//------------------------------// // Giggle at the Ghostie // Story: The Aperture in my Heart // by matrixjorel //------------------------------// “Soooo giggle at the ghostie…” Wheatley tried. He hummed out the song. He focused as hard as his processor would allow him to. But the laughter was still there, ringing in his audio filters. No matter what he did, no matter where he ran, he could never escape the laughter, the laughter that seemed to follow him through his life, and now beyond the realm of humanity. No matter where he went, no matter what he did, it followed him, burrowed into his CPU like a tumor that no amount of erasing would ever remove. And every time he heard it, it seemed to ring the same thing in his ear, a ghostly whisper that seemed to come from somewhere he had but was doomed never to remember; "You are an idiot. You are a failure." It now had occurred to him how right the voices were. ……………… The girls got up after laughing for what seemed like an eternity in that otherwise horrid forest. 'Why would Celestia ever let a place like this exist in Equestria?' Twilight wondered to herself. Now only was the danger of the animals in the forest itself apparent, and the fact that many fillies would easily lose their way in the labyrinth of trails that circled in on each other was one that the unicorn looked upon as something that can easily be remedied; the place was downright scary. She constantly felt like something was watching her. Her eyes seemed to move of their own accord, scanning the blackness for any sign of unwanted visitors. Then she saw something, or rather thought she saw something: fog. It seemed to be coming out of the trees. Or was it coming from the ground? What was it? Twilight's scientific curiosity overtook her better judgment, and she began to step towards the mysterious... cloud? 'Yes, it must be a cloud, the way it is centralized so--' "Uh, Twilight, what'r'u doin'?" Twilight remembered that there were 5 other mares there. She turned back to the country pony that addressed her. "Oh, I was..." The cloud was floating away. I mean, nothing. Coming!" "Uh-huh..." Twilight stole one last look at the cloud as it brushed the top of the trees and floated far ahead of the group. Rainbow Dash and... that real shy Pegasus, what was her name?-- didn't seem to notice. But as she watched it a strange feeling overcame her. It didn't crawl down her spine inch by inch like fear. It didn't twitch in her tail and horn like curiosity. It panged her heart and seemed to cause her entire chest to hurt as if she had been kicked by a small pony. But why on earth was she feeling pity? ..................... Wheatley knew that she was rough around the edges, but he was the closest thing to a friend that she had, so Nightmare Moon would never really abandon him. Would she? He had done nothing but fail, as he had always done at every moment in his life. He knew now how pathetic he was. He was garbage. Even that idiot of a core was better than him, and HE was still on the moon, in pieces. But what if that act of martyrdom the space core endured was merely foreshadowing Wheatley's own unfolding of events? No, he had to think of something. It had to have been somebody's fault. 'It was that pink one; yeah... she has...powers? No, that's stupid.' Laughter. "STOP LAUGHING!" The laughter took away his focus. He did not realize that he was now his solid self. Neither did he realize that he stopped inches away from the formidable alicorn he called 'friend'. "Where did you hide them, sister?" She seemed to be talking to the wind. "I know they're here, I was here with you when you USED THEM ON ME!" "Umm..." Wheatley was about to ask the princess if she required help, but his offer was drowned out by Nightmare Mon's roar. "HOW DARE YOU SNEAK UP ON ME, CRETIN!" She continued to glare at him for an eternity that lasted a few seconds. Wheatley was certain that the daggers coming from her stone-cold blue eyes caused some internal damage. She finally broke eye contact, however, and let out a deep sigh. "I assume you being here means you taken care of any nuisances that may try and stop me?" Wheatley chuckled. "Funny you should mention that..." "Oh, is it now?" "Yeah, because there's still those 6 mares coming here, I mean, I did cut off that water lizard's mustache so maybe that took care of them, he did make quite a splash in that river and I don't think many creatures can cross a river that turbulent, unless they--" "Wait; you cut off a mustache? That's your big plan? You were supposed to KILL them!" "Well, I tried, but..." "I give you part of my power, and THIS is the best you can do? Can you even kill somebody when you are infinitely more powerful than them?" "Well..." The AI core thought back to Chell. "I don't know." "You are completely USELESS! Why did I ever think you could do this? Such a pathetic, worthless MORON!" "But... we're friends, right?" The walls shook. Wheatley began to glow, and a wisp of smoke drifted out of him. He felt weak. What had happened? As an AI, he had programs built into his processor so he can feel sleepiness and become drowsy. But this was different. As the Smoke drifted towards Nightmare, he found it very hard to breathe. His vision blurred until he could barely discern the mare standing in front of him from the wall. If the voices were laughing at them, he could not hear them over the incessant ringing in his ears. What was happening to him? 