The predators of the Everfree are disappearing. Fluttershy brings the issue to Twilight. Worried about her critters becoming the next victim. Possibly even Ponyville.
The predators of the Everfree are disappearing. Fluttershy brings the issue to Twilight. Worried about her critters becoming the next victim. Possibly even Ponyville.
When they go to investigate what could be causing this whole thing. They find the missing animals. But something else found them first. The very reason Tartarus was made into a prison.
After Twilight had been made a princess, the Elements of Harmony had been gathering to the castle every other week to discuss matters that involved the town of Ponyville. Disputes would be one example, though the amount of them was very few, they were still something that happened.
"So," Twilight said as she closed the door to the map room. Turning around to see all of her friends sitting in their respectful thrones. "What's new with you girls?" She asked with a smile, walking over to her own seat among the table. Falling back in her seat but using her wings to stabilize herself, straightening out with a sheepish smile on her face.
"Not much with me," Rainbow Dash spoke, shrugging her shoulders. "The weather factory is planning for a big winter storm this year. But I'm sure you all know that already," she dismissed with a wave of her hoof. They all hummed in agreement.
"That means Ah'll just have to work harder these last few weeks," Applejack said chuckling to herself. "Can't believe it either, why do they need winter to come early anyway?"
"Something about a storm from the Everfree coming, I don't really know the details, but they said that instead of one just hitting us out of nowhere, we prepare everypony early and just ride it out," Rainbow shrugged. "Those are just rumors though."
"Either way darling, a storm is coming, and I have yet to prepare for the line of fashion to follow," Rarity said. Tapping her chin with the tip of her hoof.
"Anything else?" Twilight looked to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, both of which had not spoken yet. Just as Fluttershy had tried to speak, Pinkie shouted. Raising her hoof as she did so.
"Ooh! The new foal is having his first birthday party next week!"
Twilight nodded. "I'll have to go, just to congratulate them then. I haven't been to a party in ages, let alone with other ponies."
Everyone laughed at this.
"Oh uhm, Twilight?" Fluttershy spoke, her voice just barely being heard.
"Yes, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
"Uhm. My animals have been telling me about something happening in the Everfree." This drew everypony's attention. Something happening in the Everfree was something to worry about.
Fluttershy shrunk slightly as all eyes were on her. Worried looks on their faces. "Uuh. They said that there have been less and less animals coming from the Everfree. Less Timberwolves, Manticors, that sort of thing."
"Why ya worried about that, sugar cube? Isn't that a good thing?" Applejack asked.
"It's just that, they kind of... disappeared. Some of them also said something about a new predator, they didn't see it all that well but... they're worried that they'll be next."
"Hmm," Twilight hummed, chewing on her cheek. A new species in the Everfree? That place is filled with weird things, strange magic, dangerous creatures. What could be more dangerous than any of them?
Fluttershy spoke up once more. "They even said a pair of Hydras had gone missing from the edge of Froggy Bottom."
This made the breath hitch in their throats. Hydras? What could scare a Hydra so easily that they'd move? Whatever it was, after it got rid of the animals, would Ponyville be next?
Rainbow Dash flew up from her throne. Jabbing her hooves at an invisible opponent. "Whatever it is, we'll take care of it! Show that it can't mess with us, right?"
"Twilight!" Rainbow hissed, flying to left side. "How far in the Everfree are we gonna go?" She asked, her eyes darting from side to side as if every little noise seemed to frighten the once brave pegasus. The fact that they had even passed the Temple of Two Sisters at least twenty minutes ago. The vines growing thicker and thicker the deeper they went.
After Fluttershy had told them about the creature, they knew something had to be done. What they did know is that the creature came out primarily at night, the reason that most of Fluttershy's animal friends didn't know what the creature looked like as they were to busy fearing the enigma of an animal. So here they were, after the day ended, they all gathered at Fluttershy's, feeling the need to put a stop to whatever was going on before it reached Ponyville.
Looking up to Fluttershy, Twilight whispered. "Fluttershy, how much further?"
"Oh, uhm," Before she could continue a bird flew from the brush. Chirping madly at her. A blur of light-brown, black, and grey feathers. Quieting down, the bird looked to the rest of them, looking at them as if they were suspicious of something. "He uh, says that there's a cave with a light in it. Just up ahead." Saying this, the bird nestled itself into her mane. Content to stay safe with its caretaker.
Rarity sighed. "Thank goodness. The air is so thick here, I thought if we went any deeper I would have to worry about drying my mane." She fanned herself, only to stop and stare at her hoof. Putting it down with a slight grimace.
"Let's just get this over with," AppleJack said warily. "I don't like this place as it is," she said, ducking her head underneath a low haning vine.
Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves in with a frown, nodding her head in agreement. Following them from the air.
Pinkie bounced up next to them. "Maybe the animal's nice? I mean, why would it scare away all those bad creatures and leave the other ones alone?" Pinkie reasoned.
"Well whatever it is, we need to know if it's a threat to Ponyville," Twilight said. "Like Fluttershy said, the thing got rid of a Hydra, a Hydra!"
Nopony said a thing as they made their way through the shrubbery before them. A light becoming visible through the tall grass.
"There it is!" Twilight whispered excitedly. Her pace quickening as she began to gallop. The others not far behind. Finally making it out of the growth of the forest, she stepped into a clearing. Her gaze locking with the plants on the ground. Decayed. Shriveled and colorless, circling the mouth of the cave entrance before her. With the others joining her, they all stared worryingly at the plants as well.
"What could have done this?" Rarity asked. Kicking up a hoof of the foliage. Shaking her hoof as it clung to her. "Magic?"
"This isn't any magic I've seen," Twilight answered.
Applejack stepped forward. "I've seen this before. Some ponies don't want any plants growing so they put salt in the dirt, kills anything that tries to grow there."
They wall went silent as pattering began to echo from the cave. Swallowing their fear, one by one, they began to slowly move into the cave. Trying to be as silent as possible. Rounding a corner they spotted the fire, crackling as wood burned and fell further in. Sending sparks fluttering into the air, only to disappear not a moment later. A strange bipedal figure standing next to it. Facing away from them.
They all flinched back. Not wanting to be spotted. Peaking around the corner as more pattering was heard. Whatever the creature was, it seemed to be...
"Dancing?" Twilight whispered, confused. The creature's upper body seemed to sway from side to side. Stamping its foot twice before it rocked to the other side. Thrusting its upper limbs into the air above to the beat that only it heard. They couldn't rightly tell, but it had something like a rag wrapped around its waist. Some sort of skirt.
Rainbow Dash snickered quietly. "At least it dances better than Twilight." This earned a look of ire from her friend. The others joining in with their own small laughs. Quieting down as the dancing stopped.
"Where's the pony that lit the fire?" Applejack asked.
"Maybe it lit the fire?" Rarity suggested.
"I don't know of any animals that know how to do that," Fluttershy said.
They all stared at the creature. Waiting for it to do something other than dance. They didn't have to wait to long before the creature began to walk deeper into the cave, rounding a corner into another section of its home. They all slowly followed. Only looking to the fire as they noticed a pile of stuff next to it. A pile of what looked like clothing, a helmet on top, all of them a faded green. And finally a necklace with a pair of shiny plates attached. Ignoring it they continued their way to the corner.
Peeking around the corner, their faces drained of blood as dread replaced it. A whole room, filled to the very edges with the missing animals. Just not in the way that they were intended to be found. A blanket of red as the creatures were torn apart and scattered in a seemingly haphazard manner. Manticores. Cokcatrices. Chimeras. All torn to shreds and placed like decorations. But the drapes did not even come close to matching the centerpiece. A dragon, roughly the same size as the first one they had to deal with. Its eyes hollowed out. Propped up as Hydra heads seemed to intertwine around its neck. Holding it back from falling.
Fluttershy whimpered. Unable to handle what she was seeing, she averted her eyes. Rarity seemed to be on the edge of life itself. Wanting to either vomit, or faint. The rest sat there, their mouths agape at the carnage before them. Looking to the creature that was responsible for this, they saw it walking to the center of the room. Bending over, and picking something up. A stick.
Twilight squinted and noticed that the stick was not normal. At the end of it was a colorful blade, strapped together by, twine, vines, and some sort of sap. The blade itself was shaped into that of a crescent moon. Purple, and stained with blood.
Standing amidst the the corpses. Tool in hand. He began to dance. This scared and confused the ponies even more than they already were.
Not a minute of dancing, something began to change. The air getting heavier and heavier as its dancing became more and more forceful. A miasma began to poor from the room. Forcing the ponies to recoil and cover their noses with their hooves. But they stayed. All of them but Fluttershy staring at the scene before them.
They watched as it began to move around the room, the dance's pace quickening as the room itself seemed to darken. A fire burst to life before it, but it didn't falter. With the newly added light Twilight could make something out that was drawn onto the dragons stomach. An hourglass of blood. Not a moment after looking at it, the hourglass seemed to shimmer, coming to life, pulsing with the beat of the creatures feet. Everypony gasped as the hourglass seemed to float out of the dragon, a blue hue as it shimmered in the light of the fire.
Quickening its pace once more, the beast danced faster, its breathing becoming labored to the point that it was clear to the ponies. It was exhausted. The hourglass shimmered and spun. Faster and faster, following the pace. Until it became nothing but a ball of light. Only then did the dancing stop. The air around the ponies began to lift off of them as they gasped for the thing that seemed to choke them.
"Reality. Listen to me." It seemed to chant to the orb, a voice not unlike a stallion's. The ears of the ponies darting forward to listen to it speak. "Take this, and listen well. Listen to me as I chant this spell. You know not of this human who came, but, time and space is what he will tame. Take him home, to the place he knows. A place unlike here, that still grows." He wave the tool into the air, sweeping it before bringing it back down to his side.
"Nature bent to our will, but never enough, enough for our fill. Now you know what I plead, take heed, my ire is not what you desire." His voice quieted down, but they still heard him as if he were right next to them. "Take this human home, away from the pain, for there is nothing to gain. I payed my dues, I payed for my sins. Now let me see once more, the grins of those I call kin, those I call friends, and to my will nature bends!"
Thrusting his hands into the air once more, the ball of light before him grew in intensity, blinding everyone there. Not a moment later, the light disappeared. Not a trace left of it but the corpses that it originated from. The ponies watched the creature stand there, unmoving. It began to shake, its arms still in the air, tool in hand.
"DAMN IT ALL!" He shouted, causing them all to flinch back in slight pain. Tossing the blade at the dragon in anger. The blade sinking into its scales as if they were nothing. Dropping to the stone floor and pounding it with its fists. Growling in rage.
Poking its head out, the bird looked around, flying into the air with a flap of its wings. Looking to the creature and its surroundings it flew to it. Chirping at the creature.
"What is this?" It asked, calmed down. "A visitor? Well hello little one," It said as it rose from the ground, looking at the bird. Fluttershy on the verge of crying as it wanted to save her small friend. The bird chirped.
"What?" It looked around. "This? Yes this was me." It nodded.
More chirping.
"Well, no thanks would be necessary, my intention was not to keep any of you from harm, but if that is a byproduct of my actions, then so be it." It smiled a tooth filled smile.
A single chirp came from the bird. And the creature extended a hand out to the small bird.
Fluttershy couldn't stand to see one of her animals getting hurt. Running to the creature she shouted, her eyes wide with tears blurring her vision. "Please!" The ponies froze, scared as their friend shouted at the beast.
As if it didn't hear her, the creature raised another hand to the bird, petting it with one of its claws. "Its been so long since I've had a decent conversation."
The bird chirped back. Jumping away from its claw that rubbed it.
"What?" A brow on its face was raised. "What do you mean?"
The bird replied.
"How rude! My mother was nothing of the sort." The creature gave a thin lipped frown. "You are not welcome here anymore," It said before shooing the little cretin away. Fanning a hand at it. Turning to watch the bird fly back to Fluttershy. Raising his hands into the air
"Ah, another visitor, oh so lucky I am, to have company. You would not believe my last visitor." It walked to Fluttershy raising a hand to her.
"Stay away from my friend!" Rainbow Dash shouted, flapping her wings and taking to the air. Diving towards the monster that was about to harm her friend. With her hooves, she struck it square in the chest. Sending it backwards, landing on its back and sliding a bit on the stone floor. It gave groans of pain as it rolled.
"That'll teach you!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Oooh, ow ow ow ow, that hurts, it oh so hurts. I can't handle the— You know what? Sorry no can do," It said, rising from the ground, completely fine. "I wish I could, but I can't lie to you, after all, you are my guests!" He shouted, smiling at them. "But if you want me to do anything other than fake being hurt, you know who to call." It balled up its claws, pointing the thickest one to the roof of the cave.
"Mi casa es su casa," he said before walking past them, turning his head and giving a wave to the others around the corner before walking to the campfire.
Twilight didn't know what to do. Here was a creature that somehow murdered some of the most dangerous predators of the Everfree, an now it was inviting them into its home.
"Mi casa es su casa," It said, walking to the campfire as if nothing was wrong.
Lowering her horn and charging a spell. Twilight cried out, "S-Stop!" It looked at her, still smiling even after seeing the alicorn ready to blast him. The others looking at them in worry, they didn't want anypony else to get hurt.
Turning to Twilight, "Yes?" He asked, smiling his tooth filled grin. Squinting at the bright purple light. His head turned slightly to see Rainbow Dash trotting next to Twilight, glaring at him, the front half of her body lowering to the ground as if she was getting ready to pounce.
"Let's do this, Twilight, we can take him," she grinned at the creature. Her wings flaring as she got ready for a fight.
A brow raised on his face. "Take me? Take me where?" He asked in genuine confusion.
Tilting her head slightly upward to look at the creature, Twilight replied, "What? Nowhere! We aren't going anywhere."
Turning back towards his fire, he spoke. "Well, I'm going over here, quite thirsty after all. Would any of you like a drink?" Walking to a log next to the campfire, he pulled a small metal pot out from behind it, the sound of liquid sloshing filling the silence. Setting the pot against the fire, he turned back to the log. Going back and pulling out a small pile of wooden bowls. He walked back over to the six mares with the bowls in hand. Handing them each a bowl to drink from.
"Why do ya have so many bowls? Ain't it just you out here?" Applejack asked, bowl in hoof.
"Yes it is just me, but you never know when you're going to have guests over. Or have to nurture someone who got lost in this forest, or set off one of my traps," he said, murmuring the last part.
