//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: Recovery, Questions, and Revelations 
// Story: Bermuda Beginnings 
// by ScarFox9700 
//------------------------------//

Once Taylor was back in his room, the doctor and the servant laid him down on the bed. 

"Can the two of you take care of him from here?" the doctor asked. 

"Yes Doctor", Starlight answered. 

After the doctor and the servant left the room, Redheart sat on the bed, looking over Taylor. She then dipped a rag in cold water, and after wringing it out a bit, she placed it over his forehead. "What happened out there Starlight?" Redheart was still very worried for Taylor. 

"Well, when he saw those windows depicting the beginning of Equestrian history, he must have remembered the epiphany that he had earlier today. Once everything became clear to him, the truth was so overwhelming that he blacked out. He should be coming around again in a few minutes though", Starlight continued, "As his condition isn't very serious at all." 

Then, as if on cue, Taylor did regain consciousness. 

"Easy Taylor" Redheart cautioned, "You gave us a real scare back there. You're ok now." She smiled at him, and stroked his hair gently with her hoof. 

"All thanks to you two, I'm sure." He sighed, before sitting up on the bed. Taylor then looked at the two nurses. "Um, there is one question that I've been really dying to know the answer to, but I've been too scared to ask, just in case I might offend any ponies." 

"What is your question?" Redheart asked. 

"You can't offend us", Starlight added. "We're nurses, we can handle anything. So go ahead, ask away." 

"Ok", Taylor took a deep breath. "Those, um, pictures, that I've seen on all of the......the.....um, well.......flanks.......of all the ponies I've seen, what are they, and how do you get them?" 

Taylor then immediately closed his eyes, and waited for their anger to be vented in his direction. Instead of angry words though, only a few muffled giggles met his question. Taylor then opened his eyes, and saw both of the nurses smiling at him.

"You mean our 'cutie-marks'?" Redheart asked giggling. 

"Um, I guess so. What are they?" 

Redheart looked back for a moment at her own cutie-mark; a red cross with 4 pink hearts surrounding it, then back at Taylor. "A cutie-mark tells all of Equestria what our special talent is. Mine is nursing patients." 

"And mine is assisting medical staff", Starlight added, showing Taylor her cutie-mark; a piece of paper, with a stethoscope in front of it. 

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense, but how do you get them? Are ponies born with them?"

"No, no." Starlight answered. "All foals are born without them, and they earn them when they're a young colt or filly." 

"How do they earn them though?" Taylor was still rather confused. 

"Well, whenever a colt or filly figures out what their special talent is, (usually involving a lot of trial and error!) their flanks glow pure white for a moment, and when the glow dissipates, a mark of their special talent is revealed, and it remains with them for the rest of their lives." 

"Hmm. It's all becoming much more clear now. However, I still have a few more questions. Can two ponies have the same mark?" 

"It does happen, but it tends to be about as rare as a Pegasus with four wings. Usually a mark is placed on a pony of one generation, then a generation goes by, then the mark shows up again. However, like I said, there are those rare exceptions. Take Miss Redheart here for example. Her cutie-mark is the same as her mother, her grandmother, great-grandmother, and so on." 

"For real?" Taylor asked. 

"Yep!" Redheart smiled. 

"But is it possible for the same mark to appear on two ponies of the same generation?" 

Starlight shook her head. "As far as i know, that's never happened ever, in the entire history of Equestria." I've heard whispers that it has happened, but there has never been any documented proof." 

"Hmm," Taylor thought to himself, "A cutie-mark on two ponies of the same generation. Never happened before, but yet, that doesn't mean it couldn't happen." 

Starlight sighed. "I still think that you would have a better chance of seeing a Sonic Rainboom in your lifetime than ever seeing the same mark twice." 

"Um, what's a 'Sonic Rainboom'?" 

Starlight sighed. "A Sonic Rainboom is simply an old mare's tale. It's supposed to be a feat that only one in 200 trillion Pegasai can do. It's supposed to be a bright flash of rainbow-colored light, followed by a deafening boom." 

"So, like an atomic bomb going off?" 

"Um, what's that?" 

"Oh yeah, you guys have probably never heard of those. It's an Earth weapon of untold power." 

Starlight shook her head. "Oh, um, no, we don't have any 'atomic bombs'. Anyway, no Pegasai in recorded history has ever been able to pull one off. That's why I think that it's just a made up story." 

Taylor was still intrigued. "Well, you never know though. Just because it hasn't ever happened in recorded history doesn't mean that it won't happen sometime in the future." 

