A mage steals the element of magic from Twilight, but after he reveals a gruesome story, she questions if she really wants it back- or wants him to keep it.
Aldred, one of 100 mages in an ancient circle, and the youngest of them all, visits Equestria to steal back something that was taken from his family years ago- meanwhile, Celestia tries to make amends to him for an evil sin she committed towards him, but isn't doing a good job at it- and she may or may not be able to.
{Rated Teen for harsh language at times}
Edit: After receiving a rather unwarranted comment, I think it would be best to point out this is a human in Equestria story. If this is not your cup of tea, I respect that.
Celestia stood at the edge of the forest, knowing that her student had gone in earlier, and had never come out. She decided to take it upon herself to look for her, and therefore, protect the element of magic. As she descended into the dark, misty woods, she found that it wasn't at all as cold or gloomy as she remembered. It felt peaceful and quiet. As she descended the path, rain began to fall from the sky and mercilessly drench her, but it did not hurt her determination. As she approached the ancient temple where the elements were first found, she heard a voice.
"Looks like death wasn't ready for you yet." Celestia froze as a young man, seeming just out of high school, walked out from behind a pillar.
"Aldred-!?" Celestia coughed out.
"Surprised to see me, witch? Like the events that taints the both of us, yes, I have come back, yet again!" He said, giving Celestia a look of veritable anger.
"I thought you were dead..." Celestia said, she walked towards him with tears streaming from her eyes- as if she wanted to wrap him in her embrace, but instead was met by the tip of a sword.
"Don't come any closer or I will run you through." He said, Celestia stared in shock, then, she backed up.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Are you going to kill me too?" He said in a low tone, Celestia looked horrified.
"N-No!"
"What about that whole 'I am going to wipe out your circle if it's the last thing I do!', what happened to that? Kill me coward, you're just going to end another human 'pesk'!"
"I...I... I never..." Celestia was trying her hardest to find words, only to sink into the void of her mind.
"Well? Go ahead! Kill me- kill me like you killed my parents!" He said, rage glowing his eyes, Tears streamed from Celestia's eyes again.
"I... I... If I didn't... they would've destroyed the elements of harmony... I didn't even mean to kill them!"
"I have no use for lies, Celestia- you killed my sister by 'accident' as well. I've not been dead, but only sleeping- angrily. Waiting for the proper moment to wake up- to take back what's rightfully mine... and currently I have half of it."
"What?" Celestia asked, her tears stopped swelling at her eyes, and she had a blank expression on her face.
"You took my sister's life away... I gave it back."
"You... what?" She answered, backing away from him.
"Would you like to meet her? She has nothing against you, so, I won't take part in the 'reunion'..." He lowered his sword and began to walk, then he stopped when Celestia spoke.
"But... she's gone..." Aldred turned to look at her, she looked distressed and very confused.
"Not so fast..." Aldred said, Celestia blinked. -------------------------------------------------
They stepped through a door inside a building buried deep within the forest, it was brightly lit with candles along the walls, and a massively sized, metal tube stood there, a soft song was playing over a radio.
"This is my life's study. My own golem of Prague- it's neither a medium nor a zombie, but a homunculus. A complete person in the fullest sense of the words." Aldred said, a voice came from the tube.
"Is someone there?" It asked, Celestia looked at it shocked.
"C-Cyra?" She coughed out.
"Go ahead and go up there... but don't try anything foolish. As long as we're in here, I can reduce you to ash at the press of a button." Celestia started for the stairs leading up to the metal tube.
"Who are you?" A soft girl's voice asked. Tears began to stream from Celestia's eyes again as she ascended the stairs.
"...An Alicorn..." It said.
"...A... princess...?" It continued, the tube raised up to reveal a smaller glass tube within it, inside was a waxy-looking ball floating in water.
"C-Cyra? Is that you?" Celestia asked.
"I call it the E-H pod. Capable of acting as a second body for someone who is dead."
"E-H?"
"Equine-Human, as it can sustain both species." Aldred said, still with lingering anger on his face.
"As I said before, your kind took her life away- I gave it back. And it's because I can only create one of these things that I can't do the same for my parents. I'm undoing the damage done to my family."
"...This magic was lost a millennia ago!" She exclaimed.
"Who are you?" The voice repeated.
"Cyra, give us a second." Aldred said, he turned to Celestia.
"You tried to wipe this system off the face of both the worlds- but your little memory charm wore off. We remembered how to do these things- much to your despair I imagine." Aldred said, giving Celestia a mean grin.
"N-no... I'm sorry that this happened... I actually regretted-"
"Regretted what? Burning most of our magic books? Trying to enslave us?"
"I never tried to enslave you! Who started that in the first place? And I didn't even order the burning of your books!"
"...It matters not." Aldred said.
"It matters to me! I never meant for any of this to happen!" Celestia said, her face soaked with tears.
"Why not you ask her opinion- see if she agrees with you, Celeste?" Aldred said.
"Celeste..." The voice said again, the waxy ball began to shape itself into a small unicorn.
"Celestia...?"
"Cyra-!" Celestia coughed out, she stepped inside the borders of the metal tube, and it descend over the two of them. Aldred watched as the veil covered the glass tube and the form of his adopted sister.
"Why'd you come back?" The voice asked, confused and somewhat excited. Aldred could hear the conversation- he looked disappointed.
Twilight awoke in a cold puddle, she had many small cuts and bruises on her front right leg. She tried to stand up, but couldn't. She nearly passed out again, but was then lifted by something warm- a creature she had never seen before- a bipedal creature. It was wearing long black robes like Trixie's, with golden rims. It's face was covered by a silk hood also with a golden rim. She tried to speak to it, but her throat was raw from being out in the rain all night- she had a high fever, and could do nothing but cough until the creature set her down in front of Fluttershy's cottage.
"You never used that element of yours right... for it was not meant to be used the way it is." It said, and Twilight caught a glimpse of it's face- it looked similar to a pony's, but it's ears were shorter, it's nose was shaped different, and it's eyes were a deep, sapphire blue- unlike anything she had seen in the past, a deep blue- with deep sadness in it's eyes. He knocked on the door, and with one swift movement- grabbed the element off her head and ran for the forest, carrying it in his right hand.
"W...wait..." She said, The door to Fluttershy's cottage opened, a gasp was heard, and Twilight passed out. -------------------------------------------------
She woke up to the smell of warm tomato soup next to her.
"Twilight? What happened to you?" A familiar voice asked, Twilight opened her mouth- and coughed violently.
"Here, eat this, it'll help." Fluttershy said, she spooned some soup down her throat, and after a few minutes, she spoke.
"He... that... *cough!*... thing... *cough!* took my element... *cough!*...Fluttershy... help me..." Twilight said, and she struggled to get up, she focused her magic with stalwart concentration- and healed the cuts and bruises, along with her throat.
She ran out of the cottage.
"Twilight! Wait!" Fluttershy called, but Twilight was undeterred. She ran past the puddle she had passed out in, ran deep into the forest in but a matter of minutes. She stopped at a 5-way fork in the path.
"Best not take the road less traveled..." A voice said- it was the voice of the creature from earlier. She looked down the five paths in front of her- and noticed something moving in the distance of the left-most path- it was carrying her element.
She shot a laser at it- but it missed. The strange cloaked creature turned around.
"That's not going to work." It said, it turned and started running, she chased after it.
She kept running after it for what seemed like hours, she finally caught up with it- only because it had stopped at a tree.
"Hello, Twilight." The creature said.
"Who are you? Give me back the element of magic!" Twilight exclaimed.
"I can not do that, my friend... Or should I say 'Princess'? That filthy title you were given as reward for serving a tyrant? Do you still wear it with pride?" It asked, it looked mad at her. It removed it's hood to reveal it's face again.
"Do you hear me? Are you going to answer my question?" It asked.
"Answer mine first!" She exclaimed,
"Hah... I am Aldred, since you asked." It said, very annoyed.
"Now- what are you?" Twilight asked.
"Don't tell me you've never heard of a human before? That witch sure has done what she can to redact Equestria's history books..."
"Witch?" Twilight said.
"That tyrant on the golden throne- that dark angel- that blood boiling, backstabbing, cowering-! Ugh... never mind..."
"Give me back the element of magic!"
"Give it back? I asked the witch over in that castle the same thing and she refused me time and again! I never stole it from you- I took it back!" Aldred said, his heart was exploding with anger.
"Took it... back?" Twilight said, she now looked confused.
"This crown of yours is what powers those false 'elements'- the six rayed gem on it was a gift from the heavens in itself, the witch-"
"Stop calling her that! And the elements aren't fake!" Twilight exclaimed.
"-the witch sought to steal it's power, she used dark magic to bind it to a crown of her own image. Then, using it's power, created five 'elements' she used to divide up it's power- and send billions of my kind to the void!" Aldred said.
"What are you talking about? These have been in Equestria for thousands of years! Give it back!"
"And yet they didn't look like necklaces or a crown when you first found them- were they? They were stone orbs, were they not?" Aldred said, Twilight stopped to think for a second- How did he know that?
"...What are you-?"
"What am I implying? The witch sought to control the five variable forces of light so that she only could use them- she defiled them with dark magic after banishing Luna ad magnum to the moon for no reason. After which she could not use them- and drank an amnesia potion just to live with herself- didn't you find it weird that she brushed off the legend about her banishing her own sister?"
"How-!? How do you know about-!?"
"I've been watching the carrier of my precious jewel. The carrier of the one thing that can save my life from a curse your kind put on me and my people! My entire race- my entire world was thrown out of balance because of her... we're all the same... we're the walking dead! We're the zombies you fear- we're the ghosts of your past... we're the agonized souls. We're the humans." Aldred said, finishing his sentence calm. Twilight looked on the brink of shedding tears- was what he was saying... true?
"Celestia wouldn't do something like-"
"Bah! You know nothing!" Aldred interrupted.
"I'm not going to let your kind steal this again... I'm taking it back- and freeing my friends." He said, he turned to walk away, Twilight was unable to move.
"There he is! Stop him!" A voice called, and hundreds of equine soldiers charged over the hill, Aldred ran from the scene, leaving Twilight in the dust. ------------------------------------
"E tenebris, et ad dominum redeas!" Aldred chanted, golden chains and locks appeared from the gem on the element of magic and bound it to the crown, Aldred let out a breath of minor pain.
"Ego præcipio tibi, sceleratis coronam solvit!" He said, sounding demanding, more chains and locks appeared and the gem looked locked in place.