Twilight stepped forward. "Wait a minute! Are you going to act like the pile of d—" she paused, a lump in her throat. "That the pile of dead animals in the other room doesn't exist?" Looking to Fluttershy, she saw her timid friend with sit there, bowl in mouth with tears welling in her eyes. Fluttershy just wanted to forget, only hoping that their deaths were quick and painless.
"Hm? Oh those, well those are useless to me now, so I couldn't care any less if something happens to them," he said plainly with a shrug.
"But how could you kill them in the first place?" Twilight asked, stamping her hoof to the stone cave floor. The resounding 'clop' echoed throughout the cave. "And what were you even doing with them in the first place?" She remembered the dancing, the smell that seemed to surround them. The magic. She'd never seen any type of magic like it.
"Well, they were being used in an experiment, now, I guess they're just some extra food, can't let it all go to waste," he turned back to the campfire and walked to the pot, the sound of the crackling fire filling in the silence.
The six friends only stared, a million thoughts running through their heads as they heard the creature's reply. Scared that the creature before them was not only a cold blooded killer, but one that also devoured living creatures.
Taking the pot and removing it from the fire, the creature dipped his bowl into the liquid. Bringing it up to his face, he tipped the bowl and opened his mouth, the liquid was mostly clear, only a slight tint of blue giving any indication that something was added. Spilling some, the liquid ran down the side of his mouth and dripped off of his chin.
"Ah," he sighed, wiping his mouth with his forearm. "Tastes like blueberry." Dropping the bowl to the ground with a clatter, he turned around to his guests. Only to be greeted by the sight of the ponies gathered up and in defensive postures, the yellow pegasus cowering behind the rest. Fear in their eyes but determination on their faces. "What's this?" He asked, gesturing to the bowls on the gound with a sweep of his arm.
"D-Don't move!" Twilight shouted.
"Odd, you sound like you're making a demand."
"I-I am! We're going to take you to Celestia, she'll know what to do with you!" The others murmured in agreement, the only one who was
The creature visibly tensed at this, his whole body locking in place, and his grin wilting slightly at the mentioning of Celestia. "She's already done enough, I've payed for my crimes, now I'm a free man. And I won't let ponies like you take that away from me. I haven't hurt anyone this time."
"A creature as dangerous as you shouldn't be free to roam and hurt anypony," Twilight said, her horn glowing as the spell was held back.
"Are you deaf? I haven't hurt any of you ponies, only animals, besides the dragon. But he deserved it, thinking he could threaten and evict me from my home, and here you all are, doing the same," he gave a chuckle. "I have to ask though, do any of you like jokes?"
Pinkie Pie, who has been quiet the whole time, yelled out. "Ooh ooh, I do! I do!" This caused the rest of them to lower their guard. Wondering what the creature was going to do.
Turning back to the log, the creature bent over and picked up what seemed like clothing. Beginning to wrap the green cloth around his hand as he spoke up. "One day, a stallion was taking his cart up through the mountain. In a stroke of bad luck, the wheel broke off, causing him to stop his journey. Fortunately for him there was a group of monks that lived not far from where he was. Taking his cart to them he asked for help. Being the kindhearted monks that they were, they gave him shelter until they fixed his wheel. During his stay he happened across a door, it was like the rest but something was different, there was a strange noise coming from behind it."
Finishing his wrapping, he picked up the necklace and put it on, the plates shining in the light from the fire. "Once they fixed his cart, he thanked them, the door coming to his mind the moment before he set off. Turning to the monks, he asked about it. They told him they couldn't say, because for he was not a monk. Satisfied with the answer, he left. Only to wind back up on the very same road a year later. The wheel to his cart broken once again. Going to the very same monastery, the monks helped him once more, remembering him from his last visit. Once again, he came across the door, the same noise coming from behind it. He asked again, but got the same reply he did the year before. Unsatisfied this time, he asked on how he could become a monk." Getting onto his knees, the creature looked at the liquid inside the pot, reaching a hand into it to stir slightly.
"They told him he had to go out into the world and count all the grains of sand, and the blades of grass. Knowing this, the stallion set out on his mission, to finally know what was behind the door. Ten years later, the man comes back, telling the monks of his enlightening journey, that he counted one-hundred trillion, five-hundred and fifty-three billion, sixty-two million and forty-eight grains of sand. Nodding at this, they asked about the grass. He told them he had counted one-hundred and sixty two trillion, nine-hundred and seventy-two billion exactly. After that they had made him an honorary monk. Asking about the door that had made the noise all of those years ago, they took him to it and gave him a wooden key. A wooden key for a wooden door. Opening it, he came across another door, this one made of stone. Without question the monks handed him another key, this one stone."
At this point, the ponies had gone back to normal, just standing there with looks of confusion on their faces. Why was there another door behind that door? What was making that noise?
"Behind that door, another door, this one made of metal. Opening it as well, he came across another door, one made of gold."
"Oh come on!" Shouted Rainbow Dash. "Just get to the funny part!"
"Fine fine. Doing this for a solid hour, the monks had told him he reached the last door. The stallion sweating in anticipation at the thought of finding out what was behind that door. Handing him the last key, the stallion opens it. The door itself creaking open, the stallion finally seeing what was behind it..."
"Just tell us what was behind the door!" Rainbow Dash shouted once again.
Giving a grin that seemed to reach from ear to ear, he looked at the mares before him, cloth wrapped around his hand, his arm dripping with blue liquid. "But he can't tell you, for you are not a monk."
The mares before him, looked up with betrayal in their eyes. A look that asked one question, 'why?'
Quickly bending over, the creature picked up the pot in his hands, the cloth covered one holding the bottom. Throwing the contents of the pot at them. Dousing them in the blue liquid from head to hoof. Giving cries of dismay they tried to shake away the liquid. Only to be stopped as flashes of light filled the room. Their bodies changing one by one. The creature cackling at them.
"What was that?!" Twilight asked.
Breaking in his laughter, he replied. "Concentrated poison joke, tasty to me, hilariously inconvenient for you."
Trying to charge her magic, she found that the horn atop her head wouldn't work. Looking to her friends she noticed the same effects of the poison joke on them. Rarity's hair, Pinkie Pie's tongue, Rainbow Dash's backwards wings. She couldn't see Applejack from where she was standing, and Fluttershy seemed normal enough.
Looking back at the creature, Twilight watched as he stared at her friends and her. "What are you going to do with us?"
He raised an eyebrow. "What made you think I was going to—" But he was cut off as a golden beam of magic hit him in the back, the magic itself spilling out towards the six mares. Sending him flying over them. Standing behind him was a furious looking Celestia.
"Are you alright girls?" She asked, her head lowered and horn charged.
"Princess!" They all cried. Galloping towards Celestia's side.
"Oh yes, hurrah, the princess is here," The creature said, coughing as he got up from the stone floor. Blood spattering the floor as he coughed. "Knew you would show up eventually, but I didn't think you'd miss again. Aim a little higher next time will ya?" He asked, tapping his head with a claw. Smiling a blood stained, tooth filled grin.
"I will not stoop to your level, beast," Celestia snarled.
"Well, you might as well have, would have been easier than Tartarus," he laughed. "Instead of just ending it then and there, you just prolonged the inevitable. And now you'll never get the chance to stop me."
"Enough, you're going back where you belong," she said, her horn charging back up with her golden aura.
The creature's toothy grin wilted slightly at this. Rarity saw this through her mess called hair. Almost tripping on said hair as she stepped towards the creature, she spoke up. "Why are you so angry about learning magic? If you hate it so much why do you use it to commit such—" Rarity gagged at the thought of the room from before. "—heinous acts?"
"Heinous? Oh you wound me so," the creature said with hurt expression and a paw on his chest. "In the long run, I've saved a couple of ponies from being eaten. So I would say my actions were quite noble."
As the creatures body became enveloped in Celestia's magical glow, he spoke. "And I'm nothing if not noble. I'm even willing to strike up a deal. Not unlike the one Discord had taken." With his entire body enveloped in her magical aura, Celestia levitated the creature over to her, making sure he wasn't able escape.
"How do you know about Discord?" Celestia asked, her horn illuminating her face.
"I've been in this forest for a while, dear. Hearing things is all I can really do." He paused for a moment, his face twisting in thought. "It seems our time together is about to come to an end, I have to go run an errand of mine. So if you would be so kind as to put me down, I'll be on my way."
Celestia glared at him.
"Oh fine. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"Oooh! How do you know about Pinkie Promises?! Are you a spy?" Pinkie asked, her mane blasting back to it's regular state.
"In a way, yes."
"How long have you been out here?" Celestia asked, her face becoming emotionless as she looked at the creature still in her magic.
"A little before your fellow princess here moved into town." He gestured towards Twilight with a sweep of his hand. "A year before she arrived here in fact."
A minute passed and the creature was still not released from Celestia's magic. Sighing, he coughed awkwardly and spoke, "Would it ease your mind if what I wanted to do is something I can do in this cave? Can't really run if you're here, even if I try to teleport myself, you'd just pull me back through."
Celestia loosened her magic and watched as he stretched his limbs. "What was it that you wanted to do?" Her only reply was him turning around an walking back deeper into the cave.
"Do you know what Tartarus is like, Celestia?" He laughed. "It's hot, the reception sucks, and the food is even worse."
Watching the creature walk, the ponies looked between each other for a moment before following him into the cave. The blood spattered room fresh in their minds as they tried to ignore the stench that was quickly trying to choke them.
"Let me give you a lesson on the human diet," he said as he turned the corner. "While ponies are mainly herbivores, there have been cases where they turn carnivore. A lack of food would do that to anybody. Humans however, are omnivorous, meaning we take in both plants and meats. A lack of food for us usually leads to death, but there's always that rare moment when someone decides to eat someone else."
As the creature stopped before the pile of flesh, he turned to look at Celestia and the others. They were all focusing their gazes on him, trying to not look at what laid on the stone floor behind him. His feet disturbing the crimson pool underneath him.
"I spent my years in Tartarus starving to death, only to be revived by magic," the creature laughed. "Magic, like that's much of an explanation."
Looking down he tapped a foot in the blood with the glee of a child in a puddle of rain. "Nice and chilly," he whispered.
"Girls, you can go back home, I'll deal with him," Celestia said without taking her eyes off of him.
"And besides, I don't think any of you would like seeing me eat. Well, Rainbow and Fluttershy might be able to handle it, but I don't know about the rest."
The group of friends said nothing, only taking their eyes off of the creature to look at Celestia. One by one, they turned to leave, trusting their princess to be able to handle the creature.
"Risky move, letting the greatest weapon in her disposal leave like that, let's see what she does next."
"The farther they are away from you, the better."
Slapping a hand onto his chest, he gasped. "How dare you insinuate that I was a danger to them. When it comes to innocents I am no more dangerous than Discord." Once the words left his mouth his jaw dropped and his eyebrows raised. "Oh wait, Discord earned himself a lifetime of petrification for turning the roads into soap!"
The pool of blood splashed up his leg as he stamped a foot. Leaving trails of blood on his pale skin as they dripped back to the floor "And what would I get huh? Murder is pretty bad, so I got the death sentence. But wait! Death is to tame for a crime so foul! But what's worse than death? Double death?! It's poetic fucking justice that I got to starve to death every week for the next thousand years!"
Celestia stepped back as the once smiling man was now clawing at his head and grinding his teeth. The veins in his head popping out as the muscles in his jaw and neck flexed and contorted. The pale skin that covered his face was now blushing to a cherry red.
"Every day was like a dream, waking up one moment, and then doubling over in the pool of blood I coughed up earlier as I felt that whore magic reach in and claw out my fucking gut! Rinse and fucking repeat!"
Turning around the creature knelt to the floor and sighed. "You left me there to rot, and the only thing I could do from then on was rot."
Reaching forward, the creature dug its hands into the flesh before him. His body turning and adjusting as his arms flexed and pulled meat from bone. "I changed my mind, I don't want a deal like Discord. If you want peace you can kiss my ass and say you're sorry. If not, you can just leave me alone, because I want nothing to do with you or your piss-pants ponies. I've already had my fill."
The creature stopped speaking as he shoveled meat into his mouth. Chuckling as he ate.
Celestia glared at the back of the creatures head until her gaze softened and she sighed. "If I hear of anything happening involving you, I will not hesitate to come down here myself."
Swallowing the food in is mouth he proceeded to shake his hands. "Oooh," he mocked. "Please, if I wanted to do something, I would have done it back when your sister came back from the moon."
Once again, he was silenced as he brought more meat to his mouth. His face returning to its smiling state as he ate to his heart's content.
"Such a tear filled reunion. Would have been a real shame if someone... I don't really know what I would have done. Something funny... to me at least."
Celestia grimaced. Turning around she began to leave the cave, the clopping of her hooves on the stone matched by the mumbling of the human, the occasional chuckle escaping through his food filled mouth.
As he ate his dinner, with the hooves of Celestia fading into the background noise of his thoughts, he sat there chewing his food. "She's not going to leave," he mumbled to himself after swallowing. Using his hands to tear another strip of meat and bring it to his mouth. Using his forearm to wipe down his lips as a spurt of blood shot from between them and dribbled down his chin.
"Of course she isn't going to leave. She might have said she would but there's a difference between suicidal and stupid. And she sent the others away because she expected there to be a fight. Even if she has more power, she thinks we can take it away."
"Hell, she's probably listening right now. To my very thoughts..."
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH" He screamed internally.
"Damn mind readers. That'll show them and their magic," he said with a chuckle as he stood up. Stretching his arms to the roof of the cave before bending at his waist and reaching for his toes. After he had stopped stretching he made his way to the mouth of the cave. Humming a tune as he did so.
With his bare feet slapping the cold stone below him, he peered out over the tree line, the sky shifting from a dark blue to a bright orange as the sun was being risen. Stepping out of the cave and into the forest, he inhaled a breath of fresh air. The morning air sweet with the scent of tree sap and a copper aftertaste. That might have been the uncooked meat though.
"Are you finished?" Celestia asked, stepping from the brush to his left. A frown written across her face as the corners of her mouth were pointing downwards and her eyes half closed.
"Tired?" He asked with a smile. There were bags underneath his own eyes, but mirth masked his fatigue.
"Very," Celestia replied. "I'm taking you back to Canterlot," She stated. Her horn lighting up with her golden aura.
Holding his hands out, with his wrists together, he laughed. "I thought you might. Can't just leave me be can you? Well bring on the ball and chain."
Not a moment later, Celestia had finished her spell and a golden orb had encompassed him, trapping him within it. "What's this? Can't trust me on the train?" He asked with a chuckle. Using a hand to touch the magic, he felt something like the stone floor of his cave as if it had been carved and sanded.
