Warning: Harsh language in this chapter.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Chris yelled, Aldred rolled his eyes.
"Leaving. You and your half-hearted resistance can do whatever you want without my help." Aldred said, the other five teens nodded, and they followed him as they walked. Aldred held Cyra in his arms- now fully revived.
"Your making a big mistake! Aldred! Come back here this instant!" A girl yelled.
"Shut up, Charity." Ackerley said.
"Aldred! Get your ass over here!" Another boy yelled.
"Shut up Helazo!" Ackerley yelled back, the boy then ran up and struck Aldred on the face.
"Ow-! Son of a-!" Aldred sputtered, Ackerley seized Helazo by the throat and threw him to the ground.
"To hell with all of you!" Aldred cursed, and they began to run out of the camp.
They walked through the forest as quickly as they could, carrying with them their supplies and books. They found themselves at a clearing, and they sat down to rest under the trees' shade.
"Christ, have we made a mistake?" Aldred asked, Ackerley looked over to him.
"If this were a mistake, it's probably for the better." Ackerley said, he walked over to a blackberry bush, his eyes glowed, and the berries began to fall into his hands.
"Okay, you have way too much fun with that spell." Aldred teased.
"Hey, if you want to stain your robes, fine, but not me!" He retorted, he then continued to remove the blackberries. Aldred didn't notice the emerald green orb floating behind him.
"Seriously, though! For me, this is my everyday use-type spell! Use the power of gravity? I once did an entire harvest in just a few minutes once with this spell's help!" Ackerley said, Aldred almost answered but turned his head away and grew silent as the orb danced in front of him.
"Not to mention it works on clouds. Don't like a cloudy day? Just pull em' out of the sky! Even if it does take some energy..." Ackerley said.
No response came from Aldred, much less the rest of the group, whose mouths had fallen agape at the sight of the orb.
"What, lost the battle of wits?" He asked, still no response.
"Yo, earth to Star-Swirled the Bearded! I'm talking to y---" He stopped at the sight of the orb, it remained floating in space for a few seconds, then shot off.
"Sprites... Someone must have woken up Hecate." Aldred said, the rest of the group was silent, then, one of the boys spoke up.
"Wait- those herbal spells you gave me- will they work now?" He asked.
"I don't see why not. If she's awake, his healing powers are, too." Aldred said, the boy smiled, ran over to the pile of things they had set down, and took out a large basket. He ran off into the woods.
"Healers. Can't get enough of 'em." Ackerley said.
"Saved my life once, too..." Aldred added, he smiled, his robes grew a slight shade brighter then the dark grey, Ackerley's eyeborws raised in surprise.
"Aldred-!?" He exclaimed.
"What?"
"Your robes- you- I mean-"
"HEY!!!" Someone yelled, they turned their heads to see Ivar walking towards them, supporting a boy roughly Aldred's age, with White hair, and white fleece Sweats and Long sleeved, white shirt on his shoulder, the boy quivered as he walked, and his eyes were a pale grey, they shifted nervously.
"Help me!" Ivar yelled, then, Aldred realized who he was supporting. He ran towards him and helped Ivar lay him down on a blanket.
"Where the hell was he? You said he left White Tartarus!" Aldred asked.
"I don't know. But he's not in a good state."
"D...don't follow... don't follow... Aldred... don't follow..." The boy rambled, he shivered nonstop.
"What happened to him?" Aldred asked.
"I don't know. He's stuck in a toxic trance."
"Don't hurt her... don't hurt her..." The boy rambled.
"What do you mean? Toxic trance? That's dark magic! His eyes- he's been veiled!" Aldred exclaimed.
"Fine...fine...fine...fine...fINE..." The boy rambled.
"Ackerley! Help me! My crystal wand!" Aldred yelled, Ackerley quickly dug through the trove of materials they had brought along, and picked up a rod made of crystal topped with a blue flower shape, he tossed it to Aldred. Aldred focused incredibly hard at the tip of the wand and directed energy into the boy's forehead. The boy screamed.
"Damn it! My Magic isn't strong enough on it's own! This isn't good. Ackerley, stay with Ivar- I'm getting Princess Twilight's help! Keep him still!- give him some sleep sedatives if you have to!" Aldred said, before anyone could say anything, he vanished into thin air.
"L...library...fire..." the boy rambled.
"What happened to him?" Cyra asked.
