Guide You Home

by Magical Trevor

Chapter the Thirteenth

Author's Note: I know it's short, and possibly a bit sloppy, and I'm sorry, but I just don't have time to properly edit it at this time. Grandparents have been here for FOREVER now, and I just... Don't have the energy. So if you see a decrease in quality, I apologize. (Though, really, I'm not sure why I care about quality since nobody ever leaves comments! xD I don't even know if anyone is reading this dren anymore. Meh, whatever. Too lazy to care if others care.

Luna shifted uncomfortably in place, unsure of how to break into the now-silent conversation in front of her, the three ponies just sitting in a hug. Seeking something to distract herself, she considered talking to the elements, but they made her nervous, uncomfortable without Twilight there, like they were incomplete. Her nervousness got the better of her, old habits arising once more.

Everypony in the room turned towards Princess Luna to see her face stuffed with donut holes, shocked, allowing Fluttershy to slip out of the room undetected, mumbling an excuse about needing some water. Luna chewed a few times, slowly, before trying to grin sheepishly. “Whug? Uh eag when uh geg nerbush!”

“Ish donut timez?!” Milky Way shouted, her eyes wide open with happiness, her mood swinging from depressed to overly excited as only foals can. “Yush! I wuv donuts! I can haz some please, missus pretty princess pony Loony? I’ve been gud, I promises!”

“Loony? You must love that little filly if you’re letting her get away with calling you that, Loony,” Princess Celestia smirked as she walked regally into the room, enjoying the guilty jump that Luna gave as she swallowed something. Ignoring all of the ponies who bowed to her, absent Milky Way and Moonstone, she asked, “So what are you eating? Oh, you’ve discovered donuts? Yes, they are good, aren’t they. Now, little one, what might your name be, and what made you choose such a nickname for her?”

“Hai miss pretty princess pony! You look a lot like miss Loony, but she’s all dark and cool like the night and you’re all really bright and stuff like the day, so I guess that’s why you can go ‘woosh!’ and raise the-the sun way up into the sky, like how Loony makes the moon do that at night with all the stars and comets and me-me... Meat-oars! Yeah, those! Anyways, we-”

“Breathe, Milly,” Starlight and Moonstone said in stereo. After a second they looked at each other in shock, before looking away, blushing.

“Milly, that’s your name?” Celestia questioned gently, laying down on the floor to be closer to the little filly.

“No! You, yous ish a silly filly!” the filly in question giggled, shaking her head like it was the silliest question in Equestria. “Hai, my name’s Milky Way, but my friends call me Milly, cause they said that it’s easier to remember than Milky Way, so I letted them call me that, even though I don’t think it’s that hard a name to-to amember, but... Hay, missus pretty princess sun pony, why you so saddened? Stop being saded, ish donuts! There- there’s no reason to be saded when there ish donuts, so stop being sad!”

The room was silent as just about everypony tried not to notice their ruler, Princess Celestia, struggling not to cry, her facial expressions fighting back and forth, though her voice echoed how hard she was striving to keep control. “I... see... She... She’s just like her, down to her speech pattern and energy... What’re the odds...”

“P-Princess Celestia?”

Everypony turned to look at the new arrival, and most everypony was glad to see her. “Twilight!”

She was immediately swept up into a massive group hug from her four friends, hugging her tightly before letting her down again, swarming her with questions as to if she was alright or not.

“Y-yes, I’m fine, just... faint, that’s all,” Twilight reassured them, smiling.

“I heard you passed out, and came as quickly as I could, dear student,” Princess Celestia said, embracing her student briefly. “Are you sure you’re alright? Did you pass out trying to teleport everyone here or something?”

“No, that-that’s not it... I know this might sound crazy, but Nightmare Moon... She’s coming back,” Twilight whispered, her eyes pleading with Celestia to believe her.

“Nightmare Moon? Who’s that?” Moonstone asked, his face falling into a frown. And why does that sound so familiar? Come on, think about to what that black mare said...

Milky Way jumped up and down, excited as she shouted, “Oh, oh, pick me, I knows, I knows this one! Pick me, pretty pwease wiv cherries on the tops, an lotsa whippeded creame and surgary sprinkleses?”

Moonstone looked around the room to see if anypony else knew, but since the little filly seemed so eager, he nodded at her to explain.