"I guess so, Mr. Taylor", Starlight was still unconvinced, But I'll believe it when I see it though." 

(History would record that Taylor, Redheart, and Starlight all would still be alive when about 47 years later, a young female Pegasus was attending Summer Flight Camp in Cloudsdale. She had gotten into an argument with three bullies who were bothering another young pegasus, the granddaughter of Flutters, the animal caretaker who helped Nurse Redheart find Taylor. Long story short, the result of that race was the very first Sonic Rainboom ever. The course of Equestrian history changed forever, as did the lives of 5 other young fillies as well. About a decade after this, another rainboom was performed, this time by........

*Massive ink splotches suddenly appear on the page* The author looks over his notes, and frowns. "Should I tell this part yet?" He thinks to himself. "No, definitely not. Too much spoilers too soon. My story will be told soon enough. This story is Taylor's time to shine. He charged me to write about his life before he died, so by golly, I'll write about his life!" *The author quickly gets back to work*





"Maybe it's not true, but still though", Taylor was completely lost in thought at this point, "Wouldn't it be amazing if that really happened in our lifetime?" 

"I'd say that it would be." Redheart was as enthusiastic as Taylor, but also about as skeptical as Starlight. "But I'm sure that if it was possible, somepony would have already performed it by now." 

"That may be true", Taylor interjected, "But Equestria has been around for how long, 6,000 years or so, and it's just now that a Human shows up. You all said that there was no life on other worlds, and that Humans were just a myth. However, a few of you, including Princess Celestia, still held out hope that it was possible, and that Humans were indeed real. Look at the results of that; I'm here, and my being here proved all skeptics wrong." 

"He does have a good point Starlight." Redheart put in. "Maybe it could still happen one day." 

"I still say that I'll believe it when I see it." 

At this point, the clock next to Taylor's bed read 8:00pm, and it was about time for Celestia to lower the sun, and raise the moon. Redheart was beginning to explain this to Taylor, but just then, a servant knocked on the door, and entered the room.

"Um, I hope that I'm not intruding, but Princess Celestia sent me to inquire if Mr. Taylor is feeling better, and if he is, if he would be interested in watching her lower the sun, and raise the moon?" 

"Sure thing." Taylor was still very curious on how that worked. 

As Taylor and the two nurses walked up to the balcony where Celestia performed the daily feat, Redheart continued to explain the whole thing to him. 

"So, Celestia raises the sun and moon every dusk and dawn, and then lowers them as well?" 

"Yes. Each and every day for the past 1,000 years to be exact." 

"Um, you said 'for the past 1,000 years'. What happened before that?" 

Redheart looked at Starlight nervously, then she spoke. "Um, I don't know if it's our place to tell you that Mr. Taylor. It's an extremely touchy, controversial subject." 

Taylor thought about that for a moment. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then he closed it, and just shook his head. He stayed lost in thought until they reached the highest tower of the castle. Celestia was waiting for them when they arrived. 

"I'm so glad that you're feeling better Mr. Taylor, and that you could make it up here." 

"Thank you, Princess, and it was my pleasure. I'd love to see how the solar and Lunar cycles work here." 

Celestia smiled. "Then it would be my pleasure to show you, Mr. Taylor. Just step back a bit please." 

Taylor stepped back, and watched in awe as the scene in front of him played out. Celestia then stepped up to the railing of the tower's balcony, and as Taylor watched, her horn had a golden aura surrounding it, and then the sun suddenly fully set. Once that was complete, the moon then rose to it's place in the sky, followed by a whole series of stars.

"Wowzers Bzowzers!" 

"Perk your interest, Mr. Taylor?" 

Taylor nodded. "This is amazing! An incredible feat of science and tradition if you ask me." 

Celestia nodded. "I'm glad that you take such an interest in our culture, and ways of life Mr. Taylor." 

"Thank you Princess, and you;re welcome." Taylor looked up at the moon. It looked like Earth's moon, but the craters were different.

"Does Earth have any moons Mr. Taylor?" Celestia asked. 

Taylor nodded. "Yes, Earth has one moon, and it looks almost exactly like yours, except that the craters on the surface are different." 

Taylor then studied the moon for a bit longer. He then noticed that some of the craters seemed to come together and form the side profile of a unicorn, complete with one white, glowing eye. 

"What is that?" He asked, pointing to the pattern on the moon. 

"Did he just ask about that?" Starlight groaned.

