A chill ran through the room and the smell of moisture filled the air. A bulb hanging from the ceiling with a dim light barely lit up the room. Aiden, barely conscious, found himself bound to a chair with his legs strapped to its legs, and his hands were tied behind him. Blood dripped from the cuts on his face and bruises clearly covered his left eye and right cheek. He weakly lifted his head and shifted his eyes around the room as heard a couple of voices speak to each other.
“Heh, it’s fun beating the bloody daylights out of this spell-slinging scumbag ain’t it?”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Aiden observed both his assailants through half-lidded eyes. Both were armed with bulky, steel-plated chains wrapped around their knuckles. They seemed to be wearing light armor that barely covered their bodies, but any empty space was filled in by brown cloth. He could feel the aura coming off the armor but it left a void completely untouched by magic. The man to the left seemed pretty bulky and looked like he could knock someone out cold in an instant. The one to his right didn’t appear to be as big, but was just as intimidating and dangerous as he tightened the chains around his knuckles.
“He’s still conscious. Tough sack of shit,” said the man to his left.
The man on his right nodded. “Let’s remedy that,” he walked over to a small shelf that stood behind him. The sound of metal being picked up and the brandishing of a knife could be heard. The man slowly walked over to Aiden and knelt down with knife close to his ear. He drew in closer and whispered into it. “I think it’s about time we ended this. You must be suffering from all the gifts we gave you,” his breath ran into Aiden’s ear that sent a chill down his spine.
Aiden let out a pained groan as he was belted once more by the cutting force of metal against his face. “Hey, he makes noises now! What’s wrong? Finally lost the will to live?” said the larger man.
“I think he has,” said the smaller man as he drew the blade away from his ear, and stood up. He walked in front of Aiden and slashed the tattered remains of his clothes off him, exposing his torso.
Aiden watched as the man squatted down, and held the blade to his left shoulder. His eyes widened as he felt the cold blade made contact with his skin. The next thing he felt was the sheer pain of the knife slowly slicing its way down across his body. He screamed as he balled his hands into fists and shook violently as he tried so desperately to loosen his bindings, but to no avail. He had to endure his mutilation right before his eyes. Once the blade had finished its bloody assault on his body, both men let out sadistic laughs.
Aiden sat there as he breathed heavily. He made quick gasps for air as the pain continued to shock his body. Blood flowed from the fresh wound on his torso and dripped onto the ground. As his vision started to fade in and out, he caught a golden ball of light in the corner of his eye. He passed out shortly after from the blood loss. All he heard was the sound of metal crashing and the two men yelling at each other.
*****
Aiden shot up into a sitting position and held his head. His breathing was fast and his heart was beating against his chest. He slowly brought a hand to his chest and took in several deep breaths. He then slid his hand up to his forehead and felt the cold sweat against his palm. He turned to his right and looked out his bedroom window to see what time of day it was. He could barely make it out because the canopy of the Everfree Forest blocked nearly all light sources from coming through.
He tossed off the blankets and walked over to the window and slid it open. He poked his head outside to get a better look. He looked up at the thick canopy of the forest and looked through the small breaks in between the leafs and branches of the trees. He almost couldn’t tell if it was night or if the thick bushels of leaves and tree branches just impaired his vision.
Aiden brought his head back inside and slid the window shut. “I need to go for a walk,” he said to himself. He walked over to his closet and took off his pajamas and put on some regular clothes. He slipped on a T-shirt, some jeans, and a pair of sandals; and walked down the hall out the door.
*****
Aiden wandered in the night’s embrace for almost an hour and found himself walking through Ponyville. It would have been a little less stressful on him if he didn’t have to look at the damage that was left to repair. From what he could gather, there was a lot left to go. At least several days worth of work was left over after the first couple days of fixing the town. He slowly brought his head down at the sight he beheld. Buildings were barely fit with new beams of wood and new thatches of straw sparsely covered the rooftops.