"Scelesta, diabolica, nulla creatura est, liberare audeas!" He shouted, more chains and locks appeared, he cringed in pain and let out a yelp.
"Gah-!"
"There he is! Get him!" A guard shouted, time grew slow. He saw them, coming at him with spears, bows and arrows, swords- as if he were the criminal. He put on the crown and shouted an incantation.
"Surge, creatura mea! Surgite!" And the clay ground that surrounded him turned to snakes, they circled him, snapping their fangs at the guards.
"Fly, serpents, fly..." He whispered, and the snakes slithered towards the guards, the guards began to flee, an arrow flew- and struck Aldred in the back.
"Gahck-!" Everyone, the snakes, the guards, stopped to watch the boy fall to his knees, he then looked up to the heavens and cried out.
"Draco! De stellis! Ego te! Te invoco! Lubeo te venit!" And a golden light descended from the stars and engulfed him- he shot up from the ground and the arrow fell from his back, He outstretched his arm in front of himself and created a wall of fire between him and the guards to his front, he threw his arm to the right and sent boulders flying and created another wall, finally, he threw his arm to the left- and water from a river came crashing down on the guards to his left. Before they could do anything he ran from the scene. ------------------------------------
He stopped at a creek with moss covered rocks in the water. He had been running all the way to the edge of his map of the forest- beyond that was unmapped territory. He put his hands on his knees and inhaled and exhaled rapidly, trying to catch his breath. He then fell to his knees and crawled over to the creek. He dipped his hand in to take some of the fresh water to his lips, as it fell down his throat, he got chills. He looked down at the element of magic, laying to his right.
"Why... why won't you open up!?" He asked, the gem on the crown glowed, almost as if responding to him.
After all these years... it's right next to me and I still won't be able to get it back... He thought, he picked it up and walked down a dirt path to a small hut hidden by leaves and branches.
The guards escorted Twilight into Celestia's castle. She opened the door and saw the majestic princess standing there, waiting for her. She looked very distressed and sad until she saw Twilight there, then, it was replaced by relief.
"Twilight... where have you been? I've had search parties all over the place."
"I slipped and fell off the trail while looking for the elements... and I lost consciousness." Twilight said, trying to keep her cool.
"Do you have them?" Celestia asked, Twilight nodded nervously, as she used her magic to bring the five elements she actually had, out of her bag.
"Laughter... Honesty... Kindness... Loyalty... Generosity... Where's your element?" Celestia asked, Twilight stared at the floor with sadness.
"Some... creature took it... It's weird... I've never seen anything like it... it called itself a 'human', I think?" Twilight answered, Celestia stared in surprise, but her expression softened.
"Was his name was 'Aldred' by chance?" Celestia asked, Twilight looked up at her.
"Yeah... how did you know?"
"I had a run-in with him a while ago... I met him while I was looking for you." Celestia answered, she looked to the guards.
"Put all of Equestria that's within a ten-mile radius of the Everfree forest under curfew. Bring him to me, alive, and well." The guards nodded, Twilight looked surprised.
"I realize I haven't told you about the humans. Their history has been nearly lost here in Equestria, they are an ancient species much older then ours. Some say we owe our existence to them... others claim they are hostile to our kind and should be avoided."
"Well, that one sure was... and was mad to the point he stole my element..."
"...Yes... but if they are hostile to us... we only have ourselves to blame... or at least... I do..." Celestia said, she looked out the window.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"...Half of Equestria was treating them like sub-species, animals... simply because they are so different from us- their diet, their clothing, their traditions... and their overwhelming magical power..." Celestia's voice trailed off and she looked over to her throne. She walked towards it and pressed on the cushion, after a few seconds it fell backward- revealing a hidden hallway.
"Come this way, these are my private archives- you'll find more answers here." She said, they began to walk down a long, brick-walled, torch-lit hallway.
"You're right about them having magical power... the trail he was on was made of clay and he was able to shape it into snakes- and make them come alive... it's scary, actually." Twilight said.
"Yes, humans have a knack for creating golems- creatures born of clay... if he wasn't on a clay-rich trail, they may have been able to stop him." They passed by a bunch of paintings of humans, Twilight looked at them in awe- why didn't Celestia tell her?
"...No... they wouldn't have." Twilight said, Celestia stopped to look at her.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"He... had some help... I just know it." Twilight said, Celestia looked very confused at her student.
"When he was confronted by the guards... after changing the clay into snakes, he looked up to the sky and shouted this strange... language." Twilight said, Celestia stared.
"When he did, some golden energy of some sort descended and... it was absorbed into him... after that he was capable of spells I've never even seen before... he caused a firewall... was able to throw giant boulders... and cause the water from the river to crash down on some of the guards... Celestia- do you know what it is? What was it that he called out to?" Celestia stared in shock, bombs went off in her mind, a thousand red flags rose, and her heart pounded in her chest.
"Magicae Princeps..." Celestia whispered.
"What?"
"Aldred is one of the 'Magicae Princeps'- the Princes of magic... advanced practitioners who are so powerful... not even the elements of harmony could hold a candle against them." Celestia said, she looked frightened.
"What? That can't be possible." Twilight said, Celestia shook her head.
"I've seen it with my own eyes, we tried to banish them because they were getting too powerful... too... dangerous... but when we confronted them- the elements didn't even respond to us... they responded... to them... even though Luna and I were wearing them..." Celestia said, Twilight stared in awe, then, her eyes went wide, then they turned angry.
"Is that the reason why they detest us?" She said, Glaring at her mentor, Celestia stopped, confused. Then, she understood why her faithful student- who's faith was about to be tested - was mad at her.
"Twilight-"
"You banished them because of their power? From what I could tell, they don't want anything to do with us!" Twilight said.
"They were frightening our citizens! Their power was-"
"What about 'Kindness', 'Loyalty', 'Honesty', 'Generosity', and 'Laughter' didn't we understand back then? There's no wonder the elements couldn't be used!" Twilight said, her rage was getting the best of her- How could Celestia do this?
"Please- please understand... they- they made me do it- I had no choice..."
"Who? Who made you do it?"
"The-the high council... they said there was no other way... I-" But Celestia stopped as Twilight turned to walk away.
"You come back here, Twilight! Please, let me finish!" She exclaimed, Twilight stopped and turned to look at her mentor.
"After hearing a story like that... I don't want the title 'princess' anymore. Good-bye." Twilight said, and she walked away.
Why won't anyone listen to me to the part when I say... I was at death's door because of one of them? Celestia thought, her heart began to ache.
"Is this guilt I'm witnessing, Celestia?" A voice said.
"Aldred-!?" Celestia exclaimed, she shot her head up.
"If so, blame yourself. You started this, not the high council." Aldred said, he stepped out from behind a wall and into the doorway leading down the hallway.
"You sent me that letter asking me to heal you and this is how you repay us!? How dare you!" He faded away as if nothing was there- she was just hallucinating, but her heart ached even more then before.
----------------------------------------------
Twilight slammed the door open and shut it with an even greater force. She trudged upstairs and grabbed a bag- and stuffed a multitude of books into it.
"Twilight? What are you-" Spike was interrupted.
"Pack your things, we're leaving." Twilight said.
"What? What happened?" Spike asked.
"I'll tell you when we're far away from here." She said.
"Twilight-! Twilight, stop! Twilight-! TWILIGHT!" He said, Twilight stopped to look over at him.
"...does it have anything to do with this?" Spike said, he held up a scroll, on it was written letters that were obviously rapid-written and scrawled on the page. Twilight rolled her eyes and read it.
Twilight,
If you detest me for the little things I have told you about, then I do not blame you. But the times I spoke of were very dark. I never wished to banish the boy or his kind, I tried to tell you that while they were treated as a sub-species... they also treated us the same. Well, some of them, anyway. The boy you met was the one that once stood out, the one that brought us together and could live in harmony together... he was a true hero. But while Equestria accepted them, we were smaller in number compared to the humans. For every pony that accepted them, there were hundreds of humans that accepted us, and only slightly less detested us. Almost half of the humans would turn violent at the sight of us; the dark times were not over... it may been sparked by Luna's initial banishment... I do not know for sure, I may never, but I beg you, if not as a friend or a mentor, then as a princess, please do not hate me for my past."
Celestia
Twilight read the note over and over again, and, reluctantly, she put down her bag.
"...Twilight?"
"Never mind, Spike... I'm sorry, I just got into an argument with Celestia..." She answered, Spike looked at her worried.
"It's all right... Twilight?" Twilight began to unpack her books.
"Yeah?"
"What happened? And, what's a 'human'?" Spike asked, Twilight looked up to the ceiling, then down to the floor.
"Twilight?" Spike asked, Twilight gave him a blank expression, then, she walked over to the closet, and pulled out a raincoat. She walked towards the door and Spike followed.
-----------------------------------
"R-remind me w-why we're going into the Everfree forest a-again?" Spike asked.
"To find the human I was telling you about." Something hissed in the bushes- a common garden snake, but Spike jumped nonetheless.
"Gah!" Spike shouted.
"Shhh! Quiet! Remember why we're here, Spike!" Twilight said, they walked until they came to the five-way fork in the road Twilight had been at earlier. They walked down the leftmost path, and continued to follow it, they stopped. Spike hopped down and reached his hand to the ground and picked up some black, powdery material.
"Ash? It's still warm..."
"He used a spell to try to get away from the guards- three, actually- see how he was able to throw those boulders? And look there- the ground is still soaking from when he threw the water from the river." Twilight said, Spike looked scared.
"H-he did all this? Twilight... maybe we should-"
"No. He has the element of magic... if I can't get it back from him, I want to know why he took it..." She said,
Or as he puts it, took it back... She thought, they looked around and found a path with strange tracks on it- made by shoes, no doubt.
"He went down this path. See how spread apart they are? They were made by something... him... running... these are his tracks, no doubt about it." She said, they began to follow them down the slope and they followed a red, dirt trail to a stream of fresh water.
"Uhm, Twilight? This is off the maps!" Spike exclaimed, Twilight stared at him, then turned her attention away from him to the edge of the stream where two deep depressions lay.
"These aren't tracks... he knelt down here... to take a drink, probably... then he got up... and walked over towards-" Twilight stopped as a shadowy figure emerged from behind a tree, Wearing dark blue robes with silver rims, identical to Aldred's. Spike yelped and hid behind Twilight. It removed it's hood to reveal itself to be a man with long, flowing black hair with a long beard and mustache, probably in his thirties.
"We mean you no harm." He said.