'You're dying.' The truthfulness hit him hard, though not as hard as the pain his sensory fiber optics were feeling. They were scalding hot and completely numb at the same time. He could barely make out what the evil alicorn was doing to the ground around him as he was rolling around in pain. He could barely discern the fact that he was slowly descending into the ground. But her words, her last words, echoed. "I will never be your friend." Wheatley fell... fell... .................... "Luna... Luna... Please... come back." It was quiet in the dungeon. The royal princess rarely had time alone, and she learned to love the peace she found in a moment of silence. But this was pure agony. This quiet that was forced upon her allowed the questions she ran from for a thousand years to catch up with her, and the magic chains kept her in place to answer each question with a truth that hurt more than any weapon. 'Was banishing my sister, the only family I had left, the right choice?' 'No.' 'Would she have succumbed to her evil side if I took more time to help her?' 'No.' 'Was this my fault?' 'Yes.' 'Do I deserve this?' 'Yes.' She had never been one to give up. Discord never phased her, and she was able to stop Nightmare Moon before she caused too much damage. But now, the princess of the sun could see that she was a monster just like them. How else could she have been able to send her own flesh and blood to such a place? "Luna... please..." Her crying was silenced by a series of clangs followed by a deep THUD. Using what little power she could muster, she lit the tip of her horn to reveal a ball. The same metal ball she met on the moon. If she had felt anger towards him before, it dissipated instantly. Instead, she stared at it as if it wasn't there, her mouth slightly ajar. It had only occurred to her later that she could hear him breathing. It was pained, and would sometimes stop for minutes before he gasped for air, only to stop soon after. He was dying. And Celestia knew that he may deserve it, but she could never bring someone to death, no matter what the crime. She focused her magic on the part of him that felt most like a heart, and tried to breathe life into him. No sooner did she start than did the orb open its eyes and catch its breath. In the moment they made eye contact, both remembered each other, what they did, and both found the strength to sit up. "You!" they cried in one voice. "You were the one that was with Luna when she..." "And you're the sister that sent her to the moon." If she had strength, she would have thrown him across the room for reminding her. But depression soon overcame her again, its weight forcing her to the ground in a slump. "Yes, that is me." It was quiet. They lay in the dungeon, thinking of a million things to say to each other in silence. What was the use? What could possibly be said? "Hey, listen." Celestia took Wheatley's advice and tried to hear what it was she was listening for. It was her sister. "...it's them, or us!" "I'm sorry, princess." Wheatley broke the silence. Celestia heard the simple apology from this being that she would like nothing more than to smash to a million pieces, and realized the sincerity of it. "I'm sorry about Luna. I'm the one that did this to her. I... I just wanted a friend. I guess I was so scared of losing another friend that I... didn't care who I hurt." Celestia had a million things to say to Wheatley, and all of them came in the form of yelling. But before she could respond, another answer escaped her lips; "I forgive you." At first, she was shocked at what she said, but soon realized that she meant it. She repeated herself, her voice a little stronger and more self-assured than before. "I forgive you. And this isn't completely your fault, either." "No, it is." "I'm the one that sent my own sister to the moon and left her there for a thousand years. What kind of monster does that?" The dungeon got quiet once more. They tried to listen for Nightmare moon, but instead heard the band of mares: "One, two, three, four, there's only five..." "Where's the sixth?" "The book said when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed." "Did you miss her?" Wheatley asked. "I'm sorry?" The bluntness of his question shocked and confused Celestia, and it came so unexpectedly. "Luna. When she was on the moon, did you... miss her?" Celestia sighed. Tears became to come to her eyes, and not even her mane could hide it. "Not a day went by when I didn't think about her. I tried to visit her, check on her every time I could, hoping I could bring her back, that we could be together again, but every time I would have to leave her on that rock, all alone, and I hated doing it, and I hate myself for doing it to her. She's my little sister, after all." And then Celestia, the regal alicorn, ruler of Equestria and defender of Harmony, lay down and cried in the dungeon under the ruins of the old castle. Tears flowed freely now from her eyes, and she now did nothing at all to hide this fact. She knew she must have looked pathetic, but she didn’t care. She deserved it. Once again, it was Wheatley who spoke to the Princess and broke the quiet. "You are not a monster. If you want a