After his trek through the town, he finally set his sights for Whitetail Woods, where he would take refuge for the night. As he walked through the empty streets of the sleeping town, he felt his heart sink a little. He neared the outskirts of town, he drew closer to the woods. His heart sank a little more. He put a hand over his chest and gripped it tightly. His hand fell from his chest as he entered the woods.
Navigation wasn’t an issue as Aiden had visited this place many times before. He almost knew the place like the back of his hand, save for the fact that he got lost every now and then. His vision was impaired by thickets of trees and bushes.
When Aiden had finished wandering about—trying to find his way through, he came to a small clearing. The moonlight lit up the area which allowed him to see better. He looked around and saw a small stone in the middle with a small patch of roses planted in front of it. He took small steps toward the stone. Once he was close enough, he sat down. He crossed his legs as he stared intently at the stone. The light from the moon made a few words visible on it. He opened his mouth to speak to himself, but was interrupted by a rustling coming from the bushes.
He turned his head around to see what it was. He narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows at the rustling bush. “Who's there? Show yourself!”
A silhouette emerged from its cover and walked over to Aiden. Once it stopped in front of him, the moonlight revealed the figure to be none other than Princess Luna. Aiden’s eyes went wide as he scrambled to get to his knees and bow before her.
“P-Princess!” He exclaimed with his head facing the ground.
“There is no need for formalities, Aiden. Now, stand up,” she replied in a soft and gentle tone.
Aiden lifted his head as he got to his feet. “What brings you out here this time at night?” He asked nervously.
Luna deadpanned him. “I could ask you the same question.”
“Well, I…” He trailed off as his voice went into a low mumble.
Luna peered over Aiden’s shoulder at the stone. “Tell me, what is that stone behind you?”
He glanced over his shoulder at the object in question. “I-It’s nothing really.”
“Nothing? It seemed important enough for you walk out here in the middle of the night,” She replied. “This looks like more than just nothing.”
Aiden fiddled with his fingers for a moment. He inhaled and exhaled calmly then finally answered. “It’s a tombstone. A gravesite I made for someone who was once close to me.”
“Close indeed. Your dreams say so.”
Aiden was almost in shock, but quickly realized that he read about how Princess Luna could enter dreams of ponies; and people apparently. “I haven’t gotten any rest for the past couple of nights because of those dreams,” he said as he went back to sit in front of the tombstone. He put his right hand the face of the stone. He went silent for what seemed like an eternity as he stared at it.
Luna walked up next to Aiden and sat next to him. “They seem to be bothering you a lot,” she finally spoke up. “Would you please tell me the rest of what happened in your dreams?
Aiden took his hand off the stone, but continued to remain silent. He arched his knees up front of him, and proceeded to wrap his arms around them. He stared intently at the grave. An involuntary hic escaped from his throat as he buried his head into his legs. “Am I a bad person?” His asked as he held back a sob.
Luna looked over at him with much worry. “I do not believe that you are bad.”
“My servants went rogue after I was apprehended by you and your sister. Even if that were to happen, they shouldn’t have done what they did,” he took a breath. “They were hurting your subjects. I don’t think even you can forgive me for any of that,” his head sunk further into his legs. “I just don’t belong here.”
“I think that you’re being too hard on yourself. Perhaps explaining what happened to you would help.”
“You really want to know what happened?”
“If it would help put this to rest, then yes.”
Aiden tightened his arms around his legs. His eyes were glued to the grass beneath him. “In my world, as I have said already, there are people who hunt mages. Whether it be for sport, or they just feel like like it’s some kind of justice. I’m not really sure. I hadn’t done anything to them,” he paused for a brief moment. “that is, until I was captured by them.”
“How did these hunters manage to capture you? Given your power, surely normal humans could not stand against you..”
