Songs of Innocence

Chapter 96: Extinction Event Horizon

"HAIL, OUTER GODS!"

That waking shout echoed throughout the halls of the nameless ziggurat. A shaggy figure, who from a generous stretch of the imagination could be thought to be similar to a crazed geriatric woman, walked through the ancient corridor in her long-worn ceremonial robes. Although her vision was purposefully shielded by the shimenawa knots tied around her head, she walked past the gigant statues of the Outer Gods as if she could see them perfectly fine.

"The pale moon is shining brightly. It is alive.
Hail, Angel of Music, who purges sound itself!
Hail, Infernal Buried One, who burrows beneath our eyes!
Hail, Undeniable Truth, who justifies reality!
Hail, Empyreal Miasmal Fissure, who quakes godhood!
Hail, Abyssal Dementia, who befouls our darkest kind!
Gather our void legions... Stir Yamath the Carcass of the Ultimate Collective...
The time has come... and so have WE!"

Prologue: Losing and Loving

Sun groaned, accidentally stirring from sleep. She found herself on her couch, with a fresh new stain on it from a drink someone spilled last night. Great. She was gonna miss all the excitement of her birthday, now that it was over... She arose from her hastily-chosen spot that she had fallen asleep on, and looked around her house. It felt so empty compared to last night. 

Oh, actually... it was still nighttime. It had to be around 5AM or so. Thinking fancifully, she thought that maybe it was because the universe (or something like that) wanted her to have a moment to reflect on anything. As odd as it may initially sound, what better time to do that than in the darkest of night, when nopony was up yet?

Looking at the pale moon that gazed into her home, she felt kind of... lonely. Why was that? Death Drive was probably just upstairs, and Cozy was downstairs. But... she kind of missed moments like these where Avalonia could talk to her. It felt so long ago that she would talk with Avalonia about... well, anything. Their favorite topic usually tended to be what they would have for their next meal, since Avalonia never got to taste anything except through her connection with Sun. They had a unique situation going on, and it could never be replaced... But hey, that just made Sun glad that she had Avalonia at all. She couldn't imagine what her life could've turned out to be like without her.

She almost fell back asleep with that thought, but then she heard something. She suddenly began to pick up on something that was background noise to her before, and it sounded like... crying, coming from downstairs.

Sun got up from the couch, and went downstairs with a little caution in her steps, as if she was hesitant to disturb Cozy. But, she went to check on her anyways, because if Cozy was crying, she'd obviously want to see what was wrong. But when she came down into the basement and saw Cozy in her bed, nothing was wrong. On the surface, at least.

["Ordinary Vanity" from Silent Hill 2]

"Cozy?" Sun asked.

Cozy was silent at first. It was like she'd been caught, and she was trying to think of a response. What ended up coming out of her mouth was a surprisingly self-unconcerned, "D-did I wake you...? I'm sorry..." 

"It's fine." Sun insisted. "I just thought I heard you crying."

Cozy sniffled, and that was enough to tell Sun that her concerns were correct. 

"What's wrong?" Sun asked simply.

Cozy rested her head on her pillow, and a sorrowful tear rolled down her cheek. "I... I just miss my mom and dad... That's all." the filly said, failing to avoid choking up even with so few words. Sun instantly sympathized with her, and the unicorn herself teared up a little. There was then a contemplative, empty silence for what felt like forever.