Believe in the Heart of the Moon

by HeartlessSpartan

Terminal

Terminal

The next day in Ponyville hospital, Elder entered Terra’s hospital room to find the injured alicorn standing by the window. He still had several bandages and wrappings on him, but many had to be removed in order for him to stand and walk about properly; however this also exposed several large bare skinned scars and bruises that would make most ponies cringe. Though Elder was use to combat, and has seen worse cases.

“It’s pretty amazing if you’re already standing, it must be painful,” Elder said from the door.

“I won’t lie to you; it is quite painful,” Terra said as he slowly walked to the door to hide the pain he was in.

“I take it you’re not staying in here then?” Elder asked.

“No, I have to get to Canterlot while we have time on our side,” Terra said as they made their way through the hospital.

As Terra and Elder passed through the halls of the hospital the nurses that saw Terra leaving would turn and go in search of the head doctor. The two of them just made it into the lobby when the doctor came charging down a hall followed by three nurses, but their path was soon blocked by elder. To most, Elder would have been quite the intimidating soldier, but as most doctors this one had his job to do as well.

“He can’t be leaving, he shouldn’t even be standing!” The doctor said with concern.

“We’re leaving, we have important business in Canterlot,” Elder said in an informative military tone.

“He can’t leave, his condition is too severe!” The doctor shouted.

Elder lost his patience with the doctor, he has been on the edge of the line since he left the Crystal Empire and now he’s been pushed by a modern civilian doctor. Everything in this new world bothered him. The buildings are all weak structures, the forests are homes to monsters, and the majority of ponies are ignorant to the world around them. So Elder grabbed the doctor by the collar of his white coat and pinned him to the wall face to face.

“Listen you ignorant goat! The Kingdom is in danger and you want the only creature that may know how to save it to lie in bed and sip soup while it falls! As I said before, we’re leaving, and you’re going to let us walk out those doors,” Elder growled at the doctor.

“But he’ll die!” The doctor whimpered.

“I know,” Terra said.

Elder looked down the hall at Terra standing in the lobby for a moment. Everything he learned about Terra in the past few days shocked him compared to his opinion of him before. Elder then let the doctor slide down the wall and slink away.

“So what part do you play in this plan of yours Terra?” Elder asked, assuming Terra actually plans to die.

“I wasn’t born of flesh and blood like every pony. I was created by magic in the early founding of Equestria. I am a spirit entity Elder; my body was weak from the beginning. My plan is to find someone who is not, and I will explain on the way,” Terra said in a fairly saddening tone.

Elder and Terra made their way through Ponyville to the train station. Most of the Ponies in town simply gawked at the two as they made their way through town. All but two ponies let them be, Applejack, who recognized Terra, and Twilight Sparkle, who wanted to meet him.

“I thought you said Terra was in the Ponyville hospital Applejack?” Twilight asked.

“He’s supposed ta’ be!” Applejack mentioned suspiciously.

“We’re on our way to Canterlot, I have to speak with the Princesses,” Terra said as he continued walking as the two mares joined them.

“Important business then?” Twilight asked casually.

“Dire,” Terra said.

“Are the Princesses ok?” Applejack asked.

“I sure hope so,” Terra said with slight concern.

“Are you ok?” Twilight asked, unsure of why Terra is so beat up.

Elder and Terra stopped at the train station and picked up their tickets. They stopped just before boarding because the two mares continued with them to see them off to Canterlot. They had to ensure that they did not get on the train to go with them.

“Listen, things will probably get far more dangerous than most ponies these days were ever used to. We can’t have a couple of young mares such as yourselves getting into that kind of danger,” Elder said in as polite of a way as he could.

“What kind of danger?” Twilight asked, annoyed by the comment.

“War Twilight Sparkle, war is coming to Equestria and I have failed to prevent it. So now I must inform the princesses of what we must do to save it,” Terra said.

“Is it the war with the changelings again?” Twilight asked further.

“No, the changelings retreated and ceased their pestilence on these lands. This is much worse,” Elder explained.

“Come on Twilight, they best be goin’ on to Canterlot so they can work things out,” Applejack said.

“One more thing, the Elements of Harmony, the two of you and your friends; don’t ever forget, don’t ever change, and always look out for each other,” Terra said, knowing he might never come back.

“We will,” Twilight said with a smile.

The two stallions and the mares went their separate ways. The train ride to Canterlot was fairly silent, the two spent most of their time looking out the windows of the train wondering how much of this world has changed and will change in the coming future. Very few other ponies on the train dared to take a nervous glance at either of them. Terra himself was unsure whether or not he would come back from all of this, but as always he would do whatever was demanded of him to succeed. As for Elder, during the train ride he had come to the conclusion that there is really nothing more for him to do than to see this through even if it kills him, he really has nothing to go back to.

“So I’ll ask again Terra, what is your plan?” Elder asked as they got off the train and made their way through the city to the castle.

“The two Princesses, Celestia and Luna, they were born into royalty and earned their alicorn stature at a very young age, much like Princess Cadence. Their Parents were the last King and Queen of Equestria,” Terra said as they walked.

