//------------------------------// // Keeper // Story: 1000 Years Left To Wander // by Black Hailstorm //------------------------------// Her eyes were still closed because the light had been that bad so it took her time to adjust before she would dare to open her eyes again and when she did her cold heart nearly shattered as every thing came into focus and she had a look at her surroundings. Eyes blinked as they adjusted as the sight that greeted her was not the sight she had been expecting. Nightmare Moon rose with slow caution as she stood up in a land of light that was both warm and cold. Where the stars twinkled above her, each one seeming to grow and shrink and the sun hovered on right, the moon floating at the left, where in the center was a sphere of life that she had just been on. She stared up at the sky. Her heart pounding. Breathe racing. Eyes widening as she stood there for seconds and her pupils turned to slits as the raw emotion took over, only for the first thought to come to mind which gave way to the first pangs of fear. Immediately her horn glowed and it was a relief to know her magic still worked, a grin crossed her muzzle, flashing shovel shaped teeth as her anger subsided and her relief turned into confidence. Horn igniting she reached out to her Moon, felt it in her grasp, tried to draw strength from it as she had done so many times after learning how-- Came up empty and instead felt nothing. She blinked, scowled. Another attempt at slowing her down but one she did not fear because they were invincible as there was nothing that could truly slow them down or hold her back forever. Her wings spread, her neck straightened, confidence flooded through her body as she flapped her pitch black, feathered wings and found that despite no air here she took off with ease. Hooves hovered over ground that lapped at her shoes like dancing white flames that neither burned but felt neither cold nor warm. Her eyes moved away from the white, bright ground, looked back up into the rose tinted sky that held her Sun, her Moon and her Stars before they focused on the orb of life and she floated up-- Only for it to move not an inch forwards the higher she went. Eyes narrowed and her flapping increased just a little, Another trick. Just another obstacle she would break through. So she flapped upwards, horn glowing. Casting spells that gave her no answer every time she made it up a single climb. Trying to pinpoint the weakest point that would grant her access to the keys in breaking the seal that bound her. She kept flying. Searching, scanning. Stuck in the same place at the same point. Trying to find a way to break the device back home that kept her stuck in this forsaken space. She walked and as she did, every step caused a blade of white to shift with her every movement. It was infuriating. The white, but yes this place was also chiseling away at her nerves. Looking up, her horn glowed. She reached out. Touched the Moon, nothing. She bit back the desire to scream and instead counted to a hundred. When she was done a hundred poisonous words flooded into Nightmare Moon's mind and everyone of them was grumbled out as she marched onwards towards the horizon's distant expanse. Five thousand and two-hundred and forty-five. 5,245 times she'd awoken. 5,245 times she'd trudged this path. Every step she took, the sky followed. Like a bird stalking its prey the world only moved when she moved. The stars only twinkled in time with her every breathe and if her breathing became erratic as the anger, fear and hatred and regret at not having done things in a different way slipped in, they would flare. Some going red, others green, changing colors and peppering her eyes with different lights till she calmed down. It was relaxing but also annoying. Sometimes, disturbing. The white that stretched for miles and miles, leading nowhere, going somewhere, was probably the worst. There were times she felt odd. This strange sense of being watched. Of not being completely alone but every time she cast a heartbeat spell or did a scry she found nothing, no one, nobody here except herself. So she would keep moving and keep going, always aware of how the Sun never moved towards the Orb or how the Moon kept itself following closely as she walked. Always aware that she was being watched. And then there were the moments she stopped walking because she was too tired to continue. So she'd summon her magic for the 179th time and force it to see if her Moon would obey, become infuriated when it didn't, scream when she would muster all her will to grab the Sun only to have it be just as unresponsive then curse when she could not craft the constellations she so loved. "The Plane of Lights" it was a fitting name. A world of light that did not allow her rest in the way she wanted it but a realm that gave her the energy to move without ever going anywhere in distance, requiring no food or water of any kind. To never feel thirsty. Never feel hunger. Just tired if she worked herself into it. It was