"Fire..." he said again.
"I don't know, but this is some creepy ass-" Ackerley was interrupted.
"FIRE!" The boy yelled, the teens turned there attention towards the town, smoke was billowing in the sky.
Aldred was stunned by the sudden blast of smoke filling his lungs, he coughed violently and his eyes burned.
"*COUGH!**COUGH!**COUGH!* What the he...!?" He found himself surrounded by flames and dense black smoke.
"Twilight!?" He shouted, he heard a groan. He forced his way through the rubble, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of purple. It was twilight, laying on the ground.
He ran over towards her and threw her over his back, and he ran out of the library, and a window shattered. Spike was in a crowd with the rest of the town. They hadn't noticed him bust out the back door yet.
"Twilight-!? Twilight-!" He said, she groaned again, coughed, and wheezed, Aldred put his palm above her mouth.
"Dolor Intrare." He whispered, and blue mist was emitted from his hand, it entered her mouth and down her throat into her lungs. She felt some of the burning sensation leave her. Her eyes opened to see Aldred standing above her.
"Y...you saved my life." She said.
"Shush! Don't speak, just breathe! The smoke's entered your lungs." He said. Twilight seemed extremely groggy, but also, somewhat nervous. She seemed to be looking directly behind him.
"What?" He asked.
"Uhhmm..." Aldred felt as if a hundred pairs of eyes were digging themselves into his back.
"...There's something behind me, isn't there...?" He said, Twilight nodded. Aldred slowly turned his head to face the crowd of confused, frightened, equines, all staring directly at Aldred. He slowly stepped forward, the crowd walked backwards.
"W-what is that thing!?" One of the crowd members shouted, Aldred still had his hood up, so they couldn't see his face that well.
Oh, boy, here we go... re-introducing myself to an old species. He thought, rolling his eyes, he put his hands upon his forehead and pushed his hood back, revealing his face. The crowd stared horrified.
Three...two...one... Aldred thought, the crowd members screamed and put a sizable amount of distance between them and Aldred, they stopped with their backs against the walls. All the meanwhile, Aldred was doing a face-palm.
Then, he remembered why he was there. He turned to Twilight.
"Princess, I need your help." He said, Twilight looked up at him.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"A friend of mine is in trouble. He's had a curse put on him- a toxic trance."
"A what?" She asked.
"I'll explain on the way there." He said.
He helped her to her hooves and they began to run away from the town.
He snapped the moment she asked him to come back.
"YOU... YOU STUPID TYRANIC BITCH...! I'll-! I'LL KILL YOU!" Aldred shouted, he charged at Celestia, his black robes trailing behind him. He seized her throat. Luna tried to ensnare him with her magic, but to no avail- he was in too huge of a frenzy of rage for any amount of magic to deter him, much less slow him down.
He threw her to the ground and began to strike her. Multiple times. The impact his fist made was loud enough to blur out most of what he was shouting.
He had completely lost himself and could not control his own actions.
"Aldred! Stop!" Luna said.
"UGH! Aldre- UGH!" Celestia said, tears streaming from her eyes.
"FU- *SMACK!* -YOU! FU-*SMACK!*"-YOU! GAH!" He said, he was in a fury of rage. Celestia had killed her sister just a few weeks back- and now she said she was sorry? She expected him to leave the resistance? What kind of torture was this? She knew fully well what she was doing. She killed her. His sister. She deserved this.
"Aldred..." A Guard called.
"WHAT!?" Aldred shouted, the guard looked anything but intimidated, however, that's just how he felt.
"Come on, buddy." He called, trying to sound professional.
"Wha- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? I HAVE TO KILL- G-GYAH~! GET OFF ME!"
"Yeah, come on."
"I HAVE TO GET BACK TO THE- GYAH! GET OFF ME!" He shouted, trying to struggle his way out of the guard's arms, Luna looked horrified and Aldred- she had never seen him in this state before... and yet, she couldn't be mad at him. He had lost everything, now.
"I know, let's go!" The guard said, sounding somewhat irritated.
"I'LL KILL YOU CELESTIA! I SWEAR TO GOD! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" He shouted, and he was dragged out of the room as three more guards came by and drug him off.
"GET OFF ME!" He shouted, Celestia tried to stand up, but struggled.
"Sister-" Luna started, Celestia looked at her sister hopelessly, she finally got up.