"W-we!?" Spike yelped, the man outstretched his arm and pointed behind Twilight and Spike, they turned to see three figures, one with crimson-red robes and bright red rims, one with white robes and golden rims, and one green robes and bronze rims. Twilight couldn't see their faces.
"Watch for intruders- make sure nobody sneaks up on us!" The man said, and the three figures went down the path to take watch. The man knelt down next to Twilight and Spike, he bowed his head.
"It is a pleasure... your royal highness." He said, he brought his head up, and smiled, his eyes glowing bright green in the afternoon sun with pride, and amongst it, excitement and hope, he got up and started for a short path.
"Come. We have much to discuss." The man said, and they walked inside a small hut.
Twilight walked in the small hut. It was ornately decorated and many strange machines illuminated by candles filled the room. The man took her to a couch in front of a large tube with a red light coming out of it. She sat down.
"How long were you searching for us?" The man asked.
"For about an hour." Twilight answered, Spike nudged Twilight.
"Spike, seriously-" But she stopped when Spike pointed to the other side of the room. Standing there was something moving... it wasn't dead... it wasn't alive either... a human-shaped Golem. Spike looked at Twilight and the old man, worried.
"They won't harm you as long as you don't harm us. Their our... security guards." The man said.
"-Now, forgive me, I should have introduced myself. My name is Ivar, from the house of adepts. I'm Aldred's uncle." The man said, Twilight looked at him oddly.
"It's good to meet you... My name is Twilight."
"I know who you are, you're Celestia's right-hand student. You think you wouldn't be on our radar?" He asked, Smiling.
"Well, actually... I didn't even know what a human was until recently. So... not really." She said, Ivar frowned.
"It seems she has tried to erase us... Poor thing, to go through that much pain..." Ivar said.
"What are you talking about? Aldred said practically the same thing..." Ivar looked over to Twilight with sad eyes.
"The poor woman... our kind nearly ruined her life... it was dark times, miss.... dark times... Celestia was being persecuted by humans who thought her having immortality was "evil". They came at her with knives, swords, bows and arrows, catapults... anything they could. It was up to the individual to take a side in the fight... I myself have seen thousands of Equestrians and Humans die because of misplaced hate... Celestia eventually had no choice but to send all humans back to their home world... but something happened that was so bad... that not even Celestia could prepare for it... much less could Aldred." ------------------------------------------------------
"Celestia!" Aldred shouted, he ran through the hospital wing past multiple Equestrians and Humans, until he stopped in front of the majestic Princess, she looked like death had touched her happiness.
"Celestia? What's going on? People keep on crying to no end mentioning my parents and my sister's name. Did something happen?" He asked, tears swelled at Celestia's eyes, and Aldred knew at the bottom of his heart he was about to get horrible news.
"Your parents... were spies..." Celestia said, she held up a document to Aldred, Aldred snapped it away, and read line after line... then stopped dead.
"...I had no choice..." Celestia said, she closed her eyes and tears flowed down her cheeks and hit the floor. Aldred looked at her in horror.
"My parents... you killed them..." Aldred said, his expression blank except his eyes, which were overflowing with mixed emotions, anger, sadness, horror... and betrayal.
"...It was... an accident..." Celestia said while weeping, Aldred looked up from the document, rage built behind his eyes.
"...Where's my sister?"
"...Aldred..." Then, his rage snapped.
"Where's my sister, you tyrant!?" Aldred shouted, he tried to seize Celestia by the throat but was stopped by two guards.
"Aldred... Celestia didn't want any of this." Luna said, revealing herself from behind a curtain, there, on a hospital bed was Aldred's adopted Unicorn sister. Aldred ran over to her, breaking free of the guards. He stopped at the foot of her bed, a crystal ball showed her heart rate. She opened her eyes.
"C...Cyra...?" Aldred asked, tears swelling at his eyes, the young unicorn looked at him, and smiled sadly.
"I just wanted you to know... you were always... my best... friend..." She said, then, a flat line could be heard. -
Nobody heard his screams in pain and heartache, he pounded his fist against the wall in despair in the hallway. He shouted obscenities and swear words. Then, he broke... he fell to the floor crying. He then got up and started to walk towards the exit of the castle- and ran deep into the Everfree forest. --------------------------------
"Oh my God, that's..." Twilight said, having trouble to find words to explain her empathy.
"Celestia had no choice... Aldred is blinded by hate and pain... he was forced into a realm of absolute, endless sleep... but I brought him out. I was able to save him. When he got out, he immediately ran to this place here, and began building that huge structure over there- that tube..." Ivar said, he pointed at the strange device.
"What does it do?" Twilight asked.
"Well... uhm... how do I put this... have you ever heard of possession?" Ivar asked, Twilight nodded.
"This device mimics a body without a soul- with it... Aldred revived his sister." Twilight stared in surprise.
"What? Really? How?"
"Inside of it is a glass case with a mass of an alchemical substance similar in physical properties to clay. When inhabited by a spirit, it takes on that spirit's past form..." Ivar said, Twilight looked at the device in awe.
"...Would you like to meet her?" He asked, Twilight got up- and began to walk towards the machine.
"Is someone there?" A soft voice asked.
"We have another visitor- it's Celestia's right-hand student."
"Her right-hand student... Twilight Sparkle!?" The voice asked, the metal tube rose up to reveal a glass inner layer filled halfway with water, floating in it was a waxy figure of a unicorn, it blinked, it breathed- it was alive. Twilight's eyes went wide.
"I've heard about you! What you did to nightmare moon with your friends- that was incredible!" It said, Twilight's expression loosened, then her face went red.
SPLASH! Celestia shot up to find herself suspended by her front legs, hanging from a chain. She knew she was dreaming, despite it feeling real. She looked around the room and found herself in an large room. Candles floated in the air, but she couldn't see the walls as the light from the candles couldn't reach them. She was surrounded by darkness.
"Rise and shine." A familiar voice said- Aldred.
"Your greed does not concern me. I am interested in but one thing- the truth." Aldred said, he raised a doll in the shape of Celestia and pulled out a pin.
"I am a magician- and a scientist. I am a spirit-worker, but not a spirit myself. Do you understand me? I am a scientist, and as a scientist, I find this distasteful. Understand? As a scientist, I expect answers that make sense." He raised the pin to his forehead, and it sparked with a purple-black energy.
"ANSWER ME! Were my parents spies or not!?" As he asked, Celestia breathed heavily.
"...They betrayed Equestria... Your Mother sold me and Luna out... I had to do something before she destroyed the elements with the... dagger..." Aldred Stepped forward.
"Liar! I want to know the truth! What really happened? What are you keeping from me!?" Aldred demanded.
"Your father used a black magic artifact to try and kill off all of the plants in Equestria... had that happened, the entire food chain here would have collapsed... Equestria would have been doomed... And your Mother... tried to do the same when he fell to his grave."
"Then how do you explain the Alicorn amulet!? It could have only been made by HER! It appeared long after her death! What really happened between you two? How did you get a hold of it!? The aura it gives off is the same as hers!"
"Proof enough... that your parents betrayed us... whoever touches that thing... goes insane..." Celestia said.
"Then what about that so-called Cutie Mark? Don't tell me it's the same design as my mother's Sorcerers' Mark by sheer coincidence!" Aldred moved forward and held out his arm.
"D-don't touch me!" Celestia said, she tried to wake herself up, but couldn't.
"Defiling your old cutie mark to decorate yourself with her memory... either you were jealous or just obsessed." Aldred said.
"Ugh..." Celestia said.
"ANSWER ME!" Aldred shouted, he took the pin and stuck it into the neck of the doll of Celestia.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAH!" She shot up in her bed, looked around, and heard guards running toward her.
"Your highness!?" The first called, they ran up to her bed. Celestia sat there, shaking.
"Are you all right?" Another asked.
"I had a nightmare...." Celestia said, the guards exchanged glances.
"...About Aldred.... it's the same one." She said, a guard ran in carrying a bottle with his magic.
"N-no... that... I can't have anymore sleeping drafts... I... won't sleep for the rest of the night." She said, and she got out of bed and began to walk away from her room, the two guards exchanged nervous glances.
"Your highness?" One asked.
"Is there anything we can do?"
"Yes... my neck hurts... really bad... could you please get me one of those hot towels?" She asked.
"Yes, of course." The guard answered, and he ran off.
The wind blew over a field of grass and yellow blossoms. As Aldred approached Celestia, his rage began to build up. Twilight watched- and noticed something peculiar about Aldred- he was wearing the element of magic... but it wasn't a tiara... it looked more like an imperial crown... and he was wearing the other five elements on his arm- like bracelets.
"There's a saying in the old books- Loyalty to the end... do you know what it means?" Aldred asked.
"Being... heroic?" Celestia asked.
"It means devoting yourself to your leaders." Aldred said, with a swift movement, he ripped off his robe revealing a dark blue men's jumpsuit underneath, aligned with tough looking fabric, he charged at Celestia with a knife, Celestia caught his hand.
"As long as I have to be loyal to the end... loyal to you... the person who killed my family- there's no point for me to believe in anything- not even those I love." Aldred said, he swung his second fist up, but Celestia stopped him with her magic.
"And that's the way you think?"
"The only thing I can believe in with no doubt in my mind anymore- is myself." Aldred's eyes glowed, and with another, swift swing of his arm, threw Celestia to the ground.
"I'm defecting to the resistance... Celestia..." Aldred said, and paused. Celestia had tears in her eyes.
"You can't do this to me anymore." He said, Twilight shot up in front of Cyra's pod.
"Forgive me if the vision was a little... taxing on your mind... you might have a headache after a while." Ivar said, helping Twilight up to her hooves.
"What... why... what was with him carrying the elements?" Twilight asked, Ivar looked down to her.
"...Aldred... he kind of... how do I put this..." Ivar said, trailing off.
"Aldred is much older then he appears... technically, he's over four thousand years old." Twilight's jaw dropped.
"Huh?" Twilight asked.
"Yes... I have much explaining to do." Ivar closed his eyes.
"You see... Aldred was born around 2000 B.C., when he turned thirteen, he met Celestia. Celestia was about your age and wasn't in good health... Aldred had, and still does, have powerful magic- and was able to keep her health in check... but then catastrophe struck when rulers of one of the leading factors in black magic attacked Aldred's town- the Babylonian empire. They weren't that strong back then, but nevertheless did much damage... Aldred and his parents were fatally injured, and we had to send them to the realm of sleep to heal... when they awoke, it was a few years before Luna was banished... three thousand years later." Ivar said, Twilight looked very confused.
