//------------------------------// // Memories // Story: Wolf of the Everfree // by Undead Equestrian Writer //------------------------------// "Luna, you know Kai?" Fluttershy asked. The night princess smiled, before walking to her throne and taking a seat. "I don't know Kai all that much, aside from his name and that he is far beyond a normal wolf," Luna spoke up when she was seated. Kai's ears perked up at Luna's inquiry into his normality. "The mana stone adds to that, as well as the very small amount of controlled mana flowing through him." "Wait, he already has gained the ability to control his internal mana!" Twilight asked, shocked, before immediately talking to herself, mumbling about practice and teaching. "Is controlling internal mana hard to do?" Fluttershy asked, watching Twilight have an internal struggle with herself. "For non-unicorns, it's near impossible, and even for some weaker unicorns, it's still incredibly hard," Luna spoke again. Celestia sat on her throne next to her sister, all the while, Kai sat in the center of the room listening and staring at the several ponies around him. "Learning to control your internal mana is the first step towards manipulating external mana, or casting magic." Kai held his head up a little bit higher, happy with the knowledge that he would eventually be able to cast magic and be able to better defend himself. And to get revenge on the manticore that killed his family. Kai's thoughts quickly turned sour, as the memory of seeing his family dead and butchered, the tears running down his father's face as he was devoured, and the hatred he had towards himself for not saving them quickly enraged the wolf. Kai stood, and began pacing in a circle, letting the thoughts overwhelm him and the emotions finally hitting the wolf. "I'll kill that fucker, I'll make him pay for taking my family from me, I'll rip his throat out with my teeth!" Kai spoke to himself, sounding like low growls to the other ponies. Luna, Celestia, and Fluttershy all had noticed the wolf slowly get more and more upset, Twilight being too caught up in her thoughts to notice. "Kai, are you okay?" Fluttershy asked softly as she approached the wolf, who wiped his head around and stared at the yellow pegasus, letting a low growl escape from his throat, images of the manticore clouding his judgment and vision. "Fluttershy, back away, I can calm him down," Luna spoke up, causing Fluttershy to back up without a question, though she was curious how she could calm Kai. Everyone was shocked when Luna closed her eyes and seemed to enter a state of meditation, her breathing shallowing out, before Kai collapsed on his side, unconscious. Kai opened his eyes and found himself within his headspace again. Memories flashed by of his family lying dead. He wasn't alone, however, as he looked over and saw Luna standing nearby, watching some of the memories fly by. "I understand why you are upset, but I must ask you to calm down, you almost attacked Fluttershy," Luna looked over at Kai, her voice stern. Her tone told Kai he had almost made a massive mistake. "I know you were blinded by rage and hatred, and I know what that can do to someone, but I won't let you harm Fluttershy or anypony else." Kai didn't speak, he only turned back to his memories, placing his head against a memory of his family, as tears began falling from Kai's eyes. Luna just watched, understanding and sorrow on her face. "I will let you remain here so you can grieve, you may wake up when you please," Luna spoke, before vanishing from Kai's headspace, and letting the wolf cry and mourn. Luna opened her eyes and stared down at Kai's sleeping form. Celestia and Fluttershy looked at her with a mix of confusion and concern. Twilight had come out of her thoughts and was now asking Fluttershy what happened. "He is fine, he just needed to grieve," Luna spoke softly. "I suppose I should answer some questions." "Luna, did you dream walk Kai?" Twilight asked, her inquisitive nature shining through. "In a sense, yes, Kai has something special that makes it so I can invade his headspace, instead of his dream space," Luna answered. She truly didn't know the answer to this question, it was something she desperately wanted to know too, but her best guess was what she was going with for right now. "His headspace? So you can see his memories?" Fluttershy asked as she began rubbing the side of the wolf's body while looking for a servant to ask for a blanket and some pillows for Kai. "Yes, his memories are mostly peaceful, except two that he remembers, even subconsciously," Luna spoke. "The first is the memory of his family dying, but the second is more... confusing, even to me. Aside from the lack of detail and vague view, it feels as though it was purposefully removed, or suppressed." "Wait, someone has messed with Kai's memories? Is there even anypony we know that can do that? Can you even do that Luna?" Twilight asked, looking at the wolf. She didn't have much attachment to the wolf, but knowing that someone or something had altered his memories immediately sent off red flags in her head. "I can't alter memories, the only being I can think of is Discord," Luna spoke. "However, the memory itself is weird." "Weird beyond being tampered with?" Celestia finally spoke up, mostly just listening and digesting the information, so she can make a decision on what to do. "The memory that I can view is of a being jumping from the roof of a building," She shook off the unease that suicide gave her. "Other than that, the memory is unclear and missing, but the emotion was strong enough to leak through, and it gave me a sense of hatred and depression I haven't felt in a millennium." "Fluttershy, Twilight, I know it may be a bit out of the blue, but could I request that both of you stay here, along with Kai, so we can keep an eye on him?" Celestia asked after a minute, finally reaching the conclusion that Kai was still too unknown for her to be safe letting him return to Ponyville. "Of course, Princess," Fluttershy and Twilight spoke, bowing to Celestia. Kai had been mourning for a while, his eyes hurt from crying, and his body was tired from the emotional stress. Luna had brought him here to help calm him down, which he was grateful for. He didn't want to accidentally hurt someone in a blind rage. "You mustn't trust that one or her sister," Astello's voice boomed in Kai's headspace, making Kai jump up from the sudden booming voice. "Those two are trying to use you, they speak of using you to crush their enemies and using you as a tool to help them become stronger. I recommend killing them, and anyone who dares stand in your way of achieving peace in this world. Remember, your goal is to become strong." With that final reminder, Astello was gone, leaving Kai alone to sort his thoughts.