again as she waited. Victory was nearly hers and her silence spoke volumes. I asked my friend softly, "Any ideas...?"

The Hollow Knight tightened their grasp around the hilt of their nail. Quivering in frustration. They had failed once before. And now failure was nearing again. This was our last chance to bring an end to the plague that had brought Hallownest to ruin. The last chance to save whatever and whoever might be left. But just when I though they were about to rise up in defiance...they dropped their nail. And became very still. My eyes widened in concern as I asked, "Hey... You OK?"

Their hands suddenly rose and clutched at their head. The Hollow Knight quivered as I heard a sound. A crack. And I saw it. That crack in their head... Beginning to spread. Crawling down the middle of their face inch by inch. And it was clearly far from comfortable. But why? I had seen such a wound on them earlier and it did not progressively worsen like that. And there was no infection within them trying to spill out. There was nothing inside them... Nothing... And I would soon realize to my horror...nothing is still something.

Even the Radiance responded with concern. I heard her gasp above us as she leaned over to more effectively gaze down upon us. And as the crack neared the bottom of their head, I heard the Hollow Knight's voice in my head. "It calls... It beckons..."

Confusion filled my heart as reached out for my trembling friend. And before anything else could happen, their voice screamed out in my mind.

"THE VOID HUNGERS!"

In an instant, the Hollow Knight's hardened white head split in two down the middle. And with an indescribable otherworldly roar... Something came out. The Hollow Knight's form was consumed by what I could only describe as darkness given form. Their head was still very visible, but what was white was black and their eyes were filled with a bright white glow. They suddenly shot up and floated before the Radiance, their almost ghostly legless form matching the Radiance in size with many flailing black tendrils making up their cloak with armor discarded. The Radiance even seemed to recognize this shadowy form of the Hollow Knight as I heard her speak out one last time in a fusion of terror and rage.

"ANCIENT ENEMY!"

And with one swift move, the Hollow Knight landed the first of many blows. Their arms extended and slammed into the Radiance across her fluffy body with blow after thunderous blow. She recoiled heavily from each strike with the air rippling from the sheer amount of power behind each strike. Dreamcatcher sigils were just exploding out of her with each strike. And I could only gaze up at them in confusion and horror before looking down at the only thing that remained of their prior mortal form. The hard white skull being neatly split in two down the middle now lying empty on the floor. What even was the Hollow Knight anymore? Were they even themselves? Or had they...become the avatar of some other dark god?

Powerful as the Hollow Knight was in this state, the Radiance refused to let herself be overpowered. She shrieked in defiance and teleported to the Hollow Knight's left to just barely evade another strike. Volleys of piercing light burst from her eyes and tore through the shadowy creature before her while they let out an eldritch howl. But they did not relent. Pain meant nothing to the Hollow Knight as barbed tendrils burst out from under their cloak and slashed against the furious Radiance. More pure white blades struck them from behind and sank deep before vanishing in puffs of dreamcatcher sigils.

I was completely out of my depth as I gazed up at the divine battle happening right above me. The brightest light versus the blackest void. Tendrils and fists of black against burning rays of light, exploding suns, and brightest blades. I stood there with my mouth agape as neither side seemed to be able to overcome the other. Blow for blow, claw for ray, it just kept going as they struggled against each other with neither relenting.

After being on the receiving end of another burst of burning rays of light tearing through their shadowy form, the Hollow Knight backed up with a hand clutching at their chest. Were they already reaching their limits? Or did the pain become too much for them at that moment? The Radiance looked no worse for the wear as her face began to glow brightly to signal another volley of piercing light. But then, the Hollow Knight acted swiftly. With a diving swoop, they dove under the burst of light and caught the Radiance in their coils. They wrapped themselves around the her with great barbed tendrils coiling around just about everything but her wings. And once they had their upper body over her head, the Hollow Knight looked right down at me with those piercing white eyes.

The instant I realized they were looking at me and not the Radiance, I flinched. That gaze was fierce. Were they going to come for me next? The goddess of light was all but still in the Hollow Knight's coils with only her wings weakly fluttering to hold herself aloft. I asked quietly, "Are you...still you?"