"Wait- let me get something clear- it took him three thousand years for him to heal? How badly was he...?" Twilight asked.
"He had been magically poisoned... ritual poisoning is resilient and only more sleep then one could have in a lifetime could heal it. Aldred isn't immortal. But those who rest in the realm of sleep- Light Tartarus, the realm of everlasting life- the land of the Titans and ancient Gods, shall not die in their sleep. Much less age." Ivar said, Twilight listened intently.
"It is for this reason that Aldred was somewhat upset when he got up- he didn't have any friends, but, everything in Equestria had changed... Luna was... how should I put this... somewhat new to Equestria- born about a decade earlier... and, to be honest, no means to offend him, but I think Aldred has... or at least had a crush on her." Ivar finished, Twilight blushed upon hearing the last part.
"R-really?" She asked, Ivar gave her an odd look.
"I-I mean, not that I'm not sorry for Aldred, but-"
"Ti's all right, I expected as much, besides... I have nothing against Humans and Equestrians getting together, but, it was... uncommon to say the least at the time... and, I wouldn't be surprised if it was part of Luna's banishment, either." Ivar finished, his eyes trailed up to the ceiling.
"When the rumor of Aldred, a human, having a crush on Luna, an Equestrian, and a member of the royal court, at that, reached the public, two things happened to him. On the Equestrian side, he was praised for dimming the lines of our species as a whole- and on the side of the resistance against Celestia, he was regarded as a monster and traitor. They tried to get him sentenced to death because of where his heart led him..."Ivar said, Twilight looked surprised and disgusted.
"...That's the sickest thing I've ever heard..." Twilight said.
"I don't even know if he really does have a crush to begin with... But as a result of this rumor, Aldred slowly became less and less of himself... as I watched him over the next few months, all I saw was depression leaking from him... but then something happened that nobody would dare dream... When Aldred awoke one morning, he walked out carrying the six elements in his hands. I was in shock." Ivar continued, Twilight stared.
"What happened?" Twilight asked.
"The elements- as artifacts- were only myths back then... Aldred was an aspiring scholar and leader, but nothing more... the idea that he perfectly matched all six elements was mind-boggling to everyone... he was the one under the most pressure- called a monster... an adversary... it was just unbelievable someone so young- so inexperienced could be so perfect... when it hit the public, everyone was quiet- as if the world had stopped turning... it was almost too fantastic to be true..." Ivar continued.
"As he gained notoriety, he brought harmony to not only all of Equestria, but many of the countries and leading powers in our world: Europe, Russia, Germany, the Americas, China... they all acted on his requests. But when his parents were killed in combat on the charges of being spies... he took the elements, defected, and crystalized the elements into spheres...Celestia went through so much pain that day... she brainwashed herself into believing it all was a dream... then, a few days ago, Aldred awoke from his sleep... and reality crashed down on her." He finished, Twilight looked very confused.
"...There's one more thing..." Twilight said.
"Yes?"
"If Aldred matches all the elements- why did he only take mine?" Twilight asked, Ivar's eyes trailed off.
"Do you know why it appears as a crown while the others as necklaces?" He asked, Twilight shook her head.
"It's gem is a direct link the divine order of things- it has the power over everything. Aldred doesn't need the other five- they just channel magical power from the crown... magic does bind everything together- I think Aldred wants to exploit this fact... I think he wants to bring order- to what he believes- to be a nation ruled by a tyrant." He concluded, Twilight's eyes went wide.
"If I'm correct about this- who knows what he'll do... but there's a problem in his plan. And for his sake, I hope he never solves it. As long as it stays in the form of a tiara- the feminine aspect of magic- it won't align properly with Aldred."
"The 'Feminine' side?" Twilight asked.
"Aldred specializes in solidified or 'Masculine' magic- it requires mediums to channel it's power. For instance, clay to make golems. Feminine or 'sympathetic' is more free-flowing and can be done without mediums, but it has a tendency to misfire since it does not have a specified focal point upon which it's magic can be cast. Pick your weakness- bound to physics or tendency to backfire." Ivar explained.
"Huh... well that explains why those golems work the way they do." Twilight remarked, pointing at one of the clay men- who was giving her a weird look.
"The alicorn amulet is a prime example, itself. It carries it's own power and channels it unto the caster... but it has adverse affects to those who use sympathetic magic... unicorns primarily cast sympathetic magic- and hence can gain a destructive persona due to the forces waging war against each other... In a sense you could might refer to it as the opposite of the element of magic, but, that would be stretching it a bit as far as how each of their power works. They don't come from opposing forces due to the fact the alicorn amulet carries it's own power, as I mentioned earlier, the element of magic channels pre-existing power- that of the divine. The alicorn amulet's power comes from the same source- but is not an open carrier. It is closed off to outside influences, and hence spreads to whatever touches it..." Twilight stared in confusion at Ivar.
"You seem to know a lot about how magic works... how do you know about the alicorn amulet?" Twilight asked, Ivar sighed.
"Because I took part in the ceremony to create those objects... didn't you notice how much it looked like one of the elemental necklaces as far as design actually went?" Ivar questioned, Twilight looked shocked.
"Wait... are you saying...?"
"That amulet... was intended as a test in an experiment to create a hypothetical seventh 'element'- the element of power... it contrasted sharply with the other elements in that it carried it's own power, hence it could be transferred from person to person, regardless of their nature... but it was made by an evil person. And hence, it makes whoever touches it go insane and maniacal... the worst part is that whoever bares it can not have the other elements used against them due to the fact it is perceived by the elements as one of it's own... the experiment itself initially was a success... but the side effects made it not worth it." Ivar finished.
"Oh well, I've been talking enough... you obviously don't want to hear too much of an old man, no?"
"Are you kidding? This practically shatters everything I've been told about Celestia... about Equestria... Is there more I don't know?"
"Much more... a lifetime of secrets, if you want, I can tell them all to you. If your ready." Twilight stopped at this sentence, it sounded dark. She thought about it, then responded.
"N-no... I don't want to know any more... not right now... I'm sorry but I..." Twilight stopped.
"Your highness?" Ivar asked.
"...I need some time to myself..." Twilight finished, and she ran from the hut with Spike, out of the forest, and back to her house.
In that moment, reality crashed down on her with an unholy blow.
There, she began to weep. Spike comforted her as she felt the whole world crash down on her, and everything she knew about Equestria, her friends, and her teacher, everything- she began to doubt. For the first time in a long time, she cried. Then, something put it's hand on her shoulder.
"Let not my pain be yours, Twilight. Do not suffer my suffering, I beg of you." She looked up to see a pair of familiar sapphire eyes, filled with empathy.
"Aldred... what happened, really?" Twilight said, trying to shake off her tears. She had gone through a breakdown earlier. It was just too much- all the things she had found out in such a short time made her feel like she knew nothing, and it had hurt her. Celestia never telling her about any of what Ivar knew, knowing the elements were stolen from a boy, knowing about the atrocities that had happened... the very thought Celestia could have done something like that- even if it was an accident... she couldn't take it. Aldred looked down at her with sad eyes.
"Please, miss, don't cry. I'm sorry." He said, and Twilight shook her tears off.
"What happened? I saw... your sister... you defected and-" at this moment, Aldred put a finger to her lips.
"Shhh, miss. Shhh... don't worry yourself over my troubles. You don't have to share my pain." Twilight moved away from him.
"But-!"
"I am fine, miss. Whether or not I defected needs not to be your concern. Please, do not ask me of my troubles." He said, Twilight stared.
"But... I..." Twilight stopped, then, a thought popped into her head, then many.
"Wait- the element of magic-"
"It's in a safe place. Do not worry."
"...Thank you..." Twilight said.
"Miss... I should be the one to thank you."
"Why?" Twilight asked, Aldred gave her a sad smile.
"You found the element of magic and took care of it for so long... thank you." Twilight smiled up at him, but it faded.
"Aldred- I need to ask you something. Two things, actually..." Twilight said, Aldred knelt down.
"What is it, Twilight?"
"Aldred..." There was a long silence, Twilight looked down at the floor.
"What is Twilight?"
"Do you have... regrets?" She asked, Aldred looked confused.
"Regrets?"
"About your... defection..."
"...Huh?"
"1028 C.E., ... Celestia had your family assassinated... and then... you defected." Aldred looked away from Twilight upon hearing this.
"I... no... I have no regrets." Aldred said, he stood up.
"You don't?" She asked.
"I'm loyal to the end- loyal to my purpose. My choices in life, I always think through. Celestia brought everything upon herself. I didn't want to defect originally... but when I started thinking about what was truly important to me... I realized nothing from my home world or Equestria... was important to begin with. I had nothing. Nothing except what I stood for."
"What do you stand for, then?" She asked, Aldred exhaled.
"...Do you remember me telling you five of the elements are fake? Do you know how I know that?" Upon hearing that, Twilight looked irritated.
"Their not fake!"
"I never said the elements themselves were fake- just the ones that you girls picked up were."
"W...what?" Twilight asked.
"No one but myself knows where the six real elements are... do you want to know?" Twilight looked up at him, anxiously. Aldred reached down his pocket and brought out a large gold plate adorned with five gems, with a small indentation at the center. The five gems hummed harmoniously.
"What is that...?" Twilight asked.
"This... is the pentacle of harmony itself- given to those who perfectly match the six elements of harmony- this one has all but one of the original elemental gemstones. Surely, it looks familiar?" Aldred asked, Twilight stared in shock.
"The indentation at the center-" She was cut off.
"The gem was ripped out a long time ago... take a guess as to where it is? See how it's shaped like a six rayed star?" Aldred explained, he pointed at the gems.
"Loyalty's lightning bolt, honesty's fruit of life, laughter's water of health, generosity's shield of strength, and the wings of kindness- the five powers of these gems set itself apart from any counterfeit- each has a distinct power within it. All can be used by anyone who has a pure heart... which is why I'm probably a disappointment to whatever gave it to me..." Aldred said, he looked ashamed.
"I don't blame you, Aldred... I don't think Celestia does either." Twilight said, Aldred turned to face the doorway.
"Someone's coming... Twilight?" Aldred said, he held out the pentacle to her.
"I may have only shown you a little of my good side- I'm not a monster, I hope I've proven to you that. So can I trust you to look after this pentacle for a while? I don't think it's safe with me anymore- until I get back the element of magic. Understand?" He said, Twilight stared at him for a few seconds, looked at the pentacle, and looked back at him. She nodded and took it with her magic.
"Thank you."