“Yush! Okay, so here’s what the-the Might-dare-doom is! Pretty princess Loony had gone away for a loooooong vacation, right, and then a couple of summers ago, when I was really really littler, she came-ded back! But she gotted all sicks and stuff, and was being a miss meanie head Mcmeanie pants, saying that, that it was gonna be bed-time for forevers! So then some nice mares went to this scary forest to look for this cure potion thing to make Loony all betterer, and they did, and now Loony is back and nice again!”

“Oh, okay. Thanks Milly!” Moonstone smiled at her, understanding.

Beaming with pride at having told the entire story so well, she helped herself to another donut hole, attacking it voraciously, taking a large bite out of it before nodding sagely, her mouth full. Moonstone then frowned, confused. “Wait a second, there’s something that doesn’t make sense. If Nightmare Moon is coming back, how is Luna going to get sick again? And how does getting sick change who you are? She never said anything about getting sick, just that the Nightmare was coming back.”

“She? She who?” Celestia questioned quickly, noting how Moonstone’s voice had changed in the last part.

“Well, while I was asleep, I had the strangest dream. It was like I was inside my own head, you know? There was this strange, black mare, and-”

“What?! What did she say her name was?!” Princess Celestia demanded, surging to her hooves.

“Night,” Moonstone said shortly, turning back to Luna. “She claimed she was me, but she said that she had information about my family, where they were, and that they were still looking for me. She called me naive, and that if I wanted to find out more, I had to find her. Then she looked panicked, light she was about to die, yelling... ‘Moonstone, on your guard! The Nightmare is trying to possess you! You must fight!’”

When everypony stared at him in shock, he blinked, then continued cautiously, “Then I woke up... My head hurt like crazy, and my vision took a little while to come back, but aside from that... What?”

“If you were being possessed by the Nightmare, then how are you still you?” Twilight questioned, her eyes narrowing as she prepared to fight.

“Because I stopped it from doing so,” Luna supplied, her face calm. “It required a certain... resolve in Starlight, but she surprised the spirit trying to control Moonstone for long enough for me to finish the sealing spell without getting interrupted. I do not think it was the Nightmare, or else it would not have been so simple to defeat.”

“Still, sister, we can not afford to take that chance. Moonstone, can you still sense... Night, was it?” Celestia asked, gazing at Moonstone intently.

“Yeah, I can sense her, but I don’t know how to talk to her. I can tell she’s exhausted though. I think she helped fight off the invasion, whatever it was.”

“Or she was just cleverly manipulating everything to make it seem like it wasn’t her,” Celestia mused, starting to think on the matter.

“Wait, she’s still there?” Twilight interjected, her eyes lighting up. “Perfect! Princess Celestia, this is perfect! If she’s still there, then we can research her, find out what part of the brain she tries to inhabit! If we can figure that out, then we could create a spell that would prevent anypony from being able to be possessed ever again! We have to research this! For science!”

Milly nodded her agreement as well, spraying no small number of crumbs on the floor as she shouted along with Twilight Sparkle. “Yeah! For Sky Ants!”

Everypony paused to look at the little filly, staring at her donut glaze covered face, before laughing at her, leaving her to look to Moonstone for help. “What bees so funny? I want to know what the funnies are too! Did I say it wrong? Are we doing it for Shy Hens instead?”

While it could not be said that Celestia was not amused, she was showing self-restraint as she asked Twilight seriously, “And what would allow us to just research that without interruptions, Twilight?”

“Well, why couldn’t we? If we did it here in Canterlot, or back in Ponyville, we could just use the elements if it looks like things are getting even remotely out of control. Princess Luna, if The Nightmare tried to attack Moonstone in full force, would you be able to stall it long enough for us to use the elements?”

“In theory, yes, ‘tis simple enough so long as We... I was only trying to stall for time, though I wouldn’t be able to hold it off for more than a few minutes.”

“That’s plenty of time,” Twilight reassured her, grinning. “See? Come on, Princess Celestia! If this works, then we’ll never have to worry about the Nightmare coming back ever again!”

Princess Celestia looked to Moonstone, who was frowning slightly. “I wish I could say yes, but as it is, we can not proceed without Moonstone’s permission.”

“Huh? Why? Can’t you just order him to let us? It would only take a couple of hours, and it’s not like he could get hurt!” Twilight huffed, disappointed. “Besides, he needs our help to get rid of the Nightmare anyway!”