With one simple motion, the Hollow Knight answered me. They nodded. And I breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what they were then, they were still my new friend. But then I saw that the Hollow Knight almost appeared to be struggling. At that point, neither they nor the Radiance could lash out. It had become a stalemate. Neither had the power to destroy the other with the Hollow Knight having resorted to just restraining the Radiance. Our enemy could not even teleport out of those shadowy chains. But if their power was now canceling each other out... All that remained was me.

A smirk crossed my lips as I understood what the Hollow Knight was saying to me. It was time for the final blow. I took my sword's long hilt into both hands and waited for the signal. The Hollow Knight then made one last preparation. They took hold of the edges of the Radiance's face before pulling outward. After a few seconds of tugging, they got the results they needed. The edges of that pale gold fluff around the Radiance's face was pulled outward with the golden light within spilling out like a beacon. The Radiance's face could not be seen anymore. Her inner light was shining too brightly.

"I did say I would use my light to burn you down to nothing, didn't I?" I asked while hoping the Radiance could here me. With such a gaping opening to her inner light exposed, the Radiance knew she was in dire peril. She began to squirm in the Hollow Knight's shadowy clutches. Trying desperately to get free. But she failed. Their grip was too strong. They could not destroy her, but they would never let her go now. I then said with a newfound smugness settling in my voice, "Guess what happens next."

With victory in sight, I raised my sword high. I channeled the solar magic in my right gauntlet directly into my sword and set its great blade alight with a surging layer of scorching white fire. The Radiance began to shriek incoherently as she surely saw her doom right before her. The mad goddess frantically squirmed with otherworldly growls and cries filling the air. There were no words left to say. All that remained was a trapped mad beast. I readied my sword and spread my wings. "Let's see who shines brighter!"

My wings carried me high into that golden sky with a great flap. I rose up and over my friend and our enemy while the Hollow Knight watched me from below. I turned my sword around and readied it for a diving thrust as my ascent began to slow. My eyes met those of my shadowy friend. I knew it was over now. And they would soon be able to rest and live again. "Hey... See you soon."

The Hollow knight's eyes narrowed as I recognized that smiling gaze. They held my target still even as she shrieked and roared in defiance to the bitter end. And as gravity took hold of me, I readied my blade. Down I went... And I plunged my great burning blade deep through the Radiance's face.

My sword was buried to the hilt as I practically stood atop the Radiance's fluffy form. And with that, I dealt the final blow. I channeled my solar magic as hard as I could through the length of my sword. And the Radiance screamed as that scorching white fire began to explode out of her radiant body in all directions while an utter geyser of dreamcatcher sigils began to erupt from out of her glowing face. Burning as that golden light was being eclipsed by the bright white light of the sun. Brighter and bright... Filling the sky and the world around us. The world began to disappear into that growing brightness as the Radiance screamed her last breaths. Even the shadowy blackness of the Hollow Knight was being swallowed up. Our gazes met one last time. And as white filled my vision and the world around me grew silent... One last time. In the depths of my mind.

"Farewell, my friend. And thank you."

My vision returned to me. And I suddenly jerked my head up with a strange grogginess coming over me. Had I...fallen asleep while down on one knee? I was surprised I had not fallen over entirely. I quickly glanced about. Was I back in the chamber that held the Hollow Knight?

"Ah, you're awake. You're not harmed? No pain?" A familiar voice spoke to my right. Quirrel was near and rested his hand on my pauldron. I really must have fallen asleep. Perhaps it is a result of entering a world of dreams. Hornet stood to my left with needle in hand, the silence of the chamber we were in startling me. It was much darker by then too. The only source of light left in there was from the glowing blade of the Celestial Sword as it shone particularly brightly from where it had fallen. I looked up at Quirrel as he explained, "You just...went limped after that dream blade struck. As if you fell asleep. What did you see in there?"

"I... I saw the light. The Hollow Knight was there too, but...they were pure. And they were amazing. We fought together and...destroyed the Radiance." I explained while still gradually coming back to my senses. I had fallen asleep in a less than ideal position and felt rather painfully stiff. I flexed a bit where I knelt to loosen myself up. But I then realized who I had just mentioned and asked quickly, "Wait! The Hollow Knight! Are they OK?!"