"I need sleep, and this is the fastest way back to Canterlot. So, I'm just going to fly us there."
His smile withered slightly at this. A weak chuckle left his mouth. "Come on, you're tired and you can just sleep on the train ride back."
Celestia's gaze landed on the ground. Only to bring her eyes back up to him shake her head a moment later. "The most direct route is the best in this scenario. And besides, I don't want to fall asleep and leave you all alone."
As soon as she had finished speaking, Celestia spread her wings to their full glory and took to the sky, her orb of magic following soon after. It's passenger letting out frightened laughter.
"Celestia!" He called out. His eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched. "Come on now!" He screamed through his teeth. The howling of the wind, the hum of her magic, and the pounding of his own heart were all the things he could hear. "Please!" He attempted to yell, but all that came from him was a strangled mewl. The humming of Celestia's magic drowning out the flaps of her wings.
And that was the moment he opened his eyes. With the ground far below him, he felt his chest tighten and his heart pounding in his head. The hum of Celestia's magic slowly becoming a dull roar.
The ground that had seemed so far away disappeared from existence entirely as his body became heavier and the world spun around him.
"Put me down!" He screamed quickly. The words sounded more like a shriek than words.
This awoke Celestia from her half asleep stupor. Looking over to him with widened eyes as she saw him bent over and visibly shaking. Sweat pouring from his body as he struggled to breathe. Celestia's eyes widened even further as crimson vomit spewed from his mouth, pooling up around his knees in the magic bubble. Chewed meat swimming in the crimson liquid.
Flying back to the ground, she landed and canceled her magic, the bubble in front of her evaporated. Dropping both the human and his vomit onto the earth.
"Can we please just take the train?" he asked, his breathing labored.
She didn't say anything. What could she say?
Getting up from the ground he wiped his lips with a forearm. "Come on, I know the way to town," he mumbled.
Neither of them had talked during the walk to the train station in Ponyville.
While Celestia had stolen glances at the human the walked ahead of her, she decided that an apology was in order. She had not known his reaction to being in the air would have been the way it had.
"Oh, sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going."
Celestia was broken out of her thoughts as she heard said human speaking to somepony. Looking towards him, Celestia saw him standing in front of a mare on the ground, one hand extended towards the mare on the ground, and the other held behind his back in a tightly held fist.
The mare had an orange curly mane and tail with a yellow coat. On the ground next to her were a pair of green saddlebags.
"Watch where you're–" the mare began to say before looking up at the human. Her eyes widening at the sight of him.
Getting up quickly, the mare picked up her saddlebags and trotted away.
"Well that when smoother than expected." He said, turning around to reveal a smile on his face. The same one he had back in the cave.
"And how did you think it was going to go?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.
He only shrugged in reply. Turning back around and continuing his walk towards the train station.
As they approached the station, ponies began to notice their princess and moved aside to allow a path for her and the human.
"A ticket for Canterlot please," he said as he walked to the desk, the station clerk looking up at him with wide blue eyes.
"T-That'll be seven bits," the stallion muttered, his grey coat shining with a layer of sweat.
"I'm sorry but neither of us have—" Celestia was about to apologize for their lack of money before the human took his closed hand and held it over the counter, bits tapped the wood as they fell from his now open hand. Celestia looked to the human with a raised eyebrow. "Where did you get the bits? I'm—" Celestia stopped herself this time. The memory of the mare he had bumped into still fresh in her mind.
"I'm paying for her as well," the human muttered. Pointing a thumb at the princess.
Before she could react, the tickets were handed to them and the clerk closed the security gate. With tickets in hand, the human stepped towards the train.
"You stole those bits from that mare didn't you?" Celestia hissed. Blocking the human's path as she trotted in front of him.
"I have no clue what you're talking about," he said as he side stepped her and walked onto the train. "Besides," he said before turning around and falling back into a seat. "What are we going to do? Return the bits that we already spent?" He asked, waving the tickets in the air.
"You mean the bits that you spent."
"And what we're you going to do? Get a free ride because you're the princess?" He asked with a grin. Patting the space next to him, he beckoned Celestia over. The cushioned seat lit up as the now risen sun shined through the window above it.
Stepping onto the train, Celestia sat next to the human. Her mane and tail falling to her side
"I think we're going to get along just fine," the human said as he sunk into his seat. Raising his hands to the back of his head as he closed his eyes, his breathing softening as he focused on sleep. The world around him going quiet.
Watching the human fall asleep, Celestia felt herself yawn. Her eyes growing heavier and heavier as she too fell asleep. For some reason, even though he was asleep. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that he was staring back.
No matter how much she wanted to, Celestia could not bring herself to open her eyes. The pain making it impossible even to even clench her eyes shut.
It was as if her eyes were being skewered by thin, heated needles. The stabbing pain coming from the back of her eyes as it throbbed and shot all the way to the tip of her nose while it radiated backwards to the rest of her head.
Tightening her grip around both of her arms, Celestia's nails dug into her skin.
"Wait" She thought. She was a pony, how could she have nails? Or even fingers at all.
Loosening her grip on herself, she brought what used to be her hooves up to her face. A gasp escaping her when thin appendages wrapped around now shorter muzzle. In fact, her muzzle was completely gone.
Giving a shaky breath she tried to calm her heart. The pain still slamming against the walls of her head. Slowly, she began to open her eyes. Tears quickly filled her vision as she did so. Quickly blinking them away, what she saw had her mind racing to find some sort of answer. Held out in front of her, were hands. Her hands. Balling them up into a fist. Her heart began to try and beat its way out of her chest.
"What's going on?" She asked shakily.
"It's done." A voice said from above her shoulder. Craning her neck up to look at the one who spoke, she immediately let out a strangled yelp. It was him. The creature that called himself human. But at the very same time, the one she was looking at could not be compared to the one she knew. While they seemed to share the same body. What had made her yell were the eyes. Or in this case, the lack thereof.
Instead of the humans usual grey eyes, what ever this creature was, it had no eyes to speak of. Instead, the pale skin just sunk into the skull, leaving nothing but pits of darkness. The shadows inside seemed as if they were trying to reach out and consume the light as they whipped and danced like a roaring fire swaying in the wind.
"W-Who are you?" Celestia asked, her voice deeper than what she had expected. This was clearly not the human that she had taken with her to Canterlot. Who was he? What was he?
Instead of answering her question, the creature wrapped its hand around her wrist. Pulling her up onto her feet. The moment she stood up, her eyes widened. There were more. All of them were standing in two rows. But what drew here attention were the instruments before them. Two of the strange creatures had been seated in across from each other with what looked like drums placed in front of them. While another two stood across from each other holding trumpets in their hands. The only one without an instrument in their hands was one that had been pacing in a circle around the rest.
"W-What's going on here?!" She yelled. Her question only being answered with a sharp tug of her arm. Causing her to fall forward into the middle of the strange creatures. Spinning onto her back, she looked up at all of them. Only to be met by the same dark gazes. Behind them stood towering spires of stone, forming an almost complete dome, walling her in with fellow cellmates.
"Is this Tartarus?" Celestia asked herself. These were the same spires of rock that had been the cell walls of Tartarus after all. The memory of being locked away by Tirek still fresh in her memory. "How did I get here?" Stretching an arm to the sky, Celestia stared at the hand, her eyes widening in realization.
"Is–" She began to speak before correcting herself. "Am I seeing what he saw?"
Before Celestia could ask anymore questions that would not have been answered, she found herself soaring through the air, ejected out of the stone prison and out of the body that held her.
Spreading her wings, she caught herself with a hefty beat of her feathery appendages. Turning, she looked back at the group of humans. The human she had been occupying still there, stiff and unmoving besides the rise and fall of his chest.
"What are they doing?" She asked herself as she flew back to the group. Stopping as one of them began to beat on its drum. It would swing it arm and slam the palm of its hand down onto the drum, pausing before it quickly drew it away and slammed it back down. The other drummer joining in as it slammed its hand down every time the other lifted its own.
Not long after, the other members of the group brought their trumpets up and began to play. Their bodies swaying back and forth with the beat of the drums as their heads shook to the rhythm of their own instruments. There were no stops to breath, they just continued to play as if they didn't have to.
This confused Celestia, what were they planning to do? The sight of the creatures playing instruments around the sprawled out body of the other did nothing to help answer her questions. They had all been wearing the same thing, different colored articles of clothing that hung around their waist, not unlike a dress.
Looking at the two creatures that held no instrument, she found herself squinting at them. There they stood, arms outstretched to the sky. Before she could discern what the two were doing, they moved towards the one laying in the epicenter of this odd ritual. And that's when she saw it. The body she had been occupying had begun to glow with a brilliant yellow light. The light pulsated and throbbed to the beat of the still playing music. It looked as if it were trying to escape the very body it occupied.
With the light shining in her eyes, Celestia glared at the scene unfolding before her. As both of the humans stood before unconscious one, they reached towards the patchwork clothing around their waists. Pulling out objects that Celestia could not see from her place in the air. Whatever they were holding, they presented the strange objects to the sky above them, beginning to stomp their feet with the beating of the drums as they too followed the music.
Moving closer, Celestia folded her ears to the back of her head as the music grew louder, not moving any closer as it reached deafening levels. The air around her reverberating with the sound of music. And before she could see whatever the humans were holding, they both dropped to their knees, thrusting the objects into the still sleeping one. The effect almost immediately visible as the light that had been radiating from his body was now spilling from the wound. Dripping up into the air before coming to a stop, where it had began to pool up into one sphere of liquid light.
The ball spinning and throbbing as the music was played.
Seeing this, the humans seemed to double their efforts in playing their instruments. The music picking the pace as the two on their knees stood back up and began to dance around the ball of light. The ball itself the size of a large beachball.
Celestia winced as her chest began to tighten. Landing back on the stone floor of the prison cell, she raised a hoof to her chest. Grinding her teeth as she peered back up at the still dancing humans. As soon as she did so, the humans began to play even faster. The ball reacting to this as it began to shrink at the assault of noise.
Watching the ball shrink to the size of a pea, Celestia witnessed the ball disappear from existance as it simply vanished. The music stopping at the exact same time.
"What just happened?" Celestia asked breathily, trying to breath in air as the experience left her breathless. But before she could calm her breathing, she noticed the humans throw their instruments to the ground before an ear shattering eruption shook the very ground she stood on. The blast sending her flying into the stone wall.
Clambering up from the ground, Celestia turned her head towards the humans, her eyes snapping open at the sight. Every single one of them was dancing now. The music still playing somehow as they danced and marched. Above them, was what had her concerned the most. In place of the magic that had danced with the music, was now a giant gaping hole into nothingness. The very same nothingness that the humans held in their eyes as the darkness seemed to rip and tear at existence itself.
Before she could react anymore, Celestia felt herself being dragged towards the hole. Kicking her hooves, she tried to stop herself from being sucked into whatever abhorrent thing they had created. The music getting faster and faster the closer she got. Almost to the point where it all blended together to become one singular roar of noise.
Celestia gave a scream as her body lifted from the floor, sending her and the still unconscious human plummeting into nothingness. The music disappearing in the distance. And before she knew it, Celestia found herself screaming as she fell onto the floor below her. The muffled rumbling of the train having replaced the music.
Her body ached. As she fell into unconsciousness, her vision focused on the bare feet of her human companion. The feet tapping away away a beat as the one attached to them hummed the very same music she had heard back in Tartarus. Looking up, she peered into the eyes of the human. Only to see the same grey eyes that she had known him to have. The blacks of his eyes seemingly bottomless as she fell into their inky depths.
Watching the princess fly away with a heavy flap of her large white wings, he bent at the knees as he sat down on the stone floor. He didn't really understand anything about his cell, but apparently the princess had placed some kind of spell on it, making sure he didn't escape. He hissed as the cold stone touched the bare skin of his legs. Tingles ran up his spine as hairs stood on end.
As he sat down, he turned his head to and fro, making sure he hadn't missed a chair he could sit on instead. "Well, this is prison," he muttered as all his search turned up was grey stone walls. He shrugged. "I guess... this is it." He sat and stared at the stone wall, letting his mind wander.
He waited for what seemed like hours until his stupor was interrupted by a growl that echoed out from inside of him. His eyes snapped open as he grumbled, wiping the drool that hung from his bottom lip with a forearm before reaching down and pushing himself up from the stone floor. He wandered to the edges of his cell, he hummed. "Weird," he said as he looked at a section of his cell that seemed to be missing a wall.
Looking out, he noticed that the gap was intentional as there was a set of stairs just before him. He tried to see if there was anything at the bottom. A thick mist blocked his view of the bottom. When another growl came from within, he rubbed his stomach with a hand. "H-Hello? Is it possible to get some food up here?" He shouted down the steps, his voice echoing in the mist. He had hopes that there was somebody was at the bottom, a guard maybe. But when no reply came, he sighed. Stepping back, he turned around, walking back to his spot on the floor.
Sitting down, he gave a sigh and returned to staring at the wall before him. The grey stone seemed to be carved in a way that went up and curved over him, in a dome like manner. Only to branch off into separate spires. The spires ended with sharp points that hung over him. He shrunk at the sight.
His gaze turned to the ground as he sat back down. Stone, stone, stone, and more stone. He thought with a grumble.
Clutching his gut, he bent at the waist as the grip around his stomach tightened its hold. Heavy gurgling came from within as his body cried out for nourishment.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." He was familiar with the feeling of starvation, it was why he was here in the first place.
Getting up from the floor, he walked back over to the set of stairs, peering down into the mist below, he called out. "Hello? Is anybody down there? I'm starving up here."
Nothing.
He glared at the mist, "Come on!" He shouted. "You're just going to let me starve up here?!"
When no answer came back once more, he threw up his arms, only to wrap them around his midsection as the grip around his stomach tightened. A prickling sensation ran throughout his body.
"This is such bullshit," he muttered to himself as he walked back. Laughing lightly as he did so. "Hilarious that I'm about to be starved to death for murder and pseudo cannibalism."
His laughter devolved into whimpers as spears began to stab into his stomach, his hunger had only worsened. "What I would give for a nice juicy steak," he laughed, only to groan as the thought of food only made it worse.
Tossing in his sleep, he mumbled and groaned as his body cried out. Only to jolt upright as pain washed over him as his stomach clawed at itself. Sweat poured from his pale face as he tried to turn his attention away from the pain. Looking at the wall, he began to look towards the future.
"I'll get out, and I'll be the first human to ever encounter aliens." He said with a smile. "If only I could tell my younger self that I met aliens." He almost laughed at the thought.