"This is my fault." Celestia said, Luna stared at her hopelessly.
"No, it isn't." She said, Celestia looked at the floor.
"He saved my life once... and I effectively took his away." She said.
"Sister, you had no control over what happened. Aldred is just-" Celestia turned to walk away.
"What does it matter? He'll hate me for the rest of eternity... I took his family away from him... How am I supposed to apologize? I've never been in this situation before..." She said, Luna walked over to her older sister.
"I wish there was something I could do." She said, Celestia looked at the mirror. She was covered in bruises she couldn't help but feel that she deserved.
"...If there was something, I wouldn't ask you to do it." She said.
"What?" Luna asked.
"Luna, I've taken Aldred's family away. His life is in shambles... even if we came to a mutual agreement... things would never be the same... I don't deserve his friendship back..." She said, Luna gave her sister an uneasy look.
"Let me talk to him." She said, and she trotted off.
She found him standing at a bridge over a creek.
"Aldred-!" She called out, the moment he heard her voice, he turned to run away, only to find himself ensnared by her magic.
"Release me this instant!" He shouted, a flash came from him and Luna stumbled as he repulsed her magic away from him. He turned to her with nothing short of veritable hatred in his eyes. Hatred burning brighter then hell fire.
"Aldred- wait... please." She said, hatred only began to grow more in his eyes.
"What do you want? Do you want to take me back? Try to get us to reconcile again? It is not happening!" He shouted, his eyes were dry and red- he had obviously been crying- just like everyone else had. The catastrophe that had struck just weeks ago by the resistance members seemed to have put a plague of melancholy upon all of Equestria.
"N-no... Aldred- I just want to talk to you..." She said, the hate in Aldred's eyes did not show any sign of fading. In fact, it only seemed to grow, Luna looked at him guiltily.
"What?" He asked, still glaring at her.
"Aldred- I... I wanted to talk to you. This isn't going to get us anywhere-" She froze. A red fluid pooled at Aldred's eyes. Hatred. It wasn't blood- she knew that. It was liquid hatred. Veritable hatred... towards her.
She felt her heart stop. Aldred wiped the blood-red liquid from his eyes and cast it to the side- the drops of the red liquid tearing through the leaves of a nearby plant like acid, and causing the plant to wilt.
"Yes... I do hate you. Just the mere fact that you can't seem to grasp that makes me see red. If you think I'm not capable of anger simply because I am the element of harmony... then you never knew me to begin with..." He said, Luna looked to the ground in shame.
"If only Justice came first in this world... you and your tyrannical sister would be dead right now." Speaking through clenched teeth, more liquid pooled at his eyes and burnt through the ground like it was paper.
"I never said that you couldn't feel upset with me and my sister... I just wanted you two to stop fighti-"
"Oh, shut up! Why the hell do you care anyway? You defended her after she killed my family- after she looked my entire kind in the eyes... my kind- that trusted her... and sent them to the void. Now I have to worry about millions of my kind suffering in Gehenna! - They'll be stuck there for the rest of eternity for all I know! How dare you try to get me reconciled with her- how dare you defend a murderer-how dare you!?" He shouted, his voice echoing as magic streamed and made his voice heard for miles, and the liquid hatred began to make the ground it touched molten hot, creating a glowing orange puddle in front of Aldred.
It took only a few seconds of emptiness and disbelief to be replaced by true remorse, pain, guilt, regret, and trauma for Luna. He hated her- to the point where his hatred was literally burning through the ground in front of her.
She felt an immense rush of deep sadness fill her... she didn't know what to do... four years ago Aldred had come into her life... it had changed her. He was like a brother to Celestia... and to her. But now, she was faced with the question of who meant more to her. Celestia didn't even mention him or his kind until he appeared... and yet, she always felt a minor attraction to him... it would be too far to call it a crush, but to short to simply call it friendship... family. That's the word she was looking for.
"Aldred... please listen to me... If I didn't care I would not be standing here." She said, depression was pouring into her, and was showing behind her eyes. Her whole body quivered... and for the first time, she literally wanted to die. This was too much for her.
"Huh. Really?" He said- putting an emphasis on 'really', and looking away from her... his anger didn't fade until she started to cry.
"...Aldred... please...I..." She couldn't finish.