"And Twilight- it better be back in my hands when I come back. If not, my anger will be the least of your troubles. That thing is cursed, after all."
"What? Wait- there's one more thing I have to-" She asked, she blinked and he was gone, a knock came at the door, she used her magic to hide the artifact between two books on her shelf.
Shoot! I was going to ask him about him and Luna...
She opened the door to find Luna herself standing there, she looked anxious.
"Princess Luna!" Twilight exclaimed, sounding very surprised. She backed up and bowed.
"Is he here? Aldred?" She asked, Twilight shook her head.
"No..." Twilight said, Luna looked around the room.
"I heard you talking to him..." She said, she looked sad.
"...he just left..." Twilight admitted, eyeing the artifact.
Luna was silent, she looked around the room.
"I was a close friend with him... Celestia was, too. I was around the same age as him when I first met him... we were both taken from this world at around the same time... I'm still as young... physically speaking... as I was one thousand years ago... Aldred and I... we both share the same pain... Twilight... where is he?" She asked.
"I'm being honest with you, I don't know where he is- I... blinked and he was gone."
"Did he have a golden plate with him? One with six---- no... five gems on it?" She asked, Twilight eyed the artifact again, Luna didn't notice.
"Yeah...?" She answered, Luna looked relieved.
"Thank goodness..." She said, and she smiled, she turned and began to walk away.
"Princess-!" Twilight exclaimed, Luna turned around and looked at Twilight with sad eyes.
"Yes?"
"...Who was Aldred? Who was he really?" Twilight asked, Luna looked sad.
"...you know about his sister, Cyra?" Luna asked, Twilight nodded.
"...Aldred probably still doesn't know the truth... it was a complete accident, what happened... Aldred's mother defected, carrying a strange amulet with her- when Celestia fired a spell at her- it deflected off the amulet and fatally injured Cyra... I took her back to the hospital... but I was too late... Aldred doesn't believe Celestia when she says it was an accident... it was all too much for him... would you mind giving him this letter from me? It would help our situation." Luna said, her horn glowed and a letter materialized in the air.
"What is it?"
"...Don't read it, okay?" She said, looking nervous, Twilight nodded and set the letter down on her table, she turned to walk out the door.
"Princess-!" But the door shut. Twilight stood there, dumbfounded. I wonder... She thought, she took the letter and ran to the Everfree forest- Aldred emerged from behind a tree.
"How did you get here so quick?" Twilight asked.
"An unnecessarily painful teleport..." He said, and clenched his hip.
"What happened?"
"Lost focus thanks to that knocking sound, and I landed on my side..." He said, Twilight held out a letter.
"What's that?" He asked.
"A letter from Princess Lu-" She was interrupted as Aldred snatched it away.
"Yikes!" She exclaimed, Aldred read line after line, his eyes following each and every word with care, Twilight watched as he went pale... then, his face turned bright red, then, his eyes watered.
"Aldred?" She asked, Aldred flinched, then, took off like a rocket.
"Wait-! I need to ask you something about Princess Lu-!" She exclaimed.
"I'll tell you later!" He said, and he disappeared, like a blur.
There goes my opportunity to ask him... She thought. --------------------------------------------
Aldred ran as fast as he could down the path to the five-way fork in the road.
"Luna?" He called, a zap could be heard in the distance, he ran towards it- down the second-to-leftmost path. He found himself at a bridge over a quiet river. It was peaceful and crickets where chirping. The moon hung high in the night sky.
"Luna!" He called, the moon shone down on him with a pale, silvery light, Aldred looked back down the path which he had taken, and then to the other side of the bridge.
Did I take the wrong way? He thought, but as soon as he turned to walk away, he heard a voice that begged his eyes to yield tears of joy.
"Aldred!" It called, he turned around to see the majestic Princess of the night, standing there. It was silent for a few moments... then, Aldred stepped forward, Luna took a few steps toward him, then, they ran toward one another. When they reached each other, they wrapped themselves in each other's embrace.
"I thought you were dead..." Luna said.
"As did I think the same for you... thank God I was wrong..." Aldred said, and they left each other's embrace.
"It's been too long... I missed you." Aldred continued, Luna smiled.
"I missed you, too... I'm sorry that this happened to you." She answered, Aldred gave her a sad smile.
"You weren't to blame." Aldred answered, a tear rolled down Luna's face.
"...We have much to catch up on." Aldred continued, Luna nodded her head.
"Come with me, I'll show you the place I've been staying." Aldred said, and they walked down the path and towards the old hut.
---------------------------------
"This is beyond Equestrian territory..." Luna remarked.
"Yes. A no-man's land of sorts. It's the one place I'm safe."
"Celestia offers you no harm-"
"Her guards chased me all the way to the edge of the forest... one shot an arrow in my back..." Aldred said, his face growing angry.
"...Oh... I didn't... know..." She said, she looked somewhat distressed at what he had said, Aldred loosened upon seeing her in her state.
"...Sorry- that was immature of me." Aldred replied, Luna's frown left her face, she gave him a sad smile.
"It's all right... I know your upset with my sister... but she really never meant for this to happen to you." Aldred gave Luna a dead-blank expression.
"I know you don't believe me... I hope one day we can mend this." She said, Aldred looked at her with a sad expression on his face.
"Aldred?"
"How did it feel... being up there for a thousand years... sleeping angrily...?" Aldred said, he looked up at the moon through the skylight.
"...I probably felt worse then you do now... Aldred... your not... mad at me, are you?"
"Why would I be mad at you?" Aldred said.
"I didn't get your sister to the hospital in time... if I had moved quicker..." Aldred put his hand on the back of her neck in an effort to comfort her.
"You know I'm not mad at you. You didn't kill my family. You really did show the element of loyalty- to me... you never abandoned me and my kin- that's the reason people looked up to you. You brought laughter to the weeping- without you, my kind wouldn't have even come close to surviving. You brought us peace- didn't you notice how we only perform our high rituals during the night?" He said, Luna looked at him with wide eyes, then, she blushed.
"Y...you mean that was because..."
"You wanted your night to be appreciated- we owed it to you, and vowed to practice our high magic only during the night, if we could." Upon hearing this, Luna couldn't help but feel flattered.
"But... why?" She asked, Aldred knelt down to come to eye level with Luna.
"I owed it to you for all that you did back then... also..." Aldred said, Luna looked anxious.
"Also...?"
"Well... about your letter... let's just say that those rumors back then... they weren't completely inaccurate." Aldred said, he turned away to hide his face- which had turned bright red.
"A...Aldred..." Luna said, she was surprised that Aldred had the courage to admit what he had admitted.
"You remember that package you got that one Christmas? The one without a tag to tell you who it was from?" Aldred said, Luna's eyes went wide.
"That was you...?" She said, Aldred nodded.
"I wanted to give something back to you, Luna. That was my true intent- the rumors just misinterpreted it." Aldred said, but it was obvious he was hiding something.
"Aldred... you..." Aldred turned to walk away, but he didn't take four steps before his body was covered in a blue glow, and was yanked back to his original position- right in front of Luna.
"Thank you. I never got a chance to say that..." She said, Aldred's face went bright red, Luna smiled, and then walked away. Aldred looked down at the floor.
What should I do... what should I say? 'Luna... I meant more then what I said...' no! 'Luna... if there's anything you need----' no! Come on Aldred, think of something! He argued with himself mentally, but then realized Luna was gone. Then, he knew what to say.
"Luna?" Aldred said, Luna was at the doorway.
"Yes?"
"Thank you. Thanks for listening to me."
"I was about to say the same thing to you." Luna replied, and the door shut as Luna left. Aldred sat down on the couch with mixed feelings.
It was quiet that night, amongst the chirping of crickets, Fluttershy was sleeping soundly in her cottage, unaware of all that had happened to Twilight, dreaming about her childhood, and of exotic animals. But she was shaken awake by a bone-chilling scream, it made the fur on the back of her neck stand straight up.
"GYYAAAAAAAAH!!!" She shot up in her bed and looked out the window, multiple zapping sounds could be heard. She saw flashes coming from the Everfree forest. Angel looked up at Fluttershy, he looked extremely nervous and it seemed that he didn't want Fluttershy to leave the house- as it could be seen from him flailing his front legs as if trying to say: 'Don't go! It's too dangerous!', Fluttershy knew what he was thinking. She looked down at him.
"Angel, stay here. Don't leave the house." She said, and she ran out of the cottage and into the Everfree forest, but the sounds of monstrous growls in the distance slowed her pace from running to a very slow walk. She almost stopped, then, the monstrous sounds stopped, leaving only a sound of deep breathing and violent coughing in the distance.
She picked up the pace and came to a small clearing. Something was laying there... it was a creature that at first, Fluttershy thought was a pony... but upon getting closer, she noticed something very strange. Its front hooves- if hooves were the right word- were divided into five appendages, each with a small scale of an almost plastic-like substance on the end- Claws? No, they weren't sharp enough. It's hind hooves were bent into an L-shape, and they were covered in brown leather shoes. Then, she removed it's hood- and the most incredible looking creature revealed itself to her- almost as if it were the embodiment of awe itself- but her feelings of awe were short lived- for on the side of it's head was a cut- and was bleeding. It wasn't bleeding too badly, but the creature needed medical attention.
Fluttershy noticed that the robes it was wearing were somewhat slick and she could probably drag it along the path back to her cottage, without hurting it. It let out a pained groan as she lifted it's head off the ground. She could have sworn she heard a whisper escape the creature's mouth, but she brushed it off. ---------------------------------
She set the creature down on the carpet and got out a first-aid kit, very carefully applying a bandage around it's head. The creature was still breathing... she brought out a guide on animals and skimmed the pages, trying to find a description on it... but to no avail. The closest thing to it was an ape- which she was somewhat familiar with- but it would be an over-statement to say it looked just like an ape- much of it's hair was gone save the top of it's head- very different in comparison to the Ape. And it's head was smoother and more flush in color. It had a different forehead shape, along with the nose and mouth... the more she thought about it, the less it actually seemed to look like an ape- especially when she looked at it's face... it looked a lot like a common Equestrian's. She set down the guide.
The creature slept soundly, Fluttershy looked over it's clothing. If it were like an ape- surely it wasn't intelligent enough to make clothing, right? She realized it might mean that this was somepony's pet or something to that extent, maybe they dressed it up like this? She didn't know. It's right hand clenched into a fist.