With a frown, he laid back down. The cold stone floor, a welcome feeling against his aching body.
One moment, there was only darkness. A welcome feeling, calm, warm, as if he was being embraced. The next moment was pain and light, sitting up right, his head darted back and forth, scanning the stone walls that surrounded him.
When would they give him food? Never? Or would they let him shrivel up and rot in here until they need somewhere to put the next prisoner? As the throbbing of his stomach subsided, he hugged his knees, a throaty whine escaping him.
"So thirsty," he whispered to himself as he smacked his dry and cracked lips, his voice hoarse.
"So hungry," a voice whispered.
"So tired."
Turning his head. He looked for the ones who were speaking, but there was no one there.
"Don't leave me," a voice whispered into his ear, the breath hot and wet. Snapping his head around, he looked. Nothing.
"Talk to me."
His heart began to pound in his chest, as if it were trying to escape its meaty confines.
"Please."
How long had he been in here?
"I'm sorry."
Holding his hands over his ears, he tried to block out the voices. But this only seemed to anger them.
"Hungry!" The voice rasped, echoing from all around him.
"Thirsty!" The voice screamed, causing him to fall to his side in pain, the scream echoed in his head. Drumming on his skull.
"Please." The voice whimpered from within.
The voices sounded familiar, yet so strange, so alien.
"I'm sorry!" He screamed in unison, his throat burned at the use, their voices a cacophony of cries and pleas.
As the grey world faded from view, so did the screams. The beating in his chest calming as the sweet embrace of what felt like sleep took hold. His body going numb before the reality around him fell apart.
And in that moment, there was darkness. An embrace filled with warmth and silence. But then, there was light.
As the train pushed onward, a chill was sent down his spine, the air in the car becoming colder and colder as it went. Turning his head to the still sleeping Celestia, he watched as her chest rose and fell with the soft snores that emanated from her. The mane atop her head was strangely still, maybe it was because she was sleeping?
"It would be so easy, take it. Take the light," He muttered to himself. "A second chance at going home, that's what you wanted. The light is powerful, it can do lots of things. They call it magic, but you know better, there's no such thing as magic." His head throbbed, groaning, he raised his hands to the side of his head. Trying to calm the drums that pounded in his head. "She sent you away with it, she can do it again, she will. You don't belong here, take it, feed us. We can take you home." He reached out towards Celestia with a hand, body shaking as his arm slowly outstretched towards the slumbering Alicorn. "Take you away from this nightmare."
Sticking his fingers into the nostrils of Celestia, he giggled to himself. Watching her struggle as his fingers plugged her snout. She awoke with a snort and a cough, her eyes blinking away the sleep before resting on him. Her brows furrowed and a frown wormed its way onto her muzzle. "What are you doing?" She asked, her usual motherly voice turned nasally. Her mane slowly beginning to go back to its natural flowing state.
He giggled once more. "Definitely not a dream."
Celestia's horn ignited as she removed the fingers from her nostrils, her muzzle crinkling at the alien experience. "Need I remind you that it was you who wanted to ride the train. Canterlot isn't that far anymore, flying would not be a problem."
"Yeah but," he paused, his face contorting in thought before he shrugged. "I've got nothing." A sigh escaped him. His body loosened and he sank back into the seat next to Celestia. "So what's the plan?"
"Plan?"
"For my reformation? You had a plan for Discord, what about me?"
Celestia hummed. "To be honest. I don't have a plan, you are a threat, that much I do know. Unhinged, careless, you have a power that Tirek once had. But I can't say for sure if you are even close to his level."
"What if I said I can't steal magic from living things?"
Celestia shook her head. "You are still new, you can't control it, you merely guide it. The magic that I felt from that cave was... troubling to say the least."
"You seem pretty relaxed next to something so troubling."
Celestia huffed. "I feared for Twilight and her friends. Although she is capable, I was afraid that if the magic had gone off, that there'd be no time to shield herself and the others."
"What about you?"
Celestia raised an eyebrow, the frown falling away as she looked to the human. "What about me?"
"Are you afraid of me?"
"No," she replied simply.
A tooth filled grin grew on the human's face. "But it'd be so simple. One flick of the wrist, a twist of the knife, and you're mine."
"Is that you're attempt at frightening me?" Her brows furrowed.
"No. Just saying, us humans are crafty, and you ponies are so trusting, all it'd take is one of your–"
Celestia ignited her horn, cutting the human off as a strangled mewl escaped him. A golden aura squeezing his throat like a tightened collar.
"All it'd take is a flick of my horn." Celestia mocked.
"Do it," he hissed through clenched teeth. He spat weakly, the saliva landed on the floor just in front of Celestia with a quiet splat.
"You say you want to be saved, but all you do is threaten and complain."
"I don't want to be saved, I want assurance that I'll get to have whatever I want, spending all those years alone leaves a man wanting."
Once the magic died down the human coughed and hacked, sucking in air like it was a drug.
"Next time you do that, press a little harder?" He asked in between coughs.
"You're disgusting." Celestia turned her muzzle to the roof of the train.
"Wow, kink shaming me are we?" The human cackled at the look of disgust that wormed its way onto Celestia's face.
Her once flowing mane now still. "You are, if not one of, the most vile creatures I've ever had the misfortune to come across."
The grin shrunk a little. "I love you too. But hey, that streak broke my habit of chewing my fingernails, so I have that going for me."
Celestia had known a Minotaur noble that chewed her fingernails. A nasty habit, she had called it. Turning her eyes to the human, Celestia peered at his hands. Sporting wrinkles at every joint, even some farther up on his hand, but that was all Celestia could see. "Why are you the way you are?" She asked, turning her gaze away from the human's hand up to his face. Where she had expected to see some kind of twisted grin, all she received was confusion.
"What the hell kind of question is that?"
"An... extremely valid question. I already knew what drove Discord to preform the acts he had committed, he wished for entertainment, his powers are meant just for that, to entertain him. But what about you? Why do you do the things that you do?"
They both sat in silence for what seemed like hours, the rumbling of the tracks below them the only noise between them. "Have you ever had a nagging thought, that wanted to do something you never thought you'd do?"
Celestia pondered the question. "Skip court," she answered plainly after a moment of thought.
"Have you ever actually skipped court?" He asked in earnest. The train car jumped as he asked the question.
Celestia gently shook her head. "It's not as simple as that. I have a duty."
"It's like that." He rose to his feet and walked over to the opposite seats, his back towards Celestia as he stared out at the passing scenery. "At first it was boring, I'd have passing thoughts here and there, but never really did anything but sit, pace, or sleep. At some point, I had actually wondered the same thing that those passing thoughts had wondered." He shrugged walking to his left towards the train car door. "What would it feel like to this, what would it feel like to do that. Bust my nose on the floor, loose a few teeth to the walls, chew a finger off. It was fine because your magic brought it all back in the end." He turned around and waggled his fingers beside his head. "Good as new. I just started listening to my own thoughts more and more."
"Why?"
"Because it was my way of feeling alive, the beating of my own heart just didn't cut it. I needed to feel something other than cold stone. Besides starving, I wanted more."
The train lurched forward, the tracks screeching as it came to a grinding halt. Celestia watched as the human's eyes went wide, falling to the floor as the train stopped. A sickening crack and crunch echoed throughout the car as the humans skull connected with a corner of the wooden seat. "Just like that!" He screamed from the floor. A mist of blood slowly falling to his face.
Looking at the human, Celestia watched his limbs twitch and contract, hands formed a fist, while his toes curled. His face was something Celestia had never seen before. His eyes were pinpricks just above a field of tears as the corners of his mouth curled to the sky. Blood pooled around his head as the spasming of his body slowed. Celestia watched what little life he had left drain from his eyes, his features calming. It was over as quick as it had started.
Ba-Thump
The train car shook violently with the beat, a soft hum before the very earth seemed to jump.
Ba-Thump
A soft golden glow began to emanate from his body. It was a shade off from her own, as if the spell wasn't hers anymore. Her horn ignited, trying to find the source of the magic, she scanned the human's body. A spell this powerful had to be drawing energy from somewhere, and a large pool of magic like that would be easy to find. As she felt around for the spell, Celestia's neck snapped back, an arc of the golden magic connecting the human and her as the spell repelled the intruder.
Ba-Thump
Celestia only hissed at the stinging of her horn, watching the pool of blood slow its flow before retreating back to the point of origin. It was all she could do at this point.
Ba-Thump
"God that feels amazing!" The body cried. His lips were still as the body stitched itself back together. "Dying, whoa, but dying in reverse? Jesus Christ, forgive me!" The body cackled, movement slowly coming back to it as the limbs began to twitch once more.
Ba-Thump
With one final beat, the human jumped back to his feet, the once twisted grin he wore was now like that of child like glee. "Celestia, you sick freak, I could kiss you, but that ain't cool, so I'll just high-five myself!" Celestia would have laughed at the human's antics if it hadn't followed his quick demise and rebirth. "I feel awesome!" He yelled, raising his arms above his head. "Like I could take on the world," he lowered his arms and slapped himself on the chest with the palms of his hands. "Come on! Give it to me! Stab me with that sexy horn of yours!" He turned around and bent at the waist, craning his neck to look back at her. "Better yet, shove it up my–"
Celestia couldn't handle this, moving forward, Celestia touched her horn to his forehead, the magic ignited and flashed against the skin of the human. Who in turn, fell to the floor like a bag of rocks, his snores tearing through the air before she knew it. She sighed. Looking at the floor where the human laid, she inspected the area around him. Not a drop of blood in sight, not even a stain in the wood from said blood. There was no sign that he had died at all except her lingering memories.
Using her magic, Celestia lifted the human into the air. She stared at his sleeping form, turning him to look at where he had contacted the edge of the seat. How had he even died from that fall at all? Is he really that fragile? She frowned as she stepped through the train car to opposite door. No, he couldn't be, she had blasted him with her magic back at the cave with the Princess and her friends. He was fine then.
Sliding open the door, Celestia winced at the offending light that assaulted her eyes, blinking it away, her eyes adjusted, meeting the gazes of multiple ponies who stared at her and the human in her magic, the shaking of the train car might have been what drew their attention in the first place.
She smiled sheepishly, bowing her head slightly as she made her way past them. Their eyes widened even further.
Celestia's pace quickened, trying to get the human out of the public eye, such a compromising position would do her no good. As she made her way to the castle, with the sun creeping overhead, she stared at the unconscious human, his soft snores blending with the whistling of the breeze.
"Sure must be peaceful," Celestia muttered, the cool wind on her coat coaxed a yawn from her. As her eyes shut with the yawn, a wall of stone rose from the darkness before her. Celestia's eyes snapped open, her gallop coming to a halt to avoid the collision. But her gaze was met with nothing but an empty alley. The shadows seemed to dance as the sun above glared down at them, the bricks that made up the floor were undisturbed. She turned her gaze to the still sleeping human, was this like what had happened on the train?
Celestia shook her head, she needed to get back to the castle, Luna would know what to do. Dreams were her domain after all.
"Why are you the way that you are?" He asked himself, staring at the stone wall of his cell. His words echoing off into the darkness beyond the spiked dome. He sat on the floor, his legs outstretched in front of him, rocking from side to side as his upper body leaned back, his arms supporting him. The cold stone chilled his skin, sending goosebumps all across his body. He reveled at the feeling.
"Why are you the way that you are?" A voice asked from beyond the wall, muffled by the stone.
A frown found itself on his his usually smiling face. "Why am I the way that I am?" He rocked over, facing the stone floor before pushing himself away from the ground, rising to his feet as he dusted off his bottom, the dark green fabric faded with the years, spots of dirt still clung to it from his time in that forest.
He fell back down to a knee as his stomach cried out, his body seizing as talons of fire gripped and clawed at his innards, the hunger wasn't something to forget about. It would be remembered, no matter how many times he died, it'd always be there to remind him why.
Opening his eyes, he wasn't greeted by stone, but by dirt. The soft soil hugged his feet as he clenched his toes, the sound of leaves rustling traveled on the wind, he was back. Getting to his feet, he felt something cold settle against his chest, the soft clinking of metal met his ears. He puffed out his chest and looked down at the necklace that hung around his neck. The three metal plates that dangled from the chain glittered in the soft light, etching barely visible on the steel tags. His heart ached at the sight.
"Why?" He muttered to himself. Falling to his knees as he stared at the ground below him. "Why do you have the gall to ask me that!" He slammed a fist into the dirt, "Why am I the way that I am?!" The question brought a lump to his throat. He brought the other fist down, raising the other back up before bringing it back down. The dirt shook and the earth cracked under his fists. With every fist brought down to the ground, his ministrations grew weaker.
He let out a throaty whine as his punches slowed. Looking down at his bruised and bloodied hands, he watched as his vision warped and distorted. A burning sensation crawled down his face. "What do you want me to do?"
Bringing the hands up to his face, he wiped away the tears with a forearm, before dragging his hands over his head. His dirtied and unkempt hair was slicked back with the blood. "I don't even know who I am. I'm not human anymore..."
"She took everything." A voice whispered to him, echoing in his head as the tears fell to the dirt below.
"Memories." This voice was different, deep and refined, but barely above a growl as he choked on the lump in his throat.
"Our humanity. She made us a—"
"A monster." He interrupted. Wiping away the tears once more, he pushed himself from the ground. Looking to the forest, he watched as the trees stood still in the unfelt breeze, their leaves swaying as if a storm were raging just above them. Looking back down, his gaze met a single mangled tree, its bark twisted and torn, as if the tree itself had long been destroyed and stitched back together. He stepped towards the tree, an arm reaching out to touch the deep brown bark as he walked. With every step, the world began to melt away, the colors fading to nothing but a mixture of greys and whites. The slop pooled at his feet, sticking to him like mud as his feet grew heavier with every step.
Reaching the tree, he stretched out an arm to touch the twisted bark, only for the tree to disappear in the blink of an eye. Leaving nothing but a wall of stone. Turning his head from side to side, he stared at his surroundings. He was back in the cell. The dull grey was a sight that would never escape him.
With a sigh, he bent at the waist, easing himself back to the ground before laying out and staring to the sky. "Maybe I should have just stayed," He muttered into the void above. The massive emptiness did nothing but stare back, the feelings of pain left him as he spoke to it. "I knew there was no way to go home, and even if there was, what would I do? For all I know, home doesn't exist, no memories, no reminders. "
"What's the point?" A voice sobbed. He could feel the tears roll down his face, but as he reached up to wipe them away, the feeling faded. "There's nothing for me here." A soft chiming was carried with every word, tugging at his heart with gentle pulls that made the lump in his throat swell. He tried to speak past it but the words were twisted into whimpers. His hands balled up into fists shaking, white knuckled. His teeth grinding as he tried to speak, the tears burned his face as they fell.