A tear hit the ground. Then another. And another. And soon, a steady stream poured from her eyes... her mane stopped flowing and her body trembled in sadness. She couldn't see anything past her tears. No noise came from her- because she couldn't breathe past her emotional rush- drowning her, choking her, and strangling her... hurting her.
He was still upset... but he could feel her pain just by looking at her... she was genuinely upset- and he could see it.
What was he doing? He was finding someone to blame... that's what he was doing... and now he broke one of his only friends.
His hatred stopped pouring from his eyes, and he approached her- his anger towards her began to fade. She didn't see him coming, but he didn't care. He threw his arms around her- she gasped in surprise.
"Aldred...?" She choked out.
"I.. I will listen to you." He said, and he backed away from her.
She stared at him blankly. The pain she was feeling was unbearable... and he had just given her some relief.
But then she saw the guilt behind his eyes.
"Forgive me, Luna... that was wrong of me, I-" He didn't finish his sentence before he found himself cradling his friend in his arms yet again.
"No... I do not blame you." She said, and she tightened her grip on him ever so slightly, and Aldred's robes turned from an almost perfect black to a color darker then the night itself.
The walk they took that night made love for one and the hate for another both grow- in both of them.
...And that night, two more were sent away... one to the moon, and the other to White Tartarus.
------------------------------------------
Aldred was shaken out of his trance-like daydreaming state when he heard Twilight talking.
"Aldred? Aldred!" She called, Aldred shook off the daydream.
"Yes?" He asked.
"So, let me get this straight- your friend is basically... stuck in his own memories?" Twilight asked, the country whizzed by as they rode on Aldred's silk carpet, Aldred shook off the lingering effects of his remembrance.
"Basically- but if he gets stuck there for too long it could cause psychosis- I even heard stuff like that can cause permanent amnesia- effectively wiping out your personality." He said.
"How are your lungs?" He asked.
"I'm okay. Thanks."
"Are you sure it was a human that started that fire?" He asked, Twilight nodded.
"Yeah, I'm positive- I saw its face- it was definitely human... It shouted something at me." She said, Aldred turned to her.
"What?" He asked.
"Muerte al... sol...?" She quoted, Aldred's eyebrows raised.
"Aldred?" She asked.
"Muerte al sol- it means death to the sun." He explained.
"Huh?" She asked.
"It was a pro-resistance faction's motto before we were banished... the group always was regarded as violent." He said.
"Why did they attack me, then?" Twilight asked, Aldred closed his eyes.
"They're.... trying to prevent another 'Celestial Tyrant'." He said, sounding uneasy.
"And I think I know which one attacked you- you said it was a girl in turquoise robes?" Twilight nodded.
"...Charity... I can't believe she'd betray her namesake this much..." He said, and chuckled.
"I'm going to enjoy giving her a life sentence to Saturn." He said, sneering- Twilight's eyes went wide.
"What? I won't torture her!" Aldred said, Twilight didn't move.
"Y...you can do that?" She asked.
"Of course. On your hundred and thirty first year of being an adept mage you get a planet's magical influences as a source of power- Celestia is the sun, Luna the moon, and me? Saturn.. Don't mind me saying it- but that Cadance girl- I wager she'll be Venus's magic user if she lives long enough... not that many people get to that age though. Heck, I'm not even immortal yet and I'm technically four thousand-something years old!" He said, Twilight did a face-hoof.
"What??" He asked, looking extremely confused.
"I keep forgetting how old you are..."
"Well, if you want to learn something from an old, old, man-" He said, mimicking an impressively convincing, raspy, 'old man' voice, Twilight giggled.
"-then learn from my mistakes- don't be a millennia or more late to the planetary coronation- people get impatient." He said, Twilight couldn't help but laugh.
"Wasn't exactly your fault though. Ivar told me... you were ritually poisoned." She remarked, Aldred shrugged.
"Oh- something you should know about Cadance- she's actually my sister-in-law." Twilight remarked, Aldred's eyes went wide in surprise.
"Really?" He asked, Twilight nodded.
"Oh- right... now I remember- Ivar said something about that a while ago... Oh well, all's well that ends well I guess... But..." He said, his demeanor became serious.
"For now, let's hope it ends well for my friend." He said, and the carpet slowed to a stop- and descended. Five teenagers were gathered around a man and a boy sleeping on the ground.
The teens turned around and immediately knelt down before the Princess.