annoying and Luna hated it. Much like she hated many things about this place. There were no tracks so she never knew if she was going up or if she was moving at all. Whether she was actually going somewhere or actually just walking in a loop over and over again with reality bending to follow those dimensions she had no idea. Star Swirl might have been able to answer this question if the fool hadn't finally-- A voice silenced the thought and Nightmare Moon's starry tail lashed out in frustration. She rose, felt the odd sense that she always did that she was being watched, shoved Luna's paranoia aside, then her horn ignited. Another attempt to wrestle the Moon back into her control to grant her the power she needed to break this weak seal. For one brief moment she was the only one in this Tartarus forsaken reality, then there were two and she rounded on her trespasser with a speed that couldn't be processed by the normal brain. It will not listen to you. The words were like a weight that pressed in on some part of Nightmare Moon's mind and she banished the momentary wave of regret that came flooding forward at his words. As if they were a reminder of how she got here and made a mockery of the fantasies she had of someday escaping. Her horn dimmed at the statement, no longer trying to reach the moon but now trained on the entity that towered before her. You have failed. Her horn burst to life and the blades of white grassy fire danced around her as her glare became a grimace. He, merely cocked his head to the side. She glared up at him. Her corona's unstable glow, steadying. The massive giant that loomed over her who cast no shadow, whose mere presence altered the sunset tinted sky into a cold and chilly ice blue, looked down at her with eyes that burned like the sun but radiated the cool breeze of a winter's chill and she remained defiant as the massive entity stared back at her with an expression both as calm as a quiet night but as ferocious as a blazing fire. "What do you want?" Her tone as equally distant, equally infuriated. Eyes of burning light never blinked. You have failed. Was the only thing the giant with no shadow repeated. He shifted forms, became a massive dragon, the largest dragon she'd ever seen yet still he cast no shadow and still the sky maintained the cold color that matched the coldness that radiated from his blazing eyes. "You keep saying that" she started. Because it is true. He interrupted, ignoring the way stars swelled as the alicorn's anger grew. We warned you. He warned you. You chose not to listen. Chose to ignore the signs and warnings we gave at every turn. A feral growl freed itself from her throat. "Do not speak to me of warnings, spirit!" The last word spat with venom. "We chose the path that led to victory and we would do it again if given a second chance!" The dragon's head tilted one way. Blinked. Tilted the other and now he was a Zebra. Stripes moved across his coat like currents on the ocean. ...We? For a brief second Nightmare Moon somehow became darker. Her feathers fell out, her wings grew thumb claws, her once-square-now-shovel-teeth cracked and reformed to become the fangs of a carnivore, slitted pupils like those of a tiger became reptillian and gained an eery glow-- then the image was gone and Princess Luna stood in the Nightmare's place. Her coat a few shades darker than before, her mane semi-transparent billowing on a nonexistent breeze. She looked up at the giant, staring coldly as if they were the same size. Said nothing at the statement as the two old acquaintances shared a long look of silence, trying to read the thoughts of the other. 'We'. The giant Minotaur repeated, rubbing his right horn in thought. Who is 'we'? Luna said nothing. Her eyes narrowed more. Celestia-- "Do not-- --would not have-- "Speak--" --allowed you-- "--THAT ENCHANTRESS' NAME!" And the Nightmare returned in an explosion of cold indigo light as her wings exploded outward with a crack and the space that had no air vibrated with the force of her shout, doing little to push the giant back but if anything drew his attention back to her as her words silenced his own. "We ARE NO LONGER THE YOUTH WE ONCE WERE, TAURIN!" Nightmare Moon bellowed and several stars went through supernova, "IT WOULD DO YOU WELL TO REMEMBER THAT IT WAS YOU WHO ORDAINED US AUTHORITY OF THE NIGHT!" The giant goat named Taurin said nothing. He watched the heaving alicorn before him with burning cold eyes, and by his first blink, for the first time since his appearance, they were the same size. Equals. "And", she heaved a sigh as a small tight smile formed "as the Sovereign of Night it is my right to do as I please for the benefit of my charge." You are right. I did. And it was. The alicorn made of cold flames and a mane peppered with dying stars and passing comets that flew through his mane and died in his fiery blue coat, smiled, though she saw it as one of spite than one of pity. The Elements have seen fit to revoke you of that title. Not I. Which just made her