"Mrrr...g...ugh..." It groaned, Fluttershy ran to the other room where a bucket of water stood, she lifted some of it into a cup and brought it over to the creature, she carefully lifted it up to it's lips, and poured it into it's mouth. But then, something the creature did put Fluttershy into a state of shock- it's hand grabbed the cup and held it on it's own, and then uttered two words:
"...Thank you..." And then, it's eyes opened to reveal two pearl-like spheres. It sat up.
"Oh...my...!" Fluttershy said, the creatures eyes fluttered, it didn't seem to be looking at her, just straight ahead. The creature felt it's surroundings as if it couldn't see, then, as it got up, it's eyes changed color to a fiery, ruby like red. It finally noticed Fluttershy.
"You saved my life... thank you." Fluttershy looked half amazed and half horrified- what is this thing standing in front of her? It was bipedal and was talking to her!
"Uh- I- uhm..."
"My eyes? I can only see with them like this, sorry if it's disturbing, miss." He said.
"Oh- I- uh, no, uhm... who... no... what are you?"
"I'm a... human...?" It said, it looked very confused.
"H-human?" Fluttershy said, she quickly ran over to her guide on animals again, the creature just stood there looking at her with a strange look.
"M...miss?" He asked, Fluttershy showed him one page from the "mythical" chapter.
"You mean this?"
HUMANS
Humans are a species who's statues as 'mythical' is in debate- "bipedal and intelligent, between 5-6 feet tall. The legs they stand on have 'feet' shaped in a way to allow them to stand upright easily, with 5 small appendages on each, with limited movement. On the other two, they have five appendages as well, but due to their extended length, allow for the ability to grip and turn objects with veritable accuracy- supposedly more accurate then common use of magic. They can run at impressive speeds despite their use of only two of their legs, and are supreme in magic, they are mentally interchangeable as far as thought patterns go, as the average Equestrian, but are technologically advanced due to each human having the hereditarily passed down ability to wield tools, unlike 2/3 of the population of Equestria, which encompasses non-magical users. They are skilled in many arts which Equestrians have yet to understand- the two most prominent being the ability to create creatures from clay, and revive the dead." -ARS EQUESTRIA.
"Uh... 'mythical'?" The boy said, Fluttershy just stared.
"What do you mean?" She asked, the boy looked out the window of the town- and saw only Equestrians, he seemed very confused at the sight of it.
"Good God... he wasn't kidding when he said we were gone that long..." He muttered, he turned to Fluttershy.
"I'm sorry miss. I'm one of Celestia's informants--- well, I used to be, anyway. Name's Bradyn." He said, kneeling down to her.
"Used to be?" She asked.
"Our race has been gone from Equestria for god-knows-how-long... Before we were forced out, I was Celestia's informant..." He said, Fluttershy looked up at him as he touched the bandage wrapped around his head.
"My appearance may be a bit... startling, but, I mean you no harm." He said.
"Uhm..."
"Maybe I should show you." He said, he brought out a crystal ball. Bradyn Said an incantation, and images from the past showed up on the surface.
"Oh my-!" Fluttershy let out. -------------------------------------
The wind blew over a field of grass and yellow blossoms. As Aldred approached Celestia, he was blank in expression. He had white robes on and was wearing the elements- with the element of magic on his head, as a crown.
"I didn't defect." He started, Celestia's eyes yielded tears, she didn't cry out loud though.
"I couldn't defect- they only hate and have no place for me- I am the element of harmony, after all." He continued.
"What about you, Celeste? What is it going to be? Loyalty to your people, or loyalty to me? Your subjects or your old friend? Your responsibility as a leader, or your personal feelings? Your duty to your land or that which has existed before even that? The only thing you can believe it with no doubt in your mind... is yourself. Now... tell me. What are you going to do?" Aldred said, Celestia's eyes yielded tear after tear- was this really happening? Did Aldred finally forgive her?
She walked towards him, Aldred smiled. He took out his sword. Celestia repelled at it- was he making fun of her? Aldred looked down at the blade.
"I never liked fighting anyway." He said, and chucked it off to the side, but then, he began to fade, and then disappeared. She realized she was dreaming, her tears turned from that of joy to sorrow... then, a blue mist appeared in front of her- and Luna stood there.
"W-what kind of sick joke is this!? Are you making fun of me!?" Celestia said, but Luna smiled.
"Of course not. I'm showing you... what will happen if we continue to regain his trust. I met him tonight- he seems like he is back to his old self."
"Not while he's around me. He hates me." Celestia said, and hung her head, Luna looked down at her sister.
"Don't be like that, he doesn't hate you. He's blinded by grief and pain- he needs you and me. Only if we regain his trust can we gain his friendship back." Luna said, Celestia looked up.
"Maybe he could have felt like that... until that one idiotic guard shot an arrow at him- I specifically said to bring him back alive! He probably thinks that I ordered an attack on him... No wonder he's hiding in the unmapped parts of the Everfree forest- it's the one place no one in their right mind would go unless they felt it safer then any other part in Equestria... I wanted to apologize... and now it's too late..." Celestia said, she hung her head in despair.
"If it's too late... then you wouldn't have been able to see that vision you just saw now- that wasn't a mere dream- I cast an oracle spell."
"Oracle spell?"
"You know- the spells that Aldred's uncle taught us?" Luna said, Celestia's eyes widened, tears stopped flowing.
"We need to work quickly. If we don't, that vision will never come true." Celestia stood still and stared at her sister- what she was seeing, could it really come true...?
"...Maybe it isn't to late. Thank you sister." Celestia said.
"It is not. Now let's not waste any of our time. And- sister?"
"Yes?"
"Aldred has changed. I don't think he's the same one we knew..." Luna said, Celestia's eyebrow raised.
"He's become very powerful... if not more powerful then Twilight- I could feel his aura in the air... it was so strong you could feel it from fifty feet away, I swear it... we need to tread carefully- a human with magic combined with anger... not a good combination." Luna said, Celestia nodded.
"My sentiments exactly." She answered, and she woke up to the sound of a... raven? A raven cawing.
------------------------------------------
Fluttershy was enticed by the images being shown to her- she wasn't as in to magic as other ponies, but the powers that humans had, to her, seemed phenomenal. She broke her gaze from the crystal ball, and looked up at Bradyn.
"Was... all that real?" She asked, Bradyn smiled, and reached down into his pocket. He pulled out a small bag of clay.
"Uhm- what are you doing?"
"Watch." He said, he took it out of the bag and shaped it into the shape of a butterfly, and began to whisper something. Fluttershy was spellbound. She watched as the clay cracked, and out of it flew an Ulysses butterfly.
"Oh my...!" She said, Bradyn smiled.
"Funny. I'm not actually that good at making creatures from clay. What you just saw was the most I could do... if you want something really impressive- you should talk to my friend, Aldred. He practically invented the system himself!" Bradyn remarked, Fluttershy looked anxious.
"What's wrong?" He asked, Fluttershy hid half of her face behind her mane.
"Uhm... this is just a lot to take in..." She answered.
"Really? I thought Princess Twilight would've told you about all this. She seemed like the open kind of person- er... 'Pony'." He said, Fluttershy's ears perked up.
"What?" She said, Bradyn nodded.
"Uh, yes- we met her a while ago. She was a really polite guest... but... she didn't take all of the information we gave her as well as you did... for that matter, I could've sworn I saw her..." Bradyn stopped, Fluttershy looked up at him.
"Well... let's just say she looked rather distraught... never mind." Bradyn finished.
"Was she all right?" Fluttershy asked.
"Quite. She was fine when I saw her." Bradyn answered.
"So... you and your friends have been in hiding for... that long?" Fluttershy said, Bradyn nodded.
"Well, actually... most of us were asleep." Fluttershy looked really confused at this.
"There's this realm that apparently keeps you from aging when your inside it... I was one of the few who was awake practically the whole time. But sheesh! 1000 years stuck in a realm like the one we were in... it got really, really boring, so... I tried sneaking out a couple of times- only to get attacked by that crazy old-" He stopped. Fluttershy's eyebrows raised, Bradyn looked like he had made a grave mistake.
"Well, let's just say that it was something evil. I'll leave it at that." Bradyn said, he clenched his arm near his shoulder. Fluttershy noticed his arm was quivering- he was in pain.
"...What is it?" Fluttershy asked.
"What?" Fluttershy poked his arm, and it was obvious she hit a painful spot as Bradyn cringed- and the spot she touched was wet with a small amount of blood. She didn't see it because his robes were the same color.
"...Ouch...!" Bradyn strained.
"Come on, show it to me. Let me see... does it hurt?" Fluttershy pleaded. Bradyn looked very nervous... but he took his arm down, and rolled up the sleeve. There were distinct claw marks on his arm. Fluttershy gasped. Bradyn let go of his sleeve.
"Please tell me... What attacked you?" Fluttershy asked, she grabbed some more bandages and rolled up his sleeve as she wrapped bandage after bandage over his arm. Bradyn looked out the window.
"It was... something I thought had been ridden of from this place... no... someone... his name is Byrne."
"Byrne?"
"It means 'raven'- and fitting too... he's a human with raven's wings." He said, he put his hand on his forehead, he was sweating.
"Byrne is... well, used to be, a human like me... then, he turned into a monster... I don't know what happened to him, but the last time I saw him, he was in a state of uncontrollable, seething rage... I later found out he had turned into a... Strigoi."
"Strigoi?"
"You've never heard of the Strigoi? The Timberwolves? The bluebell phoenix? Any of them?"
"I've seen a timberwolf before... but, what do you mean? What's a Strigoi?" Fluttershy asked, Bradyn looked grave.
"A strigoi... is a troubled soul or person who comes back from the dead, or is a living being with specific magical powers... a timberwolf, for example, is a troubled soul who encases themselves in the wood of a tree... eventually, they come alive as a creature- normally a wolf. Hence the name 'timberwolf'." Bradyn explained.
"As for the bluebell phoenix- a troubled soul that is overcome by sadness takes the form of a fiery blue phoenix... their incredibly rare and can assume their true form if they wish... Byrne, however, was overcome by rage during his life... so much rage that it literally scared death away from him- he's been in this world, in hiding, for the past 1000 years. Only recently has he regained his full strength."
"That sounds rather... uhm..."
"I know it sounds ridiculous... but, regardless of that, Byrne found me in the Everfree, and attacked me along with a pack of timberwolves... I was scared for my life... his eyes, they weren't human anymore... they seeped madness... he was about to strike a deadly blow to me... but then he heard something- you, coming towards the scene, and he took off."
"But I didn't see anything flying..." Fluttershy said.