"S-S-Ssh-Shut it!" He screamed. His body shook as laughter thundered from his chest. He rolled onto his chest before pushing himself from the ground, jumping to his feet, his feet slapping the stone floor as he paced back and forth. "For the love of all that is holy, just sh-shut it! Out of all the the ones I hear, you, are the one worse than fear! S-Sadness! Fucking sadness?! No point?! I'll give you a point!" He inhaled sharply before resuming his tirade. "Once upon a time, there was a human, he was a fairly normal human, at least he'd like to say he was average. This human doesn't remember if he was average or not! Now one day, he was in the forest, starving, hungry, the only food he could get would either kill him, or leave him bed ridden in that little cave of his. But one day, along comes a group of ponies. Now at this point, the human would've eaten his left foot if he could have, he sees the ponies and thinks to himself, 'They sure do look tasty' and guess what? They were! They were fucking delicious!"
He stopped his pacing, his voice softening as he visibly shrunk. "He was sorry, but being sorry doesn't bring back the dead. And when the ponies found him, cooked, half eaten corpses by his side, they were a little more than upset. He couldn't speak, he couldn't do a single thing, what could he do? He had found out he ate something like him, a person, he had killed someone... He ate someone... They wanted to punish him, lock him away, and he was okay with that. He was okay with spending his final days rotting away in a cell... but somebody else had plans." Retuning to a hoarse scream, he began to throw his arms around haphazardly, swinging at the air as he shouted. "He was cursed, and the pony who had cursed him would lift the curse once he spent three lifetimes paying for the three lives that had took! That was fine! I was okay with that! But you never came back! You locked me away and threw away the key! You wanted something to punish and you didn't care what happened to me!" His hands clawed at his face as his teeth clacked together, fingers dipping into the snapping maw before being chewed and gnawed on. Skin slipping from the slim digits as teeth tore and scraped at the pale appendages. His body twitched and writhed as muscles flexed and spasmed, his bloodied hands painting his face as he tried to pull away the mask.
"You saw me as nothing but an animal to cage!" His eyes burned with tears as blood reddened his vision. "You were mad! Furious! Not at me! Something else!? Something that took someone dear to you, just as I did to your ponies, you looked at me and saw the very same thing that took dear little Luna!" He cackled, spitting a crimson mist as he did so. "You couldn't get your cute little slippered hooves on the thing that took Luna, so I was the next best thing!" He thrusted his arms to either side and craned his neck to look up at the abyss that hovered just above him, his chest heaving, face ablaze. "And now I'm back, and you know what I want?!" The air throbbed with every breath he took, a pink mist gathering around the human as he danced in his prison. Spinning and leaping as the pink miasma thickened with every second that passed.
"I want you to punish me! Love me until I'm nothing but a bloody pulp! Use me as stress ball and squeeze me until I pop!" He giggled, stamping his feet as his arms rose to the air and spread out once more. His head swam with a fiery passion and the world began to spin, sweat dripping down his body as he panted with chittering teeth. The blood that soaked his face now mingled with the excitement that soaked his body. "Send me to the heavens wanting for nothing!"
"Enough!" A voice thundered, a wave of dark blue magic washed through the cell. The world around him fell away, leaving nothing but a blinding white that consumed his being. The echoes of his cries disappearing into the infinite as the dream faded.
Luna watched the creature prance around the stone cell, his inane ramblings not interesting her in the slightest. What drew her eye was the magic the creature was producing as he spun and jumped to an unheard rhythm. The pink gas slipping free from the confines of the dream in waves that wafted through the air, pulsating and reaching further outward. The magic itself shouldn't have been able to move freely from the dream, but here it was, encroaching into the outer realms like it had a mind of its own.
Flapping her wings, Luna furthered herself from the strange magic. Whatever type of magic it was, it was growing, and quick. The time between the pulses shortening. Flying back further, Luna surrounded herself with a shell of dark blue magic as the magic shot towards her. This has to be the connection Celestia was talking about, the source of her–
Luna's thoughts were interrupted as a wave of the pink magic crashed against her bubble, the force of the impact sending the bubble backwards with her along with it as the wall of the shield slammed into her. Peeling herself from the shield wall, Luna turned her head from side to side, looking around for an opening in the wall of pink smog. The magic seemed to lap at the shield between her and it, whispering to her. She sighed, shaking her head with a gentle sway before a chuckle escaped her. Igniting her horn once more, her eyes squeezing shut as she pumped more magic into the bubble. "Enough!" She shouted, pushing the the bubble outward and burning away any of the offending magic that touched its surface.
Almost immediately, Luna was torn from the realm of dreams. Back in her room with sunlight slipping through a crack in the curtains, cutting through the air before lighting up her bed like a spotlight. The creature lying in her bed as she sat just across from him, the sheets rising and falling with his labored wheezing. Jostling in his sleep, the creatures unconscious murmurs grew louder as the seconds passed before silencing as quickly as they began.
Luna was left in total silence, no wheezing, no sheets being tossed, no mumbling. The world was dead. Sighing contentedly, Luna rose from her seat as she wondered if that had solved her sister's problem. Trotting to the door, she used her magic to grip the handle before pulling it open. The guards just outside stood to attention, the rattling of their armor drowning out the party she was so rudely torn from.
"At ease," she said firmly, "Notify the chefs that I wish breakfast to be made for myself, our guest, and my sister in a few hours once she is finished with her nap."
They both saluted before turning and making their way to the kitchen.
Closing the door, Luna sighed, squeezing her eyes shut before peeling them open, trying to stay awake as her lack of sleep tried to rob her of her consciousness where she stood. Feeling a cool breeze flow through her mane, she hummed contentedly. Nodding to herself, she turned around, eyes widening as she caught site of the drapes swaying in the wind, the creature standing just behind them on the balcony. The sunlight landing on his pale skin.
"You're awake?" Luna asked, she hadn't expected the creature to wake up so soon. Stepping forward, she craned her neck to the side, "Hello?"
There was no response.
"Tch," She didn't have time for this, trotting forward her horned lit up with magic, grabbing the creature by the wrists and twisting him around to face her. Her breath caught in her throat.
With mouth agape and the creature's eyes lit ablaze with light, fiery stars in the night sky stared down at her. "Beautiful isn't it? This was the same sight I had before you tossed me into that hole. The sun on my skin, the music in the air. Dance, dance, dance."
"I—"
"I haven't truly seen the sun in over nine-hundred years, and here it is... in the palms of my hands." His mouth slammed shut, teeth clacking together like fire crackers before he spoke up again. "It's gorgeous."
Using her magic, Luna rose up to touch her horn to the creature's head. "Sleep," she muttered, trying to sever the connection once more.
"I already told you, I can't take this from the living. I wouldn't even if I could, because I'm still only human, I have values, standards. I'm not a monster."
Grabbing the human, Luna flung him into the room, his body sliding on the carpeted floor before slamming into the door head first. She had to wake him up.
"The Everfree? Those were animals, dangerous and unpredictable, I did you a favor... What about the dragon?"
Leaping atop his sprawled body, Luna used her magic once more, touching her horn to the creature's head.
"I don't believe anyone who would mindlessly kill rather than sort things out amicably deserves such a chance on this planet. This place is a paradise, and those that do not cherish it, don't deserve it."
Again there was silence, the pregnant pause allowed Luna to hear the faint speech of her sister emanating from the human.
"What do I want?" The eyes widened. "I don't want for anything. I need this. I need to be normal again, I don't want immortality, I don't want magic, I need to be me again. And this is why I'm here now." Rising from the the floor, he pushed Luna off with the simple act. "Help?"
Slipping on the carpeted floor, Luna fell face first into the pool of blood that stained the carpet and had yet to soak in completely. Groaning to herself, she raised a hoof trying to wipe away the thick liquid, only managing to smear it further into her coat. Her eye stung, had she gotten some of the blood in it?
"My broken soul was baptized in the grand river, made whole with pieces that don't fit, keys to an even greater whole. Just like your own, I've seen what I need to do; take back what you took, what you all stole. My better halves wish to go home, but I know better, the moment you laid that magic on me, you bound me to this place, made this my home."
Luna couldn't do anything but watch him walk back out to the balcony.
"And I thank you, this place you've built is wonderful... But I can make it better. You think harmony, peace, and friendship wouldn't exist without you or your elements." There was so much spite to the word, it was as if he'd choke on it. "Do you know what the root of all evils this world has to offer? Magic. Think about it, what enemy of yours hasn't been magical? Even me, a human that normally wouldn't be any different than an ant underneath your hoof, is now a slightly bigger ant, all thanks to magic. Nightmare Moon? Magical. Discord? Magical. Tirek? Chrysalis? How about your student and now fellow princess?"
"Get to the point!" Luna's eyes widened, that was Celestia! The veil between them had to be weakening.
"...The despair you bring, the fact that something as powerful as you can be defeated. You can toss around the sun like it's nothing, and you're still unable to even protect yourself. So I'll help you."
Watching the creature stand back out on the balcony, arms spread as if it were about to embrace the sky, Luna moved to the human's side. Just then, the door to Luna's room burst open. Guards filing in one by one, spears at the ready as they drew them towards the human.
"My hope is..." Turning around, he greeted them with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. "Unlike Icarus, I won't fly to the sun, wanting for something new. I'll drag it down to me—" a spear reeled back before Luna could tell the guards to stand down. "—and smother it."
A sharp, wet squelch cut through the air like a spear.
The lights in his eyes died down, leaving their steel counterparts behind, glassy and lifeless. He stumbled backwards, clutching the wooden handle protruding from his chest. "So that... you might... know..." Stepping back with every pause, he bumped into the railing behind him. "Peace." The word barely made it out before he stumbled back once more, tumbling over the edge of the balcony.
Luna's wings snapped open, leaping into the air, she launched herself off the balcony and towards the falling human. The wind howling and whipping past her, catching in her eyes as she dove hooves first, trying to catch him. The ground rocketing up towards them from behind the human.
"Almost," she wheezed, stretching her hooves to–
Ba-thump
The air around him seized as they fell, Luna cried out as the force blasted her away. She could only watch as the human slammed into the ground, blood spraying into the air as he seemingly sank into the concrete, the spear that was lodged into him splintered. There were cries as the citizens all stared on with wide eyes. Some of the averting their gazes to run, others to retch from the pile of reddened flesh sitting in the middle of the road.
Ba-thump
Luna watched on as the rest of the ponies fled the scene, tears falling from their frightened faces. Her eyes focused on the human, or what remained of him, and she stared as the corpse slowly rose from the stone. The air dancing around it as if it were alive, shimmering like... magic.
Firing up her horn, Luna contained the scene within a dome of light-blue magic. Inhaling, she closed her eyes and focused. Sending a surge of energy to the dome before she lost anymore time.
Ba-thump
The magic in the air around the creature cleared out, leaving a sight she never thought she'd see again. Surrounding the creature's dead body were spirits, dancing to a beat only they heard. A form of Zebrican magic mainly used to appease or worship the spirits, but it looked as if the spirits themselves were using it to offer some of their own life. Pouring it into the corpse with every sway of the torso and slam of the foot. Claws raised to their sides as they rattled them between every sway.
Ba-thump
It was a miracle to even witness something like this, the practice having died out before she was imprisoned. Only known to ancient nomadic Zebrican tribes that were reclusive on the best of days. How did this creature possess such knowledge?
The body slowly began to reform as it peeled off of the ground, flesh slipping back into place, the blood trailing its way back into the body. And just like that, it was launched back into air, the phantoms not following as their dancing slowed.
Luna's neck snapped upwards, her vision following the body as it trailed its way through the air. Slamming her wings downward, she followed it back up into the tower. Her guards jumped back, readying their spears once more, before she raised a hoof. "Stand down!" But they didn't, she could see the terror in their eyes.
Looking towards the human, she saw what they were all afraid of.
Standing on the balcony was the human, skin stretching back over exposed muscle. His left arm just starting to reform as bone burst forth from the flesh, before being swallowed back up by writhing muscles. The hole in his chest closing up.
This wasn't the same Zebrican magic she knew, this was something much darker. Even the foulest of necromancers could only dream of something like this. Even King Sombra, one of the only unicorns to dabble in such things, had nothing compared to this.
Everyone jumped as the human gasped for air, chest heaving as he breathed once more. Life coming back to him as a smile stretched across his face, eyes wide with sweat forming on his body. "Never... again," he said between gasps. Scooting away from the ledge with small steps as he shuffled back into the room. The guards moving back with his every step, trying to keep a distance between themselves and the human.
The guards jumped as the door behind them slammed open, spears swiveled to see a disheveled Princess Celestia. Strands of mane sticking out at odd angles, the usual flow of it gone. Eyes cracked and bloodshot with bags hanging under them. They'd never seen their ruler in such a state. But the worry for their princess was thrown out the window as they witnessed the irritation in her face. Brows furrowed and one of the deepest frowns they'd ever seen.
Her horn lit up with her golden magic and she encased the human in a bubble. "Out," she commanded. And so the guards fled, armor rattling as they tore through any available space to leave. Once the door was shut behind her, the usually peaceful ruler's gaze snapped back to the human. "I am tired," Celestia said simply, her voice carrying no emotion.
"I see," the human said, a grin on his face.
"And do you know why I am tired?"
The human put a hand to his chin, rubbing it in mock thought. "Drink too much tea?"
Stepping forward, Luna intervened as her sister's horn brightened. "'Tia, please, you're not thinking straight. Look, I'll personally oversee you tonight, just please, go get some air, and clear your head."
Celestia shook her head, "L-Luna, I can't sleep with this i-insufferable creature under the same roof. It's one thing after the other with him!"
"I know, I know, but please, it's for only one more night, and then I can find out what's wrong." She had thought she had solved it back in the human's dream, but apparently that wasn't it.
"I can't wait one more night, Luna. It has to be now."
"Okay okay, just... please... step out onto the balcony... and breathe."
Celestia did no such thing. Looking to the human, she stared at him from behind her bubble, her gaze looking past him to the curtains fluttering in the breeze, and the open sky behind them. And for the first time in that moment, a smile came to her face. She wanted him to talk, and she knew exactly how to get this human to sing her a tune.
