Fallen Friend

Forced into severing his newly fire-forged bonds, Executor briefly reflects on what he has done...and what he must do.

Plot Background
Fallen Friend takes place immediately after the "official" beginning of Season 3. Lynna, Terminos and Oneiros have successfully separated themselves from the Nihilius Clan, and Executor has established himself as their High Lord. It is done from Executor's perspective, and takes place just before the first Nihilius assault on Canterlot

Synopsis
The solo begins with Executor standing on the surface of the comet that Nihilius calls their home, watching the distant orb of Equestria, remembering the path he took to get to this point, and working to push out all of his past so that he can fully become High Lord Executor.

A man in black robes called Vocus-3 approaches Executor from behind, asking if Executor is ready to Manifest his Anathemite powers. Executor refuses, desiring to lead the charge himself and do so without relying on Anathemus. Vocus-3 leaves after this, and Executor follows him a few moments later.

Full Text
His name is Executor. At one point he was known as The Factory, and SDM before that. Those were simpler times. Happier times. Until He came.

Now he stands with His servants, known as the High Lord, the Gift of Anathemus. But only in the metaphorical sense.

For right now, he stands alone on the rock, looking at the blue and green mixture in the distance. He used to have one like it. A long, long time ago. A home. A place to be free.

Now he has nothing. Now he is alone. His world is gone, and his friends are as far away from him as possible...as far away from danger as they can be.

He found it funny. He would never have considered them friends before. But after all they've been through, the four of them incidentally formed a tight bond. The kind of bond that only allies forged in battle can have.

But that bond had to be shattered. Forcibly severed, in order for them to survive. When Clan discovers that he is no godspawn, they will kill him. He knew it would only be a matter of time, but he hid that fact from his friends. The moment they said goodbye, they sealed his fate.

He couldn't tell them that, or else they wouldn't go. And then they'd all die. That could not be tolerated. He had lost his family before; he was not going to lose his second one.

That is why he made this decision. He will not hold back. He must become the enemy his friends have made him out to be. He can't appear soft, or the lie will be exposed, and then they, too, will die.

Starting now, he discards all notions of being SDM, The Factory, and a protector. Starting now, he is only the High Lord Executor, the Herald of Anathemus.

There can be no compromise. There can be no weakness. He must be the enemy of the world. There can be no other option.

"Shall we begin, O Lord?" A man in dark robes approaches Executor, eyes wide in anticipation, but head lowered to hide it.

"We shall not. If I'm to prove that I am His Great Gift, I must prove that I can overcome any challenge without relying on His power. If I fail this first move, then the only fate I deserve is death."

"Then you have reached a decision, Great One?"

"I have," Executor replies calmly, focusing his red eye on Vocus-Three. "We will carry out the operation as discussed. However, I will be the one that leads the attack on Canterlot."

"You intend to risk yourself, Lord?"

"As I said, Three... 'If a king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?'"

"Very well, my Lord. Come this way; your chambers have been prepared."

"I will follow in due time, Three. I take no action that I do not wish to perform."

"As you wish."

Executor continued to look at the distant cities and people, now and forevermore his enemy. If he takes the victory, they will all die and burn in a cleansing fire.

He turns to leave, unable to face it any longer. Should he encounter his friends on the battlefield, he can only pray his death is swift.

Soundtrack

 * 1) NieR Gestalt & RepliCant Unreleased OST - The Incomplete Stone (A Cappella)

Trivia

 * Fallen Friend is the first solo written for the Xat RP, and the first written by SDM
 * The song used here, The Incomplete Stone, has gone on to be Executor's official song when he appears.
 * This solo (and the entire concept of solos) was birthed by SDM as the companion episode had been the first session of the Xat RP in over four months. Even after it had concluded, SDM still felt the desire to create something, having plenty of creative energy left over. To this end, he wrote a one-off character piece from Executor's point of view, summarizing his feelings. SDM's rationale was that such scenes wouldn't normally fit into the rapid nature of the RP itself, and could relgate such things to single-author events traded through private messages. After all, such things did not require other player input. This was quickly caught on and adopted by the others.
 * One of the reasons this wiki was founded was to have these solos made public (with music links removed for copyright reasons).
 * This solo foreshadows the attack on Canterlot, which took place in episode 2.
 * The line, "If a king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?" is a direct reference to the anime series Code Geass, which SDM is a known fan of.