Hornet then pointed ahead of me. "They remain exactly where they were."

I had somehow overlooked what was right in front of me. The Hollow Knight remained hunched over on the floor and completely still. And I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that their eyes were again free of the infection's putrid orange glow. I did not even see any blood leaking out of them from under their stained cloak. "Oh thank god... Then...it's really over...?"

I turned back to Hornet as she gazed stoically upon me. She then turned her head to gaze upon the stone chamber around us. It was...gone. All of those glowing vines and pulsating pustules had simply disappeared. As if they had never been there in the first place. She spoke softly and almost as if she was nearly in a trance. "It's gone... All gone. The infection...is no more? Truly?"

"Yeah... The light... She called herself the Radiance. And she...had a lot to say before I could actually see her. The plague really was alive... A guiding light gone mad. But...she's gone. We destroyed her." I replied while so relieved that such a nightmare was over. I then turned my gaze to the friend I had made along the way as they silently gazed back at me. A smile crossed my lips as I said, "And...I heard their voice too. No voice to speak, but they had a mind to think. Right?"

We gazed upon the voiceless knight before us. I knew they could not speak and I had picked up on how I could only hear them if those strange dreamcatcher sigils manifested near us. There was no sign of them, so I knew I would not hear the Hollow Knight's voice. I bowed my head and sighed in such relief after a bitter struggle. "It's done... You're free now. You can...start to live again."

Quirrel and Hornet were noticeably silent. Although I noticed Quirrel out of the corner of my eye and he leaned to one side with arms crossed. He looked more confused than anything. But Hornet... I saw her turn away. Her left hand clutched more firmly at the hilt of her needle. And then her eyes closed. I looked back at the Hollow Knight as they remained very still with eyes gazing at me. "Hey... I know you can't speak. But...come on. Let me help you up."

I held out my hand and waited for the Hollow Knight to place her one remaining hand in mine. I waited...but they did not response. They just continued to stare at me. My soft smile began to fade as I puzzled their great silence. They had not fallen to the floor in fatigue. But then I noticed something about their face. The cracked that reached down to their left eye... It had branched off before that point and now reached all the way down tot he bottom of their face. A crack that separated the two halves of their face. "That scar... Did it get bigger?"

I gingerly reached for the Hollow Knight's face. And only then did they finally respond. I pulled my hand back as the Hollow Knight began to lean forward and to their right. And with a thud, they completely collapsed to the ground. But... My eyes went wide in silent shock. In the process, their head completely disconnected from the rest of their body...and fell to the ground in two even halves. And the interiors... It was entirely hollow. As if nothing had never been in there in the first place. And my companions dared not speak. They could see the truth before them.

"No... Please, no..." I muttered as my voice began to break. I was so sure... I reassured the Hollow Knight that they would live when that mess was all over. But now... When their head split open to unleash that dark power within... Did that also apply to their physical body in the real world? A power that doomed them?

"Come on... You... Not like this... Please..." I whispered pathetically as my hands tenderly cradled the two halves of the Hollow Knight's horned head in each hand. I brought them back together with the head being whole again. But...it was not the same. The tears returned to me and flowed as I let the two halves fall from my armored hands again. The reality of the situation began to set in. I had only just met them. We only just became friends. I did not even get to say goodbye... I squinted my eyes shot with head bowed, trying to make sense of this outcome. "Why couldn't I save you...?"

Dead... The Hollow Knight... I did everything I could. Stood by them in battle. We defended and supported each other. I promised them they would live past that struggle, and yet... They lay dead before me. And Hornet spoke softly yet coolly, "It...could not be helped... The vessel... They lived a cursed existence. Even since the beginning... They were always meant to serve as the final sacrifice for Hallownest's salvation. And it is finally done..."

Something about Hornet's words... And her persistent cold tone of voice... And the way she referred It stirred something in me. A bitter anger merging with my sorrow. "Take that back..."

Hornet spoke again. Almost with her voice being in a very restrained monotone. "It is the truth. The vessel was to serve as..."