“Because I don’t have to listen to anything that Celes tells me that I don’t want to, so long as I’m not breaking any laws,” Moonstone replied, allowing himself a slight smirk.

Twilght’s jaw dropped at the scandalous information she was hearing. A pony that doesn’t have to listen to what the Princess says? That’s ridiculous! And how dare he call her such a name like that! He... No, he couldn’t be a consort! That’s just... She wouldn’t... I mean-

“What? Oh come on, he has to be lying!” Rainbow Dash protested, crossing her forelegs. “I mean, come on, she’s The Princess! Everypony has to do what she says! Come on, AJ, tell us he’s lying!”

Applejack frowned, supplying, “He ain’t lying, sugarcube. He’s tellin the truth, somehow...”

“You know, for the first time I’m grateful that have no home,” Moonstone smiled cheekily at Princess Celestia. “Makes it hard to be a citizen of a country when you don’t live anywhere. So, if you’ll excuse me, I have other things to be doing, like finding my familiar. You haven’t seen her around, have you? Black ferret, silver earring, silver specks in her coat?”

As he started to look around, however, instead of ponies trying to help him search, he saw them all staring at him. “What? It’s a simple request, nopony is making you help! Figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. Princess Luna? Have you seen her lately?”

“Wait, you call Princess Luna by her title, but Princess Celestia you call nicknames?!” Twilight accused, aghast.

Moonstone stopped limping, slowly turning to face Twilight Sparkle, his entire body tense. “I owe Princess Celestia,” he practically sneered, “absolutely nothing! I have accepted the fact that she owed nothing to me when I was a colt, since I was not her subject, but the following principle applies. When I needed her most, she wasn’t there for me, ever. Any time I ever prayed to the sun for a blessing, or help, things just got worse. I give Princess Luna respect because she’s earned that respect.”

Twilight watched as he limped away slowly, momentarily stunned by the stallion’s rant. “What just happened?”

“A poor pony who has many scars happened, Twilight,” Celestia answered softly, hiding tears. “Unless he outright attacks me, leave him be. I don’t normally consider myself a vain pony, but I do not wish for my name to be tarnished in his mind any more than it already has... Luna, please fetch Mr. Moonstone once he’s had a chance to calm down, would you? If we’re going to allow Twilight to research the Nightmare, we may as well not waste time. He says she’s dormant, but I’d rather not take any chances. We use the elements tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest. I will not risk putting my little ponies in danger needlessly.”

Luna frowned for a moment, commenting to her sister, “And if he refuses? You can’t make him do something he doesn’t want to, you know.”

Celestia looked down, then said sternly, “Then make him want to. He may not be my subject, but if The Nightmare is inside him, I will take whatever actions I have to to protect my subjects, Luna. Please... make him understand if he refuses.”

“... I’ll do my best,” Luna said simply, turning to follow the hallway Moonstone had hobbled down.

Starlight got up to follow, when she noticed that Milky Way was busy playing a game with the excitable pink pony in the corner. Starlight was now badly conflicted. On one hoof, she wanted to follow Moonstone to make sure he was alright, but she also knew that she couldn’t just leave her sister all alone with complete strangers!

“Starlight?” Her mother said sweetly, trotting into the room after bowing respectfully to the Princesses. “Your father is ready to apologize now, if you’re willing to hear it. He’s waiting at the receptionist’s desk.”

“He... But I’m the one who-”

“I never said that you didn’t owe him an apology as well, Light,” her mother lectured, though she gave her daughter a hug as well. “Please, I know you’re upset, and so is your father. You know he doesn’t know his limits... Or do I need to tell you how he propo-”

“NO!” Starlight shouted in fear, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. “Not that story again!”

“That bad, huh?” Rainbow Dash chortled, hovering over the two pegasi. “Okay, now this I gotta hear!”

Serene Breeze and Rainbow Dash both laughed as Starlight ran away as quickly as she could, tearing down the hall after Luna, trying not to scream bloody murder. As they watched the purple pegasus run off, Rainbow Dash chortled, “Is the story really that bad?”

Serene Breeze paused for a moment, before smiling sweetly, turning to face Dash. “Oh no, of course not! She just overreacts a lot. Here, sit down and I’ll tell you all about it...”

