Believe in the Heart of the Moon Part III
Good and Evil
Some time had passed in Equestria, Twilight and her friends had recently relinquished the Elements to the Tree of Harmony in order to suppress the dark forces lying within the Everfree forest. The Tree of Harmony is once again powerful enough to prevent the spread of this darkness, but not to stop it from empowering others to do its bidding. A void was created by the clashing forces of darkness and harmony, and within this void stood Terra, face to face with Tullius.
“It must have been cramped in that tiny music box for a thousand years Terra,” Tullius said with a menacing smile.
“I’m sorry we failed Tullius, I truly am,” Terra said honestly.
“Not yet Terra. You see, the darkness waited a thousand years after being seeded by chaos. In that time after I was captured it had me in the pit, a horrid place meant to torture me, and break my fragile little mind,” Tullius said with festering sanity.
“We tried together,” Terra said with sadness and pride, regretting only that they had failed.
“It’s a shame you are dead Terra, I so desired the pleasure of killing you myself,” Tullius said sadly, but with that same menacing smile.
“It’s too late for either of us to try Tullius,” Terra said.
“That’s where you are wrong alicorn! I am already free, as a last ditch effort the darkness dragged me from the pit and empowered me with vengeance. I am going to destroy everything you died for. Harmony, Equestria, your dearest Princesses, I will raze all of it to nothing Terra,” Tullius said happily.
“You believe I died without ensuring there would be something left to stop you in my absence,” Terra said.
“Oh? Then enlighten me,” Tullius joked.
“I found a weapon that even chaos fears, a weapon that was best left forgotten,” Terra said.
“There is nothing you could have mustered that can stop me now Terra, no light, no love, no harmony will prevent my wrath!” Tullius claimed.
“Fight fire with fire, darkness with darkness, there is one that will stand against you,” Terra said.
“Who would dare stand alone against me?” Tullius inquired.
“The first king of Everfree,” Terra said proudly.
Tullius could not help but laugh before saying, “The King of Everfree is nothing but dust and bones by now Terra, maybe you should place your faith in the living rather than useless ghosts such as yourself!”
“He is very much alive Tullius, and I am certain the chaos which planted those seeds of darkness will lead him to face you,” Terra said with confidence.
“No King can wield such power. What makes you believe Discord would foolishly sabotage his own trap?” Tullius asked.
“He already has, how do you think the Tree of Harmony returned to full strength,” Terra said.
“Impossible Terra, you will not discourage my attack, and you will not stop me, nor will your dead king,” Tullius said as he began walking away.
“With coat as dark as night’s sky, and mane as blue as the sea, this one does not lie, his blade will silence thee,” Terra said before Tullius faded from the void.
Terra knows that there is nothing left of Tullius, only a tortured soul doing the bidding of the evil that destroyed him. Tullius underestimates Orion greatly, and they will come face to face very soon. There will be a battle, one where he is left out. Terra’s fighting is done, and there is no going back. He accepts that but what does bother him was leaving behind the closest ponies he had to a family.
Elsewhere, in Canterlot, Luna stood by a statue made in the likeness of Terra, to mark his place of rest. Celestia arrived and walked up to the statue and studied it. The statue rested upon a plain pedestal, the mason knew nothing about Terra and so there were no words carved into it. Perhaps her sister should be the one to choose what it says.
“This pedestal should have an elegy Luna, you were the closest to him. You should be the one to decide what it says,” Clestia said in a calm manner as to not upset her sister.
Luna thought about Terra, he was her best friend apart from her sister. He always watched over her growing up, he was always there when she needed him to be, even when she didn’t believe or wanted him to. Nightmare Moon had detached him from her, there was no love for this pony, only sadness, Terra would not be loved in return for his own. This hurt Luna but it was for the best that she did not fall in love with the ageless spirit, as it has been and will continue to be. Luna will not forget Terra, but she must let him go.
“In time sister, I will think of something. What of the danger to Equestria?” Luna asked, changing the subject.
“The Elements of Harmony were returned to the tree by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Whatever evil that dwells within the forest is now suppressed once again,” Celestia said.
“Do you believe this had to do with Terra’s passing?” Luna asked.
“Undoubtedly, Terra is a spirit, weak in his physical form his passing released his spirit. With his help and the Elements returned to the Tree of Harmony, it possesses even greater power,” Celestia explained.
“I don’t know why sister, but I feel as though we overlooked something or forgotten,” Luna mentioned.
“What would that be Luna?” Celestia wondered.
A thought dwelled in Luna’s mind about Terra telling her about her father, and sending her out to find him. Terra knew she would look for her father, he seemed to have had it planned. She wondered why after all of this time that he decided to let her free him. There seemed to be much more behind what seemed a parting gift.