"A living Strigoi can turn invisible for small amounts of time..."
"Why did he attack you in the first place?" Fluttershy asked.
"...I don't know... but before he noticed me, he kept saying something... some... name, I think." Bradyn remarked.
"What did he say?"
"Dash." Fluttershy's heart stopped.
"Yes, he simply said 'Dash' over and over again... I think he said another name, too... but it was gargled."
"D...Dash..." Fluttershy repeated- whatever attacked Bradyn- did it know... Rainbow Dash?
"Listen, you've gotta' get me away from the Everfree forest- it's not safe for me there, I need to find my friend, Aldred. Can you take me to Camelo--- I-I mean... Canterlot?" Bradyn asked, Fluttershy blinked.
"Uhm... yes... I think there's a midnight train running." Fluttershy answered, suddenly, an angry shout was heard by the two.
"CRAAAAAAAAH!!!"
"Ah! W-what was that!?" Fluttershy said.
"Oh crap. He's found us! We need to get out of here before-" Something crashed into the ground outside.
"...Too late... run!" And with that, they ran out the back door, and towards the town.
They slowed to a stop as they reached the train station. They gasped for air as they stopped.
"...Do you think he's still on our tail?" Bradyn asked, Fluttershy didn't answer.
"Miss?" Bradyn then noticed Fluttershy looked horrified.
"Forgive me, I shouldn't have involved you." Bradyn said, he stepped toward the train.
"We have to get away from this place as fast as possible. It won't be long until he catches up with us. Let's go." He said, Fluttershy finally came back to her senses. She followed him onto the train. They sat down and the door shut behind them, and the train lurched as it began to move. They were alone in their train car. They loosened at relaxed as they got far away from the station. Bradyn let out a sigh of relief.
"Miss, pardon me, but I don't believe I've asked you what your name is." Bradyn said, Fluttershy looked towards him from her side of the car. She was unsure if she should answer him or not, but his prying eyes seemed to beg her for an answer.
"I... I'm... Fluttershy." She said, Bradyn smiled.
"Well, Fluttershy, I believe I owe you my thanks. I would have been dead had you not shown up. Thank you." He remarked, and Fluttershy smiled nervously. Bradyn looked out at the countryside as it rolled by, he felt his heart sink, and it showed.
"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked.
"...Nothing's the way I remember. Everything looks different." Bradyn answered, Fluttershy then got up and wrapped a comforting wing around his back. Bradyn looked at the floor in depression. Nothing was the same to him. It all seemed that everything he had built as Celestia's informant was missing from the landscape. But his spirits were raised as they approached Canterlot, and he saw the majestic castle. The train slowed to a stop. The conductor came to their car.
"All passengers are to leave this cart, there's been a problem with the engi- woah! What are you!?" Bradyn rolled his eyes and looked over to Fluttershy.
"We don't have time for this- let's go!" Bradyn said, Fluttershy nodded and followed him out the cart.
"H-hey! You! Wait!' The Conductor called, but they were long gone, for Bradyn had rolled out a magic carpet and was flying next to Fluttershy as they sped towards the city.
Aldred walked down a path covered in vines. As he made his way further and further into the Everfree, he knew he was getting closer and closer to his destination: the temple in which the elements were first found. As he pushed aside some ruble in the way, he found himself in a large room, dark, and dank. It was quiet, and one could hear a cricket chirping from a mile away. He held the element of magic in his hands, and held it up to his heart. He felt electrified as he pulsed magical energy through his veins. When he reached a point at which he could no longer hold the energy, he directed it into the tiara.
"Gelácne, ic i gíeme, giemest, háligede,hæle, þurhhæle, hael!" He chanted, a white light radiated from the crown and a soft hum could be heard in the room. As the light grew brighter and brighter, Aldred felt a strange, pulling feeling in his chest. As he held the crown, he heard a small 'ping' noise. He looked down at the crown, now in two pieces. One, the base of the crown, the second being the gem itself. Aldred reached down and held the gem in his left hand, he looked at the gem with a strange sense of awe- never had it occurred to him how powerful this little gem was. It had shaped a whole nation to his -and eventually Celestia's- liking. The gem pulsated with a hot-pink aura with a hint of violet. He put the crown piece in his pack, then pulled out a small, circular, metal box. He opened it. It was lined with red velvet. He placed the gem in a like-shaped depression in the box. He then closed it, and held it cupped in his hands as he whispered an incantation over the box.
"Ne Onclys!" He said, a golden light formed from the crack between the two halves of the box, and then faded. He had magically locked the box.
"I had a feeling I'd find you here." Aldred froze as an-all-to-familiar voice sent a shiver up his spine- then, caused him be overcome with anger. He turned around.
"What are you doing here? I told you after our last meeting to not look for me."
"I wasn't... I wanted to pay my respects." She said. She walked past Aldred, towards a tattered portrait on the wall. It was of a pink-colored filly with two hearts connected by an arrow as a cutie mark. Celestia stared sadly at it.
"You know... your sister reminds me of Cadence." Celestia remarked, she broke her gaze and looked back to Aldred.
"...What would you know?" Aldred asked. He felt a lump around his waste line- his hand had instinctively reached down for his sword. Celestia noticed this, and it was obvious that she wasn't happy about it- for her eyes were beginning to water.
"Do you hate me? I don't blame you." She said, Aldred didn't blink, he didn't move, he didn't show any sign of emotion. Celestia looked away from him.
"...When your sister died, I took it upon myself to try to fix things... I even collected all of your works and stored them at the Canterlot archives." She said, Aldred raised an eyebrow.
"It was your works that saved all of Equestria. It was your works that drove out the resistance- peacefully. It was your works that helped our citizens regain their previous lives- peacefully. You saved my entire kingdom, Aldred. You've been a good friend, teacher, and student all at once... Aldred, I never wanted any of this." Celestia's voice had grown very soft. Aldred took his hand off the handle of his sword. He stared at Celestia and was completely silent.
"Aldred... I want you to see what all of your works have built." She said, Aldred inhaled and exhaled.
"Why did those guards attack me? You don't expect me to believe that you didn't-"
"No... I don't expect you to believe that I didn't order an attack on you. I don't expect you to believe anything I've said. But I want you to see what your legacy has left... and there's one more thing."
"What?" Aldred asked, looking off into the distance.
"My student figured out how to make your final spell work." Celestia said, Aldred looked back to her, he looked surprised. A piece of folded parchment materialized in front of Aldred.
"It is yours." She said, Aldred's heart nearly stopped.
Aldred's hands quivered as he reached out and took the parchment, and unfolded it.
"...The reason you couldn't figure it out was my own fault. I kept you from your own kind... you had very few friends at all, and it was that which kept you from figuring out how to enter this new magical realm... you can thank Twilight for finishing your work." Aldred was dead-silent. An emotionless tear fell down his cheek. He didn't think. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak.
"Aldred, you are the only one who knows how to properly use the forces within this realm. Now why would I give Twilight such a demanding task of finishing the spell if not even I could use it?" Celestia said, Aldred blinked and looked at Celestia in shock.
"I knew one day you would return... so I looked for a student who could finish your work before you came home." Celestia's voice became almost soothing. Aldred removed the wax seal, and words written in golden ink adorned the parchment. Aldred's heart began to pound.
"Y...you..."
"Whatever you choose to do with this knowledge... please use it with good intent." Celestia said, she turned to walk away, but then, Aldred spoke.
"Is my Alias still being used?" Aldred asked.
"...Yes." Celestia answered.
"You can change it to my real name. I don't need to be 'protected' anymore." He said.
"Are you sure?" Celestia asked.
"...No more 'Star-swirled The Bearded', I'm done with that false name." He said, and he walked away from the building.
Aldred sat quietly by the stream. His hands were quivering, he was shaking. His heart was pounding. Not in excitement, but pain. One thousand years he'd been gone. Only now did he realize how much everything had changed. So much time had gone by, that Celestia had found someone else to finish his work... It didn't sit well with him.
"Are you still questioning your loyalties?" A voice asked, Aldred turned his head to see a boy dressed in dull-green robes with shiny silver rims. He walked up next to him and sat down.
"Ackerley... please... I don't know what to do anymore, I need time to think."
"We're always there for you. Defected of Celestia or not... what's that?" Ackerley asked, Aldred stuffed the parchment into his pocket.
"Something Private." Aldred responded, Ackerley tilted his head in curiosity.
"It's all right, Aldred. I understand... and, if those rumors were true- if you want to talk about it, I'm here for you." Aldred bent his head in shame- he knew what was about to be brought up.
"...You know, there's no shame when the heart is concerned." Ackerley put his hand on Aldred's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"Tell that to the hundreds of extremists who tried to have me executed over it. I still have scars on my back..." Aldred raised his head.
"Their gone now. You don't need to worry about them. They won't hurt you... why are you still sad?" He asked.
"...because I'm starting to wonder if my parents really were innocent or not... if I should've sided with the resistance." Aldred said, Ackerley raised an eyebrow at him.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I never was there when it all happened... I was far away from there..." Ackerley watched as his friend slowly go pale.
"Aldred... what did Celestia tell you?" Aldred was silent, he opened his mouth several times as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't find his words, instead, he gave Ackerley the parchment.
"Read it." Aldred said, Ackerley looked down at it, then, after a few seconds, his eyes went wide.
"What on Earth...!?" Ackerley let out.
"Celestia gave it to me... she claims that while I was gone... she had her student- Twilight - finish my work..." Aldred said.
"Ackerley... what am I supposed to do?" Aldred asked.
"... I don't know. But I think you do deserve this knowledge... why don't you try it?" Ackerley asked, he handed Aldred the parchment, got up and left.
"...Maybe because I don't deserve it..." Aldred said, even though Ackerley wasn't there, Aldred buried his face into his knees- he spoke to no one, but himself.
"What am I doing... what was I thinking..." Aldred muttered, he took his face from his knees and looked out into the stream- someone was standing there- a boy dressed in blue robes with shiny blue rims. He glared at Aldred, but not because he was angry.
"You never did anything wrong, Aldred. Do not let her lies get to you."
"Go away." Aldred responded, the boy stepped out of the water and knelt down in front of him. The stream grew still.
"This is a trick. Think about what she did to you and your parents- she used a spell reserved for those changeling bastards on us to send us to Light Tartarus- she could've killed us in the process."
"Shut up..." Aldred whispered.
"Think about what she did to your parents and sister! Think about-"
"SHUT UP! Shut up!" Aldred shouted, red liquid pooled in his eyes, and streamed down his face like tears, the boy repelled at this.