Rainbow’s eyes widened before she shot out of the room, wings carrying her out of a window and into the sky in a heartbeat, leaving a room full of laughing ponies behind.

.o.O.o.

Moonstone strode down the hall to find himself at a receptionist’s desk, the pony behind the desk hard at work. While he didn’t want to disturb her, Moonstone had to find out what happened to his cape. As he trotted forward, the secretary looked up, inquiring, “Yes sir, can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah, at least, I hope so. I’m looking for my familiar. She’s a ferret, black fur, silver streaks, dangling earring on her left ear?” Moonstone inquired, still looking around the room.

“Sorry, sir, but we don’t allow pets inside the hospital,” the clerk said snootily, turning away from the unicorn in front of her.

Moonstone frowned, but turned away regardless, having spent enough time in the outside world to know not to waste his time talking to her. He trotted away to look for somepony else to ask, when he felt a familiar tingling sensation running up his back. “Oh, there you are. Been exploring again, have we?”

It took Moonstone a moment to realize that Galexia was, first of all, remaining silent, not responding. Secondly, she was choosing to stay on his back, instead of climbing up to his mane. This just isn’t my day, is it... Then again, when is it ever my week?

Steeling himself against what he was sure was bad news, he slowly turned around to face his nervously trembling familiar, who was trying to hide something behind her back. “Lex, don’t... it’s okay,” Moonstone sighed softly, blinking to stop his slowly misting eyes. “I think I already know. It wasn’t your fault, alright? I... We can...”

Moonstone was silenced as his suspicions were confirmed, allowing his vision to slowly blur. Galexia held out her tiny claws, clutching what he could tell was a piece of his cape, horribly shredded. Slowly turning to the corner of the room, Moonstone sat down heavily, using his forelegs to pick up Galexia, hugging her to his chest as the tears began to flow. Why did this have to happen? Of all the things that could have happened, this is...

.o.O.o.

Starlight rushed along the hallway, her face completely flushed as she tried, and failed, to get the story that her mother was going to tell her out of her head. Note to self: when I have foals of my own, I will never tell them stories like that! Must get revenge on mom somehow... Huh, I wonder if Moonstone would be willing to help?

She slowed to a trot as she approached the front desk, seeing her father sitting down in one the the nearby chairs. Luckily, or so Starlight thought, he was facing away from her, allowing her to try to compose herself. She took a few steps forward before swallowing hard, her ears folding back against her head as she remembered everything she had screamed at her father.

In her moment of hesitation, Digit Pi turned, seeing his daughter standing behind him. Starlight flinched away when she saw her father rushing towards her, but relaxed when he hugged her tightly, tighter than he normally even held her. “D-dad, I-”

“I’m so sorry,” he interrupted, whispering as he struggled to keep his voice in check. “I deserved everything you said, and probably more...”

“B-but dad, I shouldn’t have-”

“Maybe not, but I needed to hear that to know how you really felt. Star, I never meant to make fun of you, I just...” Digit Pi sighed, struggling not to cry on his daughter’s shoulders. “I mean, I see you with him, and I don’t know what to think, so I-I didn’t know what to do, you know? So I just tried to laugh it off, hoping that if I joked about it, that it would somehow change reality or something.”

Starlight shook her head, crying silently as she whispered back, “I’m so sorry, dad, I didn’t mean it, I was just... Do you even know what we were trying to do, and what it took for me to do that? Luna said to surprise him, and nothing was working, so I panicked! Mom and Luna weren’t doing anything, and it was the only thing I could think of...”

“That’s what mom guessed,” Digit Pi admitted softly, being careful to avoid jarring his daughter’s still-broken wing. “I...”

“I forgive you, and I’m sorry too,” Starlight mumbled, shaking her head against her father’s coat in hopes of drying her face.

They sat together, neither one relinquishing their hug until Princess Luna entering the room, clearly looking for somepony. Starlight hastily wiped her eyes with her foreleg, about to call out to the princess to ask if she needed help, when she started walking to the corner, but there was nopo- Moonstone? But... How did I- why does he look so...

Starlight gasped as she realized why he looked so different. His cape; it’s gone... No wonder he’s... Oh! That’s it! It’ll be my way to thank him for protecting me while helping him at the same time!

.o.O.o.

“You really want me to let them experiment on me?” Moonstone asked, shifting uncomfortably in place.