“Why did Terra wait to tell us our father could be saved before he died? Why did no one ever tell us what had happened or where he was?” Luna questioned with worry.
“I am unsure,” Celestia replied.
“Clearly neither of you know much of anything really!” Discord announced, appearing atop the statue and slithering down to Luna and Celestia.
“Eavesdropper! What would you know?” Luna demanded, angered by Discord’s spying.
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” Discord said in a tantalizing manner, folding his arms and turning away.
“How do you know Orion Discord?” Celestia asked.
“I met your father long before there was a kingdom to be named. What the two of you don’t know is that your father came from a very dark time. You’d be surprised to hear that many of your modern troubles were inadvertently caused by your father some time ago,” Discord said, checking a pocket watch he created.
“He would never…” Luna was saying.
“Don’t think you know the story little Princess! Your good daddy made many great deeds in the past, but considering the laws of your lands these days he has more to answer for than even I do,” Discord explained.
“What crimes would he have committed?” Celestia asked.
“Princess Luna! Did the nightmare within you ever explain why it agreed to be bound to you, ever tell you how your mother really died?” Discord asked, driving his gaze into Luna’s, her fury rising within, Nightmare Moon disapproved of Discord’s meddling.
“Silence Discord! You will leave us now!” Celestia demanded.
“As you wish, but you will soon be able to ask him yourself,” Discord said before slinking off to play his next game.
“Sister, Discord is becoming increasingly troublesome,” Luna grunted.
“I understand, he has no place to say such things” Celestia said calmly.
“What worries me is if he is right. We know so little about him,” Luna said worriedly.
“However what we do know is that he loves us, and that what he has done in the past was for the future good of Equestria,” Celestia said.
“You are right sister thank you,” Luna said, giving her sister a hug.
Luna looked at Terra’s statue again, ignoring Discord’s previous misleading games. It bothered her to notice that if a regular pony, who knew nothing of Terra would see a stallion with a fiery mane, an alicorn standing with intimidation and intent for violence. This marker, this statue demands an explanation of what Terra stood for. Not a spirit of violence and lost dreams. There was so much about Terra these ponies do not know, yet they even celebrate the day of his creation every year. Luna is still somewhat resented by many ponies for being Nightmare Moon, and the lack of knowing, their ignorance is what builds their fear of her. Terra does not deserve the same fate, he had done nothing wrong, and his elegy must ensure that her subjects are not misled.
“The promise of harmony will live on through the hearts of those that live and love as family,” Luna said proudly.
“Is that what you’ve decided?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, that will be his elegy, his legacy, his promise,” Luna said sadly.
“I will have it commissioned Luna. It is beautiful, it will serve a greater purpose for generations to come,” Celestia said.
“Family is everything sister, you and I, our father, our friends, our Kingdom. The promise of harmony will always be maintained by the love shared within this family. The wealth of our kingdom is the friendship we have to give one another,” Luna said with greater pride.
“I couldn’t agree more, we will always have family,” Celestia said as she returned her sister’s hug.
“As promised,” Luna whispered, tears in her eyes.
Celestia left her sister to have some time to herself after Discord’s lies had clearly bothered her. Luna sat in front of the statue, gazing up at the stone face of her friend. She felt like a filly again, like the day Terra promised that she would always have family. Perhaps he kept his promise. Deep down though Nightmare Moon was trying to tell her something, preparing her for something terrible once again, telling her it’s not over yet. Nightmare Moon was saying that her heart would break again soon, there was a truth about her father that Discord may have been right about.
It still troubled Luna that Discord may not have been lying, that Nightmare Moon was hiding something more. Luna was soon offered a choice by Nightmare Moon, whether she would want to know more about her father, or to let things proceed as they are. Luna realized that if their father had committed crimes that they would have to be the ones to condemn him.
“Tell me what he has done,” Luna whispered to herself, accepting Nightmare Moon’s knowledge of her father.
What Nightmare Moon allowed Luna to know made her begin to cry. Everything her father had done, everything he had lived through, and everything he had to do both to survive and bring Equestria to an age of peace. She quickly regretted her decision to know, because now she understands how dangerous Orion truly is, and she will have to convince her sister how and why. They will have to imprison their own loving father, there is too great a risk that a pony like him could live in an age of peace and not commit similar acts as he did in the past. It soon dawned on her that she had let him go atop the mountain. It may already be too late to prevent him from committing a chargeable crime.
Luna rushed after her sister, she has to warn her that they must stop their father. What Luna doesn’t know is that Discord will get to him first, and that it is already too late to stop Orion from committing a devastating act of violence. Orion had already slaughtered many changelings before his audience with Chrysalis after they posed little threat, and word of his actions would soon carry to Canterlot.