He could hear the wind rushing past his ears. Celestia's magic firing off every few seconds like water crashing against a rock, carving into it. He could feel the blood rush to his feet as he reached the bottom of the swing. He could feel his heart beating, thumping in his chest, threatening to pop like a balloon. His lungs burned, the air was like knives, cold and sharp as the blades sank in with every brief breath. Getting as much air as he could before Celestia's magic wrapped itself around his neck once more.
He wanted to close his eyes, to forget, to wake up from the nightmare, to go home, he wanted it all to end. But no matter how hard he squeezed them shut, they just wouldn't let him go. The magic slamming around in his head. He could hear them, their cries of terror, they all screamed as they all saw what he saw, felt what he felt. They wanted out, and so did he.
Her magic would stop and the blood would begin to rush back to his head as he was tossed back into the air, farther up with every swing.
And then everything was still, he'd open his eyes hoping that he'd be back on the ground. But he was met with the world below him, clouds lazily drifting in the wind, mountains off in the distance. It was almost peaceful. Almost.
He'd feel that tug, that pull back to earth. And everything would go blank as his insides squirmed, as the butterflies in his stomach tried to chew their way out. As the magic in his head sloshed around and battered his brain like a sandy shore caught in a hurricane.
There was no end to it all.
Bile rose to the back of his throat, scalding the inside before the magic tightened around his neck, forcing him to swallow it back down.
This isn't real. None of this was. He wasn't afraid of anything. Death didn't scare him, so why did this?
Why?
He could feel himself slipping, the fingers clawing at the back of his eyes. Magic spilling from his head, bursting forward as he lost consciousness.
And for once, there was no magic to catch him as he fell. The howls in his head dying down as the wind caressed him. Lolling him to sleep with gentle arms and a hum. The fear that he held in his heart melted away, letting warmth rush in. It was beautiful. For the first time in years, he felt a rush of unbridled joy that bubbled from within. Not a joy at somebody else's expense, but a joy that came from nothing but him and him alone.
But that feeling was short lived, the roaring flame within him, smothered. Swallowed up by the hunger for anything and everything.
There were no words to describe what Luna was seeing. It was as if she were dreaming, watching her sister toss around the human as if she were a foal trying to destroy a doll. A maddened, childlike smile stretched across her face as she danced through the air. Climbing higher and higher with every flap of her wings, with every toss of the human.
"What are you going to do now?~" She sang. "Afraid of heights? You're all talk."
"Sister!" Luna called, trying to catch up. "Stop this!" The human flailed around, limbs desperately trying to latch onto something as he kicked and swung. Hands clawing at the area around him, sometimes even catching himself as nails dug into flesh. Only to be torn away as his limbs were dragged away by the force of his launch
"Talk! Tell me what you want! No more crazed delusions, I want the truth!"
"'Tia!"
Once more, the human was dropped. Falling through the air, his flailing was less intense now, as if he were calming down. She heard his wheezing as she caught up to Celestia, he wasn't calming down, he was dying. But there was no worry... right? The spirits would bring him back. Luna shook her head, turning her gaze towards her sister. She could watch this anymore, she had to stop her sister. "Celestia!" Luna yelled.
Thump thump thump
Celestia's eyes snapped open, as if she were just torn away from a dream. Her magic dying down as she turned her head towards Luna.
"Luna? Where..." She looked around, met by open sky and the sun.
Thump
Luna closed the gap between Celestia and herself, pulling her older sister into a hug. "Thank the stars, you're back. I was so worried."
A brow on Celestia's face raised. "What happened?
Luna shook her head. "I don't know"
Thump thump thump
"I had just finished trying to remove the link between you and the human. I was going to check in and see if that had done anything once you woke up, but the human woke up before you."
Luna told her sister all of what had happened. The magic the human possessed, and the conversation between the two of them. "You threw open my door– and there you were– furious to no end. I– I had tried to calm you down but you wouldn't listen." Luna was stumbling over her words.
thump
"You... grabbed the human by the throat and..."
Celestia shushed her, pulling Luna in for another hug. "I'm sorry, I had no idea what I was doing. You shouldn't have had to see that."
They parted the hug and smiled at each other. Only for something to rocket between them towards the ground.
"Oh what a touchingreunion."
Turning their gazes to the object that flew past them, the both caught a glimpse of the human, smiling back up at them, eyes aglow with pale lights.
Flying down towards him, he called out over the wind. "Hey! How's it going?" Giving a small wave as he fell.
Luna sat just in front of him her while Celestia came to a smooth fall just behind him.
"Aren't you scared!?" Luna called out.
"Oh yeah, terrified! But that just means I'm alive!" He giggled. "And that's the best feeling of all!"
"Do you want us to catch you?" Celestia shouted.
The human rolled over, resting his head in a hand. "Only if you want to, 'Tia!"
Looking down, Luna spotted buildings, they were over Ponyville? She hadn't thought they'd flown out this far.
"Now let me ask you this, do you really want to?" Rolling back over, he brought his hands to the back of his head, letting a knee rest on the other as if he were lazing in a field.
Luna shook her head, she couldn't deal with this one's antics. Using her magic to began to wrap the human in–
"Ah ah ah," the human waggled a finger as he brought the other hand to the base of Luna's horn. Giving it a strong flick before letting his hands rest on the back of his head once more. "I don't want to be saved by you. You see–"
There was no more sky left as the human busted through a cloud.
"Me and Celestia are like two peas in a pod. Two bullets–"
His speech was interrupted by the ground as his body came to an unceremonious halt. Landing in a mass of... pillows? What?
They couldn't quite make out his speech as mountain of pillows muffled him. Why were there so many pillows in the road anyways? Who put them there? Who has this much free time? Just... why? There were too many questions.
Landing next to it, the two sisters tried to peer into the makeshift fort. They could just barely make out the human's muffled talking.
"Aaah! I'm blind!"
Struggled grunting came from within and the pillows began to fall. The mountain crumbling as the beast within tore it's way out by tooth and nail. Pushing away the mass of cushion, only to be smothered by more cushion.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other, their faces contorted in a mixture of worry, confusion, and surprise.
"Why is it so hot in here!? Who turned up the heat? Am I in Hell? Who knew Hell smelled like lilac fabric softener and sweat?" The human giggled before his head burst forth back into the open air. "And just like that; the human male is born. Thrust forth into the world and covered in juices from the dark crevice he came from."
Luna held back her laughter with a hoof. What was this? Who was this?
The human, turned his head back and forth between the two princesses. "Fine morning for a pillow fort eh, ladies?" He snickered. Sighing, he crawled out from his place in the pillow pile. Dusting his knees as he rose before meeting their gazes. His eyes still glowing with that pale magic, and his mouth glowing with a toothy smile. He took in a breath, his nostrils flaring before letting out of his mouth. "It's amazing to be back."
"Hey!" A tiny voice shouted. "Back away from our landing si–"
Turning to the owner of the voice, their gazes fell on an orange pegasus filly. A wild fuchsia mane adorning her small head. With wide purple eyes, she stared back.
"P– Princesses!? H– How's it going?" She smiled nervously.
There was a pregnant pause before another voice called out.
"Scootaloo, what's going on over he–" The voice had a light southern drawl to it and was owned by a small yellow filly with a red mane and tail, a red bow adorning her mane.
Following closely behind the yellow earth filly was a white unicorn filly. Mane and tail made up of a pale pink and purple with curls at the end.
None of them spoke. What could they say? Deciding to speak up, Luna coughed into her hoof, clearing her throat only to be interrupted by a shrill squeaking coming from her right. Turning her head, she caught sight of the human mashing his cheeks with his hands, eyes wide and a smile stretching from ear to ear.
Luna and Celestia watched the human lunge for the fillies, their horns lighting up to protect them but they were too slow.
"You're so cute!" The human giggled as he brought the fillies close to his bare chest in a hug. "So soft! Like tiny stuffed toys!" The human danced in place, his feet pattering on the cobbled road.
"Hey, let us go!" The pegasus filly named Scootaloo cried out, trying to push the human away.
"I love the bow! Where can I get one? Do they have them in blue? Purple? Pink? How about an even darker red? Ah forget it, you all are perfect as it is, I'll keep you forever and ever!" The words came out a mile a minute.
Celestia could only stare on as the human smothered the fillies in love. What was going on with him? Had she broken him? Was this even broken? Did she fix him?
"Alright, that's enough. Leave the poor fillies alone," Luna said as she separated the four with her magic. She shook her head with a chuckle. Looking back at the grinning human, she caught a glimpse of his shining eyes dimming back down to their usual pale glow. She'd have to keep a close watch on that.
The fillies sighed, muttering their thanks as they set their tousled manes back to their former glory.
"So... what are–" Luna began before being interrupted once more, the human's head banging softly back and forth as he spoke.
"So what's going on? This your fort? it's a cool fort, nice fort, the best fort, love the interior and what you've done with the place. A great victorian feel to it, the rug really pulls it all together nicely."
The answer he had gotten were three raised eyebrows and a quick, confused nod form the unicorn filly.
"You wouldn't happen to be... distantly... related to a pony named Pinkie Pie would you?" Scootaloo asked.
Before he could speak, Luna took action and clamped his mouth shut with her magic. "Please. No more talking from you right now. Calm. Down."
The human nodded.
"I want you to close your eyes and breathe in."
He followed her instructions.
"Good. Now, let it all out."
Opening his eyes as he exhaled, Luna watched the two lights dim even further. She could just barely make out the color of his eyes now. It had to be connected to how excited he was, there was no other explanation. For now, she couldn't let him get too excited, fearing what might happen if he were to get too happy.
Turning to the three fillies, she sighed. "Now, to answer your question. No, I don't think he is."
"What is he?" The unicorn asked, her voice like chimes.
"He called himself a human not too long ago."
"What's a human?" The earth filly asked.
Luna was about to answer the question but the breath caught in her throat. Closing her mouth she furrowed her brows. What was a human?
Turning back to the one in question, she let go of his jaw. "Can you answer the question?"
He took a breath and raised a finger to the air, a shimmer in his eyes as they brightened just slightly.
"Calmly?"
That killed it. Moving the finger to his chin, he rubbed it, his eyes squinted and brows furrowed in what looked like a painful thought process. Closing his eyes, he nodded his head, tapping a finger to is chest before giving his answer. "Me. Me is a human."
Silence.
"Okay, well see ya!" The earth filly turn and galloped away, followed by the unicorn.
"Hey!" Scootaloo shouted, "Wait for me!" Following her friends as they turned the corner, towards the town hall.
Turning back to Celestia and Luna, he smiled and asked, "What now?"
Celestia sighed and shook her head. "Now we go back to Canterlot, I'll leave you in the care of Twilight since I'm... I'm just too tired to deal with you, now or when I wake up."
Luna watched a single eye on the human's face widen for a moment as his eyes dimmed just as long.
"Sounds like fun. Sleepover."
He turned his gaze towards Luna and she felt something snap in her chest as their gazes met. His smile felt... off.
"What about you?"
"I will..." Should she stay with him? Just to make sure he didn't cause trouble? She had duties in Canterlot but once Celestia rested she'd be able to take of them. And she wanted answers, to his change in behavior and his magical prowess. "I'll stay with you."
Before she could react, she was embraced, arms wrapping around her before she was lifted off the ground and swung around as the human cheered. "Wooo! Sleepover!"
She pushed him off with her magic and she was met with his tooth filled smile, canines shining in the light.
"Are you sure about this?" Celestia asked.
Turning to her sister, Luna nodded, deciding not to say anything because she didn't want the human to hear.
Celestia's eyes went from head to hoof, and then back up. Humming before offering a smile. "Come back soon then." Pulling her into a hug, she whispered. "Be safe."
"You too," Luna replied.
Backing away, Luna watched her sister disappear in a flash of magic. Probably teleporting straight to her bed. Turning back to the human, she met his gaze with a smile of her own. "Hungry?"
"Starving."
"Do you know any of the eateries around here?"
He nodded. "Yeah, there's this one place I've always wanted to go, but never got the chance."
...
"Well?" Luna asked.
"Well what?" He asked back.
"Lead the way."
"Oh," he chuckled. "Yeah."
Walking past her, he made his way down the road. His feet slapping the cobblestone with every step. Luna followed closely behind, watching him walk with a certain swagger to his step. The giant pillow pile disappearing from the corner of her vision. The fillies would surely come back for it.
"So what do you want to know?" The human asked.
Luna was torn from her thoughts with the question. "What? What do you mean?"
"I felt those thoughts of yours, pressing in on me whenever we looked at each other. So... ask away."
He felt her thoughts? "Okay?" There was only so much time on this earth, and all of the questions couldn't be answered so... "How do you control the spirits?"
"Hm? Spirits?"
Surely he had to know, there was no way he couldn't. "The ones you used to revive yourself, the ones back in Canterlot."
"Spirits... Spirits... Oh I know! Yeah that isn't me."
Only more questions. "What? What do you mean that isn't you?"
"Well, it's me but not me. Ya feel me?"
"No I don't feel you, what do you mean?"
He laughed to himself. "It's like... I don't know, one moment I'm going with the flow and the next, pow, thoughts and feelings I've never had before. I can't always make sense of it so I just let go, just like now I guess." He scratches the back of his head as a nervous laughter escapes him. "Like being a backseat driver to your own emotions. Or something like that."
What? "Or something like that?"
He nodded. "Or something like that."
Well that was that. "If you're a... a backseat driver to your own emotions, what are you feeling now?"
He shrugged. "I don't really know. It's like I want to dance, to sing. It's like my insides are squirming around, having a party of their own."
This was all so strange. "I guess that's not so bad." She could only stare at the strange creature, the mysteries contained within, the secrets he held. "So, you don't seem to have a horn, or wings. Other than enthralling spirits, what else are you able to do?"
Another shrug. "I can do a lot of things, walk, talk, breathe, very rarely can I do all of those at the same time." He guffawed mockingly, Luna couldn't help herself to a small chuckle.
"Where did you come from?"
"Where did I come from? Or where did I come from?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "The first thing."
"Well, first things first, we're here."
Luna's eyes rose to the building before her. It looked like a gingerbread house, only larger. "Ah, Sugarcube Corner." A thought wormed its way to her head. She turned to look up at him. "This is where you came from?"
His smile stretched even further. "Yes, I am a living pastry. Past all the flesh and blood is a gooey caramel filling."
They both shared a chuckle before entering.
Luna sighed happily as a wave of cool air washed over her, the smell of cinnamon and lemons tickling her.
"Welcome!" A voice shouted from behind the counter. The voice belonged to a pudgy baby-blue earth pony mare with a swirly two-toned pink mane. She was looking at the human with a smile before her eyes landed on Luna. "Princess Luna." She rushed from behind the counter and bowed before her.