"THEY HAD A NAME! THEY WERE THE HOLLOW KNIGHT!" I finally broke and turned to glare at Hornet while remaining on my knees. Both she and Quirrel recoiled as I raised my voice. My emotions a whirling maelstrom of grief and anger, I lost my balance and propped myself up with one hand. The tears flowing freely from my eyes, I bowed my head as I wept. "They should've lived... They should've been able to see that it was all worth it in the end... We were the same! So why... Why this...?!"

I could barely see Hornet out of the corner of my eye. Her eyes were wide as she took in my words. And Quirrel then spoke more kindly to me. "The same...? How? What trials did you face before you found your way to Hallownest?"

So many memories still remained from that dark time. And I tried to compose myself enough to speak. "The same struggle the Hollow Knight faced... Being instrumental in stopping a great evil from long ago... A threat that would ruin my world if left unchecked. A threat...that sustained themselves through me. Making my very existence a threat to the world I love... So many suffered along the way... I was wounded, but still faced the enemy at the top... And then...it was all for nothing..."

I could still viscerally remember that moment when I stood before the Forgotten Emperor. When it dawned on me that I could not destroy him. When I held that miniature sun above me and promised to destroy us both if it meant the portal to my tainted homeworld would finally close. Only to discover...that the emperor's death would result in it remaining open forever. And the...crushing sense of failure and futility that came over me. When I realized the War of Preservation had been all for nothing.

But it was not all for nothing. The fact that I was there proved that. "But then...a miracle happened. One little unexpected blessing happened and...everything worked out in the end. I...barely survived. We all went home... We recovered... And now my world is thriving again. So then... Why...? Why couldn't they have the same as me?!"

It was just so unfair... While the Hollow Knight and I were the same, we were still vastly different. I knew that gallant knight suffered far more than I did and for far longer. And it only made them all the more deserving for a just reward for succeeding in their very long struggle. And yet, they now lay dead before us...

My throat clenched up as I finally went silent even as I continued to weep. I was so distraught that I failed to notice Hornet approach me. And she ever so gently cupped my cheek with her right hand and lifted my face to gaze up at her. Her gaze had softened. She even looked pained. "Forgive me... I could not have known. And I meant no disrespect by being so cold... It is just... For so long, my heart had to become like stone just to... And now...that I can...grieve..."

I noticed the voice of that cloaked defender starting to waver. I raised myself up on my knees as Hornet's grip on her needle failed. It fell to the floor with a light clatter as she asked, "Please... Tell me once more. Is it true? Has the light been vanquished? Does Hallownest live again? Did you truly...make the impossible a reality?"

All I could do was nod. My fury at Hornet faded as she tilted her head back to gaze at the ceiling. And then I saw them. Trails of tears began to flow free. Tears that even I thought had run dry by then. I could hear her breathing becoming labored. Struggling to hold it in. I felt compelled to reach out to the weeping sentry. So I did.

My armored hand rested upon Hornet's shoulder. And she responded immediately. The hardened sentinel dropped to her knees and rested her hardened white face against my breastplate. Hands resting against me, she let out an incomprehensible wail that echoed through the chamber around us. Quirrel respectfully turned away and bowed his head to give us a moment to grieve. Two warriors weeping together as I draped Hornet in my arms and wings. Our tears flowed heavily. Tears that soothed.

I held Hornet against me as we both sought comfort in this moment of shared grief. She had been there since the very beginning and saw the collapse of her kingdom. She lived through the resulting ruin. And having to live day to day with the Radiance's thralls likely being out for her head. All...for this after goodness knows how many years. While nothing was gained in the War of Preservation, at least Equestria was just that. The world I loved was successfully preserved in the end. But with Hallownest... What was even left to save?

These utterly depressing thoughts filled me with a newfound despair. Even if this fictional world woven by my own overactive imagination would never be seen again... To bear witness to such a crushing ending to Hallownest's tale... I was not prepared for it. But my thoughts were interrupted as Hornet's weeping finally ceased and her voice spoke to me. "Bless you... Bless you, Sir James..."

Words failed me. I simply could not find the will to speak. But Hornet continued to speak weakly to me. "Had you not been here... Had you not wandered from beyond the wastes... Hallownest would still be a corpse choked by infection... Perhaps now... New seeds can sprout anew... We can only wait...and see."