"He did." Redheart stared at Taylor wide-eyed, before she gulped. 

Taylor was confused, but when he saw Celestia turn around to look at the two nurses, before turning to look at him with a look of pained anger on her face, Taylor suddenly turned rather pale. 

"You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to, Princess", Starlight said gently. 

"Peace, my subject. Mr. Taylor asked a very specific question, and if he is going to live among us, then he has to know the truth." 

"Did.....did I say something, wrong?" 

"No, My Sweet, you've said nothing wrong. It's just that, the story is very hard for me to tell, but if you are brave, then I will tell it." 

Taylor nodded slowly. "I'm ready, Princess." 

Celestia sighed, and then she began her tale. 

"Many centuries ago, way back when my mother passed her powers to me, I had a sister who received Alicorn powers from her as well. Her name was Luna, and she was the Princess of the Night. I would raise the sun in the morning, and then she would raise the moon in the evening. We were very close, and did everything together. Lulu was my whole world." Celestia had tears forming in her eyes. 

"What happened though? Somehow I get the awful feeling that this story doesn't end well." 

Celestia shook her head. "No, My Sweet, I'm afraid that it doesn't. The thing was, while all of our subjects accepted me as their ruler, and gave me my dues, they often forgot my sister, and didn't giver her her dues. This made Luna very jealous of me, and she became very isolated, and distant from everypony. As time went on, her jealousy and anger worsened, and I began to fear the worst for her. Finally, one night, almost 1,060 years ago, my worst fears were realized." 

Taylor couldn't say anything, as he was frozen where he stood. He instead motioned for Celestia to continue.

"My sister had enough of languishing in the wings, forever living in my shadow, so on that night, she snapped. She decided then that she was going to rise up, and take Equestria for herself. She drew on massive amounts of dark magic to give herself a new form, and she called herself....." 

"Nightmare Moon" Taylor whispered quietly. 

Celestia was surprised. "Yes, that's right, how did you know?" 

"When I had my epiphany back in the hall with all of the glass windows, I saw you defeat her. I wondered why you called her 'sister'. Now I know." 

"Quite correct, I'm afraid." Celestia was close to tears now. "Nightmare Moon is a product of the curse placed on my family by the Creator for Stardust's disobedience in eating that fruit. Now look what's happened! I had to fight my own little sister in order to stop her destructive wrath, and when I defeated her, I banished her to the moon. That's why you see that pattern on the surface; that's the magic that keeps her trapped up there." 

Celestia was close to crying now. Taylor then hugged her to comfort her. "Shh, it's ok now though, she can't hurt anypony up there. And maybe now that she's had the time to think about what she did, and maybe she'll be better when she returns." 

"A nice thought Mr Taylor, but sadly,  a wrong one. Luna and Nightmare Moon are two separate entities trapped in the same body. Nightmare Moon must be defeated in order for my sister Luna to be free again." 

Taylor stood there hugging Celestia in silence. "How long, before she does return?" Taylor whispered.

"I banished her to the moon for 1,000 years, but that time is almost up I'm afraid. She only has about 55 years left until she returns." 

"God help us all if she's still evil when she does." 

Celestia nodded quietly. She then turned to Starlight and Redheart. "Go, leave us for the time being." She ordered. 

The two nurses nodded. 

"I'll be downstairs in my room if you need me Taylor." 

"Ok Miss Redheart." 

Taylor then turned back to Celestia, unaware that at that very moment, he was being watched. Watched by a creature full of hatred; a creature who did not like his presence in Equestria one bit. The figure was not actually in Equestria though, she was trapped in her prison on the moon, but that didn't stop her from hating though. 

The figure had a mixture of black and navy blue fur, her mane was a mass of flowing blue and purple, as was her tail. She wore a dark metal helmet that had a slot for her horn to come out. Her hooves were covered by horseshoes of the same metal as her helmet, and she had a breastplate covering her chest. Her cutie-mark was a white crescent moon; the same pattern also appeared on her breastplate. 

She was Nightmare Moon. Once sister to Princess Celestia, and the one-time conqueror of Equestria. She had been trapped on the moon for 945 years, and she had only 55 years left until she was free. 

"Just you wait Knave!" She growled at Taylor, "I will return, and when I do, you will only serve me, as I will rule all of Equestria! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! (more maniacal laughter). Just you wait, Earth Creature. You think that Celestia has power, just wait until you see me! Soon, Earth Creature, very, very, soon."