The rest of the ponies in the shop followed suit.
Why did they always have to do this? "Please, please, rise. I'm just here to relinquish you of a few treats for my acquaintance and I."
They rose at her word. "Please, take anything you want."
Luna rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof her blue cheeks flushed red. She could hear the human's giggling at her side, which only caused her blush to worsen.
"Everybody loves a princess."
Shaking her head, she turned her gaze towards the owner of the shop. "Could we get two vanilla cupcakes?"
"Coming right up, princess."
Walking to a table, Luna sat herself down with her back against the window. Staring at the candy laden shelves that lined the walls of the shop.
"Any other questions?" The human asked as he sat across from her, head in hand, and elbow on the table. "I'm an open book, won't get this chance once I'm gone."
"Once you're gone?"
"I'm not staying forever. Once I've had my fun, I'm gone, hopefully 'Tia helps me. That's what I hope at least."
He wants her sister to help him? Even after... her sister had done less than reputable things. Another question she'd get the answer to another time. There was something more important at hoof. "Back in Canterlot... There was... a moment when you spoke of a grand river. Do you remember anything about that?"
He nodded.
Luna stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "Well?"
"Oh you want me to tell you about it." He nods again. "Sure. Okay so imagine–"
Just as Luna was about to get her answer, two cupcakes on a silver tray was pushed in front of them, the humans eyes snapping towards the frosted treat with a gaze like a starving manticore. The baby-blue mare from before smiling at them.
"Will that be all, princess?"
Luna nodded. "Yes, thank you."
"Anything for you." The mare bowed her head and backed away.
Turning back to the cupcake before her, Luna used her magic to pick it up, only to watch the other disappear in the blink of an eye. Turning her gaze back up to the human before her, she was met with his usual smile. Something felt off about him though, it was as if the air around him were excited. His eyes weren't any brighter so it couldn't have been magic, maybe her imagination? Shaking her head, she took a bite from the cupcake in her own magic. It wasn't any different than any other vanilla cupcake, sweet, almost sickeningly so.
"Can I ask a question of my own?" The human asked.
"Mm-" Luna swallowed her bite of the treat. "Go ahead." What kind of questions did he have?
"How do you get your hair like that?"
"My mane?" That wasn't what she was expecting.
He nodded excitedly. "Yeah, how do you get it to go all," he made ghost noises while waving his arms slowly. "And what's up with the stars? Is it because you're a princess of the night?"
Before she could get word in, his questions continued, their pace picking up after every one.
"Why are you the princess of the night and Celestia not the princess of the day? I heard you were banished to the moon, what was that like? If Celestia was banished would you send her to the sun? Could she survive that? I wonder what that would be like. Must be pretty warm. I mean it's the sun and all. Could you even do it? I mean, you need the elements of–"
Luna sighed. Clamping his mouth shut again. It was like she was dealing with an overactive foal. Why did he seem so familiar though?
"My mane is naturally like this thanks to the magic within me. My sister and I have enough magic to the point where it just flows out of us at a constant rate in the forms of our mane and tails."
The human hummed past her magic.
Releasing him from her magic, she sighed. "Can I have my answer now?"
A brow on his face raised.
"About the grand river?"
"Hm. What do you want to know?"
First things first. "What is it?" And why hasn't she heard of it before?
"Well. It's a river, that should be obvious by the name. But it's not just any river, which the title of grand should also make that obvious. To put it simply? It's a river of the dead, where the souls of those who have died go, and those that have yet to be born come from."
"Where is it?" She had to know.
"... You see, I don't know the answer to that."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
Shaking his head, he gave his answer. "I mean, I'd say it's in Tartarus, but where in Tartarus is hard to say. So I don't really know where in Tartarus it is."
Well that narrows it down. "How do you know so much about it?"
"Well–" he laughed to himself "–promise you won't get mad at me?"
"Sure?"
He scooted himself closer to her, his voice lowering into a whisper. "I broke into Golden Oaks before Twilight moved in, wanted to read up and bring myself up to speed. So I taught myself how to read and write, and before I knew it I found a book on lost legends. Of course when Twilight moved in, most of the books were deemed out of date and removed by Celestia's guards."
"Did you take anything?"
He shook his head. "Stealing is wrong, and I already do enough wrong stuff to get my fill."
"What kind of wrong stuff?"
"Well breaking into places, that's one; stalking ponies, I guess that's two; and uh–"
She had to. "Wait, back up. Stalking ponies?"
"Oh yeah, it ties back in with breaking into places. Most of the time I'd watch them do their daily thing, other times I just get the urge to watch you guys sleep. So cute!"
Lightning runs down Luna's spine and she has to suppress a shake. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring him to Twilight's. The moment the words had left him, the smile on his face wasn't just an innocent smile anymore. It was a mask. The shine of his teeth, the stretch of his lips, the narrowing of his eyes, all of it was to hide something.
Pushing her chair out, she stood back up on her hooves, "Okay, we're going now." She couldn't let herself relax around him, no matter how much he relaxed around her. Like a viper coiling back, she had to be ready for when it decided to strike. Luna understood her sister's warning now. If this was just another mood swing of his, what were the worse ones like?
She had to keep him happy.
A hand waved in front of her muzzle.
"Hello, anybody in there?"
She shook her head and looked up at the human. "Yes?"
He laughed. "Well you were just standing there, and I can't really leave your side." He motioned to the door with a swing of his arm. "Lead on."
Making her way out of the shop, she trotted out into the afternoon sun. The human following closely behind, the swing in his step now gone.
She had to keep him happy, keep him calm. No surprises. But little did Luna remember, Ponyville was the capitol for surprises. And a certain pink pony lurked in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Equestria is no stranger to evil. There are plenty of those with ill intentions, ideas of grandeur, thinking themselves above the natural order. The human is no different than the rest, a child playing with power, he has no idea of the raw potential he holds within him."
Shifting around, the sound of sloshing echoes through the darkness. A wet slurping follows it into the depths of the hive.
"He dances with ponies, only because the guilt they would hold in their hearts if they granted his wish. Ending his life would be a mercy, but it would also be murder. And Celestia is no murderer."
The chittering of wings responded from within.
"No. She is the judge, the jury, and the executioner. Her word is the gavel, and those closest to her, are the firing line."
There was soft chortle from the shimmering grey mass before it fell into a coughing fit.
"Don't worry... human. I shall bring you what you desire most. What the heart wants, but the mind locks away."
A shower of cheers and hissing erupted around the cavern. Lights flashed and danced in the dark as eyes peered into the abyss at the human walking side by side with the Princess of the Night.
"It's just one thing after another with you, isn't it?"
Luna looked back to the human walking behind her. His head was tilted to the road with a smile still stretched across his face. He was muttering something, but it was too low for her to hear.
"Is there anything else to know about this 'Grand River'?" Luna asked.
His head snapped up at this. "Probably, but do you really want to know? Most things in this world should stay a secret."
Luna frowned. "I'd rather be informed of such a thing if something were to happen."
Nodding, he gave his reply. "I understand. Of course I'm only going to recite what I read."
Luna only nodded, turning her head back to the road ahead. Princess Twilight's castle just in view as as slowly made their way down the road.
"The Grand River, a place of death and the undying, life and the birthplace of all. To be born is to leave the calm waters that flow through eternity, and death is the action of returning to it. Some believe we never leave the river, and our spirits are just experiencing some form of existence for but a brief moment. Others believe that the river itself isn't actually real, but only one of many ways for our mortal minds to comprehend what is before us."
Luna hummed. "Back in Canterlot, you had spoken about being baptized in this river. What would you make of that?"
"I wouldn't make anything of that. It was in my way, so I had to do the only thing I could, I swam." A muffled giggle escaped him. "Well, now that I think about it, swimming is such a strong word. It was more like I was dragged in and spat back out. The moment I stepped foot into its waters, I lost myself, and when I awoke, I was on the other side."
"Does that explain the way you are now?" It wasn't far from the castle now, only fifty paces or so.
"What do you mean? Broken and confused? Hungry and lost? Lonely and trying to drown the desert that is my thirst?"
"I would have said something along the lines of 'moody'. Like you don't know what to do with yourself most times..."
When there was no reply, Luna stopped at the castle doors and turned her head back to look at the human. The smile was still there, but he gave no response, choosing only to return her stare.
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Her chest began to tighten and her jaw clenched, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Her head swam as her heart pounded.
"What's wrong?" He asked as his smile widened. "Cat got your tongue? A little bit of stage fright maybe?" The air around him thickened with a sickeningly sweet scent that burned her nostrils. All with a hint of something she hadn't smelled in a long time. Rot.
Tearing her eyes away, Luna sucked air into her burning lungs. Sweat dripped down her brow as her body shook. Before Luna could say anything, the door behind her opened up with a heavy groan.
"Don't worry, Spike. I'm just going to get some extra snacks for the– Oh, Luna when... did..."
Turning back, Luna's gaze met her fellow princess, Twilight. Although Twilight wasn't looking at her, Luna could tell where her eyes were fixed.
With furrowed brows and a frown stretched across her face, Twilight stared at the human on her doorstep. "You."
The human offered a smile. "Me."
Twilight looked to Luna. "What happened to Celestia? I thought she was–"
"My sister is occupied right now, getting some rest should be her top priority right now so the human has been left in my care."
"Human? Is that what it is?"
"Yes, he is a human... whatever that might be." Luna turned to the human in question. "What is a human?"
"Simple answer? An evolved primate."
"I don't think I've met another of your kind before. From what land do you hail from?" She had been gone for one-thousand years, and after being released she had to catch up with the rest of the world. It was possible another race had been found.
A brow on Luna's face rose as her only reply was laughter.
"What's so funny?" Twilight asked. "Did Luna say something–"
"Course you're not gonna meet the rest of my kind."
What did that mean? Luna stepped toward the still laughing human. "There is still much undiscovered land we have yet to find, maybe you come from an island of sorts." This only strengthened the human's laughter.
The human had to come from somewhere warm, the lack of fur on his body assured that.
Wiping a tear from his eye, he gave an answer. "Unless there's a portal to my world on that island, you're not gonna find a bunch of other people running around."
There was only so much Luna could handle. "W-what do you mean? Another world? Surely you're bluffing."
"I mean... I was brought here, I can't really remember if it was out of my own free will or I was forced here, but yeah. Whole different world. My kind are the dominant ones on our world. Living on almost every piece of land we could find. So I know I'm not from an island around here."
"T-that can't be possible, just the amount of energy it would take to even peer into another world is inconceivable."
"Really? Inconceivable? You know what we're talking about right? You guys have magic! You can toss the moon around!"
"These are very different things! It is my duty to raise and lower the moon, my talent. Teleportation of such a distance would require not only a massive amount of magic, but it would most likely be something only Celestia, Twilight, and Cadance or I could wield. And we would know if–"
The human threw his arms into the air. "Okay okay okay! Let's just say that we don't know how I got here, maybe it wasn't magic, maybe it was."
Twilight tried to interject. "But–"
The human raised a finger towards her. "Shush! I don't wanna hear it!"
Twilight huffed. "Don't just–"
The human cupped his hands over his ears and yelled out. "Lalala I can't hear you!" All the while closing his eyes and shaking his head.
Twilight jumped back at the outburst, wings spread out wide. Letting her wings relax, Twilight shook her head. "Fine," she turned to Luna. "Make yourselves at home... I guess. I'm going out to get some food for everyone."
Luna bowed her head. "Thank you."
Stepping out of the way, Luna watched as Twilight took to the sky with a heavy flap of her wings.
Turning back to the human, Luna watched as his feat stamped on the ground, hands still covering his ears as he sang out. Igniting her horn, Luna pulled his hands away. "Enough, she's gone now."
"Oh? Already?" He lets out a joyful laugh before his cheer filled smile disappears and his brows furrow. "Good riddance." The lights in his eyes flicker and fade for only a moment and just like that, his face is back to normal. A tooth filled grin and bright eyes.
Luna shook her head and looked at the human with wide eyes. "What was that?"
"Hm?" The human looks to her with a questioning gaze. "What was what?"
"Just now, you–"
Turning away, the human walked into the castle, his feet gently slapping the crystal floor. "No clue what you're talking about, Princess Luna."
Following suit, Luna stepped into the castle, closing the large door behind her.
Turning around, Luna watched the human crane his neck upward, eyes staring at the distant ceiling. Trotting to his side, Luna followed his gaze. Staring up at the mirror like crystal, their reflections stared back.
The human shook his head, turning his gaze back to the room before him as he walked over to the closest door. The sound of muffled laughter drawing him closer. Moving a hand to the handle, he opened the door with a quick shove.
The moment the door creaked the laughter stopped. Slipping his head through the crack, the human spied four ponies, all of them sitting at a large round table, their eyes on him. It was the ponies from the cave, still suffering the effects of the poison joke he had doused them with.
The pink one with her swollen tongue, drool dribbling down her chin as she tried to speak still. A mess of white and purple hair, leaves and sticks caught in the long dread-like locks. A cyan pegasus with backwards wings. And the seemingly unaffected butter colored pegasus.
Throwing the door open, he stepped in, whistling a jaunty tune as he strutted in.
With only a single glare coming from the four ponies, he sat down at the table. Planting himself right next to the pegasus known as Rainbow Dash. Her rose colored eyes boring a hole into him as he swung his bare, dirt flecked feet onto the table.
"So," he said with a sigh, "How's everybody doing? Good I hope." Closing his eyes, he relaxed as much as he could in the cold concrete throne.
A tiny voice spoke up, shrill and distant. "Princess Luna, pardon me for askin' but, what the hay is that monster doin' here?"
He had to open his eyes to find whoever spoke, spotting a small orange thing at the opposite end of the table. "Oh yeah, I forgot Poison Joke did that to you."
The minuscule orange earth pony glared daggers at him.
Correction. There were five ponies at the table with him.
"My sister believes he can be saved and I have no reason to doubt her."
He waved a hand. "Thank you, Luna."
"And I have something to tell you all. Human?"
"Yes?"
"Could you leave us for a moment?"
Jumping to his feet, he grumbled, "And I just sat down too. I'll be back." He waggled his fingers in a wave at Rainbow Dash, while he blew a kiss at the shrunken Applejack.
Closing the door behind him, the human turned his head to and fro, looking down the hallways. "Which way was the kitchen?" Nodding to himself, he turned to his left and walked down the corridor. Eyes darting to the doors that lined the either of the walls. Walking on the balls of his feet as he crept through the castle. The mutterings of the ponies long gone and a dead silence was its replacement.