With great reluctance, I forced myself to my feet while Hornet did the same. She used her own cloak to dry her tears before gazing up at me with her voice speaking softly. "Make no mistake. You performed a great kindness for my kingdom. And I am forever in your debt. And again... My greatest apologies for any transgressions I forced upon you. May you continue to serve your kingdom with grace."

All I could do was nod. My heart was still too heavy to allow my lungs to offer words. Although we then saw Quirrel finally approach while Hornet retrieved her nail. "My goodness... Are you both all right? Such a spectacle today... I know I said I am here merely to witness... But I never expected to witness such a grand event in Hallownest's history. It...was an honor to be here today."

"And I thank you as well for what assistance you did provide." Hornet replied before she graciously bowed to the two of us. She was shaken, but her looked and sounded so very relieved. I could only wonder how long she had been holding in those tears. She then asked, "And what now, Quirrel? Do you intend to wander Hallownest some more?"

"Actually..." He began to say before he removed the mask sitting atop his head. Our companion held it in his hands and beheld the pattern on the mask before saying wistfully, "I think there's somewhere in Hallownest I need to be. A strange feeling that...someone is waiting for me. I only wish I remembered the way."

"You will find it. Something called you to this place." Hornet replied while Quirrel returned that mask to the top of his head. She then turned her gaze at nothing in particular and muttered, "And...I believe there is someone I must see as well. One I have not spoken to in so long."

Quirrel then turned his gaze up to me while tilting his unconventional hat up to get a better look at me. He was still jovial, but spoke with a much softer and sympathetic tone than usual. "And what about you, Sir James? Where will you go next?"

My gaze lowered while my heart was still heavy with grief. I said what little I could. "Don't know..."

"I see... Well, do take care, my friend. You stand a hero now. Now then... I do believe I shoudl be off. And I dearly hope we cross paths again someday. Safe travels, both of you." He said in farewell before quietly seeing himself out through the only exit to that chamber. And with that, Quirrel was gone.

I did not know what to think or say. And I did feel the faintest quiver in the air. The dream was nearly over. My body would not stay asleep for much longer. But after taking several steps forward, I noticed that Hornet was not following. Looking back, I found her standing before the corpse of the Hollow Knight. And when I drew near, I heard her speak. "No cost too great..."

My grief was pushed down by a new curiosity in my heart. That was a very cryptic thing to say. And once Hornet detected my presence when I drew near, she continued to speak. "No cost too great... No will to break... No mind to think... No voice to cry suffering..."

"They...said something similar to me..." I replied when I noticed something familiar in most of those words.

"Yes... That is what they said. A vessel with those qualities. They would be the Hollow Knight. The one who would seal the light that plagued our dreams." Hornet replied quietly. She then bowed her head as she gazed down upon the remains of Hallownest's savior. "But...they were not hollow. They had a will. A mind... A heart to love with."

Hornet raised her hand and rested it atop her scalp at the very bottom of the two curves that made up her horns. She rubbed herself there... As if cherishing a precious memory. "I was small... So young... And they were so kind to me. And I could not have understood then...that such kindness was a sign that the project had already failed."

Hornet then lowered her arm and gazed up at the domed stone ceiling above us. "I wonder... What did they feel in the end? What do you suppose, Sir James?"

The tiniest of smiles spread across my lips as I recalled very recently crafted memories. "I think they were happy. They...were almost always smiling at me as we fought beside each other. They called me...their friend."

"And I thank you for being kind to them, Sir James. To know they found fulfillment... To even find happiness in their final moments... It...soothes my heart. To know that they faded from this world with a smile." Hornet said with a wistful sigh. She then kneeled before the remains of our friend. And with head bowed, she spoke to them one last time. "Gallant Hollow Knight... Through your sacrifice, Hallownest stands eternal. May your shade finally find rest."

She remained there for a moment longer before rising to her feet. Hornet then turned to me and said, "I...must be off now. If you plan to explore Hallownest further, take great care. Even with the plague gone, I can't say what dangers you may find down here now."