snort as two stars died as she scoffed at the statement. "And who do you have replace me? The traitorous enchantress and I cannot be so easily replaced, Keeper." "She knows it." Nightmare Moon's fangs shined with her grin as she licked the top lip in self-satisfaction. "You know it." Which is why the Enchantress is your substitute since your forfeit of title. The smile faded. Half the sky turned a dangerous indigo on her side while the other became a paler shade of ice blue on his. Her horn ignited. "What?" She said in a strain. The Moon no longer belongs to you. You failed me Luna. You failed. You have broken the oath you swore to me. Thus you forfeit your title. As long as you remain here the Moon will never listen to your calls. I have made certain of that. The Elements have ensured that your power may be weakened but I am the one who decides how strong the connection remains. I came here to tell you that, and to wish you luck in absence. "You can't do that." She said with a mixture between confidence and doubt. "You don't have the power to." The words came out in disbelief. But he continued as if he'd never heard her. Neither Moon or Stars will aid you. You have been cut off, completely. You will not prevent the one you call Enchantress from continuing the cycle. "You can't do that!" She said a little bit louder. Loud enough that several stars grew larger in the passion of her ire. "You lie to protect her!" And as long as the Elements keep you here, he continued, your power will continue to be weakened, and you will continue being cut off. The feathers began to fall as her stare began to waver. The grimace began to rise as the wings began to twist and gnarl, as the teeth changed shape and form. "What gives you the right?" Nightmare Moon hissed in a venomous whisper that echoed across the realm and curled the white grass with the gravity of her words. "What gives you the authority to take away what you have given?" I do. The voice answered with barely restrained fury. Because it was I who protected Moon before you, just as I had protected Sun before her. Just as I bestowed the Houses of Day and Night the strength to raise, as I did across the world, as easily as I saw fit to bestow you the role as Carrier-- "And yet somehow" the Nightmare cut him off with a spear of light from her horn as she rose into the air on devilish wings of night and cold, "I was the greatest Carrier you ever found. I was the one who protected the night for centuries. I was the--" Then all of a sudden they weren't the same size and he was towering over her. Growing larger and larger, shadows spilling out and wilting the ground, sucking the white out and turning it grey, then a redish-orange as it became fire that writhed with the same intensity that reached up for her as she soared higher in the air to meet his gaze. Do not his voice echoed across the space, as icy cold blue began to push against the indigo that stood against it in the sky, test my patience Inferna. I spared you a suffering-- "YOU SPARED ME NOTHING! For for a hundred thousand slumbers I have been left to wander and for a unknown more, even with magic, I am powerless!" The sky exploded in light as a star hit critical. "What mercy do you show Keeper to deem this traitorous reward such a feat of kindness?! For all that We have done, for all We have been through, you repay your oldest friend with this sin!" She spat and her fangs grew sharper. This sin spares you misery! His body brightened with his fury. Your suffering has been halved, unlike the others that fell to this fate you have a realm to distract you! The stars, the Sun, the Moon, this space! Your company will not be the craters and dust, darkness and night, silence and suppression that exists on the Moon. You will not suffer from the concotions of the mind in isolated nothingness as it may have been! There will be no terrors drawing towards you in the night for this plane is guarded! You will not hunger, will not need food or water where it would be torture. I have saved you a eon of suffering. And you know this could have been worse, Princess-- "Do not speak of that title traitor!" they screamed and her horn flared in a furious crackle of energy that popped and crackled. Let this serve as your lesson. The alicorn now a giant said as its baleful eyes rained cold down upon her. A reminder of your errors. Let it teach you well. And let this be your reminder, had it been Lucius- you would have been dead. He would have ended you the moment the signs first began and gloated about your death as if you were nothing but a trophy. Luna screamed in righteous indignation and the Nightmare howled, "We will find a way out of this prison Taurin! We will make you pay for this betrayal!" And all the giant could do was stare at her with an expression that mirrored something almost like pity. It broke her. That sickening look of sympathy threw away the last shreds of mercy. And just as she was about to charge as her horn burned a vile green, she blinked, then he was gone.