A breeze wafted through the hall, the sounds of humming drifting on its wind. It was probably the dragon, Spike was his name if he remembered correctly.
Turning to his right, he pressed an ear up to the door, the humming coming from the other side.
Slowly pushing the door open, he peeked through the crack.
Pulling apart the last bits of the orange with his claws, the tiny dragon stared down at the fruit covered platter. His eyes scanned along the groups as he muttered to himself. "Got the apples, the oranges, some blueberries, pineapple, and the peaches. Am I missing anything?"
"How about some cherries, cherries are pretty good."
Spike leapt with a yelp, his heart pounding as he turned to face the one who spoke. Only for his gaze to meet a pair legs. Craning his neck upward, Spike peered at the joy filled visage of the creature before him.
Clearing his throat into a claw to calm himself, Spike spoke up. "Um, hello...?" Putting on the best smile he could, Spike tried to match the strange creature.
"Hey there."
Spike's smile fell as he stared at the creature, who stared back in kind. Something felt... familiar about him. If it was a 'him'. If the voice was anything to go off of, then the creature probably was a stallion, or his kind's equivalent at least.
"Have we... met?" Spike asked.
The creature shrugged. "Possibly. Probably. You might have seen me around." The creature's gaze moved past him towards the table. "So, what do you have going on here? Nice little fruit platter?"
"Y-Yeah, just a little snack for the gang while Twilight's out getting some more food."
He nodded. "Cool, cool..."
A pregnant pause was held between the two before the human spoke up.
"You don't happen to need any help do you? Got kicked out by Luna and the rest."
"Luna's here?"
He nodded.
"Well... I wouldn't mind getting some help peeling some more oranges."
The human crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "You couldn't have gotten anybody better, peeling is what I do best."
Spike tossed an orange to the human and turned back to pick another and get to work. His claws slicing through the skin with ease.
Luna leaned back in her seat, a sigh escaping her. She could feel their eyes on her, waiting. Wanting an explanation as to what was going to happen now. She would give it to them, but what she had to say was something they wouldn't want to hear.
"Do any of you have any questions before I say my piece."
A shrill voice sounded out from across the table. "Yeah! Why the buck would you bring that monster back here!?" If the accent was anything to go by it must have been Applejack.
"Applejack! There is no need for language like that, especially in front of princ—"
"Can it Rarity! You saw what that creature did to all of them animals, even that dragon!"
"That I did, and that's why I see no reason to be at each others throats. I'd much rather hear what the Princesses have planned."
Plans... of course. Luna waited for anything else, but no other voice made itself known. "I cannot speak on behalf of my sister. But I can say this... I have no clue what to do."
Still more silence. Opening her eyes, she stared at the worried faces of the ponies before her. "All I know is that the human in question is an... unbalanced individual."
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "That's putting it mildly."
Luna pressed on. "And I have nothing else to say other than this. Avoid him if you can, but if you can't, do not anger him. You all have obviously seen something I have not and have reason to fear him. But do not let that fear make you do anything rash."
"You're telling us not to do anything?!"
"Yes, because the more you fear, the more likely any of you would do something. Do not lash out and give him reason to strike back. If you say he did something wrong, let him explain his actions. My sister was there with you all, was she not?"
"Yeah but—"
"And she had already known about him long before you have."
"..."
"Yet here she is, telling us she wants to give this one a chance. Does this not seem familiar to you?"
The door behind her groaned before a head poked in. The beady eyes of the human they belonged to shifted between Luna and the five others. "Watch out, scary human incoming."
Luna glared at him as he entered, Spike following shortly after with a platter filled from edge to edge with fruits. "You were listening?"
He shook his head with chortle. "I'm always listening. Ponyville may not look it, but ponies are always hiding something. Take Mayor Mare for example, she may not look it but she is quite the potty mouth when alone."
"So what?" Rainbow asked. "If she says b—"
He shrugged. "So what indeed."
"How would we know that you're telling the truth?" Luna asked.
"How would you know I'm not?" He shrugged. "Believe me or not, do you want another example?"
Luna smirked. "You're trying to put others in the limelight it seems."
His eyes fell to the fruit as Spike slid the plate onto the table.
"I'd rather put this platter of fruit in my limelight thank you very much. Last time I did that to someone else I was locked away." He cackled before reaching to the pile of fruit before him, stuffing his mouth full as juices dribbled down his chin. "Good shtuff," he muttered with a full mouth.
"Speaking of locked away," Luna said as she took an orange in her magic. "You spent time in Tartarus if my assumption is correct...?" An orange slice slid into her mouth before she chewed in silence, waiting for the human's response. The others had gone on to speak amongst themselves, but Luna wasn't interested in hearing what they had to say.
"Mm- that's right."
"If you don't mind me asking, what was it for?"
The word that left the human was one she had not heard in a long time. A word that silenced every single pony in the room and had eyes turn towards him.
"Murder." He finally swallowed the fruit before speaking back up. "Three to be exact."
Equestria was no stranger to death, but murder was something else entirely. Ponies died, age, sickness, it was a fact of life. But murder? The last murder was before her time as Nightmare Moon, it was even shortly before Celestia and her were declared rulers.
"Just picture it, a time after Luna was locked away. A human, lost and hungry, looking for something to tell him of the world he was now on. A pony crosses my path, and I think of nothing other than filling myself. Of course I was starving at the time and berries can only get me so far."
"That's... disgusting!" Applejack cries out. "Why would Celestia let an animal like you be free?"
Luna's eyes widened as she turned her gaze towards the human in question. She expected a face of rage, but instead she was met with a small smile and raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, I wonder. Back then, she wanted nothing but to tie a rope around my neck and hang me from that tower of hers." He guffawed. "Should have seen her face, she was not happy."
"You killed ponies!"
"And she made me a monster. I think she got what she wanted."
Luna stepped forward. "My sister would never do something so cruel."
"Then why am I here? If Celestia was so good, she would have just painted the castle walls with my brains and been done with it!"
"Death is a mercy to you?" Luna asked. "Do you even hear yourself? How can you say these things with a smile on your face?"
He waved his hands around his head as if he were swatting away flies. "Bah, all this talk over how I act, boohoo, I'd much rather move on."
"You say that, but do not blame me if I don't believe you."
"Good, everything I say is a lie anyways."
Luna watched as the usual smile he wore was slowly disappearing.
"Is that a lie too?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know." The human sneered. "Is it? I'm playing with the cards I've been dealt. Be glad I'm the one going in for the hold."
"Luna, this psycho shouldn't be allowed to roam free!" Applejack interjected.
"Careful there, Applejack you might hurt my feelings."
Luna watched as Applejack's eyes widened.
"Hurt your feelings? Your feelings? You're a murderer!"
"What are you going to do, lock me away for a crime I've already been punished for? Celestia can't. I can even feel the shame coming off of her when ever she looks at me."
"What about Luna?" Applejack asked as she turned her head towards the princess in question.
"Oh? And what would Celestia say about that? Here I am, looking for redemption, and what do I get? I have done absolutely nothing to spite you all, and yet I get called an animal. Sure, I killed some ponies hundreds of years ago, but what do you think Tartarus was for? A spa retreat?"
There was no reply. Nothing.
"It's one moment I'm wandering lost through a forest where even the flowers want me dead, I eat some things that look like animals and then boom! I'm being muzzled and dragged to the capitol where, get this, they run the country! And their ruler can toss around the sun like a four-year old with a rubber ball!"
Once again, nothing but silence. All they can do is sit and watch him stomp at the ground, his bare feet slapping against the crystal.
"And I'm told you're people, just like me!" A slap echoes through the room as he slams the back of his hand to his forehead and leans back. "Publicly shames me and tosses me away for more than a few lifetimes! Let's me stew in my own filth."
"B—"
"Oh woe is me, he killed somebody I never knew and had no hope of knowing that I just cared so much for!" He slams his hand back onto the table and they're greeted by his wide-eyed, tooth filled smile. "Let's talk real, sister! You ju—"
The human's ravings are replaced with a shrill squeak as he stood up straight, his hands clasping at the edge of the table.
Luna watched as the lights in his eyes flickered and popped as the human stood stock-still.
The smile he wore shrank down until it was nothing but a small frown. Letting out a sigh, he spoke up. "Sorry. Not every day that I get to do that." Gone was the booming, energetic voice, replaced by something stern and low.
There was no reply.
"Confused? I know, I would be too if I were in your hooves, so to speak." The more he spoke, the more his frown morphed into a grimace.
Out of all the ponies, Luna was the first to speak up. "What?"
"Scary question, time for tea already?"
"Okay, I'm lost. What happened?" Rainbow asked, looking to her friends who could only shrug.
"Simple answer? Or long one?"
Rainbow shrugged. "Simple please."
"Same body, different mind, or... spirit I guess. I'm not exactly an expert on how this actually works. I just do it."
"So it is spirit magic that you're using. Is that why your eyes were glowing?" Luna asked.
"Maybe? No clue, I haven't really looked at myself in a mirror for a while. Are they doing it right now?"
He nodded. "Long answer it is." Drawing in a breath, he began his story. "You all know that I had killed ponies, and was locked away not long after. This was maybe a year or two after Princess Luna had turned into Nightmare Moon. Now, Celestia was not exactly, let's say, her usually forgiving self at the time. Upset at her sister's banishment, here comes another monster to take away what she holds dear. Are you following me?"
They nod.
"After my trial was held, I was enchanted, given a pseudo immortality. Told that'd I'd spend three lifetimes in Tartarus for the three that I took. I couldn't argue, and I didn't want to either. But that was a lie and it took only a month for me to see that. At first it was the lack of water, I started to lose myself. Within the first two weeks, I died in that cell. The magic brought me back, but it didn't take away the memories. The... the... the..."
Luna watched as the human's gaze moved past them and glassed over, and the lights that were once gone were coming back. She coughed into a hoof to bring his focus back to the conversation.
"Pain... Sorry. It was every day by then. My head wanted to burst, skin cracked and bled, I started hearing things. My isolation didn't last long as I found company in myself. The magic put my body back into working order, but something else took hold. I began wondering what my body tasted like, starved, dehydrated, and not exactly in the right state of mind, I took a chance and chewed through a finger."
He paused to look at the group before him. While both Fluttershy and Rarity were dead to the world, collapsed in their thrones, Rainbow Dash listened with furrowed brows and ears perked up, her sky blue face was now a sea foam green. Applejack was impossible to read, given her current size, while Pinkie sat back with a bucket of popcorn before her. And Princess Luna was stoic, her long life having numbed her to even the most gruesome of details.
"It hurt... but it tasted good. Too good. After that point on, there is a large gap in my memory as to what happened. The next thing I knew, I had been reborn. My spirit had broke into pieces over the time I spent in Tartarus and we used that to escape. I'd imagine the only reason I'm here now having this conversation would be thanks to magic existing here."
Letting his story end, he listened as Rainbow spoke up. "So if your spirit, thing, broke, why don't you fix it?" She asked.
"Again, it's probably because it's for the best I don't. We're having this conversation because my thoughts are divided. If I were to—be whole—as you put it, I'd most likely be a brain-dead pile of drool. So my saving grace is that, while I may be difficult to deal with, I can be reasoned with. Especially with me, more so than my counterparts at least."
"Why are you telling us all of this?" Luna asked. "Why couldn't the other one tell us what you are saying now?"
"All of us are different. We want different things, have different dreams, it'd be like having a family made up of exclusively twins. I can't speak for him, I can only say one thing on the matter; Don't believe that I'm an ally, no matter what I promise, no matter how much I beg, trust me no more than you might trust a stranger."
"Even you?"
He nodded. "Even me. Unlike my counterparts, I'd like to be as straightforward as possible. But that doesn't mean I won't lie here and there. But I won't be the one to put the knife in your back."
"What is it that you want then?" Luna asked. "You said all of your kind want different things, and you're here now, what is it that you want?"
He laughed. "I don't think you could-"
"What do you want?" Luna said, interrupting him.
"... I guess our relations can't get any worse." He shrugged. "You want to know what I want?"
Luna nodded.
"I want peace, I want quiet, I want Celestia to look me in the eye, and kill me. She did this to me, so she should be the one to end it. Reasonable if you ask me, but I already know her answer to it."
"Why do you want death so much? Is it too much to try and enjoy what you have now? Yes, my sister made... a mistake, but that doesn't mean—"
"A mistake? That's... an interesting way to put it."
"You understand though."
"Yes. I do. But what she did wan't a mistake, it was out of anger, fear, an action driven by emotion. Not unlike how I am now, driven by a need for redemption." Laying his hands out on the table, he shrugged. "Let's say that I find myself forgiven, then what? I can live a normal life?"
Raising his left hand, he moved it to his right and pinched finger between his index and thumb. "Doesn't it feel great when you get sick?"
Before Luna could stop him, he pulled back on the finger, folding it back, letting soft pops and a crunch echo through the silence. "When you age." He moved his grip to another finger. "When you can look at another, and see nothing but someone you can trust. You know," he gave a dry laugh, "the normal things that life can bring."
Another set of pops rang out, they may have been soft, but in the silence, they were like roars of thunder. "You see, I'm not going to sit here and pretend everything is fine and dandy." Pushing the fingers back, he clenched his hand and threw his fist into the table. "Sit here and play house while these animals eat me from the inside out. So let me just tell you this, if you don't want to give me what I want, and kill me, you'd better find a way to fix me, and fast."
His head snapped upwards, letting their gazes meet once more.
Luna hummed, her stoic face belying the thoughts rushing through her head. Staring at the human who wore a smile, she went to speak. "May I ask why you want to die? As opposed to letting us help you?"
"Help?"
"...Yes?"
"Are you sure?"
An eyebrow on Luna's face rose. "What is there to be sure about?"
"Look me in the eyes... and say that you want to help me again."
Luna had no reply.
"You already know there's no helping me, lying to yourself only delays the inevitable."
Luna slammed her hooves into the table, a thunderous thud echoed throughout the castle. "We can help you! You have to want us to help you though, it won't work if you don't let us!"
The frown he wore slowly turned into a small smile. The lights in his eyes began to burn once more as he stood in silence.
Luna sat there, waiting for a response, any response, but all she received was silence.
Finally, he spoke up. "I... don't want your help." His gaze lowered to his broken fingers. "I'm a disgusting person, worthless and it hurts to know that."
Luna watched as he lowered himself to the floor, his arms rested on his raised knees as he sat.
"I just want it to be over, I want to just go to sleep... and not wake up. Why is that so hard to ask for?"