monster, you should have seen my old boss! She would keep humans in stasis for hundreds of years even, just to pull them out when she needed them and kill them. She would joke about how much fun it was. And she was quite the bully, always manipulating and trying to turn people against each other. I mean, one time there were these two scientists recalibrating the Deadly Neurotoxin intake, and she…” Wheatley saw this tangent was not helping the alicorn. What I guess I’m saying, is you are not a monster." "You mean that?" "You obviously love her. You did your best. Even now, you seem to be all she thinks about, and the same was true on the moon as well. You did nothing wrong. Unlike me, everything I do, everything I touch, I mess up. I try to be friends with Luna, and I changed her into Nightmare Moon. I try and stop those ponies from coming, and accomplish nothing. I even forgot to tell you how to undo those handcuffs, I’m so stupid all the time." Celestia snapped out of her crying with Wheatley's last statement. "What? Handcuffs?" "Yeah, those things around your hooves? Oh, right, you must call them 'hoofcuffs', right?" "No, this is a magic binding spell, Nightmare Moon cast on me. I am powerless against it without a counter spell." Wheatley was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be in shock. "So, you're telling me that you DON'T see a pair of Smith and Wesson Model 110 Special Security Chain-Linked Nickel Handcuffs?" Celestia was dead quiet, not understanding a word Wheatley was saying. "Okay, humor me for a moment; Put your horn right..." Wheatley used a laser pointer, which he had only just discovered he had, to point out where he saw the key hole on the handcuffs. "...there. Now, use your magic and make like a key, yes... now, twist it thirty degrees... nope, too far... THERE! Yes! Now, pull your head out, and..." -Click- The magical ropes immobilizing Celestia disappeared into the wind, and she gained control of her legs again. "That was amazing! How did you do that?" "I... have no idea whatsoever!" Celestia jumped before she could question Wheatley. She heard the sound of rocks falling. She thought she heard Twilight up there. "We'll save the questions for later, Wheatley! We have to go!" The princess grasped the large white ball firmly in her mouth, kicked a fake wall back to reveal a spiral staircase, and began to run. ......................... "The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all are my friends. You see, Night Mare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic." As Twilight tapped into the powers of the Elements of Harmony, she could not notice a white alicorn in the dark stairway behind them, nor did she notice a tear come to her eye. …………………… “Woah woah woah, what’s happening!” “She did it. She exceeded my expectations. Again.” “But what’s with the rainbow cannon thing? Is this… normal for talking ponies?” “Only when those ponies are wielding the Elements of Harmony.” “Oh… so like tungsten?” Celestia smiled at the orb. He was smarter than he appeared, but he was very naïve in a lot of things. But most of all, he wanted a friend. Was it really his fault that he never learned how to make friends because no one ever showed him compassion? Perhaps, but Celestia saw a bit of herself in Wheatley’s glass optical lens, and if there was one thing she could sympathize with, it was his earnest desire to be forgiven for things that he did to Luna. “Look at those six ponies. What do you see?” Wheatley stared at the ponies. His eyes narrowed as he focused each pony down to their individual hairs on their head. “I see a cowgirl pony, a pink fluffy… I’m assuming that’s a girl as well…one that looks like it went through a bleach washing, a nerd, a pink emo, and a lesbian… do lesbians exist?” “What?” “Umm… never mind.” “Look closer, you can learn a lot from them.” Wheatley’s stare turned into a glare, as he processed every single thing he could notice about the ponies; hair color, eye size, proportion of head to hoof, width of stance… “I got nothing.” “Honestly, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty, and magic. These are the Elements of Harmony. They are the source of happiness and friendship everywhere. You tell me that you cannot make any friends, but maybe if you change your approach, you would be more successful?” Wheatley took this new information in. “Wait, you mean I don’t have to be manipulative to make friends?” Celestia’s smile spoke a million words to Wheatley, even if he didn’t understand most of those words. Fortunately, she explained, “No. In fact, even though you have made a few mistakes before, you have shown me considerable loyalty, kindness, and honesty, and I would consider you a friend.” “You mean it?” Wheatley’s memory units opened a file from Earth’s history, a man named Suess who wrote “his heart grew three sizes that day.” He wasn’t sure what it meant, but right now it sounded very nice. “So,” Wheatley sang to his new friend, “Aren’t you going to see your sister?” The princess’s eyes closed as she contemplated seeing her sister once again. What would she say? What can she say? But after a thousand years, she wanted nothing more than to hug her and tell her that everything will be fine. “Yes.” Celestia walked into the room, and at long last, was reunited with Luna.