"Now- just focus on applying energy to his forehead." He said, Twilight complied, and they began using their magic.
-------------------------------
The boy stirred in his bed before he woke up, his eyes fluttered open to reveal two exhausted, blue eyes. He sat up in his bed and looked around the tent filled with books and furniture.
"Uhm... h-hello-?" He called, brushing some of his bleach-white hair out of his face.
"Lesley!" A voice called, Ackerley ran in.
"Ackerley? W-what's going on? Where are we?" He asked, Ackerley gave him a stern, yet very concerned look.
"You were veiled... you don't remember?" He asked, Lesley gave him an odd look.
"No... all I remember is going to White Tartarus... and, now I'm here... wherever here is." He said.
"We're back in Equestria." Ackerley said, Lesley's eyes went wide.
"What?" He asked, sounding somewhat fearful.
"It's okay, Lesley... the war, for the most part is over." He said, Lesley relaxed a bit.
"Oh... God... Do you think that Aldred is still mad at me?"
"Lesley!" A voice called, Aldred ran in and put his hands on Lesley's shoulders, he looked very distressed.
"Lesley! You scared the life out of us! Are you all right?" He asked, Lesley looked over to Ackerley.
"Guess not." Ackerley answered.
"...Thank God you're all right..." He said, Lesley gave him a nervous smile.
"...Thanks, Aldred." He said, Aldred smiled back at him.
"You can thank Princess Twilight for helping me get rid of that curse..." He said, Lesley's eyes went wide.
"What?" He asked, Aldred nodded.
"Princess!" He called, and in came walking the young alicorn.
"Yes?" She asked, she looked over at Lesley.
"Oh, you're awake!" She said, Lesley stared.
"...Is he all right?" She asked, Lesley seemed somewhat fearful towards Twilight, Aldred gave him a quizzical look... then he looked like he had made a major mistake, Lesley's eyes shifted.
"Princess, come with me." Aldred said, and they walked out of the tent.
"What was that all about?" She asked.
"...forgive me, I just remembered..." He said, he looked grim.
"When Lesley was sent to White Tartarus... he was actually the last one to go in... he was... hit by an immense amount of Celestia's magic, and, well... don't take offense to it, but... he..." He stopped, Twilight stared.
"Well... when he saw Celestia's aggressive side... if you would call it that... ever since then he's had a bit of a... well, it would be a lie to call it just a 'bit'..."
He stopped again for a few seconds, then spoke.
"Let me say this in the simplest way possible: he has a phobia of Alicorns... and their magic..." He said, Twilight couldn't help but stare. What had happened to Lesley? Did Celestia act that aggressively...?
"Oh..." She answered, Aldred looked extremely embarrassed.
"Yeah... equinophobia wasn't uncommon back then... forgive him." He said, Twilight nodded.
"I don't blame him." She said, Aldred nodded.
---
"Sister?" Luna called, Celestia looked up from her documents.
"I heard." Celestia answered.
"I hope those guards will be enough..." Luna said, she wakled up to Celestia, looking rather nervous.
"They were able to put out the fire." Celestia answered.
"...Did you meet with Aldred?" She asked, Celestia smiled.
"I think that soon he'll be back to his old self... but..." She stopped.
"What is it?" Luna asked.
"You and Aldred aren't-?" She didn't finish, but Luna's face went red.
"H-he's more of a family member... you know that..." She said, her breath quivering.
"Luna, I saw you two at Ivar's hut." Celestia said, smiling.
"Huh-!? You were there...?" She asked, looking very nervous.
"It is all right... I won't tell anyone." She said, she winked and began to walk away.
"I had a vision a while ago... it was just after you sent the guards." Luna remarked, Celestia stopped.
"What was it about?" Celestia asked.
"His friend, Lesley..." Luna replied, Celestia stopped dead in her tracks and dread filled her.
"...And?" She coughed out.
"...I think we shouldn't approach him..." Luna explained, Celestia looked grave and her heart felt heavy.
"He was the last one to go in... and I was the one who sent him..."
"Sister- I do not blame you." Luna said, Celestia smiled sadly.
"Thank you, Luna." Celestia said, and she left the room.
Luna looked down at the floor sadly... Lesley was a close friend of Aldred's...
Her thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected, quivering, and scared voice.
"P-p-princess Luna... I-is that you?"
She saw a boy in white clothes out of the corner of her eye.