I nodded again as my eyes followed her. Hornet seemed to understand I was not emotionally well enough to really hold a conversation with and did not press me further. But she did speak kindly to me one last time as she passed. "Safe travels, sir knight. And know that you will always be welcome in Hallownest."

Hornet departed with a slower stride than expected. We all had a lot on our minds by then. The world around me quivered again as I was reminded of my imminent awakening. And as I cast my gaze down to the floor, a voice spoke in my mind. "Are you...well, my love?"

Nightmare Moon. She had surely witnessed everything. And I was still at a loss for words. The Princess of Dreams said softly to me, "Your heart is heavy... What a grim situation. To think that even the light can be a tool of evil... And yet, you triumphed. Well played, my dear. Well played indeed."

All I did was nod weakly. It was hard for me to speak idly when so upset. I looked back at the Hollow Knight's corpse and finally muttered, "Why... I know this is all just a dream. This isn't real. This doesn't matter. So...why does it hurt so much?"

"Do not disregard these dreams so easily, my dear James. Dreams that carry this much of an impact upon your heart often have meaning behind them. Cherish these memories, no matter how tragic." Nightmare Moon said wisely while I nodded in some agreement. That night would not be forgotten so easily.

I felt the world tremble again. Not even Nightmare Moon could stop myself from awakening. She then said to me softly, "It is nearly time. I will not distract you any longer. I pray the following day soothes you after such a harrowing ordeal. Take care, my love. I will see you again soon."

Nightmare Moon's voice fell silent. And I was alone again. It pained me to behold the remains of my fallen friend. But when I turned away, a sound reached my ears. Metal clattering against the stone floor. I turned and quickly scanned the distance. And I saw it. The Hollow Knight's nail had finally become dislodged from the wall it had been flung into and was now lying upon the floor.

My time was short. And I finally decided how I wished to spend my final moments in that world. I kneeled before the corpse of the Hollow Knight and removed my helmet before setting it aside. I reached out to the distant fallen nail with only the Celestial Sword illuminating us. I took hold of the nail with my levitation spell and drew it near me. Using the same spell cast from my other gauntlet, I very carefully pried open the Hollow Knight's fingers. I had to be very gentle to avoid causing them to snap right off now that their insect body's rigor mortis was setting in. With great care, I managed to close their fingers around the hilt of their tarnished yet trusty weapon. If nothing else, I saw to it that the Hollow Knight died with a sword in their hand.

It was time. A great wall of an encroaching white void began to consume the chamber around us. Drawing near bit by bit as I gazed upon the two halves of the Hollow Knight's head, their empty black eyes forever gazing up at me. And once again, my tears flow. Vision becoming unclear, I bowed my head and whispered one last time as the white void of awakening took us. "Goodbye, my friend."

I awoke to a feeling of profound emptiness as I gazed up at the ceiling above me. I did not feel rested at all. If anything, I felt weaker than when I first climbed in bed. At least I was not alone. I was borrowed on each side by two wonderful ladies. My beautiful wife and a lovely little dragoness. But the dragoness was false. I knew that a precious Changeling was just under the surface.

Their presence did little to comfort me. And as I lay there in silence in the morning light, someone stirred on my right. And that little dragoness gazed at me with beautiful eyes as she frowned in concern. I could never hide my heart from her. "What's wrong...?"

I did not want to appear upset in front of Ocellus, but I could not hide my broken heart. I gazed up at the ceiling and muttered, "A dream... A very sad dream."

"I'm sorry... Let me hold you. I don't want you to start your day so sad." Ocellus whispered before draping her arm over me. I looked at her while she looked at me. And we soon brought our lips together. "I love you."

"Love you too, love bug." I whispered back as I tried to distract myself from my weeping heart. And there I stayed until Fluttershy awoke.

My morning was listless and miserable. I tried to distract myself with my friends and family while taking many breaks in writing out this entry. What a miserable outcome, even if it was just a dream...

I will not forget Hallownest or those in it. Juts a shame I did not get to see more of it. Even if that world technically does not exist... I find myself hoping that it finds salvation in some form.

I need a drink... And dinner is almost ready. Hopefully I will go to sleep happy tonight.