Elder couldn’t help himself from being distracted in such a large city. He was never here before and there was almost no other place like this that existed in his time. Now he understands why these lands are so worth defending.

“What do they have to do with what’s happening now?” Elder asked as they walked on.

“The age they lived and rose to power in was a violent one. Equestria was still growing and learning, its armies were massive and spread through the world as it pushed borders against other kingdoms and clans of different species,” Terra said.

“They’re dead by this time aren’t they?” Elder asked.

“Their mother had died when Luna was born, but there was magic involved. The situation was that Luna was going to die, so her mother used magic to exchange their lives. Luna’s mother died in her stead,” Terra explained.

“That’s tragic, I didn’t know that,” Elder said, thinking of his own wife and daughter, now dead in the past.

“Very few ever did, but there was much more to it. The magic left a curse, a family curse created by the worst parts of the family which was her father’s violent nature; that is what brought about Nightmare Moon and the curse mark under her cutie mark,” Terra said.

“So she’s cursed? That explains much but not her father’s violence,” Elder said.

The two entered a courtyard of the castle where Luna and Celestia happened to be waiting for them. Apparently they were tipped off by guards when the two entered the city. Luna was looking away from the two as they entered and they were watched closely by several guards near the Princesses.

“I am more than happy to know you’re alive Terra, but what do you know of our father?” Celestia asked, overhearing their conversation.

“It is good to see the both of you as well. As for your father, I knew him,” Terra said, catching Luna’s attention as she turned her head to meet his gaze.

“Do you know what became of him?” Luna asked.

“For a violent king his daughter still seems to care about him,” Elder said, receiving tempered stares from nearby guards.

“The King was a loving father, but a brilliant military commander and warrior. There wasn’t a single war fought in his time that he didn’t lead his troops into battle,” Terra explained.

“Sounds like it would’ve been honorable to fight in his ranks. I apologize for my previous comments,” Elder said sincerely.

Luna walked up to Terra and looked into his eyes. She wondered how much he knew about her father after all of this time. She was too young to know much of the events that made him leave. She understood her mother had died to save her life, and she understood when her older sister told her that their father was gone as well. Neither of them however, knew how he was gone. Looking into Terra’s eyes now, she knows that her father had trusted Terra for just a moment after years of opposing his purpose of harmony.

“Terra, what happened to my father?” Luna asked, doing her best to hold back her emotions.

Terra looked right back into Luna’s eyes. He would never lie to either of them. He knew back then that he would have to tell them at some point, that they would truly want to know what became of their father.

“When you were very young, your father was warring with the changelings. Equestria and the Changelings were the two largest kingdoms at the time. He gathered a small force to attack them, and before he left he came to me. Everyone thought it was strange that he would advance against the changeling army with such a small force,” Terra said.

“What did he say when he came to you Terra?” Celestia asked, more than curious to know for herself.

“He told me, in the event that they did not return from battle that no one goes in search of them. He also asked me to watch over the two of you, and I understand that must’ve been difficult for him to do. I can only assume he felt guilty for being the cause of Nightmare Moon, and it seemed as though he was planning not to come back at all,” Terra explained.

“So he must have lead a tactical force into the changeling’s territory and gotten caught,” Elder said with the base of assumption.

“No, he wouldn’t have committed suicide, and he’d know a changeling would already be hiding within his ranks,” Celestia said, she was old enough at the time to know of the war her father fought.

“They didn’t. During my millennium of seclusion I had found them, all of them,” Terra said.

“All of them?” Luna questioned.

“The mountains above the dog mines look as though they peak treacherously. They don’t, in one area they actually flatten into a shallow bowl, like a frozen plain,” Terra continued.

“Alright, but how are they still there?” Elder questioned.

“Magically frozen in ice as hard as stone,” Terra said.

“So they could still be alive, we have to get there as soon as we can,” Luna said with eagerness and hope.

“Sister, I cannot go with you. I must stay here and watch over our home. Terra must stay in Canterlot, he is in no condition to travel,” Celestia said.

Seeing the disappointment in Luna’s eyes Elder spoke up, “I will go with her to the mountains, along with a squad of guards if I may Princess?”

“You may go with my sister to the mountains Elder,” Celestia said approvingly.

Elder followed Luna who left the courtyard in a hurry, but Luna stopped to look back at Terra. He gave her a happy smile, and watched as the two left. Then his smile disappeared, and Celestia walked up alongside him.

“When are you going to tell her Terra?” Celestia asked worriedly.

“I’m not sure if I can,” Terra said sadly.

“You may stay in the castle Terra, this is your home too. Do you know how much time you have left?” Celestia asked, concerned for the both of them.

“I don’t know, but at this time, I am happy for her,” Terra said with a smile.

To the surprise of the guards nearby, Celestia hugged Terra; which she hasn’t done for a very long time.

“You will be missed my friend,” Celestia said as tears came to both of their eyes.

Author's Note:

Well I haven't written anything in some time now so I'll see how this goes over. I also wanted to show that my OC characters are not invincible. I'm also working on incorporating Discord, the changelings/Chrysalis, and the "King" into the story as best I can while having some sort of history for the characters to interact.