Aiden slowly shook his head. “They can resist magic through special techniques that they have learned. The less experienced hunters wear a special armor that surrounds them with a protective aura,” he explained. “As to how they captured me: I was caught off guard. I was looking for my familiar at the time.”
“Familiar? Please explain.”
“I’m sure you have an idea as to what a familiar is, but I’ll explain anyway I guess,” he took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts for his answer. “Mages are able to perform special types of summoning that grants us a lifelong companion. After the summoning ritual has been performed, the master and familiar then enter in a contract. After doing so, the mark of the contract will appear on the mage’s body. Most commonly on the right shoulder or on the back of their left hand.”
“So, that golden light that appeared at the end of your dream. That was your familiar I take it?”
Aiden only nodded in reply. He shut his eyes tightly and buried his head in his legs again.
“Why were you both separate if you were supposed to be companions?”
Aiden rested his chin on his knees and answered. “I snapped.”
“What cause would you have to snap at it?”
“Her,” he replied.
Luna raised a brow.
“She was a fairy; and I yelled at her for something stupid. She ran off because of it,” he explained. “After I was captured during my search, the Hunters decided they wanted to torture me. They would have killed me if she didn’t show up in time.”
“How did your familiar know where you were? If she ran off like you said, then that would mean she couldn’t have known.”
Aiden shook his head. “Isabelle was a smart fairy. That and familiars, due to the contract, can feel out their master’s presence.”
Luna could see that Aiden started to get uncomfortable. Every time he continued his story, he just shrunk his head back into legs or looked down at the ground. She could tell something bad happened, and she needed to know so she could help him.
“I don’t mean to push you, but would you like to talk about it?” She asked.
Aiden took in a breath as he held back the moisture that pricked the corners of his eyes. Luna put a comforting wing over his back. He looked up at her as she nodded her head as a signal to continue his story.
“When she came to rescue me, the two men in the room were fighting with each other because she had just caused a commotion,” he began. “She then took the time to spring me while they fought each other. After we had escaped their stronghold, we fled as fast as we could through the forest,” he took a much deeper breath to prevent his voice from cracking. “What happened next felt like someone playing a cruel joke on me. I wish that it wasn’t real.”
“What did happen?” Luna asked softly.
Aiden swallowed a lump that formed in his throat and answered. “An arrow shot into her back. I saw her get in the way of it too.” After he finished, a tear trickled down his cheek. He brought an arm to his face to wipe it off. “Sorry, I’m normally not a cryer,” he wrapped his arm back around his legs.
“It is only natural to mourn for or cry over the loss of a loved one.”
“I’m a grown man! It’s emasculating for men to cry!” He shouted.
“It’s okay to cry. There is nothing wrong with that,” Luna replied in her gentle tone. “You can think or believe what you like, but having yourself a cry once in a while doesn’t hurt.”
Aiden put his head down. “She told me that I was the best master she could ask for. I doubt that she truly felt that way,” he said as he swiped at the dirt beneath him.
“If she gave her life like that for you, you had to have meant the world to her. Maybe you weren’t as bad as you think you were.”
“The fact she isn’t here anymore still hurts me more than anything. She was always by my side; we were the best of friends. Now she’s gone, and she’s never coming back,” A sob escaped Aiden’s throat. “I just wish that I could’ve done something.”
Luna watched him stare at the gravestone. A tear made its way down his left cheek. “Perhaps you would like to be alone? I can understand if you want to,” she said as she slowly stood up and opened up her wings. As she readied herself for take off, she felt something grab her foreleg. She looked down to see Aiden’s hand. He looked up at her with as a couple more tears trickled down his face.
“Will you stay a little longer? Please?” He asked.
The corners of Luna’s mouth slowly turned up. Aiden’s face remained neutral. She nodded slowly, and sat back down with him.
“Thank you, Luna.”
Luna remained silent as she remained with him until she had to lower the moon.
Aiden let out a yawn and closed his eyes. He laid himself down on the grass to finally get a good night’s rest.