“Yes,” Luna nodded, speaking gently. “There is of nothing to be afraid. It would contribute most greatly to science, and you would even be compensated for your time! It would mean much to mine sister, and thus myself, if you would agree.”

Moonstone sighed, looking to the side, before he relented. “Fine, I shall acquiesce to your request, for the time being. I reserve the right to back out should I feel uncomfortable, though.”

“Fair enough!” Luna agreed, satisfied that she had gotten Moonstone to agree like her sister asked. “Now, let us be off and gather the rest of our party so that we may venture forth!”

“Right,” Moonstone answered shortly, standing up. Before he could start the trip back down the hall, however, Princess Celestia entered the room, followed by everypony else.

Moonstone opened his mouth to talk, when Twilight asked, “Hey, have you seen Fluttershy anywhere, Princess Luna? She said something about getting a quick drink of water when she passed me in the hall, but she hasn’t come back yet.”

Luna shook her head, frowning as she answered, “No, we have not. We were just about to depart to find thee. Perhaps we should look for her together? Let us inquire at the front desk. Moonstone? Where art thou headed?”

“Outside,” Moonstone said simply, limping his way to the doors.

“Why?” She pressed further for more information, confused.

Luckily, Milky Way came to the rescue as she ran over to Moonstone, agreeing with his decision as she answered for him. “Cause it bees too claustrophobics in here!”

“That means that you’re afraid of enclosed spaces, not that it’s too crowded,” Twilight corrected automatically, shifting to lecture mode.

“I’ve hearded it both ways before, so bleh,” the little filly replied cheekily, giggling as she bounced out the door with Moonstone and Starlight, both of whom were laughing with her.

“You tell her, Milly, it was far too claustrophobic in there for sure,” Moonstone encouraged, shaking his head.

“Yeah!” the filly agreed exhuberantly, turning back to yell at her parents. “Come on, mommy and daddy! We’s gonna play in the parks! Isn’t you coming?”

“In a bit,” her mother answered, smiling at her filly. “We have to take care of some paperwork first, so we’ll be out in a bit. Don’t wander too far away, though, alright?”

“Yush mommy!” Milly cooed, hugging her parents tightly before saluting. An impish grin was their only warning before she turned and took off at top speed out the door, rushing headlong into the wild outdoors.

“Milly, get back here!” Starlight called out, rushing after her hyperactive sister, Moonstone hot on her tail.

“Wow, I like that filly!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, starting to bounce down the hall to search for Fluttershy. “She reminds me of somepony, but I can’t remember who.”

.o.O.o.

Comments

[sum41stoner]

Milly is best foal, and I think that Twi is gonna get possessed by Nightmare.

[Magical Trevor]

945742 XD Yay! Then I did my job! It's decided then!
Nightmares Never End! NOW with 20% moar Milly!

[Magical Trevor]

953817 XD Well, think about it. How do you think YOU would react if you never had sugar before in your life, and then you ate a LOT of something with tons of fat and sugar, like Donuts? I'd like to think I'd be pretty damn wired for awhile from my body's first sugar rush! xD
(And glad you're enjoying it, despite the second-rate writing. :3 )

[Blue Streak]

946649 20% more Milly? ARE YOU TRYING TO CREATE ANOTHER PINKIE PIE!!!! Actually that doesn't sound like a bad idea, I say go for it

[Magical Trevor]

954598 Actually, now that I think about it, I THINK I'm creating a mix of Pinkie Pie and Puppysmiles... XD So yeah! Gotta have MOAR MILLY!

[NotATree]

Soooo....?

[Magical Trevor]

1444675 ^^; I swear I'm working on it... College is sucking atm, and my mom is gone on a trip to Israel, so I also have tons of chores that I have to pick up as well, since it's just my brother and I. That, and I WAS stuck for awhile, since I had Moonstone doing something that SEEMED OOC (Out of Character), and I had to figure out why. (I know it sounds odd for an OC to be able to act OOC in your own fic, but it IS possible, mostly when you're trying to force a scene, and that's what was happening without my rewalizing it.) Now that I've got that scene fixed, it's mostly just a matter of finding the dang time to write! It's already at 3k+, so it's at least half-way done... (And thanks for your patience and continued interest in this story.)

[Lucky424]

since nobody ever leaves comments!

Well, in that case, I'll stop!!

946649 Sorry, but she is only 2nd best. Dawn is number one!!