"Think about what she did that made your tears of anger run red." The boy finally said, Aldred reached up to his face and rubbed his hand across his cheek- to find that his tears looked like blood.
The boy walked away and left Aldred in a state of despair.
"Damn you Chris... go to hell!" Aldred shouted, the boy didn't answer. In that instant, he decided what was right. --------------------------------
He finished transferring the script to his grimoire. He took careful notice to make sure it was perfect, down to the last letter.
As he spoke, his blood became electrified. He felt himself getting lighter and lighter. Eventually, he vanished into thin air.
He found himself in a large... he didn't know how to describe it. It was like space. Stars glowed in the distance. They shimmered, they sparkled... and standing there was Princess Celestia.
"You should know... that I've been watching you from day one. When I was still young... when you saved my life." Celestia said, Aldred walked towards her. He couldn't feel anything. Not his heartbeat, not his skin... nothing. He felt nothing.
"I looked to you as an older brother. You remember when we used to go to the ancient temples? Read up on the old magic books?" Celestia asked, Aldred stared at his feet. Guilt was piling up on him.
"...you remember the day you woke up in the hospital bed after your eyes were cursed? How I was crying?" Celestia asked, Aldred looked up at her, she looked very melancholic. The guilt Aldred felt was unbearable... what was he doing? Why was he doing it? Why was all he was feeling there? Why was it even important...? A tear rolled down his left cheek.
"I know you must hate me for what I've done. You have every right to." Aldred blinked.
"I know what its like to lose your family, I understand the pain you felt..." Celestia walked closer to Aldred.
He took out his sword, and chucked it off into the distance. Celestia stared as she saw Aldred's robes turn from Black to a mid-grey.
"I never like fighting anyway." Aldred said, he turned to walk away.
"Aldred..." Celestia said, Aldred stopped.
"Yes?" He asked.
"What are you looking for?" Celestia asked, Aldred felt like he was falling into himself. He felt he could say, without regret, that he was the worst person alive for what he had done. Celestia really did care for him... and he had treated her like a monster. Aldred felt his lungs inflate with air as he readied his voice to answer her question.
"I'm looking for a purpose." Aldred said, he heard something hit the floor- a teardrop- Celestia's.
"Just as you always have. Ever since you created the 'locket'." Celestia finished.
"...Why do you still wear it?" He asked, pointing to the gem on Celestia's necklace. She gave him a sad smile.
"To remember the person who gave me something I could never have without that person- a family... I haven't opened it since you left."
"What's inside?" Aldred asked, there was silence.
"Something very dear to me..." Celestia said.
"Take care of it." Aldred finished, and he walked away, leaving the area filled with stars.
Twilight climbed out of the carriage and walked towards Celestia's castle. She wanted to speak to Celestia- she hadn't given her a second chance yet to explain herself, and despite the horrible tales Ivar had told her, she wanted to hear both sides of the story. 'Tyrant' or not.
She opened the large doors to find her standing there, waiting for her. Twilight felt a rush of guilt go up her spine like cold blood. The whole world seemed to fade from her vision, she could only see Celestia's melancholic face. But something else escaped in the Princess's expression- joy?
"Princess Celestia, I- I..." Twilight stuttered; what happened to her in those few moments before she had gotten so veritably angry at her mentor? Her teacher- the one who had been with her since day one... she had betrayed. And now she wanted to apologize.
"It's okay Twilight." She said, bending her neck to come to eye level with her student.
"You had every right to act the way you did, but we have unfinished business to take care of. Let's put what happened behind us- and let's try to find a way to fix what has happened. Come with me." The Princess then took Twilight to her throne room- then pressed the panel in the back of her throne- leading to the hidden hallway and archives.
"Now... let me show you what really happened." She said, and they walked down the hallway to a small room packed with candles, illuminating images of magical symbols- and pictures of Aldred, Celestia, and Luna.
"At a time, this land was not ruled by two, but three monarchs. Aldred was the first. I came second, and, Luna came into this world third. His magic... back then, he had just about as much power as you do, now... but now, his power is greater then that; I spoke of the Magicae Princeps earlier; if you become one of them, you can manipulate the very fabric of reality itself. But, back then, Aldred was just like you and I." She said, she walked over to a small wooden box on the floor, She brought it to Twilight, and opened it to reveal dazzling gold talismans and amulets.
"...These were just a few of the talismans Aldred created. He had a great understanding of how things in this world worked- and why they work. Knowing that, you can accomplish anything. For instance- if I take this Talisman here-" She picked up a gold talisman in the shape of a square with an eye etched onto it- it's pupil being a ruby.
"-and merely utter the word 'sight'-" hardly had the word left her mouth when they found themselves standing 2000 feet in the air above Equestria.
"AH!" Twilight yelped, but Celestia smiled.
"-it will show a vivid vision of a bird's eye view of any place you wish."
"...Huh?" Twilight asked, Celestia smiled.
"We're still in the archives- this is just a vision." She said, her horn glowed and the vision faded.
"And... there's more." The princess said, she walked to the back of the room where a huge door stood, she opened it to reveal a room with something glowing inside of it. A portal?
"Follow me." She said, she walked towards the big spiral of energy.
"Hecate, Zeus, Poseidon, Hades! We have called and request an answer- bestow your grace upon us and we will honor you for eternity." She said, the portal glowed brighter and brighter- it's light engulfed the two. Then, they were gone.
------------------------------------------
Aldred woke up the moment they left. He knew they had gone through the portal, even though he was miles away. He could feel it. It was just a sense of knowing something had happened. No question about it. He got up from his bed and walked over to his tome, and began to read the small print. Ackerley walked in.
"...Did it work?" He asked, Aldred looked over to his close friend.
"Yes..." He said, Ackerley gave him an uneasy smile.
"You know, we won't make an enemy of you if you go back to Camelot."
"You mean Canterlot." Aldred corrected.
"Same difference. It's your home. You belong there." He said, Aldred turned to face him.
"...But how could I go back after what I've done?" Aldred asked.
"You haven't done anything." He said.
"I defected... I can never make up for that." He said, but Ackerley smiled.
"You hold the elements for a reason. You of all people know that isn't true." He said, Aldred turned away.
"...I guess your right." He said, he then closed his book.
"Why don't you go visit them? If you want to make up for what's happened, that's the first step. You'll be able to forgive yourself." He said, trying to sound comforting, Aldred looked to him again.
"...Wait a minute... your robes... Aldred...?" Ackerley asked.
"...I want to leave. These guys only hate. I can't stay here." He said, Ackerley smiled, a boy in brown robes with gold rims walked in, along with a girl in blue robes and shiny white rims.
"Then we're coming with you." Two more girls walked in, one wearing white robes and black rims, and the other with black robes and gold rims.
"All of us." The boy with brown robes said, the other teens nodded their heads.
"All of us." They all said, Aldred smiled.
"Thank you, but you don't have to." He said.
"No... we want to." The girl with white robes said, suddenly, Ivar came dashing into the room.
"Aldred-! Cyra... she's out of the pod!" Ivar said in between breaths, the entire group rushed passed him and ran down to the first floor. There, siitting on the floor was a pale, furless filly. She stared up at the group.
"Aldred...?" She asked, Aldred scooped her up.
"Cyra...!" He said.
"I think I'll be all right." She said, smiling at him.
"...Thank goodness." The boy in black robes said, Aldred brought his sister into a light embrace. -------------------------------------------------
Twilight marveled at the realm presented to her. She walked along a path with diamonds for stone, huge crystals cut into the shape of houses- and they served their purpose. Beautiful hillsides, and endless stars in the night sky.
"Welcome to Arcania. This was Aldred's capital during his reign in Equestria... he built it himself." She said, the town of crystals was very quiet.
"There's no one here..." Twilight whispered.
"The city was abandoned a long time ago... come, I shall show you around."
They walked towards a fountain of water where they sat down.
"...I have committed many atrocities towards Aldred... I used his magical knowledge against his own kind... the reason I banished so many of them wasn't because I hated them... but I was a coward." She said, looking down at the ground.
"I used on of Aldred's talismans to close the gates to their home... and then another to send them all to White Tartarus... and then, Aldred defected because of what I did... I brought this all upon myself... this is my punishment- to carry the taint of disgrace for as long as I breathe... I went down in human history as a monster that unleashed a catastrophe to an entire species... I don't even know if there are any humans left back on Earth." she said, closing her eyes.
"...Aldred was not the first human I met, either. The first boy was roughly his age now... only off by a few years- he was one of Aldred's cousins." She said.
"The boy's name was Cody. I was at an old castle- with my parents... he walked in. I was scared- I shot a beam at him and yelled that he 'didn't belong here'... I could see he was scared and confused, but... I... I..." The Princess appeared less and less of herself. Her heart was aching and it showed. She felt her chest grow tight and her heartbeat slow to almost a stop.
"Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked, she had never seen her mentor like this.
"Hmmm? No. I'm all right. I haven't thought about that day for years... it's a very uncomfortable memory... maybe it was a premonition." She said, she looked up at the stars.
"...They're all gone because of me... There. Now I've told you my story. I've kept this a secret for centuries... only now do I feel it's right to reveal it." She said, Twilight stared at her mentor. This was not her. This was someone who Twilight never knew- and because of that, she too, felt sad.
"Princess... everyone makes mistakes once in a while. My mistake wasn't hearing your side of the story. Yours wasn't entirely your fault." She said, trying to comfort her mentor... it felt strange.
"Yes, but, nobody has to carry the guilt of banishing an entire species... even those who were on your side." She said, Twilight scooted closer to her.
"Princess, you were being hunted. You were in the middle of a war... I wouldn't have thought I had any choice if I were in that position... And I have." The Princess looked to Twilight.
"...When Tirek came to get me... I was forced to choose between the last bit of magic in Equestria and saving my friends... it was the hardest decision I've made as a Princess... I know what it's like to be backed into a corner." As she spoke, however, the Princess grew more and more grim.
"No, Twilight you don't understand... that's not all that-"
"I do." She interrupted, the Princess turned to her.
"And I don't judge you." She said, Celestia appeared dead-blank in expression.
"The only person who hasn't forgiven you right now- is you." She said, and smiled, the Princess turned away from her.
"Maybe you're right..." She said, Twilight could tell that her mentor was still upset.
"...But?" She asked.
"But it still doesn't make up for what I've done." She said, Celestia began to walk towards the portal. Twilight followed her.
"Then let's find a way to do just that." They passed through the portal and left Arcania.
"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.